so we are a little out of time so we don't have time for tweets but we thank jerry for this and my assistant informed me that i had blond tips when i was a child because the sun did it. more "morning joe" right now.

♪ let people keep repeating you'll never fall in love ♪ >> the usa issuing a voluntary retail of certain hot pockets. >> the food company say they contain a small amount of recalled beef. >> oh, my god! i had no idea they put actual beef in these! i thought the insides were just stuff they found in their pockets! >> no, it's not just that. good morning, everyone. it is friday. it's been kind of a long week actually, hasn't it? february 21st. welcome to "morning joe." oh, my god. i can't believe that you just put that on the set. with us on set former treasury official and "morning joe" economic analyst steve rattner. >> i had a terrible front

yesterday. >> what has happened? >> i turned on the show and somebody who looked like donny deutch was sitting in your chair! >> oh, my god. no! >> he was here. >> was he really? >> yes. >> i thought i was just having a nightmare. >> was he doing a lot of grooming during the breaks? >> i was a viewer. i wasn't here during the breaks. >> how was it? >> you could make two pineapple upside down cakes with the gel that donny had in his hair yesterday. >> i'm sorry. >> he is a handsome man. >> did he man scape? >> thomas, you're a handsome man. how much gel do you have in your hair today? >> i think i'm boring joe. mike barnicle is here and thomas roberts. associate editor of "the washington post" and political analyst for msnbc, eugene robinson. joe, look what thomas has. i'm going to show it to you. do you have a monitor? >> yeah, i have a monitor.

>> look. >> jerry in graphics made this for us. it's coming to a toy store near you at christmas. >> keep it away from my kids. >> i have know idea. >> i'm going to give this to jack! >> look at the blond hair. >> what is up with the hair? >> my sister texted me right away. you know we used sun as kids in the summer, so you know you had blond hair. >> it's a voodoo doll. >> you're not going to give that to jack. >> i think jack will love it. >> you want to give him a dick butkus or ray nitschke doll, that's fine, but a guy missing two or three teeth and gnarly. you look gray. >> i don't know. i'll have to go back and research this. any way mika, it is wonderful. we have a lot going on. why don't we start with the

news. first of all, a shock. i was watching thomas' show. a shock in ice skating. "the new york times" said there is a reason why ice skating is popular only once every four years! that is a great headline. last night, we showed that. also the ukraine absolutely exploding. vladimir putin, the timing couldn't be worse for putin in showing the type of thug he is, the type of thug he has been and americans i think peggy noonan put it best in "wall street journal" the americans have to tell the world what side we are are on and doesn't mean firing missiles but we have to speak out against the thuggery that putin is showing across the globe. >> as it pertains to putin, it's sort of difficult to embrace the bulks and everything it stands for when it is giving him such a platform. it's frustrating, i have to say. >> i'm very frustrated at the olympics committee. i'm frustrated at the olympics committee that they made this

choice years ago. the guy is a thug, he's a dictator, he is brutal. i think he has forgotten that he is not running the soviet union any more and the world cup gave him the way down the road. he is not deserving of such a spotlight. >> let's start with the breaking news. moments ago, ukraine's president announced early elections and promised to form a coalition government and follows a deadly day yesterday and police used combat weapons and shooting and killing as many as seven protesters. according to doctors for the opposition, the dead were everywhere, including make-shift hospitals and a hotel lobby. but the protesters redoubled their efforts fortifying their defensive in kiev's main square. secretary of state john kerry has condemned the violence and, once again, vice president biden phoned ukraine's president but the government's main ally, russia, is standing firm.

prime minister dmitry medvedicv urged them to not wipe their feet like a doormat. one of the europe's most beautiful places is unfolding. the front page of today's "the wall street journal" tells the tale of two cities. look at that. >> mika, let me get in here for a second. mike barnicle, most of the people around the set, and i suppose some people watching are too young to remember but these pictures. the fact we are getting these pictures out of the ukraine, out of ukraine in 2014, stunning. it looks like the cover of "life" pictures from czechoslovakia in 1956 or hungary. it is unbelievable russia is trying to exert this type of influence over ukraine and are suggesting that they shoot and kill even more demonstrators

only because they want to be closer to the european style of government and not to putin's tyrannical ways. does that not look like a time lapse from hungary in 1968? >> it is horrific violence in a very cultured and civilized place, independence square in the ukraine. beautiful city. a beautiful site. now destroyed in multiple ways, both physically as well as in the minds of people around the world that recognize it as a citadel of civilization. the larger worry, i was told yesterday by a high ranking official in the united states government, is what happens when the olympics conclude and the spotlight is removed from sochi and from russia when the international media leaves that

region? what does putin do next week? i mean, when the handcuffs, so to speak -- he has been restrained a bit, people say, because of the intense media glare surrounding the olympics. but when the olympics include there is great concern that the crackdown might be even more harsh than it has been. >> mike, that begs the question. if that happens, what does the united states do? what does that top ranking official in the united states government do? what is our official response and what can we do short of sending military aid? because we are not going to send military aid to ukraine but, at the same time, we have to work together in concert with other nations to isolate putin if that happens. we have three flash points across the globe right now, ukraine and very vivid terms, syria where the bloodshed goes

on just at horrific levels. crimes against humanity being committed and then, of course, iran who looks like they are going to walk away from the table and move towards nuclear weapons. what is the common denominator in all three of those world crises? vladimir, putin. what is the united states response? what is the president going to say? what is the secretary of state going to say? what is the united states government going to say? what are we going to do? how aggressively are we going to work against vladimir putin? that is the question. >> i think you add to that question what about all of the people making a lot of money at the olympics? the people performing there, the people competing there, the people sponsoring there. what are they going to do? why are they there? is this okay? i'm just curious. it's kind of strange, isn't it? >> to joe's point, steve, i'm

sure you thought about this, but the larger issue, joe is right. the american military is broken and economically we can't afford to intrude much further than we are doing. the idea we haven't assembled a coalition, including germany which could be a strong and forceful voice in this coalition is mittiving we haven't been more vocal. the vice president called yesterday and asserted himself and our role in that region, but there has got to be a little stronger voice. >> i would think. >> look. one, obviously, no matter shape our military is in, we wouldn't be sending military into an internal issue than we did in hungary in 1966 or sarajevo. secondly i do think the yurp europeans, we are trying to get together and you talk about sanctions and revoking visas?

>> we wouldn't want to interrupt ice dancing. let's go to nbc foreign news correspondent amman mulhadin. i know there is a framework in place but the fighting continues. >> reporter: there was a shaky truce that went into effect on wednesday and shattered by early morning. middle of the day yesterday european mediators on the ground trying to negotiate an agreement and this morning, they were to announce a tentative agreement had been reached and say tentative cautiously because they don't know if both sides would agree to this and we saw this play out inside the ukrainian parliament that broke out into a brawl between politicians that support the president and some who represent the political opposition. the agreement would call for early elections as we understand it and call for the president yanukovych have some of his powers stripped away and the to

go back to the constitution they were using and they believe that allowed for more civil liberties. the question is whether or not both sides will agree to it once they go back to their representative positions. on the street that remains a very tense situation in kiev and the main center where the protests have been. there have been reports of gun fighting exchanges between the police and the protesters. protesters have been able to regain some of the territory that they have lost in the past 48 hours. yesterday, the deadliest day in ukraine's history but this morning, they were able to reclaim some of the major streets and alleyways around the square and people are coming back to the square, despite the fact there was a deadly day on thursday. >> amman, thank you very much. joe, this is convoluted to say the least given everything going on. >> no doubt about it. let's read what peggy noonan said today in "the wall street journal." whose side are we are? conservatives who understandably

and legitimately want no more military interventions i count myself one of those have forgotten the power of articulated encouragement that means saying what side you're on and why and what principles you back. in this case, they should stand with the people in independence square in kiev just as much as their predecessors stood with the people of the warsaw pact. just because it doesn't seem there is much you can do. doesn't mean there isn't a lot you can say. and in the saying, show to the world that your country, for all its woes limits, for all of its distractions still has a beating heart. senator rob portman who was on "morning joe" yesterday, said, quote, i think we need to stand with the people who are suppo supportisuppor supporting democracy and freedom. we should stick with it.

not only for the world but for ourselves to remember who we are. eugene robinson, it's stunning, these pictures that we have been seeing. >> yeah. >> i was talking about hungary56 and czechoslovakia, '68. i'm sure you remember the spring in '68 what the soviets did to that revelation. isn't it surreal to see these images coming out like from prague in 1968 and what account united states do? >> that is really the question, joe. last night, secretary of state john kerry put out a very tough statement that peggy noonan could have written saying that, yes, we stand with the side -- with the forces of freedom and democracy and president yanukovych immediately must form -- work with the opposition

to establish an interim government. it stopped short -- of course, it calls for an end to the thuggish violence which is a proper use of the word thug, that is taking place. but it stopped short of saying president yanukovych must go and i suspect that's because, you know, when this country comes out and says x must go, president someone must go like president assad and then they don't go, then we end up in a worse situation and your question is the right one -- what can the united states do to influence events beside working with the eu for sanctions and, obviously, there need to be very tough sanctions. >> and, gene, can i -- can i add something else to that? >>y. >> that you touched on? what can we do is the question.

we, obviously, are coming off a decade of war. we are exhausted by war and conservatives are exhausted by war and liberals are exhausted by war and some want to continue the fight in afghanistan and other places but most of america does not. still, the alternative, it seems that this administration has been taking, whether you look at iran in 2009, whether you look at syria over the past two years, it's too early to tell with ukraine right now, seems to be -- seems to be an overcorrection, basically, a hands-off approach saying, well, we can't do anything about it. the president was awfully slow in criticizing iran in 2009 when they were killing people in their own streets and syria continues to be a nightmare we as a country have to figure out. now we have this crisis. has the white house possibly overcorrected the mistakes of bush and cheney? >> well, possibly. i kind of doubt that it has,

given that question that you and i can't answer. what exactly can they do? take the counter example of egypt and the white house from some quarters gets criticized now for, you know, when it really reached a tipping point saying -- must go and siding with the people out in tahrir square and the result was, you know, a muslim brotherhood government that the united states liked in some ways less than mubarak's government. these are not easy problems or questions to answer. you can make a mistake either way. >> steve rattner, what can the white house do to pressure putin on an economic level? and doe don't we have a lot of hand right now given a huge international event going on that we have completely

interconnected with that we could pull out if we wanted to? isn't his ego bigger than hi financial mind? how can we pressure him economical and isn't there other ways to work here? >> everybody are saying we are not sure about that. a sense of frustration a very limited amount we can do. we can have sanctions. but the fact is we don't have a lot of influence over putin, as joe was just describing all of the places in the world where he is exerting his influence, we are trying but we have limited things. pulling out of the olympics at this stage? i don't know. i don't know whether we really want to do that. >> just to point out one other thing, mika. if the united states were essentially to break diplomatically, not end diplomat relations but to get tough on putin and russia, there is a cost to that and a cost the administration must be thinking about is iran. another one of these situations we are talking about where the russians have not been terribly

cooperative but could be cooperative and could, in some ways, help with the iranian nuclear situation in very important ways. they are about to sell them another nuclear reactor. the united states wants to have a relationship with putin that can be instructive. maybe that is impossible. maybe there is no truly skukive relationship you can build with this guy. >> exactly. how long are we going to like figure this out? >> it's not a small step to write him off because you're writing off a lot of other situations in the world. >> mika, steve is on to the critical point of this whole issue. it's not a question of what we can do. it's a question of we can't do it alone. we cannot do it alone. we have to have a coalition. where is germany here? where is great britain here? where are the european countries most affected by what is happening in the neighboring nation? we cannot do this alone let alone do the middle east alone and we have to build a strong coalition to deal with issues

like this and deal with a legitimate thug, vladimir putin, who is one of the world's richest men and ripped off his own country and ripped us off and is basically performing international blackmail in country after country after country. >> the eu said iranian nuclear talks are off to a good start. to eugene's point how it extends out to any of their allies, he mentioned what, you know, is taking place there. he says these talks are off to a good start. >> let's remember now. they have this tentative agreement to hold elections. the interesting question looking ahead is what is putin going to do now? if this truce and this tentative agreement holds the ukraine is moving in a slightly better direction. the next play is up to putin. coming up on "morning joe," we are going to talk more about this. texas governor rick perry and nbc andrea mitchell and president obama's long time spiritual adviser joshua duboid

and michael moss will also join us. up next in the political playbook -- no, you're not good, bill. this is not good. you are a bad man. >> wait until next week. you probably won't talk to me. >> i won't. >> that could be beneficiary for a lot of people. ew! let's talk about this forecast out there. this afternoon, we could watch severe storms moving through the southeast. those are where the strongest storms will be. yesterday, illinois 13 tornadoes in central and southern portion of the state and right across tennessee, numerous people still waiting for their power to come back on from the wind damage. that is yesterday's severe storms. now we have to wait and see what is going to happen as we go throughout the day today. the worst of the storms have been rolling right along the appalachians this overnight period and then further down to the south, right along i-10. right around the pensacola/panama city, watch

out. weekend forecast if you're on the east coast once we get through the storm today, mika and everyone else will be so happy. one of the best weekend forecast we have had in a while. 55 and 59 and mild air for the mid atlanta and the northeast is not bad but look what happens around minneapolis and chicago. temperatures begin to tumble. another arctic air invasion next week. watch it on this map. the white is the really cold air. that is the coldest of the air in all of the northern hemisphere and starts by the north pole and by thursday and friday of next week, it dives down right over the top of us. as we start march, it's going to feel like mid january from minneapolis through new england. great, right? oh, well. at least we have this weekend on the east coast. it should be very nice and very warm. you're watching "morning joe." spokesperson: we decided to settle this.

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you can't eat the doughnut hole off the screen, mike. close your mouth. let's take a look at the morning papers. "usa today" protests continue to escalate in venezuela this morning as the government this tries to restore order. demonstrations from the president have spread to the capital of caracas to several large cities across the country. several military units have been dispatched to help stop the violence but the government says this is not a militarization. jailed opposition leader lopez faces more than ten years in prison for his role in these protests. this story from "the washington times." two navy seals were bound dead aboard a ship made famous in the movie "captain phillips." brown powder was found on a table near the bodies suspected to be drugs. the security company says both man passed extensive drug screening before working on the ship.

the cause of their deaths is under investigation. "the wall street journal" china is urging the u.s. to cancel president obama's meeting with the dalai lama this morning. >> whatever. >> the chinese said they would damage ties between the two countries. china calls the compile to tibetan leader a sheep in clothing. the white house says it does not plan to scrap the meeting. thank you. this from "the new york times." the archbishop of newark is under fire for his lavish weekend home. arch bishop john myers is putting on an addition to his home. you will see the blessed or the poor in spirit and blessed are those religious leaders who add $500 million renovations to their home using the money of

their parishioners. it's hard to get that original greek isn't it, barnicle? the translation from the original greek or hebrew to modern day gets lost in translation, right? >> as michael powe of "the new york times" points out in that piece the bishop is representative of the arrogant isolated mentality of so many here in the united states that turned a blind eye to what was going on with so many pedophile priests over the past decade and a half and have obstructed justice and have decided to live a high lifestyle all by themselves with the exclusion of parishes that closed not only throughout new jersey but across the country. >> of course, $500,000 of the parishioners' money will go to renovations on an indoor pool, a hot tub, an elevator and three

fireplaces. this comes, as mike said, as the church has closed several schools in newark claiming it didn't have enough money to keep them open and, mika, how ironic you have a pope who is trying to live a more simple life and you have a bishop like this stuck in the past. i suspect we may hear something from the vatican over this. >> not going to work. it's not going to work for him. yes, thank you, joe. >> it's not going to work, not under this pope. >> no. from our parade of papers. "the washington post" a plan to divide california into six separate states is gaining some traction. the state gave silicon valley capitalist tim draper permission to collect signatures to get this on the 2016 ballot. draper believes the state is too big to be governed efficiently. california is home to 38 million people. the state would have the eighth largest economy in the world if it were its own country. it's kind of an interesting concept actually.

joe? >> interesting, and, yet, stupid. the seattle times. schools in washington state are winning the fight against child obesity between 2010 and 2012 the rate of obesity dropped 17% among teens and low income areas around seattle. the largest decline since the state began tracking obesity rates. this follows nearly $3 million investment moo programs to promote healthy eating habits and, most importantly, i think, mika, physical activity for students. let me go back to that california story. i mean, six californias? kind of crazy. i could see southern california and a northern california. >> that sounds cool. >> it's a massive state. and it is ungovernable. and who knows. maybe two californias would make more sense. >> perhaps this starts the conversation. it clearly has been struggling so many years to figure out. >> then they get 12 senators. >> can you imagine, steve, the money that northern california could collect just based upon their water supply to southern

california? because most of the water that southern california gets comes from northern california. >> let's go to this weekend's parade magazine. features of the 23 winners of the product of the year award. i love this and can't wait to read it. with us now is chief white house correspondent for politico, mike allen is here with the morning playbook. good morning. good to see you. >> happy friday! >> there we go. looking for that. this is friday! >> everything is okay now. >> it is friday. god, has it been one of those weeks or what? okay. first lady michelle obama, mike, was guest on "the tonight show" with jimmy fallon last night. she was pretty good. they shared laughs about the obamacare act. >> kids can stay on their parents insurance once they are 26 but on their own when they hit 26 and a lot of people think they are invincible but the truth is young people are knuckle heads and they are

cooking for the first time and slice their finger open and dancing on the bar stool. >> young people. >> yeah, young people. >> i would never do both of those things like this past summer, no, no. >> for the moms and dads out there worried about their kids, we want you to encourage your kids to sign up for that peace of mind that we all look for. >> healthcare.gov is the website if you've not read about it in the newship it's up and running. >> it's working! it's working! >> it's so much better when it's working. >> she was good and she is right. the young people need to be reminded to sign up when they hit 26 years old. i'm serious. get them to sign up. are your kids signing up, steve rattner? >> i sign her up. >> mike, a new piece up on politico says the new era of late night tv is changing the landscape for politics. explain that. >> mika, we saw there the

genuine chemistry that jimmy fallon and mrs. obama have. we talked to a group of consultants when they think the leno to fallon switch will mean. they like fallen because the politicians have something to do something different. he did a sketch with mrs. obama and a sketch with will farrell and jimmy fallon and likely to go more viral and do more for the politicians. we discovered the republicans are a little worried about losing jay leno. mark mckinnan and others told us that jay leno went out of their way to make republicans felt welcome. one had cup cakes because that is what he liked and showed him around the car collection. jimmy fallon is less likely to do politicians and they love it because it's another chance to show another side and appeal to young people. >> joe, when you went on jay, i thought -- first of all, he was

incredibly nice and he was really independence in sort of hearing the other side. >> yeah, he was. i think most people -- i've heard -- i never saw any evidence of it, though, that jay leno's politics may have been a little center left but he was always very fair. i remember john mccain being on. i remember schwarzenegger coming out on a motorcycle before he announced his bid. i think with jimmy fallon, just like people that watch "south park," i think you're going to see a guy that represents the view of younger americans that are going to be cynical about both parties, going to poke fun at both parties. i don't think republicans have anything to worry about here. i don't know what his politics are, but i certainly know that he is going to have a healthy dose of skepticism from republicans and democrats alike and i think it's going to be fun and entertaining. >> he is into the politics of funny and if it's funny, he'll do it. i don't think they should worry. politico's mike allen, thank you very much.

>> happy weekend. >> thank you, mike. >> it's always about making the people around you shy. >> kind of hard to shy around you. what do we have coming up next? >> coming up, we got a olympic gold medalist in ladies figure skating but not without major controversy and it always happens with the ladies in figure skating. brian shactman will be live at sochi to break it down for us. "morning joe" sports is next. ♪ stand above me look my way you never loved me ♪ ♪ rain keeps falling ♪

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the sounds of jen in the mountains of sochi. joining us now is brian shactman live from the olympic park in sochi to fill us in. last night a real shame. the american figure skaters did not land atop the leaders for a medal and first time in almost eight years. what is going on between the controversy between the two top finishers? >> reporter: what would olympics be without a figure skating judge controversy, right? adelina sotkinova won the gold. first russian woman to win it and a feeling that the margin of victory was so great. judgizing anonymous. we can't say like we were little the russian judge was a little harsh there. ashley wagner, the american,

finished seventh and gracie gold finished fourth. ashley wagner said after the judging she was speechless. not like boxing you have to overwhelm a champion to win. sotkinova had to do better than yuna kim. now an online petition to investigate this. it has over a million signatures. there are people that are really upset about it and they have tried to make all of these changes to how it's judged and they never seem to get it right. the truth is in terms what have i saw they all skated extremely well. i don't know the difference. i don't know what makes unincrementally better than the other. it's a big controversy but i don't think they are going to change anything. >> when did we get to the point the voting was anonymous? of course, barnicle and rattner mare growing up in the cold war era the american judge would give the russians one and the

soviet union judge would give the americans a 1 as well. >> i think in 2012 they made a bunch of changes but a running joke. when you did something fun in the backyard. the russian judge gave you a two and it was the funniest joke in our childhood. i don't know what to make of it but i am sure that the russian judge was very generous and there is no doubt about it but the rules are the rules. >> we, obviously, aren't going to see results overturned but the rules need to be changed back. if judges are going to be able to be just arbitrarily sink somebody based on their nationality, we need a change of rules there. let's talk about, brian, a heartbreak. you had a great package earlier this week about the women on the u.s. hockey team. we were ahead 2-0 with 5:00 left. the canadians came back, set it up. ah! tell us about the heartbreak yet

again coming from canada. >> reporter: i have to tell you, 3:30 left there. 2-0 on. seemed to be cruising. the canadians cut it to 2-1. 3:26 left. the americans had an empty net shot, hit the post appear than inch away from making it 3-1 and that would have won the game. about a minute left, canada ties it up and wins it in overtime. i will tell you i talked to somebody very close to the canadian organization and they basically say that the americans are better. the only people that don't know that are the americans. you know, they played really well in overtime too but afterwards as you might imagine -- >> isn't this a third olympics fijs that we have lost, our women have loved to the canadians? >> yes. >> reporter: the canadians have won four in reand won 20 conservative olympic hockey games. you might imagine. i don't want to share the disappointment of the americans here. just look at the players' faces when they talked afterward. >> we worked so hard and you

wait for your life for this moment but we couldn't hold on. hats off to canada for taking the gold. >> we fought so hard and getting the sledilver medal is a great accomplishment but at the same time it's heart breaking because we worked so hard and we wanted to be the team to bring back a gold medal to the u.s. >> reporter: you have to understand it. this is it. there is no world championships and nobody cares about. they worked their entire life for this moment and it's almost like the way we were against the soviets. they worked so hard and you can't help but get caught up in the emotion of it. the one silver lining, the men play canada in the semifinal in about five hours from now. may they will get redemption from the 2010 gold medal game when they lost too so maybe something to salvage in hockey. we saw the women a few minutes ago and they are just walking around in a fog.

>> that is heart breaking. >> brian, katie stone, the women's coach, is a pretty good friend of mine. watching that game yesterday, that penalty that was called with, like, i think 1:20 left to make it basically five on four, that was -- that penalty could not have been called. it was a tough penalty to take at that point. >> reporter: i will say this quickly because i know we are tight on time. in overtime they called that penalty that was questionable to a lot of people and made it four-on-three. you have an olympic size ice and four-on-three on hockey and so much space and like here. you can have all of these point blank shots and you would like to see them settled it with even strength. katie stone is a canadian native and she has worked her whole life for this moment and who knows if she will get back to this point. from top-to-bottom, a lot of people are pretty crushed today. >> we look forward to watching

the men's semifinals against the united states and canada coming up later today. mika's opinion pages are next. we are back after this. let me get this straight... [ female voice ] yes?

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joe." joining us now the director of the earth institute at columbia university, jeffrey sachs. the sochi olympics have showcased the face of russia that president vladimir putin wants the world to see. spanking new. an international crossroads and revived global power. the real russia is on display this week in kiev. take a look at the front page of "wall street journal." where ukraine's government prodded by the kremlin is

attacking peaceful protesters with guns and truncheons. this is the russia that the west needs to understand and exist. the simply fact the ukraine crisis has been created and stoked from moscow. no one wants a new cold war but no one wants a civil war in eastern europe either. if that is where mr. putin's intervention and western passivity are leading. mr. obama may still be able to stop it if he final admits vladimir putin's deep hostility to a free and democratic europe and clearly tells protesting ukrainians that we're on their side. mika, what should our response be? "wall street journal" talks about the passivity of the

united states in the west. you talked about we should do something in the olympics. what do you think we should do? >> look. i think a lot, obviously, the president could be doing and shoulding done and sanctions should be pushed for whatever it taps. right now it's frustrating to watch putin to have this incredible platform of the olympics that he can present to the world, as the "the wall street journal" points out. and, quite frankly, this man's ego is bigger than his care for the human cause in any way for human life and if he could do something to stop what is happening in ukraine, then we should do something. it would be unfair, dr. sacs to have all of the athletes to pull out of the olympics. i know that is unrealistic but having said that, could they wear symbolic arm bands and speak out what is happening there. could we as the united states not take part in the closing ceremonies? there has to be some sort of symbolic gesture here because, quite frankly, i think he cares

more about his ego than anything else. >> i think the most important thing is there was potentially a breakthrough today with an agreement there would be early elections. if we focus attention right now on practical steps that there can be a political transition in ukraine, this is a way out. it's important to know that there have been lots of mistakes on both sides. ukraine has been torn back and forth during the past year in negotiations with europe which stalled, which got reversed, and none of this was handled very, very well. it reached the situation of desperation, terrible bloodshed and now with the agreement today, i think all of the pressure should be on to honor this agreement. >> joe, i'll let you take it to gene. as you say that, dr. sachs, i'll make a bet as we look at people burning in the streets of kiev,

that any potential agreement is going to, all of a sudden, disappear as soon as the olympics are over. joe? >> you know, i do think it would be good for the athletes to do something to protest. i want to read something, gene, that walter russell wrote in "the wall street journal" mr. putin is a master of the west a game he doesn't want to play and won game after game with weak cards. as long as the west beguiled by dreams of win/win solutions fails to grapple effectively in the muddy sum world of classic geo politics, mr. putin and his fellow revisionist in beijing and tehran will wreak havoc with western designs. it reminds me of george w. bush looking into the eyes of vladimir putin and seeing his soul. i think we have two american politics in a row, two american presidents in a row who have

underestimated just what a thug vladimir putin is. >> well, you know, they may have underestimated that and maybe they realized it but to try to play it the way they did. you know, the question is, okay, let's posit that put sinn a thug and the president comes out and says, we stand with the people of ukraine. the question is where do you go from there? what do you do from there? and how do you play -- walter russell, how do you play his great geo political game with putin in a way it's not being played already? and i just -- i genuinely don't know the answers to those questions, but i think our on options are more limited than one might imagine. >> wow. i don't know. >> it's tough. it's really a tough -- it's a tough situation. you know, we now have natural

gas and other resources, you know, so perhaps we can make people less dependent on russia's supplies and that hurts economical, but what else are we going to do? >> humiliate them. >> gene, i think we start by telling the world who vladimir putin is and what he is doing and what he is responsible for, and we do what peggy noonan was talking about today in "the wall street journal." we tell the world where we stand. i'm sorry. that's something we haven't done feven effectively whether it was iran in 2009, whether it's syria over the past two years, or whether it's ukraine now. it's not an all or nothing game. it's not go to war or sit back and lead from behind. there is a middle ground and not just this president. but future presidents are going to have to figure out how to move forward and not be as passive as we have been over the

past five years. >> eugene, thank you. we will read your column in "the washington post." everyone wants to say and we will get to it at the top of the hour. governor rick perry will join us coming up. keep it right here on "morning joe." spokesperson: we decided to settle this. a steel cage death match of midsize sedans. the volkswagen passat against all comers. turbocharged engines against...engines. best in class rear legroom against other-class legroom. but then we realized. consumers already did that. twice. huh. maybe that's why nobody else showed up. how does one get out of a death cage? vo: hurry in and lease the 2014 passat for $189 a month. visit vwdealer.com today. i'm bethand i'm michelle. and we own the paper cottage. it's a stationery and gifts store. anything we purchase for the paper cottage goes on our ink card.

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coming up at the top of the hour, nbc andrea mitchell and david gregory. they goth join the discussion. former governor ed rendell is here in the studio as well. "morning joe" is back in a moment. (vo) you are a business pro. seeker of the sublime. you can separate runway ridiculousness... from fashion that flies off the shelves. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go. and only national is ranked highest in car rental customer satisfaction by j.d. power. (natalie) ooooh, i like your style. (vo) so do we, business pro. so do we. go national. go like a pro. [ female announcer ] some people like to pretend a flood could never happen to them. and that their homeowners insurance protects them. [ thunder crashes ] it doesn't.

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sachs is still with us. and joining us from washington, david gregory of "meet the press" and andrea mitchell. the former governor of pennsylvania and nbc political analyst, ed rendell. hi, ed! >> mika, how are you? >> haven't seen you in a long time. >> i'm going to start with a different story here. >> first of all, mika, let me just say, first of all, it's huge to have ed rendell here. andrea mitchell and david gregory, like a thousand stars in the morning. we have a lot to talk about. we are playing '80s music today. last week was the '90s. i promised '80s this week and had a huge response. i did something last night i don't usually do so i fell asleep. we will continue that tonight. people all day today talking about your favorite songs from the 1980s and i'll be tweet be

it out. it's actually about the most fun you can have on twitter. >> shadow dancing? andy gibbs is that the '80s? >> you stay off twitter, mika. you're not welcome here if you're doing andy gibbs songs. i love because everybody is welcome. but, mika, have you been walking around the streets of new york? >> i'm too scared to. >> holy cow. it's getting dangerous out there. you might get hit by a speeding car. >> bill de blasio can't get a break. >> come on. >> reporting by a local cbs reporter marsha kramer, take a look. >> reporter: mayor bill de blas blasio's car blew through a stop sign and went above the speed limit and committed other motorcycle infractions after he had a massive safe streets

campaign. did he practice what he preached? not today he didn't which flew in the face of what he said at his press conference did accepting responsibility of keeping the streets safe. he was in the lead suv passenger seat driven by one of his security detail and he could have put the brakes on a number of different traffic laws. for example he went through this stop sign and this one. and there were various instances of speeding. as i followed him, i saw his car go 40 to 45 in a 30 and much faster and past this sign declaring a 45 miles per hour speed limit. >> 60 in a 45! >> trouble is he was written up for all of these violations today. the driver could lose his license on points. >> what is so shocking, ed rendell, what is shocking of this, ed rendell, bill de blasio is the first politician to ever be in a black suv going a little faster than the speed limit.

>> give me a break. it's called a motorcade. >> no, no, no. >> yes, it is. >> de blasio made a point about cars speeding and said he was never going to drive above 25 miles an hour. then she outed him. >> there are two cars going together in a motorcade with security. >> ed? >> steve is absolutely right. it's a hypocrisy. when i was governor and a newspaper tracked my car coming from harrisburg to philadelphia we did a hundred miles an hour a couple times but i never said observe the speed limits or i never made a big deal of it. a big difference. steve is right. >> joe? >> ed, i was just going to say. i can say that while i was an elected official, at no time did i go more than 50 miles an hour over the speed limit getting from pensacola over to ft. walton or panama city. hi a cop pull me over one time.

we were going 95 and he saw me and he apologized. i said i'm going 40 miles over the speed limit and it's okay. you can actually call me out on that. i had to beat the draw bridge. >> what reporters did is she tracked the easy past time. i went 48 miles in x amount of minutes and calculated it that way. >> that's pretty good. >> i will have to tear off my ez pass. you scoff at me, jeffrey? >> i do but not at that store. >> i'll follow you and check your driving. >> you can do that. no car. i'm walking. when asked about the incident, the mayor's office pointed to the nypd say the drivers sometimes use, quote, special driving techniques. >> exactly. >> for security reasons. >> come on. give me a break. are you kidding moo? >> it's called a motorcade. you may have been in one once in a while. >> joe, i said when they caught

us speeding going almost a hundred, i said, i don't know, i was just reading. i was just reading. >> oh, my gosh! we have andrea here and david. i'd like to get to ukraine, if we could. is my dad coming on today? no? he turned us down. >> he is too busy. he says he is too busy and he is doing too many shows and he doesn't want you to know the strength of his words. >> i heard him on the radio this morning. >> what? >> i did. i don't know if it was live but i heard him. >> he is everywhere. he is probably on cnn right now, mika. i mean, come on. you need to talk to your dad. your mom send you e-mails for attacking you for not having your father on the show and then your father won't come on the show and talk to us. >> i had richard haass read how great my dad was on ukraine and i saw him wincing while he read it. why wouldn't he come on?

okay, fine. >> he's on every show. i think he's on spongebob right now and the voice of ernest borgnine. >> what the heck? we will talk about that off line. >> he was on tuesday. i know. i was sitting next to him. he was right here on tuesday next to me talking about ukraine. >> what is going on? >> he was on on tuesday. i don't know where you guys were, but he was there. >> all right. thank you. ukraine's president announced early elections and promised to form a deadly coalition. police were using combat weapons and shooting and killing as many as 70 protesters according to doctors for the opposition. the dead were everywhere, including make-shift hospitals and a hotel lobby. but the protesters redoubled their efforts fortifying their defensive in kiev's main square. secretary of state john kerry has condemned the violence and, once again, vice president biden phoned ukraine's president but the government's main ally,

russia, is standing firm. prime minister dmitry medvedev urged ukraine to be tougher, in his word, quote, so people don't wipe their feet on the authorities like a doormat, end quote. it's all unfolding in one of the europe's most beautiful places. the front page of today's "the wall street journal" tells the tale of two cities. it's kiev before and after the clashes began which is tragic. joe? >> andrea, we still have having a hard time trying to figure out how to deal with vladimir putin. george w. bush famously said he looked into his eyes and could see his soul. this president has been, in some people's opinion, a bit passive. i want to read you a "the wall street journal" piece from walter meade and you probably heard some diplomats say the same thing.

mr. putin is a master of the west a game he doesn't want to play and won game after game with weak cards. as long as the west beguiled by dreams of win/win solutions fails to grapple effectively in the muddy sum world of classic geo politics, mr. putin and his fellow revisionist in beijing and tehran will wreak havoc with western designs. classic geo politics, mr. putin and his fellow visionists in beijing and tehran will continue to wreak havoc with western designs. andrea, we still haven't figured out how to deal with this guy. >> i misspoke. it was last week that your father was here saying we have to figure out how to deal with russia. the point that the editorial is making is we haven't figured it out. he outmaneuvered us in syria and about to outmaneuver us, some fear, in iran. while we talk, contrary spoke overnight about the anguish of ukraine, the white house said it was outraged. joe biden called yanukovych and

threatened more punishment and sanctions, but it is the fact that we have little leverage there. the european ministers, the french, the polish and the germans were there overnight what happens led to an agreement in the last 48 hours for constitutional reforms. it remains to be seen whether those in the street were by this deal. the truce didn't hold and that was both sides initially blamed but the live ammunition, the automatic weapons used outrageously by the government. for now perhaps this will hold for a couple of hours. but whether or not this will really end the bloodshed and lead to change really is up to the influence of putin, and, so far, putin has outbid us with ukraine and has this puppet leader yanukovych doing his bidding. >> an incredible international

platform of the plolympics ever day shining brightly on his land. richard engel is joining us now. bring us up to date, richard. >> reporter: well, i'll echo what andrea was just saying, that after yesterday's horrible bloodshed, there is a renewed focus now to try and find a peaceful resolution to this crisis. there were those all-night negotiations in which the opposition was president and the ukrainian president was there mediated as well by russia and european representatives. after this meeting and these negotiations are not final, the ukrainian president yanukovych came out and announced these sdegs sayi decisions he would accept a coalition and would limit his presidential authority by accepting an earlier constitution that gives more power to the parliament here and hold early elections in december 2014 at the end of this year. some members of the opposition are welcoming this deal. but here in the square, we

haven't seen a great reaction. there has been no cheers of celebration. instead, people have been skeptical. they say they want yanukovych out of power immediately. they don't want elections in december which still is a long way from now. which is not very different from the elections as they were scheduled to have taken place any way. it's a few months earlier than anticipated. here in the square, they are not completely satisfied but this process isn't over. we are expected to hear -- to see negotiators arriving here in the square throughout the afternoon trying to explain this deal to the protesters and to try to see if you can get a peaceful resolution to this conflict. >> nbc's richard engel is live in kiev, thank you. joe? >> david gregory, what do we do in this situation? what are you hearing in washington? what are you hearing from the

white house about how we effectively respond getting our allies together to somehow figure out how to take care of this man and, again, i go back to it. it's not just barack obama who has been there. you were there and you were covering the white house when george w. bush made his infamous remark about this guy we just can't get our arms around politically. >> no. president bush was able to rely on putin because after 9/11, he had his back on terrorism and that actually, the administration policy gave putin something after pass in check knee ya and that was defined by 9:00. you're not hearing a lot from the white house or the administration on what the stakes are in ukraine and what the vision of the united states is. what are the priorities of the united states? yes, we have heard the president talk about consequences if somebody steps over the line. i'm not sure what that means. we have heard the secretary of state, you know, condemning the attacks. but as you said before, this is not all or nothing. it's not like the u.s. is going

to send troops in to combat putin but is there a voice that is missing from the president of the united states from the united states to say what is it that the united states cares about and stands for and will put pressure to defend? what is happening there is a lot of talk about all of the limits to what the united states or the west can do and sometimes those limits become overwhelming and almost mute the administration about what it stands for. i think that is the real challenge here. there's not necessarily effective policy. the eu may not be the best foot forward to put in terms of putting pressure on putin, but putin is filling this vacuum with a lot of bluster and an attempt to embarrass the united states and you've seen it over and over again now as he fills his vacuum, whether it's edward snowden or other areas as he protects this, you know, what he would like to still consider the soviet orbit.

>> i've heard from american diplomats and foreign diplomats and much of russia is fueled by resentment and putin represents that better than anybody else. what do we do as a country to counterbalance that, to counterbalance the ill effects we are seeing putin have, not only in ukraine, but also in iran and also in syria? >> joe, russian foreign policy is fueled by interestses. it's not surprising, in fact, this is classic regional politics and you can't have all or nothing. you can't win by humiliating the other side. ukraine is an interest of russia. it's the next door neighbor. it's the -- the links are absolutely clear. russia has interest in syria. just to lead our chess and say things that we can't back up, playing cards we don't have,

doesn't win. it doesn't do any favor to people on the ground either to say assad must go two years ago and, yes, russia has interest in defending him. it has contributed actually to an escalation of the bloodshed. one has to watch words very carefully and go for the kinds of compromises that are possible. today, there is a potential compromise on the table and i think it's very important to build on that. the idea of shared power, the idea of early elections, even when we were dealing with the transition in poland back in 1999 that was a gradual compromise deal with the communist president remaining in power for two years. these are not all or nothing circumstances and simply to express the venom or to try to humiliate the other side will not solve problems on the ground. i'm all for compromise in this situation. >> but i think that you can also

overstate it by saying that words somehow are empty. i mean, i think the reality is that the united states wields a lot of influence still and it cannot be force but what u.s. interests are and what the u.s. stands for. by the way, this is not -- >> joe, even to take a different circumstance of a great president in foreign policy in many ways, dwight eisenhower, when it was much more egregious devastating situation of the soviet union occupying hungary in 1956 ice eeisenhower was mut. he knew no cards to play and didn't want to get into a nuclear clash so he was quiet. this is a different circumstance. i don't want to overdraw the analogy but it's not just the word. if the words don't get backed up by syria's policy, they can do a lot of damage. they can get people out on the streets dying without really

resolving issues. >> well, syria, though, in 2012 and 2013, it's not hungary 1956. the united states and the west and the civilized world has interest in syria as well, not only stopping this terror state from funding terrorism across the middle east and the globe, but also from stopping what certainly the future will be seen as crimes against humanity. >> exactly. and, in fact, the testimony two weeks ago at senate intelligence from jim clapper was that we now have al qaeda elements in syria who are threats to our homeland. we have permitted and the rest of the world has permitted the syrian situation to devolve into absolutely chaos and what can

arguably be called genocide. i think david gregory is right. we are not hearing a voice from the white house. the president made a couple of comments during a summit in mexico. he cannot come out yesterday, the bloodiest day in kiev. the secretary of state issued a paper statement before leaving paris. there was nobody speaking for the administration. no voice, except for joe biden making a call and that even was not explained until quite late last night. >> okay. andrea mitchell, thank you. we will see you at 1:00 p.m. today and your new time, 12:00 noon. >> starting monday. thank you, mika. >> yes, yes, yes. jeffrey sachs, thank you. david gregory, what coming up on sunday for "meet the press." >> more on this crisis for kiev what it means for the united states and what our policies are. >> maybe you'll be able to get

my dad. good luck. ed rendell, stay with us. up next, republican governor rick perry standing by. we will talk about the new oil boom in texas, plus his plans for 2016? you're watching "morning joe." we will be right back. spokesperson: we decided to settle this.

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♪ ♪ come on eileen i swear this moment you mean everything ♪ >> welcome back to "morning joe." people still tweeting their favorite '80s songs. i remember that one. rick perry, the governor from texas, he is on capitol hill. going into other states and stealing people's jobs and, you know, it's a pretty -- >> those are strong words. >> well, it's positive, though. >> yes. >> i remember talking to bob riley when he was governor of

alabama and i asked him how do you do it? why mercedes and all of these other companies across the world coming south sunny talk? talk about the business environment that every governor needs to embrace if they want to create good paying jobs in their state. >> good point, joe. we compete against each other every day. as a matter of fact i made a call earlier this week to governor bentley over in alabama because he was able to secure a major manufacturer, remington they announced is coming into huntsville, alabama. we were in competition for that. and i called him and told him congratulations, job well done. and, you know, the fact is texas is not going to get them all. we will get our fair share. and states that put these tax policies into place that don't take more people's money away from them have a regulatory climate that is fair and predictable. a legal system that doesn't allow for frivolous suing. and committing to accountable

public schools. so you have a skill work force. those are the four things that drive an economy and it will work in california, it will work in new york as it's working in alabama and texas. so competition between the states, i think, is a big issue of which we are going to discuss over the course of the next 18 to 24 months. the next 12 months obviously getting prepared for the 24 races for governor and for the united states senate in particular, because washington has to respect the states and, today, i don't think that happens. i think washington, d.c. basically thinks they are the center of all thought and doesn't look like it's working that well for the country. >> yeah. so let's talk, governor, about another topic we discussed and that is work force rules. you saw what happened in tennessee over the past week as far as the unions trying 20 come in volkswagen, it was a close vote. how do we, as a party, balance,

first of all, the belief that right to work states is the best way forward, but also respecting union workers. after all, if we want to elect presidents again, we need union households voting for us just as well. reagan had the teamsters endorsing us. your tad we talked about at the rga was a working class guy from west texas. how do we balance those two things out? >> i think the real basic is that you have to have an economy where jobs are available. the teamsters have endorsed me in every one of my statewide elections through the years and we have a good working relationship with those individuals because they know that we're going to put policies into place so that they have the opportunity to have a job. if my teamster brothers are not being able to move something from point a to point b because it's not being manufactured, that doesn't help them help their family put food on the table or to be able to send their child to a university. the fact is it is first putting

policies in place so that a small business man or woman know they can risk their capital and have a chance to have a return on investment so they will hire individuals. that is the basis. if you don't do that first, then a conversation about whether jobs are going to be available is kind of a moot point. and that is what needs to be happening across this country. federal policies dealing with energy. i know we are going to talk about energy here in a minute. this administration seems to be anti-fossil fuels from the standpoint of pipeline of opening up our federal lands for exploration. the teamsters are for that. my pitch to the guys in the union is, listen, who is creating jobs so that you can work? we can talk about the negotiations and whether or not there needs to be the ability to have those negotiations but you can't do it unless there is jobs created first. so i think the unions look to

people like me, look to people like rick scott or bobby jindle and those are the states economic growth will happen. when economic growth happens the unions will be happier. >> no doubt about it, it's a balancing act and we have to continue that balancing app act. you're right, if the jobs don't come, nothing else matters to the workers whether the union or nonunion. let's talk about the energy revolution, something we discuss on this show all the time. it's going to create a renaissance in american manufacturing that is starting with the slow trickle but that revolution from texas through oklahoma up to north dakota is changing everything. can you tell americans who may not be as engaged on this subject as you are, just what it's going to mean for this

country in 2020 when we are the number one producer of oil in the world? >> it's not just the united states. it's canada, it's the united states and then mexico. the most exciting news we have seen is that mexico has decide to do liberalize their energy policies and allow for a private sector to come in and do contracts and be really engaged in the development of the energy industry in mexico. the big issue there, joe, that i don't know whether people are really focused on how that is going to impact the immigration people. a lot of people here illegal will go back home and take better jobs. this whole immigration debate is going to change because of what is happening in mexico on the energy side. but when you look at the region and a north american energy strategy that will make this region of the world energy independent i think by 2025, then you have changed the dynamic around the world. not to mention all of the jobs. a young hispanic in south texas

maybe five years ago didn't have a job or was a minimum wage job at best, today is driving a truck in the eagle ford formation, making a hundred thousand dollars a year and owns a home, they are talking about sending their children to college, this is substantive changing these people's lives forever and that is what is happening and that is what we will see happening across the country when people respect the natural resources that we have and have an administration that actually promotes the discovery and the use of our natural resources in this country instead of relying upon foreign sources of energy that sometimes don't have our best interest in mind. >> governor, you're going to be in iowa on february 27th and 28th for meetings with business leaders and to tape some shows. are you looking at running for president again? >> well, i'm governor of texas for the next ten months. >> but you're going to iowa on

february 27th. >> and i'm going to minnesota and california and illinois and i'm going to some of the northeastern states. the competition between red states and blue states will continue on. iowa is, obviously, an important state. i have committed to help temporary brandstat in his re-election campaign. terry and i are great competitors. i make a pitch for businesses to move from iowa to texas. now we're great friends. >> stealing them again. >> it's part of how you get stronger. whether you're an athlete or whether you're a governor. >> now, boys. governor, you don't just go to iowa to meet with business leaders and, you know, hang out because you're looking -- >> what are you getting to, mika? what are you talking about? >> i have the floor. >> mika, i don't shy away from telling people that running for president is an option for me in the future but it's not what i'm focused on. 2014 is what i'm focused on.

>> okay. >> we got to elect these governors and we have to take control of the senate. if we are going to change the course of the country's arm, there is no doubt that more red state governors that understand you free up people from overtax aigs and overlitigation and you have a skilled work force is the future of america and washington must decentralize. they are never going to be able to put this country back on track with the concentration of thought and the concentration of power in washington, d.c. >> hey, rick, i hope my invitation to austin is still on the table. >> what? >> because if it is, if it is, i don't want you to be in iowa or new hampshire or south carolina from march 11th to the 16th, because i want to come down to austin. >> south by southwest. >> south by southwest. >> i will be there. absolutely we will be there and we will have some great shows. robert rodriguez is doing a big announcement and cool things going on there. if you can't make, that the 2nd

through the 4th of november, the united states grand pre, the formula one race for the entire united states will be right there in austin as well. >> i want to go to that. >> it is a show. >> we will go to that too but we will see you in march and maybe we will do a show down there south by southwest. >> you need to do it. >> great to see you as always and see you very soon. >> rick perry, thank you so much. on monday's show we begin our midterm battleground series and states of play. we will go to kentucky for one of the toughest a campaigns in the country and talk about that on monday. more "morning joe" after this. ♪

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here with us now ceo of values partnerships joshua

dubois. part of the white house faith based initiative during president obama's first term and author of "the inspirational." the daily readings that inspire president obama. wonderful to have out the show. thank you for coming in. >> great to be you with. >> joe, take it away. >> josh, thank you so much. we are talking this morning about my brother's keeper, of course, the biblical references when god asked and came to where his brother was who he just killed and said i'm my brother's keeper. jesus, of course, answered later, yes, you are. >> you are. >> especially matthew 25 giving a cup of water to the thirsty and feeding the hungry and welcoming strangers. talk about this partnership that you're a part of that actually uses the needy, hooks up the needy with actually private enterprise and tries to help the

truly disadvantaged. >> it's very exciting and i'm an outside supporter and this is something led by the white house and a number of other foundations and others. it's basically rooted in the idea when it comes to young men of color, these are all of our sons and all of our brother and they have tremendous potential if we can help them second and can connect them to job training and make sure they graduate from high school and college and support them in economic endeavors and make sure they are the next ceos and entrepreneurs and to help the young men flourish and i think the president has talked about. the press is going to announce something more this next week. that is what appears to be the basically contours of the my brothers keeper. >> it's a double edged sword when we involve politics and religion and as a nation we are supposed to have the separation of church and state built into the constitution but we have a high expectation of our elected leaders to be free to talk about

their faith but not have that reflect in the direction of their politics. talk about how distinctly different that is in the modern era as we have seen our forefathers try to initiate the danger of that but how we expect of our leaders today but to find the right tone. >> that's right. i think, oftentimes, when we disagree with an elected official on policy or politics, we forget they are still human beings, still folks that, as people of faith, if you're a person of faith, we are required to pray for and we may not have to agree with them on every single issue but we can petition on them on behalf of our maker and seek the best for them and it's important to remember they are people like us with hopes and dreams and fears and challenges but at a different scale. >> joshua, don't you think it's the role of faith leaders to speak out on issues like what joe said, those important things in the bible, feed the hungry. well, there was a proposal to drop 40 billion dollars out of the food stamp program. where were the leaders of faith saying, hold on a second?

what faith teaches us it is our obligation to take care of our brother and feed the hungry and to heal the sick. i haven't heard some leaders of faith have done that, but not all. >> well, i think there are voices of faith standing up around the country and saying that these policy issues that you described snap the food stamps program and others are moral issues and great work happening in north carolina right now. clergy across the state are standing up around an initiative called moral monday saying some leaders in that state are doing to cut food stamps and cut support for the poor is just wrong and so i'm excited about that and the movement that is sparking around the country. >> sounds great. >> you've written beautifully will praying for presidents, all president, which we would agree because there are complicated situations out there. before the break, we were talking about the olympics which we have on one side of the front of "usa today." >> yeah. >> and then russia, of course, shadow over ukraine and the bloodshed there. >> yeah. >> that's complicated because the president has difficult decisions to make.

but so do we watching the olympics. do we not? >> that's right. i think we have to keep in mind the moral components of everything that we do and we can't just watch the olympics and act like everything is okay when the russian government appears to be supporting a brutal crackdown. i think it's our obligation to remember that. i'm enjoying, you know, ice dancing and ski jumping and everything else, but i'm not at all supporting what the russian president is supporting in ukraine. >> joe? >> joshua, thank you for coming and we greatly appreciate it. i think as probably the only republican on this panel, i just want to say a couple of things and i kind of feel like i need to push back and then, josh, give you the final word here. first of all, our founding fathers did believe, actually, that faith had a role in government. and in the legislation that was pushed forward. you look at the words not only from the founding but all the way through jfk and other leaders. faith was very important and was a guiding principle in decisions

they made as leader. also there is a question, josh, is there a question of how best to take care of the truly disadvantaged and take care of the poor. a lot of us believe that a top-down approach from the federal government sometimes is short-sided approach and sometimes there are excesses that actually hurt the working poor and also the truly disadvantaged. that is what i believe. you may believe something different. but let's all agree as we end here that this is a great approach because it's and all of the above approach where we are getting the private sector involved and we are getting individuals involved and we are getting leaders from the government involved and that is something let's end this on something that the republicans and democrats can both agree on, the truly disadvantaged need to be taken care of and we need to figure out the best way forward. >> i completely with you, joe. >> fair enough. >> this is an initiative that is bringing together the private secreta sector and conservatives and

progressiv progressives. the white house will give us more details next week. >> joshua, thank you. up next the man who built the barclay center has a new blueprint for brooklyn. bruce radner describes his latest program when "morning joe" comes right back. before larry instantly transferred money from his bank of america savings account to his merrill edge retirement account. before he opened his first hot chocolate stand calling winter an "underserved season". and before he quit his friend's leaf-raking business for "not offering a 401k." larry knew the importance of preparing for retirement. that's why when the time came he counted on merrill edge to streamline his investing and help him plan for the road ahead. that's the power of streamlined connections. that's merrill edge and bank of america. ♪ they lived.

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♪ here with us now, executive chairman of forest city-ratner companies. >> ratner & ratner. >> the owner and developer of the barclays center, bruce ratner, along with steve ratner. and, you know, you two could be related. >> we are related. >> what? >> we are related. my sister and his sister did the whole genology thing, and somewhere back a few generations -- >> maybe four, five. >> in some slum eastern europe, we were related. >> did you find yourself at a time in your life being obsessed with charts and graphs? how about bathing in money? no? >> you must be talking about another ratner, that's all i can think of. >> oh, steve ratner. >> we like to say that's the two "t" ratner. >> but related somehow, somewhere. >> what if i could get you and

brute ratner in the same room together. this man is so nice. we need to go to watch a concert at his place. joe? joe? >> no, no, no, no doubt about it, it's amazing what's going on out there. and you're in the center of one of the most exciting places on earth right now. i love the stories of people that are immigrating to america. they're asking that new york not be put on their passport, that brooklyn be put on their passport. talk about what's happening over in brooklyn, and how you're just a central part of that. >> well, it's a miracle, hone honestly. brooklyn's had greater apartment growth, greater employment growth than manhattan, than they place in the city. it's probably the hottest marketplace in the city. whether it's media, artists, young people. jay-z said 15 years ago, people wouldn't say they were born in brooklyn. now, they say they were born in brooklyn when they never even saw brooklyn.

that's how hot it is. i'm glad to contribute to it, but a lot of people made this happen. >> what about the changing face of real estate in brooklyn, which year involved with? i mean, explain the concept and what's new about it. >> well, you know, there's a lot of residential building going on in brooklyn. one of the difficulties for a developer is prices go up, and up, and you have to charge more for rent. the idea is how do you keep costs down on construction. so we've come up with, i think, a major innovation which is modular construction. basically building most of the building in a factory, and then on-site putting the modules one on top of the other, connecting them, and the quality's excellent, more sustainability, fast construction. so it's a -- i think this will make a huge difference in the long run in the city in terms of construction in the country. >> that's fascinating. >> that kind of leads to the question, i mean it's a horrifically expensive real estate market here in new york. >> yes, it is. >> many people obviously rent. what's your definition of affordable housing?

how do we get to that point where there is more affordable housing, and what is affordable housing? >> that's a really good question. affordable housing, some people say it's a lower-income, you know, up to maybe $30,000 for a family of three or four. but we consider affordable housing to include middle-income housing, so i would say up to a family of probably $90,000 to $100,000 in this city, and we need a lot more affordable housing. we need something called workforce housing. workforce housing would be a police officer and their family, a fireman -- you know, basically teachers, people who earn, you know, reasonable income, but can't find housing near the city. so we need a lot more of it. it's a difficult problem. we've got a shortage of land. the new administration is very, very -- wants housing -- the bloomberg administration did a great job with housing, but de blasio wants more housing, made it major aspect of what he wants to do. >> bruce, one more question, and we've got to go. but raising the minimum wage. you saw what gap did. i would love to be educated on

how this is such a bad idea to raise the minimum wage and give people at least the semblance of a living wage. >> well, i believe very, very strongly in a higher minimum wage. >> yes, but doesn't it hurt the economy and kill jobs? >> i don't think there's any proof of that that i've seen. i've read a lot of material on it. and this issue about income inequality is a very major issue in this country. you have to attack it in different ways. for the lowest income, you must have a higher minimum wage. by the way, minimum wage, 2-to-1, women are at the minimum wage. >> there you go. >> versus men. what's that all about? >> bruce ratner, will you come back? >> i'd love to come back. >> steve, will you join us? >> sure, i get to see steve. >> family. we keep the family together. >> all right. >> bruce ratner, thank you so much. see you soon. up next, the latest attempt to come to a cease-fire in ukraine and what tools the u.s. may have to influence the situation. "morning joe" will be right back. ♪ [ male announcer ] how could switchgrass in argentina,

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♪ good morning, it's 8:00 on the east coast, 5:00 a.m. on the west coast, as you take a live look at new york city. back with us on set, we have mike barnicle, thomas roberts. >> mornin'. >> the kindle. >> steve rattner. and in washington, eugene robinson, a great panel, and, joe, so much going on today. >> so much going on today. you look at the pictures coming out of ukraine, and, you know, we said it before, it looks an

awful like hungary in 1956 and czechoslovakia in '68. the question is, you said some very provocative things, mika, what is our response going to be? not only after the olympics, but maybe even during the olympics ceremonies. >> ukraine's president announced early elections and promised to form a coalition government. it follows a deadly day yesterday where government, police, forces used combat weapons -- shooting and killing as many as 70 protesters. according to doctors for the opposition, the dead were everywhere, including makeshift hospitals and hotel lobbies. but the protesters redoubled their effort, fortifying their defensive in kiev's main square. secretary of state john kerry has condemned the violence, and once again vice president biden phoned ukraine's president, but the government's main ally, russia, is standing firm. prime minister dimitri medvedev

urged the ukraine to be tougher so people don't wipe their feet on authority like a doormat. the front page of today's "wall street journal" tells the tale of two cities. >> mika, let me get in here for a second. >> okay. >> mike barnicle, most of people around the set, and i suppose some people watching are actually too young to remember, but these pictures -- >> yeah. >> -- the fact that we're getting these pictures out of the ukraine, out of ukraine in 2014, stunning. >> oh, my gosh. >> it looks like the cover of "life" pictures from czechoslovakia in 1956 or hungary in 1968. it is unbelievable in this day and age that russia is still trying to exert this type of influence over ukraine, or is suggesting that they shoot and kill even more demonstrators only because they want to be closer to the european style of government and not to putin's

tyrannical ways. >> it's stunning. >> does this not look like a time lapse from hungary 1968? >> joe, the pictures and what's been said over the airwaves for the last three, four days, the streaming videos, are horrific. just horrific violence in a very cultured, very civilized place, independence square in the ukraine. beautiful city. a beautiful site, now destroyed in multiple ways -- both physically as well as in the minds of many people around the world who recognize it as a citadel of civilization. but the larger worry, i was told yesterday by a high-ranking official in the united states government is what happens when the olympics conclude. >> yeah. >> and the spotlight is removed from sochi and from russia when the international media leaves that region? what does putin do next week?

i mean, when the handcuffs, so to speak -- he's been restrained a bit, people say, because of the intense media glare surrounding the olympics. when the olympics -- >> well, mike -- >> -- conclude, there's great concern that the crackdown might be even more harsh than it has been. >> mike, that begs the question, if that happens, what does the united states do? what does that top-ranking official in the united states government do? what is our official response? and what can we do short of sending military aid? because we're not going to send military aid to ukraine. but at the same time, we have to work together in concert with other nations to isolate putin if that happens. we have three flashoppone point across the globe now, ukraine in vivid terms, syria where the bloodshed goes on. just at horrific levels. crimes against humanity being committed.

and then, of course, iran who looks like they're going to walk away from the table and move towards nuclear weapons. what's the common denominator in all three of those world crises? vladimir putin. what's the united states' response? what's the president going to say? what's the secretary of state going to say? what's the united states government going to say? what are we going to do? how aggressively are we going to work against vladimir putin? that's the question. >> well, i think you add to that question, what about all the people making a lot of money at the olympics, people performing there, the people competing there, the people sponsoring there? what are they going to do? why are they there? is this okay? i'm just curious. it's kind of strange, isn't it? >> to joe's point, steven, i'm sure you thought about this, as well, to joe's point, the larger issue here -- and joe's right. the american military is broken,

and economically we can't afford to, you know, intrude much further than we're doing. but the idea that we haven't assembled a coalition, including germany, which would be a very strong and forceful voice in such a coalition, is kind of mystifying at this point, that we haven't been more vocal. the vice president yesterday called and asserted himself and asserted our role in that region. but there's got to be a little stronger voice, i would -- as they say. >> yeah, i would think. >> look, one, obviously, no matter what shape our military is in, we wouldn't be sending military into what is essentially an internal issue any more we did to hungary in 1956 or czechoslovakia in 1968. >> or sarajevo. >> until sarajevo until much later. but secondly, i do think the europeans -- and we are trying to get together and do something -- but our options are limited. are you going to talk about sanctions? revoking visas? >> well, we wouldn't want to t interrupt ice dancing.

let's go to amman. why don't you bring us up to date on the events overnight, and i know there's some sort of framework in place, but the fighting continues? >> that's right. well, there was a shaky truce that went into effect on wednesday. that completely was shattered early thursday morning. and by middle of the day yesterday, you had european mediators on the ground in kiev trying to negotiate some kind of an agreement. and this morning, they were able to announce that a tentative agreement had been reached. they say tentative very cautiously, because they don't know yet if both sides would agree to it, and we saw some of this play out inside the ukrainian parliament, which actually broke out into a brawl between politicians who support the president an those that represent some of the political opposition. the agreement, as we understand it, would call for early elections. it would also call for president yanukovych to have some of his powers stripped away, and for the country to go back to the constitution it was using back in 2004. many people that constitution was a little bit more inclusive and allowed for more civil

liberties. the question, though, is whether or not both sides will agree to it once they go back to their representative positions. on the street, though, that remains very tense situation in kiev, madan square, the main center where the protests have been. there have been reports of gunfight exchanges between the police and protesters. the protesters have been able to regain some of the territory that they have lost in the past 48 hours. yesterday, the deadliest day in ukraine's history. but this morning, they were able to reclaim some of the major streets and alleyways around the square, and people are still coming back to the square despite the fact that there was this very deadly day on thursday. mika? >> nbc's ayman mujaladin. joe, it's convoluted to say the least. >> no doubt about it. let's read what peggy noonan said in the "wall street journal." whose side are we on? conservatives who understandably and legitimately want no more military interventions -- i count myself as one of those -- have forgotten the power of the

articulated encouragement that means saying what side you're on and why. and what principles you back. in this case, they should stand with the people in independence square in kiev just as much as their predecessors stood with the people of the warsaw pact. just because it doesn't seem there's much you can do, doesn't mean there isn't a lot you can say. and in the saying, show to the world that your country, for all its woes, for all its limits, for all of its distractions, still has a beating heart. senator rob portman, on "morning joe" yesterday, said, quote, i think we need to stand with the people who are supporting democracy and freedom. that, he said, is our tradition, our history. it is. we should stick with it. and not only for the world but for ourselves, to remember who we are. eugene robinson -- >> yeah.

>> -- it's stunning, these pictures. >> yeah. >> as we've been saying. i was talking about hungary '56, czechoslovakia '68. i'm sure you remember the prague spring in '68, what the soviets then did to the leaders of that revolution. isn't it almost surreal in 2014 to see these images coming out, like they're coming out from prague in 1968? and what can the united states do? >> well, that's -- that's really the question, joe. i mean, last night, secretary of state john kerry put out a very tough statement that peggy noonan could have written, saying that, yes, we stand with the side -- with the forces of freedom and democracy, and president yanukovych immediately must form -- work with the opposition to establish an interim government. it stopped short of -- of course, it calls for an end to the thuggish violence -- a

proper use of the word "thug" -- that's taking place. but it stopped short of saying president yanukovych must go. and i suspect that's because when this -- you know, when this country comes out and says "x" must go, president someone must go, like president assad, and then they don't go, then we end up in a worse situation, and your question is the right one. what can the united states do to influence events besides working -- >> sanctions? >> -- with the e.u. for sanctions, and obviously, there need to be very tough sanctions. >> and, gene, can i -- can i add something else to that? >> mm-hmm. >> that you touched on. what can we do, that is the question. we are obviously coming off a decade of war. we're exhausted by war. conservatives are exhausted by

war. liberals are exhausted by wars. neocons may want to continue the fight in afghan and other places. but most of america does not. still, the alternative it seems that this administration's been taking -- whether you look at iran in 2009, whether you look at syria over the past two years, it's too early to tell with the ukraine right now, seems to be -- seems to be an overcorrection, basically a hands-off approach, saying, well, we can't do anything about it. the president was slow to criticize iran in 2009 when they were killing people in their own streets. syria continues to be a nightmare that we as a country will have to figure out. and now we have this crisis. has the white house possibly overcorrected the mistakes of bush and cheney? >> well, possibly. i kind of doubt that it has given the question that you and i can't answer -- what exactly

can they do? take the counterexample of egypt and the white house from some quarters gets criticized now for, you know, when it really reached a tipping point, saying mubarak must go and siding with the people who are out in tahrir square and the result was, you know, a muslim brotherhood government that the united states liked in some ways less than mubarak, mubarak's government. so these are not easy problems. these are not easy questions to answer. and you can make a mistake either way. >> all right, steve rattner, what can the white house do to pressure putin on an economic level? and don't we have a lot at hand right now given there's a huge international event going on that we have completely interconnected with, that we could pull out of if we wanted to? isn't his ego bigger than his financial mind? how can we pressure him

economically, and isn't there some other ways we can work here? >> i think what you're hearing everybody saying is we're not so sure about that. a sense of frustration that there's a very limited amount we can do. we can have sanctions. we can have visa restrictions. we can do this stuff, but the fact is, we don't have a lot of influence over putin, as joe was just describing all the places in the world where he's exerting his influence, we're trying. but we have limited things. pulling out of the olympics at this stage, i don't know -- i don't know that we really want to do that. >> why? >> just to point out one other thing, mika. if the united states were essentially to break diplomatically -- not end diplomatic relations but to get really, really tough on putin and russia -- there's a cost to that. and the cost that the administration must be thinking about, for example, is iran. another one of these situations that we're talking about, where the russians have not been terribly cooperative, but could be cooperative and could in some ways help with the iranian

nuclear situation in very important ways. they're about to sell them another nuclear reactor. the united states wants to have a relationship with putin that can be constructive. maybe that's impossible. maybe there is no truly constructive relationship you can build with this guy. >> exactly. how long are we going to figure this out? >> it's not a small step to say -- you know, to write him off, because you're writing off a lot of other situations in the world. >> mika, steve is on to the critical point of this whole issue. it's not a question of what we can do. it's a question of, we can't do it alone. we cannot do it alone. we have to have a coalition here. where is germany here? where is great britain here? where are the european countries? most affected by what is happening in the neighboring nation. we cannot do this alone, no more than we can do the middle east alone. and we've got to start building a strong coalition to deal issues like this and to deal with a legitimate thug, vladimir putin, who's one of the world's richest men -- >> right.

>> -- who has ripped off his own country, ripped us off, and is basically performing international blackmail in country after country after country. >> real quickly, the e.u., iranian talks are off to a great start, so to steve's point, the crackdown on putin and how that extends to the other allies, he mentioned what's taking place this. he just said the talks are off to a good start. >> let's remember they have this tentative agreement to hold elections. the interesting question looking ahead is what is putin going to do now? because if this truce and this tentative agreement holds, then ukraine is actually moving in a slightly better direction, and the next play is up to putin. >> up on "morning joe," the first lady stopped by "the tonight show with jimmy fallon." but how does the late-night landscape change for politicians with jay leno gone? it will still be funny, don't worry. mike allen has that in the morning "playbook." first, here's bill karins. i mean, i don't know, bill. it's just gotta stop at some point.

come on, bill. >> it does. but the question is, how long can we possibly continue to talk about winter weather and cold? usually march is when we turn the corner. not this year. first, let's get through the severe weather of yesterday. 13 tornadoes in illinois. now we're watching the line of storms, still with a lot of lightning on it, rolling through areas from the panhandle of florida, right up through central georgia. and nothing too severe like tornadoes, but we could get wind damage. watch out in tallahassee. it's about to move through your area. here's the storm reports from yesterday. notice all of the blue dots with damaging winds. a lot of cleanup out there, a lot of power outages. the weekend forecast -- the keys to the forecast is pretty mild on the east coast, even after today's rain. and the cold air continues to plague the northern plains after almost a foot of snow in minneapolis. 15 on saturday. and unfortunately, the cold air is going to win out all next week. there's the sign of things to come. chicago, 23 on sunday. and i'm telling you, next week will be frigid all through pretty much everywhere east of

the rockies, it looks ugly for another seven to ten days. we leave you the shot of washington, d.c. going to have some rain moving through today. you'll see a beautiful weekend with temperatures in the 50s and sunshine. enjoy. you're watching "morning joe." take a closer look at your fidelity green line and you'll see just how much it has to offer, especially if you're thinking of moving an old 401(k) to a fidelity ira. it gives you a wide range of investment options... and the free help you need to make sure your investments fit your goals -- and what you're really investing for. tap into the full power of your fidelity green line. call today and we'll make it easy to move that old 401(k) to a fidelity rollover ira. you want everything.orks an expert ford technician knows

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ask. ♪ you can't eat the doughnut hole off the screen, mike. >> oh, man. close your mouth. let's look at the morning papers. "usa today" protests continue to

escalate in venezuela this morning as the government there tries to restore order. demonstrations against president nicolas maduro have now spread from caracas to several large cities across the country. several military units have been dispatched to help stop the violence, but the government says this is not a militarizati militarization. lopez faces 10 years in prison for his role in these protests. and this story from the "washington times." investigators say two navy s.e.a.l.s were found dead aboard the ship made famous in the movie "captain phillips." brown powdered substances said to be drugs were found near the bodies. both men passed extensive drug screening before working on the ship. the cause of their deaths is under investigation. the "wall street journal," china is urging the u.s. to cancel president obama's meeting with the dalai lama this morning. the chinese born -- >> whatever.

>> -- the chinese foreign ministry said it would damage ties between the two countries. he's called a wolf in sheep's clothing who seeks to promote anti-chinese activities. the white house says it does not plan to scrap the meeting, thank you. joe? >> and this from "the new york times," the archbishop of newark is under fire for his lavish weekend home. archbishop john meyers is putting on $500,000 addition paid for by the archdiocese. >> what? >> well, if you read your sermon on the mount, you will see blessed are the meek, blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed those religious leaders who add $500,000 renovations to their homes using the money of their parishioners. i think that's, like, in the niv. i'm not sure. it's hard to get that original greek, isn't it, barnicle? because the translations from the original greek or hebrew to

modern day -- it gets lost in translation, right? >> well, joe, as michael powell in "the new york times" opponenopponent points out in that piece, the archbishop is representative of the isolated, arrogant mentality of so many bishops in the united states who turned a blind eye to what was going on with so many pedophile priests over the past decade, decade and a half, and have obstructed justice and have decided to live a high lifestyle all by themselves, to the exclusion of parishes that close, not only throughout new jersey but across the country. >> and perhaps -- >> of course, the $500,000 of the parishioners' money, it's going to go to renovations on an indoor pool, a hot tub and an elevator. >> elevator, yeah. >> and three fireplaces. this comes, as mike said, as the church has closed several schools in newark claiming it didn't have enough money to keep them open. and, mika, how ironic that you

have a pope who's trying to live a more simple life, and you have a bishop like this stuck in the past. i suspect we may hear something from the vatican over this. >> it's not going to work. it's not going to work for him. yes. thank you, joe. >> no, it's not going to work. not under this pope. >> no. from our parade of papers, the "washington post", a plan to divide california into six separate states is gaining some traction. the state gave silicon valley venture capitalist tim draper permission to collect signatures to get the six californias on the ballot. draper believes the state is too big to be governed efficiently. california is home to 38 million people. the state would have the eighth largest economy in the world if it were its own country. it's kind of an interesting concept, actually. joe? >> interesting and yet stupid. "the seattle times" schools in washington state are winning the fight against childhood obesity. between 2010 and 2012, the rate

of obesity dropped 17% among teens and low-income areas around seattle. that's the largest decline since the state began tracking obesity rates. this follows nearly $3 million investment into programs that promote healthy eating habits and, most importantly, i think, mika, physical activity for students. let me go back to that california story. i mean, six -- six californias? kind of crazy. i could see a southern california and a northern california. >> oh, that sounds cool. >> it's a massive state, and it is ungovernable, and who knows? maybe two californias would make more sense. >> but perhaps this starts the conversation. >> yeah. >> it clearly has been struggling for so many years to -- >> and then they have 12 senators. >> exactly. >> can you imagine the money northern california could collect just based upon their water supply to southern california? because most of the water that southern california gets comes from northern california. >> okay. let's go to this weekend's "parade" magazine, features the winners of the product of the

year award. i love this. i can't wait to read it. with us is chief white house correspondent mike allen for politico, with the morning "playbook." good to see you, mike. good morning. >> well, mika, happy friday! >> there we go. looking for that. it is friday. >> everything's okay now. >> it is friday. god, has it been one of those weeks? >> he hit that one out of the park, didn't he? >> first lady michelle obama, mike, was a guest on "the tonight show with jimmy fallon" last night. she was pretty good. they shared laughs about obamacare. take a look. >> thanks to the affordable care act, young people can stay on their parents' insurance until they're 26, but once they hit 26, they're on their own, and a lot of young people think they're invincible. but the truth is, young people are knuckleheads. you know? [ laughter ] they're the ones who are cookin' for the first time and slice their finger open. they're dancing on the bar stool. >> young people, yeah, yeah, yeah. >> yeah, the young people. >> i would never do both of those things, this past summer. no, no, no.

>> for the moms and dads out there worried about your kids, we want you to encourage your kids to sign up for that peace of mind that we all look for. >> healthcare.gov is the website if you haven't read about it in the news or anything. >> yeah. >> you know what it is. it's up and running, and i'm happy to say -- >> it's working! >> it's working now. [ applause ] it's working. >> it's so much better when it's working. >> she was good, and she's right. the young people need to be reminded to sign up when they hit 26 years old. i'm serious. get them to sign up. are your kids signing up, steve rattner? >> i have one -- i sign her up. i sign her up. >> so, mike, a new piece on politico says the new era of late-night tv is changing the landscape for politics. explain that. >> well, mika, we saw there the genuine chemistry that jimmy fallon and mrs. obama have, and we talked to a bunch of politicians and consultants about what they think the leno-to-fallon switch will mean.

and they like jimmy fallon, because the politicians have a chance to do something different. he does the sketches before that interview. mrs. obama did a sketch with will farrell. and jimmy fallon. those are more likely to go viral and do more for the politicians. but, mika, we discovered that republicans are a little worried about losing jay leno. mark mckennen, mike murphy, told us that jay leno went out of his way to make republicans feel welcomed. senator mccain told us that in his green room, he always had cupcakes, because that's what he liked. showed him around the car collection. jimmy fallon's less likely to do politicians, and they love it, because it's a chance to show another side and to appeal to young people. >> well, joe, when you went on jay, i thought, first of all, he was incredibly nice, and he was really interested in sort of hearing the other side. >> yeah, he was. i mean -- i think most people -- i've heard -- i never saw any

evidence of it, though -- that jay leno's politics may have been center left. but he was always very fair. i remember john mccain being on. i remember schwarzenegger coming out. but i think with jimmy fallon, just like with people that watch "south park," i think you're going to see a guy that represents the view of younger americans that are going to be cynical about both parties, going to poke fun at both parties. i don't think republicans have anything to worry about here. i don't know what his politics are, but i certainly know that he's going to have a healthy dose of skepticism for republicans and democrats alike. and i think it's going to be fun and entertaining. >> he's into the politics, the funny. if it's funny, he'll do it. they shouldn't worry -- politico's mike allen, thank you. coming up, a new report says it's not just processed foods that are bad for you. it's also the packaging they're wrapped in. it's so true, isn't it? you shouldn't nuke it in the -- yeah. the author of the bestseller

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♪ nestle usa issuing a voluntary recall of certain hot pockets.

>> the food company says they contain a small amount of recalled beef. [ laughter ] >> oh, my god! i had no idea they put actual beef in these! [ laughter ] i thought the insides were just stuff they found in their pockets. [ laughter ] >> joining us now, pulitzer prize winning journalist michael moss. his book "salt, sugar, fat, how the food joints hooked us" is out in paper back, and i believe this book has started a revolution, a moment in history where we're all looking at the food we eat differently. thanks in part to you. the book's out in paperback. the reaction you've gotten, have you seen any significant, at least, efforts to change our diet overall? or what's the response? >> i think it's been a bad year for food giants. >> very bad. >> more and more people are caring about what they put in their bodies. they're demanding healthier versions of the products, and

the companies are going, "can we do it?" and our own incredible, deep reliance of gods of salt, sugar, fat, to make the products convenience, low-priced and utterly tasty, they're struggling. >> it is a struggle. because salt, sugar, fat, mike barnicle, is what makes you want to buy it. i'm not joking. >> 70 pounds of sugar a year we put into our bodies. i mean, we get it. adults get it, what you're talking about, which you've written about. what about the dangers, the constant and chronic danger of taking little kids into the supermarket with you when you're shopping and the cereal line, you know, and you look at some of the cereals -- count chocula, they ought to take a bowl of sugar and dump it into their systems. >> and it's so precisely engineered. they put devices on people's head to measure eye movements. they know when you walk in the aisle, your attention goes to the center part of the aisle,

the eye level, so that's where they put the most sugary things. >> what kind of devices? tell me -- >> it measures eye movements by miliseconds, so they can tell what you're looking at. the contractors for the retailers. >> real li? >> no, it's a precise -- the supermarket, you know, it's this la la land, neon colors, soft music, precisely tuned to help you make impulse decision deci. you can fight back. it's knowing all of the tricks they throw at you when you take the kids into the supermarket. they have to look low on the shelf or ask you to reach high, that's where the less sugary cereals are. there they're there. you have to hunt for them. >> for parents looking for healthy alternatives to teach their kids, because we all learn from those above us, so sometimes we got introduced as kids that we fall in love with, what do you say to parents o the there to help teach kids the healthy habits so they can grow

with them? >> i spent a whole chapter on the demise of the whole economics system in this country, where girls, but also boys to some extent, were taught to cook, shop, be mindful. you have to engage the kids. you can't preach to them, tell them. you have to explain to them that they are especially hard-wired for sugar. every one of their little 10,000 taste buds is just craving that sweet taste. and the problem is that the companies have made everything in the store sweet. >> everything has sugar in it. that's the bigger issue. you can't teach. where will they get something without sugar in it? barbecue sauce. >> yogurt can be as sweet as ice cream. >> potato chips have sugar in them. okay, it's everywhere. it's really -- it has become almost pervasive in our society where you have to work really hard to find something without sugar, but then it might have salt. >> isn't it big money to be made for the companies that are willing to invest in organic and healthy foods to get us back to a more naturally balanced diet?

>> well, organic's another thing. you have to be careful with that. an organic product will theoretically be lower in pesticides, but it can still be loaded with fat, sugar, and salt. you have to be worried about that. >> so do healthier foods, or would healthier foods with less sugar, would healthier foods be more expensive for families -- >> right now, they are. >> it is now. >> that's the problem. >> shopping in the produce section is more expensive than going -- >> you can't afobd to do that. >> -- frozen food and getting the pizza, right? >> let me ask you now, as your book pertains to mine, on food addiction, and you're writing another one on the addictive quality of certain substances. i have been struggling with t s this, you make fun of me with the doughnuts or whatever, and the burger cookies you gave me the other day, in all seriousness, i ate the chocolate off every one, and i couldn't stop. [ laughter ] no, it's funny, but it's not.

because i ate so much sugar in one sitting. and i had to. and i was about to faint if i didn't literally get a huge amount of that chocolate from the burger cookies in my mouth. >> i feel bad. >> yeah, you should. >> and then i almost got sick. but i don't think i'm alone in food obsession and food adu addicti addiction. is there anything beyond my own lack of discipline that is physiological about this addiction? what are you finding? >> i am digging into that really close here. and i love your book, by the way, because it's so empowering for readers. and i love that you can sort of laugh about the situation. there's no question that for many people, they can't touch sugar without losing control. >> right. >> and the real question is, are they born that way, or is this a result of sort of the mass infusion savage marketing by the food giants in habituating us to

sugar? it may be a little bit of both, but i'm going to find out. >> i can't wait. don't feel bad. i love them. but maybe just give me one, thomas. >> okay, moderation. >> thank you. the book is "salt, sugar, fat" now out in paperback. it's an incredible book. every home should have this on the bookshelf and read it. michael moss, thank you so much. >> so great to see you. if you like the lights to work on airport runways, you know, like, so the pilot can see the runway, you're going to want to hear about a new troubling investigation uncovered at jfk. but first, what's driving today's markets? cnbc's sarah eisen has "business before the bell." "morning joe" is back in a moment.

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all right. 45 past the hour. you know what time it is? it's time for "business before the bell" with cnbc's sarah eisen. sarah. >> good morning, mika. we're all still trying to digest the massive deal in silicon valley, facebook forking over $16 billion to buy whatsapp. we're tallying it all up, and so far, for 2014, m&a deal volume is at $50 billion, and that's very notable, because we haven't seen that kind of level since back in 2000, the height of the tech bubble, the tech boom. it's really been driven by two forces. google and facebook, because besides the facebook deal, was the $3.2 billion deal, google buying nest, the smart thermometer, and you have the battle of the titans between

mark zuckerberg and larry page to scoop up the next big thing in silicon valley. it makes you wonder where apple is on all of the dealmaking. >> exactly. cnbc's sarah eisen, thank you very much. good to have you on. >> thank you. also, by the way, everybody, the latest women of value column is posted on our site, mojoe.msnbc.com. i've studied it all again, and it's about why top white house advisor valerie jarrett, my friend, says you can have it all dot-dot-dot. we talk about all sorts of issues talking about her, her life, and the leadership among women in the white house, especially. safety issues on the runway of jfk airportment a new investigation reveals serious issues with the hub's electrical system. keep it right here on "morning joe."

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welcome back, everybody. it's a great news story by mika's husband. >> he showed it to me last night. it's amazing. >> let's talk when this, because you'll want to hear about it. the new safety questions surfacing about one of the busiest airports in the country. workers fear a meltdown could be imminent because of jfk's electrical system. wabc's jim hoffer has that

investigation. >> reporter: from above, everything looks fine from the lights on jfk's runways. but it's below ground, sources tell us, where years of neglect eat away at the electrical system. exclusive video shows the signs of disrepair everywhere, from cables overheating underground to main taxiways that are pitch black for long stretches. in this case, you can see how the taxiway's green centerline disappears into darkness. not just one, but two key taxiways still open with serious outages. >> we know we have a problem. >> reporter: the director for port authority airports blames the saltwater from storm sandy 16 months ago for the airport's current electrical problems. but he insists the taxiways and runways are operating safely. >> we wouldn't do it if it wasn't safe. it's not ideal, believe me, and you're right, it is a serious problem. that's why we're working 24/7 to

try to correct it. >> pretty amazing. so do you think that -- i mean, the attention that this is getting -- do you think changes will happen? we had nancy gibbs talking about airport issues with the suspension, because of the travel issues with the weather, but this says a whole lot. >> the investigation says the problem extends beyond taxiways. last month, jfk experienced a power outage, forcing it to close one of its main runways for 30 hours and forcing a halt to departures for up to 45 minutes and the problem could be widespread. in the last four months, jfk posted 76 notices for out-of-service runway and taxiway lights. that's five times more than o'hare airport, which has the same -- or a similar size, which is ridiculous. they're going to have a reaction to this, i'm sure. and if you look at the piece on 7online.com, the video on the problems is incredible. >> an eye-opener. >> it is. what, if anything, did we learn today, next. spokesperson: we decided to settle this.

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remember that baby? >> no, i don't. >> that baby was so cute. >> a lot of babies out there. i don't remember. i'm jokin'! ♪ >> my mother wrote me another lovely e-mail. could you read it, please? >> so now i have seen the glasses, and i think they are

really bad. there are so many good-looking glasses around, surely you can do better than that than what you wear now. >> thanks, mom. >> harold, i'm sorry, this is one of the rare times in the history of msnbc where democrats outnumber 3-to-1, and the dear viewers at home, the democratic hour of power. >> this is how you feel? >> the next line in the report states actual losses could be smaller. the report also states -- >> i don't see that in this report. >> i thought it was in the middle. [ laughter ] >> the silver jacket only goes to medallists, or you can go to that store right there and buy one for $100. >> an exclusive group. >> yeah, you'll eat me, and you won't be here anymore. >> but we have the world championship coming up! [ heavy accent ] thank you! >> record is five times for a host held by -- >> angela lansbury? >> how did you get that? >> how did you come up with that? >> did you once date her?

>> oh, my goodness. >> it's "morning joe," i have nothing else to say. here's chuck. ♪ have to get away time to look at what we learned today. joe scarborough, did you learn anything? >> i learned absolutely nothing. you know, it's nothing new. we actually -- we do, though, have an ongoing problem with russia. george w. bush couldn't figure it out. this president's having problems. so what i've learned is we're going to have to fine-tune our foreign policy and figure out a way forward. thomas, what have you learned? >> same thing when it comes to ukraine, joe, we can't cover and talk about that story enough with the atrocities that have happened to the people over there, who are trying to just invoke their right to free speech. >> real quick, mike barnicle? >> rick perry has a whole new look going -- glasses, short hair. >> okay. >> a whole new look. >> ed rendell? >> late-night comics, running for president again. >> and steve rattner, like "all in the family" you agree the minimum wage should be hiked. >> i do. i was glad to learn bruce ratner

was a big supporter of it. >> way to go, bruce. >> it's time for "morning joe," and now time for "the daily rundown." have a great weekend. ♪ tainted love state of action. as congress and the white house throw in the towel already on some big things, we'll talk to some governors that are gathering here in washington about what they're trying to get done back in their home state. also this morning -- there may be hope on the horizon for an end to the bloodshed in ukraine. we'll get the latest on the prospects for this tentative peace deal that has not yet fully been agreed to. and a "deep dive" with the latest billionaire to pledge big dollars to make a political point. what's tom steyer's top target for 2014? good morning from washington, february 21st, 2014. this is "the daily rundown." i'm chuck todd. we have a lot going on today. we'll get you an update on ukraine in a few minutes. first, the "first reads." if you'reoo