[Paul:] Well, Vladimir Putin, and this surprised an awful lot of people, reached out to President Obama to talk about the crisis in Ukraine. The two leaders agreed to have their top diplomats discuss proposals to resolve the situation peacefully.
[Blackwell:] According to U.S. officials, there are 40,000 Russian troops along Ukraine's border right now. Our Karl Penhaul is on the border. And Karl, tell us what you are seeing there.
[Karl Penhaul, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, we are seeing here on the Ukrainian side a buildup of the Ukrainian military. We are looking at them digging in there with armored personnel carriers mounted with heavy machine guns. We also saw some of that T-80 tanks also digging in and protecting bridges, presumably the line of advance that they think the Russians would take if they would roll across that border. And more importantly, we are saying that the civilian population themselves is beginning to organize. They say that they can't trust the United States or Western powers to come to their aid. They are doing it for themselves. They purchased military uniforms at the market here in some of these towns. And they are forming the self- defense committees that have been digging trenches and setting up ramshackle outposts. They say that they could well be the only line of defense if Russian tanks roll in. But they really don't have any real weapons to speak of. They are arming themselves with Molotov cocktails and also putting up barricades
[Paul:] So, the civilians are saying they are on the defensive, but they aren't going to initiate anything with them, right?
[Penhaul:] Well, exactly. The trigger there, of course, would be if the Russians come across and that is where there is some doubt. Pentagon speaking of 40,000 Russian troops massing just across the other side of Ukraine's eastern border. The Ukrainian government puts the figure more than twice as high saying that they also have tanks and attack helicopters. But of course, what the Pentagon officials are saying is we don't really know what Vladimir Putin's intent is. Does he really intend to come in and try to annex some of the eastern Ukrainian cities like he did with Crimea? And we have heard this morning from Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister saying, they have no intention of coming into Ukraine. Vladimir Putin is once again saying that he believes that Ukrainian ultranationalists are threatening ethnic Russians living in Ukraine and that, of course, is the same excuse that he used to go meddling in Crimea.
[Paul:] All right. Karl Penhaul, thank you so much for bringing us the latest from that area. And we are so glad that you are starting your morning with us. And you next hour of your "NEW DAY" starts now.