. >> joining us now from washington with reaction is stephan pfeifer, a former u.s.nder president clinton. mr. ambassador, senator mccain overstating things? >> well, i can understand the administration's caution here, but it's time for the administration to change its policy and provide defensive arms to ukraine. i was with a group that visited ukraine in january. we had three days in kiev meeting with military authorities and then we went out to the field headquarters for the operation in eastern ukraine. and they are asking for mainly nonlethal help, what they need in the defensive arms category is light anti-armor weapons. these could have been very useful last week. >> why do you think president obama refuses to provide the weapons. >> the administration's concern is in the united states provides weapons to ukraine, do the russians then escalate? certainly the russians have lots of possibilities to escalate. i would make two points in response to that first of all, of the ukrainian also bear the risk of that escalation. they understand those risks and what we he

back with an cellingly surprising and shocking e-mails and then we corresponded over the course of pfeifert on the plane to meet him in hong kong. >> this not a question of somebody skull king around in the shadows. these are my my issues. those are everybody's issues. and i'm not afraid of you. you're not going to bully me into silence like you did everyone else. >> i actually this was was an anonymous sorts and that it was just a stranger and at some point he would say i received documents and he would disappear. he didn't intend to remain anonymous forever. he said he would come forward as the source. as soon as he told me that, i said well then we need to meet. and -- and i think it's important that we understand your motivation. as a journalist i ask for those things to. and his first response was that he felt he didn't -- he didn't want the tore to be about him which something hat he sort of said conflict of interestly. he said the focus should be open them what the government should be doing. and i made the comment it's not really going to be up to you and your motivation does matte

. >> joining us now from washington with reaction is stephan pfeifer, a former u.s.assador to ukraine under president clinton. mr. ambassador, senator mccain overstating things? >> well, i can understand the administration's caution here, but it's time for the administration to change its policy and provide defensive arms to ukraine. i was with a group that visited ukraine in january. we had three days in kiev meeting with military authorities and then we went out to the field headquarters for the operation in eastern ukraine. and they are asking for mainly nonlethal help, what they need in the defensive arms category is light anti-armor weapons. these could have been very useful last week. >> why do you think president obama refuses to provide the weapons. >> the administration's concern is in the united states provides weapons to ukraine, do the russians then escalate? certainly the russians have lots of possibilities to escalate. i would make two points in response to that first of all, of the ukrainian also bear the risk of that escalation. they understand those