now, the white house is telling us tonight that the russian president phoned president obama after mr. obama landed in saudi arabia. the two leaders talked for an hour. the call is described as frank and direct and, apparently, centered on russia opening negotiations directly with ukraine. we also talked to president obama today about his meeting with pope francis and what he found inspiring in that. we'll have that for you later in the broadcast. it has now been three weeks since malaysia airlines flight 370 vanished without a trace. today the search was moved to a new area in the southern indian ocean weflts of australia. it's about 700 miles northeast of where ships and planes had been looking for the wreckage of the boeing 777. holly williams is in perth, where it's saturday morning. holly. >> reporter: scott, weather permitting, the search planes are scheduled to take uvehere this morning headed to the new search area, which is roughly the size of new mexico. after a week scouring the seas of australia's west coast, the search teams were given the frustrating news they'd been looking in

someone like mrs. obama can forge ties, and that is important to the state department into the white house. it is not a family trip. that said, mrs. obama needs to travel with a retinue of staff. for security reasons, she travels with secret service. she travels with scheduling staff. she usually travels with communications staff. it is not as big a group as the president's group. but it is a government aircraft that is expensive to run. it requires law enforcement coordination on the ground and around-the-clock security. it has to be expensive. the question is -- you know -- are we willing to spend a lot of money for our elected leaders to travel? and if you are not an elected leader, as you point out, are we willing to spend money for you to travel? i think we accept at this stage that the first lady, whichever party she is now or in the future, they are sort of part of the package. and when you are voting for someone for president, you understand that these bouts will be a phase of the administration and

number three, mr. obama distancing of longtime us allies, former egyptian president hosni mubarak makes it dubious as to whether they are reliable consistent ally. the purpose of us policies last october, saudi arabia rejected his seat on the united nations security council that the us has pushed forward to attain. the saudis drew from iran as existential. they said, do the saudis, the iranian nuclear program and the syrian war, apart of the single conflict. one well-placed saudi told me, if we don't do this in syria we will be fighting them next inside the kingdom. >> question, how serious is the rift. >> well they've been one of key es for that region for decades. they helped us in innumerable ways, and they have financed the government and they have lost confidence in this administration. because this is something that's been obvious for quite a while and they've been quite public about it. they have been happy with who emerged the power in syria, because the ones who did wear their enemies. the allies li

now, listen to what mr. obama had to say about what he thinks is in the mind set of vladimir putin. >> he said that he considers the breakup of soviet union to be tragic. i think there is a strong sense of russian nationalism and a sense that somehow the west is taking advantage of russia in the past and that he wants to in some fashion reverse that or make up for that. what i have repeatedly said is that he may be entirely misreading the west. he certainly is misreading american foreign policy. we have no interest in circling russia. we have no interest in ukraine beyond letting the ukrainian people make their own decisions about their own lives. >> question, what do you think of this reasoning of president obama, i ask you? >> look, john, i think it is great that president obama has done this academic break down of trying to read what vladimir putin means but president obama is the leader of the free world. what he is trying to do and it doesn't quite match up with his statements here is to prevent a massive mil

mr. obama tries to fulfill a promise to close that camp. now, on a totally different issue, president obama announced more sanctions against russia today over its actions in ukraine. effective immediately, 11 more individuals will be targeted by the u.s. mr. obama also warned that he could impose sanctions on key industries in the russian economy as well. >> we have been working closely with our european partners to develop more severe actions that could be taken if russia continues to escalate the situation. as part of that process, i signed a new executive order today that gives us the authority to impose sanctions not just on individuals, but on key sectors of the russian economy. this is not our preferred outcome. these sanctions would not only have a significant impact on the russian competent, but could also be disruptive to the global economy. >> mr. obama within minutes of that announcement russia retaliated. moscow announced a travel ban on nine american officials and among them was th

today mr. obama said putin is, quote, on the wrong side of history. and there are threats of economic sanctions against russia. major garrett is at the white house for us tonight. major? >> reporter: scott, president obama is meeting now with top national security and economic advisors on ukraine. mr. obama knows that economic sanctions against russia are the west's best weapon at this stage. but european nations are not yet ready to go down that road. german chancellor angela merkel has told the president she fears provoking an even bigger military response from moscow. today president obama said russia faces a stark choice. >> over time, this will be a costly proposition for russia. and now is the time for them to consider whether they can serve their interests in a way that resorts to diplomacy as opposed to force. >> reporter: despite a weekend of criticism that he has appeared weak, president obama believes it is putin who is playing the weak hand. the president views putin's invasion of crimea as a desperate attempt to give russia some role in uk

mr. obama also laid the groundwork for more targeting their financial services, energy, mining, engineering and defense industries. >> these sanctions would not only have a significant impact on the russian economy, but could also be disruptive to the global economy. >> in retaliation russia banned nine u.s. officials from entering their country including senate majority leader harry reid and speaker john boehner, all said they were proud to be included on the list. senator john mccain went a step further and laughed at being included tweeting "i guess this means my spring break in siberia is off. my gazprom stock is lost and my secret bank account in moscow is frozen." >> well, first lady michelle obama is well under her first day of a week-long visit to china and arrived yesterday in beijing, the first of three cities she'll visit. already today mrs. obama has tried some chinese calligraphy at a high school. on sunday she'll visit the great wall of china. >>> mounting legal bills are forcing

mr. obamar mr. putin might expect. so far mr. putin demonstrated greater adroitness in confrontation. putin is the victor in the ukrainian crisis to this point. president obama is slipping in the polls at home and there is considerable media and republican criticism of the president's performance. from his flat-footed reaction at the beginning to this very moment. mr. putin's people approve of his crimea taking do, they ever. they are cheering from afar. and his approval rating in russia is nearly 76%, his highest in five years. but then again, i'm not certain we shouldn't worry for the well-being of the 24% who didn't approve of putin in that poll. his is quite a different country still. president obama on the other hand has an approval rating of, well, of more than 30 points less than that, only 43% approval. disapproval rating, 52%. mr. obama is under water in the polls, and what is not noted often is he's been consistently underwater in the polls for the past seven months, and numbers aren'

mr. obamanning of casual indifference to russia and its ambitions. coming up up. a short word that's a tall order. up your game. up the ante. and if you stumble, you get back up. up isn't easy, and we ought to know. we're in the business of up. everyday delta flies a quarter of million people while investing billions improving everything from booking to baggage claim. we're raising the bar on flying and tomorrow we will up it yet again. ♪ see what's new at projectluna.com but with so much health care noise, i didn't always watch out for myself. with unitedhealthcare, i get personalized information and rewards for addressing my health risks. but she's still gonna give me a heart attack. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. lou: the dividend and buyback plans from 5 banks have been rejected as part of the stress test. reviseed plans, fed approveing capital plans for remaining, president obama's comments on russia sent stoke rice -- stock prices lower on the day. sam stoval is here, chief e

mr. obamaunning of casual indifference to russia and its ambitions. coming up next. ♪ see what's new at projectluna.com gunderman group is growing. getting in a groove. growth is gratifying. goal is to grow. gotta get greater growth. growth? growth. i just talked to ups. they've got a lot of great ideas. like smart pick ups. they'll only show up when you print a label and it's automatic. we save time and money. time? money? time and money. awesome. awesome! awesome! awesome! awesome! awesome! awesome! awesome! (all) awesome! i love logistics. lou: the dividend and buyback plans from 5 banks have been rejected as part of the stress test. reviseed plans, fed approveing capital plans for remaining, president obama's comments on russia sent stoke rice -- stock prices lower on the day. sam stoval is here, chief equity strategist with s&p capital. today volatility chalked up to president's remark in europe, a disquiet, and volatility as you said. what is going to here? >> i used acronyms to help me,

the audience with the pope apparently steered clear of what mr. obama called the profane issues of politics. >> the theme that stitched our conversation together was a belief that in politics and in life, the quality of empathy, the ability to stand in somebody else's shoes and to care for someone even if they don't look like you or talk like you, or share your philosophy, that that's critical. >> pelley: the president's positive feelings about francis are shared by many americans. in a cbs news poll out tonight, 46% told us they have a favorable view of this pope. among american catholics, the number was considerably higher, 68%. and for the first time, more american catholics say the church is in touch with their needs than say it is not. we'll be interviewing the president here in rome tomorrow, and we will have that for you on "cbs this morning," and of course tomorrow night right here on the "cbs evening news" from rome. sharyn. >> alfonsi: thanks, scott. and back at home, the president has been pushing lawmakers to approve aid for ukraine. congres

in the 2012 campaign, mitt romney called russia the number one foe and dismissed by mr. obama and the republicans citing it as misraeting the russian president putin. mr. barack obama doubled down. >> they are a problem, not posing the number one security threat to the united states. i am concerned when it comes to our security with the prospect of nuclear weapon going off in manhattan. >> and what appeared to be a veiled swipe at putin, down playing russian on the world stage. >> they are a regional power that is threatening some of its immediate neighbors, not out of strength, but out of weakness. >> the president leaves the netherlands and on to brussels and this time a major speech promised by mr. obama tomorrow on ukraine. >> thank you, mike, we appreciate it. >> president obama saying he wants changes to the national security agencies's surveillance programs and asking congress to end the nsa's bulk collection and storage of the phone records and snowden revealed the details of that program last year. john? >> good afternoon, tony, if you thought there was anger in the u

if mrs. obama goes, for instance, on a purely vacation to aspen, is it the family flies on air force and has secret service and all that. we want that. but the first family pays a portion when it's purely, they pay like first class. much like we do, i assume when we fly on air force one we have to pay a first class ticket. this could have been a vacation in which case she wouldn't have to talk to the media. >> yeah. i mean i agree. i think she should talk to the media read between the lines. michelle obama is not fond of the media when she does media appearances they are very controlled. she doesn't have to get into controversial issues. at the same time the press is frustrated by this and understandably so if you are going to spend this amount of which i think is totally justified and others have done it it this is an important relationship with u.s. and china. if you don't want to answer questions, then say hey, i'm not going to get into that. >> nina, is this white house any different than the o

handliing of foreign policy. 6 in 10 americans also say that the united states is worse off than before mr. obama took office. a majority of americans now say the president has failed on health care, failed on the economy, jobs, transparency and making the country safer. there is no consolation for president obama in th disparity between his poll numbers and those of his secretary of state. john kerry's job approval rating in the latest gallup, at a robust 55%. only 4% disapproval. the secretary of state used strong words following a meeting with russia's foreign minister, while president obama went back to campaign trail, pushing his nationwide min mainimum wage hike. here's secretary of state kerry. >>> -- we cannot and will not allow the integrity of the sovereignty of the country of ukraine to be violated and for those violations to go unanswered. >> joining us now to answer as many questions as possible, foreign pentagon correspondent, k.t. mcfarland. doug schone. >>> thank you all for being with us. these numbers for the president don't bolster in any way his standing in the international c

mrs. obama stopped by a high school where show was joined by the first lady of china who actually is a folk singer. tomorrow, mrs. obama will speak at peking university and then visit the great wall. her daughters and mothers are with her. >> the father of a 4th grader has filed a restraining order against a nine-year-old fellow student. he claims that he had to because the boy had been physically and verbally assaulting his son for months. the order will be void in a few days if the fairfield school district continues to refuse to release the accused bully school name and address. the county says they never heard of a restraining order against someone so young. >> big birthday bash if a matter of hours to mark the 110th birthday of san francisco's st. francis hotel with the cast of a we movie will present the hotel with a special proclamation as west westin st. francis day. the comfort saturdays at 1:00 o'clock. >> in joke how you remember when they first opened it. >> okay, no jokes. >> twitte

mr. obama has a checkered record in fact when it comes to being on the right side of history.en he supported ouster of hosni mubarak and backed more see wh morsi who was ousted then and replaced by sisiher iwho sign a arms deal. who remains in power. supported by the russians. the path forward in ukraine is not assured outcome remains far from settled we certainly do not yet know who's side hitry will take. well, time for a few of your thoughts, steve in colorado. this '7s called jimmy carter wants his foreign policy back, and ed, i'm mad as hell that politics not common sense is running our government, politics like religion should be left at the brail on th ballot box, and simon, wrote, since obama is not running for any office, should we the taxpayers pay for him to fly all over country campaigning? we could talk about it. i believe it is one of these thin we capacity do much about. -- we can't do much about, we would love to hear from you, e-mail us or follow us on twitter or go to our facebook page. with links to everything', we're giving away my copies of my new book "up

-- day mr obama interrupted a scheduled event.mid on outcry mr obama held out that putin was having second thoughts. >> there have been some thoughts that vladimir putin is pausing for a moment and reflecting on what's happened. >> hours after he spoke a not so subtle reminder of russian force. a test launch by icm. speaking in public for the first time since the crisis began, putin called the outruling of viktor yanukovych a coup. he denied russian troops were in crimea. >> look at the post-soviet territory, there's a lot of uniforms similar to the yup forms. go to a shop, and you can by any uniform there. >> visiting the ukraine, a show of solidarity. walking down a kiev street, honouring those killed by government snipers. john kerry said russia's concerns carry a hidden agenda. >> i think that it is clear that russia has been working hard to create a pretext for being able to invade further. >> the implication vladimir putin has designed not only on crimea, but the east and south, areas that share strong cultural and historic

the masterpiece that mr. obamao of the most powerful men in the world will meet face to face today. >> u.s. president barack obama heads to the vatican to sit down with pope francis. wolf blitzer takes a closer look at what may be on the agenda. >> reporter: for more than 200 years they have marked history together. on thursday, president obama and pope francis will open a new chapter at the vatican. in 2009 president obama brought his family to the vatican to meet the pope. >> they are going through these chambers. each time she would see somebody dressed up in the cloth and she's say is that the pope? how about that guy over there? no, no, you'll know when it is finally the pope. >> reporter: joshua dubois was the director of faith based and neighborhood partnerships during his first term. >> you think there is a shift with the relationship between the former pope and the current pope. >> i have a concern for issues related to the poor and making sure that people can live lives of dignity. >> but there difference

mr. obama is an absence from the list is absolutely correct.esterday and our president was publicly bragging about u.s. military intervention in ukraine being off the table. not an option. he is so very late and irrelevant declaration is simply that vladimir putin do that three weeks ago when he decided to take crimea for his own. why would fortune keep putin off the list as well? thank you for being with us. we hope to see you tomorrow. good night from new york. ♪ how could a luminous protein in jellyfish, impact life expectancy in the u.s., real estate in hong kong, and the optics industry in germany? at t. rowe price, we understand the connections of a complex, global ecomy. it's just one reon over 75% of our mutual funds beat their 10-year lipper average. t. rowe price. invest with confidence. request a prospectus or summary prospectus with investment information, risks, fees and eenses to read and consider carefully before investing. with investment information, risks, fees and eenses my dad has aor afib.brillation, he has the most common

the fact is mr. obama has a dedicated core of followers and liberals and the economic aspect groups. they're not going to desert them. we fund this, we middle class people can desert him and not like him. he has a solid work factor. >> you are middle class? >> well, compared with you. compared with you. >> there is middle class sensibility. >> you know, unions aren't middle class is absurd. unions are clearly in the middle class. >> it was the public sector. >> i know. move on. why? >> ben just said, i don't know, i think the white house is saying red flags. it's one thing for people to like you a lot. to argue a lot. to be traditionally on your side, but as this thing goes on, where are the millions of people who were supposedly clamoring for this? why did they lose a special election in florida? what is going on that democrats should be afraid? >> union leaders are trying to get meetings with the white house and officials in the administration trying to unchange what they don't like about this health car

. >>> on thursday, mr. obama met for the first time with pope francis. the men talked for nearly an hour on areas where they agree, like income inequality and poverty. they highlighted a deep division, namely obama care. meanwhile, mr. obama tries to mend fences in saudi arabia today. he'll meet with the king at a time when the countries differ over the futures of iran, syria, and egypt. >>> let's get the latest on the weather. bill, you warnd us of a severe weather threat. i guess we're seeing it. >> this happened late afternoon yesterday in areas of missouri. for a period right around 4:00 in the afterfloon, you could see one of the her p of one of those funnel clouds forming in the distance. strong storms in trenton, missouri. there was damage to some homes. thankfully, no injuries. this will continue through the weekend. we'll see it again today. here's where yesterday's was. the red triangle. about an hour north of kansas city. some large hail with the green dot there is in central missouri. today, a much larger area of concern. dallas to houston to

mr. obama is an absence from the list is absolutely correct. our president was publicly bragging about u.s. military intervention in ukraine being off the table. not an option. he is so very late and irrelevant declaration is simply that vladimir putin do that three weeks ago when he decided to take crimea for his own. why would fortune keep putin off the list as well? thank you for being with us. we hope to see you tomorrow. we hope to see you tomorrow. good night from new york. in the new new york, we don't back down. we hope to see you tomorrow. good night from new york. we only know one direction: up so we're up early. up late. thinking up game-changing ideas, like this: dozens of tax free zones across new york state. move here. expand here. or start a new business here... and pay no taxes for 10 years. with new jobs, new opportunities and a new tax free plan. there's only one way for your business to go. up. find out if your business can qualify at start-upny.com see you back here tomorrow. ♪ ♪ neil: hooted of spy next door with your pharm

are there things mr. obama could have done or still do to force putin's hand? isolating more russian banks? >> well, there are probably things he could do, but he has to be careful not to lose the one thing he has done well, to keep all of the allies together. so if he goes after banks, he could find himself in a situation where some countries, germany, who are not very happy. he's got to be very careful on that. overall we have a president who does like to think about things. he likes to think out loud at times and americans have not been used to that and so the consequence, he is accused of being weak. >> chris hill, thanks for joining me. not very many options for mr. obama or the europeans when it comes to the ukraine. in the digital age, handwriting has taken a backseat to typing and is making signing your own name becoming increasingly rare. it is quite a change when signatures left their mark on history. those written names are the subject of a new exhibition at the national archives and my colleague jane o'brien went to have a look. signatures are deepl

human rights before the sun its peak and if the applicant is committed to guantanamo prison which mr obama had promised to produce before he became president covenant. it's not one time a month with belgium on the message for us president barack obama ahead of the eu in asia summit in brussels honesty protesters wants european leaders to talk about the plight of guantanamo prisoners with the president while he's in time. they want their elected representatives to raise questions about the u s death penalty on the use of drones as i want to get it. was it the distance. this exhibit the u s has defended its use of the o month old check up the term strikes often leave communities devastated. you may need to see a shrink to the crying in the crisis in his speech at the european council mr obama said. sure would be put on the wall political pressure. if he continued i don't use can cause a decline in prices was high on present among his agenda in brussels. still it didn't receive the expected attention. james rainey. we can expect him to pee the brussels us president barack obama said pressure

mrs. obama was accompanied by her daughters and her mother.hey joined a group of visiting students from the u.s. and watched the chinese opera performance. mrs. obama and her family are set to visit other landmarks. the focus of the week-long trip, though, is education. the first lady is encouraging students across the u.s. to follow her trip on her website. we posted a link on nbcbayarea.com. >>> and still to come at 5:00, follow your nose. new evidence that it can detect 1 trillion odors. we'll be right back. >>> what does your nose know? much more than your other senses, according to a new study. researchers say we're capable of detecting 1 trillion smells. that puts it way ahead of sight and hearing. the average person can see several million different colors and can hear about 340,000 sounds. so those are way behind. researchers say our ancestors relied more on the sense of smell. but that refrigeration and personal hygiene have limited odors in the modern world. and no one's complaining. i'm not sure we should have read that during the p

and the pope presented mr. obama with two medallions symbolizie ing peace and a copy of "the joy of gospel." the white house viewed this trip as a big domestic political play of the trip, a chance to associate the popular pope francis with the president's own economic agenda. the president said he and the pope didn't talk a lot about the social issues that divide them like contraception and gay marriage, but in a later meeting with vatican officials, he did discuss the church's concern over the affordable care act contraception mandate. >> we discussed briefly the issue of making sure that conscience and religious freedom was observed in the context of applying the law. >> reporter: the president also made time today for a private tour of the roman coliseum, where the gladiators once did battle. >> i got to check on one of the seats. it's remarkable. unbelievable. >> reporter: traveling with the president, chuck todd, nbc news, rome. >>> still ahead as we continue here tonight, the sting. a massive bust at one of the

mr. obamad to be trying to convince europeans that there is a worthy cause, that european values matter to the world and should be defended by, well, europeans. mr. obama also warned the european leaders that they must spend more on defense in order to deter vladimir putin's expansionist agenda. >> going forward, every nato member state must step up and carry its share of the burden. by showing the political will to invest in our collective defense. >> he couldn't be more right, of course, but why now and why lecture? why not simply persuade. and why not have done so years ago. in an awkward turn today, the president went on to say the united states, quote, will never waiver in standing up for its nato allies. while pointing out as well that ukraine is not a member of nato, apparently in case anyone was confused by the passivity of europe and the united states as putin's troops took over crimea. by the president's light, the nato nations were not incompetent or passive in the confrontation with

but this made headlines because the white house had said mrs. obama would shy away from political issues but access to the internet is very much a hot button issue particularly among the young people of china. i suspect some of them welcomed the comments. >> thank you. and martha is filling in for george right here on abc's this week. >>> we move on and to the major weather headline. the first weekend of spring is here and so of course, a possible nor'easter is brewing. couple possible tracks and we want to bring in chief meteorologist. from our power house station. and cecily great to have you here. >> nice to be here. >> you were telling me first the cold moves in. >> exactly. old man winter is not giving up easily. today philadelphia 65. beautiful. raleigh 75. but the next 48 hours arctic blasts. philadelphia by monday the high 36. raleigh, 36. chicago not even to the freezing point. this sets the stage tuesday into wednesday for low pressure developing across the southeast coast. the key is to track and that storm system intensifies quickly it wou

mr. obama famously relaxed in easy. the two of them chatted. we know now that president obama said that he was a great admirer of the pope, thanked him for the audience. and we know indeed that president obama is an admirer of pope francis in the hours before this meeting, interview with one of the big newspapers here in which president obama couldn't have been more generous in his praise of the pope said he was a man who didn't just preach the gospel but lived it. said the pope was right to focus on global poverty around the world. right to say that too many people left behind in the process of globalization. right to remind the world it's too easy to become too ready to accept the gross in equalities that we see around us in so many countries. and president obama feels this is his fight too. he was fighting the same issues at home in the united states. he clearly hopes in pope francis he can build an alliance around this crucial issue, to build a slightly ferrer world. >> alan, lofty ambitions and lofty ideals. but away from the great photo op

mr. obama wants to expand the earned income tax credit, one of the most popular credits for the working poor. but the proposal will have a short shelf life. republicans who control the house are also voicing their disagreements with many ideas. house speaker john boehner says these early details prove the president was never serious in addressing the nation's long-term debt. >>> political news outside washington today, today is primary day in several states which officially kicks off the 2014 midterm season. perhaps the most high profile race of the day is in texas. state senator wendy davis is expected to grab the democratic nomination for governor. analysts will be looking at results to see there is any way democrats can win come november in a deeply red state. >>> this morning, there are bad numbers for both parties. nearly seven in ten americans say republicans are out of touch with their needs. this from a new washington post abc news poll that puts the gop well below mark for the democrat

mrs. obama, and i have had this conversation with many people, mrs. but her appeal is that she is an extraordinary version of an ordinary person, so she is, like, i would not call girl next-door glamour, because she is more extraordinary than that, but it is friendlier. she does not have that distance that is important to have for glamour. >> tonight that barack obama won the presidency back in 2008, and they are on the stage in chicago. go ahead and run it, and we will talk about what you see in this. that was the beginning, and we now have had over five years of the presidency. [video clip] and as you say, she is not glamorous. >> i think it is important when you talk about the 2008 campaign. a glamorous politician is very unusual because glamour rate --es mystery and distance, glamour requires mystery and distance. it requires the kind of frankness and the populist touch and all of the sort of thing that usually go along with it, and barack obama in 2008 was very different. eye -- glamourhe of longing, and for his supporters, they projected onto him

co pelley: today, mr. obama also ff iosed changes to a controversial surveillance program in which the national security agency scoops up the plone records of americans. here's bob orr on the new plan. >> reporter: under the administration's proposal, telephone companies like verizon and at&t would collect the phone records of millions of americans and retain the data for 18 months. the government could only access specific records with court orders in terrorism investigations. president obama said today the new approach would balance privacy and security concerns. en i am confident that it allows us to do what is necessary in order to deal with the dangers ddom a terrorist attack but does so in a way that addresses some of the concerns people have >>ised. >> reporter: the proposed overhaul of the key surveillance program comes ten months after rsrmer n.s.a. contractor edward snowden first revealed its existence. intelligence officials have stressed the n.s.a. only collects lists of numbers and lengths of calls

i would love to say that our president, mr. obamas correct when he said we can't be at war forever. we just have to end this thing. i wish that were the way the world worked, but mr. president, i'm sorry, both sides have to stop in a war, and unfortunately, as chris has discussed today, the other side hasn't decided to stop yet. so that means we need to stay involved as well. i'd ask you to join me in thanking chris for a great presentation. [applause] >> he is going to stay up here to sign any books, anyone who purchased one outside can bring it up and he'd be happy to sign it. thank you very much for being here at heritage with us.

. >> mr. obama appeared pessimistic about an end to the takeover. >> i think it would be dishonest to suggest that there's a simple solution to resolving what has already taken place in crimea. >> reporter: a new poll suggests that the public is wary of american involvement. when asked if we should do something about ukraine, 61% said no. mr. obama is facing political blow back at home. in the 2012 campaign, mitt romney called russia america's number one foe. a claim dismissed by president obama. and republicans say he misread president vladimir putin. asked to respond, mr. obama doubled down. >> russia's actions are a problem. and they don't pose the number-one security threat to the united states. i consider to be much more concerned when it comes to our security with the prospect of a nuclear weapon going off in manhattan. >> and what appeared to be a veiled swipe at putin, on the regional stable. >> russia is a regional power that's threatening some of its immediate neighbors. not out of strengt

what can mr obama say or do to to reassure the europeans that bad this and that we need him there that we can put the spying scandal behind us i think in the context of russia's newly posed a threat. it's time for the west united states and its european allies to have a new approach to nature that takes into account defense capabilities intelligence capabilities and political cooperation and adopt new policies on terrorism intelligence and on dealing with russia in that context i think we can deal with him you how do you see that how come can we fix those relations. well all i think i love the crisis in the diplomacy over it now across the atlantic one thing is to be very clear night is this question of the united states still caring about europe and islamic relations is the result. obviously we do to obama the station is putting a lot of effort and time into this all this question of us get away from europe might think is gonna become less pressing for europeans and that i think a contribution to trust in its own right. ok my teacher what what about the fact that the eighty two when f

china central television gave ample companies to the meeting she and mrs obama exchanges between defence league east the master po and next wednesday the fourth and she's expected to do the best built in eighteen twenty and education and cross cultural exchanges. she and her and turned just in time to visit the ancient capital of sheehan and the city of canton. her cookbook and as a deterrence and makes it all we can meet state coalitions and ex tennis water resources ministry bias to stand down during gestation and he's conference on friday stelmach development projects are responsible they like emphasis on protecting water sources. only thirty seven point four percent of china's water sources that the state's pollution crying tell yet. down towards the shares at eighteen eight the scent of dams and sixty seven percent of their best to meet the standards the twenty oh eight percent of the lakes climactic unacceptable the fall just as the country's forty launching system but the enhanced. or situation has become a social problem in china along with dan's mom. he has been reported in whic

mrs. obama will meet with the first lady of china to focus on education. the two will talk to american and chinese university students. mrs. obama will also bring along her daughters as well as her mother, marian robinson. they will travel to several chinese cities including beijing this their week-long trip. >>> a d.c. council committee could vote today on a plan to protect homeowners who have fallen behind on their taxes. the legislation would ban the city from selling liens on homes whose owners owe less than $2,500. homeowners when owe less than $7,500 would get an additional year to pay before liens were sold. homeowners who lose their homes to foreclosure would also have a chance to keep most of their equity. >>> people in montgomery county left on hold when they needed help during last month's snowstorm. why the phones couldn't keep up. >>> and looking for answers in the disappearance of the missing malaysia flight. the specific data on a few passengers investigators are still waiting for now. >>> plus, we're hovering above freezing now. we'll take