Interview With State Department Spokeswoman Jen Psaki; What To Do Next In Crimea?
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Welcome back to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. Continuing our World Lead, Secretary of State John Kerry spoke a short while ago from Paris about the progress or lack thereof in talks with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov. Let's just say that Kerry set the bar low.</s>JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: I don't think any of us had an anticipation in coming here at this moment, in this atmosphere of heightened tension and confrontation, that we were suddenly going to resolve that here this afternoon.</s>TAPPER: But Kerry said he and Lavrov have some ideas they can bring to their respective bosses, Obama and Putin. Can today's efforts be described as progress or status quo? Joining me now is State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki. Jen, good to see you.</s>JEN PSAKI, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESWOMAN: Great to see you.</s>TAPPER: So the Ukrainian and Russian foreign ministers were in the same building today and they did not meet. Does that not suggest that Secretary Kerry's efforts today on the Ukraine were something of a swing and a miss?</s>PSAKI: Well, Jake, as I'm sure this will come as no surprise, I completely disagree with that. Look, Secretary Kerry is in Paris because he is there for a conference on Lebanon, but he's also there to engage with European counterparts, to coordinate our steps moving forward. And yes, he had a lengthy meeting with Foreign Minister Lavrov. Do we expect this to be solved in a day? Absolutely not. We wish it could be. But there are steps that can be taken. There is an off ramp for Russia. Secretary Kerry laid that out today for foreign minister Lavrov. And if they don't take that off ramp, we have a range of options and there will be consequences.</s>TAPPER: The range of options that you discuss requires the EU, the European Union, to be on board with what the United States wants to do in terms of specific sanctions and other diplomatic efforts to isolate Russia. Former secretary of defense Bob Gates gave an interview this morning, and he seemed very skeptical about getting allies on board. Let me play what he said.</s>ROBERT GATES, FORMER DEFENSE SECRETARY: I'm skeptical that the Europeans will get behind a set of serious sanctions. Okay? That's one of the risks for the president if he pushes too far and the United States gets far out in front and the Europeans -- he looks behind him and none of the Europeans are there, then we risk being the ones isolated here. So, I'm not optimistic about how this is going to turn out, quite frankly.</s>TAPPER: Jen, what's the status of our allies, the United States allies, particularly Germany and the UK? We know President Obama spoke with Prime Minister Cameron just a short while ago.</s>PSAKI: And Secretary Kerry spoke with Foreign Minister Steinmeier today as well. Part of what Secretary Kerry is doing on the ground today is engaging and discussing with his counterparts about what steps we're considering, what steps they may be considering, and how we coordinate that. There's no question that being unified and taking steps together is the best path forward. But we feel, and we've been pretty clear in this, that we are going to consider taking additional steps in terms of sanctions. And we'll see what happens over the next couple days in terms of consultations with our E.U. counterparts.</s>TAPPER: But is there any word that Germany and the UK, which have expressed in different ways a reluctance to get on board with sanctions -- is there any movement on that? Have they decided that they want to do something but they're just not where the U.S. is? Or are they still at no sanctions at all?</s>PSAKI: Well, there is an agreement that we are at a critical point and that sending a strong message using all the political and economic levers we can pull is essential. So in terms of what that will manifest in, we'll see what happens over the next 24 hours. But that is what the discussion is about on the ground right now.</s>TAPPER: That sounds like a very diplomatic and spinny way of saying that nothing has been agreed upon yet --</s>PSAKI: Listen, I wouldn't underestimate, Jake. There are discussions about these -- among these foreign ministers. And if you look at what the foreign secretary Haggis (ph) said, a range of foreign officials have said, they are very clear about how unacceptable they find the actions of the Russians. And they have been clear they're prepared to take steps.</s>TAPPER: What about this off-ramp option that you keep talking about and others in the administration keep talking about? Apparently Chancellor Merkel of Germany discussed this with President Obama. Is Russia willing to have international observers in Ukraine instead of Russian troops?</s>PSAKI: Well, we'll see. You know, today there was some trouble. The international observers had some trouble getting in. They're going to try again tomorrow as I understand it. And the clearest sign that the Russians consent that they want minority rights to be protected is to allow these observers in. So now it's a question of their rhetoric is matching with their actions. It's not matching. And what they'll do in the next 24 hours.</s>TAPPER: As you know, a U.N. envoy in Crimea was accosted today by armed men. He's expected to take a flight out of the area later they are evening. That doesn't sound like de-escalation to me.</s>PSAKI: Well, my understanding is there have been plans, and the U.N. of course is the appropriate place for this, to return and continue to play a role. This conflict on the ground is not ending in the next 24 hours. We're all working together with a fierce urgency in the international community to take steps, and the U.N. remains an important part of that process.</s>TAPPER: Jen Psaki, thanks so much for coming and answering questions.</s>PSAKI: Thank you, Jake.</s>TAPPER: Coming up, two different administrations with nearly identical responses to Putin's military aggression. So, why the pass from conservatives in 2008 when it was George W. Bush, and the backlash now? Plus, drama in the House as a public shouting breaks out in a congressional hearing about the IRS abuses today with one Democrat calling out the "un-American," quote, unquote, actions of the Republican chairman. You'll want to stick around and listen to this.