we get more tonight from nbc's ayman mohyeldin. >> reporter: inside this ethiopian flight 702, passengers in their seats, hands on their heads as swiss police prepare to board the plane on geneva. on the tarmac outside, police surround the plane, escorting more than 200 passengers and crew off one by one. the ordeal began hours earlier at the ethiopian capital, addis ababa, enroute to rome. but it never made it. instead it was hijacked by the co-pilot, a 31-year-old ethiopian. the hijacker redirected the plane over italy, which scrambled fighter jets after the plane signalled a hijacking in progress. over switzerland, the hijacker radioed that he wanted to refuel and said he feared for his life. >> we need asylum assurance that we will not be transferred. >> reporter: he circled geneva repeatedly, a scene on this flight-tracking map before finally being allowed to land. the pilot, still locked out, reassured the passengers and asked them to be patient. the plane is safe, he said, the co-pilot is locked inside. he is not armed so there are no risks. the hijacker then climbed out of the coc

ayman mohyeldin, nbc news, london. >>> and now back here to russia to the action at these winter olympic games. here in sochi, a very big day on the ice specifically for the americans, and we'll say right here at the outset we're going to talk about some team usa results that have been out all day but will indeed be televised in prime time tonight. the americans made history with a breath-taking performance in ice dancing, and they won a medal in two-man bobsledding for the first time in more than six decades. the weather continues to be a factor here. thick fog in the mountains forced several events to be rescheduled. nbc's chris jansing back with us with all of it tonight. chris, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. let's start with those ice dancers. i saw them after they skated tonight. what do you say to your partner of almost 17 years after winning gold? charlie white told meryl davis simply i love you. and although they are not romantically linked, they are now in the olympics history books together. tonight, they are watching ice dancing. michigan natives meryl davis a

joining me now is nbc news foreign correspondent ayman mohyeldin. have been developments today. vice president joe biden calling the president yanukovych to basically say pull back, cease and desist. stop shooting at your own people. >> right now there's an intensification of diplomatic efforts coupled with sanctions to try to shape the behavior of the ukrainian government. what they're trying to do, the united states and europe are trying to get the ukrainian government which they believe holds responsibility, most responsibility for the ongoing violence to push their forces away from the square. the square has been the epicenter of these protests for the past several months. thousands of people are in camp there. right now the violence is happening in and around the square because the government moved forces in to try to break them up. as you mentioned, the protesters have been preparing for this showdown. some of them with lethal weapons leading to the killing of these police forces and that's why the situation is turning rapidly violent. the uni

ayman mohyeldin has been watching all of this unfold and joins me live from london. the e.u.ng an emergency meeting today where they could impose sanctions against ukraine. what kind of sanctions are we talking about here? what kind of sanctions could they impose? >> well, the european official that addressed this issue used the word "targeted sanctions" very specifically. in that sense, they would try to go after individuals within the ukrainian government who they believe wrp responsible for ordering the killings of the protesters or perhaps not ordering the killings but ordering the use of violence that led to the killing or use of force. that may include everything from the minister of interior to the head of police, perhaps to some local government officials, perhaps all the way up to the chain of command through the president. so it remains to be seen, as we saw yesterday from the announcement from the u.s. state department, 20 such individuals have been identified. their names have not been released. right now that travel ban has been imposed on what the u.s. described

. >> nbc's ayman mohyeldin.nk you, sir. >>> protests continue to escalate in venezuela this morning as the government tries to restore order there. demonstrations against president nikl niklas meduro have been spreading. the government says this is not a militarization. >>> compromise is on hold in washington as new details from the president's budget are released. last year the white house reached out to republicans proposing cuts to social security in an attempt to reach a grand bargain on the debt, but now that deal is off the table. this year's budget will abandon entitlement reform in exchange for programs that promote income equality. officials are blaming republicans for negotiating on tax loopholes in the country's wealthiest americans. the white house is willing to revisit the cuts if, quote, republicans want to revisit the discussion. now that includes 56 billion in new spending on manufacturing, education programs for workers and early childhood development. the spending will be offset by revenue incr

ayman mohyeldin and michael reddman. thank you both. >>> president obama is set to make an announcement on jobs and manufacturing at the white house. we'll go it there like as "the cycle" rolls on for tuesday, february 25th. tting out. purina dog chow light & healthy is a deliciously tender and crunchy kibble blend. with 20% fewer calories than purina dog chow. isn't it time you discovered the lighter side of dog chow. purina dog chow light & healthy. [ chainsaw whirring ] humans -- sometimes life trips us up. sometimes we trip ourselves up. and although the mistakes may seem to just keep coming at you, so do the solutions. like multi-policy discounts from liberty mutual insurance. save up to 10% just for combining your auto and home insurance. call liberty mutual insurance at... [ thump ] to speak with an insurance expert and ask about all the personalized savings available for when you get married, move into a new house, or add a car to your policy. personalized coverage and savings. all the things humans need to make

let's bring in nbc news foreign correspondent ayman mohyeldin. steven is now a senior fellow for russian and eurasia studies. let's start with ayman, before we jump into the current conflict, i think it's important we decide the divide, east versus west. explain how this plays into it. >> well, ukraine is divided geographically and territorially. it is one continuous country but no doubt there are differences, ethnically, culturally between the eastern part and the western part of the country. the western part has had a european influence, looking for historical roots. the east has been, for the most part, oriented towards russia. obviously the entire country was at one point controlled by the sof empire. no doubt be with the long history of the western part of that country was geared more towards europe. what we are seeing now, this divide, which began over a political decision by president yanukovych to keep ukraine closer to russia than it was to the european union has morphed into something much wider than that. there are fundamental issues of

. >> ayman mohyeldin, thank you. i want to bring in the former governor of new mexico, bill richardson. always good to see you. european union foreign ministers are meeting in kiev, all of this while protesters are demanding that the president of ukraine design. how likely is that? i don't think he'll resign but i think the ultimate objective should be, craig, early elections, a reduction in the president's power, him sharing power with the opposition. most importantly an end to the violence this has gotten very, very bitter and violent. you recall the velvet revolution killed thousands of people. so ukraine is important, both to the rest and to russia. it was the last bastian where they had their weapons. it's strategically located between europe and russia. it's an important country. i think what the u.s. is doing is it's staging the punitive measures, first individual sanctions, which do bite, because it means that their leaders can't travel. they freeze their individual assets and then perhaps the next step, comm

nbc's ayman mohyeldin, thanks for reporting from london today. >>> back at home, we are going to look over to something happening in the economy. president obama's praising the gap, a clothing retailer, which announced lit raise its minimum wage. now employees will see their pay jump to $9 this hour and to $10 an hour next year. president obama has of course been pushing companies to lead the way if congress won't. and he now said gap has made a, quote, decision that will benefit about 65,000 workers in the u.s., but only action from congress can make a difference nationwide. it is time to pass that bill and give america a raise, the president referring to minimum wage proposals. let's bring in bob herbert, distinguished senior fellow and longtime former columnist at "the new york times," and we're also joined by politico's senior washington correspondent, anna palmer. welcome to you both. >> how are you, smart. >> doing well. i want to start with something that has really detonated the intensity in congress which we've been covering, the congressional budget office report on the mini

we are joined live from london, nbc news foreign correspondent, ayman mohyeldin. >> there is reports yanukovych is hiding out in a part of southeastern ukraine. that is the only part that is ethnically majority russian there. there is no word or confirmation where he is but that is an area very important because that is where the russian navy maintains a very large fleet on the black sea and an area thousands of people over the weekend were called to join these types of unofficial brigades to protect them in the event the situation escalates and could be further escalation of violence and violence between the eastern part of the country and the western part. >> ayman, there seems to be a question here in the west as to what putin's next move might be this week now that the olympics are over. is there any emerging consensus options that he might take to prevent ukraine further slipping to the west? >> reporter: that is the million dollar question. the president of russia putin has seen ukraine as a part of his fear of influence. they can make the argument they have

ayman mohyeldin, thank you so much. keep us posted.e're going to be watching these live pictures as they come in today and watching for the emergency meeg meeting as well. >> very good. >> i would love to talk to ezra and robert as we move forward on this issue. it's just not a lot of great options for the president right now. >> nope. >> coming up on "morning joe," senator john thune of south dakota, david axelrod, gene sperling and later, actor and comedian wayne brady. up next, the top stories in the politico playbook. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. ameriprise asked people a simple question: can you keep your lifestyle in retirement? i don't want to think about the alternative. i don't even know how to answer that. i mean, no one knows how long their money is going to last. i try not to worry, but you worry. what happens when your paychecks stop? because everyone has retirement questions. ameriprise created the exclusive confident retirement approach. to get the real answers you need. start building your confide

ayman mohyeldin is covering the trial from london. >> reporter: for the first time since he left the trip as captain he is returning to the costa concordia as a defendant. even locals are surprised the captain often called most hated man in italy would return. we have been a little bothered by that because we think he is somewhat guilty of all what happened said this resident. he is back along with inspectors surveying the ship that sits off the coast. it is part of the trial where he faces charges of manslaughter and abandoning ship after prosecutors allege the captain steered to close back in january of 2012. more than 4,000 passengers and crew were on board. 32 died as the cruise liner first hit a rock and began to capsize. during the trial prosecutors say he abandoned ship while passengers were scrambling to save their lives. if convicted he could face 20 years in jail. but he has defended his actions saying the rocks were not marked on the map, not detected by the ship's navigation system. this cost more than a half a billion dollars to turn the capsized cruise up right, one of

ayman mohyeldin. >>> let's turn to the action here in sochi now. natalie, as we mentioned, and we're going into week two and some olympic dreams are being delayed. >> yeah. just for a little bit. last week, you recall it's all about the sun and slushy conditions up in the mountains. this week, though, the dense fog is causing the problem. the men's snowboard cross qualifier was called for today and the biathlon also postponed. but today, lots of action still on the ice including the u.s. women's hockey team and the ice dancing finale. >> meryl davis and charlie white hope tonight to become the first americans to win the gold for ice dancing. they floated on the ice during a stellar performance in the short dance on sunday. >> oh, my goodness. >> their moms shared a hug impressed by the performance and so were the judges. >> 78.89, the highest score ever recorded. >> the pair who have skated together for 17 years leading by more than 2 1/2 points. they look to reach the top of the podium after tonight's free skate competition. >> in the american's s