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Russia Approves Sending Troops In Ukraine; U.N. Security Council To Meet On Ukraine

Aired March 01, 2014 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our special coverage of the crisis in Ukraine. I'm Deborah Feyerick in for Fredricka Whitfield. We want to welcome our viewers here and around the world.

We are following breaking news out of Ukraine. Lots of things moving very quickly today. In two hours, the U.N. Security Council is expected to have an informal consultation on the situation. Ukraine's opposition leader just called for an emergency session of parliament to invalidate Ukraine's Black Sea fleet naval base agreement with Russia. This all comes after Russia's parliament approved the use of military force in Ukraine just moments after President Vladimir Putin had requested it.

It is likely to spark major concern in the U.S. and the European Union. President Obama said yesterday that Ukraine's sovereignty should not be violated and had this warning for Russia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Any violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity would be deeply destabilizing, which is not in the interest of Ukraine, Russia or Europe. United States will stand with the international community in affirming that there will be costs bringing military intervention in Ukraine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: Russia's latest move comes after a new pro-Russian leader took power in Crimea. There is a different leader in Kiev in the Ukraine. That area, Crimea is primarily a Russian region. He is asking for Russia's help in maintaining the peace in that area. Ukraine has been very unstable since the parliament voted President Viktor Yanukovych out last week.

It's highlighted the deep divide in the country between Russian supporters and European Union supporters. Those that favor Russia and those that favor the E.U.

Our correspondents are following the reaction around the world. Earn McPike is live for us at the White House. Fred Pleitgen is live in Moscow. Diana Magnay is live in the Crimea region of Ukraine and Elise Labott is live in Washington with reaction from the State Department. We're going to go to the White House, monitoring reaction from there. Erin McPike, what more has the president and the administration said about what is happening in that region?

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Deb, I want to isolate one of the comments that you just played from President Obama from yesterday afternoon when he said there will be costs for military intervention in Ukraine. He did not specify what those costs are. But we have heard from administration officials that that could be a boycott of the G8 Summit coming in June in Sochi.

So far today, the White House has told us they do not expect another on camera briefing from President Obama today. That could obviously change because the situation is developing very rapidly and obviously, Putin's moves seem like a direct affront to Obama coming just 16 hours or so after he made that on camera statement.

Also, the National Security Council is telling us that they are coordinating their response and we should hear from them later today and as soon as we do, we'll bring that to you -- Deb.

FEYERICK: All right, Russian -- Erin McPike, thank you very much. We appreciate that. We're now moving on to Russia where Fred Pleitgen is standing by live and Fred, what is the latest on Russia approving military force in Ukraine? Many people said, look, the people who are there, the troops, are Russian. So all they have to do now is take off their masks and remove the patches from their arms and viola, you've got an invasion.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's a very good question, Deborah. The big question though is, are more Russian troops going to be on the way there. The Russians, of course, at any given point and time on the Crimean had about 25,000 troops stationed there. They have one of the biggest naval bases there. The Black Sea fleet is at home there and they also have some Army bases that are affiliated with that base as well.

There's also some Ukrainian politicians who have said over the past 24 hours that they believe that already, as many as 2,000 to 600 Russian troops have been flown in to an airport that was surrounded by these gunmen, which no one knew who they were and now, it appears as though that they actually were regular Russian forces.

So, the big question is did the Russian parliament today OK the deployment of those forces in retrospect or is this something that is still going to happen. We've been listening into Russian parliament and some of the things that some of the speakers have been saying indicate that there might be further moves ahead.

According to the Interfax Agency there was one parliamentarian who said at this point in time, it's not clear when those troops will be deployed if those troops will in fact be deployed at this point in time. Vladimir Putin only had the OK to do so and then the big question, how many would they be so far.

The lawmakers are saying that all of that is at the discretion of President Vladimir Putin, but he certainly does have enough assets in that area with the big Russian military exercise going on right at Ukraine's doorstep, he could move in forces very, very quickly if he chooses to do so -- Deborah.

FEYERICK: And one thing we want to talk about, Fred, which we're not hearing a lot about and that is the whole natural gas issue. Europe is very dependent on natural gas, which comes from Russia and is transported through the Ukraine. So, is it possible that what Russia has now done is simply ensured that they've got that access and is Europe worried because they may not get the natural gas, which constitutes 25 percent of all their resources from Russia?

PLEITGEN: It's a very good question, Deborah and it's actually the second battleground in all of this, if you will. If you recall back to 2004, that was the last time there was a pro-European government that was in office in Ukraine at that point, there were a lot of disputes over transit routes for gas into Europe, for gas prices being paid by the Ukrainian government.

There was a gas shortage in Europe because the Russians at various points in time had to turn off the gas or minimized the flow of gas. That certainly is something that could happen again. Already, there are signs that there are problems with gas deliveries to Ukraine. Not to Europe yet, but to Ukraine.

Gas from the big government owned gas companies here in Russia has said that the Ukrainian government owes some $1.5 billion for gas that's been delivered and they've said that potentially, they could turn off gas deliveries or at least minimize gas deliveries to Ukraine if those bills are not paid.

Of course, that very tough stance from gas comes on the heels of this fight between the Ukrainian and the Russian government that is currently going on. And so certainly gas could become a big issue. The Europeans will be very worried about all of this. It's still probably too early for any sort of repercussions to hit Europe, for Europe to actually feel any gas shortages.

But this is something that is an ongoing issue and something that was raised by the Russians almost immediately after these tensions between the new Ukraine government and the government here in Moscow broke out -- Deborah.

FEYERICK: And quickly, Reuters now reporting that the Russian parliament is asking to recall its ambassador to the United States. Does that signify that Russia simply wants to cut diplomatic negotiations or cease talking? Is this symbolic or is this realistic?

PLEITGEN: That's also a really good question. I think it's more symbolic than it is actually realistic. So far, what we've heard from the president's office, from Vladimir Putin's office, is that no decision has been made on this motion that was discussed in parliament for him to ask him to recall a Russian ambassador to the United States.

At this point in time, it does not seem as though the Russian government for all the tensions that are out there, for all the issues that are going on right now with this situation, that the Russian government would want to cut diplomatic ties with the United States or recall the ambassador. The situation simply hasn't deteriorated to that point yet and certainly it is very far from deteriorating to that point.

There is no violence on the ground yet. It certainly is a very tense situation. There's a lot of Russian lawmakers who are very angry at what the president said. One Russian lawmaker felt that it was threatening remarks that the president made towards the Russian federation.

Certainly it appears as though cooler heads will prevail, at least on that point, and it certainly seems as though a sort of side show to the main issue, which is the situation in Ukraine. There's no indication at this point that the Russian government will want to cut diplomatic ties with the U.S. or indeed recall the ambassador -- Deborah.

FEYERICK: A side show or a distraction sort of wave the shiny objects in this direction. All right, Fred Pleitgen for us in Moscow, thank you very much. Now, we're going to go to Ukraine, to Crimea, a heavily Russian region of the country. It has been tense there since Ukraine's president was voted out of office last week.

The region's pro-Russian leader asked for Russian forces to help maintain the peace right there in that little area that's in orange there. Diana Magnay is live from the city of Simferopol. What are you seeing there, Diana?

DIANA MAGNAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, a lot of troops, military gunmen controlling, guarding government facilities, roads and most of the time, there they are in military fatigues alongside pro-Russian local self-organized forces. So, the question is, does Vladimir Putin really need to send in more troops to keep the situation under control?

Because of the fact of the matter is, these gunmen, who it transpires are Russians, I asked one of these soldiers today, a young one, who probably committed a big slip of the tongue when he said to me, yes, I am from Russia. Confirmation at last that these gunmen who don't have any labels and they've tried their best to masked their identity do actually come from Russian territory.

So, they do have the situation here under strict control. And you get the idea, the sense that the Russian majority here are very, very happy about that. There have been huge pro-Russian demonstrations through the streets today. Everybody waving the Russian flag. It's also almost being jubilant, but you haven't seen any signs of the other people that make up this ethnic, cultural mix in Crimea.

So Ukrainian nationals and the ethnic -- they seem to have stayed well out of it. It does seem though as though that Vladimir Putin and the pro-Russian majority have gotten what they want. They put in a pro- Russian leader on Wednesday into the administrative government here. The situation is calm, but there are Russian troops everywhere. Now the question is does Vladimir Putin want to send in more? Is this enough? Is this retrospective. These are all questions we don't know, but I can tell you that there are minorities in this Crimean region quite apart -- across the whole of Ukraine who are very, very nervous about the prospect of more troops coming into this region -- Deb.

FEYERICK: Absolutely because many of them also, certainly the tartars that returned after Ukraine became sort of a sovereign nation. I want to ask you. It's fascinating. When we look at this area, you've got one country essentially, but you got two governments. You got one government in Kiev. You've got a second government, pro-Russian, in Crimea.

So you've got two different forces that are going on there now. One thing about these troops that you spoke of, why was there so much secrecy about that initial invasion into the region? We saw the troops with the masks and yet, they were carrying coalition at cost.

There was a takeover of government buildings and they raised the Russian flag, but no confirmation. Fred Pleitgen, our colleague, has said that in fact, you know, the Russian parliament said OK, fine, send in troops, but it was really after the fact. How does that all play out there?

MAGNAY: Well, precisely because of the word invasion. This is so controversial. You know, Russia may have a base at Sevastopol, but have any right to put its military elsewhere on Ukraine sovereign territory. In a way, this was a sort of soft behind the scenes sort of an invasion, where by you had these anonymous people kind of coming in and taking control and no one actually had to stand up and go, OK, it's Russia, we're doing this. We're acting on it.

These are things that Vladimir Putin seems to have quite cleverly fudged and weirdly, it doesn't seem to have mattered in this region. What really has mattered now is this decision in the parliament is sort of authorization of a troop deployed, even though it happened on the ground. So, that is kind of really, really worried people. The fact of the matter is Ukrainian territorial sovereignty was breached already -- Deb.

FEYERICK: OK, Diana Magnay, thank you so much. As you mentioned, Russia only leases that naval base, but that naval base is the entire Black Sea fleet. So very critical area, thank you so much. We've a lot more coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: Major developments on the situation with Ukraine happening right now. The U.N. Security Council is meeting informally on the situation. That's going to happen at 2:00 p.m. Eastern. That's the U.N. Security Council meeting.

All this was set in motion after Russia's parliament approved the use of military force in Ukraine earlier today. Since then, President Putin's long-time adviser told Russian state TV that Putin has not made a decision on whether to use force. He also apparently hasn't made a decision on whether to recall the ambassador to the U.S. Something Russia's parliament asked for today.

Ukraine's government has condemned Russia's approval of military use, calling it a direct aggression. The opposition leader has called for Ukraine's parliament to convene right away.

Let me bring in foreign affairs reporter, Elise Labott, who is here with us in Washington. The State Department, what is the mood, what is happening?

ELISE LABOTT, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, obviously, they're having a lot of meetings today, Deb. They haven't said anything publicly, but you know, sources saying listen, they don't know what Russia's intentions are. Is he going, President Putin, to just stay within the area of the Crimea or does he have the intention to move into Eastern Ukraine, where there's a lot of pro0Russian sentiment?

You know, The U.N. Security Council is meeting today, but it's really unclear on what they can do, because, as you know, Russia is a permanent member of the council. Has a veto, that so any action that the council would pass clearly isn't going to have any punitive measures against Russia. I think that's more of an area here they could hope to get Russian discussion on how to find a diplomatic way out of this.

How to find a diplomatic solution, which protects Russian interests in Ukraine by saying listen, this has to be a Ukraine that is Democratic. That is able to chart its own course, but also, will it be able to have good relations with Russia?

FEYERICK: But let me ask you about diplomacy and the total -- in what appears to be a total and complete disconnect. That an adviser to President Putin would go on television and say that Putin has not made a decision on whether to use force and yet, you look at Crimea and look at the airports, the roadblocks, the troops and Russian flags that are flying. I'm sorry, how does a diplomat deal with what appears to be use of force when Russia's saying we're not sure whether we're going to do it yet.

LABOTT: OK, well, President Putin right now is demonstrating a show of force. But there's been no violence on the ground. There's been no shooting. There's been no action by any of these troops. This is really right now, he's playing a very tough diplomatic game and this is you know, what he calls real politics. He's upping the ante.

He is showing the United States and the Europeans and everybody that he's willing to use force, but I think he's certainly hoping and obviously, the international community is hoping that that won't be necessary. It's really going to be up to President Obama to work with the European leaders to show President Putin that there is a cost for bringing this any further.

President Obama said there was a cost and we heard Erin McPike earlier talking about some kind of possible punitive measures like avoiding the G8. I've also heard administration officials talking about ending trade talks with Russia. Russia wants to have a lot deeper economic ties and commercial relations with the United States. That would be off the table.

President Putin doesn't care about obviously any of that. He's made the calculus that he can live without that because Ukraine is very important to him. It's really going to be up on the U.S. to show that he can have a hand if he plays by the rules.

FEYERICK: But so many people are saying he's not played by the rules. I read something which I thought was quite fascinating, quote, "Diplomatic pretense" that Russia is a law-abiding democracy should end. That was something I read in "The Economist." I find it fascinating you make a distinction between a show of force and a use of force.

Because if somebody sort of swept into Atlanta, you know, with troops that are not supposed to be there, I'm not so sure I would call that a show of force as opposed to a use of force. Let's talk about the G8 Summit. Is it possible that western leaders could simply boycott it or hold their own and tell Vladimir Putin sorry? You're just, you're simply not part of the -- you're just not doing what is expected of a democratic country to do?

LABOTT: Well, June is a ways away, but I do think that's highly likely that they could do that. They could have a G7 if you will. Russia really hasn't been part of this process forever. It's only in recent years that it became a G8. So the other industrialized nations could meet somewhere else. That would be a real poke in the eye to Putin because Sochi has been very important to him.

You saw with the Olympics, he was really interested in showing Sochi as this international city of culture and tourism and if they were not able to hold it there, it would be a blow for him, but not a very big blow obviously. He's decided he could live without it, but I think it's highly likely, they could meet to as a punitive measure.

But also the G7 -- this rest of the countries need to talk about these issues with Putin and if you look at some of the other issues on the world stage, the Iran nuclear talks and the desire to get Iran to make a deal to end its nuclear program, the crisis in Syria, these are all issues that the United States and Russia are working so closely together, these are the crisis that are going to lose out in the end if there's no G8.

FEYERICK: At the heart of it also is can the United States, can the European Union, actually trust anything that President Vladimir Putin says? Because actions are so much stronger than words and right now, it appears through action that Vladimir Putin is the one who certainly is a lot stronger.

LABOTT: Well, the answer is no, they can't trust anything he says, but what are the options? I mean, we talked about these minor diplomatic options that the U.S. would be willing to impose on Russia. Putin's pretty much said yesterday after this strong statement by President Obama, who cares. So, how does the U.S. and the international community re-group and A, send a message to President Putin that you can't take this any further.

But also find a way in all of this to satisfy some interests to make sure, he's afraid he's going to lose all of Ukraine and that's what this is really about, this moving into the Crimea. He's worried that the whole country is going to be lost to him. If they can find a way to show him you know, let's let this go forward. Let the democratic process go forward.

You'll still have influence in the country. You can have wonderful economic and diplomatic relations with Ukraine if you are part of the solution. And not part of the problem. This is going to be the challenge for the international community.

President Obama really has to lead the charge to galvanize the international community for tough diplomatic, economic and military, to show him that there will be a cost. Right now, there's been a lot of rhetoric, but I don't think he sees the cost at all.

FEYERICK: Sure, and what's also interesting also is that you know, with the natural gas that flows from Russia to Ukraine, now, Ukraine is not getting access to that natural gas as Fred Pleitgen reported. The question is, what happens to Europe and that's going to be very much on the minds of many people there. Tit for tat. Do you see the U.S. wanting to essentially recall its ambassador to Russia?

LABOTT: Well, right now, there is no, quote, "U.S. ambassador to Russia." Ambassador Michael Mcfaul, who was a very strong critic of the Putin regime let's say, just left. He wanted to spend more time with his family. He was a very controversial figure in Russia. He's left right now. They can recall the second in command, what we call the fair for talks.

That's not really going to make a big deal because real discussions between Washington and Moscow are done from the foreign ministries, the White House to the Kremlin, from Secretary of State John Kerry to Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. They have a very close relationship and they speak often through the defense ministers.

So the ambassador is a symbolic measure, but really isn't going to have any effect on the diplomatic relations because that's really done between capitals.

FEYERICK: OK, all right, Elise Labott for us, thank you so much and obviously, the question if Russia gets kicked out of the G8, will they turn even more strongly towards Brazil, China, India and also Russia. All right, we're going to be right back with a lot more. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: Welcome back, everyone. We've got more breaking news on the crisis in Ukraine. To really understand what's happening in Crimea region of Ukraine, it helps to look at a map, so CNN's Tom Foreman helps us understand the huge regional difference and gives us an historical context as well. TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ukraine is a little bit smaller than the state of Texas, about 45 million living here, 2 million in the Crimea, more or less, and most of these people feel stronger ties to Russia than they do to Ukraine. Why is that? Because Russian is their first language. Many of the older ones will even remember back when it was actually part of the Soviet Union before it was gifted in 1954 to Ukraine as part of the deal then.

How far is it from Crimea up here to Kiev? That's about 400 miles or the distance roughly from New York to Pittsburgh. Moscow is more than twice as far away, but look at Russia over here in gray. Look at how closely the border is located to Crimea and importantly, look at this red area because all of this area has stronger ties to Russia than it does to the rest of Ukraine and that shows up in their voting as well.

In the last election, this entire area was the base of support for the now ousted President Yanukovich, so as you watch this conflict move forward, as you wait to see what Russia will do next, keep an eye on the eastern part of the country because that's the part of the country that will more naturally want to align with what Russia wants to do.

FEYERICK: OK. Tom Foreman, thank you so much. That's how the Ukraine and Russia puzzle fits together. Earlier today, it took the Russian parliament just minutes to approve the use of military force in Crimea. What does that mean militarily?

CNN military analyst, James "Spider" Marks is back here with us. What are the Russians effectively in control of Crimea right now?

JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Deb, they are. Clearly, as we've discussed and essentially uncovered this over the course of the last 24 hours, this is an invasion by Russia of Ukraine specifically right now in Crimea, which is a part of Ukraine as Tom just described quite well.

And what we've been doing is we've really been analysing the heck out of all this tactics. Is the ambassador of the United States going to go back to Russia? Does this include ground troops? Do they have markings, do they not have markings? So, we're spending a lot of time looking at what exists.

Right now, what we should realize is we need to take a step back and here are the headlines that we should be seeing here in the next week. Russia invades Ukraine. Russia annexes Crimea, Russia, i.e. Putin, has a seat at the table in terms of how Ukraine looks like moving forward.

Those are the three major moves taking place and what's going to happen next. Very, very critical that the United States establish right now, whether they care, whether this is in their spear of influence. Of course, we care, but is this in our national interest and should we be doing something about it beyond what we have done so far?

The president has been very measured. That's great. Simultaneously, he needs to be as Elise said, galvanizing the international support for the array of options that should be in place if we care about what this eventual outcome looks like.

FEYERICK: So, leading off of that question, how important is this to the United States? First of all, I want to bring up that map we showed before because there's a red line that runs through that map. And it goes from the Black Sea, which is where the Russian port is, all the way down and through over, you can see how the Russian ships, OK, as we pull out there a little bit.

If you go down, there's a red line that shows how the Russian ships can get all the way around, through into the Mediterranean and through to Syria. So, one would argue that it's important to the U.S. In terms of the spear of influence there in that region, but additionally, you've got the natural gas issue, which is the Russians send their gas through Ukraine and then it's shipped out of those ports as well.

If the E.E. has a problem with natural gas, getting its gas, prices go up there, won't that also affect U.S. interests? I mean, there are two different things that are going on here.

MARKS: Well, Deborah, it's really more than just the two things that you've described very, very well. It's a mix of a whole host of issues and clearly, the United States is very interested in that part of the world. Clearly, we have a presence and we've had an historical presence in that part of the world, in the Eastern Mediterranean that would intersect with the red line that you just described.

So one could say this is a recidivist type of revisit to Cold War type of power play between the United States and the former Soviet Union embodied now in Putin as the president of the Russian federation. This really is not unlike, this could be described as containment version two.

What can the United States do to influence to alter activities right now in the Ukraine? Not much. What can the United States do to try to ensure that it doesn't expand and become something that is going to have a deleterious effect to the European Union and our interest in the region and there's a lot we can do.

FEYERICK: OK, general, stand by. We've got more coming up. We're going to get back to you. Right now, we're going to take a quick break and we'll see you right after.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: Major developments on the situation with Ukraine happening right now. The U.N. Security Council is going to hold an urgent meeting on the situation in about half an hour, an hour and a half, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern. All this set in motion earlier today after Russia's parliament approved the use of military force in Ukraine even as troops there were already on the ground.

Since then, President Putin's long time adviser told Russian state TV Putin hasn't made a decision on whether to use force. He also apparently hasn't made a decision on whether to recall the ambassador to the U.S., something Russia's parliament also asked for today. We have heard from the British foreign secretary. He says the Russian ambassador to Britain has summoned to the foreign office. Ukraine's government has condemned Russia's approval of military use calling it direct aggression. Opposition leader has called for Ukraine's parliament to convene right away. That is a pro-western parliament right now.

We've got a lot of questions, one that I want to go back to General Spider Marks for, and that is, General, let's say Russia does successfully annex Crimea. If that's their intent, we are not saying that it is. But given that's the area they seem most interested in, how does that directly affect the Ukraine and its economic future?

MARKS: I'm not sure that it has a significant impact on Ukraine in the immediate near term. Certainly, it's a question of credibility, having a very large portion of their country annexed. And there might even be able to be a situation where the annexation were that to occur, and I'm in agreement with you. This is supposition on our part, they could agree to it, but you are often going to agree to things like that with a gun to your head.

And clearly that's what Putin is doing. So I don't know that there would be a significant impact economically, if Russia, however, alternatively, lost access to Crimea and the use of Sevastopol, the home of the Black Sea fleet, that warm water port, that would be a crushing blow in terms of its military posture, as well as its economics.

FEYERICK: All right, General Marks, thank you so much. We're going to turn now to our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr and Barbara, we understand there's an important meeting today. What do you know?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, what we know now is U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, spoke by telephone with his Russian counterpart, the Russian defense minister. The administration expects shortly to issue some details on that conversation. We'll see how much we get.

Very definitely, all about the crisis with Ukraine. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, you remember earlier this week at NATO headquarters, was very adamant that he did not want to see an escalation of military tensions. He was watching those Russian military exercises very closely. The Pentagon, the intelligence community, Deb, really trying to keep up minute by minute with any signal, any indication about what the Russian military is doing.

What their orders are. Where they might moving next. We can't say it enough. It's unclear. Perhaps the final orders still to come from Vladimir Putin, but the Pentagon clearly, Chuck Hagel trying to reach out to his Russian counterparts today and get a sense of what they may be thinking -- Deb.

FEYERICK: And on the other hand, just you know, with your expertise in this, is it possible that the defense secretary may have offered some I suppose reasons or explanations or what the U.S. might do or was this really just listening to the Russians? STARR: Well, until we get that read out as Washington calls it, when they issue a statement saying what happened in the phone call, we really don't know. Typically, these types of calls are very polite. Both sides try and get a feel for what each other may be up to. What the Russian defense minister would know going into this is, is that the U.S. has no intentions of using any of its military assets to counter the Russians.

Very much the U.S. strategy at the moment from everything we are all hearing from the president on down is this will be dealt with in diplomatic channels, perhaps economic and financial pressures on Russia. So when the Russian defense minister listens to the U.S. defense minister, there's no suggestion of any use of the U.S. military option and that's for now by all accounts, just appears to be off the table.

FEYERICK: All right, Barbara Starr, thanks so much. We'll check in with you in just a short while once we get that memo. We're going to bring in our senior political analyst, David Gergen. David, we're watching all of this happen at a lightning fast pace. Russian forces in Crimea, parliament in Russia voting to send in troops. Now wanting to recall its ambassador. This is going so fast. What is behind the pace? What is Russia doing?

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Mr. Putin knows how to play chess and accelerate pace. That's exactly what he's doing. He's making a lot of tactical moves very quickly. He is very decisive. He doesn't have to worry about running up a lot of allies the way the U.S. does. He can move on his own.

And right now, I think he's presenting the United States with two challenges. One is a big interest back to General Marks' comments, that is the first American interest is to ensure that Russia does not invade openly and violation of treaties that is signed along with the U.S. and the U.K. to protect its sovereignty and the integrity of the Ukraine.

And if he goes -- he hasn't yet done that. You know, he's rallying the cases really hard. We're in a murkier situation now with a Russian back thugs in effect have taken control of the Crimean area, but they haven't yet sent it to the tanks. There's some indications of what Putin's trying to do is to have Kiev send in troops to stop him, which would be a trap.

Because then, he would have an open invitation to go to the Russian troops and roll the tanks in as they did in Georgia. And what we have to stop that and that means mobilizing not only through the defense secretary today, but mobilizing the German government.

Mrs. Merkel and others, she's our chief partner on this, to help take the lead, telling the Russians here is the escalations, you do this. We're going to start doing economic sanctions. That's the first interest. There is a second, unstated interest here and that is a perception that President Obama can be played by Mr. Putin.

That he's strong on rhetoric, but doesn't follow through and that Putin has sort of gotten the best of him on Edward Snowden. He got the best of him on Syria as Assad is still very much in control. In fact more in control now. And that if he gets the best of him here, it is going to be, it's going to be a setback to the United States.

You know, there is an expert said the other day, you can't bring a Baggett into a knife fight and Putin has a knife.

FEYERICK: All right, it appears that we're probably the ones holding the Baggett. The United States is the one holding the Baggett. All right, David Gergen, thank you so much. We appreciate that. More on the breaking news in Ukraine after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: A lot happening in the Ukraine, where things are moving quickly, but for now, meteorologist, Karen Maginnis in our Severe Weather Center with more on what's going on with weather, winter storm watch affecting 96 million people -- Karen.

KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is a whopper of the system that does not break the drought, but it definitely helps the folks across California who have seen perhaps on record, the worst drought conditions they have seen ever reported. Take a look at some of the flooding that we did see over the past 24 hours. Some places in California expecting an additional 1 to 3 inches of rain.

There you can see water. There's no place for it to go especially right around some of those burn areas that we saw just a month ago and then, a trained storm spotter noted a funnel cloud and we think it actually did touch the ground and that in case would be a tornado, which touched down in the vicinity of Woodland, California.

Now the video is not terrific here. We don't have any reports of injuries, but definitely in Central California, this is a rare sight. Coming up in the forecast, we're expecting a couple of more inches as the big risk weather system moves in. Even in Phoenix, some NASCAR races to take place later on this afternoon, if there is rain on track, they will not perform the NASCAR races there.

San Francisco Bay area, yesterday, they saw record rainfall totals. But coming up in the forecast, we're looking at snow and ice and sleet. From Kansas City and St. Louis extending over to Indianapolis, the northeast by Monday. Deb, back to you.

FEYERICK: All right, Karen Maginnis, thank you. We'll be right back.

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FEYERICK: We are going live now to Kiev in Ukraine. Ian Lee joins me now. Ian, what is the reaction there in Kiev to news that Russia's parliament has essentially given Putin permission to invade?

IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There's a lot of very strong rhetoric coming from the government here saying that the Russians should not violate Ukraine's sovereignty, which we've been seeing the Russians moving into the Crimea. Right now, we have an emergency meeting of the security and defense council here in Kiev. We're still waiting to hear what will come out of that.

Also tomorrow, there's an emergency session of parliament and one of the leading members of the parliament is calling for that Black Sea fleet naval base in the Crimea for that deal to be void and essentially, telling the Russians to leave.

Now even if they go through with that, it's unlikely that the Russians will listen to them. They haven't listen to them so far. Ukraine has told Russia to get out of the Crimea. They haven't been listening to that. So looking now next, what does Ukraine have, what can Ukraine do?

Well, they've so far ruled out any sort of military action. They're hoping that the diplomatic channels will come to some sort of solution. They are talking to the United Nations. They are talking to the European Union. Also, they're talking with United States and we are hearing tough rhetoric coming from those countries. So far, haven't done anything.

FEYERICK: And what's very interesting also as you mention now, if as you mentioned, if you Ukraine were to void the lease allowing Russia to be at that naval base, effectively what means is that Russia has no business being in Ukraine. That means that they would be in complete violation, they would be total intruders in that region.

LEE: Well, and that's something that Ukraine, the new Ukrainian government wants to do. They want they give them no excuse to be in the Crimean. We have to remember. This is a very young government. It's less than a week old. Normally, they'd be going about the task of stabilizing the country, but now they have to deal with Russia's interference.

FEYERICK: All right, Ian Lee there for us in Kiev. Kiev has one government. Crimea has a second government. Thank you so much. I'm Deborah Feyerick. Stay tuned for continuing coverage of the situation in Ukraine with Wolf Blitzer right after this.

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