dr. zbigniew brzezinski and dr. sniderman is back from syria and she did incredibly moving reporting on the children suffering there. you don't want to miss what she has to share. town and country's jay fielden is here with the magazine's new issue. that is always fun. up next, mike allen has today's top stories in the political playbook. >>> first, dylan dryer, inside finally. >> what is up with the short draw you have been drawing? it's like the guys are making you outside in the snow. great to have you. >> nice to be here. we are still talking about more snow, believe it or not. a major snowstorm hitting d.c. right now. 7 to 9 inches already on the ground. this stretches down to florida we could see severe storms later on today. a closer look at the snow. the heaviest of it is moving through washington, d.c. right now. this is the fifth time this winter that federal offices have been shut down in d.c. because of weather. we are going to see some improvements over the next xuver hours and from heavy snow to lighte

dr. brzezinski, you suggested that mre's are not quite enough. we can provide nonlethal equipment and air cover. what should we be offering? >> in any case, we should have contingency planning for all of that in different portions but we should couple that with a serious communication to the russians in which we would like an alternative outcome in which we would like to be partners. but we need to let ukraine know that if they resist, they will not be alone. we do not need to let the russians know exactly what we are going to do. but the death of the pudding is also in the ukrainians. they need to demonstrate that they value their territorial integrity and are prepared to make sacrifices to protect it. i think the russians, the way they have operated in crimea, as i said before, where they are operating on a contingent basis. if there is a lot of resistance, we pull back. the same may happen in ukraine as well, particularly those districts where there are some russian people living and they are demonstrating and so forth. the ukrainians themselv

dr. brzezinski turns 86 today. >> happy birthday, dr. g to add an extra year. >> i'm coming over today with cake, sweet stuff. >> a brzezinski thing to do. they are always jabbing but dr. nancy had a birthday this week too! >> thank you. >> your daddy and i are both aries. >> what does that mean? >> strong independent leader and tough doesn't take too well. >> what a surprise so am i! april 9th. i kind of fit the bill. the rams. bull-headed. any way this is an important segment that touches families. >> alarming news about autism getting a lot of attention this morning. joining the table is nancy. here is the news. the numbers on children with autism are surging. one kid for every school? are you kidding me? >> yeah. >> when did this happen? >> used to be 1 in 88 and now 1 in 68 and five times for boys and 1 in 45 boys and 1 in 98 girls. the cdc looked at 11 states. if you look carefully at the states more kids in new jersey and fewer kids in alabama. >> is california still up there? >> california is still up. but it raises the question i

dr. brzezinski. >> i think it could be a fundamental issue. but i agree with brent that it isn't yet.for one very simple reason. the ukrainians didn't resist in crimea. maybe they couldn't. but they didn't. and that makes it very different. because there was a kind of complacency or accommodation on their part. but i'm concerned that the issue could become much greater, especially in view of what putin is saying, that there is going to be a challenge to the integrity and independence of the ukraine. >> that would be very divent. >> and -- he different. >> and that would be very different. >> the lady in the back. >> thank you. my voice of america, my question is simple and short, how safe might georgia be given this new development? can we expect russia's farther expansion into the south? thank you. >> i couldn't hear that. >> and would you identify yourself again? and where are your children? > mia kay, voice of america, georgia in service. >> very difficult for us -- the sound is a little muffled. we know who she is. but what was the question? [laughter] maybe if you had come up her

dr. brzezinski joins the conversation next on "morning joe."d every day. if it were a business, it would be a fortune 500 company. fraud has evolved. american express intelligent security gives you tools to fight fraud and a global service network that never stops working. so you can be a member of a more secure world. this is what membership is. this is what membership does. 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. ♪ >>> the russian people need to know, and mr. putin needs to understand, that the ukrainians shouldn't have to choose between the west and russia. we want the ukrainian people to determine their own destiny and to have good relations with the united states,

dr. brzezinski. >> i think it is not a fundamental issue but agree with brent, for one reason, ukrainians didn't resist in crimea. maybe they could but they didn't. that makes it very different because there was kind of complacency or accommodation on their part. i'm concerned the issue could become much graver especially with what putin is saying there will be a challenge to the integrity and independence of ukraine. >> that would be very different. >> that would be very different. >> the lady in the back. >> thank thank you. voice of america. my question is really simple and short. how safe might georgia be in this given situation and new development? can we expect russia's father expansion, military to the south? thank you. >> i couldn't hear that. >> would you identify yourself again and where are your children. >> voice of america. georgian service. thank you. >> very difficult for us to, the sound is a little muffled. >> voice of america. >> no who she is. what was the question? maybe if you come up here, i'm sorry to ask you to do this but it is very difficult back here. >> thank y

dr. brzezinski has said in the past, that there doesn't seem to be an overarching theme to his policy. >>mentally, i think that is problem. the management day to day and episode to episode has not been quite as bad as some suggest. i can appreciate and understand where the ambassador is coming from with those points. >> on monday we showed you how the "morning joe" team comes together every morning. we want to know what gives you moving. send us, send it to #morning jolt. >> we'll be right back. we asked people a question, how much money do you think you'll need when you retire? then we gave each person a ribbon to show how many years that amount might last. i was trying to, like, pull it a little further. [ woman ] got me to 70 years old. i'm going to have to rethink this thing. it's hard to imagine how much we'll need for a retirement that could last 30 years or more. so maybe we need to approach things differently, if we want to be ready for a longer retirement. ♪ [ girl ] my mom, she makes underwater fans that are powered by the moon. ♪ she can print amazing things, right from her com

dr. brzezinski is critical we are not engaged enough in the peace process. >> let me answer.hat region -- >> this is a president -- let's just say since we are going into this and i didn't start this but let's just say it. that this is a president who was hypercritical, hypercritical of the last commander in chief and how the middle east has hajsndl. you go around the middle east right now, it's a far bigger mess with far fewer friends of the united states today than there was when george w. bush flew back to texas. >> is there no doubt that autocrats have fallen. there are movements that have taken twists and turns that are difficult and complex, but you asked me what process. i'm talking about the israelis and palestinians at the core of a lot of the tumult in that region and has been for decades. this president is driving that profits and languished for years under the past president and we have a glimmer of hope we can reach some resolution there only because of the determination of this president and this secretary of state to keep that alive. >> it's time for prayer in

dr brzezinski is saying that without ukraine russia is not an empire. i don't think that probably is correct even the word to be used today but certainly without ukraine as with other soviet space post soviet space russia is not as strong as it once once was and. we would like to keep that spirit of influence in ukraine in this sense probably is the most important area where he would like to keep. but want to be talking. about preserving the sphere of influence of a primarily talking about political influence or economic interdependency i think both i mean certainly economic independence is very important because ukraine's economy per se depends very much on on the russian market and russia does does that sport its oil and gas to ukraine and through ukraine to the rest of europe or to many european countries so i think konami cleats and monumentally important please you know since we talk about crimea now russian fleet of lexie fleet is stationed there so it's not just economic but also national interests. being discussed here but also political i mean

dr. sachs, thank you. how did the mayor do? >> cumbayah, baby, cumbayah. >> ian brzezinski is standing by.is dad and mika. >> beat me up. >> he is going to talk about w ukraine's situation coming up. thank you, mr. mayor! (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. to keep a germ-free office. from latex gloves and antibacterial wipes to steam cleaners, keyboard vacuums and microfiber cloths. yes, staples has everything you need for a germaphobe-friendly office... [ sneezes, coughs ] except germ-free coworkers. [ retches ] thousands of products added online every day... [ click ] even protective suits. [ sneezes ] now get 15% off your cleaning supply purchase. staples. make more happen. now get 15% off your cleaning

dr. brzezinski. i give you an illustration from the book. in 1974, dr. brzezinski learned that a member of the old astonished, governor harriman, didn't think that someone named brzezinski should occupy a high foreign policy post. so he pinned a feisty little letter, part of which i'm about to read. dear mr. harriman, since you're a blunt man, ma let me say quite bluntly that i do not feel that in her kissinger's background is qualified him are dealing with the middle east, nor do i think that your background as a million capitalists prevent you from dealing intelligence with the soviet communists. [laughter] yours sincerely, zbigniew brzezinski. i hasten to add that they soon reconciled. so while our first goal was to divide weight his career and the second to place it in perspective, our third goal that i tried to emphasize was to publish a book that is readable, mixing their easter's essays with a few stories about him. there is certainly no time your to even mention host of these stories but i will summarize two of them that i particularly like. the f