Crimea's Deputy Prime Minister called the vote in Crimea on Sunday a "first step" in an eventual take over of eastern Ukraine by Russia, NBC News reported. "I think second step will be east Ukraine," the Deputy Prime Minister, Rustam Temirgaliev, said during an interview with NBC News Chief Correspondent Richard Engel. Temirgaliev said that up to 75 percent of the people in eastern Ukraine want to join Russia. A preliminary poll suggests Crimeans voted overwhelming on Sunday to join Russia and leave the Ukraine. Earlier in the day, the White House released a statement saying, "The international community will not recognize the results of a poll administered under threats of violence and intimidation from a Russian military intervention that violates international law."
