. >> osgood: we'll also be spending time this morning with alan alda. the accomplished actor whose work was known and long admired who is currently playing a different and unexpected role. tracy smith found him hard at work. >> reporter: as hawkeye pierce, he had no trouble with confusing medical jargon. >> putting it simply what has happened is i have suffered a blow to my occipital bone right where it articulates with the parietal. >> reporter: now alda is is trying to get doctors and other scientists to speak plain english. is this your life's work now? >> i do spend a lot of time at it. >> reporter: acting out with alan alda ahead on sunday morning. >> osgood: flower power is the story from seth doane, a colorful reminder that despite everything, it is spring again. >> reporter: it's the time of year to get into the garden. a good time for us to get the real dirt on plants. >> a plant is stuck where it is so it has to adapt in order to survive. that's led to the evolution of complex biology that isn't found in most animals. >> reporter: a plant's pe

she was flirting with alan alda. >> lily tomlin and alan alda. >> she played an lsd maker in that.nie: okay. speaking of people with bags of emmys, so guess who came to my dinner party saturday night. allison januarying. from west wing. my invite must have gotten lost in the mail. >> stephanie: it did. it was a fancy party. you don't get invited to those. you only get invited to the pizza parties. with the other riffraff. >> great thanks. >> stephanie: she had to leave early because -- i listen bag of emmys, you don't get to say what day the party is. that's my nickname for her bag of emmys. how many times does melissa have to say you're not the boss of me in real life. okay. also speaking of -- stephen stills was there which was hilarious and he locked his keys in his car and my friend had to drive him home and then back again. yeah. >> doesn't have onstar? he's an international rock star. >> see what i did there? >> stephanie: can i just say people like are as big a geeks as we are because they were both huge fans of each other. see? at least i'm the only one that my teeth get ou

alan alda, thank you very much. up next, what if anything did we learn today?ain and a lot of cold. rain from ohio through kentucky, tennessee, maybe a thunderstorm in atlanta, a possibility of a thunderstorm around new orleans. it's still chilly in the midwest. we'll improve from here. ut the t feature of all is... the capital one purchase eraser. i can redeem the double miles i earned with my venture card to erase recent travel purchases. and with a few clicks, this mission never happened. uh, what's this button do? [ electricity zaps ] ♪ you requested backup? yes. yes i did. what's in your wallet? a regular guy with an irregular heartbeat. the usual, bob? not today. [ male announcer ] bob has afib: atrial fibrillation not caused by a heart valve problem, a condition that puts him at greater risk for a stroke. [ gps ] turn left. i don't think so. [ male announcer ] for years, bob took warfarin, and made a monthly trip to the clinic to get his blood tested. but not anymore. bob's doctor recommended a different option: once-a-day xarelto®. xarelto® is the first

. >> alan alda is on the show tomorrow. >> i learned about two new polls, one in a conservative district of south carolina, one in the state of texas that still show that same 85%, 90% in favor of background checks. >> background checks. exactly. if it is way too early, it is "morning joe." but stick around, chuck todd is straight ahead complaining about laguardia airport and much more on "the daily rundown." have a good day. >>> i'm sure there's a delay. weapon of mass destruction. boston bombing suspect is read his rights and lawmakers raise new questions about what law enforcement knew about him and his brother prior to last week's deadly attack. >>> food for thought. president obama's slaft dinner dates continues tonight. this time it is with the women of the senate. how much could these meals be the ticket to some deals? no evidence yet. >>> a bonanza of second chance surprises. mark sanford blazing a trail, trying to make old faces new again. but can any of these folks actually get elected again? >>> good morning from washington. i'm chuck todd. this is your tuesday edition of "the

. >> in this demonstration, with actor alan alda, 8-month-old kendall shows she has mastered the art. >> again and again she takes turns copying what the grown-ups do. scientists at the institute for learning and brain sciences at the university of washington have been studying the toddler and baby brain and have made astonishing discoveries. >> the new science is showing they're born learning, born connected, more than learning from others and want to be like you. >> children are sponges, soaking up new information, language, culture, accepted behavior, what's right and what's wrong. >> that first 2,000 days when the child is learning more than they will ever learn in any other five-year period in their entire lives. >> but understanding how the brain works, how we imitate, retrieve a memory or learn a language is still a mystery. the white house announced a $100 million initiative, a push to map the human brain for the first time. the hope is that it will lead to new treatments for alzheimer's, parkinson's, brain injuries or epilepsy. >> we can identify galaxies light years away, w

. >>> tomorrow on "morning joe," the star alan alda will join us on the set. >> i remember him more fromr. >> and up next, eugene robinson joins the conversation. great op-ed on the hypocrisy on capitol hill when it comes to protecting our citizens from terrorism. >> little known fact, gene robinson, also foot model. >> and on "m.a.s.h." >> more "morning joe" in a moment. ♪ [ agent smith ] i've found software that intrigues me. it appears it's an agent of good. ge has wired their medical hardware with innovative software to be in many places at the same time. using data to connect patients to software, to nurses to the right people and machines. ♪ helping hospitals treat people even better, while dramatically reducing waiting time. now a waiting room is just a room. [ telephone ringing ] [ static warbles ] [ beeping ] red or blue? ♪ >>> welcome back to "morning joe," pretty shot of washington. it is really time to wake up. if you haven't, you need to get moving. >> you really don't. >> steve rattner. >> well, actually, i say stay in bed because the traffic's terrible. watch a little more