on our broadcast tonight, war games, a show of force from vladimir putin, dispatching the russian army to the border with ukraine as the u.s. sends a strong message in response. the age factor, the medical news out today about older fathers and the potential risks of having children near middle age. bracing for impact, on the coast east and west, records falling here in the east, a know california, a new threat with desperately needed rain on the way. and they will get that and more. and high times in colorado, where it is all perfectly legal, the people chowing down and lighting up may surprise you. tonight a look at the sweeping change. nightly news begins now.

good evening, and with the olympic games now over let the war games begin. tonight, russian president vladimir putin has dispatched more than 150,000 army troops to western russia, the area that borders with ukraine. officially they're there for military exercises but no one is missing the meaning of this. and just a few days since the fall of kiev, more and more people are saying it is starting to feel like old times, the times that brought us partitions and walls and east versus west and standoffs between super powers. with the now former president of ukraine missing and his government having fallen, tonight the u.s. has sent a warning to russia about how to proceed here after this provocative move. it is where we begin our coverage tonight with our chief foreign correspondent richard engel in kiev. richard, good evening. >> reporter: good evening,

brian, russian media described this as the biggest war game since the soviet era, it is being personally overseen by vladimir putin. the question tonight is this just saber-rattling or cover for military action? there were clashes today in crimea, between those who support last week's revolution and want closer ties to europe, and those that want to be bound to crimea, bound to mother russia. it is the southeastern-most part of ukraine, reaching out to the black sea just off the russian coast. crimes was part of russia until the '50s, and still is home to the black sea fleet. russia has no plans to give it up. vladimir putin announced surprise military exercises near ukraine's border. 150,000 russian combat troops and heavy weapons involved in war games.

also, unspecified measures to reinforce the black sea fleet. the defense minister said according to orders from the president as of 2:00 p.m., we are on high alert. russia has reason to worry that ukraine may be slipping away. in a rural town that is called -- named after lenin, it is taken down. the ukrainians have taken down the statue. they plan to change their name, the statue here will soon go into the fields to become a sculpture. they are carving a new bust of a ukrainian poet to take its place at city hall. he says that ukraine should be a part of europe. >> we have to stand here to protect europe. it is true. >> reporter: tonight, in kiev, independence square, they are still mourning those who died to bring ukraine to this historic

crossroad, and there is not a russian flag in sight. protesters in this square, brian, overturned their pro-russian government. it is not clear now how much independence russia will tolerate. brian? >> richard engel who remains in kiev for us tonight, thank you, this is no ordinary time and all of this presents a very difficult balancing act for the u.s., getting involved in what russia again considers its own domestic affairs. tonight, the u.s. secretary of state, john kerry is issuing a strong message to putin, nonetheless. and nbc's andrea mitchell has more at the state department on that end of the story. good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian, vladimir putin's war games so close to ukraine prompted this stern warning from secretary of state john kerry in his interview with us. also a cautionary warning to putin about how quickly these kinds of uprisings can catch fire. >> i think the quickness with

which it has moved should frankly be a message to russia. and mr. putin should listen carefully to ukrainians who have voiced their desire for change. so we're hoping that russian -- russia will not see this as sort of a continuation of the cold war, we don't see it that way. we do not believe this should be an east/west, russia/united states. this is not rocky iv, believe me. >> the russian prime minister today said that the opposition and the rebellion in ukraine are extremists. >> we are not looking for confrontation. but we are making it clear that every country should respect the territorial integrity here, the sovereignty of ukraine, russia has said it will do that and we believe it is important that russia keeps its word. >> and then there is this, kerry has told me that now russia has increased its weapons to assad's

regime in syria, despite the horrific images we've seen day after day of the regime bombing and starving its own people. this is another source of friction between the united states and vladimir putin. >> andrea mitchell at the state department, tonight as we said no ordinary time. thank you, andrea mitchell. and as we mentioned there is medical news out to anybody who may be concerned to any couples, especially fathers, who are thinking of having a child near middle age or later. new research shows that children born to fathers who are age 45 or older are at an increased risk for a variety of disorders. nbc's tom costello has more. >> reporter: like most new fathers, brian greg never imagined how dramatically his life would change and waiting until he was 45 to have kids brought some unique concerns. >> you wonder about your energy level, whether or not you can go the whole night waking up and doing all of those feeds and

then showing up for work the next day. >> reporter: and there is something else he should know. while previous studies have compared children of older fathers to children of younger dads, a new study in sweden that tracked the children born to the same father is raising new concerns. it found that children conceived when their fathers were over 35 were 14 times likely to have adhd than a sibling born when their fathers were in their 20s, two and a half times more likely to have autism, and two and a half more times to struggle with substance abuse and two and a half more times likely to have suicide. >> there is a correlation between the bearing of psychiatric problems. >> reporter: older dads are much more common, steve martin, jack nicholson, clint eastwood, have all fathered children later in life. but while men produce sperm

their entire life, the evidence suggests men have their own biological clocks. as they age, the sperm declines with more frequent genetic errors. fertility experts say men and women waiting to have babies, the more likely the complications. >> try to have a baby before 30 years old instead of after 30 years old, and certainly with a partner of a similar age. >> for brian greg and his wife? >> it took me a while to get there but it was a very good and positive decision. >> reporter: the wait was worth every minute, tom costello, nbc news, washington. we know a lot of couples will have questions and concerns about this new study, this new data. our chief medical editor, dr. nancy snyderman joins us, so we heard the one physician at the end of the piece. nancy, what is the advice? how would you advise a male say over 45, what years of age should they start as fathers? >> not every father that is

older will have a child with psychiatric issues. but it does raise an increasing belief that science has been able to push the limits. perhaps there is a real biological window for men and for women. and real sort of optimum time in one's life to have children. i think it is an important time to remember that if you're going to plan to have a family to talk about that window for career, life-style, children and certainly, the biologic age of mom and dad. because the age of eggs and sperm now, we know scientifically do play their individual roles. >> all right, dr. nancy snyderman, with answers to questions out of this, as always, thank you. and there is extreme weather to report about tonight, lots of it making news once again. we'll start in the west where they're getting ready for some of the heaviest rain in california in sometime.

you know we have been covering that they need rain desperately. but they don't need what is about to happen in a lot of places. we have miguel almaguer in california. >> reporter: good evening, this l.a. suburb is under what they call an orange alert. voluntary evacuations are in effect as a series of storms move in this direction. as you can see behind me they are filling sandbags at rapid fire pace, because of the thread of mudslides. this is where the kobi fire broke out in january, turning the soil into clay. elsewhere we see powerful winds. at sfo today high winds caused three-hour delays. in los angeles, we have had an inch of rain in the last few mon months, now in the next two days alone we could have up to four inches with this new storm. the biggest punch will come saturday, that will be just hours before the oscars. not to worry, they will find a way to keep the stars dry. brian, as you know we're in a severe drought.

we need all the rain we can get. as a matter of fact we need 15 inches. so when it is all said and done the storm will likely just be a drop in the rain bucket. brian? all right, miguel almaguer, covering what could be a major event. and now much of the northern part of the country is plunging into yet another deep freeze tonight. it is an unwelcome rerun and is expected to last through the weekend, as well. meteorologist dylan dreyer with that part of the story for us tonight. good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian, we are making a run here in chicago for the third coldest winter on record. in fact, 22 days so far have been below zero. the all-time record is 25 in green bay. in duluth, minnesota, they have been sub-zero 63 times breaking their record. and all of this cold is freezing up the great lakes. take a look at the satellite imagery from september. by mid-february an incredible

88% of the great lakes were frozen. in a typical winter it is hard to get 50% of the great lakes frozen. and it is not just frozen lakes but it is frozen rivers from illinois to pennsylvania. ice jams are the concern, because during the next thaw when the water has nowhere to go instead it will go into homes and yards. so flooding will be a big issue. now meteorological spring will start soon, but will feel like winter, for the next two weeks it should be 15 to 25 degrees below average. >> dylan dryer winding up our weather coverage in chicago. and there is a weather alert that could say something about the state of nasa and the space program and the equipment astronauts rely on in space. the following investigation is in following the near drowning

of the italian astronaut doing a space walk outside the international space station. his equipment failed him. in fact they say it was his calm demeanor that actually probably saved his life after the water filled his helmet. the new study reveals the current space design is 35 years old. and the once mighty nasa is down to only 12 space suits in its inventory. and still ahead for us this evening. rocky mountain high. with marijuana now legal, all out in the open. and behavior is changing in surprising ways in the state of colorado. and later, feeling no shame. what researchers are saying tonight about the dogs we love and some long-held beliefs. and some long-held beliefs. achy feet. i had no clue i was putting this kind of stress on my feet. i have flat feet. i found this out at the free dr.scholl's foot mapping center at walmart. in less than two minutes, i got my foot map and my custom number. i'm a 440. i'm a 210. 340. that number matched the dr.scholl's custom fit orthotic inserts with just the right support to help

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you are about to witness a violation of federal law, what some people view as terrible behavior. and by the way it is perfectly legal in the state of colorado, now two months into the legalization of recreational

marijuana. nbc's harry smith has chronicled this for a while now and has an hour-long documentary. and tonight reports for us on how life there has changed. >> reporter: at a private art gallery in denver, the crowd here has shelled out $100 each to hobnob over food and fine wine and locally grown bud. free from the confines of seedy basements and back rooms, pot is becoming a fixture of society. >> everybody brought different samples, kind of like a wine tasting. they were trying them. >> reporter: jane west put together this event. >> clearly there is a market for this. >> reporter: she is a suburban 37-year-old married mother of two. and makes no apologies. >> i think it is important to say i use marijuana and that is okay. >> i think there is an assumption that there must be this giant stoner class. >> right. >> in colorado.

can i just say one thing? >> yeah. >> you don't look like that. >> no, i don't. >> reporter: her company, edible events, caters to people who are careful about what they inhale. and what they ingest. >> i'm one part martha stewart and one part walter wright. >> reporter: more comfortable breaking bread than breaking bad, her particular choice comes with its own set of risks. >> are you the mom who lives down the streets where there is marijuana coming out of the woodwork. >> right, if they're judging me they're not doing it to my face, yet. i do think we're going to start to change perceptions. >> here is one mom she has convinced, her own. >> guilt-free pleasure, at 67, hey, what could be nicer? >> reporter: wendy bruner says her first experience with pot was back in the '70s. >> i was handed a joint and choked to death and said i will never do it again, so i never did it again. >> reporter: now, she is eating those words in the form of a

pot-infused granola bar. >> it made this mindset of a realtor and always thinking and running to just go whatever. >> reporter: a different kind of senior moment to be sure. one edible, one joint, one vapor puff at a time, pot is moving towards the mainstream. harry smith, nbc news, denver. >> there is, of course, another side to all of this. harry smith will have all of it in his hour-long documentary tonight on cnbc. that is at 10 eastern time. we'll be right back with a change in the air that caught a lot of frequent fliers off guard. hings to do is going to the dog park together. sometimes my copd makes it hard to breathe. so my doctor prescribed symbicort. it helps significantly improve my lung function starting within five minutes. symbicort doesn't replace a rescue inhaler

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in arizona tonight, the republican governor jan brewer continues to try to decide what to do with that controversial piece of legislation waiting on

her desk. it would essentially allow business owners to turn away gays or lesbians or just about anybody for that matter based on their religious beliefs. the governor is meeting with advocates on both sides of this issue. the protests continue outside the capital. she has until saturday to make a decision. well, this is exactly what target feared after the huge data breach during the christmas shopping season. personal payment information was compromised for as many as 110 million people. today, target reported their profits were down 46% in the all-important fourth quarter last year compared with the same period a year earlier. target said they could not estimate the cost of this data breach, including law suits and fraud claims against the company. fraud. and delta making a change to its sky miles frequent flier program. other airlines will watch this one to see if it goes over well. it does not so much reward frequent fliers as it does so much to the people who pay for higher fares to fly.

similar to what jetblue and southwest has done it rewards frequent fliers and it is a trend coming to the airline industry for sometime. after a growing backlash of a number of celebrity parents against entertainment websites and magazines, people magazine's editorial director announced they will no longer publish unauthorized paparazzi photos of celebrities' children. they do caution they will report on the newsworthy photos and events. stars like halle berry has fought the battle on privacy grounds. for a while, the family couldn't go anywhere because of the lack of privacy. news with respect and compassion, it is not clear if other magazines will follow suit. when we come back, the surprise about dogs and all of those looks they give us. [ male announcer ] this is the age of knowing what you're made of.

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those looks are not shame-based, it says, even though some dog owners say they know otherwise. our report from katy tur. >> reporter: good dogs gone bad, i ate the trampoline, their heads are down, they won't look you in the eye, in some cases their shame is around their necks, with 58 million page views, dogshaming.com is one of the most popular places on the internet. but no matter how guilty you think they look, experts say they feel no shame for eating that bandaid, they simply feel no shame. >> while they may not have the ability to feel shame they can read your moods. for instance, if you're happy or sad, maybe they will lick your face to make you feel better. oh, how did you know i had a bad day? how did you know? in fact, scientists did mris on

11 dogs, they found that just as in humans dogs have a little patch of neurons that respond to emotional sounds, hence, when your dog is being scolded for doing something wrong, well, it is your temper, some say, not that are guilt that is making them cower. but not everyone agrees. >> when they go straight to the cage, they just run away. >> even before you react? >> even before you react. >> reporter: animal behaviorist experts don't buy >> they are embarrassed the way it either. they turn their head and look away, it is am almost like they don't want to make the contact with you because in fact they really are ashamed of what they did. >> reporter: so what does it all mean for cats? nothing, they still don't care what you're saying. katy tur, nbc, new york.

>> that is our broadcast on a wednesday night, thank you for joining us, i'm brian williams, we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night. ♪ it takes two to make a thing go right ♪ ♪

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