>> thank you, ayman mohyeldin. >>> firefighters in chile are struggling to contain a massive

we have two reports tonight, beginning with nbc's ayman mohyeldin in eastern ukraine. ayman, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, carl. the crisis in ukraine may be entering a new chapter, this after the government in kiev says it is now launching a large-scale operation to regain territory it has lost over the past week. but moscow says this order is illegal. in fact, the former ukrainian president says it's the cia who's behind the unrest. but nonetheless, with thousands of troops amassed on the ukrainian-russia border, the situation in ukraine is very volatile and could be entering a new dangerous part of its war. with military grade weapons and precision, this was the moment pro-russian separatists took control of this police station. it's a scene that has repeated itself over the past several days across eastern ukraine and one that has pushed the country to the brink of widespread violence, if not all-out war. heavily armed men in military uniforms, widely believed to be backed by moscow, taking buildings and positions in areas they want to break away from ukr

ayman mohyeldin joins us. that's one of the senators of the unrest. ayman, describe the centers of unrest. >> reporter: it's one that's very tense. especially in the past few hours. not only did they ignore an ultimatum that was required to lay down their arms and leave the buildings, they've continued to seize more police stations. in the past hour alone about 45 miles from where we are pro russian separatist militias managed to take over another building. there was an exchange of gunfire, molotov cocktails were thrown. another police station in another city in the eastern part of the country now controlled by pro russian separatist militias. once they take control of these buildings, they then set up barriers around it and more importantly set up check points in and out of the towns and effectively try to create a new reality on the ground. what they want politically is a referendum to give them the chance to break away from the ukraine and give them the choice of perhaps joining russia. the ukrainian government says it will not tolerate this anymore

. >> ayman mohyeldin for us in kiev. thank you. i want to bring in kristen welker, white house correspondent, for us. russia are's oh foreign minister saying the west should bring in allies in ukraine's government. bring those allies under control. what's the white house saying? >> there is bipartisan support. the obama administration. also republican lawmakers saying up rest appearses to be the work of russia. samantha power saying this is highly coordinated. it points to what we saw with crimea. john mccain making a similar point today. power issuing new warnings saying the united states is prepared. powers said the president is prepared to propose new sanctions including on energy, banking and mining sectors. so far the sanctions have had an impact, a bite. the stock market has gone down. i have been speaking to an expert who says the president should send military aid to ukraine. secretary of state john kerry reached out to sergei lavrov and said the united states is concerned about the escalating crisis in ukraine. vice presid

ayman mohyeldin. in the city of donetsk tonight, thanks.eports today of a russian fighter jet buzzing an american warship at sea for an extended period of time and at a low altitude, as low as 500 feet. for more on that as well as the diplomatic side of this, such as it is, we're joined by andrea mitchell in our d.c. news room. good evening. >> reporter: tensions did increase dramatically after the buzzing of a u.s. warship by a soviet fighter jet. it happened saturday in a point of view case in a standoff that could easily spin out of control. in the black sea, off the coast of romania, the russian attack plane made 12 passes over the uss donald cook for 90 minutes ignoring radio calls from the ship, diving just above sea level, very close to the destroyer. today the white house also accused russia of to meanting unrest in ukraine as it had previously. >> the similarities are striking. the evidence is compelling that russia is supporting the efforts and supporting them. >> reporter: the cia john brennan was sent to ukraine but denies russi

let's get to nbc's ayman mohyeldin in the ukraine. help us understand what is at stake here. >> reporter: good morning, betty. well, it's the very future of ukraine as a country and as a territory that's at stake here. late last night the united nations security council meeting revealed the divisions between russia and the west over what's happening inside the ukraine. russia blaming the u.s. saying it is full meanting dissent and causing the violence that's breaking out in the eastern part of the country. the u.s. says it is russia that is fueling the separatist movement. these pro russian separatist militias control several buildings. the government in kiev has given them a deadline to put down their weapons and leave. they have not. there's a growing risk that the ukrainian government may be involved in a large scale mission to try to regain control. >> stay on top of it. ayman, thank you. >>> new details continue to emerge in the investigation into that fiery bus crash in california that left ten people killed. the ntsb says there

nbc's ayman mohyeldin joins us now.e station was overrun by pro-russian militia. tell us what's happening there. >> reporter: that's correct. in fact, it's one of five different cities that now has government buildings firmly in the hands of pro-russian separatists militias. we're seeing a pattern develop. but where we went today was somewhat peculiar. we went to this police station and saw for ourselves armed men openly displaying their rifles and pistols. many of them wearing military uniforms. a lot of them when we were speaking to them asking them how they got these weapons, either nodding or suggesting that they got them from russia. the impression we were getting from those that we spoke to on the ground was that these separatists now in control of this police station want to see their cities break away from ukraine. some of them even suggesting a unification with russia. the eastern part of the country sin creasingly in the hands of the separatists, at least in these five cities. and it is posing a crisis for the

we've got all the angles covered with nbc news foreign correspondent ayman mohyeldin. we've also got michael crowley and former u.s. ambassador to ukraine, steven pifer. ayman, you just left ukraine. you've been posting some pretty incredible photos on instagram that we've been taking a look at. what is the sense of people there? do people feel like they are inching towards a civil war? >> reporter: well, certainly depending on who you ask. now, we spent most of our time in the eastern part of the country. and the sentiment there among those that we spoke to is that there are legitimate grievances against the government in kiev. and that sentiment of somewhat being disappointed and disenfranchised by what happened in kiev over the past several months has led to a ground swell of pro-russian sentiment. now, those pro-russian sentiments are definitely being exploited by the russian government. there are a lot of cultural similarities, ethnic similarities, linguistic imlaters with russia, so there are also economic interests between the eastern part of the country and russ

>> thank you, ayman mohyeldin. >>> firefighters in chile are struggling to contain a massive fire that has killed 12 people there and destroyed 2,000 homes. officials thought the fires were contained sunday morning, but strong winds fanned the flames in the afternoon. some 10,000 people have been forced to evacuate the area. more than 500 people were treated at hospitals, mostly from smoke inhalation. >>> and golfer bubba watson finding room in his closet for a second green jacket this morning after winning the masters on sunday for the second time in three years. watson shot a final round 69 at augusta national to win the tournament by three shots. in addition to the famed green jacket, watson also pockets more than $1.6 million for the win. and it's always a perfect fit, notice that? it's like the tailors are right there. >> yeah, exactly. masters casual. natalie, thank you. miss dylan, busy day in the middle of the country. >> yeah, just like yesterday. we're going to see another round of very strong storms. this cold front has a history of producing golf ball sized hail. we saw tha

ayman mohyeldin. and also we're focusing on boston today.gnatius, what are you working on right now other than that brennan story in kiev? >> well, i'm going to try to find out whether brennan took that trip. i do want to look at what the fundamentals are of the ukraine situation. what power does each side have here really. because this one ain't going away. >> all right, david. thank you so much. we always appreciate you being here. can't wait to read your new novel. jeffrey sachs, before you go, i need to show you this clip and talk the economics of it. here's donald trump. >> you know, i heard jeb bush the other day, and he was talking about people that come into this country illegally, they do it for love. and i said, say it again i didn't get -- that's one i've never heard of before. i've heard a lot. i've heard money, i've heard this, i've heard sex, i've heard everything. the one thing i never heard of was love. i understand what he's saying, but, you know, it's out there. >> jeffrey, what is the earth institute's anl alysanalysis? >>