Demonstrators Storm Ukrainian Navy Headquarters; Russia Mocks Sanctions from West
PEREIRA: And welcome back to NEW DAY. We are, of course, going to bring you the latest on the ongoing search for Flight 370 in just a moment. But, first, I want to talk about these rising tensions in Crimea. Pro-Russian demonstrators storming Ukraine's naval headquarters in Sevastopol overnight. No reports of violent clashes at the facility, but now, it is flying the flags of Russia and its navy. This comes after a gunman killed a Ukrainian soldier at another base in Crimea, leaving the government to authorize its troops to fire back in self-defense. And this all comes after a day after Russian President Putin signed a treaty making Crimea part of Russia. We have reports to you now from Crimea, Moscow, and Washington. We will start with Nick Paton Walsh. He's in Simferopol, Crimea. Give us the latest, Nick.</s>NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Real concerns the these remaining Ukrainian military bases across the Crimean peninsula. You just said how one soldier was killed yesterday, the first military death of this invasion of the Crimea at a base where I'm standing here near the capital Simferopol. This morning, the main port city of Sevastopol, 200 or so protesters stormed in to the base, we understand, suggestions Russian troops were with them, assisting them. No reports of violence or deaths, but inside, it seems the Ukrainian soldiers gave themselves up, reports of them leaving unarmed their installation and Russian flag being hoisted, too. We went to a base in the northwest of the peninsula yesterday, saw tense scenes, Russian troops moving in and around that base. We now understand this morning, a tractor broke open the gates and pro- Russian protesters and Russian troops are standing there, asking the Ukrainian soldiers to give themselves up and the Ukrainian and the Russian flags are flying above that installation. Ukrainian's defense minister is trying to fly here. He says it's pretty clear the local government won't let him land. No such suggestions of negotiations here, a real sense of fear about what could happen to these Ukrainian soldiers or these pro-Russian protesters, they're almost predestined to join Russia, historical right. A lot of confidence amongst that crowd and I think concern what is that might do to tensions around these bases. Back to you.</s>PEREIRA: All right, Nick. Obviously, the White House watching this keenly, and the Obama administration condemning Russian President Vladimir Putin's move to annex Crimea, calling it a threat to international peace and security. In fact, they have dispatched Vice President Biden to the region to reassure NATO allies. CNN's Michelle Kosinski, pardon me, picks that up at the White House -- Michelle.</s>MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Michaela. The White House has been extremely measured in its language, its response to Russia. Clearly, the administration doesn't need a war of words with Russian President Vladimir Putin, even though Russia has been exactly the opposite. The U.S.-imposed sanctions, those sanctioned have called them hilarious, an honor. Putin said the West had overstepped the line and Crimea is part of Russia. So, the White House responded that the U.S. and Western nations will not recognize this attempted annexation and that there will be more costs. The administration has really been pressed on this the last few days. What should the response be now since it seems nothing has encouraged Russia or forced it to reverse course? Well, what we know at this point, there will be more sanctions, more support of allies in that region. Next week, the G-7 nations will meet on this subject and that excludes Russia. And at this point, it seems extremely unlikely that those nations will attend the G-8 Summit that Russia is hosting in June -- Michaela.</s>PEREIRA: All right. Hilarity not exactly the desired effect they are looking for. Michelle Kosinski, thank you so much for that. Meanwhile, a day after Vladimir Putin signed the treaty to annex Crimea, Russian lawmakers are essentially going about the business of making it official. A Crimean delegation in Moscow today meeting with members of parliament. CNN's Fred Pleitgen is in Russia and in the Russian capital, and we understand quite a blizzard happening outside behind you, Fred.</s>FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Michaela, there absolutely is. And it started early this morning and been snowing all day it's foggy, it's snowing, however, traffic moving. It seems the Russians are very used to this kind of weather. But it's certainly is something that is keeping us in arms a little bit. But as you said, while this is going on, the Russians and the Crimeans are finalizing the deals to make Crimea part of Russia. Officially, it is. However, there are still administrative things that they need to go to. There is this Crimean delegation that's meeting with Russian lawmakers today. They are going to talk about things like pairing up the tax systems about gas security, about energy security. So, certainly, they are giving every impression that they are moving on. There are still a couple of things that need to be done for all of this to become permanent, Michaela, and one of them is that the constitutional court of the Russian Federation has to look at all of this and they are currently doing received the treaty that Vladimir Putin signed yesterday and looking over and seeing whether that adheres to Russian law. And as Michelle was saying, it's absolutely true. The Russians are showing absolutely no indication of backing down on these matters. They say that any sort of sanctions that will be levied upon them will see counter-sanctions from the Russian Federation. That's exactly what Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, told Secretary of State John Kerry in a call last night. So, certainly, it appears as though the Russians are well on their way to a big confrontation here -- guys.</s>PEREIRA: All right. Fred Pleitgen in Moscow, thank you so much for that. WE appreciate it. Blatant, blatant disregard of international law, that's what Vice President Biden called this annexation of Crimea.</s>CUOMO: It's going to be complicated, though.</s>PEREIRA: Very complicated.</s>CUOMO: Because you also have on the other side, the people have spoken. They say it violates the constitution, we didn't monitor the vote, but it's very popular in Russia.</s>PEREIRA: It is.</s>CUOMO: Putin's numbers are very high. We're going to take a break here on NEW DAY. When can he come back, we will keep looking at the new information on Flight 370, testing it -- what is fact, what is just new takes on what's going on. Most frustrating for the families waiting for answers. You are looking for the scene from this morning. They are growing desperate, more so by the hour. One mother had to be dragged from the news conference that just ended. We'll tell you about the extreme measures some families are willing to go to for answers.</s>PEREIRA: And we are learning that data was deleted from the personal flight simulator belonging to the pilot of Flight 370. We're going to take you inside this, our NEW DAY flight simulator, where we will attempt to recreate some of the movements of that missing jetliner.