This is real money. You are the most important part of the show. Tell me whats on your mind by tweeting alivelshi and facebook. Com alivelshi. Fighting in Eastern Ukraine got more intention with direct russian intervention in the conflict zone. Todays violence centered around luhansk, where rebels have been encircled for nineteen days. Today, at least 34 trucks from a controversial russian aid convoy drove into the city to relief residents and fighters with water and supplies. They crossed into ukraine without coordination from the International Committee of the red cross which was a condition the Ukrainian Government had demanded. Russia says 90 more trucks are headed to luhansk now. Ukrainians government blasted the russian government as a direct invasion. Nato claimed the Russian Military has moved artilleriunits into ukrainian territory in recent days. It says russia is using them to fire at Ukrainian Forces in the two main battle zoeningz in Eastern Ukraine. Luhan luhansk. The dispute over ukraine is most serious crisis to befall europe since the cold war. The United States and the European Union have slapped sanctions on russia while russia has retaliated with its own sanctions against the west. Nato has also moved extra troops into member countries that border russia. In Eastern Ukraine, more than 2,000 people have died in the fighting while 340,000 people homes. As Ukrainian Government forces win big gains against the rebels. Russia sending its convoys to the border now, just highlights the flight of civilians caught in the fighting. Its putting frepressure on ukre to end the military campaign right as it closes in on the rebels. It also increases the likelihood of an allout Russian Military assault. If ukrainian troops fire on the convoy, for more on the tension on the ground, the barker has this report from the Donetsk Region of Eastern Ukraine. Reporter on the move, the first of more than 260 russian aid trucks, the vehicles have been in almolimbo on the border more than a week as kiev and moscow argue over their entry for now, in defiance of kiev, trucks are rolling into ukraine, apparently under separatist escort. Kievs calling the move a direct invasion. This is where the trucks are thought to be heading. The separatistheld city of luhansk where street to street fighting rages. The city remains under constant ukrainian bombardment. More than a thousand refugees have sought sanctuary. A few weeks ago, these people lived ordinary lives in quiet back waters. But the war has changed everything. Angela state fighting in the town of olivka. She said she has been at the monastery for a month. Her and her family gathered what they could and fled. We are on the road to olifka, now the scene of some of the fiercest fighting. Even here, without water, electricity and the constant threat of shelling, locals are trying to live normal lives. We past the last ukrainian checkpoint and we are now in no mans land. The separatist fighters are only a couple of kilometers down this road. They remain in control of the town of olivka. The Ukrainian Army together with volunteer battalions continuing to tighten the noose on the last remaining strongholds. For now, the Ukrainian Forces appear to have the upper hand. It looks like donetsk and luhansk are already are ours. We are just in the process of clearing up. There are no major forces left. The battlefield changes shape on a daily basis. With the rival of the russian convoy, the tide of war could still change. Ne tive. D barker, the Donetsk Region, Eastern Ukraine. Joining us with a glom attic flury ukraine is causing at the United Nations from u. N. Headquarters in new york. Daniel, whats the sflaift. Reporter well, the Security Council just had consultations on this affair. We didnt really expect this today. It was unannounced. Consultations are not quite a meeting. They dont actually produce a result, per se. One of the problems the council has, the highest political body at the u. N. , is that it needs unanimity, the permanent members like russia, u. S. And others to agree on everything. Russia is not agreeing to this. Russia is insisting and their ambassador was quite strong about this. This is strictly a humanitarian move. They wanted to get food in before it rotted. The ukrainian representative here, of course, called it as you said, an incursion of violation of international law. So the Security Council is watching, expressing concern. But not really able to do very much at this point. We expect more of this over the weekend and into next week. Beyond the weekend and just is next . Reporter you know, we have had the threats of sanctions sanctions. There is already some there. Mostly, they are looking toward a meeting in bela russia that will involve lighters sitting down for the First Time Since this really got bad. So thats one thing. Also, the unitedflations have another meeting with the Security Council on monday, perhaps with a memory formal resolution or some sort of ceasefire call, Something Like that. They are upping the diplomatic pressure. But the fact of the matter s so far it hasnt worked. Russia has kept the pressure up on ukraine and ukraine kept the fighting going. Its doift see where it goes after this. Daniel at the United Nations. Thanks so much. One u. S. Firm with a lot at stake as russia pulls out on the numerous deals with western Energy Companies is exxonmobil. It has deep financial ties to russias state controlled Energy Company and on monday, the u. S. Added the chief to the list of russians faces sanctions. Now, so far, exs deals arent impacted but the relationship between exxon and russia underscores the reality of Global Business today. The Foreign Policy interests of the United States dont always mesh with the business interests of u. S. Corporations. Atricia sabga has the story. Reporter russian president Vladimir Putin awarding exxonmobil ceo the order of friendship in 2014. A picture of cooperation that continues despite escalating tensions between the white house and kremlin over the crisis in ukraine. Since 2011, exxonmobil has substantially strengthened its ties with russian stateowned petro chemical giant inking deals to build a liquefied national gas plant in russias far east, develop oil fracking sites in western siberia and ajoint 3. 2 billion project to hunt for oil in the black sea and Russian Arctic waters, a deal majority financed by exxon, the trades act to trade access to billsions of barrels of boil for expertise. Exxon is going to russia because of the opportunity there. And russia wants exxon because t they believe exxon can bring something that russia does not have or russia needs more of. The relationship also gives rosnept a foothold in the west with exploration rights in the gulf of mexico. Oil and gas are a lynchpin of russian power. The exxonmobil deals are enhancing regardless of u. S. Foreign policy objections. Exxon sends a message loud and clear. We are not representing the u. S. Government. We could disagree on some policies and everything else. We are here to do business. According to the private empire, exxonmobil and american power, the companys former ceo once said quote, i dont make decisions based upon whats good for the u. S. But if moscow were to bar western Energy Companies from russian territory, exxonmobil wouldnt necessarily lose out. Lets say this crisis gets worse. Means there is more pressure on energy markets, which means higher prices, which means more revenue for exxon. Patricia sabga, al jazeera, new york. Todays developments come in the face of tougher sanctions imposed late last month on russia by the European Union and United States. Those sanctions, whichp Presidet Barack Obama said would have more bite than in the past action specifically target Key Industries including the allimportant Energy Sector. Are the sanctions making any difference . It is being said they are at least partly responsible for new cash flow problems at roznek. Steve covers energy and joins us to take a look at what impact sanctions are having. Is russia feeling any real pain from these sanctions . You are not seeing russia is not seeing pain at the moment. Its sort of an anticipated pain. We have seen over the last few days that the ceo of roznep, the largest in the dwunt tree, a strated emergencyic asset for putin has asked for 2,000,000,000, 2 20s billion dollars in the bank. A cash cow. It asking for that much money means that its hurting. What we are seeing is banks on which roznep relies for its future cash flow, cracking down and they are doing so because they are worried about the current sanctions and another coming. So i mean people have called the company basically an atm. So for them to come out and be asking for this much money, thats got a lot of people thinking twice here so talk about the banks exactly. What are they preparing for . What are they thinking is next that they are acting proactively right now . They are worried about well, first, the first thing to get out of the way is there is going to be another round of sanctions. The activity that we have seen today in ukraine, the crossing of the border of the humanitarian convoy, the youn lateral decision to cross and the report out of washington that russia has placed artillery on ukraine soil manned by russians, this is a signal to all of us, as early as next week, new sanctions, the banks are worried that there their own cash flow relationships that they have are going to be impacted, meaning frozen. They could be in trouble, so anticipating that they are stopping activity with roznep. What does it mean for the Energy Sector . Because when you talk about particular. You said its not whats happening right now but its whats going to happen decades from now with these sanctions. Explain that. So the oil business, its one that in order to make it work, you have to invest and make your plans far in advance. It takes a very, very long time to identify where you are going to drill to make the decision that you are going to finance and define the oil and so on to find the oil and so on. It can take 10 years from start to finish. So, therefore, the oil we are seeing today, the decisions on that were made two decades ago and longer. So right now, Vladimir Putin is focused not on his current oil but what happens in the 2020s, in the 2030s. He is worried about his legacy. He wants to be seen as th modernday version of peter the great so that when president obama and the europeans together sanction projects, oil investment, Oil Equipment that would be used for Oil Production two decades from now, that hurts. Makes putin worried today. So he is worried today about whats happening in the future . Steve lavine from, thank you for joining us today. Thank you. Thank you. Its a delicate balance for the fed as it tries to decide when to raise Interest Rates with americas economy still in recovery. We will take a look coming up. The multibillion Dollar Energy resource that remains untapped right off of the shores of gaza. Story and more as real money continues. Keep it here. The leader of the nations Largest Teachers UnionLily Eskelsen garcia people really do still believe in their teachers defending tenure. Taking on standardized tests and fixing education in america put authority and power in the hands of the people in that school every saturday join us for exclusive, revealing, and surprising talks with the most interesting people of our time. Talk to al jazeera only on Al Jazeera America janet yellen gave her debut addressed to as Federal Reserve chair as the annual fed shindig in jackson hole wyoming. She calls for a pragmatic approach. The feds key lending rate has been kept close to zero since the recession. More jobs are being created. Housing is back on track and the overall economy looks headed for recovery. Some fed officials think its time to let rates go back up. They worry the lower rates will fuel inflation. Yellen isnt so sure. Prices are rising but at much slower rates. Yellen worries about slack in the job market. Whatever decision the fed makes going forward, you can be sure it will be felt by all. What decision the Federal Reserve makes may seem like an academic exercise for financial industry insiders but, in fact, what grows on at the fed can have enormous impact on your finances. The fed doesnt control any consumer rates directly but they regulate the federal funds rate, the Interest Rate banks charge each other on overnight loans and when that rate changes, it can set off a Chain Reaction in the film financial market. To help stimulate the economy after the financial collapse of 2008, the fed kept the federal funds rate hovering at historic lows. The thought being that consumers will benefit if banks have more money available for loans. Mortgages arent pegged directly to the federal funds rate but a near zero fed rate helped keep Mortgage Rates low until about a year ago, when they started to edge up, peeking at 4. Peaking at 4. 8 . Sent shock waves through the housing market. On the flip side, a low federal funds rate has meant low rates of return for consumers on bank accounts, certificates of deposit and money market accounts. The question for the fed now is how much longer should they keep the federal funds rate near zero . If they inch the rate up one or two percentage points, they may risk slowing the economy since rates on mortgages, credit cards and car loans would probably rise, too. So far, the fed has given mixed signals saying in their last meeting in july that it might become appropriate to become removing Monetary Policy accommodations sooner than they currently anticipated. Clouded language short on specifics. For now, only one thing is certain, the federal funds rate cant stay at zero forever. Joining me now by phone from jackson hole, wyoming, the economics errorer at the wall street journal. He says Yellen Company are pressing the world for higher rates. They could come sooner people think. Pedro, what did you learn today . Rates . Well, the thing is that essentially, yellen is preparing the public for the possibility that rates will rise sooner people expect even though it might not actually happen. The economy has been improving, and she is basically acknowledging the recent improvement in the labor market that has been great earn the if he had expected. It has been lower than they expected it to be in the recovery. So acknowledging that, she has related the message the july meeting and they could move earlier. Earlier, as soon as march or april. Again, all data. Pedro, you are breaking up alleges. We appreciate your time. Pedro joining us from jackson hole wyoming. With a slump in sales and a scandal in china, mcdonalds archs are looking a bit tarnished. The Worlds Largest fast food chain is shaking up, mike anders will replace geoff stratton, a former ceo of logan roadhouse restaurants was a longtime mcdonalds executive. As familiar as he may be, hisedes job wont be an easy one. Sales have dropped. Healthy fast food chains are taking a bite out of mcdonalds market share and there is more competition. In july, mcdonalds reported the 9th consecutive month of lower sales growth. A wealth of Natural Resources could help pay to rebuild gaza once the fighting ends. But there is a catch. Story coming up. Plus, the push to get all of americas classrooms wired for the digital age. Tomorrow on tech know. I cannot imagine being trapped in ruble like this. A miraculous new invention. This if finder. Its a victim detection radar. That could save your life. As long as your heart is beating, we can detect you. Tech know. Every saturday, go where science meets humanity. This is some of the best driving ive ever done. Even though i cant see tech know. Were here in the vortex. Tomorrow, 7 30 eastern. Only on Al Jazeera America. These young people deserve justice anatomy of a protest. The police look like theyre getting ready to come down the street with militarized Police Departments forces their message. Theyre actually firing canisters of gas. A fractured Community Demands answers what do we want . Justice when do we want it . Now faul lines, Al Jazeera Americas hard hitting. There blocking the door. Ground breaking. Truth seeking. We have to get out of here. Award winning investigative documentary series. Special episode Ferguson City under siege only on Al Jazeera America audiences are intelligent a