white house is deputy national security advisor for strategic communications and speechwriting, ben rhodesnks for taking the time to do this. i know it's a very busy day at the white house. let me just first get, you know, the white house position on this crimean referendum. do you see this as russian strong-arming? >> well, look, alex, we have've been very clear that you cannot make decisions about parts or regions of ukraine without the government of ukraine at the table. nor can you do it in a time when the people in crimea are under coercion from russian forces. so this is not a legit gnat exercise, it's not consistent with the ukrainian constitution, and we will reject it as will our european allies. we won't recognize the results of this type of exercise. >> ben, you know, what struck me in the last few days is the sharpness of the rhetoric. putin's rhetoric is a little more muddled but certainly out of the white house and from the state department we are using language that we have not -- there's a sharpness to the correspondence, if you will, that has not been present in several ye

what we have learned, the president's national security adviser ben rhodes has tweeted just a short time ago that the president today was in touch with several world leaders involved in this crisis. so clearly those conversations continuing. we're going to take a short break now. you've just watched this emergency session in the u.n. security council. we're going have our reporters elise labott, richard roth at the u.n. and others including on the ground in crimea right after this break. hey guys! sorry we're late. did you run into traffic? no, just had to stop by the house to grab a few things. you stopped by the house? uh-huh. yea. alright, whenever you get your stuff, run upstairs, get cleaned up for dinner. you leave the house in good shape? yea. yea, of course. ♪ [ sportscaster talking on tv ] last-second field go-- yea, sure ya did. [ male announcer ] introducing at&t digital life. personalized home security and automation. get professionally monitored security for just $29.99 a month. with limited availability in select markets. ♪ [ chainsaw whirring ] humans -- sometimes life tri

ben rhodes joins me now. e white house announcing sanctions and visa restrictions, but you weren't going to name anyone because you wanted to give the russians space to come to a diplomatic resolution. and here they are launching this immense military exercise. it does not seem as though the russians are taking president obama very seriously. >> well, no, jake, first of all, them space.hat we wanted to give the executive order gives us the ability to target individual russians entities responsible for the intervention. we're then going to move out. and we would sanction them for what they have already done in crimea to date and we're preparing those designations. we also made clear that we can escalate our sanctions if the russians escalate their activities. that's exactly what we'll do. we've already done the travel bans and we're preparing for designations based on the executive order the president issued today. >> and now russia puts up this immense military exercise. what is your reaction to that news? >>

we got that sense from ben rhodes and also his national security adviser, susan rice. the feeling from the white house if they cannot isolate russia with these economic sanctions. tot of the work next week is make sure the europeans and the white house remain on the same page with the tough sanctions and keeping the same message to vladimir putin. rices interesting, susan saying that is not how they expected the russian relationship to play out over the last couple of years. they did not expect the obama administration to be squaring off. that is where we are right now. >> indeed. these sanctions, there are indications they hurt a little bit. what is the expectation about how long that may last? it is not soint, much a matter of how long it will take to have an effect on russia's capitalists, or whether they will have an effect. air is a sense that vladimir putin has decided this is an existential issue for russia. the crimean peninsula has always belonged to russia and he has made it clear that he is worried about the encirclement of russia by nato. we have no fewer t

house speaker john boehner, harry reid, senators john mccain, john menendez, mary landrieu, ben rhodesan pfeiffer and caroline atkinson are all banned from traveling to russia. john mccain said i guess my spring break trip will not include russia. do you think anything will change on either side, nick paton walsh? >> reporter: you're talking about how those ukrainian military bases are under pressure. and the tense onslaught of protests are backed up by our men. we're seeing a pattern that is continuing to ships. it seems like ukrainian soldiers are really coming out such pressure that they are melting away. but those sanctions all the same, though, unleashed today are remarkably fierce, jake. we're talking about the naming of particular people as putin's cashiers by the u.s. treasury department, intimating wealth that you would not expect of a salary and making it hard for those linked to that wealth to actually function in the global economy by giving them u.s. sanctions. specific members of the u.s. staff of the kremlin is also targeted as well. really quite drastic as well. and the

officials ranging from senior white house aides like dan pfeiffer and ben rhodes and lawmakers in both parties like democrat harry reid and republicans john mccain and john boehner. the move was symbolic and laughed off. republican senator dan coates took to twitter that i won't be able to go on vacation with my family in siberia this summer and in february he was brushed off the idea he was locked in a battle with put >> our approach in the united states is not to see this as a cold war chessboard in which -- in which we're in competition with russia. >> reporter: critics from the left to right are charging the president misjudged putin and conservatives continuing to claim the president's response has done little to throw the russian president off his game. >> his playbook and our playbook are simply, you know, miles apart, and if we don't do something that surprises him, you know, he's going to keep on going. >> reporter: while the liberal "washington post" editorial page declared the president does not comprehend putin's ambition, writing, quote, the obama administration and its eu

the white house really -- >> in fact, ben rhodes from the national security council said we were disappointedand reached out to the government through multiple channels when we became aware of this issue and made it clear that this journalist had access to cover president's trip and we'll continue to raise concerns about why this journalist was denied a visa and strong objection to their decision. the white house correspondents association issued a statement also. but at this point, let's talk about the visit itself because king abdullah has made no secret through his meeting with secretary of state kerry, that they are not happy about what the president did on labor day weekend in deciding to change or pull back and seek congressional approval for any action against syria. they feel the u.s. has not been supportive enough to syrian opposition groups that assad and al qaeda supporting groups have become increasingly popular and strong. so the opposition is now infiltrated with real jihadis and that is becoming a national security concern in terms of people who are now spreading potentially th

should also point out is that the deputy national security adviser over here at the white house, ben rhodes, who serves under susan rice, tweeted out just a few moments ago that the president was speaking to several foreign leaders. so we should expect additional readouts in addition to this readout on the phone call between president obama and president putin. it seems that the president was on the phones quite a bit today. that might explain why he was not involved in that national security meeting which took place earlier today as we've been reporting all afternoon, jim. you saw the pictures coming out of the white house. defense secretary chuck hagel, cia director john brennan, talking about the situation in ukraine and discussing policy options. i should note, jim, that just outside the gates of the white house at this very moment there is a protest going on. some ukranians have gathered outside the north fence to talk about what they would like to see happen. they would like to see the u.s. get more involved. but as the hours go on, jim, i think we're going to get a clearer indication

ben rhodes just tweeted that president obama spoke this afternoon with the russian president vladimirn 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 th

where he had a series of meetings with the white house through the deputy national security advisor ben rhodesmaking some comments saying that the united states will continue to support the search efforts as they go on today. zeroing in on this one place in the south indian ocean that was new reaction. obviously so much grief, from so many about this mysterious disappearance. we'll continue to bring you the latest as we get it. jon: well the clock now ticking on obamacare. the deadline to get signed up for health insurance just a week away, if you don't have it through your employer or some other means. but new problems are popping up with some people still having trouble getting coverage through the healthcare.gov website. all this as the obama administration makes a final pitch with the president pushing for more sign-ups, even while he's overseas. joining us now, we have senior politics reporter for "u.s. news & world report." this thing was born four years ago when the president signed it into law. here we are, the march 31 deadline just days away. how would you assess the state of obamaca

. >> 18-year-old ben perry of rhode island, feeling it now. trying to set a world record for the longest cooking shift. perry is hope to cook for 48 straight hours. >> his ground rules, only chef in the kitchen, two dishes going at once and he has it make everything from scratch. if he is successful his kitchen shift will finish up today after 4:00 p.m. eastern record. >> that is amazing. >> and all of the food, i was about to volunteer if he needed someone it sample. but all the food he makes is going to two different charities there in rhode island. >> good for him. and cooking for 200 people three times a day with all those hours he is putting in. can you believe it? he can rest for five minutes an hour, by the way. >> five minutes an hour. you would think you would need the rest. and can you imagine that heat -- >> you can take five minutes an hour or save up those breaks and have a longer break and maybe take a nap in there. that's the way the rules work. >> sounds like a good idea. >> yes. >> coming up, fighting obesity in the four-legge

is i completely agree with completely one hundred percent but you have victoria nuland you have ben rhodes you have samantha power i mean they have nothing to do with what john just had to say why i agree with the other two. participants that nato expansion i think is one of the central problems because of course there was talk about bringing georgia and ukraine into nato which i thought was sheer folly and russia is reacting both in georgia and ukraine i think to the nato expansion ukraine is very important for russia as we all know and you know it goes back to. bush's first bush's or verbal promise to mikhail gorbachev when they were. to get the uniting of germany get him to agree to that they said that nato wouldn't expand and of course it has expanded several times and right up to russia's borders and that has to be unnerving for a country that has been invaded repeatedly and had forty million dead in two world wars so i think. you have to take that russian perspective into account the nato and the west have just moved forward with their expansion both the e.u. and nato john and in mos

the president's assistant ben rhodes told reporters the meet willing be held on the sidelines of a nuclear security summit in the hague on monday. >> and the president will consult with the leaders of the g7 about how to both support the ukrainian government and, of course, the