u.s. says russian president vladimir putin himself a cold war kgb agent has mobilized 6,000 of his own forces. many have swept across the border and into crimea in orange and seized control. chilling standoffs now unfolding in military bases. ukrainian troops refusing to surrender to invading fors who stand armed and ready a few feet away. so far the stalemates are peaceful but international tensions are growing by the hour. around the world the crisis is having a devastating blow on the global economy. here in the united states, dow futures dropped a staggering 120 points ahead of the opening bell. let's bring in cnn chief business correspondent christine romans. she has the latest from new york. ominous signs. >> reporter: markets around the world are moving in a very big way. asian stocks closed lower. european stocks tumbled. the russian stock market down 11%. wolf, the central bank in russia had an emergency interest rate hike to try to prevent damage to the economy there. the ruble at a record low. clearly there's diplomatic pressure on vladimir putin that's coming from markets as much as it's coming from the west. let me show you here what's happening in these other markets. grain prices higher, oil prices up 3%. big moves for one day. wheat prices up almost 5%. corn up 2.3%. big move there. gold prices up about 2%. so you can see around the world different assets are moving as money is moving quickly. russian businessmen tweeted money doesn't love war. and that's what you see, people trying to find a place to put their money. some of those raw commodities very interesting, look you might not know this but ukraine is a top exporter of wheat and grain and in the oil patch, take a look at the pipeline, we got a map for you, pipelines that want go through ukraine from russia to europe about 25% of russian exports go to europe and half of that goes to those pipelines that go through ukraine. you can see the uncertainty something at play in all the markets today. >> those warm water ports in crimea for russia the only warm water ports they have. christine romans thanks very much. in just a moment we'll check in over at the white house. first the latest from crimea itself. let's go to our correspondent on the ground. what's the latest, diana? >> reporter: hi, wolf. the new ukrainian naval commander because the old one defected just a few days ago and transferred the pro russian kiev side, the new commander says that ten naval and military bases across crimea are now under the control of russian forces and we've also heard reports of attacks on border posts along the east of crimea. our own ben weidmann is on the way there. most of these takeovers have been very peaceful, very strange standoff. where soldiers are just basically standing around but it still means this entire continent is under their control. they are wearing no kind of military insignia but there's little doubt as to who they are. ukraine's military is on high alert this morning according to u.s. and ukrainian officials thousand of russian ground and naval forces occupy the crimean peninsula with troops surrounding several bases and demanding ukrainian forces surrender and hand over their weapons. the ukrainian military is mobilizing troops and calling on reservists to report for duty. ukrainian prime minister faces a wider invasion by russia. >> this is a declaration of war. >> reporter: ukraine's prime minister said they need support but nato is pushing for peaceful diplomacy. >> we urge all parties to your gently to continue all efforts to move away from this dangerous situation. i call on russia to de-escalate tensions. >> reporter: putin is defending his actions. he argues russia is only trying protect russian speaking people and its interests in the region including a valuable naval base. outrage over russia's moves is mounting. as western nations accuse mr. putin of violating international law and ignoring warnings not to intervene. the only aggression that we've seen, wolf, has been towards us. a lot of pro russians on these streets are very angry at journalists who theshl are telling a false story. what you have here is not so much a region at war but you have a war of information going on between those who are watching russian television and those who are getting their news from the west, wolf. >> diana, thanks very much. a complicated situation in crimea to be sure. for president obama the escalating stalemate could become the greatest crisis at least national security crisis of his presidency. he's dispatching the secretary of state john kerry to kiev. let's check in with our white house correspondent. >> reporter: secretary kerry is making tough statements. he'll travel to ukraine and meet with new leaders there and offer strong u.s. support. the senior administration officials too have been making these, offering these warnings hammering russian president put decision-making on this saying he miscalculated as well as beefing up warnings that we will isolate with other nations russia internationally. the secretary of state is preparing for an emergency trip to the center of the crisis. it comes after president obama and his national security team worked through the weekend of the dangerous escalating situation in ukraine. the president spoke by phone with leaders of canada, france, germany, poland, the uk after an hour and a half call with vladimir putin himself. senior administration officials say obama flatly rejected putin's reasons for entering ukraine and taking over crimea, telling him to back out. but also offering ways forward through dialogue or international monitors to make sure the russian speaking people are protected under ukraine's new government. secretary of state john kerry didn't hold back on russia's move in a string of tv appearances. >> it's an incredible act of aggression. it's a stunning willful choice by president putin to invade another country. it's a 19th-century act in the 21st century. >> reporter: russia's action comes after ukraine's president was ousted last week after a reject in a deal with the european union meaning closer ties to the u.s. and away from russia. secretary kerry said ten other nations along with u.s. are prepared to sanction russia, to go to the hilt to isolate it economically. now the administration cancelled trade talks with russia and has backed out of meetings leading to the g-8 in sochi in june. so for all the work and warnings coming from the u.s. it appears that possibly germany has found that off-ramp to russia's force. in a statement saying president vladimir putin has accepted germany's proposal to form a contact group of fact finding mission and a dialogue on ukraine. that said it's being reported that chancellor angela merkel said that after a call with putin she felt he didn't have a grip on the reality of the situation. wolf? >> the reality of the situation is not very nice let's put it that way. michele kosinski thanks. russia's acting prime minister said it won't giveaway crimea. christiane amanpour is joining us now. you had an exclusive interview with you krin's former prime minister. what's his message? >> reporter: this is the very well-known female politician, you're right former prime minister but also a very powerful politician right now. she was released just last weekend in what led to the ousting of viktor yanukovych. she's very close to power and pulling a lot of strings and she literally begged for the united states and europe to help ukraine remain whole. she said and it has been reported on the russian media and we're looking into this to fully confirm it that the russian parliament is currently debating annexing crimea. she's saying that, though and is literally appealing for help to make that not happen and for the west to stand by ukraine. when i pushed her on what she wanted from the west, was it military intervention, what was it she wouldn't go that far but she said look we are unable, us ukrainians to militarily face off against russia. and if it's going to come to that we need some help otherwise this is going to be a huge, huge destabilizing move not just for ukraine and russia in that region built the whole world. wolf, it's laurelly no overstatement to say that this confrontation over ukraine is the most serious east-west confrontation since the end of the cold war with far reaching ramifications if both sides don't cool down and russia can't be persuaded to remove its troops which are now controlling crimea and the big worry is whether they might go into other parts of eastern ukraine as well. >> we have a little exsfrermt your interview with the former prime minister of ukraine. let me play it for our viewers right now. >> translator: in hard times ukraine is left on its own and is given to -- when russia is allowed to take away crimea then the world will change and not only politics and life in ukraine will change but politics and life will change practically every where in the world. and then we have to accept to state that in 21st century one country, an aggressor can violate all the international agreements, take away territories whenever she likes. we can't afford this in the world. that's why if the instruments of diplomacy won't work, if all the negotiations and instruments weren't working and personal relations with mr. putin won't work, the world has to supply strongest means. >> miss yulia tymoshenko it sounds like you're raising the stakes and calling for the west, u.s., britain to use military force against russia. am i read ug correctly? is that what you're calling for? >> translator: i am asking all the world personally every world leader to, to use all the possibilities in order to avoid ukraine losing crimea. so, she says the strongest means and you pressed her appropriately does she mean military action from nato and the west? we didn't get a term response from her, did we? >> reporter: no because she's not going to say that publicly. that would be raising the stakes. what's happening right now is presumably not just pressure on russia to pull back militarily but also pressure to try to convince ukrainians not to do anything that would give russia a pretext to step up its military intervention as it is right now. when i asked her, so if that is happening and she also said we're trying not to give russia any more pretext but russia is continuing in this regard, i said to her what about this order that's gone out calling all able bodied men in ukraine to report for military training and it's starting today. she said look if they take crimea and this becomes a military confrontation then she said ukrainians will die to preserve the sanctity and unity of their country. ukrainians already have died and they will continue to do so even though she knows that there is no winning against russia at least not in the short term in any kind of formal military confrontation with russia. so right now, all these foreign ministers who are meeting in brussels and secretary kerry is going, more meeting, there are a lot of further diplomatic and economic trade and all sorts of sanctions that can be racetrack cheated up against russia and many are saying this is what needs to happen. a ratcheting up of all believers of the united states and the rest of the world, you know, eu have to use against russia. you know russia has its economy fully tied into the world now, fully tied into europe and the rest of the world. so any kind of sanctions and any kind of pulling out of business ties would really, really hurt russia and people are calling for those to be applied now. >> given the integration of these economic developments, between russia, europe, the united states, asia, that's why we're seeing a serious downturn in the dow futures as we speak right now. thanks very much. christiane amanpour reporting. we will have much morton crisis in the ukraine. first let's get to some other stories making news. back to cnn worldwide headquarters in atlanta. >> reporter: more heavy snow and ice making life miserable for people across the eastern. indra petersons is following the for us. >> the temperatures continue to drop. the wind continues to pick up. the heavy snow headed this way. we'll give you a full update coming up in just a bit. 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[ laughs ] [ dance music playing ] so visit progressive.com today. i call this one "the robox." good morning. i'm wolf blitzer in washington. we're watching all the developments as they are unfolding in ukraine right now. correspondents are spread out throughout region. check out on the left side of the screen the latest information. first we want to check some other stories making news this morning. let's go back to the cnn worldwide headquarters. >> reporter: let's check those stop stories. president obama is set to meet the israeli prime minister at the white house this afternoon. the president said that time is running out to negotiate an israeli palestinian peace agreement. so he's calling on netanyahu to seize the moment. the two leaders are expected to discuss iran's nuclear program. in nuclear, freed an australian missionary, john short arrived in beijing. the 75-year-old was accused of secretly spreading his bible tracks around the buddhist temple. also today north korea fired two more short range missiles off its eastern coast. the second such launch in less than a week. hundreds of protesters were arrested outside of the white house sunday in a massive demonstration against the keystone oil pipeline. some of them actually acted out a human i'll sociopolitical lying on black tarps. others zip tied their hands to the white house fence. if approved the $5.3 billion pipeline would run from alberta, canada all the way to texas. are you fed up with that brutal weather in the u.s.? you're not alone. nearly 100 million people or about a third of all americans are waking up to deadly snow, ice and freezing temperatures. states of emergency have been issued in new jersey, delaware, mississippi and tennessee. public school systems from dallas to philly are closed today and for drivers it's pretty much a nightmare out there in illinois every major roadway in the state is iced over. if you're flying well you better get comfortable because more than 4,000 flights have already been cancelled or delayed. let's get to indra petersons, she's live in d.c. where the federal government is actually closed down today. >> reporter: does it took like it's march? once again it feels this winter wonderland out towards d.c. it's hard to believe. if you look at the snow on the ground this just came in the last few hours. when i woke up it was still raining then freezing rain and that quickly switched over to ice. it's hard to tell where the road is in comparison to the mall. the worst part about this is underneath these several inches of snow is a thick coating of ice because, again, we had rain this morning and the temperatures this morning were warmer than the afternoon. the temperatures are cooling off each hour but now we're talking about single digits with wind chill, feels like 6 degrees out here and every once in a while a gust comes up and makes things miserable. as far as what we're expecting, keep in mind this is the same system that was over l.a. right before the oscars. a big storm. had an ef-0 tornado outside of sacramento. this storm has impacted everybody from the west to midwest and now bull's eye is on the mid-atlantic. there's concern we'll still have heavy snow in new york. that system shifted farther to the south. right here in d.c. we're getting the biggest of the impact and west of us out towards virginia. as the day continues on we'll continue to see heavy bouts of snow even until 6:00, 7:00 p.m. still talk about snow in this area. something that's hard to believe considering just three years ago it was supposed to be the biggest storm we had two weeks ago. now another foot of snow is possible before all is said and done. behind all of this, of course comes another round of cold air. we're talking about air so cold that places as far south in texas are in 35 to 40 degrees below where they should be. all that cold air making its way in. any snow that does make to it the ground is expected to stay for the next several days. i really want spring. i did. the favorite part of your job, spring and summer. a beautiful fall. cherry blossoms. we'll keep talking. >> i'm thinking about it. >> still to come, oscar pistorius on trial for the murder of his girlfriend. a neighbor was the about blood curdling screams from the blade runner's home. that's next. 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[ male announcer ] and we do. it's how edward jones makes sense of investing. ♪ good morning. i'm wolf blitzer in washington. we're watching all the developments in ukraine right now with correspondents spread out throughout the region. we'll have live reports coming up in just a moment. throughout the day by the way all new developments coming out of ukraine will come up on the left side of your screen. first i want to check on some other stories making news this morning. let's go back to cnn worldwide headquarters in atlanta. >> first day of the murder trial of oscar pistons and now adjourned. it began with pretty chilling testimony those from his neighbor. the track star as you know, known as blade runner entered the court actually through a back door to avoid the massive media circus in fronts of the building. also in court, reeva steenkamp's mother, june. the first time she has faced her daughter's killer in court. pistorius pleaded not guilty to the four charges against him, one charge of premeditated murder and a firearms charge associated with his girlfriend's killing. plus two separate gun indictments from previous incidents. the olympic sprinter has never denied killing his girlfriend saying that he mistook her for a burglar. a neighbor was first to take the stand today, recounting the blood curdling screams that she heard just before dawn on valentine's day of last year. >> she screamed terribly and she yelled for help. also i heard a man screaming for help and three times he yelled for help. >> let's get to cnn forensic expert lauri peters. forensically speaking what do you find so interesting about this case thus far? >> well, forensically, they are going to go through the forensic evidence. right now they are busy with the witness stages. what's interesting today is the distances the witnesses were away from oscar pistorius house and how much they could hear in the circumstances they were experiencing. >> let me also ask you about reeva steenkamp's mother june. it's the first time she came face to face with pistorius. what was that like? could you feel the tension in that courtroom? >> yes. i think you could, actually. of course she's going through a terrible time and psychologically she must be suffering greatly at this point, having to listen to this evidence about reeva screaming and how terrified and the blood curdling screams. it must be very, very difficult for her. it's interesting, she hasn't actually been confrontational with pistorius. she's sitting quietly and he's doing pretty much the same. >> a lot of talk about whether pistorius can get a fair trial? . what do you think? >> yes, i think pistorius will get a very, very fair trial. you know, with the media and everything people say it will influence the trial. i don't believe it will. in south africa we don't have a jury system, a legal officer is appointed to a high court who has a lot of experience, she will not be swayed either way. the media's attention on the witnesses or on him may be uncomfortable but it shouldn't sway the material evidence, shouldn't sway what they say at all. they are all there for a reason. they know something or they saw something. all they have to do is tell truth and there should be absolutely no problem for any of the witnesses stood. >> we'll be following this murder trial closely. thanks so much. let's turn it back over to wolf blitzer in washington with the latest on the crisis in the ukraine. >> that crisis clearly escalating. we're moments away. we're ready for the opening bell. take a look at this. investors bracing for the worst possible day today at least right now going down right away the dow futures, we're looking grimly as ukraine crisis sends shockwaves through the global market. this morning european and asia markets took a dive. u.s. markets are expected to open lower. they are right now. why is this crisis in ukraine, this crisis with russia having such a huge impact potentially on the global market? i'm joined by christine romans. what's the short answer? >> reporter: the short answer is because tensions between russia and europe and russia and the united states very dangerous for global sentiment. that's the bottom line here. wolf, when you look at the region, when you look at ukraine it's a powerful pipeline for natural gas and energy from russia to europe. when you look at the region you can see that half of russian exports are to the european union. this is all-important. those are the major pipelines we're looking tlat. in terms of stocks you're not seeing the big dramatic impact at the opening bell that we thought. at worse you had dow futures down 160 points now down about 100. here's the conventional wisdom. russian stock market got slammed. the russian currency slammed. russian businessmen outraged, very concerned about what's going to happen to their economy. now you hear people saying that maybe, just maybe those russian markets are going to be a very powerful diplomat and temper some of the saber rattling we've been seeing, that big reaction in russian markets means perhaps the worst is behind us because why in the world would anybody try to do anything to make markets continue to be unstable there. that's the thinking right now. dow is down about 100 points. >> only two minutes in and more than 100 points. let's bring in our global economic analyst. what's your take. why this quick collapse right now at least steep downturn on world markets and on the dow jones. >> equity stocks are very vulnerable to political turmoil. people get very worried about any kind of political turmoil and that tends to affect stocks more sharply than bonds or gold or other safe-haven assets. christina is absolutely right. what's happening right now is worries over petrol politics, russia has the opportunity to really squeeze not the ukraine and the eu which gets a lot of its natural gas either >> g-8, the worlds's great economic powers they are supposed to get together to talk about world economic issues and ukraine are feeding europe and exporting those goods. small economy 45 million people but it really matters in this sort of patch work is that a global economy. every one of these ripples is dangerous. there's a russian businessman who tweet this, money doesn't love war. they want know you can export, import. they want to know skrirns stable. >> if the u.s. and eu impose economic sanctions against russia, forget about ukraine against russia that would have a negative impact on gobble economy. >> absolutely. these are major trade flows that we're talking about and the eu and u.s. are in trade negotiations right now. u.s. and russia were having problems over syria saying with russia and the eu. as christine says the ukraine seems small sean a small as an economy but the nexus of major political stories. >> those russian trapd representatives were supposed to have u.s.-russian trade talks this week. they cancelled those talks christine at least for now. >> another reason why the markets may be a powerful diplomat here. how much more can the stock market fall. the ruble down hard. the russian central bank raised interest rates surprise move raised interest rates to contain damage to the russian economy. russian business members very concerned about this. so you have trade diplomacy. you have diplomacy ahead of the g-8 and this market sending these messages as well. one thing, wolf, how powerful a negotiator wilmer mr. be. germany and russia have very close ties, very close economic ties. who is going to be player who turns this around or at least stops, at least stops the progression of uncertainty that we're seeing right now. >> i'll wrap it up. very quickly do you see potentially a little bit of a split developing between president obama's tough stance against russia and the german chancellor angela merkel? might she take less tough stance and could there be a bit of a rift? >> it's will be interesting to see. germany and russia have very close trade ties but, you know, the last last time russia tried to strong arm european merkel and other european leaders took a hard line. i think it will be a toss up really to see what happens and i think that merkel will take the lead going forward. germany is the strongest economic power in europe. they are dependent on russia and she will be in the hot seat. >> i suspect she has more influence with putin than president obama does but we'll see what happens on that front. thanks to you both. still to come a closer look at the u.s. military openings. are there any military options as russian troops move in, appear to be digging in for a long term occupation of ukraine. f before opening a restaurant specializing in fish and game from the great northwest. he'll start investing early, he'll find some good people to help guide him, and he'll set money aside from his first day of work to his last, which isn't rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade. 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is there a realistic u.s.-nato strategy. let's go the pentecost and our correspondent barbara starr is standing by. what are you hearing, barbara? >> reporter: officials are telling us across the board no u.s. military, no nato military action in this crisis. that is not to say, however, that nato and the pentagon are not involved in this. first up, u.s. officials say the navy will stick to its plan to send a war ship on a regularly scheduled rotation into the black sea in the coming days. that was planned, long planned, they are not going to pull back from that. they say part of regular u.s. navy business. what they are focused on is figuring out what you were talking about. what is the russian military up to. they are looking at the movement of russian troops. armored vehicles. helicopters. looking at the speed and direction in which they are moving and trying to come to some assessments for the president about what this may say about russian military intentions, very difficult because the russians can move very quickly, they can move in real-time and leave the u.s. struggling to catch up to figure out what they are up to. theering, wolf, we're beginning to hear, there's a lot of concern about russian deception and disinformation. the stories appearing that russia is doing all of this to protect its citizens. russian people living in crimea that there may be a need for massive russian humanitarian relief. the concern the u.s. has, they have no evidence that any of this motivation is actually true. they don't believe that it's happening, we're told, and as the russians continue to put out what the u.s. believes is deception, this complicates the situation, it makes it a potential hair trigger for some further kind of violence for all of this erupting into outright conflict. it is a major concern right now, trying to figure out what vladimir putin, the classic soviet style cold warrior may be up to next, wolf. >> barbara starr at the pentagon. thanks very much. still to come, tensions escalating by the minute as this crisis in ukraine plays out on the world stage. up next we'll take a closer look at why the crisis began when a political stalemate could mean for the u.s. and the rest of the world. oh the weekend we'll have at the shore. with waffles and laughs for our family of four. the pool is there waiting, don't you dare fret. there's no need to ask, "are we there yet?" be a weekender at hotels like hampton and embassy suites book now at hiltonweekends.com a couldn't about the size of texas but the global implications of a political stalemate in the ukraine are enormous. so what caused the country's political and economic crisis? cnn chief national security correspondent jim sciutto explains. >> reporter: there's a lot of questions about russia's interest in the ukraine as well as the west. first a reminder here. ukraine is in europe not a million miles away, the capital few municipal-bond miles away that americans travel to all the time, paris, london, rome. western border key u.s. aslice, slovakia, hungary and romania, poland. ukraine not a member of nato but there's been talk about bringing them in. let's get a better sense of russia's interest there. you look at crimea. on the tip of that peninsula, the sevastopol military headquarters. access to the black sea, mediterranean, atlantic, essential for russia and first place that many of those 6,000 and even more russian troops went when they crossed the border from russia into crimea. sovereign ukrainian territory. let's look inside the country as well because there's a split. western part of the country here liens towards europe, 5% of the population in these parts speak ethnic russian. eastern part 75% here speak russian, ethnic feel the pull towards russia. this part of the country feels russia this part of the country feels the pull towards the west. jim sciutto. >> we'll take a quick break. much more news after this. every day, people fall. from a simple misstep, to tripping over a rug, to just losing their balance. and not being able to get up from a fall can have serious, lifetime consequences. being prepared is important. philips lifeline with autoalert is more than just a medical alert button. it's an advanced fall detection system designed to get you help quickly. if you fall and you're unable to push your button, the fall detection technology within autoalert can trigger the button to automatically place a call for help. our us-based staff will make sure you get the help you need right away. this is philips lifeline. we received a fall-detected signal. do you need help? 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you're sitting there and they say the oscar goes to -- >> it's agony. nothing but agony. one way or another you have to do something very scary, yeah. it's awful. i wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. >> were you prepared to hear your name. you lost your breath for a second. did they just say lupita nyong'o? >> yes. no matter how many times people predicted i would win it doesn't prepare you. >> knew what? it was a good 48 hours. the day before the oscars was her birthday. >> she was beautiful with that head piece she had on. >> classy, classy. nischel nischelle turner, great to see you. next hour of cnn room just ahead. good morning. thanks for joining me. i'm jake tapper in washington, d.c. welcome to a special edition of ""newsroom."" we begin this hour with russian troops an soviet style aggression. moscow launching its greatest challenge to the west since the end of the cold war. washington says vladimir putin, a cold war kgv agent has mobilized some 6,000 of his forces. many have swept across the border and into crimea and seemingly seized control. chilling standoffs now unfold. ukrainian troops refusing to surrender to the invading forces that stand arm and ready just a few feet away. so far, the stalemates have been peaceful but tensions growing by the hour both at the bases and in the world capitals. washington is dispatching john kerry for emergency talks. the mush yarussians are alreadyg him to pipe down. the latest from matthews chance in the capital, kiev. matthew? >> reporter: thanks very much. absolutely astonishing developments over the course of the past several days. slowly but surely and without a real shot being fired, the russian military is essentially taken over that area of ukraine in the southeast of the country and has established basically what's called operational control over it. it has cut off the area by road access from the rest of the country. it's troops and prorussian militaries have surrounded key installations, airports and military buildings. military have also been surrounded by military personnel and pro russian military militia. they have established control over the entirety of that area. the big question now is, what happens next? does it stay where it is? or does russia turn its attention to other areas of eastern ukraine where there are russian-speaking majorities and where the kremlin may also have territorial ambitions. a lot tension on the ground in ukraine at the moment. >> matthew chance, we'll check in with you for a few minutes. for president obama, the escalating scale mate could become the greatest of his presidency. he has dispatched john kerry for kiev in ukraine for emergency talks. cnn's newest white house correspondent, michelle kosinski, joins us now. >> reporter: there has been plenty of tough talk from senior administration officials over the weekend blasting russian president, vladimir putin's decision process. saying he badly miscalculated and as a result, if this continues, will be severely isolated internationally. some action, secretary of state, john kerry, will travel to ukraine and pledge u.s. sport and politically and financially to the new government there. >> reporter: the secretary of state is preparing for an emergency trip to the center of the crisis. the dangerous escalating situation in ukraine. >> the president spoke by phone with leaders of canada, france, poland, and the u.k. obama flatly rejected putin's reasons for entering ukraine and taking over crimea, telling him to back out and offering ways forward through dialogue or international monitors to make sure the russian people there are protected under ukraine's new government. john kerry didn't hold back. it is a stunning, willful choice by president putin to invade another country. >> a 19th century act in the 21st century. >> reporter: comes after ukraine's president was ousted in the wake of bloody street protests over his rejection of a deal with the european union, closer ties to the west and closer to european union. ten others are planned to sanction russia. now, the administration has chance ld trade talks with russia and several allies. leading to the gh summit in june. >> it now appears that possibly germany has found that off ramp to the current russian course that everybody has been looking for. after a call with putin, germany announced he had accepted a proposal to form a contact group, a fact-finding mission and a dialogue regarding ukraine. we haven't seen how that will work. it is being reported in a later call she describes speaking to putin as saying that he was out of touch with reality and in another world. jake? michelle, thank you. >> the stocks tumbled more than 100 points. let's bring in christine romans in new york. christine? >> jake, the last six or eight hours have been so dramatic in world markets. now, you have the u.s. market following suit. the dow down triple digits. six hours ago, dow futures were down closer to 200 points. they backed off some of that worse fear. you can see it is tough there. an exchange-traded fund, it trades here. the russian company, down about 7% right now. you are seeing global markets really moving. asian markets and european markets got hit. you had russia's main stock market index fall 13%. the ruble, it is not very often i am talking about the russian currency. the rubble at an all-time low against the u.s. dollar and the you're yo. the russian central bank in a very surprise move raised interest rates to protect its com economy. the markets in russia, very displeased with where this is going. jake? >> christine romans, thank you. what kind of domino effect could this crisis in ukraine have on the rest of the worl? what does it mean for global leaders? let's bring in nicholas burns, a professor at the har vovard keny school of government. ambassador burns, thanks for joining us. how concerned are you when you hear that angela merkel, the chancellor of germany described this in conversation with president obama as in another world, in touch with another reality? what kind of red flags does that raise? >> she is a very cautious, conservative person. she is describing him like that. it is ominous. he is, i think, filled with huberous and arrogance. he saw an opening air why in crimea and took it. he is taking all of crimea. he is not going to give it back. the big question is, will he stop there and can he be isolated and coerced by a combination of president obama and the european leadership acting through a diplomatic strategy to convince him not to go any further and completely divide ukraine into two pieces. >> you have called this the most difficult foreign policy request of the obama administration. how is it different when russia took part of georgia in 2008? >> that happened under president bush's watch in august, 2008. president obama when he came into office, quite sensibly, tried to reset with russia. he had some success initially. president putin, he is the person that said that the greatest calamity of the 20th century was the fall of the soviet union. he saw a threat and ukraine even thinking about a trade in investment relationship with the european union. he tends to see global politics in a 0 fashion. he wants ukraine beside russia and not integrated with europe. you have seen he is willing to fight for it. president obama's dilemma is that there is no military option available to the united states. not in a nuclear age. it would not be wise. it would be catastrophic. president obama is left with pressure, economic sanctions and diplomatic initiatives to rally the world against president putin. it will be a very long road to roll back what president putin has already accomplished. >> one of the things that needs to be done in addition to president obama and european leaders using their influence diplomatically and economically is he needs to be provided with some sort of off ramp, some sort of face-saving way that he can get out of this crisis. do you think what the u.s. has proposed which is letting individuals from nato or the organization for security and cooperation in europe or the u.n. monitor the situation in ukraine to make sure that those of russian descent are under no threat? is that enough of an off ramp. >> i don't think it is enough of an off ramp or exit door. it was a clever initiative by president obama. he raised it in that long 90-minute phone conversation on saturday with president putin. if russia is concerned about the fate of ethnic russians in ukraine, then russia has a recourse. the united nations or the organization of security and cooperation in europe. they are built for this kind of thing. if american and european monitors could be in eastern and southern ukraine and the crimea to rereassure the russian government, that's one way to solve the problem. putin has elected for this force and disinterested in president obama's initiative. i think that chancellor merkel's influence to form a working group is obviously not a bad thing to do but very unlikely to dissuade president putin from giving up the turf, the territory he occupies in crimea. >> germany playing the role of a good cop, as it were? nicholas burns, thank you so much. much more on the escalating crisis. kyra phillips is in atlanta following other top stories, including this massive winter storm. >> it rose across the eastern u.s. pretty much a nightmare. if you are flying, you probably should get comfortable. more than 5,000 flights have already been canceled or delayed. all the details right after this. ♪ [ male announcer ] you're watching one of the biggest financial services companies in the country at work. hey. thanks for coming over. hey. 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[ male announcer ] once it's earned, usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because it offers a superior level of protection. and because usaa's commitment to serve current and former military members and their families is without equal. begin your legacy. get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve. and a hotel is the perfect place to talk to you about hotels. all-you-can-eat is a hotel policy that allows you to eat all that you can. the hotel gym is short for gymnasium. the hotel pool is usually filled with water. and the best dot com for booking hotels, is hotels.com. it's on the internet, but you probably knew that. or maybe not, i don't really know you. bellman: welcome back, captain obvious. captain obvious: yes i am. all those words are spelled correctly. we are the thinkers. the job jugglers. the up all-nighters. and the ones who turn ideas into action. we've made our passions our life's work. we strive for the moments where we can say, "i did it!" ♪ we are entrepreneurs who started it all... with a signature. legalzoom has helped start over 1 million businesses, turning dreamers into business owners. and we're here to help start yours. welcome back to the special edition of "cnn newsroom." i'm jake tapper. russia and china are known allies. what are the chinese saying? jim sciutto is live in new york. what can you tell us? >> reporter: there was a phone call between the russian foreign minister and the chinese foreign minister. the russian receipt yoadout was they were on the same page. the chinese rideout of the call was a little more nuanced. they said we had a constructive conversation and we favor a diplomatic solution. it would be interesting to know what went on in that call. one thing is for sure. we have had this international condemnation of russia's actions in ukraine. you have not had condemnation coming from china. china playing it very much on the fence. this is key for a number of issues. china and russia both have vetoes at the u.n. security council. both have used vetoes to oppose actions by other countries perceived to be interference in the domestic affairs of countries where as right now it appears we see russia doing exactly that. the other thing is that china, as you know, jake, we've talked about this before, they have their own territorial land grab in the view of some going on in asia right now over these disputed islands, the senkakus, the battle between japan and china, another one in which the u.s. is very much involved in. >> jim, thank you so much. the situation in crimea could get more complicated as russia considers the possibility of annexing into russia. >> what we are hearing is that a group of parliamentarians are working on a piece of legislation that would define the process, streamline the process for when a territory outside russia wants to be annexed, volunteers to be annexed by the russian federation. it talks about a scenario where a nation is collapsing and international law is unable to solve the problem and referendum is held and a majority supports the move. it is just drafted today and at the committee prosser sis. it is too soon to say how much support it has within the parliament or from the kremlin itself. it must ultimately go to the president for his signature. it shows at the very least there are some members within the political establishment of this country that are pushing for that evaentuality. it is desired to be put into effect to kick in if there is a call from crimea and a desire from the kremlin to drag this territory to within the russian federation. let's turn it over to kyra phillips with some of the day's other top stories. >> thanks, jake. president obama set to meet the israeli prime minister at the white house this afternoon. the president says time is running out to negotiate an israeli/palestinian peace agreement. he is calling on benjamin netanyahu to discuss it. hundreds of protesters were arrested outside the white house in a mass demonstration against the keystone pipeline. some of them even acted out a human oil spill lying on black tarps. others just zip-tied their house to the white house fence. if approved, the $5.3 billion pipeline would run from alberta, canada, to alberta, texas. are you fed up with all this brult bru brutal weather in the u.s. about a third of all americans are facing deadly snow, and ice. check out this picture from nasa showing how large the storm is. states of emergency in new jersey, delaware, mississippi, and tennessee. public school systems are closed today. as for drivers, pretty much a nightmare out there. in illinois, every major roadway in that state is iced over. if you are flying, get comfortable. more than 4,000 flights have already been canceled or delayed. alexandra field, live from philadelphia with the latest. >> reporter: if you are fed up with winter weather and you live in philadelphia, you have good reason to be. the city saw another couple of inches of snowfall overnight. that pushes the city's total to more than five feet of snow. relatively speaking, when it comes to this storm, this city was spared compared to city's further south like washington, d.c. the city was preparing for about a half a foot of snow. it looks like we got a lot less. about 2 inches at this point. the decision was made to shut down the schools in this city. that's mostly because of concerns about the conditions out here on the roads. when the storm came in last night, it started with rain. there was concerns about icing out here on the roads. the other big issue today now that the snow has stopped is really the temperature, which is definitely dropping. philadelphia could see near record lows tonight. certainly, winter really coming to the people in philadelphia a little wallop here, kyra. >> we are going to keep track of t the blade runner is back in court. the trial for the murder of his girlfriend begins. we have the latest for you next. ♪ [ woman ] i will embrace change... everything life throws my way. except for frown lines. those i'm throwing back. 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[ bottle ] ensure®. nutrition in charge™. welcome back to the special edition of cnn's "newsroom." i'm jake tapper. we are watching this tense situation in the ukraine with correspondents spread out throughout the region. the russian military has essentially taken over crimea, a strategic peninsula in southern ukraine. without a single shot being fired, not yet, anyway. president obama sending john kerry to ukraine for emergency talks. more on the crisis in a moment. first, some other top stories. kyra phillips joins us from atlanta. the first day of the oscar pistorius murder trial has wrapped up after some pretty chilling testimony. the blade runners attorney tried to cast doubt. she said she heard blood curdling screams coming from his homes. he pleaded not guilty, one charge of premedicated murder of his girlfriend and then firearms charge associated with her killing. plus, two separate gun indictments from previous incidents. pistorius' defense team said that last year's shooting was an accident. >> the fatal gunshot wounds to reeva, this occurrence was indeed an accident and i mistakenly believed that an intrude are or intruders had entered my home and posed an imminent threat to reeva and me. >> nick, what's the latest? >> reporter: kyra, if you wanted to get a sense of how this is all going to play out over the next few weeks, this afternoon would have told you everything. pistorius' defense lawyer, barry rue ripping into the witness there, michelle burger, questioning her time and again, how many shots, how did you hear them? what did you hear the screaming? what did your husband hear? your husband heard something different? he accused her of, you are adapting, you are speculating, you are closing the gap, all but telling her she is getting wrong, trying to inject an element of doubt in her testimony. she started off as a nervous witness. she started off speaking her native african. she finished the afternoon speaking in english standing up to that severe cross-examination and that's what the prosecution needs, witnesses with confidence where there can be no doubt in what they are saying. the defense attorney clearly trying to introduce some doubt into what that witness was saying there. >> we'll keep following the murder trial along with you there. thank you so much. still to come, investors on wall street bracing for the worst. why the political crisis is causing economic turn moil around the world. it's a stationery and gifts store. anything we purchase for the paper cottage goes on our ink card. so you can manage your business expenses and access them online instantly with the game changing app from ink. we didn't get into business to spend time managing receipts, that's why we have ink. we like being in business because we like being creative, we like interacting with people. so you have time to focus on the things you love. ink from chase. so you can. 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[ laughs ] [ dance music playing ] so visit progressive.com today. i call this one "the robox." olet's say you pay your tguy around 2 percent to manage your money. that's not much, you think except it's 2 percent every year. does that make a difference? search "cost of financial advisors" ouch! over time it really adds up. then go to e*trade and find out how much our advice costs. spoiler alert. it's low. really? yes, really. e*trade offers investment advice and guidance from dedicated professional financial consultants. it's guidance on your terms not ours that's how our system works. e*trade. less for us, more for you. thcar loan didn't start here. it started with that overdue bill he never got. checking his experian credit report and score allowed him to identify and better address the issue. then drive off into the sunset. experian. i'm jake tapper. welcome back to this special edition of "newsroom." washington says some 6,000 russian troops have mobilized across crimea surrounding ukrainian military bases there and seizing control of the entire peninsula. russia's biggest definance of te west since the end of the cold war. in washington, d.c., the condemnation has been swift and scathing it is an incredible act of aggression, a stunning willful choice by president putin to invade another country. it is a 19th century act in the 21st century. >> stop going on television and trying to threaten thugs and dictators. it is not your strong suit. every time the president goes on national television and threatens putin or anyone like putin, everybody's eyes roll, including mine. we have a weak and indecisive president. that invites aggression. president obama needs to do something. >> the crisis in ukraine is forcing stocks around the world to plummet. the dow is down about 160 points. let's bring in christine romans. christine. >> it started overnight. you had huge selloffs in asia and european stocks. the main russian stock market fell 13%. that is a huge, painful move for anybody who is an investor in russia or a business person. let me show you the other markets. all of the selling overnight has spread froo the u.s. market. you have oil prices, gas prices have spiked higher, about 2% higher here. that's a big move. grain prices are higher. corn prices up 2%. wheat up something like 5%. there you go. gold prices, a global safe haven. gold is up 2.3%. you can see markets around the world are moving. really closely watching those energy markets. as you know, jake, ukraine is a big pipeline for russian energy to european markets. these are some of those major pipelines through ukraine. there are a lot of other small ones. these are the main big pipelines. 70% of russia's exports are energy and a big destination of that energy is europe, through ukraine thichlts a small country relatively speaking, 45 million people in the ukraine. the economy is less than 200 billion. it already had an economic crisis. now, a political criescy. it sits between europe and the united states and russia. all of that uncertainty really rolling markets. a 13% decline in the russian market is a very big move. the ruble at a record low against the u.s. and the u.s. dollar and the euro. the country had to raise interest rates unexpectedly to protect itself. it just shows you what a shock all of this has been to the russian economy as well. that cob a powerful silent diplomate at the table as we go forward. >> christine romans, thank you so much. let's get the latest from crimea. diana magna is there. diana? >> reporter: well, jake, if this is an invasion, it certainly on the ground feels like a very low-key invasion. we know that 10 ukrainian military and naval bases are now surrounding by troops, russian troops, even though they are not wearing any kind of insignia. our own ben wedeman was up at a border post surrounded by russian troops. one of them told him he had come thed orders to leave their base on saturday and that the locals had welcomed them with open arms, bringing them food and offering them a place to sleep and stay. they were there to defend their ukrainian brothers. we've been wondering around the town which is the capital. it has been very calm. you see these soldiers circling government buildings, patrolling the streets here and there. that said, i now quote, interfax, the russian news ablecy that says that russia has given an order to ukrainian bases here to surrender by 3:00 a.m. gmt. that's 5:00 local time here tomorrow morning or they storm. two quite conflicting messages. that said, i don't know how much you can trust russia. they are pushing one very strong message to the pro-russian contingency here. it is certainly not the message that the government from kiev is putting out. jake? >> diana magnay with some news. thank you so much. the former prime minister of cry crimea. she met for her first international tv interview since her release. what did she have to say? >> well, jake, she further added a lot of uncertainty into what's going on. you just heard what diana is saying, conflicting reports from the russians and ukrainians. according to press reports and what was told to me, the russian parliament is delivering a bill that would call for the annexation. she is begging to step in and stop the connection of ukraine. she said the time is absolutely running out. >>. >> translator: in hard times, ukraine is left on its own and given to russia. when russia is allowed to take away crimea, the world will change and not only politics and life in ukraine but politics and life will change practically everywhere in the world. then, we have to accept to state that in 21st century, one country, an aggressor, can violate all the international agreements, take away territories, whenever she likes. we can't afford this in the world. that's why if the instruments of diplomacy won't work, if all the instruments won't work and personal relations with mr. putin won't work, the world has to strongest means. >> ms. timshenko, it sounds like you are calling for the united states and great britain and europe to use military force against russia? is that what you are calling for? >> i am asking all the world, every world leader to use all the possibilities in order to avoid ukraine losing crimea. >> what's also very worried to not only the ukrainians but also to the world leaders who are now engaged in heavy diplomacy is the possibility that russia extends what is. it is now defacto control of crimea. everybody is trying to work overtime to make sure russia doesn't do that and that also ukrainian authorities and the people there don't somehow miscalculate or give any kind of further pretext for russia to expand its military intervention, jake. >> christiathanks. protesters hitting the streets and demanding action in response to russian troops and the crimean peninsula coming up. mine was earned in korea in 1953. afghanistan, in 2009. orbiting the moon in 1971. 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rio 2016. welcome to what's next. comcast nbcuniversal. protesters in the united states from san francisco to washington, d.c. gathered calling for action in response to russian actions in the ukraine. some urging the u.s. to intervene. others want a peaceful before lives are lost. >> we want him to get out before the war starts. >> it starts in crimea. we should stop it there and stop it only piecefully. >> ted rowlands is live in chicago where the largest ukrainian community in the united states resides. what kind of reactions are you seeing this morning? you might imagine we are in the ukrainian village neighborhood of chicago. people are very worried. they are watching very closely what is going on. they are worried for family and friends that are there. it is interesting. you ask them what do they want to take place? they don't know. they don't want military action that'sly. they are worried, heartbroken. take a listen to how extraordinary emotional some people reacted when we asked them about their feelings of what's going on in their own country. >> i'm sorry. well, like i said, i think you crain going to survive. united states behind them. hopefully. >> it is not just upset. it is scared. it is scared and horrible. just unbelievable that it looks like a new hitler in europe. >> i think it is very sad. other country, very peaceful country. the people always welcome in the guests. everybody who like to come to their country with open heart. today, they see what's going on in ukraine, it is ai big tragedy for ukrainians. it has broke my heart. 24 hours i can watch on internet what's going on in ukraine. >> a lot of people not getting a lot of sleep here, jake, because they are monitoring the situation there 24/7 online. you heard it. a lot of people having their hearts broken. a lot of worry here for their friends and family in the ukraine. >> ted rowlands, thank you so much. we will, of course, be watching the tense situation in ukraine. ambassador, nicholas burns, says, russian president, vladimir putin, saw an opening and he took it. will he stop at crimea? let's go back to the cnn center. a blockbuster night for hollywood's biggest actors. up next, the winners and losers from last night's star-studded academy awards. oh, yeah, we will talk about the dresses too. well, i'll tell you what. the eastern u.s. is getting pummeled again. this monster storm pushing its way from the midwest leaving a trail of ice and sleet and snow. for drivers, pretty much a travel nightmare. that's where our brian todd joins us on i-95 south near beltsville, maryland. give us a description of what you are seeing. >> reporter: kyra, very dngerous along i-95 between baltimore and washington, d.c. you can see me in this vehicle. we'll show you a shot out our front windshield here. there were near whiteout conditions a short time ago. very low visibility. the snow has let up a little bit. as you can see, the conditions are still very treacherous. a little bit of ice that built up before the snow came over. the snow is not over yet. there is still more coming through. we've had a state trooper complain to us that drivers are not heeding warnings to stay off the road. we have seen spinouts along the road and other treacherous conditions. i just talked to a tow truck operator who was hauling a pickup truck out of a ditch. he complained a lot of these cars are coming way too close to disabled vehicles on the side of the road. he has almost got hit a couple of times himself. those are the conditions we are dealing with here. part of the problem earlier today and it may happen later. the snow was coming too fast for the salt truck, the snow truck and the plows to operate. they couldn't get the roads cleared fast enough. here is some of our interview with james williams a short time ago. >> it is dangerous right now. the situation where i have to pick this truck up from the rear and turn my truck facing the direction of the traffic, which makes it very hard. people come and they can barely see. they are coming awfully close. all i ask is that everybody slow down. >> we're going to show you just what we're dealing with here along i-95. i'm going to get out of the vehicle. we can switch our cameras over to our photojournalist, oliver. a lot of the times you can't tell where the shoulder starts and where the road ends. a lot of volume along this road. the state troopers complaining about vehicles going too fast. i have to key an eye on this traffic while oliver is shooting here. some of these vehicles coming fairly close and we've seen a lot of spin outs, kyra. very dangerous along i-95 between baltimore and washington, right now. >> it is pretty phenomenal what we can bring to our viewers with technology. you are driving in a car. we're seeing it live. you are able to step out and go right to another camera. this is your territory. this is where you live. can you kind of put it in perspectives for folks what it is going to be like today for the next couple of days and flights are delayed and travel is not easy right now. this is really impacting major parts of the country. it really is. it is impacting this region to a great degree and all along the eastern seaboard. what it does to people around here is it really snarls traffic in a horrible way. people here are not used to this kind of volume of snow. the icy conditions are very treacherous right now. what they have warned people, from yesterday to today, don't be deceived by something like this where you see kind of a black patch of highway. there is sleet and freezing rain underneath it. ice that's built up and what we're told now is that the temperatures are going to start to drop. all of this is going to be freezing over. you can see right behind me, a lot of motorists aren't heeding the warnings to slow down or stay off the road. we are noticing more vehicles on the highway. >> i would feel better if you got back in the car. we will take it live from inside the vehicle. brian todd out of maryland there. a lot of glitz and glamour at the academy awards. there were star-studded acceptance speeches that were phenomenal. the stunning red carpet looks. the oscars proved to be a pretty awesome party in hollywood. joining us now to talk about last night's winners, losers, dish on everything, film producer for the hollywood reporter, tatiana segal and robert verde. let's start with "12 years a slave" that got best picture. let's take a listen to lupita nuong'o. >> thank you so much for putting me in this position. it has been the joy of my life. when i look down at this golden statue, may it remind me and every little child that no matter where you are from, your dreams are valid. >> that entire speech, the way she put her words together, beautiful. were you surprised this film did so well last night? >> not at all. i think that this was the film that came in as the favorite. even though "gravity" was kind of in the mix. it was "12 years a slave" to lose. i think lupita was also pretty much the one that people thought was going to win. jennifer lawrence was -- she won last year. she was sort of the biggest threat to lupita but lupita gave a performance that was hard to overlook by the academy. >> she exudes grace and beauty. speaking of beauty, robert, let's talk about red carpet glam. i know you want to talk about who wore it best. >> liupita, there is a shesrber colors. that was a custom prada dress. lupita is a watershed moment in beauty also, not just in fashion. she loves fashion. she looks amazing in it. she has a real girl's body, a little curve to her. she is not one of the familiar, very skinny, unrealistic modeled we have seen on the runways. but she also is a natural beauty. for women of color who have looked up to all of the amazing women like beyonce, who in many ways are fabricated with bigs and weaves and have a lot of makeup on, lupita is a breath of fresh air. she is natural. there is something really intoxicating when a young girl is not covered with all of the tools that fabricate false beauty. >> point well made. oh, yes. simple and so elegant. >> and dramatic and glamorous. >> amen. >> we have to talk about the selfie seen around the world. ellen was a trip. this photo has become the most shared photo on twitter ever. it has already been retweeted i'm told, more than 2 million times now. what do you think? does this go down as the best selfie ever? i want you both to weigh in. >> gentlemyes. >> the best part was another photo taken from the opposite side. you can see all the people that didn't make it in and one of those people is liza minelli trying to push her way to the front of the image. >> it's true. tatiana, everyone wanted to be a part of that selfie. >> that's a great.. the photo from behind was sort of the more telling photo. everyone in that natural moment of trying to jossle their way in. i think it was a really cute moment. i don't think it was entirely spontaneous. i think it was scripted but it came off as one of the more spontaneous moments of the night. >> like that one kid on the team that says, hey, coach, put me in, put me in. they were back there just trying to jump in on that photo. guys, thanks so much. tatiana segal, robert verde, fun talking with you. >> thank you you. >> thanks so much for joining me today. i'm kyra phillips. at this hour with john ber manned and michaela pereira starts right after a quick break. 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