clarissa ward is in ukraine. jill is in moscow. let's start with mj at the white house. what can you tell us about the white house reaction to this move by vladimir putin? >> reporter: yeah. this is the first formal reaction that we've gotten from the white house in response to putin saying that it would recognize, russia would recognize the independence of these two separatist regions in eastern ukraine. the white house press secretary just released a statement saying president biden is preparing to sign a new executive order. the statement says that it would prohibit new investment, trade and financing by americans to, from, and in that region. it also said that this executive order would allow the u.s. to sanction anybody that is operating in that region. jen psaki made cheer in the statement that all of this would be in addition to other actions