security kocouncil to see if th would allow the observers, and good move, and confidence-building measure. on the arming, if the ukrainians as they have, have asked for military support, i think that we should be providing that, and i think that we should provide the defensive weapons, and the exercises that the ukraines have asked for, and the military to military coordination that we have all done with the ukrainian military, and that kind of military to military support and cooperation should happen and be advanced. and in the meantime, the vice president head ing ing to kiev, david, but it is not until the 22nd of april, and what are the chances that might be moved up, and what does the white house hope to accomplish with him in kiev? well, it is a gamble, because if the government is saying that the administration is weak, and do you want joe bide n in the
that right now is a live question. obama is adding nothing on the scale that would dissuade putin. so two just to interrupt. two concrete things president obama could do today, right now, that would change the equation. right now, you send the chairman of the joint chiefs tonight to kiev. not geneva, to kiev, to discuss with the authorities urgent delivery of weapons, defensive weapons in case the russians advance into ukraine. to kiev. remember, eastern ukraine is not as monolithically pro-russian as crimea was. if putin goes into car keeve, for example, there is going to be a fight. the ukrainians will put up a fight. they need weapons. they need american weapons, nato weapons. he could do that today. and for the longer run, he should announce immediately a
and senators. according to the daily beast, senator dick durbin said, my lithuaniian mother would be product. john mccain who traveled to kiev last week to meet with ukrainian leaders was looking forward to and he said you think i m not going to be on it? i would be honored to be on that list. it is not entirely clear whether putin s enemy list will include vice president joe biden. dispatched to warsaw to deal with the crisis did not appear bent on mending fences. unfortunately, russia s leaders have responded with a brazened military incursion with a purposeful ratcheting up of ethnic intention inside ukraine with a rushed and legal referendum in crimea that was not surprisingly reject by
welcome back. we are tracking that other big story, the unrest in the ukraine and the kind of east/west showdown over crimea. to kiev and cnn s michael holmes. president vladimir putin has been working the phones seems like every day we get another press release of who the president s been talking to. now we re getting russian press releases, as it were, about phone calls to david cameron in brittany and in germany angela merkel. is this beginning of a solution or is this a pr stunt? reporter: well, think they re getting out ahead the same as everyone else does. we ve heard david cameron and others put out releases when they ve had words with vladimir putin. this time we re seeing the kremlin get out first with their version of how it all went. he spoke with angela merkel,
amazing video. kate? let s return to the top story of the morning, the crisis in the ukraine. fareed, we ve been tracking the developments day by day. i think today the biggest thing to keep an eye on is this coming referendum vote in crimea. stay with ukraine or become part of russia. what do you think the real impact is of this vote? it s huge. facts on the ground, russia has already rested crimea from out of the ukrainian government s control. the flights from crimea to ukraine, to kiev, which used to go through the domestic terminal, of course, now leave through the international terminal. is it just a foregone conclusion? the fact on the ground is that crimea is already separate from ukraine. once that happens, it becomes