tara mergener is in washington with the latest. tara. >> good morning, anne-marie. a special anti-terrorist operation is under way this morning in east ukraine where troops are setting up positions to take on pro russian rebels. in turn the russian president has a warning. russian president vladimir putin told its counter part ukraine is on the verge of civil war. the comments came during a phone conversation on tuesday. on the same dame ukraine's acting launched a military operation targeting militants in the eastern part of the country. they retook an airport in one of more than a dozen locations that rebels have seized in more than a week. >> and these provocations in eastern ukraine is creating a situation in which the government has to respond. the best way to de-escalate this situation is for the armed military to leave the buildings they seized. >> many say they organized it. >> they have ties to the government, ties to the events happening in ukraine that we are looking at and we're certainly prepared to sanction. if escalate continues -- >> in their phone c

tara mergener in washington. oneywatch" now, new home sales plunge, and the fcc propose new rules for net neutrality. jill wagner is at the new york stock exchange with that and more. good morning, jill. >> good morning, anne-marie. new home sales fell dramatically last month, dropping almost 15%. analysts blame severe winter weather and higher mortgage rates, but new home prices hit a record high. the census bureau says the average cost last month was $290,000, 13% higher than in march 2013. >>> asian stocks were mixed ahead of talks between president obama and the prime minister of japan. tokyo's nikkei lost 1%. hong kong's hang seng gained a fraction. here on wall street weak home sales sent stocks tumbling. snapping a six-day winning streak, the dow slid 12 points. the nasdaq erase 34d points. >>> apple surprised the street yesterday. the tech giant announce add big stock flick, the first in nine years. they sold more i phones last year than analysts expect and that sent stocks soaring, jumping 8% in after hou

>> tara mergener in washington. thank you, tara. >>> president obama is in seoul, south korea this morning, where he had a message for the north. stop the provocative behavior. the president placed a wreath at the national war memorial before meeting with south korea's president. in a newspaper interview mr. obama said north korea can expect a, quote, firm response, if it conducts another nuclear test. yesterday in tokyo the president said it's time the north stopped being irresponsible. >> you've got to start changing your behavior, and that starts with the basic principle of deknew clarizeing the korean peninsula. now, am i optimistic there's going to be a major shift in north korea's attitude any time soon? probably not. >> the president also participated in a naturalization ceremony for u.s. soldiers and their spouses. and mr. obama is also expected to express his condolences to the families of the victims of the south korean ferry disaster. the death toll now stands at 183. the search for the victims is increasi

>> all right, tara mergener in washington. thank you, tara. >>> in ukraine, the acting president has order add new offensive against pro-russian rebels. it has refused to leave. the rebels say they are not part of an agreement signed last week. two local politicians allegedly kidnapped by the rebels were found murdered yesterday. >>> affirmative action supporters are blasting yesterday's decision by the supreme court upholding michigan's constitutional ban on using race as a factor on clij admissions. the lawyer who challenged the law calls the decision shocking. supporters of the ban call it a great victory for state rights. craig boswell reports. >> reporter: with a 6-2 vote the supreme court upheld. justice anthony kennedy said this case is not about how the debate about racial preferences should be resolved. it is about who may resolve it. in 2006 michigan voters approved a constitutional amendment prohibiting admissions programs that give preferential treatment to or discriminate against university applicants based on race

>> tara mergener in washington. thank you, tara. >>> kkayvon edson who was at the finish line will be evaluated. he's being held on $100,000 bail on charges of possessing a hoax device, a rice cooker in a backpack. police say he knew what he was doing but he said, quote, the performance got the best of me. his mother says edson has bipolar disorder. now police say they are ramping up security to protect spectators and runners following that backpack incident. joe shortsleeve of our boston station wbz has the latest. >> we're going to increase visibility over the next couple of days because of that incident. we'll have bike patrols down there. >> reporter: watch as our cameras capture the barefoot 25-year-old wakefield man stumbling along just minutes before being arrested. and then there's this video from a bystander seconds before the arrest. now, you can see in this video marathon survivors are all gathered at the finish line when police are alerted by an unidentified man that the individual is approaching. at the

tara mergener for cbs news, washington. >>> signs of religious intolerance are adding to the tensionhere, as well. u.s. officials say anti-semitic leaflets have surfaced in eastern ukraine and members of the russian orthodox church were also threatened. >>> it's 5:15. another major security breach in a retail chain this time at the arts and crafts store michaels. the company says it started last year. michaels says about 2.6 million cards may have been affected since last year. that's about 7% of all debit and credit cards used at the company's stores. about 400,000 cards were potentially affected at michaels' subsidiary, aaron brothers. the company says it has contained the breach. >>> time for traffic now. >> we have a "kcbs traffic" alert as you just saw wipe across your screen. so the problem spot is still oakland and for the next 15 minutes or so we're still crossing our fingers they will be able to clear this accident by 5:30. in the meantime this is the latest tweet from "kcbs traffic." so the accident involved a couple of big rigs northbound 880 by broadway and as you can see

and for more developments on the russian/ukraine tensions, here is cbs news tara mergener. >>> reportera convoy of military tanks rolled into eastern ukraine. one was flying the russian flag. a soldier told the "associated press" he was part of ukraine's airborne forces but was switching sides. russian president vladimir putin told his german counterpart, ukraine is on the verge of civil war. the comments came during a phone conversation tuesday. on the same day, ukraine's acting president launched a military operation targeting pro-russian militants in the eastern part of the country. ukranian forces retook an airport one of more than a dozen locations rebels have seized in more than a week. >> these prove occasions in eastern ukraine are creating a situation in which the government has to respond. the best way is for the armed militants to leave the buildings they have seized. >> reporter: many say russian is organizing the unrest and may protect ethnic russians in eastern ukraine as they did in crimea last month. >> there are individuals with ties to russia and the events in ukraine

tara mergener is in washington. good morning. >> good morning, anne-marie. the deal came as a surprise and lays out the steps to calm violence and political unrest, but president obama say this is only a first step and he isn't sure russia will keep up its end of the garn. leaders from the u.s. and european union are waiting to see if ukraine and russia honor an agreement to ease the tension in ukraine. president obama welcomed the breakthrough but is skeptical. >> i don't think we can be sure of anything at this point. i tlink is the possibility, the prospect that diplomacy may de-escalate the situation. >> under the deal reached thursday, all sides must refrain from bloodshed. illegal armed groups are required to disarm and pro-russian militants must turn over buildings they have seized. >> if there's not progress over the course of these next days, then there will be addition al sanctions, additional costs as a consequence. >> the deal does not mention the sanctions of russia against crimea last month. >> they're not necessarily invading with troops openl

as tara mergener reports, more of the ship's crew members have now been arrested. >>> reporter: crews in south korea are back out at the site of the sunken ferry trying to locate more than 150 people who are likely trapped in the ship. rescuers are breaking through windows with hammers to get to them. today an official with the country's coast guard said more bodies were found on the 3rd and 4th floors of the ferry. most of the passengers were students on a field trip and that's where their bedrooms were located. a senior prosecutor also announced that two more of the ship's crew members have been arrested bringing the total number arrested or detained to 11. investigators say the first distress call last wednesday came from a young boy on board, not from the crew. witnesses say the captain, who is among those facing charges, told people to stay where they were and then abandoned ship as it was sinking. one by one, the recovered bodies are being carried into tents on jindo island. relatives have been huddling around the main notice board to view descriptions of the dead. those who hav

tara mergener for cbs news. >> the agency hasn't said when new rules would take effect.osal would also cover pipe tobacco and cigars. >>> well, it seems kind of strange to talk about a rainy day fund during a drought but that's what governor brown and state lawmakers plan to do today. the governor has called a special session for his proposal to create a new revised reserve fund. he wants to require the state to save some tax revenue from capital gains. california had technically had a rainy day fund for 10 years but it's been spent because of the long budget crisis. >>> it will be a few more weeks until san francisco's historic coit tower reopens. the restoration and comprehensive makeover is taking a little longer than expected. the grand re-opening is now scheduled for mid-may. the $1.7 million project that began in november is about 90% complete right now. >>> nearly five years after the recession, many consumers still have a hangover in the form of damaged credit. >> they do. cbs news business analyst jill schlesinger is here to clarify what factors impact your cred

more now from cbs news' tara mergener. >>> reporter: secretary of state john kerry met with counterpartsn geneva to try to find a diplomatic solution to end the crisis in ukraine. yesterday president obama told cbs news chief white house correspondent major garrett moscow will face more sanctions if it keeps fueling the unrest. >> what i have said consistently is that each time russia takes these kinds of steps that are designed to destabilize ukraine and violate their sovereignty, that there are going to be consequences. >> reporter: pro-russian forces have been taking over government buildings in eastern ukraine. but today, ukranian officials say their forces fought back against hundreds of activists trying to attack its national guard base in the black seaport of maripol killing at least 3. >> not only have russians annexed crimea, they have also supported at minimum nonstate militias in southern and eastern ukraine. >> reporter: but during a television appearance today, russian president vladimir putin dismissed those claims and called kiev's use of its military against activists a c