spoke with ukraine's president for 45 minutes today as the russia crisis continues as to expand. in its read out of that conversation, the white house said mr. biden reaffirmed the u.s.' commitment to ukraine sovereignty and territorial integrity and condemned russia's decision to recognize the independence of those two moscow-backed breakaway regions of ukraine and he noted the u.s. would "respond swiftly and decisively along with its allies should russia step up its aggression." that phone call followed that speech by vladimir putin who announced that, yes, moscow would officially recognize the two independent territories as they're calling them in eastern ukraine. meanwhile up at the white house, sanctions are lined up and at the ready to be doled out though administration officials earlier today made it clear they felt like there wasn't really a need to act just yet. >> if you punish somebody for something they've not done yet, they might as well go ahead and do it. we've been very clear about what they are, how severe they're