prime minister says he won't be pressured into a peace plan with the palestinians. ♪ we begin tonight in ukraine where there are new developments in that country's stand oif with russia. thousands of troops pouring into the southern crimea region according to crimea officials who say they have been given a deadline by the russians to lay down their arms or face a full-scale attack. also the crisis is the focus of an ur -- urgent national security meeting at the white house. >> that meeting has now broken up. the administration, president obama had been scrambling to react to this active aggression by vladimir putin and russia. late friday evening the president appeared at this podium behind me, and said there would be costs if russia were to invite crimea or any other part of ukraine. that was ignored. and now the administration talking about sanctions. no one is talking about any sort of military response at this point. today the president had a photo opwith the israeli prime minister, benjamin netenyahu. on any other day the talk would be about issues in the middle east, but at this photo on the president was asked about the crisis in ukraine. here is what he had to say. >> what cannot be done is for russia with impunity to put its soldiers on the ground and violate, basic principles that are recognized around the world, and i think the strong condemnation that it has received from countries around the world indicates the degree to which russia is on the wrong side of history on this. >> the administration is trying to deescalate this crisis, and trying to get its european allies on the same page. that is proving to be difficult. the president wants yuan them inty in congress on sanctions, john. >> talk about the significance of this crisis in crimea for the u.s.? >> first of all it is destabilizing to europe. and anything that is destabilizing to europe, of course, is at the core national interest of the united states. the white house has been saying for weeks now that this is not a cold war redo. however, vladimir putin appears to have a different idea. and critics in congress, of course, republicans chief among them, saying the administration is reaping what it had sewn. they backed down in syria, and this is a crisis no question about it, it could be the biggest foreign policy crisis and challenge of the obama administration, john. >> and we got word the defense department suspended military to military relations between russia and the u.s. >> yeah, a statement from the pentagon. it could not be seen as a surprise, after all, putin's troops are now occupying crimea. and they are announcing joint exercises from meetings to conferences with military counterparts. they say over the years these sorts of meetings have helped build trust between the two sides in transparency. and the u.s. has moved warships into the black sea. they say these are part of normal and scheduled military deployments. >> mike, thank you very much. mike mentioned the president's critics on capitol hill. senator mccain says white house foreign policy is part of the situation. >> the president of the united states clearly has no idea of the kind of person putin is and what his intentions are, which is to rebuild the near brood, to have the old russian empire restored as much as possible, and ukraine is a crown jewel of that, and the president has played right into putin's hands. >> and you can hear more of senator mccain's interview at 9:00 eastern on "america tonight." and let's go to the center of this crisis, nick schifrin is live in crimea with more. nick, what are you hearing there? >> reporter: well, john, the occupation by russian troops is growing, and the existence as far as we can tell is nonexistent. we traveled out there this area today every base we went to had a russian flag flying over it, russian troops were occupying their bases. they were relaxed, eating food in front of us, smiling, and laughing down the road from one of them. they were digging trenches around an armory, and we saw no evidence of any kind of resistance from anyone in the ukrainian military or the ukrainian government which has apparently told its soldiers not to shoot unless the russians are shooting at them, which they are not doing. there are more of them than there were yesterday, and they are controlling more areas today. >> nick one quick we about the supposed deadline, 10:00 eastern here in the united states is what we hear when it is supposed to run out. what are you hearing there? >> if you believe reporters on the ground, they heard russian ships meg phones being used declaring some kind of deadline for earn to leave those ships, so disarm. now russia says that is not true. there is no deadline, we'll know the truth in a couple of hours. but regardless russia seems to want to escalate this. they are expanding their presence here and doing so without any kind of stoppage or resistance as far as we can tell from the ukrainian military and government, so whether or not that deadline comes and goes, what is clear is that russia is ignoring these things, and the situation on the grown here is becoming more obvious that russia is entirely in control of this -- at least the main parts of this peninsula every day. >> nick schifrin thank you. and from crimea to kiev where the new ukrainian government is demanding that russia get out of the country, while focusing on fixing ukraine's economy. phil ittner is live in kiev with more on that. phil? >> reporter: john ever since this crisis began, it has seemed as though russia and vladimir putin is very much in the driver's seat. and now it does seem there is a real effort to try to form late a corporated response. here in the capitol at anxious and fledgling government is urging the russians to leave but trying to shore up the nation's damaged economy. >> translator: the economy has become a hostage of the security situation that we now have in ukraine. you know our russian neighbors have made an aggressive pass towards ukraine. >> reporter: and a skittish market has already dealt a blow to its economy. western leaders are looking at economic leverage as perhaps the best response to russia's action, economic isolation analysts are calling it. still the russians have the boots on the grown, and seem to be calling the shots. president vladimir putin inspected russian troops here the border. the russians say the war games were planned months ago, but it sends a strong message. ukraine beefed up security away from crimea those eastern areas also populated with many ethnic russians, and that's why the russian foreign minister is moscow's concern. >> translator: this is a question of depending our citizens, and ensuring human rights, especially the right to life. those who are trying to interpret the situation as a form of aggression, these are the same partners who have been consistently encouraging the political powers close to them to declare ultimatums. >> reporter: the eu, un, international monetary fund, all calling emergency meetings to discuss ukraine, and secretary of state john kerry is expected in the ukrainian capitol on tuesday. john few people think that the west will actually go to war over crimea, but it does now look at though another option is being discussed, that is hitting russia in the pocketbook. but economic responses take time, and time is something that kiev may not have. >> phil ittner reporting from kiev. phil, thank you. ukraine's crimea region is a military strong hold for ukraine and russia. jonathan betz with more. >> certain now that russia may try to push out ukraine's military all together in crimea. the black sea fleet is based at the peninsula. it has 25,000 soldiers stationed there from russia. but last weekend president putin sent in 6,000 more. russia then seized airports in the capitol and western coastal town. it has always surrounded ukraine military bases in several cities. those bases have been cut off by ukraine's troops remain inside. also russia took over a ferry terminal on the eastern tip of crimea, about 12 miles from russia, and another way russia is likely to bring in more soldiers. but president putin may not stop with crimea. russia enjoys a lot of support in eastern ukraine. many speak russian. the most recent support in domesc, they are demanding the region split from kiev. that is stoking fears this conflict could further escalate. if it does it is not going to be a fair fight. russia has four times as many soldier as ukraine. joining us now is a professor of history and lived in the crimea region for several years. karl welcome. >> thank you for having me. >> you say this is not a calculated move on the part of vladimir putin. why? >> it seems like he is moving one step at a time. he doesn't really have a set plan. we see escalation after escalation, provocation, after provocation. it seems he wanted ukraine to act like the georgians did in 2008. so far they have wisely refused to act and fire on russian troops. >> have you talked to people there? and tell us more about the population. >> yes, i had until recently. the telecommunications were cut a few days ago, but i talked to friends before the escalation in crimea. many had actually decided to leave the area, not because they are afraid of the russian troops, because most of my friends are in support of russian over ukraine. but they feared the chaos [ technical difficulties ] >> explain who the crimean tatars are. >> sure. they are descendants of the mongols. they were there long before russia came in. >> so what is the exit strategy if there any? >> well, that's the difficult part. i'm not sure there is a good exit strategy. it seems that putin has walked himself into a corner. if he takes crimea and even more so if he tries to take eastern ukraine, there will be much more of a backlash from the west. and how can he leave crimea without clearly putting his people in charge? >> other than what goes on with the united states and leaders around the world, what are you expecting the ukraine government -- how do you expect the ukraine government to react to this? >> i think they are going to continue to react the same way they are. they have been very careful not provide the excuse for soldiers to fire. ukraine knows its military is much smaller than russias. i think they are going to try to hold on, try to make a unifying government in ukraine, and hope the western powers eventually will try to put some pressure on russia. >> we'll all be watching. it's good to have you on the program. thank you very much. >> thank you. and the crisis in ukraine is being compared to the russia georgia war in 2008. the u.s. and nato threatened military action when two georgia regions attempted to break away. the al jazeera program "consider this" spoke with the man who was president of georgia at that time. >> i think [ inaudible ] position [ inaudible ] and i think it's exactly the same in ukraine [ inaudible ] he wants to take over [ inaudible ] government in kiev and these are openly proclaimed goals. it is not just my guess. they are there to [ inaudible ] government to power, which is not a realistic goal, but what it implies is deposing existing government in kiev. >> and you can see that entire interview tonight on "consider this." for breaking news check out our live blog, crisis in ukraine on our website, aljazeera.com. the power of oil and gas, russia is a big energy supplier to europe, and that has global suppliers worried. we'll talk to ali velshi about that. discussions at the white house between the leaders of israel and the united states. an emergency session today at the white house. john terrett is life. the russians called this meeting. what were they trying to achieve? >> this was the third meeting in four days at the united nations security council. they have been talking only about ukraine and specifically about crimea. the russians called this meeting, and they wanted to put moscow's point of view to the rest of the world to explain what they really feel of the country of ukraine and the region of crimea. the long-standing ambassador to the united nations, read a letter which he said came from viktor yanukovych who was moscow's man until a couple of weeks ago, and called for russian forces to intervene in ukraine to save the country. afterwards they came out and read threater again. >> the country is in the grip of outright terror and violence driven by the west. in this context i appeal to the president of russia to used armed forces of the russian federation to reestablish the rule of law, peace, order, stability, and to protect the people of ukraine. >> reporter: so russia is saying it needs to protect the russian people in particular, and now has a letter from the deposed president, and they think he was deposed by a coup generated by the europeans and americans. >> what about reaction from the u.s.? >> reporter: completely different from [ inaudible ] who is the united states ambassador to the united states, she said since when has russia been the [ inaudible ] of human rights council. she gave a long list of why russia's envagus is inlegal. russia provides ukraine with more than half of its natural gas. and that is why the crisis in ukraine has the potential to damage economies all around the world. just a few opinions ago, word that the u.s. has suspended trade and investment talks with russia. ali velshi is here to talk about all of it. >> a couple of things to keep in mind. oil is priced globally, so it doesn't matter how much oils use or don't use. the price went up a little bit. natural gas is priced locally. american natural gas is made and drilled in america. we have seen an increase in the last few weeks because of the weather. in the uk it was up 10%, because 40% of europe's natural gas comes from russia. natural gas is a home-heating fuel, and feeder fuel for electricity. the majority of the world's electricity is produced by coal, but a lot of it is produced by natural gas. all of the pipelines come out of russia and they all go through ukraine. as the united states talks more and more about sang showns, they may not have the europeans on board, because the europeans don't have much of an alternative to this russian gas. they are trying to. but bottom line is most of it comes from russia. >> what does that mean for the european economy? >> let's say the 10% spike stayed that way. economies like germany they have a direct pipeline to russia. so if russia says you give us sanctions we'll stop the flow of oil. natural gas prices go up, electricity prices go up, your cost of producing things go up -- >> is that likely? >> no, because like iran russia gets a lot of its foreign money from oil and gas. this is very bad for russia. if they get their gas or oil cut off or do it preempttively, it is going to cost them a lot of money. >> what about the reaction from markets around the world. >> you saw about a three-quarters to 1% drop today, which happens all the time. russians propped up their interest rate, so for a russian consumer they have less to buy with. futures for tomorrow morning are looking positive. so this may have been a one-day event. >> so there is economic pressure on russia. >> absolutely. russia has to want the geopolitical interests that cause them to be in crimea and ukraine, because there's no gain for russia economically to do what they are doing right now. russia has a lot of client states and they supply most of the gas and oil in europe. europe does not want to be beholden to russia. >> and in the united states the big concern is about fuel prices. >> right. >> but you say it could be a one-day verdict. >> it could be a one-day event -- >> so we won't see it in natural gas. >> you'll see it in oil. gasoline and home heating oil in the northeast you'll see it. this is one interesting thing about american energy independence. >> ali velshi always good to have you in the studio. thank you very much. much of the focus still on crimea. why this southeastern part of ukraine is so crucial to the kremlin, and not even carnival can stop the protests in venezuela. we'll live there when we come back. ♪ welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm joh i'm -- john siegenthaler. talking middle east peace at the white house. turmoil in venezuela after a month of angry protests, no end to the demonstrations there. and uncovering history in north idaho, the story coming from a former war relocation camp for men of japanese decent. first -- an update in ukraine. due to rising tensions all scheduled military to military engagements between the u.s. and russia are on hold. the un will talk about the security in the reason gone. secretary of state john kerry heading to kiev tonight meeting with ukraine's interim leaders and parliament. and president obama meeting tonight with his top national security advisors. he says russia's movements violate international law and warned those actions will be costly. earlier today ukraine said their troops were issued an ultimatum to surrender or face consequences. randall pinkston is here with more. >> reporter: we have heard different times throughout the day, but ukrainian officials insist that the russians set a deadline to hand over control of ukrainian warships. russia denies it. one key flash point is this port, home of russia's famed black fleet. ukraine charges that russia ordered the crews of two ukrainian vessels to lay down their arms or face attack. ukrainian military bases, plus government offices and border crossings have been taken over by russian troops. ukraine fears this could be the start of an all-out invasion throw it ukraine. russia's ambassador says the ousted president asked for the russian troops. >> translator: the president has received -- of russia has received the following from the president, and i quote, the statement of the president of ukraine. as a legitimately elected representative, i say the events in my place and the events in kiev has resulted in the fact that ukraine is on the brink of a civil war. >> so many of the assertions made by the russians are without basis. the new government in kiev has pledged to honor all of its existing international agreements, including those covering russian bases. russian mobilization is a response to an imaginary threat. >> reporter: the u.s. ambassador to un joined in. the un ambassador from russia claiming that ronald reagan gave a similar rationale. >> randall thank you. vladimir putin was seen inspecting russian troops today. a spokesman says he was there to test the combat readiness of his military. one of the drill sites is along the ukraine-russian border. mike viqueira is live at the white house with more on what we're hearing about this evening's national security meeting with the president. mike? >> reporter: here is the dilemma for the administration and president obama as they struggle to respond to a lightning quick occupation. the biggest fear, john, now is that this will expand beyond crimea. we have had a number of history lessons about russia in ukraine. in particular where most of the citizens are ethnic russians or russian speakers but support those who other through the government in kiev just a few days ago now. what is on the table for the administration? sanctions. economic sanctions. diplomatic pressure. the we heard the g8 summit is now going to be the g7 summit. the 8th was russia itself. they were to host the summit in sochi, russia this summer. they have suspended preparations for that. but the essential problem is this, europe depends a great deal more on russian oil, on natural gas, on the so-called russian extraction economy, on the fossil fuels than the u.s. does. the president has called on congress to immediately and with unanimity take up bills and legislati legislations on sanctions now. but it is still very much a jumble as the united states government on both ends of pennsylvania avenue struggle to respond, john. >> mike viqueira thank you. a lot of fast-moving parts. joining us to talk more about president obama's options is reid epstein. welcome. >> good evening, john. >> what options does the president have tonight? >> not a lot of good ones. like mike said, economic sanctions and trying to hurt the russians -- hurt the russian economy over this is really what we're seeing out of the white house. there's not really any appetite even among the most hawkish. and the president without europe doesn't have a whole lot of leverage for a u.s. alone type of sanctions. some very tough talk from republicans on capitol hill today. in fact john mccain will be on "america tonight"ment coming up next, talked today about the white house and the obama administration responsibility for part of this crisis to begin with. >> republicans and sort of hawkish critics of this administration have long made the case that the president has been weak on international crises in syria particularly. he took a lot of heat for the red line comment and then not going in with force when assad used chemical weapons. and they are -- there's a lot of -- making a lot of people making the argument that because of what happened in syria, putin doesn't feel that there will be any repercussions for the russian actions on ukraine. the white house is trying to make -- push back on that hard, both yesterday and today members from the state department have suggested that their actions are already having an effect in ukraine. they have pointed that the russian stock market tanked today, their currency is down more than 8% for the year, and it's not that russia can't sustain this type of damage to its economy over the long term. the problem in the short-term these aren't necessarily immediate hits to the russian economy and putin has essentially stuck his finger in their eye on the g7. >> can you give us a sense of what is going on at the white house and what the food -- mood is like there? >> they are really trying to get the rest of the world on board with what they are doing. there was a joint statement from the non-russian members of the g8 last night. we saw talk about the president working with allies to present a united front against russia, canceling -- the u.s. at least canceling bilateral military exercise, and by lateral trade, but the real test here is can the white house and president obama unite the rest of the world behind them in presenting their -- their sanctions and their punishment of the russians, and like mike said it is going to be difficult because the rest of europe depends so much on russian energy. russian natural gas, et cetera in a way that the united states doesn't. so places like that are putting their own economy at risk if they buy into these sanctions. >> do you get the sense that the obama administration has any military options here? >> it's hard to see how they have real military options. we have heard just in the last half hour from the pentagon that nothing has changed on their front, they are not sending -- at the moment anyway -- they are not sending and haven't had planned worked up to send ships into the black sea. of course if they did, the russians would undoubtedly see that as a poff indication, and the whole thing could escalate farther. reid thank you. >> thank you. >> let's lead to "america tonight" and joie chen is standing by to tell us more about her interview with john mccain. >> we're going to have a very special "america tonight" this evening. a full hour of coverage on the ukraine. we'll focus on the latest developments and bring background and perspective on russia's provocative actions in ukraine. now as you know, here in washington, mr. obama has been taking heavy hits from republicans who are very sharply critical of his performance so far beginning with john mccain. >> when he said the greatest catastrophe of the 20th century was the collapse of the soviet union, he meant it. >> that is coming up at the top of the hour. we'll see you then, john. >> joie thanks very much. now to the uprising in venezuela. a call from the jailed opposition leader for new protests. venezuela has not been able to stop those demonstrations despite 18 deaths over the past month. paul beban is there. what are you seeing tonight? >> reporter: well, good evening, john. i'm here whereas you mentioned the demonstrations began about a month ago, and it started with a case of sexual assault on a university campus. there was a protest about lack of security, and that has snowballed into what has become nationwide protest over security, the economy, and the crackdown itself. the government says this is an effort that is ruled by washington, an effort to overthrow his government. the protesters say they are tired of the poor economy, and corruption and mismanagement. >> what is the current government saying about the protests? >> here this is really a city on lockdown. we had to drive around barricade after barricade coming into the city. the government says these barricades are causing problems for lower-class people making it difficult for them to get to work. middle class folks say they need it to keep security forces and roving bandits out of their neighborhood. right now the two sides are not talking. the government sort of seemed to extent a peace offering, but with lopez in jail, as you mentioned, there's no one to talk to. so the opposition really not talking, just calling each other names at this point, and there is no end in sight. >> wednesday is the one-year anniversary of hugo chavez. thousands are expected in the area. what does that mean for the opposition going forward? >> that's right, john, wednesday will be a huge day in caracas, very, very high security as you might imagine. it's not clear what the protesters plan to do as there's no leadership. these protests heat up in the evenings. overnight clashes, the a air -- barricades are cleaned up and it happens over and over again. >> i know you have just gotten down there, but have you been getting a sense of the level of tension that you perceive on the ground? >> well, john, here today it was palpable, we spent more of the day trying to talk to people. we talked to a pharmacy manager who's shelves were bare, talking about the lack of medications and formula. the police came in and we had to move on. earlier we were up on the barricades, and you hear pots and pans ringing out, fireworks and potential shots being required. so we had to move away from the situation. in caracas is a little bit different. certainly across the country a real sense of wondering where the resolution will come. a high-level meeting between president obama and israel's prime minister, benjamin, netenyahu. mr. obama urged netenyahu to make some tough decisions to keep the us-backed peace process moving forward. >> when we look at what we have got in return, it has been scores of suicide bombers, and just just inses sant push back from palestinians. >> president obama meets with palestinian authority later this months. china's state news agency blaming a accept are advertise group for saturday night's mass stabbing that killed more than 30 people. the attack took place in a city in southern china. china's president has called for a strong response to punish the attackers. beijing has cracked down on western minority groups in recent months. >> an unusual excavation is underway in idaho. u.s. residents of japanese decent were sent there after the bombing of pearl harbor. they help build u.s. route 12. >> reporter: drive route 12 turn up a gravel road and you will step out into history. >> i took the chance to get out of that prison camp and went to work in another camp with a few others. >> reporter: she reads her father's word about his time at the end of the gravel road. it housed just 265 inmates, all male, mostly volunteers from other camps. there was no barbed wire, no guard towers, just one road in and out. >> i worked on a road along a river. i was paid $55 a month. it was the only camp of its kind in the united states. it was really kind of an experiment. is this going to work? >> reporter: the men were of japanese decent but not american citizens. some kidnapped out of latin america and brought to this country. this man was from peru. >> during any free time i played ball, learned the fun of fishing. >> reporter: because it was under justice department jurisdiction, these men were considered prisoners of war. they had geneva convention rights, they knew it. >> their accommodations were better, and they would even get beer. >> reporter: artifacts unearthed show they even got their own doctors. that's marianne's father in the white hat. summertime digs have produced thousands of objects. the project leader first walked the site in 2010, certain it has been largely untouched for 65 years. >> we looked around and there were whole bottles, and there were thousands of artifacts on the surface. >> including pieces from gambling games. art carved from local river rock. >> he would have loved that there is more studying going on now. and if he could have gone to see the dig site and all of that, that would have been awesome for him. >> reporter: he did try decades a ago, father and daughter drove the miles of the road he helped build. >> he was free to have all of that experience. isn't that ironic. i said he was free to have all of that experience. my father liked it. >> reporter: he wasn't free, of course, just a prisoner of a different kind in a different kind of world war ii camp. and coming up on this broadcast, there are more than 30 million adults who cannot read in the u.s. >> my wife passed away, then i got to go from relative to relative, trying to get them to help me read my mail. i had then two -- >> help for america's forgotten adults coming up. >> ice and snow continue to fall in parts of the mid-atlantic. north carolina especially still getting only ice. we had ice accumulating from freezing rain and sleet up to an inch in depth from overnight to early in the morning today. temperatures so cold they are just not going to -- thaw out for some time. but winter has come to an end, and we are going to edge toward spring. this chicago it came up to the third coldest and third snowiest on the record books. in march we had a bunch of new records in nebraska today. 40 degrees below normal, and this is low temperatures, hitting daily records as well. as we get into our tuesday morning, so many of us all along the east are going to have temperatures bottoming out, and we're going to be getting awfully close to record low temperatures for the month of march. is one of the world's most gruelling sports represents. dozens of sled dogs running almost a thousand miles through the ice and snow of alaska. 69 teams from around the world competing in the annual race. 18 of last year's top 20 are back. the teams are now making their way through north america's highest mountains. today is read across america day. it's a day to celebrate dr. seuss's birthday and to encourage students to enjoy a book. but there are about 32 million adults in this country who cannot read. >> reporter: every monday and friday, this man heads to the chicago cultural center for a date with the same woman. >> it had been two -- two -- >> reporter: in a quiet corner, the 71 year old reads a story he wrote. she has been his tutor for the past decade. barns grew up in poverty on a farm, never attending school, and never learning to read. >> when my wife passed away, i got to go from relative to relative, trying to get them to help me read my mail. i said this ain't going to work. >> reporter: 30 million u.s. adults can't read beyond a third grade level but only about 3 million are getting tutored. literacy advocates say getting an adult to learn how to read can be a real challenge. they say literacy often needs to be tied towards a goal like getting a high school diploma or getting a job. this literacy class for low income adults provides tutoring in reading, math, and social studies with the goal of preparing students for high school equivalency exams. before you read use prior only in. >> reporter: programs like this are mostly funded by federal block grants to states. literacy adz -- advocate says money pays for the classes only. >> do they need transportation? child care, addressing some of these barriers so they can go back and build their foundational skills. >> reporter: barns started learning to lead after he retired from a job at a hotel. still being an older student was a challenge. >> when i first started learning, it was hard. it was hard, but i said -- i said this is what i wanted to do. >> reporter: he now reads at about a third grade level and is her most inspiring student. >> he appreciated everything thing that he learned. every week was a new adventure. >> reporter: an adventure that has changed his life. >> oh, it feels so good. >> reporter: an adventure he says he will continue. dianne feinstein, al jazeera, chicago. fat tuesday is now just hours away in new orleans. the monday before is known for fireworks and music, and the day of two of the city's biggest carnival parades, and tonight the king of carnivale was greeted by the major. tomorrow marks the beginning of the 40-day season known as lent. the battle between two american institutions and the policy that has the two at odds. plus as the crisis in ukraine unfolds, we'll hear from a civilian in crimea who says he does not want the united states intervenes. you can check out our live blog crisis in ukraine posted on our website at aljazeera.com. here is the image that caught our eye tonight. some happy faces in afghanistan where children were playing as american soldiers were touring their village. our headlines are coming up right after this. ♪ >> al jazeera's investigative unit has tonight's exclusive report. >> stories that have impact... that make a difference... that open your world... >> this is what we do... >> america tonight next only on al jazeera america >> this is the real deal man... welcome to al jazeera america. i'm john siegenthaler in new york. and here are the top stories. russia has denied reports that it has issued an ultimatum to ukrainian troops saying lay their arms down or face attack. president obama says russia is violating international law with its activities in ukraine. the pentagon says it is suspending all scheduled military to military engagements between the u.s. and russia. the crisis is crying oil and gas prices higher and stocks lower. traders worried russian oil exports could be disrupted if economic sanctions are imposed on moscow. and the u.s. as suspended trade and investment talks with russia. and lopez urges demonstrators to continue protests against the president in venezuela. the president says the protests are a u.s. supported attempt to overthrow the government. "america tonight" is up next. russia. >> on a special maircht: "ameria tonight,": putin's play and america's power. >> he will be able to show russia's force. >> vladimir putin is an old kgb colonel that wants to establish the old russian empire. >> president obama's critical diplomacy as the divide deanens.