and adrian karatnycky, a senior fellow at the atlantic council. steven pifer, today the foreign policy chief of the european union said someone's going to get to the root causes of this unrest. what are the root causes? >> well, the original cause of this demonstrations was the decision by the president in november to slow down ukraine's effort to drive closer the european union by the association agreement. since then it's growing. we now have people out there who are unhappy about the corruption they've seen which has grown worse under the president's tenure. they're unhappy about the government. so we've got a lot that is represented by these people in the central square in kiev. >> ifill: adrian karatnycky you and steven pifer are glued to the protest in the main square. we're looking at it live right now. what do you think is the reason for this crack down now when we thought it had eased for a while. >> well, i do think that there was a pent up anger on the part of the demonstrators who want a resolution after three months of peaceful protes

and adrian karatnycky, a senior fellow at the atlantic council. welcome to the program, back to the program. adrian karatnycky, let me begin with you. how stable is the situation right now in ukraine? what do you hear. >> i think that if a government takes shape and assume that there is some wisdom in the shaping of the government that it is regionally inclusive. that it is not just packed with the old but there is some room for competent people. if they hear the voices of the square in the selection of the personnel tomorrow, that can help considerably to move the country towards stability. but at the moment, the people who went out into the square have questions about their leaders. they realize there's a lot of horse trading going on and people are fighting for poses. they're noting lieuing for the greater good. the public is expecting these leaders to do something different for the first time in the 23 years of ukraine's history. >> woodruff: it sounds unsettled. what are you hearing. >> the same thing. there are a lot of challenges that the n

are steve clemens, washington editor at large for "the atlantic" and an msnbc contributor and adrian karatnycky, a senior fellow at the atlantic council. adrian is also a managing partner for the myrmidon group, which advises companies looking to enter the ukraine. steve clemens, a lot has happened since we last met on this subject. very fast-moving situation. where do you think it stands now, and can this government that's kind of holding on at the moment continue to hold on with the speaker of the parliament basically in charge? >> well, it's highly fragile. there's no one that can watch the events of really the last 48 hours and not be incredibly impressed with the bravery of the protesters and frankly the efficacy and efficiency of that parliament that has moved so rapidly that i think that they've moved very expeditiously, but it raises other doubts because they are in a geographically complex position. they're wedged right in the armpit of russia. and i think the last thing that vladimir putin wants to see is this kind of liberal spring come rushing right in to russia. and so, you know, a

i don't even know if he's coming back. >> reporter: all right, adrian karatnycky of the council. thank you once again. >> thank you. >> woodruff: the nation's governors have gathered in washington this week for their winter meeting. and with action in the nation's capital stymied by partisan gridlock, many are looking to the states for solutions to the country's challenges. for a sample of what's happening we are joined by two governors, tennessee republican bill haslam and illinois democrat pat quinn. governors welcome to you both. people think with all the polarization in washington, the stay things must be a lot less polarized. i was reading a story in "the washington post" suggests that really what's in the states is what happened here in washington. governor in red states go in one direction governor in blue states go in another. >> when he became governor five years ago there was a pragmatic approach of governors, whatever the party to solve problems whether it's building roads or doing early childhood education. those are fundamental things that everybody understands. i su

. >> steve clemons and adrian karatnycky, thank you both for joining me tonight. >> thank you, lawrence. >>> coming up, the chairman of the republican governors association could not appear at the republican governors association's press conference today because, you know, it was a press conference. and some republican legislators in arizona have apparently been listening to george takei's objections to the bill they passed that would allow businesses to dis krint againcr against people for religious reasons. george takei will join me to try to convince governor jan brewer to veto that bill. >>> and in the "rewrite" today republicans who were for defense cuts until they were against them, which is to say of course republicans who were for defense cuts until president obama was for defense cuts. ♪ ♪ ♪ (announcer) the subaru forester. motor trend's two thousand fourteen sport utility of the year. when you get some recognition, you can't help feeling a little humbled, and a little proud. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. there was a boy who traveled to a faraway place where village