we're not toys. we are not going down without a fight. >> gangs, guns and the battle for the future of chicago's schools. see all the real life drama when "chicagoland" premieres tonight on cnn, 10:00 p.m. eastern, 9:00 p.m. central. that's it for the l.e.e.ea "the. i turn you over to wolf blitzer. happening now, crisis in ukraine. some people being thrown off a roof. violent passions are running this high, how can diplomacy succeed. are u.s. lobbyists cashing in big time by selling russia's message? and i'll ask samantha power, does the international community have the will to roll back the russian move into crimea? she'll join us live this hour.

i'm wolf blitzer and you're in the situation room. shocking new images of violent confrontations in ukraine as ukranian forces chase pro russian intruders out of a base. hate stred appeared appears to pish. they call on a vote on rejoining russia. will president obama and john kerry weigh in with strong warnings and sanctions. and russian forces make a move of their own. cap sizing an old warship in a narrow passage.

let's begin with jim sciutto with the very latest. >> are with the announcement of the referendum, the president and secretary kerry really had to make definitive and strong statements today. and they also took the first steps with penalties on russia. these visa bans on senior officials as well as laying the ground work for further sanctions on entities which could include russian state banks. they are keeping the diplomatic path open, but that path moving frustratingly slow. increasingly frustrated by the stalemate in ukraine, today the obama administration delivered new penalties and a unified condemnation. the white house punishing russia with a visa ban for senior officials involved in the military intervention. and as ethnic russians in crimea celebrated a referendum to effectively declare the region part of russia, u.s. leaders

rejected the idea outright. >> the proposed referendum on the future of crimea would violate the ukranian constitution and violate international law. in 2014, we are well beyond the days when borders can be redrawn over the heads of democratic leaders. >> reporter: despite the president's strong words today in rome secretary kerry emphasized additional sanctions will not be implemented yet in order to give more room for diplomacy. >> russia particularly has the opportunity now to make the right choices in order to deescalate. >> reporter: but i did proceed massey is stuttering. kerry's attempts for direct talks between russia and ukraine have so far failed and among washington's european allies meeting today in brussels, there are still questions about how far they're willing to go with sanctions. >> we want to reset our relationship. so we will do it together. >> reporter: five years to the day the u.s. and russia hit the

reset button, the broader relationship is under threat. on syria, russia failed to pressure al assad to cooperate in recent peace talks in geneva which ended without progress or plans to meet again. and moscow is allowing damascus to drag its feet on implementing the deal to destroy its chemical weapons. one question now, will tensions over ukraine threaten russia's cooperation with the west nuclear deal with iran. a prospect secretary kerry dismissed. >> we will continue to work in a professional manner in order to try to resolve those issues that come to us and to try to do so in a way that advances global interests of peace and stability and security. >> it may be an issue where they can continue to work together well. this is an area where u.s. and russian interests overlap. but on issues where those interests differ such as on the

ukraine, the real challenge now is finding diplomatic ways to resolve them. and one other note today, the ukraine asked interpol today to issue a red notice, an international arrest warrant for viktor yanukovych who is of course accused of leaving the country with billions of dollars of state money. >> they're accusing him of war crimes, ordering the killing of those individuals in kiev. how is russia likely to react as they regard him still as the legitimate president of ukraine? >> a good question. and to this point, interpol has not accepted that request. but you can't imagine russia would cooperate if yanukovych is on russian territory. >> thanks very much. secretary of state john kerry is on a diplomatic marathon mission. trying to ease the crisis in ukraine. he's moved there kiev to paris to rome. where he spoke again today with his russian counter part, sergey lavrov. kerry echoed the president's denunciation of the crimean referendum in response to a

question from elyse labin. tell us how it went down. >> reporter: secretary kerry met for the first time in the last 36 hours with lavrov trying to get the diplomatic process going on, but an issue is what the future of the crimea is going to be. the u.s. is really poring a lot of cold water on the idea of this referendum for crimea to join russia, but we've batalkin about a lot of people position if the referendum would go forward, crimea would vote to join russia. i asked secretary kerry whether there are any circumstances the u.s. could accept this referend referendum. take it a listen to what he said. you said that the ukraine kran people have the right to determine their own future. does that include the people of crimea, don't they have the right to determine their own future? >> crimea is part of ukraine.

crimea is ukraine. and we support the territorial in-telling gritty of ukraine and the government of ukraine needs to be involved in any kind of decision with respect to any part of ukraine. any referendum on ukraine will have to be absolutely consistent with ukranian law. >> reporter: wolf, it's kind of interesting that secretary kerry does imply that there would be some kind of refer rep dumb, en he's saying it has to be under the ukrainian constitution. >> after three straight days of these talks, so far no one seems to be bunching oig. so where do we go from here? >> reporter: well, despite the tough talk, i think there is a diplomatic progress in play. and i think you'll see people start to climb down over the

next couple of days. and you saw secretary kerry throwing an olive branch to russia, the u.s. not imposing those sanctions to give diplomacy a chance and to show russia it can get what he wants as long as it is not so brazen about it. so i would say an educated guess is there will be some kind of diplomatic process you you got over the next week or two, get the ukrainians and russians in the same room, maybe you have some kind of diplomatic agreement where russia pulls back its forces. but it will be back to the status quo. and in the end of the day, wolf, russia will get what it wants, putin will remain very tight control over this de facto russian territory, and when you look at countries that in nato, they will never want ukraine to join under these circumstances and that's exactly what putin wants. >> he could be a big winner all of this. we'll see what happens. elyse, thanks very much. as tensions rise in ukraine, the united states and russia are both making some strategic

military moves. russia beginning some massive air defense drills not very far away from ukraine. let's go live to barbara starr. what are you learning? >> wolf, these drills are about 300 miles from the border with ukraine, about 3,000 troops involved. air defense exercises. so different than the kinds of forces and weapons they put into crimea. this is about defending russian territory. but make no mistake, we've talked to u.s. sources who -- government sources who have been looking at this and say they are their concern remains the same. could the russians be using these exercises as a pretext for something else, as pretext for moving troops into ukraine, more troops in to crimea. that is the big worry. they want to make sure diplomacy is on track, but i did proceed massey needs to work before something goes wrong. >> there have been a number of u.s. military moves today. bring us up-to-date on what is going on. >> well, first up, the u.s. navy

destroyer uss truckston let where it was ported sailing several hours towards turkey by the morning it will be inside the black sea. this is a regularly scheduled operation. the u.s. navy says the russians know all about it and they expect no trouble, no unpleasantness. this is routine navy business that they are not backing down from, making port calls, making visits. they don't see any problems. also uss f-15s landed in lithuania. there will be more u.s. air patrols over the baltic nations which are on russia's western flank. >> as far as the russian military is concerned, what is the latest u.s. assessment? >> i've talked to several officials all day long. here is the bottom line. you can call it status quo, you can call it pause, call it

standoff, call it what you will. the concern remains the same. 20,000 russian rooms in the crimea. we've seen the individual incidents of violence earlier today that have emerged. but this is basically a status quo standoff three days in a row now. and the question that u.s. analysts are looking at is how long can this last before somebody blinks before there is a problem, before some kind of conflict were to break out. all it takes is two soldiers on two different sides getting into a fight and you can have a big problem. they want diplomacy to work before that would happen. >> u.s. officials are deeply concerned about that kind of development. barbara, thank you. up next, americans on putin's payroll by selling russia's message. u.s. lobbyists, public relations firms are cashing in. and as tensions rise, ukranian troops talk about the strange reality they face russian soldiers walking around their

base. plus, what will the u.s. do if crimea residents do vote to rejoin russia? i'll speak live this hour with the united states ambassador to the united nations samantha power. [ female announcer ] you know the little song he'll hum

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some american firms are cashing in big by getting russia's message across here in the united states. brian todd is looking into this part of the story for us. it's fascinating. >> sure is. while vladimir putin tips to defy america and its allies, he

still has big time interests in the united states and spend as lot of money pushing those interests. we dug into who the high powered americans are who wiare doing putin's bidding in this country. turns out putin doesn't just flex his muscles in his objewn region. he has a lobbying and pr machine that makes some americans very rich. according to filings with the justice department, waldman worked a few engineering as go on behalf of lavrov. the documents show he was paid $40,000 a month by a russian billion the billionaire to help resolve via issues. according to the "wall street journal," he had had his u.s. via a revoked because of concerns he was tied to organized crime. in the same report, he denied that. waldman's firm didn't return our calls.

why would the firm work for the country that works against america's interests? >> they're guns for hire. it's their business to support controversial clients and the optics of it aren't great. >> justice elliott found government documents showing a massive american pr firm got almost $23 million from putin's government between 2006 and 12012. and more than $17 million from russia's government owned gas company. his job in pushing putin's agenda in the u.s.. it sets up tv interviews and was instrumental this getting putin's op-ed into the "new york times" last year when putin scolded the u.s. for considering force in syria. >> this iss an ors that hire as love the people who work in

advertising, some come from the news media, some come from government. >> reporter: he sent us a statement acknowledging they do public relations work for the russian, but also saying we are not advising the russian federation on foreign policy including the current situation in ukraine. two other washington firms who have made hundreds of thousands of dollars working for the russians didn't speak to us. now, despite the optics here, the work these firms do for the the russians is all legal and above board. they are required to file documents with the justice department saying what they're doing and the reason we know about their work and the money they make is because they have complied with the law. >> so to be fair, the ukranian government, former ukranian opposition, they have hired washington lobbyists, pr guys themselves. >> that's right. they have lobbyists here. some governments who the u.s. has not gotten along with in the past have had representatives in this country in washington doing very effective work. moammar gadhafi had high powered lobbyists in washington for a long time. many, many people do this.

this is the washington game. and putin is just playing it pretty well. >> a lot of for governments have representatives here. they have to register as foreign agents. but it's all legal. >> and all these firms working for putin can ddid register. >> good to shed light on what is going on. coming up, dramatic new first hand accounts of the crisis in ukraine. we'll hear military officers, they will reveal their fears and what will the u.s. do if crimea votes to become part of russia. i'll ask the united states ambassador to the united nations samantha powers. she's standing by to join me live.

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some of president obama's toughest talk yet in this crisis, slamming a proposed crimean referendum to rejoin russia and warning it would violate international law. >> any discussion about the future of ukraine must include the legitimate government of ukraine. in 2014, we are well beyond the days when borders can be redrawn over the heads of democratic

leaders. >> let's bring in gloria borger and peter binert. peter, is this just saber rattling? what is the strategy here that the president has? >> i really don't see what the president's strategy is. if the u.s. wants to prevent russia from going into the rest of eastern ukraine, i can see how some of our tools could prevent that from happening. but i don't think we have a lot of leverage. we won't acknowledge the legitimacy of it, but i don't see that it's very likely that the u.s. will be able to take tough enough measures especially given resistance from germany and some other european countries to prevent this from taking place in that. >> in plolitical terms, we call this a pre--butal. so it was very clear watching

the president and secretary of state today that they know there is very little they can do. if this referendum would occur, they know russia would get the outcome they want so they took to the air waves to say that it's unconstitutional and that it's of course a farce. but i agree with you, i don't think that there is much they can do. they started the visa ban today. at some point, they can ratchet up their sanctions and ban russian banks for example from doing business in this country like we can did with iran. but they're not there yet because europe is not on board with that program. >> and what about that? is there any chance you think, peter, that europe will join the united states assuming they go ahead, the russians and this referendum goes forward, crimea in effect votes to become part of russia, do you think germany and several of the other major european countries would join the united states in starting formal economic sanctions

against russia? >> not tough ones i don't think. these are countries that are very dependent on russian gas and also countries where a lot of the russian elite are now parking their money. so the costs to them are significant and i don't think that they are likely to judge that those tough sanctions would succeed in dislodging russia from crimea. what makes this such a difficult situation is that on the one hand, putin is acting in a thuggish, lawless way. on the other hand, it's probably true that most of the people in crimea would rather be part of russia. after all, they were part of are your srussia until 1954. it was ashtray for khrushchev to hand them over to ukraine. so that is why it's difficult to find a way of responding. >> the president has a problem. i think he's striking the right tone. i don't think you can rattle the saber and i think he's trying very hard not to do that.

but he has a structural problem that he really can't get over. and that is that while congress may be willing to approve sanctions, he's got europe which is really a problem for him. so we can do this visa ban and this asset limits for individuals, but anything broader such as what we did with iran is very hard to get to. so the president's in kind of a tough spot here where ironically the congress is willing to support him i think more than europe. >> peter, it's interesting if you take a look at -- you heard brian todd's report on lobbyists, foreign agents working for russia here in the united states. they're getting a paid a lot of money. it's not illegal, certainly above board. a lot of foreign countries have representatives right here in the nation's capital. but we have two reporters from our team, the russian government's cable television cable network, russia today,

they quit in protest. how much impact does putin have here in the united states, how much influence does he have through this tv channel, through these foreign agents, these lobbyists, these pr firms? >> well, when you think about all the money that russia has poured in trying to influence u.s. media, if it was doing any good before this invasion of crimea, it's certainly been all undone by his behavior now. and it seems to me putin is someone who care as lot about propaganda, but it seems to me what he fundamentally doesn't understand is that we live in a world in which values of democracy and human rights and international law are the thunderstorm by which countries are judged. sometimes the u.s. is judged as not living up to them. but he's doing himself no favors in terms of international reputation or his reputation in the united states by something which is so transparently lawless as this. >> peter beinart, gloria borger, thanks very much.

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the united states and its allies are waging a diplomatic effort to ease the crisis in ukraine. but the secretary of state john kerry hasn't convinced russia to talk directly with the new government in ukraine. and as crimea sets a referendum on rejoining russia, the u.s. is starting down the road of sanctions. we're joined by samantha power. ambassador, thanks very much for joining us. >> good to be here. >> so does the u.s. and its allies do if the referendum goes forward and the people in crimea vote to secede in effect from ukraine and become part of russia? >> well, we have made clear today as have many countries away the world that the referendum would be illegal under the terms of the ukranian constitution and international law. any such referendum would have to occur under the ukrainian constitution across the entirety of ukraine and not just in a sub

region like this. if it went forward, it would get almost no recognition except perhaps from russia. >> you know the russians and some people in ukraine are arguing that viktor yanukovych the president who was democratically elected was ousted in effect and he's somewhere in russia, we believe, right now. according to unconstitutional means, basically just kicked out. was that okay? >> well, as you know, an agreement was achieved thanks to european envoys who went in and negotiated with president yanukovych as a result of the massive street protests and the view that their interests were not being taken into account. there was a compromise agreement achieved in order to give the parliament more power and would have allowed yanukovych to stay in power until elections were held later in the year yanukovych walked away from that agreement and in so doing also left vast evidence of the

corruption that he had presided over while he served as president. so while russia might wish that yanukovych stayed as part of this pfebruary 21st agreement, e made the decision he did and abandoned his country. >> does the u.s. consider yanukovych a criminal? the new ukrainnian xwechlagreem interested interpol to arrest him. >> the uhe krukranian people ar in the best position to judge. that is not for the united states to decide. and what has been impressive about the new authorities in kike kiev is the degree they want to reach out to russia, they want to clean up the corruption. and right now as we speak, they are sitting down with the imf

and other technical experts trying to put in place technical reforms so as to shore up the economy and the culture of corruption. >> so if this referendum goes forward and they move to become part of russia, what does the u.s. do then? >> i think you heard president obama today issue and seen this executive order in much we threaten sanctions against those who would interfere with the territorial integrity and sovereignty of ukraine. the names will come as soon as you saw people interfering along the lines of what has been described or proposed in crimea. we are hopeful that the political and economic isolation that russia faces, not just on the behest of the united states but in the broader international community and particularly with europe standing with us, that with that pathway ahead looking unattractive to say the least, that president putin can become part of the solution here and pull back miss forces from crimea, engage with the crimeans in a way that doesn't incite

them to make announcements like the kind they made today, but in fact encourage them to engage with the ukranian authorities who are eager to do so. but so far we have not seen signs that he's prepared to take the deescalatory ramp that is available to him. >> in fact i see other signs that a lot of observers would agree a that maybe crimea as part of ukraine may already be lost for all practical purposes irrespective of what happens. i point to what happened back in august of 2008.for all practica irrespective of what happens. i point to what happened back in august of 2008. when there was movement in georgia and russian troops moved in then, during the bush administration, condoleezza rice was then the secretary of state. our chief national security correspondent jim sciutto reminded me of what she said then. listen to what condoleezza rice said when a similar crisis erupted then. >> i want to make very clear that the united states stands for the territorial integrity of

georgia, for the sovereignty of georgia, that we support its democratically elected government and its people. >> but russian troops moved in and in certain areas they're still there. >> well, again, i think it's maybe not helpful to talk about precede precedents. we're seeking to create a future where the past is not replicated here in ukraine and the broad unity of the international community i think is impressive. and formidable. i've just come from the security council. and there were no illusions about the view on this referend referendum. so we're living in the present, wolf. and president putin has made clear that he wants to be economically integrated into the international community. the russian economy is broadly dependent on trade not only with the united states, but of course with europe. it's also dependent on ukraine as a large export market for it. so this is not in russian's

interests or the russian people. and again, we're pushing forward in the hopes that president putin will take the off-ramp. >> but putin is a smart by and he guy, he knows what happened in georgia. is it okay that russian troops are still occupying certain parts of georgia?georgia. is it okay that russian troops are still occupying certain parts of georgia? >> again we're focused on the crisis at happened. we've made clear of course our view in georgia and putin's violation of sovereignty there and it's not okay. but we're at a moment where there is still a chance for russia to not escalate. any day a match could be lit in crimea or for that matter in eastern ukraine that causes great harm. >> i raised the example because putin probably says, you know, what the world forgot about georgia, they will forget about crimea. i got to do what i want to to. and i'm going forward with it. they can have modest sanctions if you will, they can scream, they can shout, but they will

for get about it just as they did with georgia. >> the international community would not forget. the kind of isolation that russia would face in the event of the kinds of maneuvers that have been carried out in crimea and that appear to have been contemplated in eastern ukraine, these are maneuvers that would leave russia severely isolated on the international scene and as we saw a couple weeks ago in sochi, there is a different model that putin has pursued. he wants russia to be on the international stage, he wants to be flexing its muscles. this is not something that will happen again if it takes russia -- if he takes russia down this path of isolation that could cost lives in ukraine. >> let's talk a little bit about the suspension of u.s./russian cooperation and a whole host of areas. you've worked closely with the russians in making sure syria's chemical weapons are destroyed, making sure this interim deal with iran is implemented.

you need russia in both of these areas. but correct me if i'm wrong, you've severed all military to military diplomatic ties with russia as far as syria's chemical weapons destruction that's not going forward because of this rift over ukraine, is that right? >> we have severed mill/mill engagements or suspended those engaging thes pending the reversal of the decisions putin has made in recent days. on syrian chemical weapons, indeed syria has undertaken relatively substantial movements of chemical weapons in the last week which coincided linearly with this crisis. let's be clear about russia on the issue of syria and this also applied to iran. russia will do what it deems in its interests. with the credible threat of military force hanging over events in syria back in august and september of last year,

russia made the judgment that it was in its interests to call upon syria and to work with us to get syria to do away with its chemical weapons. >> but for all practical purposes, if you've suffered military to military real dialogue with russia and these areas involving a sensitive issue like iran's nuclear problem, syria's chemical weapons, doesn't that united states mine all the efforts that you've been so engaged in over these past several months at the united nations? >> russia will pursue its interests. and russia has stood with us as part of the p 5 plus 1 in seeking to ensure iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon. russia on the specific issue of chemical ones, of course we've had bigger challenges on the humanitarian and political front, but on the specific issue of chemical weapon, russia seems to still want syria to do away with its chemical weapons program. we see no evidence that they're pulling back from the kind of engagement with the syrian regime that we had seen prior to the ukraine crisis. but again, wolf, we have to take

each issue separately. we are pursuing our interests. we see an interest in the ukranian context. not only in standing with the ukranian people, but also standing up for the rules of the road in the international order. it would be immensely destabilizing if any sub region anywhere could just call a referendum with no regard for the view of broader population, no regard for the view of the legitimate authorities and simply decide to join a neighboring country. so we are pursuing our interests and again in laying out clearly as president obama did today the pathway of economic and political isolation that would a wait russia, we are still hopeful that through high level negotiations we can get president putin to pull back and see his interests are actually advanced in looking out for russia's legitimate interests in very different ways. >> am bass cobassador power, thy much for joining us. we appreciate it. >> thank you, wolf. up next, new video of

disturbing scenes in crimea. we'll get a live report on the deepening crisis. ttention. there's unlimited talk and text. we're working deals all day. you get 10 gigabytes of data to share. what about expansion potential? add a line, anytime, for $15 a month. low dues, great terms. let's close! new at&t mobile share value plans our best value plans ever for business.

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about their fears. >> this was just frustrated because our previous admiral change change just changed his position. >> went to the other side. >> yes, other side.

>> how do you feel about the fact that there are russian soldiers walking around your base? >> a real occupation, no fighting yet, but real occupation. >> what do you think will happen yet? >> it would be nice if the whole world united against russia to push them to remove all troops from ukraine. >> simon ostrovsky is joining us on the phone. he also told you he's fearful for his family, he's worried that crimea from his perspective may be lost. what else did he say? >> well, that's the thing. sev sevastopol where the navy is, it was combined the russian navy and ukrainian navy. all the officers they lived together, they live in the same buildings. now they've got their neighbors standing outside of their bases and barricading them and not

allowing them to take anything in or out. obviously, they're worried for their families because this could sort of disintegrate into a bosnia type situation. i think that's the big fear. because you've already got people roaming around and comparing who is more russian and who is less russian and there's mixed families and families that have sailor sons and husbands in both navies. so it's a very, very touchy situation. >> you also -- i want to play another clip of this odd relationship that appears to have developed between these russian troops and these ukrainian troops. let me play the clip. >> it's really surreal at this naval base because the russians have come in and they've occupied crimea, they're here with their army. the russian soldiers and the ukrainian naval officers seem to be getting along. like the chillest occupation i've ever seen. >> they are saying that we are fascists. we are here like, i don't know, like some animals in the zoo.

>> we're here, he said, like some animals in the zoo. what does he mean by that, simon? >> well, up until today, actually, these bases have been surrounded by crowds of people who support russia who peek through the gates and try to see what's going on inside of the bases, but there's been some development today which we're actually doing a news story on that will be out on vice news.com later. russian troops have pulled back from a number of bases right now. the theory is that an ose mission, a diplomatic mission to do fact finding investigation about the russian presence here was supposed to arrive, and so the idea is perhaps the russian pulled their soldiers back temporarily right now until the ose observers leave the area. >> we were showing our viewers

more video that you shot today of a woman, her child, i'm going to let it play, then we'll discuss. [ speaking foreign language ] >> all right, simon. tell us what happened here. this mother and her child they were trying to get some food o to her husband? >> yeah, some of the family member, they're coming to the bases that have been under siege and, you know, they want to get supplies in. and it's really the crowds that are -- seem to be working in unison with the russian forces who have been preventing the family from bringing supplies inside. and it's a really ugly situation when, like i said, you've got people who are each other's

neighbor, live in the same city together, preventing people who may have been their friends a couple of weeks ago from bringing food to their own family members. like i said, they pulled back today from some of the most visible bases, and we've got a story about that coming out on vicenews.com. >> did she manage to get in? what was the result of her efforts? >> i think -- well, in that particular case we've got some more shots later on in that footage where the russian soldiers actually intervene and take the bag of food and pass it through the window going around the pro-russia protesters. you've got an interesting situation with russian soldiers are actually feed the ukrainian sailors inside while the crowds are in a frenzy. >> simon ostrovsky, we'll check back with you tomorrow, if we can. thanks for your very strong

reporting. to our viewers you can see a lot more of simon's reporting from the ukrainian by going to vicenews.com. coming up, tensions both rising to disturbing new level. we'll go live to the epicenter of the crisis, crimea. plus russian war games near the border. we'll map out all the latest military moves. [ male announcer ] nothing says, "you're my #1 copilot," like a milk-bone biscuit. ♪ say it with milk-bone. [ male announcer ] she won't remember this, being carried in your arms. but after a day spent in the caribbean exploring mayan ruins and playing pirates with you in secret coves, she won't exactly be short on memories. princess cruises. come back new. [ female announcer ] plan your seven-day cruise

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happening now, crisis in ukraine. new violence and threats including a terrifying mob attack. the situation is getting more dangerous now that crimea lawmakers have voted to tear ukraine apart. russian ships are on the move. we'll get an insider's take on the military planning going on in the obama administration's war room. as tensions rise on the streets and in world capitals, is there

anything the united states and its allies can really do to stop ukraine from unraveling? i'm wolf blitzer, you're in "the situation room." the newest video from ukraine shows fear and violence on both sides of the conflict. what appears to be a pro-russian mob goes on the attack against opponents while ukrainian troops are seen chasing residents who are part of what are described as a quote self-defense team. we're following all the latest developments in the crisis. russia has begun its largest air defense drills ever, about 280 miles east of the border with ukraine involving about 3500 troops. the united states and the european union have announced plans to freeze the assets of ukraine's ousted president and interpol is reviewing a request to allow for his arrest. president obama's calling a vote by the crimean parliament to break away from ukraine and join russia, he's saying that's a violation of international law.

and the united states is taking dramatic steps right now to try to deal with this crisis that so much is going -- so much is going on. let's go to crimea right now for the very latest in ukraine. the tensions there exploding, the reaction provocative to what the crimea parliament has just done. we're on the ground in crimea. >> reporter: yeah, wolf. major developments here in crimea with the parliament voting in favor to hold a referendum that would ultimately decide whether crimea breaks away from ukraine and becomes part of the russian federation. obviously, an outpouring of international condemnation, but wolf, i can tell you that the crimean government and that the people that we have spoken to today are certainly not

listening. a topless protester rails against the russian president as she's carted off kicking and screaming outside of the crimean parliament. any voices of dissent here are drowned out by supporters of moscow who are cheering a provocative new move to tear ukraine apart. we are outside parliament because, as you can see, it's guarded by soldiers. the soldiers, of course, are loyal to russia. parliament has voted in favor to hold a referendum on the 16th of march which will determine whether or not crimea remains part of ukraine or becomes part of the russian federation. the ukraine government has put its troops on high alert and the prime minister is declaring that any attempts by crimea to break away is illegitimate. >> crimea was, is and will be an

integral part of ukraine. >> reporter: military bases a standoff between russian and ukrainian forces is growing even more intense. vad mir putin still claims these forces haven't invaded. crimea's deputy prime minister now says that only russian troops are allowed in this region and that all others will be considered occupying forces. more proof of just how closely crimea is aligned with moscow. more flashpoints in this crisis. in the ukrainian port city of odessa. riot police are facing off with pro-russian protesters outside government buildings. and in donetsk, a leader of a pro-russian movement has been arrested by ukrainian authorities. and tensions are high even here where we are at this hotel. just a short time ago management came and aproecproached us and us we were no longer allowed to

broadcast from this hotel. it would appear they're not happy with what we are saying. that's why we're broadcasting inside our room as opposed to outside on the balcony. we know that obviously there is some sort of pressure involved, whether it's coming from the crimean government, which is very much pro-russian or whether it's coming from the local militia. we know that those local militia were causing huge problems for the u.n. special envoy robert serry yesterday, literally drove him out of town, forced him to leave the country. that's the situation right now here, wolf. at the capital of the region. >> what is their major criticism, these authorities who are basically forcing you indoors right now from your outdoor location and threatening to shut you down? what is their complaint? >> reporter: you know, wolf, it's funny, everywhere we've been here people will come up and ask us, where are you from? who do you work for? and when they find out that you

are working for cnn, an american news network, they become extremely hostile. there's such anti-western sentiment here. there really is such hostility towards the west, towards europe. and when you're associated with the united states, as obviously our television network is, that is when the hostility begins. we believe that this is what has happened to the hotel's management, you know, we've been operating here now for over a week, happily, no problems whatsoever. obviously somebody is putting pressure on the manager of this hotel and basically threatening to shut us down and kick us out. >> you don't know if it's these militias, these anti-u.s., pro-russian militias or the government in crimea which is also pro-russian, you don't know who's directly putting pressure on the hotel to effectively try to shut you down? >> no, wolf, we have no idea.

just that management has told us to stop broadcasting. obviously we're going against their rules by speaking to you now, but it's really important to get this message out that pressure is being placed on western media crews specifically on cnn. you know, earlier today, as you would have seen from that piece, we went out to a military base and there were lots of russian soldiers. now we only heard from vladimir putin the other day saying that there are no russian forces on crimean soil. well, that is completely untrue. and obviously saying this would be upsetting the pro-russian crimea government as well as the russians who are very closely aligned. so this is a situation on the ground that is happening and, yeah, we can only give it to you in realtime, wolf, and report to you hopefully, hopefully tomorrow we'll still be here. >> hopefully you will be. be careful over there, anna coren in crimea.

a very disturbing development. we'll check back with you. president obama taking new action against russia while the secretary of state is keeping up the effort to try to make diplomacy work. let's bring in our senior white house correspondent jim acosta for more. >> reporter: wolf, another sign how fast moving the crisis in ukraine has become, the president made that surprise statement to reporters today on efforts in crimea to join russia, a development administration officials made clear all day long they firmly oppose. it was as if president obama was trying to race ahead of events on the ground in crimea where pro-russian lawmakers voted to hold a referendum to break away from ukraine and become part of russia. >> the proposed referendum on the future of crimea would violate the ukrainian constitution and violate international law. in 2014 we are well beyond the days when borders can be redrawn over the heads of democratic leaders. >> reporter: the president's brief statement backed up with assurances by white house officials.

>> judging by what the president said, this white house is not giving up crimea in this crisis? >> crimea is a part of ukraine. the sovereign state of ukraine. >> reporter: the administration also announced new travel restrictions on so far unnamed russians and ukrainians accused of playing a role in the crisis. plus a presidential executive order authorizing economic sanctions that could come next. as european leaders threaten their own sanctions may follow, secretary of state john kerry denied any escalation in the standoff. >> we want president putin and russia and everyone to understand our preference is to get back to a normality. >> reporter: mr. obama's handling of russian president vladimir putin took another pounding from republicans. gathered at the conservative cpac conference in washington. >> we have long said and thought this president is a smart man. it may be time to revisit that

assumption. >> reporter: but another fierce gop critic, senator john mccain tweeted good remarks by president obama today. outside the white house, ukrainians sang the national anthem and pleaded with the president to hang tough as their country's interim prime minister offered his own riff on a famous cold war quote from ronald reagan. >> mr. putin, tear down this wall, the wall of intimidation, the wall of military aggression. >> reporter: white house officials are resisting cold war comparisons between then and now, but argue the new chill in relations is getting through to putin. >> do you have any sense whatsoever that he is getting your message? >> he certainly is. >> reporter: and as for those sanctions, aides to the president know that russian leaders are already talking about their own threats of retaliation. asked about that a senior administration official said, quote, frankly, that does not

concern us, wolf. >> jim acosta at the white house. developments continuing to unfold. still ahead, russian troops, they are on the move along with warships and u.s. fighter jets. we'll map out the latest military developments with the former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, general richard myers. he's standing by live. ♪ led to the one jobhing you always wanted. at university of phoenix,

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call... and ask about all the ways you could save. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? . we're following movement by the russian military and the u.s. military as the crisis in ukraine deepens. let's get to more now. joining us retired air force general richard myers, former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. also our chief national security correspondent jim sciutto. thanks very much. general, fighter jets, u.s. fighter jets are arriving, we're told, in some of these nato

countries, in the baltics, estonia, latvia, lithuania. what does that mean practically speaking other than some sort of political statement? >> i think what that means is allies that will be nervous about russia's moves it's one way to reassure them and given that they're part of nato very common. >> they're concerned, poland also, they're concerned that russia might go beyond ukraine into their countries and even though they're nato allies and if you attack a nato ally, you're attacking the united states of america? >> a violation of article 5 of the nato alliance. but has russia ever done this before? yes, they have. have they can victim of that? yes, they have. so i think they're worried. do i think they need to be worried right this minute about that? no. but i think it's good to reassure our nato allies and to show russia there are things we can do to bolster their morale and defenses. >> jim, this is a part of hand

holding some of these nervous nato allies. >> no question. they may need hand holding because of some of the moves that the russian military is doing will first refer our attention to the map on the back wall. you had a blockade. this is a satellite picture showing the base at sevastopol. if you look in the center, it's where ukrainian ships are docked and these three russian vessels that look to be performing a blockade. general, you recognize a blockade. what's the intention here? >> it looks like a blockade. all the pictures and news reports are that the ukrainian ships aren't able to move. that's very serious. when you start blockading another country's forces, that's a very serious move on russia's part. >> then there's another blockade of a different sort happening down here, so sevastopol on the map down here, then up here ukrainian ships, you don't see it on the map, they scuttled an

old russian warship to block the entrance to the harbor there and you have a handful of military ukrainian navy ships inside. is that an act of war? >> well, under international law i think there's some that can interpret this as an act of war. it certainly could be. >> take us inside the pentagon. you've been in crisis mode over there. you were chairman of the joint chiefs, national military command center, the tack they used to call it. the white house has the situation room. you have the tack over there. take us inside. what's going on. you don't know for sure, but what do you think is going on? >> what usually would go on during a crisis like this is that the joint staff along with the combatant commander in this case the european commander would be looking at military options probably short of force. i doubt the president says come up with some options that include force. but what sort of things can the military do to reassure our allies? and we've seen some of those movements, perhaps humanitarian

support to ukraine if it really does turn to civil war, if it goes that far. >> how do you end this without bloodsh bloodshed, a real escalation? >> we have to be very careful about any moves by the west and russia has to be careful, too. economic impact on russia has already had some -- probably had some success. their ruble's way down. their market's way off. i mean, they're feeling the effect of the impact of their behavior. >> we were looking, we've been talking all day about and in previous days about the steps that the u.s. took in 2008 when russia made similar moves into georgia. and what was interesting is that they're virtually identical. they put a ship into the black sea then as well, just as we're doing, the u.s. coming in in the next 24 hours. they've brought aid via war planes into tblisi. they've talked about expulsion from g-8, even the language and

wolf played this quote from secretary condoleezza rice that mimicked the talk about sovereignty as the president said today. that didn't work. is there any sense that the u.s. is doing now will push russia back? >> the thing that might be different this time is the unity between the eu, the united states, nato, of international community that has pretty well condemned this move by russia into crimea in particular. i think we're more unified this time. we were quicker to get around to that. it's not total. sanctions wouldn't be approved by everybody involved, but i think we're a lot closer to unity in addressing this than we were last time. >> we'll see how unified the u.s. and the nato allies and the european union are when it comes down to real sanctions that would be very painful. >> it would be painful. but russia has a lot more to lose. wee do, too. we have a lot of companies that do business in russia. >> high stakes game.

>> you're always welcome in our situation room. >> thank you. >> chris christie, according to conservatives could he win their crucial support for a possible white house run? from the race for the next breakthrough innovation that will push the economy forward... to preventing one more american child from wondering why their parent didn't come home... to international drug cartels and the need to secure our borders... the future of this country, our country, is tied to immigration reform.

no one debates we need to fix our broken immigration system. republican leaders know it. they've even said so time and again. so why are house republicans "cooling." "retreating." and even privately saying they'd rather do "nothing" this year. doing nothing puts jobs on ice ... forces us to lose out on revenue for roads and schools and infrastructure. and sends a message to millions of dreamers, who study hard and want to serve our country, they might as well dream on. no, nothing won't do. call house republicans today. tell them we've waited long enough: pass immigration reform. and it feels like your lifeate revolves around your symptoms, ask your gastroenterologist about humira adalimumab. humira has been proven to work for adults who have tried other medications but still experience the symptoms of moderate to severe crohn's disease. in clinical studies, the majority of patients on humira

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here's a quick look at some of the other top stories happening now. the s&p hitting a record high and the dow closing up more than 60 points. for now investors remain optimistic about the outlook for stocks this year. the senate has defeated the measure designed to reduce the

growing problem of sexual assaults in the united states armed forces by overhauling how the military prosecutes serious crime. the mill introduced by democratic senator kirsten gillibrand would have removed commanders from deciding whether these assaults and other serious crimes should be prosecuted. the 55-45 blovote did not break down along party lines. chris christie speaking to an influn wen shall conservative gathering whose support would be crucial if the new jersey governor decides to run for president. our chief congressional correspondent dana bash has details. >> reporter: if you're chris christie trying to win over activists at the largest annual gathering of conservatives, this is what you do. >> we have to stop letting the media define who we are and what we stand for. >> reporter: find common ground like attacking the media and defending the billionaire koch

brothers. >> stop picking on great americans who are creating great things for our country. >> reporter: and trying to assuage conservative concerns about a blue state governor who works with democrats by playing up opposition to abortion. >> when we say we're pro life, that doesn't mean we're pro life just with human beings in the womb. >> reporter: the reaction here a rousing response. as much or even more so than conservative crowd favorites who also spoke like ted cruz, paul ryan and marco rubio. >> the guy is good, he connects with people, he says what needs to be said. and to me, he's the only personality who will be able to stand up to hillary clinton. >> reporter: but christie arrived in suburban washington to bad news in a brand new poll. three in ten republicans say they would never vote for him. we heard that in the crowd. >> i'm personally not a big fan of him because i think that he colluded with president obama in 2012. >> reporter: she's angry about christie embracing obama after

hurricane sandy before the last election. and bridgegate is hurting him, too. >> i thought it was impressive, he showed himself to be in charge, but i don't think i'd vote for him. >> reporter: why not? >> the scandal really bothers me. just the corruption, the kind of people he had around him. >> reporter: despite that criticism, the crowd responded well to one of christie's more traditional messages that republicans need to be for their own ideas not just against democrats. all in all, a positive experience for christie here at cpac especially considering last year he was snubbed, he wasn't even invited to one of the most important gatherings of conservatives. dana bash, cnn, maryland. and this just coming in to "the situation room," we just heard from the deputy national security adviser to the president. ben rhodes just tweeted that president obama spoke this afternoon with the russian president vladimir putin about the situation in ukraine.

a readout, a statement from the white house coming out momentarily. stay with cnn for much more on this, but president obama just spoke with president putin of russia. we're about to find out what they said, if they achieved anything. that's it for me this hour. thanks very much for woatching. let's step into the "crossfire" right now with hosts sally kohn and newt gingrich. i know you're going to be debating the president's latest moves to get russia out of ukraine? >> we'd all be better off if the president followed the advice of senator lindy graham one of our guests tonight. >> the same lindsey graham who has been leading the republican name calling? the debate starts right now. >> tonight on "crossfire," is the president ukraine diplomacy paying off or failing? >> i am confident that we are moving forward together. >> is he being hurt by the chorus of republican critics? >> our president is weak and

indecisive. >> feckless. >> feckless. >> on the left, sally kohn, on the right, newt gingrich. in the "crossfire," senator ben cardin, a democrat and lindsey graham, a south carolina republican. is the president being undermined by republicans or by his own decisions? tonight on "crossfire." >> welcome to "crossfire," i'm sally kohn on the left. >> i'm newt gingrich on the right. in the "crossfire" tonight, two key u.s. senators in the ukraine debate. more breaking news out of russia today. vladimir putin spent his day staging large scale war games near the ukrainian border and had the russian navy sink a ship to block in the ukrainians. how did president obama spend his day? imposing symbolic