they are upset that their ethnicity is not listed among 135 ethnicities on the form. the risk is a heightened situation of tension will be exacerbated. if there was doubt that that could be the case, it's incumbent on the ufpk and the government to postpone until the situation subsided. >> a chinese ship tried to block the vessel from getting near the islands. the civilian ship was on its way to provide supplies to a military outpost in the island group. the chinese warned the vessel to turn around. it's the latest in a long-running dispute. china, brunei, thailand and vietnam laid claim. >> a signed peace agreement between the philippine government and the moro islamic liberation grant, and openings the potential for a largely undeveloped area. >> farmers in south philippines call it their white cold. the area was once at the center of the muslim insurgency. not any more. now these rubber trees are growing, where once there was baron land. the project was set up in 2012 by the local government, a solution for a region battered. it appears to be working. around 2,000

not so delicious that i can die man representatives of predominantly muslim ethnic albanians who make up the second largest ethnic group in the country sees the monumental hearings as an exclusive club of christian macedonians. to make things worse. in december two thousand thirteen the government put up a statue to make people several that some staff and to shun the mikey and having such a case to the obedience. one night a group of ethnic albanians community among them trying to topple to show my monkey from his pedestal they did not succeed. but the stunts he did suffer some damage. next the commission has found it was put up neatly and it's slated for noodle. in the meantime really stand out. but now he's on the psyche and the accusations of vandalism against pr ethnically and politically motivated the toppling of the lenin statue in ukraine was generally regarded as a democratic anti but now our actions are being labeled vandalism and eight. i can find me close as i see it up randomly putting the statue up here without our approval is vandalism. even when he indicated he is conce

the representative of predominantly muslim ethnic albanians who make up the second largest ethnic group in the country sees the monumental hearings as an exclusive club of christian macedonians. to make the swans in december two thousand thirteen the government put a statue to make people cerebral a son stephen chow mei mei qi men having such a good deal means one night a group of ethnic albanians community among them trying to topple to show my monkey from his pedestal they did not succeed the stunt he did suffer some damage. next the commission has found it was put up the league in hits like it or neutral. in the meantime police stand guard. and that he's identified yet the accusations of vandalism against me are ethnically and politically motivated the toppling of the lenin statue in ukraine was generally regarded as a democratic anti but now our actions are being labeled vandalism i didn't put me close as i see it up randomly putting the statue up here without our approval is vandalism. i'm even putting in a city. justin and magnesium. the leader of the democratic party of sets of m

>> it's ethnically homo genius. you have populations of culture and history spread across international front easier. the dangerous things seems to me that russia is inne ethnic term >> that's a real shift from the status and the standards in europe after 1945. it's a kind of thing we haven't seen since the yugoslav wars. a great power like russia doing this is a real shift from the standards that prevailed in europe after the second world war. >> professor will give you a little homework today. look up ravanchism and iradantism. those are important terms right now. isn't it? there are people who look longingly to the other times. many in ukraine? >> that's right in a sense that of course all borders are accidents of history in one form or another. one of the great features of the break-up of the soviet union was that they didn't have, as in yugoslavia conflicts over shifting borders even though ethnic groups didn't match the new countries. there were few exceptions to that in the south caucuses. now crimea. this se

there are many ethnic russians in eastern ukraine. white house has been peppered with questions all week about what would happen in the event that eastern ukraine were to separate from western ukraine. and the white house of course has said and will continue to say that they believe strongly in a unified ukraine. jim, just to continue to go through this, we could go on and on. i'll let you jump in. the other thing i thought was very interesting and we got some indication of this last night, it goes on to say quite clearly at tend of the statement the united states will suspend preparation and meetings for the g 8 summit to take place in sochi later on in june. as you know, jim, this was going to be another example for vladimir putin to show to the world that he is raising the profile of russia, not only because of the winter olympics but the g 20 summit in st. peters burg last summer. and so this is a clear diplomatic warning to vladimir putin that what is happening in crimea right now is not sitting well with this white house, jim. >

and ty have been upset that their ethnicity is not listed among the 135 ethnicities expressly listedus form. >> reporter: the government has banned ethnic muslims from registering an row hundred ga. they s-rg them to be immigrants. and denies them citizenship. >> translator: has everyone knows in myanmar they are 135 ethnic groups, if someone isn't a member of these groups they put themselves in the category as zoos. we won't force anyone to answer what he had le ethnicity or triy belong to. >> reporter: more than 200 people have been killed in attacks by dudist national groups over the last two years, villages burnt to the ground, at least 140,000 row hundred ga have fled. buddhist have his vowed to boycott the census they are worried about till legitimize the status of muslims, last week they attacked homes and offices of foreign aid workers in the area. they say the timing of the census is so wrong because of the tensions. it's not only here where there are problems. certain other ethnic groups are also concerned. in the north rebels have been fighting the government to decades, i

there is no ethnic cleansing. if you want to say that ukraine is a nation divided, which i don't gra agree with, but it dos have a new government that is represented by the pro-western side rather than the pro-russia side it would say that the representatives of crimea have been fairly represented. >> maybe vladimir putin has been emboldened that he has been able to push around these smaller places. ukraine smaller in left compare to countries in the outside world, but they're o pro russian on the ground in the peninsula, and it looks like they're getting away with it. >> in going to russia you can't but help hear experts giving their view. i've been at meetings where they say yes, putin will push as far as he's allowed to go. and so far there has not been the wherewithal, the ability or the instruments to push back or to stop him. he--my thought is that actually he is very opportunistic, but at the same time he often has several scenarios going at the same time. i think one scenario was to insure that yanukovych

most of whom belong to one of twelve ethnic minority groups. most numerous of these are the tiny ethnic make up thirty five percent of the population. this cd signs are written the script to the people as well as chinese characters. string cheese. it forms the upper reaches of meat on southeast asia's largest river. the city stretch one is packed language she means well. i mean thousand rice paddies reflecting the many tears at the heels of the region water splashing festival was a prayer for good harvest and protection from torture thirteen. this is the last to feature the traditional diet winter and the first day of the festival the festival last three games village is competing for christmas on the river and other events are held around the city mains water splashing comes on the final day. the parade is held in the city center ethnic groups original home was around she sometime. but overcoming the extended itself into two days time and miles as a result of the culture and customs so that i have much in common with those countries. the us ch

them upset that their ethnicity is not listed among 135 listed. the risk is that already heightened situation of interpretation will be exacerbated. if there's a credible doubt that that could be the case, it's incumbent on the ufk and the government of myanmar to postpone until the situation has subsided. >> a taiwan ship has blocked a chinese ship. the -- a chineseship has blocked taiwan ship delivering goods to the philippines. it is an area fought over. >> the signing of a peace agreement between the philippine government and the moro islamic liberation front hopes to bring an end to fighting. it hopes to bring development to a region that is large line undeveloped. >> farmers of the southern philippines call this their white gold. the area was at the center of a muslim insurgency, but not any more. now these are growing, where once there was baron land. the project was set up in 2012 by the local government. an economic solution for a region battered by armed conflict. it appears to be working. around 2,000 farmers are benefitting from the pr

the muslims upset that their ethnicity is not listed among the 135 ethnicities listed on the form. >> they are band from registers themselves at r a.m. hinga. it denies them citizenship. >> as everyone knows in myanmar, there are 135 ethnic grooms. if someone isn't a member of these groups they put themselves as other. we won't force anyone to answer what ethnicity or tribe they belong to. >> more than 200 people have been killed in attacks by buddhist nationalist groups over the last two years. village have been burnt to the ground, 140,000rahinga have fled. last week, they talked homes and offices of foreign aid workers in the area and rights groups say the timing of the census is wrong with tension is so high. er ethnic groups are also concerned. in the north, rebels have been fighting the government for decades. there's doubt they'll allow census takers into the area. >> since this questionnaire at many points that are not suitable for the conditions within burma at this time and if we look into concerns coming from groups inside and outside burma, these should be taken into cons

ethnicity although certainly the majority of the russian ethnics do but they're often there's no quite clear indication of where russian ends and where ukrainian begins their as for the tours they are also politically split so it would be wrong to say that all of them feel negative in fact some of them expressed support for what is going on because the language minority bill that was removed by this put your government also affected the torah language let's talk about people that you've got family in crimea how is the ordinary ukrainian being affected by this no matter what their loyalties are the economy is collapsing how is it affecting daily life now ok well we have seen an economic deterioration in the falling the economic situation has been bad but it hasn't been dire as of yet it will get dire in the days ahead unless a political settlement between all the powers is reached. the service is the way the country is running at the moment when you see the devastation there in kiev it's no is any wonder the country is actually operating. i mean i think it is a bit of a wonder and i thi

russian. 75% are ethnically ukrainian.wo nations is one of the elements of this confusion that often is mentioned in the western media. the -- the second element of confusion has to do with the bogus strategy exaggerated threat that comes from radical nationalists in ukraine. some receive government positions in the new government and that has been a mistake by the new ukrainian authorities, but all of the front runners in the current presidential election are russian speakers. klitschko was born in russia. yulia tymoshenko has been youed as a good partner with putin. and she is a front runner in the presidential election. both come from ukraine. the far right that many people talk about is really a marginal insignificant political force. >> we have our community tweeting in about some of the tartars. sophia says . . . and we have a video comment. >> today russia opened the door of our house without knocking it, occupying governmental buildings, military units, tv channels, airports, demanding the ukrainian military forces

they are not all ethnic russians that will vote yes. the other day the ukrainian fleet, i met a woman that told me while she was gazing at one of the ukrainian votes that her ukrainian husband a sailor was trapped on that boat for over a week. he is there with all of the other sailors because they refuse to swear an oath to the russian army because they say they are ukrainian and want to stay that way and fight for ukraine if that is necessary. she said although she was russian and all of her friends and relatives were only now she discovered how much she loved ukraine and she was ukraine but she is as she is the minority. >> so far any international pressure in the amount of sanctions that have been imposed on russia had little impact. is this a done deal? >> well, having been here for days now you certainly get the impression like a done deal. people here are convinced that it is really happening. the pro ones and the critics also of this referendum. we hear news of russian troops taking over bases or airfields by the hour. i think at

but 75% of uranians are ethnically uranian.speak russian but predominantly ethnically uranian. the two nations that [ inaudible ] talking about is one of the elements of this confusion. sthekd element of confusion has to do with the exaggerated threat that comes from radical nationalists in ukrain. yes, it's true that some radical nationalists receive positions in the new government. and that has been a mistake by the authorities. but all of the front runners are russian speakers. kill shankco is a front runner in the up coming election. both come from ukrain. the far right that many people talk about is really a marginal insignificant political force. >> we have our community tweeting in about some of the other members of crimea, we're talking about tatars. and we have a video comment. >> today russia opened the door of our house without knocking it, occupying governmental buildings, military units, tv channels, airports, demanding the uranian military forces to surrender and to acknowledge the illegally elected prime minister

we're actively recruiting every single ethnic group that we possibly can. during the most recent redistricting, we have our citizen commissions is talking about communities of interest. when you look at our private institutions, like stanford here in california, they can have that as part of the process. where it's not allowed is in our university system. and what i'm saying is just habit is part of the application process and part of the process for admittance. >> opponents of the measures say college admission should be based on merit, not the color of your skin, that this is a reflective form of reverse discrimination. how do you respond to that? >> it is on merit. i totally agree. and if you look at every single student that should be accepted to our university system, it should be based on merit. for example, in the university of california, there are 14 criteria. this would mean just one additional criteria. it goes beyond race, it also goes to gender. give you an example. let's say cal-poli, which has a great engineering program, if they need to recr

and to protect ethnic russians inside ukraine. of course there is no evidence, never has been, of systemic violence against ethnic russians inside of ukraine. moreover, many countries around the world face similar questions about their borders and ethnic minorities abroad, about sovereignty and self-determination. these are tensions that have led in other places to debate and democratic referendums. conflicts and a uneasy could he existence, these are difficult issues and -- co-existence, these are difficult issues and it's precisely because these questions are hard that they must be addressed through constitutional means and international laws. so that majorities cannot simply suppress minorities and big countries cannot simply bully the small. in defending its actions, defending its actions, russian leaders have further claimed kosovo as a precedent. an example they say of the west interfering in the affairs of a smaller country, just as they're doing now. but nato only intervened after the people of kosovo were systemically bru

there are half a million ethnic people in germany, 5 1/2 million ethnic russians in germany and native russian speakers. >> ifill: the presence of ethnic russians and the numbers of ethnic russians in any region make them vulnerable? >> this is what the kremlin does. it's not just a question of ethnic russians. they've expanded the definitions of the people they're entitled to protect to include anybody who speaks russian as a first or even second language -- >> ifill: the distinction she just made. >> right, compatriots, so new york, parts of california could be an exed. it opens a pandora's box of possible a annexation of numeral states in russia. >> ifill: how does this compare to what happened in georgia? >> similar. russia partitioned georgia. they provoked the georgians into reacting and came in on the pretext of defending the people from georgian conquest when really this was already a part of georgia. >> ifill: assuming vladimir putin is trying to annex germany or new york, is this really about trying to undermine the ukrainian government as it was put in place a few weeks ago

-- of that ethnic group perished. but this is a problem that we also have in eastern europe and in eastern and southern ukraine. because you had some eight million ukrainians also perish during stalin's rule and ethnic russians came into that area as a consequence. now, the thing we need to remember is that it is in fact the russian-speaking population in the east, as well as the ukrainian-speaking in the west, that voted for independence for ukraine. that voted strongly to have a separate state. and if the -- this issue is allowed to stand without the world responding, the question is, is that argument then made in latvia and estonia? is that argument made in all of the former russian states? i do not think in any way this is comparable to kosovo. in kosovo nato responded to a brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing by former ugeslaskian forces. in crimea, russia attempted to justify its actions by fabricating the myth of widespread violence against the ethnic russian population. even going as far as to equate it to the

sergey lavrov insisting that his country has a duty to protect ethnic russians in ukraine. donetske, is the home of viktor yanukovych. rory challenge in moscow. let's go to tim friend who is in the ukrainian capital of kiev. this suggesting that russians, the ukrainian defense ministry now being denied from russia. what's the story from where you are tim? >> reporter: well i think everyone has an agenda obviously with this crisis in crimea. and of course, to a certain extent it is in the ukrainians' interest to keep reports of russian aggression or alleged aggression or forthcoming aggression high on the agenda. now, it pa may well frof to be e in the -- prove to be true in the coming hours that russia is going to carry out some kind of ultimatum or fulfill some kind of deadline for ukrainian troops have have been -- who have been surrounded in crimea by pro-russian forces, in their barracks, on their ships, may make good this reported threat which was coming from sources certified the defense ministry here, may make good that, and actually fulfill their plan. but, as you s

saying they are ethnic russians. we have to enter ukraine and crimea to protect our citizens and interests and that's an argument that could be made for the eastern part of the country. it is a tense situation all along the eastern part of the country. ronan? >> thank you so much. a really helpful overview there. we've just seen footage of the king and queen of belgium. dignitaries are approaching. there's an introduction to president obama that's going to hear. we'll hear some of what she's saying. and we may go back to analysis as we await the president himself. >> ladies and gentlemen, welcome. like many who work for the eu institutions, i began my journey further afield -- >> so while we monitor to see whether anything of significance comes out of the introduction, let's go to a last question. we just heard in eamon that people on the ground in ukraine find it farfetched that russia would extend further into their borders. we've been doing a lot of reporting all week on this subject, particularly with ukrainian a

they would be in place to protect all ukrainians, not just ethnic russians.at is the reason that russia has taken the action it has taken in violation of international law, that is why we are emphasizing the point about ethnic russians. we are also, as we talked about , working directly with the government in ukraine to help support the government of ukraine. andugh bilateral assistance through our efforts to complement a package of assistance to the imf. in terms of strengthening the ukrainian state and its ability to handle its own affairs, we are actively engaged in that effort as well. >> russian troops are there because they say they need to protect the ethnic russians. he was there to support the people who support ukraine? ukraine has its own local national and security forces. well you are talking about in crimea. i do not disagree. i do not know about all of the individual reports. any violation of the rights of ukrainian citizens, especially russianuraged by military forces is obviously a concern. >> what has the president done for alex sink? >> the

when i served in ukraine in the end of 1990s, you found ethnic russians, ethnic ukrainians and ethnictars got along fairly well. again, ten days ago, there was no indication they planned attacks against russian military and no reports of anything about ethnic russians. this is something that's been stoked up. this is the kind of thing that if the russians did not want it to happen, it would not happen. >> so they want it to happen, and the ethnic breakdown of the region suggests you could have 60%, ç65% of the folks going f joining with russia, and maybe 30%, 35% saying they do not want to become part of russia. that's about 700,000 people. what do you imagine would happen to them, do you think they would be attacked or marginalized? do they have the opportunity legally to migrate to ukraine or some other place with the international community go in and help them out? >> well, it's a very complex situation. i guess i would start with the fact that although 60% of the population in crimea is ethnic russian, in 1991, 54% of the population of crimea voted for independence. so i don't th

>> not only that and ethnic russians.n ethnic russians left outside of the borders after the collapse of the soviet. and ka sistan is in play. i think beyond ukraine and ukraine is where the actions right now, but it is going to be maldova. and yesterday, the russian diplomats raised worries about ethic russians in estoppia maltreated and la fia. they are in nato and we are oblijed unlike ukraine to defend them by treaty. and the people in nato who are thinking. woar. we are not sure we can defend the baltics or poland if it came it that. >> it is very interesting. thank you for coming on today. the point of merkel is something to keep a watch on, too. >> and meeting in brussels next week. >> and the search for flight 370 will start today. and the battery life of the recorder only lasts 30 days. and chris mark and former are navy sole and founder of seal team consults. chris, how much time is left to find this? >> 390 hours. it has a life of 30 days which is 720 hours and half of that is gone. and 390 hours roughly. >> we

ethnic russians debate this. they say they will welcome people.nd the parliament passed a legislation saying that theta the tatars will have a place here. >> thank you very much. >>> the group islamic jihad firing rockets in israel yesterday. israel retaliated hitting more than 20 targets in the gaza strip. >>> today marking one year since cardinal jorge was elected pope. and in keeping with his wishes, the catholic church isn't making a big deal about the date. >> reporter: a year ago, no one would have believed it, a south american pope, an argentine pope, jesuit, never. the surprise soon become a reality. if you think the international media coverage is pretty comprehensive, you should see how he is followed in argentina. the people of argentina have not forgotten he was their father, and they are showing his home up to to the world. the tour starts at the confession box in the san jose basilica in the neighborhood where he grew up, where in 1953, he decided to enter the priesthood. his childhood home, the schools he attended, and of course the

of course, there is no evidence, never has been a systemic violence against ethnic russians inside of ukraine. moreover, many countries around the world face similar questions about their borders and ethnic minorities abroad, about sovereignty and self-determination. these are tensions that have led other places to debate in democratic referendums, confli conflicts and uneasy coexistence, these are difficult issues, and it is precisely because these questions are hard that they must be addressed through constitutional means and international laws. so that the majorities cannot simply suppress minorities and big countries cannot simply bully the small. in examin defending its actionsn leaders have cited kosovo as a precedent, the west interfering in the affairs of the smaller countries just as russia is doing now. but n.a.t.o. only intervened after there was systemic killing for four years, and left after referendums were organized in careful cooperation with the united nations and kosovo's neighbors. none of that even came close to happening in crimea. moreover, russia has pointed to

of course, there is a group here, ethnic ukrainancianukrain feel very alienated, we spoke to a grouphat said they did not vote, they feel ostracized, and they didn't want to participate in something that seemed legitimate to them. so it's not a wholesale endorsement of this, but i think it's going to move very fast, at least on the crimean side. >> are they ready for this kind of move? it's a big deal. >> it's a huge step. we don't know whether the russians will actually complete this circle, but the prime minister here, aksenov, he's already made -- and today the largest commercial bank put a side on its doors saying at 4:30, dao you to the conversion from the local currency to rubles, the bank will not be open on monday. we apologize for the inconvenience. >> that's a significant shift. so what happens in the next couple days, the next coming weeks. >> well, hari, there are still huge unknown as. the russian duma has not voted, has made made this official, and there's another unanswered question, which is how quickly will vladimir putin, president putin and the russians follow thro

ukraine is ethnically 7 % -- 77% ethnically ukrainian. only crimea has a majority ethnic population. and really all of ukraine is bilingual. almost no one in ukraine who doesn't speak and understand russian and almost no one in ukraine who doesn't understand ukrainian. moreover, the ukrainian leadership today, people like klitschko, these are people who are much more comfortable speaking russian than ukrainian. so this notion there is this deep hostility towards the russian language, towards russian culture, ethnic russians in ukraine right now is not true. >> but you say that even those -- these russian speakers want to be part of the west? >> absolutely. and it's not -- the other thing i would say is what i was very struck by this week is for ukrainians this was less about a choice of the u.s. and russia, and more about a political choice, a belief and reality that the yanukovych regime was deeply corrupt, deeply violating of human dignity, and in the end murderous towards its own people. it was a rebellion against that and the percepti

one of the ethnic groups caught in the middle of the struggle are the tatars.his sunday morning at 10:00 am eastern time, al jazeera america explores their story and return to exile, again that was sunday morning at 10:00 a.m. well one week later suspicion mounting about what caused the malaysia airliner to disappear. lisa stark is in washington, and you have covered the aviation industry for quite sometime. what are your sources telling you about these reports that we are hearing that foul play is now on the table? >> well, that was on the table, really really del from the beginning, but it is gaining creedance in many areas. we should be careful to point out that as we get new evidence the mood shifts, but there is a lot of concern that this was a deliberate act. that is based on a lot of different evidence, one the transponder went off, and the system that seconds information went off or was turned off, and the plane kept flying for a number of hours after it dropped off of radar. so was this a hijacking. the mrashian defense minister was asked about that to

and ethnic ukrainian. there have been ethnic ukrainians who received threatening phone calls. she said she would like to leave but they can't get a spot on the train. many of her friends are left. many don't know about the new crimea that is with russia. >> let's turn to kiev, home of the ukrainian government. we're live from independent square where this all began. phil, as jennifer just mentioned we're hearing attempts of russian troops trying to move into the mainland. what is the reaction about that in kiev? >> reporter: morgan, that incursion is exactly what kiev has been deeply concerned about for quite some time now. no one is happy about the russian troops annexing crimea. many saying that it's a done deal and crimea only has been a part of ukraine since 1954. no one said they're happy about it being gone but they're concerned about russian designs on main land ukraine. we've been speaking to ukrain un intelligence officers who say there are russian provocateurs on mainland territory, and they have

russian sizable ethnic composition. the response from kazakhstan has been tempered but definitely alarmed. the justification putin has given of protecting ethnic russians is seen with deep disquiet. >> we have focused on the west of russia. let's turn to the east. what are we seeing from china? >> china has a 3000 kilometer border with russia. beijing and moscow have been very close the past few years on interventions, the intervention in syria, the intervention in libya. beijing's policy has been one of noninterference in the national affairs of others. beijing has its own ethnic problems. what has happened in crimea has put beijing in a bind. initial reactions were softer from beijing. but this is contrary to what beijing -- to beijing's long-held principle of noninterference. what we are seeing from china is coming to grips with the foreign policy. buta is an emerging power, foreign policy has often been dictated by being almost a developing nation. the lack of foreign-policy strategy is obviously showing. china is h

not just ethnic russians. kurt volker the me ask you you just read with douglas said about that the situation right now this standoff. housing finance in the crimean peninsula what can happen in the coming days will i don't think anybody can really say with any certainty. russia seems to have adopted a strong military course you're saying troops in economy and threatening to do so elsewhere. the movements around this is just mentioned and gets the keys so i think that we are going to see continued to firm military supported not escalation from inside russia. will we do know is whether that is going to be sufficient for russia's just eastern ukraine crimean war. they will seek to reverse the change of government in kiev. clearly the objectives of the west united states now is to show as much political solidarity as possible and pushing back these russian efforts shown support for the authorities in kenya. it's a scary kerry going there tomorrow. i know that there are other ministers in western leaders were visi

it is not just the ethnic russians in the majority, and also ukraine nationals and then the ethnic tartars and there was no evidence of anyone other than pro russians on the street. >> all right. diana magnay in crimea, southern ukraine. >>> and it has taken months to get to this point of tension, and so how did we get here? coming up the back story. load a. [ girl ] seriously? that's a lot of music. seriously. that's insane. and it's 15 bucks a month for the family. seriously? that's a lot of gold rope. seriously, that's a signature look. you don't have a signature look, honey. ♪ that's a signature look. [ male announcer ] only at&t brings you beats music. unlimited downloads for up to 5 accounts and 10 devices all for $14.99 a month. ♪ introducing cardioviva: the first probiotic to help maintain healthy cholesterol levels without a prescription. cardioviva. >>> this is cnn breaking news. >> welcome back and now each hour brings a new development in the ukraine crisis that is admittedly difficult to keep up. we wanted for sake of the viewers to slow down, pause, dig down on what led to th

semitism and as we introduce the soviet style passports for all ukrainians where your ethnic identity is identified. it does not just say citizen of ukraine. under their plans it would say jew, russian or pole. what a retrograde, creepy, disturbing move that would be. and of course they have called for at pollution of ukrainian--excuse me, of crimeaen a to autonomy. so they do have worry to have people like this in the ukrainian government. putin has gone so far exaggera exaggerating the dangers, but there is something there to take account of the settlement. >> robert english, thank you for being with us from los angeles, and remember for all the latest events coming out of ukraine and the rest of today's headlines you can follow us on twitter. >>> president obama is in connecticut today pushing for an increase in the minimum wage. he is expected to speak within the hour. mike viqueira is at washington, d.c. now, and mike, when do we expect to hear from the president? >> reporter: the prospects are dim for what the president wants. he backed that bill in the senate to raise the minim

and to protect ethnic russians inside ukraine. of course there is no evidence, never has been, of systemic violence against ethnic russians inside of ukraine. moreover, many countries around the world face similar questions about their borders and ethnic minorities abroad, about sovereignty and self-determination. these are tensions that have led in other places to debate and democratic referendums. conflicts and a uneasy could he existence, these are difficult issues and -- co-existence, these are difficult issues and it's precisely because these questions are hard that they must be addressed through constitutional means and international laws. so that majorities cannot simply suppress minorities and big countries cannot simply bully the small. in defending its actions, russian leaders have further claimed kosovo as a precedent. an example they say of the west interfering in the affairs of a smaller country, just as they're doing now. but nato only intervened after the people of kosovo were systemically brutalized and killed for

and to protect ethnic russians inside ukraine.course, there is no evidence, never has been, of systemic violence against ethnic russians inside of ukraine. moreover, many countries around the world face similar questions about their borders and ethnic minorities abroad, about sovereignty and self-determination. these are tensions that have led in other places to debate and democratic referendums. conflicts and uneasy coexistence. these are difficult issues, and it is precisely because these questions are hard that they must be addressed through constitutional means. and international laws. so that majorities cannot simply suppress minorities, and big countries cannot simply bully the small. in defending its actions, russian leaders have further claimed kosovo as a precedent. an example, they say of the west interfering in the affairs of a smaller country, just as they're doing now. but nato only intervened after the people of kosovo were systematically brutalized and killed for years. and kosovo only left certain i can't after a r

but when you think about it this way, crimea is ethnically russian. are some nonbut mostly that is what it is, vast majority. if the elected government in kiev is toppled by a coup and crimea would vote to be part of russia if given a chance, is there not an argument to be made that they should be allowed to vote and be part of russia? >> the basic principle we've tried to enforce in europe since the second world war is stop changing borders. all through europe, people are mixed up. there are always minorities who are in a different country. they own the property of their country. used to be part of another country and so. >> you dealt with this in the balkans. >> you never get to the bottom of this if you do this. the point is, these people were guaranteed their democratic rights. they had the right to peacefully leave ukraine if they didn't want to be there. they chose to stay there and they vote in ukraine. so what's the problem? >> all right. thank you very much. i appreciate it. look, i try to put on putin foot. you answered it. thank you very mu

moscow says ethnic russians are facing violence and persecution. the u.s.nd other nations kaud it unjustified. washington suspended joint military exercises and is looking for ways to further isolate moscow. >> let's get a few from moscow. rory, we were talking earlier about the threat of sanctions from the west and the various options open to them. none of which are particularly palatable or effective at this point. and presumably the russians know that. >> yes, they certainly do know that. there are a number of developments that have taken place today. i'll go through them all. i start with the issue of sanctions. as you say, there are things talked about from the west, particularly from the united states about what can be done to try and put pressure on russia. so the united states cancelled some of its military exercises, some of its military cooperation with russia and put on hold various trade talks as well. now, there are probably going to be harsher sanctions in the pipeline, at least that is what the americans are hinting at. and we are getting a s

and europe helped russia to monitor the well-being of those ethnic russians?f you leave it on the table, gives a potential way out. in many rings with the two presidents -- i have been in meetings with the two presidents. i have no illusions about the weight president obama thinks about president putin and his actions. >> how does he think about him? he sees it as illegal, a responsible, threatening the security of europe. have been very clear about that for a long time in the discussions about this -- leading up to this tragic moment we are in now. secondly, i think what was said hope exit ramps, i would to have been part of the conversation. right now the sector of costs might be able to change the behavior. the economic policy in particular. by the way, i want to point out one big difference between georgia in 2008 in ukraine today. there were a lot of european friends who were skeptical about president [indiscernible] they blamed him. to the president at the time. i'm sure he must be feeling rather indicated in his assessments of russia today. we are not h

he said he went in there to protect ethnic russians. there are millions of ethnic russians living outside the border. to use that is nearly not only scaring his neighbors not only in central europe but central asia. will moscow now use its army and forces to intervene and take our territory and try to retake the ethnic russians living in our states? >> ambassador what's your reaction to what george said? as we said, russian troops on the border of ukraine, you were there when it was the soviet union, do you think vladimir putin is intending to extend his influence over his neighbors? >> he clearly wants to in some respect. and any russian leader would be sensitive to foreign military bases on the border. and i think it was a mistake in the west of having that goal, of perhaps bringing georgia and other cups into the european union. i don't think putin and other leaders could accept that. the way the ukraine has been taken back has created an increasing increasing on the neighbors for protection. i would also point out that in a calmer w