while the military contends force feedings are humane, defense lawyers call them torture. a federal judge is due to hold a hearing on the issue later this summer. that's all for now. the ed show is up next. welcome to the ed show live in new york. i'm ready to go. let's get to work. >> this is a problem of the president's own making. >> stupid liberals. >> terrible you humanitarian crisis involving vulnerable children. >> america's immigration crisis. >> republicans in the house and in the senate are trying to milk this. >> oh, this is too hard. >> for as much of a political advantage as they can. >> pass legislation fixing our broken system.

>> it is a sdas they are thdisa direct consequence of lawlessness. >> the rule of law has been undermined by the president himself. >> the president has senioritis. >> why aren't we progressing immigration reform? >> it's not that difficult. child. >> this is too hard. good to have you with us. thanks for watching. we're waiting for president obama, he is going to speak in about 15 minutes in the briefing room in washington. we will bring that to you live when it happens. but first, we start with what a lot of people think is the biggest problem for this country of this summer. the border crisis. let's get to the root of it all. the southern border has seen waves of undocumented central american children crossing the border. we'll get to how they're getting here in a moment. but on the border, what we're seeing in america is scene of hate playing out against young

kids, angry protesters yelling at children to get the hell out of the united states of america. what's happening in washington? nothing. nothing. john boehner proven once again that he has no control over his republican house.

>> i don't know whether we'll get to this year or not. i think we should. but the appetite amongst my colleagues for doing this is not real good. this guy is back here with a camera. but here is the attitude. oh, don't make me do this! oh! this is too hard! you should hear them. you know, we get elected to make choices. >> we certainly do. you do get elected to make choices. and the choice is that you don't want to do anything about it, you just want to blame everything on the president. john boehner chose to abandon immigration reform. it's absurd to blame the problem on obama. but here's what we don't hear elected officials talk about. the facts. the reason these children are

allowed to stay is that because there was a law passed in 2008. how many of you heard of the william wilbur force trafficking victims protection act of 2008? i know that's a mouthful. but it all started with this guy. and he had help from the democrats to get this done. this is a picture of president george w. bush signing the law in december of 2008. what this law does is the law protects children from countries who don't share a border with the united states. think about that. it's not kids from mexico. it's kids from central america. nicaragua, colombia. the law requires, the law, the united states law, requires minors to be given an opportunity to appear in an immigration hearing. it's all about protecting kids. that's what this is.

so when these kids come to the united states, they're underage, there is a law on the books signed by president bush, helped by the democrats and republicans to get this all done, it was bipartisan, to protect kids, to give them a process. well, we've gone so radical in america, we want to break the that you. the law technically applies only to unaccompanied minors. in or what will we come with them? they have to have an immigration hearing. that's the law. so hold the phone. it does not provide automatic asylum. so if the kids get here, they're here for good. no, that's not it. it just lets children stay here while their cases work through the immigration system. but now thanks to the flood of immigrants, the system is backlogged. and so tuesday, it was said the

congressional hispanic caucus will stand behind the law that has been passed. >> the absolute is simple. follow the law. extend the protections within that law that was passed in congress in 2008. do so in a way that honors due process. i think the president needs to be firm, chc will be firm. and protect these children because after all, they're children and there is a moral and legal imperative that we do that. >> some house democrats are concerned because president obama wants to speed up the deportation process because he's getting a lot of heat from the republicans. but unlike republicans, the president does have a plan. and it costs money. the president is asking for $3.7 billion in emergency funding. half of the money would provide care for children. the other half would speed up deportation hearings and increase border security. i thought the republicans wanted

that. john boehner said republicans will scrub the president's proposal and have a border bill by the end of the week. yeah, right. you know why? because he's seeing the numbers. 53% of americans support the president's plan while 43% oppose it. overall, 58% of americans disapprovdisa disapapproach of the way the president is handling the border crisis, but not pretty for house republicans either. 66% of americans disapproval of the way congressional republicans are handling the situation. so no winners anywhere, right? boehner is aware this mess again is hurting the republicans. i knows inaction and gridlock again is causing another major crisis. so what does he do? just grab the big anvil and just let the president have it anytime he can. no, it's not president obama's fault. he inherited this one. he inherited this law that said

we have to have process for these kids who get to the united states. and it costs money to do it. and now there is a flood of them coming in. no doubt about it. but they're coming here because of the unrest in countries in central america and so what do they want to do, just play politics and pep i pin it on th president? no, change the law. if you don't like it, change it. you certainly have the votes in the house to do it. and these people out there row testing and getting in front of these kids and playing wild bill hiccock and making threats, that won't solve anything but inflame the emotions in all the wrong directions. tonight's question. should the 2008 wilbur force trafficking victims protection act be protected? a for yes, b for no. we'll bring you the results later on in the show. for more, let me bring in

senator bernie sanders. we always get a straight answer out of you. do you think the 2008 victims trafficking act should be reformed, reversed, repealed? what do we do here? >> no, i think it's a good law. as you mentioned, it was passed by george w. wush. t bush. the goal is to protect children from sexual trafficking and that's something we should do. it says the kids have a right to get a hearing to see if they are being exploited sexually or otherwise. and if so, we can make a decision about what we he do with them then. right now, yeah, i know it's easy to blame everything on the president.them then. right now, yeah, i know it's easy to blame everything on the president. this is a disaster in countries like honest gdurahonduras, viol

killing children and they're leaving the violence positioning they have a better shot going thousands of miles away from their home by themselves or being escorted by coyote types than staying home. think about that for a moment. so what you got is a disaster back there and we have not an him graimmigration issue, we ha refugee crisis. what do you do when desperate children go huge amounts of distance away from their homes because they're afraid of getting killed where they live. do you simply shove them back to where they came from? i don't think that's what america is supposed to be about. >> so senator, do we have to pay attention to what is happening in other countries that has created this industry of child smuggling? >> i certainly think we do. and by the way, people say this is a problem here in the united states. do you know what is going on in nicaragua or panama? the same issue. people going to those countries. so the answer is how do we work

to prevent this crisis in honduras so parents can keep their children safely at home. >> do you believe this is a good first step? the president wants $3.7 billion for an emergency fix. >> whether it's 3.7 or 4.1, i don't know. but clearly what we have to do is make sure that children who are on our border are housed in humane ways. not stuffed in dangerous ways. unhealthy ways into rooms, ov overcrowded rooms. so, yes, i think what the president is doing is a movement in the right direction. >> the polling shows the american people do want to address this. if congress had passed comprehensive immigration reform, would it have dealt with this issue? >> i think perhaps to some degree it would have. but let's be clear. i think there are aspects of immigration reform that would not have dealt with this issue. this is a country like honduras

falling apart, being run by drug cartels, in areas by murderers, children fleeing. it's not an immigration issue. this is a refugee issue, parents and kids prepared to do anything to flee the violence. >> and we're seeing political games over this. >> and that is pretty pathetic. >> thanks so much for your time, sr.. we're waiting for the president to speak. keep it right here. at every ford dealership, you'll find the works! it's a complete checkup of the services your vehicle needs. so prepare your car for any road trip by taking it to an expert ford technician. because no matter your destination good maintenance helps you save at the pump. get our multi-point inspection with a synthetic blend oil change, tire rotation, brake inspection and more for $29.95 or less. get a complete vehicle checkup only at your ford dealer.

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visit alz.org/walk today. so i get invited to quite a few family gatherings. heck, i saved judith here a fortune with discounts like safe driver, multi-car, paperless. you make a mighty fine missus, m'lady. i'm not saying mark's thrifty. let's just say, i saved him $519, and it certainly didn't go toward that ring. am i right? [ laughs ] [ dance music playing ] so visit progressive.com today. i call this one "the robox." breaking news out of the white house. president obama is about to speak about the latest developments in the ukraine. senior u.s. officials announced today the administration is escalating the sanctions on russia for not meeting its commitments to deescalate.

the white house said it was coordinating with european allies, but so far, europe is taking less stringent steps against russia. the president has spoken with prime minister cameron, hollande and also merkel. chris, good to have you with us. what sanctions, what being as are we expected to hear being implemented by the president tonight? what is the anticipation? >> here is the head line. these are the toughest sanctions the united states will have announced against russia yet. president obama when he comes into the briefing room will announce that the u.s. is going to sanction large banks and some firms in the energy and defense sectors. the u.s. also planning to sanction four senior russian officials. so these sanctions far broader

than the sanctions that have been announced in the past by the united states. the other point that you touched on, ed, the eu also preparing to enact new sanctions, but not prepare to goining to go as fa united states has gone. this has been a point of contention because these sanctions don't have the same type of bite if they aren't backed up by the united states european allies. so i anticipate you will hear the president speak to that. leaders in the eu meeting as we speak and senior administration officials just held a conference call about this. one senior administration official saying that they don't want to pre-judge what specifically is going to come out of europe. i can tell you that the obama administration has been getting more and more pressure, ed, in recent days on take more action against russia because it has only escalated the crisis in ukraine can during hearings last

week, senator bob corker said this of the administration, quote, sometimes i'm embarrassed for you as you constantly talk about sanctions yet we never see them put in place. so that was the type of rhetoric that led up to this announcement. but senior administration officials on that conference call were very clear the president feels a as though russia has made no attempts to deca deescalate the situation and in fact escalated it by further lending support to the rebels. so that is what i anticipate we will hear from president obama. i can tell you the chamber of commerce not happy about this announcement. they say they're deeply concerned by the events in ukraine. in no way do we condone russia's actions, but we respectfully oppose legislative proposals to impose sanctions on russia. the concern ultimately they

could cost u.s. jobs. so president obama could touch on that point, as well. >> the the options that the president has clearly he could put troops in place, but he has ruled that out. and he could himself fund more money to the ukraine government to protect themselves. there are tremendous energy interests in the ukraine for putin and russia especially the coal industry which is on the eastern border of that country. your thoughts on that. >> it's a great point. and i would point out that these sanctions that we had seen have been incremental. this is the third round the u.s. would have imposed against russia. and to your point, there is still room for more action. when you speak with administration officials about why they aren't sanctioning entire sectors, that is because they want to be able to

increasingly put pressure on russia. they are hoping to deescalate the situation. as you said, president obama has ruled outputting u.s. boots on the ground. so they want to do this in an incremental way. these sanctions again, the broadest, toughest bite of any round we've seen so far. >> what does this say about any kind of communication between president obama and vladimir putin? has that just totally broken down? is this the only thing that the americans can do at this point that we could go further in sanctions, is this another toe in the lake so to speak to see what putin does? >> i think you're right. we have seen the relationship between president obama and putin, between the u.s. and russia, become increasingly icy in the past year, not just over this crisis in ukraine as you

well know, over edward snowden, the crisis in syria. of course the u.s. believes that russia has been propping up the assad regime. so that has created a huge rift. you're right that at this point clearly any diplomatic efforts seem to be out of reach right now for the united states and russia. and by the way, president obama you will note spoke with german chancellor angela merkel yesterday and it was during that conversation that these sanctions were discussed. but of course that conversation came on the heels of new revelations about spying, about the u.s. spying on germany. so that relationship has been increasingly strained. senior administration officials got a question about that. did that make it more difficult to get on the same page with germany about new sanctions and the administration of course down played the extent to which those recent spying allegations had any real impact on the sanctions we're seeing imposed

today. but certainly i think you're right to point out the fact that relations between the u.s. and russia increasingly strained. so this is what we're seeing, these new round of sanctions. and at this points, it seems like that is the only path that the u.s. is trying to deescalate the crisis. >> the european union certainly has big interests in russia.u.se crisis. >> the european union certainly has big interests in russia. they could be the go-between between russiand and the unite states to get some kind of a solution to get the russians to back off. so at this hour, it seems that the president isn't going to be able to move on anything unless he has the european union with him. and certainly chancellor merkel because of their economic strength in europe. it would seem to me that the president conditiomplaint can't wing this. he has to have the europeans behind them. >> and i think chancellor merkel is the linchpin in so many ways

because of the relationship between germany and russia. so certainly he needs her to be on board and that's why that conversation that took place yesterday was so pivotal. and that is why the united states is deeply concerned after last week's revelations about new spying allegations. so certainly that is a crucial relationship for president obama as he tries to pressure russia to deescalate the crisis in ukraine and i anticipate you will hear him touch on that to some extent. he could potentially get a question about it. and ed, i would also point out there are a number of other foreign policy issues that are roiling the administration. the crisis in the middle east. if president obama does take questions, and that's a big if, if he does decide to take questions, he can anticipate he will get questions about the

middle east and also iran. there was news taoday that the administration could be contemplating extending its negotiating period with iran and what are referred to as chp 5 ps 1. so those are among the topics that i think we could hear president obama touch on. >> the deals between the russians and the iranians are very well documented going back several decades. certainly with putin no doubt about it. kristen welker at the white house, stay with us. we want to bring in now andrea mitchell. thanks for your time tonight. there is a lot of dynamics playing out right here. >> sure is. >> a lot bubbling in the world right now. what about the timing of this? your insight to what the president is about to do. >> well, they have been very concerned about the flow of russian arms into eastern ukraine that instead of

deescalating, russia as escalated and there have been a number of conflicts. poroshenko has tried separately to get the separatists into a cease-fire and to political dialogue. and that none of this has worked. so that this promise of whatever conversations took place on d-day at normandy at moporoshen and putin, that did not bear fruit. as a result, they had to announce this now, european just announced their own steps and we understand them to be -- we have to go through them, but we understand them to be not as tough or stringent at all as what the white house announced. the white house officials and state department and other officials who were briefing us were saying that they do expect that the european steps will have some bite, but that the dollar is what is dominant in that the banks and energy

companies being sanctioned by the united states and u.s. treasury will really have some weight because it is a dollar economy that basically rules. and that long term, medium and long term investments, access to loans beyond 90 days will be cut off to these two major companies and two major banks and that that will have a lot in play. also the europeans just also criticized hamas for not accepting the cease fire, but said that israel's response in self-defense should be proportional. so they also made a statement that this is just a confluence of foreign policy crises and the last thing they now need is to cut off the negotiations with iran. so i think you'll see in the next 48 hours an extension of that deadline of july 20 for the end ever the first round ever talks with iran claiming that they have made a big offer, but secretary carriry sayingthe fir talks with iran claiming that they have made a big offer, but

secretary carriry saying kerry saying there are significant gaps still to be negotiated. >> there is no doubt if these sanctions are what we believe them to be from the united states, this is going to affect the russian economy much faster i think than the american economy. from the standpoint of the energy interests that are in the ukraine and also the access to energy that comes from the middle east to russia is so vitally important to their economy. the reaction of flat mere putin, is the president in a sense rolling the dice here now knowing how putin will react? >> assuming that came up in the conversation with angela merkel, and the strains in that relationship, the white house tries to dismiss questions about the strains with germany and they put out all these nice statements that things are on an even keel and that the president

addressed that. but my german sources tell me that she was really angry, very angry that in fact there were not one but two spy incidences, allegations, in the last week. and that the president did not even know about it when he first talked to her a week ago thursday. so there has been a lot of lack of communication. and the cia and other members much the intelligence committee will have to address that. but the strains with germany have certainly affected our ability to coordinate a response. >> andrea, who role has secretary kerry played in all of this in repositioning of resources of our military to prepare for something that we certainly might not want to be involved in but the united states has not -- we have not stood idle, have not been standing idle in all of this. there have been some military positioning of resources. what does that mean? >> kerry has been coordinating that certainly with the defense

secretary and susan rice, so that is really a white house decision. but they clearly have repositioned resources to reassure poland and other nato allies that that is where american and nato interests lie. we can say that we're defending ukraine, but ukraine is not a member of nato. and we're not going to have a military response. it will be an economic response. but if putin were to go further and take on poland or any front line states, that would an different issue. regarding the middle east, that is top of mind right now and kerry has been calling all day, head of the arab league, trying to get some sort of cease fire in place. we know that late today israel does agree that as of tomorrow morning, it will do a six hour what they call humanitarian cease fire at the urging of robert

robert sari, the united nations representative there that has been a constant on the ground there. so that is being offered. egypt was not listened to by hamas because of the break in relationship between the new government in egypt and hamas. they're antagonists. so hamas did not heed the cakac cease fire and that gave israel leverage internationally. >> one of the anticipated responses from the russians would be to have the iranians take more of an engaging position in the middle east because of the business deals that those two countries have. that is a very scary day ma'yna. we really don't know beyond these big energy deals that the two countries have just how far

that loyalty is going to go and howing a agre ing aggressive th willing to be. putin could play a role in motivating them to be a little bit more aggressive, could he not? >> he could. although putin does not want a nuclear-armed iran on his border, as well. so he has played a constructive role or russia has in the past in trying to negotiate ways to get the enriched uranium out of iran and have it reprocessed in russia and sold back to iran for peaceful medical use. there has actually been a pretty good relationship there with russia as part of this negotiating strategy. that said, there is the good iran and the bad iran. the other iran is propping up th hasad and providing the long range missiles to gaza that have

baby targeting major population centers throughout israel, not just in the immediate environment. or immediate region of gaza. >> you're watching the ed show. president obama is about to speak from the briefing room. kristen welker and andrea mitchell with me here in this hour. the president expected to announce sanctions against russia both in the banking industry that would affect energy and defense, which of course is quite a wide swathe when it comes to the economy and the ramifications of the economy in europe and with the united states. so the question that i think the president has to reaffirm to the american people tonight is exactly what does this mean militarily, what does this mean for our economy, and what are we prepared to do when it comes to energy decisions in this country. i would assume the president isn't going to do something like this unless he is on solid

ground with allies because of the ripple effect that it could have in the economy. this is all happening at a very interesting time when the markets are scratching new highs in america, when we are producing more energy than we ever have. and now the president in a very bold manner going to put forward some sanctions on russia for them not deescalating the situation in the ukraine fast enough. our allies i would imagine that the polls are very nervous tonight wondering what this is going to mean and just how loyal is the united states to poll la poland. that will be tested no question about that. and then of course as andrea and i were just mentioning,that wil about that. and then of course as andrea and i were just mentioning, the dynamic with the iranians. we will be right back. the president to speak momentarily on foreign policy. gw set of wheels, then... wham! a minivan t-bones you.

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welcome back. we're awaiting president obama's statement on ukraine. let's bring back chrkristen wel. sanctions expected to be announced tonight on the banking industry that deals with energy and defense because russia has not deescalated the situation. so this is going to be a very aggressive move by the president. he will announce that and i understand that he will take other questions. i don't know how he could not get a question on immigration. this of course has been a real sticking point with the republicans because they are blaming the president for this crisis of children coming into this country. what is the white house's position right you now on trying to get this $3.7 billion to address this human crisis

unfolding in immigration? >> of course the white house is arguing to republicans if you're going to criticize the administration for all of these undocumented children coming over, at least take some steps to deal with this crisis. as you point out, the administration asking congress to approve $3.7 billion to deal with the crisis, part of that would be to increase the number of deportation judges who can hear some of these cases who can deal with the backlog that currently exists of the unaccompanied minors. so the administration really trying to pressure congress to get something done on that front. at the same time, they're launching this campaign, ed, to central american countries making parents there aware of the fact that if their children come across the border, they won't necessarily be allowed to stay. and that they could risk their lives trying to come here only to be turned back.

now, the other central piece of this is that the administration would like broader authority to be able to deport some of these children more quickly. we know that there is legislation being discussed that would change a 2008 law that was signed by president george w. bush which essentially says the kids coming over from central america can't be immediately deported. it was an anti-trafficking measure when initially passed. but it pertains to this situation. so there is an effort under way to get that law amended which would give the president, the administration, more leverage and more room to more quickly deport some of those unaccompanied minors. and it's interesting politically for the president because he's getting a lot of pressure from some democrats, from advocates of those groups of children coming over saying this is the wrong move, that we shouldn't be deporting them more quickly,

that they are essentially refuge refugees, that the u.s. needs to help these kids. so the question is how does the administration strike that balance between 2r50e9itreating kids humanely and dealing with the fact that they are coming in to communities this do not wapts them. so this is certainly the crisis that is dominating this white house right now. >> and striking that balance is very hard in washington right now when you have a congress that severally does not want to move on immigration reform. boehner can't seem to get his radicals in the house to do anything on it. they're using it as a political football to beat up the president it seems like. the fact is that that law is on the books and that is why these children are being processed. they are unaccompanied refugees into this country. we have a process to deal with them. but they're coming in in such great numbers, we don't have the facilities, we don't have the wherewithal, the resources to process these kids fast enough.

and so the deportation pressure obviously is on right now and these advocacy groups you're talking about should help the president get the money that he needs to do what he has to do on a number of fronts which of course would deal with border security, which would go after these smugglers, which would also get the word out to the parents in these countries where kids are coming from and it just seems like there is no solution here because of the inaction in washington at this point. >> well, and there is certainly no easy solution. that's for sure. and i think that one of the ideas that is being discussed behind the scenes on capitol hill behind closed doors is potentially coming up with a compromise measure. so in other words, you might not see that full $3.7 billion dollars approved, but you might see a smaller figure somewhere in the range of $2 billion to

$2.7 billion. that is one idea being discussed. of course you've heard a number of lawmakers take issue with that figure, the 3 b$3.7 billio. but you're right they say part of the problem is we never got an immigration reform bill passed in the first place, which would have beefed up border security among other things to potentially prevent the type of flow of unaccompanied children that we are seeing right now. so those are among the discussions. is there any hope for a broader immigration reform package getting passed? i don't think so. however, could this crisis renew the debate and the discussion over getting some smaller measures passed, that is a possibility. of course the senate did pass a broad piece of legislation that dealt with immigration and of course as you point out, it stalled in the house. so that is where that debate stands. and it only gets tougher for immigration reform begin we're just a few months out from the 2014 midterms.

>> kristen welker at the white house, stay with us. president obama is expected to speak any moment now. we have been given the two-minute warning. he is expected to announce new sanctions on russia with the help of european allies that will affect the banking industry which will definitely impact energy and defense. those are the two areas that are going to be targeted the most in these sanctions. senior u.s. officials announcing today that the administration is escalating the sanctions on russia for not meeting its commitments to decase latescala. so the white house said it was coordinating with european allies, with but as but as andr brought up, we're not sure how the europeans are willing to go, how stringent the steps will be in forcing economic sanctions on

putin and the russians and of course what is their reaction going to be. i think personality plays into this. i don't think we'll have to wait until tomorrow morning to find out exactly what putin will do. here is the president at the white house. >> i want to briefly discuss the important actions we're taking today in support of ukraine. before i do, i want to take a few meants to update the american people on pressing foreign policy challenges that i reviewed with secretary kerry this afternoon. first of all, i thanked secretary kerry and our outstanding civilian and military leaders in afghanistan for their success in helping to break the impasse over the presidential election there. thanks to their efforts and of course thanks to the afghans and the courage of the two candidates, both of whom i spoke to last week, the candidates have agreed to abide by the results of a comprehend then suffer and entinternationally supervised audit that will review all the ballots and to form a unity government. if they keep their commitments,

afghanistan will witness the first democratic transfer of power in the history of that nation. this progress will honor both candidates who have put the interests of a united afghanistan first. the millions of afghans who defied threats in order to vote. and the service of our troops and civilians who sacrificed so much. this progress reminds us that even as our combat mission in afghanistan ends this year, mrk's commitmemr america's commitment to a sovereign and democratic afghanistan will endure along with our determination that americans are never again threatened by terrorists inside of afghanistan. second, john updated me on the negotiations with ran over its nuclear program. over the last six months, iran has met its commitments under the interim deal we reached last year. halting the progress of its nuclear program, allowing more

inspections and rolling back its most daengerous stockpile. we're working to reach a comprehensivsive agreement. based on consultations, it's clear that we've made real progress in several areas. and that we have a credible way forward. but as we approach a tdeadline f july 20, there is still significant gaps between the international community and iran and we have more work to do. so over the next few days, we'll continue consulting with congress and our team will continue discussions with iran and our partners as we determine whether additional time is necessary to extend our negotiations. third, we continue to support diplomatic efforts to end the violence between israel and hamas. as i've said repeatedly, israel has a right to defend itself from rocket attacks that

terrorize the israeli people. there is no country on earth that can be expected to live under a daily barrage of rockets. and i'm proud that the iron dome system that americans helped israel develop and fund has saved many israeli lives. but over the past two weeks, we've all been heartbroken bay the violence. especially the death and injury of so many innocent civilians in gaza. men, women and children caught in the crossfire. that's why we've been working with our partners in the region to pursue a cease-fire, to protect civilians on both sides. yesterday israel did agree to a cease-fire. unfortunately, hamas continued to fire rockets at civilians. thereby prolonging the conflict. but the israeli people and palestinian people don't want too lito live like this. they deserve to live free from

fear. so we will continue to encourage did that l diplomatic efforts. we'll stay in close contact with our friends and party it is in the region and use all of our resources and relationships to support efforts of closing a deal on a cease-fire. in the meantime, we will continue to stress the need to protect civilians in gaza and in israel and to avoid further escalation. finally, given its continued provocations in ukraine, today i have approveded a new set of sanctions on some of russia's largest companies and financial institutions. along with our allies with whom i've been coordinating closely the last several days and weeks, i've repeatedly made it clear that russia must halt the flow of weapons and fighters across the border into ukraine. that russia must urge separatists to release their hostages and support a

cease-fire. that russia needs to pursue internationally mediated talks and agree to meaningful monitors on the border. i've made clear directly to mr. putin, many of our european a partners have made it clear to pr pl putin, we have emphasized our preference to resolve the issue diplomatically, but that we have to see concrete actions and for the just words that russia in fact is committed to try to end this conflict along the russia/ukraine border. so are far, russia has failed to take any of the steps that i mentioned. in fact russia support for the separatist and violations of ukraine sovereignty has continued. on top of the sanctions we've already imposed, we're desk thating selective sections of the russian economy as eligible for sanction. we're freezing the assets of several russian against companies and we're blocking new financing of some of russia's

most important banks and energy companies. these sanctions are significant but they are also targeted. designed to have the hax mum impact on russia while eliminating any spillover eliminating spillover effects on american companies or those of our allies. we're taking these actions in close consultation with our allies. we're meeting with brussels to agree on their next steps and what we're expecting is that the leadership will see once again that its actions in ukraine have consequences, including a weakening russian economy and increasing diplomatic isolation. now, meanwhile, we're going to continue to stand with the ukrainian people as they seek to determine their own future. even in the midst of this crisis, they have made remarkable progress. they have elected a new president, they're pursuing new forums and they signed a new agreement with the european union, and the united states will continue to offer our strong support to ukraine to

help stabilize its economy and defend its territorial integrity, because like any people, ukrainians deserve the right to forge their own destiny. we live in a complex world and at a challenging time. and none of these challenges lend themselves to quick or easy solutions, but all of them require an american leadership, and as commander in chief, i'm confident if we stay patient and determined, that we will in fact meet these challenges. thanks very much. >> president obama taking no questions and making a statement addressing afghanistan, iran, the conflict between israel and hamas. the ukraine, and how the united states is now calling out the russians for failing to act. and not taking the actions that they said that they were going to take. let's bring back nbc news chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell.

andrea, the president saying they're going to be freezing the assets of some big russian companies dealing with defense and energy. how big of news is this? >> well, this is a big step up. what they're doing is making it impossible for the biggest banks and energy companies to get access to u.s. capital, to long-term investments beyond 90 days. that is a big step. these investments count. they can turn to europe, but anybody involved with u.s. banking will also be shut out from them, so u.s. capitol markets pretty much dominate the world. that said, the europeans, we do not think are following suit. they're not going to be as tough. they are more targeted. obviously having a much larger economic involvement, direct involvement with russia. what the president said is these are targeted sanctions, though, that they tried to minimize the spillover effect on u.s. companies and on our european allies, so this is very carefully done.

the officials we spoke to earlier said that they are prepared to step this up if russia does not cease and desist, and the president, as you heard, called out vladimir putin by name, saying he has not lived up to his promises on ukraine. you also heard most importantly the president say that israel has the right to defend itself, but that americans are heartbroken by the casualties, the civilians who have been caught in the cross fire, and so far, that has all been on the palestinian side, as you know, with the deaths of four children today so tragically there along the beachfront, a fishing family, all cousins, these four youngsters. he said that we're hoping to try to leverage a cease-fire, as you know, john kerry has been on the phone. egypt has failed so far to broker this, but israel has unilaterally agreed to a request for humanitarian cease-fire of six hours tomorrow. and we'll see whether the palestinians led by hamas comply with that. he also praised kerry for

brokering a deal to salvage afghanistan's election. and talked about the iranian negotiations saying that they were very promising and they'll decide in the next couple days whether to extend them. a lot on the president's plate. >> no question about it. back to ukraine for just a moment, andrea. the president offered verbal support of the ukrainian government, stating that the people deserve to be free. and to have the economy that they desire. what certainly we didn't get any detail about any more support the united states might be giving to ukraine. on the other hand, he very clearly said that putin and the russians have got to stop putting weapons into the hands of separatists and he said sending fighters into ukraine. and that they have not had the talks that were promised. your anticipation of what we're going to hear from vladimir putin here in the next 24 hours? >> well, you may see it on thp ground. you may see putin, again,

denying that his hands are dirty here, but you'll see more tanks and more munitions moving across the border and more fighting from the separatists. what you may see will have a russian label but may not be acknowledged by russia, and putin might say something to strike back rhetorically at president obama. that said, the u.s. has a lot of economic leverage against russia, and russia's access to capital markets and accesses through its banks and energy center are pretty important, even though europe is its main trading partner, it is a global economy. >> what is the process now to rescue this cease-fire? what kind of assurances could the united states give to both sides to cool the jets, so to speak, between israel and hamas? if hamas keeps launching rockets, we know that israel is going to respond. so what role could the united

states play at this part? specifically john kerry? >> kerry can play a major role in trying to get netanyahu not to, for instance, do the ground invasion that everyone is anticipating. and netanyahu has been fairly restrained, according to most independent observers, but there's only so much he's going to be willing to hold back given the pressure he's under from his population and from members of his own cabinet. it was a split cabinet decision, which decided to observe the first cease-fire, and now there's very little appetite, according to martin plefletcher the israeli public to go along with anything further, so that's very difficult. some would say kerry doesn't have as much leverage here as he might have had if we hadn't had those failed middle east talks, although the white house and the state department would disagree and say there's no connection between the failure of the peace

talks, which, as you know, crashed and burned in april, and our ability to be the dealmaker right now. the biggest problem is that egypt and the rest of the landscape has changed. egypt is no longer led by the muslim brotherhood. it's led by a government led by alceasy, which is an avowed enemy of hamas, and egypt holds the choke points, the access to the border crossing, so there's very little that can be done overtly by kerry, but he is firing up the phones. you may see some travel. turkey is willing to be engaged, but egypt is trying to hold turkey and qatar back because it wants to be the main player here, and right now, hamas isn't listening. >> one final point i would like you to address tonight, andrea, was the second subject that the president talked about tonight. that is the iranian nuclear program. it sounded like the president was acknowledging that he believes that the iranians have made some progress.

that they have -- >> absolutely. >> -- they have stepped forward and have done what they said they were going to do to this point, but the inspections need to increase. what do you make of that? >> well, you're exactly right. and the first six months were the easy part. with iran, freezing in place and stepping down from some of its enrichment, but now comes the hard part, the technical side where they have to really give something up. and so far, the ayatollah has not been willing to do that. it's believed there is a division in the iranian government between zarif, the foreign minister, rouhani, the president on one side, and on the other, the hard liners, the ayatollah who has the final say, and the cuds force and republican guard, the other tough customers. so it remains to be seen, but i think you're going to see in the next couple days a decision to extend because it's really in no one's interest to escalate and break off relations with iran right now. >> nbc news chief foreign

correspondent, foreign affairs, you have so many titles. you have done everything for this network. andrea mitchell, the best. >> as have you. thanks so much, ed. >> thank you so much. i appreciate you being with us tonight on this breaking news. so to close it out here on "the ed show," the president of the united states has announced that the united states is freezing assets to some big companies that deal with defense and also energy because the russians have not done what they said they were going to do. senior u.s. officials announcing today that the administration is escalating sanctions on russia, the president came out and confirmed that within the last few moments. talking about afghanistan, iran, the conflict between israel and hamas, which of course will stay in the news, and they will continue to rescue the cease-fire. also, the president saying that the ukrainian people deserve to have freedom, they deserve to have the government they want and the economy that they want. and that vladimir putin and the russians are going to have to

stop putting in weapons and fighters and support into the separatists and talks must take place. so a very eventful hour here on "the ed show" on msnc. "politics nation" with reverend al sharpen starts now. >> good evening, ed. quite an eventful day. and thanks to you for tuning in. tonight's lead, enough is enough. one house committee talked about suing president obama today. but the real drama was in another hearing where the gop scandalmonger in chief finally got called out. house oversight chairman darrell issa, who once called president obama's administration the most corrupt in history, had issued a spina to the president's political director. congressman elijah cummings said this time issa went too