we were talk to our reporter anna coren on the ground.ense president obama and russian president vladamir putin spoke again by phone this afternoon for an hour. that is the breaking news. they talked, president obama offering a diplomatic way out, including russian-ukrainian talks. international monitors, russian military stand down as well as ukrainian elections in may. that said today's moves do not tell any easing of the crisis. we want to take a look at capabilities and possibilities. joined by jim sciutto and retired army major james spider marks. appreciate all of you being with us. general marks, the u.s. is moving assets into the region. talking about fighter jets to destroyers. walk us through what's happening with those assets. >> what we see right now, jim, thanks. if you could put the f 15s, the air force is moving f 15s into lithuania and some f-16s into poland. we have the positioning of high-speed attack aircraft. we also have the "uss truxton" a destroyer, which has left from the eastern, about to go through the bosphorus

anna coren, cnn, on the crimean peninsula. >> our thanks to anna coren and her crew doing brave work us to make sure this story has international eyes on it. >>> marijuana is a huge cash crop in colorado, where recreational use is now legal. but there is this lingering problem. the business mavens are now facing, what do you do with that cash? lots and lots of bills that the banks will not take. you can't open an account with had kind of money, folks. so what do you do with it? the legal view on the pot boom, just ahead. when does your work end? does it end after you've expanded your business? after your company's gone public? and the capital's been invested? or when your company's bought another? is it over after you've given back? you never stop achieving. that's why, at barclays, our ambition is to always realize yours. cut! [bell rings] this...is jane. her long day on set starts with shoulder pain... ...and a choice take 6 tylenol in a day which is 2 aleve for... ...all day relief. hmm. [bell ring] "roll sound!" "action!" i'm bethand i'm michelle. and we own the paper cottage. it

here's anna coren with more on the ground in crimea. >> reporter: the military buildup of russian troops here on the crimean peninsula has entered a new phase, with the ukrainian defense minister saying a convoy of trucks carrying russian troops has crossed the russian border heading towards crimea. the crimean government says there are 30,000 russian troops here and can only grow as the day for the referendum draws closer. the self-appointed government has already said that only russian forces should be on crimean soil. and ukrainian troops should swear allegiance to russia or leave. a military office has been stormed here by armed pro russian forces. an air force base was attacked by russian troops after they rammed a truck into the gate. they eventually retreated, but the scene turned ugly when local militia began bashing journalists. warning shots were fired and they're now deciding whether or not they will try to enter the crimean peninsula again. anna coren, cnn, on the crimean peninsula, ukraine. >>> coming up, back home here in the u.s., new information about a pregnant mother ac

anna coren live in crimea. you've seen russian forces flooding into a port city there.l us what's happening on the ground. yeah, absolutely, christine. the military buildup is definitely intensifying here. you mention that the acting prime minister of ukraine, arseniy yatsenyuk is meeting with president barack obama. he's also meeting with secretary of state john kerry before heading to new york to address the united nations. they are trying to come up with some diplomatic solution here in crimea. it is is an invasion. we travelled to the eastern tip of this peninsula. we saw convoys of trucks carrying russian troops, military equipment. you know the border or the land i should say between the russian tier of russia, it's between the ferries coming across these troops bringing this equipment. the port has been taken over by local militia, there are also russian forces on the ground. when they approached them, they told us to put our cameras down. to stop filming. they were quite hostile and aggressive, with appearance everywhere we've gone, we've come across these local

we were talk to our reporter anna coren on the ground. destroy. walk us through what's happening with those as zblesets. >> if you could put the f 15s, the air force is moving f 15s into lithuania and poland. we have the positioning of high-speed attack aircraft. we also have the usstruxton, a destroyer which has left from the eastern, about to go through the bosforus into the region. >> at the same time we have these russian moves, some of which are pretty aggressive. ways going to joao a satellite map after sebastopol. these three russian ships have moved in. is that how a blockade works? >> it does. 9 way you have to neutralize naval ships you either board them, in other words take control of them, you sink them to the bottom, or you blockade them so their function can't be performed. this is the least aggressive if you will of the possibilities. >> what's interesting, you mentioned sinking a ship because the other blockade they've been doing is further up the coast of crimea at another base here where the russians actually scuttled an old moth

let's bring in cnn's anna coren. good morning. >> reporter: hi, christine. that's right, we're at a pro-ukrainian rally. you don't see too many of these here in crimea, which as we know is very much staunchly p pro-russian. several hundred people showing out in this miserable, cold weather, but they want to get their message across -- they do not want to become part of russia in just over a week's time. that is when that referendum will be held on the 16th of march. and the people here will have to decide whether crimea stays with ukraine or breaks away and becomes part of russia. now, the people that we've just been speaking to, you know, they have grave concerns. they feel that the government that's been newly installed here is at least illegal, what they're doing is illegal. they're pushing this referendum through. they say it's a violation of international law. they know it's dangerous just coming out here and taking to the streets, voicing their opinion, because it really goes against what this government here in this region wants to achieve. so, they k

cnn's anna coren has that, live for us in crimea this morning. good morning. >> reporter: hi, christine. there is no doubt about it, a new border is being erected between crimea and ukraine. we drove up there yesterday, and we came across a checkpoint. our car was searched, equipment was searched, one of our cameras was taken and turned off. but the soldiers eventually spoke to us. they said we could not film the area. what we saw were camps of russian soldiers. when we moved a little bit further, we could see that there were armored personal carriers that are being dug in. they were rolling out barbed wire. they were digging holes for fence posts. and they were also putting up signs that would indicate a mine field. and we spoke to a local, christine, who said that a local dog, one of his neighbor's dogs had been blown up after he ran into the area a few days ago. so, there is real concern that this area is now part of russia, effectively. they didn't want us to film, they did not want us to show the evidence, but i can assure you, christine, it

but as cnn's anna coren reports.sian troops are already marking new territorial borders across chongar. >> reporter:parked along the highway linking crimea to ukraine. a convoy of russian military trucks and armored personnel carriers. >> reporter:we're approaching a checkpoint - flying the russian flag -- where troops are searching cars, targeting media crews and confiscating equipment. >> reporter:we hide our cameras as soldiers inspect the van. one of them is spotted - it's taken and turned off. this is now effectively part of russia. and they don't want us filming the evidence. >> reporter:the local soldier in charge - who's sworn allegiance to russia -- agrees to an interview. >>"we're defending our people", he tells me. "this is not about russia but about protecting our homeland." >> reporter:as we drive through the checkpoint, we see the "new border" that's being erected along this windswept plain. >> reporter:once out of view from russian troops, we stop the car and resume filming. >>while russia says it has

anna coren is joining us. what's happened?> reporter: well, wolf, as we know, tensions have been extremely high around these military bases where these russian troops have really surrounded these installations, but it would appear that this evening the situation really blew up at this one particular air base. these russian troops ramming a truck through the gates. they were on the base for some time. the ukrainians were holed up inside the base. there was a command for the russian troops to retreat. they did that. the problem, however, was when the local militia got involved. and they attacked journalists on the same -- some even had to be hospitalized. but wolf, we're seeing this angst and hostility towards the media and the concern is that it is only going to get worse. on a street in the heart of simferopol, masked paramilitaries confiscated equipment from a tv station. filming across the road a bulgarian journalist who has suddenly been spotted. within seconds he's pushed to the ground. a gun aimed at his head. his assista

. >> anna coren on the ground for us.ks so much. >>> back here in the united states, president obama is taking a break from washington but the crisis in ukraine is not far from his mind. >> our senior white house correspondent jim acosta has the latest diplomatic efforts to calm tensions in the region. good morning, jim. >> reporter: president obama called german chancellor angela america to talk about the tensions in the ukraine. it's a conversation that probably went better than with russian officials. with the tug-of-war over crimea as a stalemate, president obama escaped to florida and the funnier topic of college financial aid. >> i don't know if you're aware of this, but the rest of the country is cold. >> reporter: vladimir putin was as playing it cool, posing for pictures at the opening of the paraolympic games in sochi. but behind the scenes both sides are putting heads as secretary of state john kerry and sergey lavrov continued their tense talks. washington warmed the threats of sanctions would boomerang back a

in the meantime, to cnn's anna coren, joining us from crimea. anna, this u.n. envoy had to leave, leave a coffee shop. it was an ugly scene unfolding. tell us what you know. >> reporter: yeah, an ugly scene indeed, wolf. we understand that robert serry was surrounded by up to 15 armed gunmen. they ordered him to get into a car and head straight to the airport. he resisted. he was then led into a coffee shop and itv reporter james mates was with him, and tweeting in real-time as to what was taking place. so we understand that they were in that coffee shop, not very far from where we are here in s simferopol. and as you mentioned in your introduction, he agreed to leave, to quit his post here in ukraine. he is, of course, the special envoy to ukraine. quit his post and leave the country to try and deescalate the situation. we don't know why these local militia had such a problem with robert serry. but you would have to assume, these local militia are pro-russian. obviously, whatever robert serry was saying didn't seem to agree with these local militia. so they ha

. >> anna coren, thank you very much, reporting there live. it's that kind of reporting that makes a difference, because it's hard for anyone to know what's going on. the number of troops, is it 6,000 or 16,000? congressman peter king is on the house intelligence committee. great to talk to you as always, sir. this issue about intelligence. john mccain obviously aggressively questioning secretary hagel today about what the u.s. knew and what he calls another massive intelligence failure. the cia got really i think it's fair to say po'd about this. their response, since the beginning of the political unrest in ukraine, the cia has updated policymakers to ensure they have a timely and accurate picture of the unfolding crisis. any suggestion otherwise is flat wrong. do you think john mccain went too far? >> well, i'm on the intelligence committee. what i would say is that the invasion or the incursion was not predicted. however, it was among a list of possibilities. i think if -- i've spoken to chairman mike rogers. we're going to hold hearings,

anna coren in crimea, give us more details about what happened with this envoy. >> reporter: jake, we don't know exactly what triggered this confrontation, but we understand that robert serrie's car was surrounded by at least 15 men, some of them armed. they told him he had to go straight to the airport. he refused. these local militia tried to get into his car. he managed to somehow get out. he fled into a coffee shop. he was there with an itv reporter james mates, who was tweeting what was going on. these men continued to surround the building. after some time he decided as to alleviate pressure to leave the situation, basically to quit his post as u.n. special envoy to ukraine and dee part the country. so he is en route to istanbul as we speak. he believes that this will help de-escalate the situation. jake, it just goes to show how tense the situation is and how unpredictable the situation is here in crimea. >>> ana coren, thank you so much. stay staf. >>> the house foreign affairs committee is holding a hearing tomorrow on ukraine and could vote after a resolution for sanctions a

. >> anna coren, thanks for joining me. >> reporter: my pleasure. >>> stay tuned.more "reliable sources" ahead. [ male announcer ] at northrop grumman, we know in the cyber world, threats are always evolving. at first, we were protecting networks. then, we were protecting the transfer of data. and today it's evolved to infrastructure... ♪ ...finance... and military missions. we're constantly innovating to advance the front line in the cyber battle, wherever it takes us. that's the value of performance. northrop grumman. chalky... not chalky. temporary... 24 hour. lots of tablets... one pill. you decide. prevent acid with prevacid 24hr. you decide. double agents? spy thriller? you don't know "aarp" thanks to the aarp tek program, this guy is spying on his new grandson. aarp tek gets people better connected to technology, to better connect with each other. with social media, digital devices and apps. if you don't think "hashtag love dad" when you think aarp, then you don't know "aarp" find more surprising possibilities and get to know us at aarp.org/possibilities [ c

. >> anna coren, thank you and stay safe. >>> what do russians think of this resolution and the obama's administration response in joining me now is vladimir pozner. thank you for joining us. we heard the president calling the proposed referendum, quote, unconstitutional and it would violate international law. clearly the white house strategy is to keep the vote from happening or invalidate it before it happens. what do you think the result will be of that white house rhetorical campaign? >> frankly, i don't think there is going to be any result. and i've even put this way. if the white house thought that particular vote would be negative, that is to say anti-russian, get out of here, we want to stay with ukraine, they wouldn't probably call it unconstitutional. they know that the result is going to be not what they would like to be because the majority of people living in the crimea -- 60% are russians. they're very pro russian. and as you know, crimea used to belong to russia before in a key take khrushchev gave it to ukraine when it didn't mean anything when it was the ussr. suddenly

anna coren, thank you so much. >>> as for the russians, vladimir putin not showing any signs of backing down. the russians turned aside a formal investigation for international talks today. this is aing vladimir putin remains steadfast. phil blackwell is in russia. phil, i understand there's a tough stance on sanctions? >> reporter: yeah, john, that's right. you've got the foreign minister meeting with some european officials today maintaining a safe position. the russians are under attack, we reserve the right to help them out militarily. here in moscow, members of the upper house, the senate are coming up with legislation on how to respond if the european union and the united states follow through with their threats. and the draft law, as it stands, according to russian state media would allow the russian government to confiscate property, assets accounts from american and european companies. it sounds extreme but this is how russia responds when it believes its sovereignty is under threat. russian officials like to talk about an asymmetrical response. in 2012, the u.s. congress passe

the main focus remains certainly on the ground where anna coren is reporting for us tonight. so the situation there obviously very tense. earlier today russian soldiers actually attempted to storm a ukranian base. what do you know? >> reporter: as we know, anderson, tensions have been bubbling away for days. but it would seem that things really turned ugly at a military base about an hour and half from where we are. 60 russian soldiers arrived in trucks. they are called on ukranian troops to surrender, put down their weapons. the ukranian's refused. and that is when the russians got their truck and rammed the gate. they actually managed to get through onto the base. apparently the ukranian's then form add human shield and stopped them from getting through. the russians retreated when the local militia then turned up to support the russians, that's when it really turned ugly. they attacked journalists on the ground, and some were even hospitalized. anderson, we know that the prime minister here in crimea has basically said that the only troops that should be here now are russi

. >> anna coren. thank you. >> a powerful 6.9 magnitude earthquake hit 50 miles west of eureka and humbolt county. no reports of major damages or injuries. >> new this morning, the father of the sandy hook massacre said he wishes his son had never been born. he also says he knows his son would have gunned him down if he had the chance. >> breaking overnight, the prime suspect in natalie holloway's disappearance will be extradited to the united states in 24 years. peru agreed to spend van der sloot to the u.s. only after he faces trial for the murder of another woman. >> rand paul for president in 2016? many who attended the annual cpac gathering indicated that. texas senator ted cruz was a distant second with 11%. >> do you remember that epic spelling bee we told you here about on "new day"? well, a winner has finally been crowned in missouri. remember kush sharma? he won the match after successfully spelling the word definition. >> i cannot believe it. the word were prepicked but he spelled definitio

but i want to go directly live to anna coren reporting for us. do you know the specifics of what transpired and if mr. serry is okay right now? >> reporter: ashleigh, it's pretty fluid situation. we're just getting bits and pieces of information, trying to put it together. we do understand that this is taking place as we speak. that robert serry, the special u.n. envoy to ukraine, is being held against his will in a cafe. he is there with an itn journalist, one of our affiliates, a british network. so currently in this cafe, armed men, not letting them leave. the itn journalist, he is tweeting in real-time, saying that they are not hurt. they remain unharmed. they are being held against their will. we understand that mr. serry, who is from the netherlands, had been speaking to a naval commander a little bit earlier. the u.n. has come out and said that he has not been kidnapped, but certainly according to these tweets from this itn journalist with mr. serry, they are being held against their will in a cafe, not very far from where we are. ashleigh

be careful over there, anna coren in crimea. a very disturbing development.. >>> 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. >> j

. >> anna coren, white house continuing. >>> president reaching out to several world leaders over thete house correspondent, michel michelle kosinski joins me now. >> reporter: a busy weekend, a working vacation from president obama. when you look at these calls he has made, he has spoken to the world leaders of china, japan, germany, u.k., france rs italy, latvia, lithuania, astonia. when you look at the readouts of these calls, what the white how thes house puts out is a summary of them, stressing the unity and cooperation of these nations. telling russian president, vladimir putin, he needs to do three things. pull troops back in crimea to their bases, let in international monitors, which have been turned away at the border for days now and participate in the formation of a contact group that would facilitate discussion between russia and ukraine. so far, none of those things have happened. so these calls emphasize if things continue the way they have been in crimea and ukraine, that russia will face continued international isolation. for its part, russia has also been participatin