rov has said that kerry issued threats, kerry is trying to make the point that the obama administration is .eady to take serious action took voice by saying we know russia has legitimate interests in crimea and we recognize that and we hope the president does not misunderstand and do something we don't understand that. as far as reassurances that we rov that russia is not planning to invade eastern ukraine, letter member that he gave those same reassurances to carry about crimea. -- kerry about crimea. >> it seems they are talking across purposes if you parse mr. lavrov's comments. the u.s. is telling russia that you have violated international law. russia is telling the u.s., mind your business. is that where we are at? >> that would be the translation from diplomatic speak and to regularly which. said,ing that lavrov "crimea as more integral and more important to us than the balkans were to great britain -- were tolands unde great britain." we know the boat is happening in crimea. the russians will respect the outcome of that vote. the u.s. is hoping respecting the outcome does not me

kerry is in ukraine's capital of kiev. the secretary also visited independence square, which had been the center of protests and where a huge memorial has now been erected to those killed before president yanukovych was ousted. we'll bring you secretary kerry's remarks live when he starts. again, that's in about 15 minutes from now. meantime, speaking publicly for the first time since the ukraine crisis boiled over, president putin accused the west of encouraging a, quote, unconstitutional coup in ukraine and said russia reserves the right to use military force as a, quote, last resort. however, these images, obviously, are stirring. russian troops, who had taken control of a ukrainian air base in crimea fired warning shots as ukraine soldiers approached. all this as we said with secretary of state john kerry now in ukraine in a show of support. nbc news chief fortunate affairs correspondent andrea mitchell joins us now by phone in kiev. andrea, do we have a preview of what we might hear from secretary kerry? >> well, secr

john kerry arrived here from kiev last night. now these would be importantly the first head to head high-level meetings between the united states and russia sips the late -- since the latest phase of the ukrainian crisis erupted. we can't underestimate the importance of that. there's the chance for europe and the united states, the west broadly, if you like, to coordinate their positions, how much stick, how much carrot they are offering the russians in meetings with lawrence fab use, chuck hagel and so -- and william hague. and there's only so much diplomacy. the headlines of the day that come out of the french capital inevitably will be about ukraine. >> you mentioned at the top there that the foreign ministers from - several foreign ministers meeting, sergei lavrov, and the u.s. secretary of state john kerry. there are other meetings as well on the sidelines of this. you talked about the lebanese officials as well. there'll be time for events in syria to be addressed also, presumably. >> yes, they'll certainly be addressed, an

we heard john kerry touching on a number of things. he was clearly touched and moved by getting down on the square where the deaths happened and the shootings during the height of the protest. he did visit, and apparently boosting the morale of the government, he also brought a message aside from the money and democratic talk, he brought a message that the united states remains very much in support of ukrain. >> and phil it is roughly now 7:00 in kiev. i know it is late. but has there been any reaction from the people out there concerning this support, the fact that secretary of state has now visited kiev and thrown the u.s. support behind their new and fledgling government? >> reporter: well, del, there hasn't really been support to the press conference yet. of course that just -- just happened, but when he did come out on to the square today, there was a clear atmosphere of appreciation. the people here in the center of kiev are clearly touched by his arrival. but i want to touch on one other thing, del that we touched on briefly on

kerry sanders. again who has been getting us the best real-time information in touch with the uss kidd. we'll take a break and be back with more as we follow our breaking news. possible debris of malaysia air flight 370. we'll keep you posted in real-time. we are in touch with that p-8 plane. >>> we've been looking at these two objects in the ocean. they don't know, it is very important to say, they're advising caution but they believe it is possible it is debris from the missing malaysian airplane. here's what officials said just minutes ago. >> i don't want to draw too much it from. it is a lead. probably the best lead we have right now. we need to get there. see them, assess them to know whether it is really meaningful or not. >> so there are a couple of things i wanted to point out as the clock is ticking to find out whether or not this may indeed be part of the plane. >> if they keep to their schedule, and the last we heard was they were planning to. in about 90 minutes, 98 minutes to be exact.

deafening and write me rush out simultaneously during the fifteen minute news conference mr kerry use words like of grass or provocation and intimidation to describe but lost out when talking about ukraine's internal leaders he had nothing but praise by using words like high aspirations hope and democracy week and then the russian federation's act of aggression. the russian god. out of excuses. friday instead of udon. false oaths intimidation. and provocations. us officials i also did i announced that the us will involve one billion dollars in duty to ukraine. i am helping hide the country gets back to get back on its feet in the meantime that the interim government. i said recently that it will need thirty five billion dollars over the next two years to avoid the fact that some of that secretary carries harsh words against russia has an absurdly raised eyebrows and be so buy a cd by causing many to call them and i a hypocrite because specifically on sunday as secretary terry ryan said that i was lecturing russia saying you can just unbeaten other country on completely trumped up reas

told syria most of the chicken reports what we have hard at it you laugh as secretary of state john kerry basically saying that like you mentioned a series of very serious that would follow if the referendum and cranial were to go ahead. this sunday there will be a response of some gun into the referendum itself. and in addition if there is no sign of any capacity to feel them move forward and resolve this issue. there will be a very serious serious areas of steps on monday in europe and here. with respect to the options that are available to us. he has also said that contingencies have been put in place. i'm just in case russia decides to proceed further into ukraine i very odd controversial statement there because obviously russia's position i had has never been to do something like that and he also curiously i john kerry didn't see that sam tension between moscow and washington that are ongoing over ukraine could meet idea of cooperation on. the crises like syria more complicated a cometely different race if that's not the west and russia seem to have been kind of walking hand in hand

i asked him how much they talk to kerry. they consoled almost every week but they get a status report at lunch or something. he said this line, and if you followed obama it you know he is a wry guy and he says we consult often and he occasionally takes direction. and i took it as a little bit of a -- little bit of a, "there." a little deadpan. >> one of the things that seems to plague obama is the charges that he is weak. syria is the prime example. does that bug him? >> yes, because he will come back to the i took out bin laden and upped the troops in afghanistan and invaded libya, so he does not like that line. i asked him the sort of question, the obvious question, syria. if you could roll the clock back three years, would you -- if you could do it over again, would you provide more support to the rebels and he gave an example -- a very elaborate answer of why not. he said, i know things that people do not about the quality and status of the rebellion at the time and i'm not going to get america sucked into another war. >

secretary kerry in paris. he was scheduled to be in paris for meetings prior to all of this, but obviously it has taken on a huge importance as the secretarsecretary kerry trying e a cohesive front when it comes to sanctions. the notion of politics stopping at the water's edge is pretty much out of the window. mitch mcconnell, john boehner, john mccain taking shots at the president yet saying they're going to stand behind the president on sanction bills that come to the floor, sanctions against russia as well as a $1 billion aid package that will be taken up late this week most likely next week by congress. so a lot of moving parts here, but i got to tell you everything on hold with all high eyes on ukraine. >> and it under scores the gravity of the situation with washington calling for the rhetoric to be toned down. but it's the portrayal of the feeling that politics stop at the water's edge, and in 20 seconds will that change? >> reporter: there is no question that the administration is focused on trying to

he also went so far as to say john kerry didn't threaten me, there were no threats. so he was very much sort of in command. while kerry, at his separate press conference, was saying, we know russia has legitimate interests. we don't want a misunderstanding here. we don't want them to think we don't see their interests in crimea, but there's a more peaceful way to do this and they shouldn't be annexing parts of another country. >> amy: there's going to be a vote on sunday, which putin has said i'm going to wait to make any decisions until after this vote. everyone expects that this referendum is going to pass, which says crime yaes going to be part of russia. but what actually physically happens next? they take this vote, and then does putin bring in troops? do they start raising the russian flag? what goes on? >> it's an excellent question. even in crimea, people don't know. there are those in the crimean parliament that says as soon as the vote goes we'll be joining russia as soon as next week. others are saying our re-entry into russia would take up to a year. so i

we are waiting for secretary of state, john kerry. he will hold a news conference there in about 30 minutes. we will get that live. i want to go to christiane amanpour. let's talk about president vladmir putin. he said that the current government in ukraine is illegitimate and russia reserves the right to use more force in ukraine if he wants to. those are strong words. amidst all that, you detected if not conciliation, at least reason to hope that the situation will not deteriorate more today. >> it is unclear which audiences he was addressing. for the western and international audience, he said, russia has no interest in a annexing crimea for the ukraine but he did reserve the right to do so. i did lay into the new ukrainian authorities, basically, distinguishing between the new parliament which he says is legitimate and the new which are not. it is hard to see how he can keep saying that president yanukovich is the legitimate president of the you crain. that is his position. he has a major act of diplomatic high wire to try to achi

kerry didn't do that. you kind of get the sense that he doesn't have something to say at this point and they are organizing their thoughts and trying to come to something with a status check. president obama doesn't comment on what's going on in ukraine and doesn't comment on russia at the top of his remarks as he has done before. things are fast moving and he is deferring to secretary kerry at this point. >> i think what the president is trying to do is give the diplomacy room to breathe. one word we heard several times over the last 24 hours, deescalate. he thinks the crisis can be deescalated. the treasury secretary set it up and one thing we should point out, cnn has confirmed that the chancellor did talk with putin about how steps bring something to them. they were talking about the off-ramp. she is acting as an intermediary. >> he didn't say anything today. he is getting criticism from republican who is say that he is weak. we heard republicans say "the washington post" really slammed pop. can he do

secretary of state john kerry is my guest this morning. at a critical time. the administration is taking a hard line against vladimir putin and russia. the president has been saying don't do this. russia has gone ahead and done it. secretary of state john kerry says he thinks this is a pretext to the crimea peninsula in the eastern part of ukraine that is part of the ukraine. this is a serious act. the question is, what next? what consequences are the president prepared to pursue at this point? >> is the president doing anything to get putin to retreat? >> he talked to him 90 minutes yesterday. i don't think the the the talks went well. i don't think putin is interested he says he's there to protect russian interests, russians themselves in ukraine. kerry says that's not a pretext but a false pretext for why they're sending forces in. >> with all this happening so fast, we're watching it unravel. could this be the biggest foreign policy challenge for the administration so far? >> it's hard to count just one. the problem is it comes at a time when russia is ma

idea. >> you mentioned kerry a minute ago. what is the obama-kerry relationship? >> only they know that for sure. there's something funny. one of the lines about the class. is that obama is disengaged from the middle east press. i asked him how much they talk to kerry. they consoled almost every week but they get a status report at lunch or something. he said this line, and if you followed obama it you know he is a wry guy and he says we consult often and he occasionally takes direction. and i took it as a little bit of a -- little bit of a, "there." a little deadpan. >> one of the things that seems to plague obama is the charges that he is weak. syria is the prime example. does that bug him? >> yes, because he will come back to the i took out bin laden and upped the troops in afghanistan and invaded libya, so he does not like that line. i asked him the sort of question, the obvious question, syria. .if you could roll the clock if you could roll the clock back idea. three years, would you -- if you could do it over again, would you provide more support to the rebe

you heard john kerry more warnings. i've talked to some folks. there are some moves they could make and could make right now. they're not act of war moves. they are immediate economic sanctions. russia's largest banks are state owned banks. you could choke them economically in a hurry. the largest energy company is a pal of putin. just do it. just suspend it, be move, start the meeting. that was the sense that you're wondering why isn't the president out there saying okay, we have made these moves. he's done this. you know, it was before it was trying to play some diplomacy. but they've got this 24 hours and you hear john kerry with more warnings. they know he's got to act

secretary of state john kerry. he is expected to announce $1 billion in u.s. aid for the new government of ukraine. including technical assistance and economic advice. for the latest events coming out of ukraine and the rest of today's headlines you are follow us on twitter. >>> benjamin netenyahu giving the keynote address at a gathering this morning of aipac. benjamin netenyahu saying he will do whatever it takes to defend israel. >> did you ever hear about iran sending a humanitarian delegation overseas? no? you missed that memo? [ laughter ] >> you know why? you know why you haven't heard anything about that? because the only thing that iran sends abroad are rockets, terrorists and missiles to murder, maim and menace the innocent. [ applause ] >> on monday netenyahu met with president obama pushing back against white house pressure to cut a deal with the palestinians. president obama warning the time for peace is running out. and later today the president submits his $4 trillion budget to congress. the president saying he wants to cut taxes to workers who

secretary of state john kerry plans to go. but what we're hearing is that the russians just aren't interested. but at the same time, we hear there are conversations between congressional members of the ukraine and russia. i'm not sure what to make of that. >> reporter: well, vladimir putin today said that while they do not recognize the government of the ukraine, they believe it's illegal, the result of a coup and so forth, they cannot be negotiations or any sort of contact at the highest level. what he is talking about is president to new acting president. but what he said is, because of the situation, russia is trying to be reasonable, and so there are still contacts going on government to government. he wasn't specific. we don't know precisely what that means. but what putin said today, he seize the parliament of ukraine being effectively legitimate, it's just the new acting president he does not recognize. the extent to which he is now prepared to negotiate, well, there has been no obvious sign of that so far. because as w

>> they have been talking, yes, kerry and lavrov. when we landed and on the plane with kerry coming back here to the u.s. he was going to the white house to have more conversations. to consult on what he had spent six hours talking to sergey lavrov about, because we know lavrov refused to discuss crimea. what did they talk about for six hours then? we know there are diplomatic measures underway, but coming in termss of sanctions this cost that you heard from obama talk about, it sounds like it will be very targeted at individuals in particular. within the russian government but not vat mere putin's money or serovar lavrov's money. but this is going for a targeted sanction. not go fog see that massive hit. what we've heard from diplomats is that some this might be scaled up to match basically the level of bad behavior that continues on the part of the russians. >> they don't want to let loose with all barrels all at once. but there will definitely be some sanctions tomorrow both u.s. and european. the u.s. sanctions are actually the l

late today kerry announced he would travel to ukraine tuesday. russian prime minister medvedev said ukraine's new pro western leaders seized power. their role will end with a new revolution and new blood shed. join us online and on air tomorrow for the "newshour" for the latest on ukraine. also how they determine if a person is mentally fit to be executed. that's it for the "newshour weekend." i'm harris sreenivasan. thanks for watching. >> made possible by louis b. coleman judy and josh westin, joyce b. hale. w walloch family. rosalynn p. walter. corporate funding is provided by mutual of america designing customized, individual, and group retirement products. that's why we're you're retirement company. additional support is provide by -- and by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. steves: venice's sleek and graceful gondolas are a symbol of the city. from the start, boats were the way to get around among the island communities of the lagoon. to navigate over shifting

i think john kerry's been very strong. he's been over there, we saw him yesterday in kiev with the people of ukraine. he's brought it back to what it is. he's saying they want consent of the people. they want an economy that will louse people to live. i think he's bringing it back to -- that allows people to live. i think he's bringing it back to what they want. >> our interests in this area are so much more minimal than russia's. >> less -- more minimal than europe. europe has more at stake here, as well. >> absolutely. what we're willing to do given what putin's willing to do is far different. that handcuffs us a little bit. i think the idea that we have to be strong to prevent another one somewhere else is not realistic in terms of the way that geopolitical situations work. i think economic measures dealing with sanctions, dealing with business entanglement will be much more effective than any military possibility. and also one note -- a poll came out recently, this week, from the kremlin. this is extraordiflare. 73% of

we may have answers on tuesday when john kerry visits. timothy fry is with columbia university, and lincoln mitchell is the author of the book "the colour revolutions." let me ask you: are we facing another cold war here? >> i don't think we are facing a cold war. there's a number of complex issues. there's a rush to try to think of short-term solutions that will solve the problem. these are difficult issues that will take a long time to resolve. i don't think we are reaching the level of a cold war. >> what do we do moving forward here? >> a lot of options presented - these are probably necessary and almost certainly not sufficient. one of the truths here is we have fewer options than we would like. it became clear in 2008. it isn't lost on russia and vladimir putin. in 2008 the incursion - the precedent was then, and the west was powerless to stop it. >> let's talk about the russian georgian war. back then the george w. bush administration considered a military response. the u.s. sent humanitarian supplies. he upped his naval presence i

more provocations may follow. >> kerry is going to kiev. >> kerry is going to kiev. don't be surprised if put tin doesn't use it to make air strikes on the airport. there are no red lines to the administration. he draws with a pink crayon. >> here's the concern if it comes to that. ukraine's military has out down 200,000 military soldiers compared to a million russians. russia can swamp ukraine with tanks and aircraft. they hope boebl outrage will convince the russians to back down. >> i think the strong condemnation it has received around the world indicates russia is on the wrong side of history on this. >> he is talking about stiff economic angstsanctions. russia has promised to retaliate if we follow through on sanctions. >> heather and answer lee. >> thank you, doug. >> former defense secretary donald rumsfeld is talking. he blames america's lack of leadership for inability around the globe. >> yesterday it was syria today it is the ukraine tomorrow it coul republican of georgia, skd be central asia, iran, north korea. at this stage the near term options are few

secretary kerry saying this is not a zero sum game. not russia versus the united states trying to emphasize it is the ukrainian people and their future that is at stake here. nevertheless, clearly now, the pressure s is on the administration to respond. what are the options? sanctions, trying to isolate russia economically. point out to secretary kerry that the rul rubles is taking a beating in the actions from the last few hours, aid, visa bands, asset freezes, isolation trade and investment and perhaps the most high profile if not the most impact. in a practical sense, actually kicking russia out of the g8. for years it was known as the g7 after the cold war they brought russia in and talking about reversing it now and the going to this summer's g8 annual conference which, as it turn out is hosted by russia, in of all places sochi. >> but is isolating russia enough? if obama decides to collect the costs he threatened to friday, will the american people stand behind him 123-4679 the american people we stand behind him there is no ques

for more news of that meeting in paris between kerry and lavrov. what more do we know about these talks? >> well, it came about after the conversation excellencely between vladimir putin and barack obama on friday. they agreed that their foreign ministers should meet and there should be more discussions. secretary kerry followed that up with a call. he landed in ireland to refuel. at that point he decided it was probably better that he headed to paris. one, because the middle east peace talks are in trouble, and he thought he could get there much more quickly. two, sergei lavrov was willing to clear his schedule and did to paris, and it's agreed that that meet willing take place on sunday. clearly the discussions between the presidents putin and obama created this window for the two of them to start diplomatic measures and try to de-escalate the tension in the area. >> as you mention the word deescalation, is there any mention of what sort of deal might look like? >> vladimir putin saying he wants to stop extremists running riots in ukraine. presid

so we really want obama and curry to succeed. -- kerry to succeed. their success means my freedom, my independence, my statehood, it means that palestinians would have a home to come to. and we hope that these nine months we have til april 29th will bring with it a solution and it's durable and can be done. it can be done. >> what's the expectation? you mentioned the fact that you, that there was a sense that maybe out of the meeting would come a piece of paper or a formal document. what is the expectation on your side with respect to what the americans ultimately will put on the table? >> i hope that the americans will will put on the table something that's fair, and i hope that the americans -- you know better than anybody else, i discussed this with you as an american diplomat, an american peacemaker -- the day the americans will depart from the squares of what's possible to the square of what's needed, we make it even. what's possible, american diplomacy. what the prime minister can do and what the israeli prime minister cannot do and once they d

secretary of state, john kerry, here, and cameron and hague, and he went into the meetings with love rov to understand two things, are the russians prepared in any way at this point to step back from the brink in ukraine, and also to lay out what happens if they don't in terms of economic sanctions, travel bans, and freezing foreign accounts, and there are interesting reports now on the specificity, 120 to 130 individuals that are around president putin, close to the kremlin, maybe involved in some of the decision making on the crimea. and we understand two names have already served now. he's a very close adviser to president putin, and another name, alexei miller, chairman of gazprom, one of the biggest in the world. and that's the company that carries gas to europe across the pipelines in ukraine, so those two names on the possible list that we'll be hearing more about, if the russians don't back away from supporting this referendum in crimea on sunday. these meetings will be taking place and be probably breaking soon and then both leaders, serg day lavrov and secretary john kerry

secretary of state john kerry promised that the u.s. will help the struggling eastern european nation in its bid to break free of kremlin influence and align itself with the west. later in meetings with interim government leaders and lawmakers in ukraine's parliament, kerry promised a billion dollar loan guarantee designed to ease the sting of energy costs. officials traveling with kerry had voiced concern that russian president vladimir putin who last week sent tens of thousands of forces may be preparing for a larger invasion of eastern ukraine. putin himself looking relaxed at a state res dnls outside moscow held a rare news conference in which he suggested any such broader invasion would be a last resort but well within russia's right because they have received approval by yanukovych. >> even if i take a decision to use armed force, it would be legitimate, in the norms of international law, and in this case, it would also correspondent to our interest in protecting the people who are closely tied to us historically, culturally, econ

is the script kerry and laugh or in paris, the obama-pun at this time phone call on friday. who is making the phone call, who is blinking, what is not. either way i don't think that public opinion in your second term what drives the outcome. >> i do think when you talk to people as reporting this through the weeknd if you talk to 20 different people within the u.s. government you get 20 different interpretations of what putin is really ultimately up to. i think one of the problems just in terms of reading the situation is that he is relying on fewer and fewer advisors and aides and shrunken circle of loyal advisors. it was reuters who says he listens to his own inner voice. some glimmers of hope given the lavrov-kerry meeting there is unpredictability and volitility that made it very difficult for the west to read it. >> schieffer: david, i wanted to ask you about something you said earlier, what was that like where does -- how does he see all of this? >> this was complication where dr. kissinger was given his papers, there was an evening then day of discussion about europe.

that's what john kerry emphasised. speaking from paris, john kerry called for a withdrawal of troops from the border. they have no intention of invading ukraine. ukrainians should be the ones to decide their own future. >> president obama and the united states believe firmly that diplomacy has a critical role to play in helping the people of ukraine achieve their goal in living in dignity and a stable, peaceful unified democracy. the united states and international community stands in support of ukraine's sovereignty and ukraine's territorial integrity. we'll continue to support the people of ukraine's right to choose their own future. it's not up to us to make any decision or any agreement regarding federalisation. we talked about it. it's up to ukrainians. >> any real progress in ukraine must include a pull-back of the very large russian force that is currently massing along the borders. tonight i raised with the foreign minister our strong concern about the forces. we blef the forces are -- believe the forces are cr

kerry says i don't know what you're talking about. he said, no, wait, the whole thing you based president obama's foreign policy on. and they just get a pass. nobody is making fun of secretary kerry today. >> no one follows up with a question. >> that question was ridiculous. let me say this in defense of what mitt romney did and sarah palin. we have been so consumed with islamic terrorists that we have not looked at potential -- the big geopolitical picture which is russia and china. so if the obama administration missed it, a lot of people missed it. while we're focusing on these terrorists that i think we're overfocused on, we have left alone some of the bigger players in the world. >> to be fair, i think you're right. i still think terror is number one. but i always thought russia was a second-tier issue. i felt that way because i wanted to believe it. i wanted to believe that the russians were so much in love with the west, but i conflated russia with putin. >> russians have been helpful to the united states when it came to fight

. >> secretary of state john kerry meeting with russia's foreign minister in paris this morning. kerry is also speaking with ukraine's foreign minister who hitched a ride to france on secretary of state's plane. abc's tahman bradley is following it from washington. >> reporter: the u.s. and other nations are still trying to defuse the volatile standoff in ukraine. in crimea, tensions remain high. with russian and ukrainian troops staring each other down walking the streets of kiev yesterday kerry saw the shrines where ukrainians died in last month's protests. the secretary blasted vladimir putin's invasion of crimea. >> it is not appropriate to invade a country and at the end of a barrel of a gun dictate what you are trying to achieve. >> reporter: putin says he ordered troops in to protect ethnic russians. president obama warned russia is violating international law. >> president putin seems to have a different set of lawyers making a different set of interpretations but i don't think that's fooling anybody. >> reporter: the russian leader may be trying to turn the temperature d

on tuesday secretary of state john kerry visited independence square and pledged a billion loan to the interim government. john kerry condemned russia intervention saying: >> in a fundraiser tuesday night president obama said: >> mike viqueira has the latest from washington. >> for a second straight bay mmr mr -- day mr obama interrupted a scheduled event. amid 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 age

kerry's speech because maybe kerry is one of the best paid professional liars in the west state state secretary of the us we have to remember what he was telling about syria in the past that he was one of the loudest of or along this when it came to serious and now he does dysfunction too when it goes against russia the first thing is not talking about the content of his words but to see that this is the part of china and media propaganda of war against russia particularly against. and against the russians in ukraine so this is really dramatic and what kerry does and says so he's somehow like the pop star of this propaganda show against russia and this we should take serious. and secular get some of the news of from around the globe right now tensions has once again flared up on the korean peninsula after pyongyang testified two missiles into the sea the u.s. and its allies south korea were holding joint military drills in the area have urged the north to show restraint and the south have a range of more than five hundred kilometers enough to hit any targets south of the border. yemen

john kerry is in london today. he is meeting with the russian foreign minister in a last-ditch attempt over the crimean vote on sunday. they're voting to join russia. this violates ukraine's constitution and international law. >> we are getting the latest out of russia. what do we know? benchmark rate in russia. it is on hold at seven percent. we had a surprise hike last month. are 150 basis points, the highest since 1998. that was to prevent inflation. the ruble is still at a record is. only one analyst forecasting another cut to 6.5%. you can see the ruble pushing just a touch higher. >> thank you so much for that. jon ferro is with the latest on this russian central bank. >> billionaires in russia and the ukraine are bracing for further losses. helping to quantify the losses is robert lafranco. who is being affected? how is this impacting it rushes richest? youf you're in russia and have money, you are being affected. we are talking about the richest of them all in russia. indexre 19 guys on our and they control

between kerry and lavrov. kerry was flying back to the u.s. after a meeting in the middle east but turned around after the phone call with lavr lavrov. it comes after the build up of tens of thousands of troops on ukraine's eastern border. it's worrying that russian troops could move into ukraine proper. sergei lavrov says putin has no intention of what would be considered invading. kerry said that there should be a new constitution for the country, one which creates a federal nation which gives more autonomy for the regions notably. those regions are dominated by russian speakers. washington for its part has according to officials in the u.s. come up with its own plan. he's saying there needs to be international monitors. they also want to see movements on direct talks between kiev, the inter erupt government there and between moscow. that's something that does not look like its happening for a long time now, particularly not since russian forces effectively annexed crimea peninsula. after a referendum, a ver

your reaction to that warning from secretary kerry first? >> lou, i think that president putin just laughed off whatever secretary kerry y. administration is going to do anything at all if they make a move on ukraine. but having said, i think putin is a very smart guy, he's not going to do athing in the smart te that really damages his world standard. they didell in the olympics. there were no incidents. he'seally the guy for solving the problem in syria. his fries in iran is moving forward with nuclear weapons. everything is on putin's side right now. i don't think he wants to damage that by using force at this time. he's an old kgb operative as you foe, lou, he'll try torecreate whatappened in georgia, back in 2008, russian troops went into two of the provinces of georgia because ethnic russians in there were being threatened by the georgia government. he'll try to pull that off in the ukraine. >> his foreign minister stating the stage precisely with that with his words. i thought, frankly, his use of the expression of e global community,

reports from london on the talks between russian foreign minister lavrov and the usa could say john kerry. this takes our legs and walking around the gardens of the us ambassador's residence that have predicted the band name age and breakthroughs here in london the us the uk and russia. we all sat common pleas and hezbollah said a map upside down carrying items like he wasn't budging one bit. on the usa's two cents and has set aside to cool for ten thirty at night in process continues to support the referendum and claiming yet whereas that russian foreign minister and wheels to rethink that moscow will respect the will of ukrainian people to do is comment that he said in a referendum on sunday and said that russia has no ties think they missed in ukraine. you could get to the russian federation does not and cannot have any plans to invade east and southern ukraine. we strongly believe that the rights of russians just like the rights of arundel bulgarians were of course the rights of ukrainians must be shown to protect that aside the top off was asked about the recent referendum is that ta

lou: president obama and secretary kerry talking tough. vladimir putin's response. we have an author and attorney and foreign policy expert andrew mccarthy on the crisis and a triple digit rally on wall street. ...return on investment wall isn't a street... isn't the only return i'm looking forward to... for some, every dollar is earned with sweat, sacrifice, courage. which is why usaa is honored to help our members with everything from investing for retirement to saving for college. our commitment to current and former military members and their families is without equal. she loves a lot of it's what you love about her. but your erectile dysfunction - that could be a question of blood flow. cialis tadalafil for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet approvedo treat ed and symptoms obph, like needing to go frequently or urgently. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medications, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sexual

we are wishing you a good night >> good evening everybody, as secretary of state john kerry has saved the day in the ukraine without a doubt a hard-working diplomat although not always diplomatic but a successful diplomat. the secretary of state telling russian president putin to order his military to abandon their position to return forces to their own bases in crimea. >> is not appropriate to invade a country at the end of a barrel of a dozen with what you are trying to >> we are dictating what we are trying to achieve and that is not 24th century nation behavior. and i think that it is clear that russia has been working hard to create a pretext for being able to invade. >> the secretary of state was garnering all of the headlines from key have, president obama in washington called it what might be procured to impress her. he didn't wait for them to conclude the live remarks from the ukraine before going live himself. the president's remarks more constrained than those of the top diplomats in his syntax is slightly better. >> we have all seen from the perspective of the european uni

it's really interesting talk of all the contents also a that kerry's speech because that maybe kerry is one of the episcopate the professional liars in the west that state secretary of the us we have to remember what he was telling adults theory and the house that he was one of the oldest more moments when it came to syria from now he gets this function when it goes against russia. diversity is not talking about the content of his works. got to see that this is the part of the chai and media propaganda war against russia. particulary against preparing for my aunt against the russians in the ukraine. so this is really from a peak and at what carried us in and says so he is somehow like a pop star of this propaganda show against russia and the speech that experience. well in a line of what president clinton said today in a skin and with that journalists to specifically that the russia is not planning out military action. i do think though washington is likely to change its stance no i don't think so because the propaganda war is for a leader cannot stop this beauty on this huge media p

john kerry now caught in the middle with two key players refusing to participate. >>> close call. huge beams fly through the windshield of a truck. just how close the driver came to getting seriously hurt in a freak accident. >>> miracle baby. hopeful news for the worldwide fight against aids. how american doctors have possibly cured another baby of hiv. >>> good thursday morning. i'm marci gonzalez in for diana perez. >> and i'm john muller. we begin with big changes to obamacare. thousands of americans will get to keep their plans at least for a bit longer. >> tahman bradley has the details and quick reaction from washington. good morning, tahman. >> reporter: marci and john, these changes would affect 1.5 million people. up the new guidelines those people will get to keep their old plans for two more years even if they don't meet the requirements of the new law. it helps insurance customers but helps democrats a political problem in the fall elections. that's why they were kritly criticized. the president is rewriting laws around the election calendar, but the white house says

can help kerry. others still say, well, kerry doesn't seem to be doing much anyhow so the u.s. might as well start taking those kinds of actions. >> we'll see. sergei lavrov says he has to go back to russia now to confirm the format. you can make that decision on the ground, you can make a phone call back to moscow. it appears they're dragging this out. you know, talking about what russia has accomplished here, steven hadly, former national security advisor for president bush was on the air last night. he made a good point about the strategy. it's not just about military action, it's about russia establishing question marks in various countries. they did the in georgia, they had the two breakaway provinces, they're doing it now here that makes it impossible for a country like ukraine to join the eu or nato. >> so the more ambiguous you make it, the better it is for russia. and that's the problem that they're confronting in the administration. >> the president was pretty blunt right now. he didn't want to take questions from reporters leaving that to his white house press secret

i think kerry is looking good. >> yeah, i mean, kerry is really -- i think history will judge him as a strong and effective secretary of state. the man is indefatigable. in the middle of all this, he's also trying to make peace in the middle east and handle a bunch of other krecrises. >> by the way, have you noticed a very observant jewish guy with a beard and a black hat who always seems to be ten feet from kerry? i'm dead serious point, i get a feeling the kiev government wants to think they're anti-sumettic and not fashionest. he's been within ten feet of him. >> there's a history there. they have to make sure that people have that impression. >> there he is on the right. i don't want to -- there's nothing more serious in the last century than that issue of the holocaust, but it is interesting, they don't want to be nailed. >> no, they don't. so smart of kerry, though, to take that walk through -- >> there he is again. >> -- through kiev and demonstrate the lie that putin is telling about how this chaos in the streets of kiev. there is not, in fact. >> peggy nunen gave a great tri

secretary kerry said that the u.s. will have no choice but to impose economic sanctions on russia if it doesn't change its course in ukraine. russia is pushing back, and the prime minister said that the country had no choice but to retaliate if sanctions are put in place. >>> president putin is defending the actions in ukraine, calling it a humanitarian mission to protect compatriots who he says are living in terror. a kentucky governor will seek outside help on help to repeal same-sex marriage. he said that he will repeal using outside council. and doctors in hospitals are overprescribing antibiotics, that's according to the centers for disease control. 20,000 people die every year from prescription drug complications and misuse of antibiotics, and it breeds super bugs that are resistent to the medicine. those are the headlines, and "america tonight" with joie chen is up next. i'll see you here tomorrow, and you can get the latest news on aljazeera.com. >> on "america tonight," face-off. ratcheting up the pressure as