we'll have a live report from nbc's bill neely in crimea and mike mcfall, as secretary of state john kerry heads to kiev tonight. >> the fact is he's going to lose on the international stage. russia is going to lose and russian people are going to lose, he's going to lose all of the glow that came out of the olympics, his $60 billion extravaganza. not going to have a sochi g8 and may not remain in the g-8 if this continues. >> snow more. 17 days until spring as another winter storm slams the east coast after icing over the midwest and south. we'll have the latest as we dig ourselves out right here in d.c. >> the problems will linger on the roads but should we taper off in the early afternoon in terms of the snow, that will give road crews a big head start on what is going to be a deep freeze tonight. near record setting lows here in washington, d.c. >> and the oscar goes to -- between the all-star selfies and pizza break, it belonged on lifetime performances on films that captured the human spirit. >> when i look down at the golden statue, may it remind me and every little child, no

so i have huge respect for mike mcfall. but i do think that it was a little hiber bolick. >> well, we're obviously waiting to see the next move by the president. jay carney hinted today there would be some new sanctions coming in response to this. but david, let me go to you first on this because i heard you say in response to our nbc "wall street journal" when you saw the president's numbers go down, you reminded that, of the fact that anytime a foreign policy crisis has cropped up in this white house, unlike previous presidents, there's never been a rally around the commander in chief moment for him outside of ben laden and ung that's because of the domestic situation here. >> i think people have turned inward and you combine that with the economic pressures people are feeling and they want the president of the united states focused like a laser on their economic challenges and when these stories break out and the only thing they see on the news of the president is the president dealing with a foreign crisis, i think that

so yes, i agree with mike mcfall, who is obviously a student of putin and russia. now the question is, we're here. how do we defuse this? both sides are pondering this. how do we defuse this in a way that allows putin to face his people, having charged up the hill. but leaves the ukraine in a position of territorial integrity. >> all right, thank you so much, sir. always a pleasure to have you here. former obama senior adviser david axelrod. we will come back to him. >> remember, it's not just ukrainians caught in this cross fire. today exclusively on the show, we'll hear from an american couple trapped in kiev with four ukrainian children they just adopted. with adoption in our own families, it's the story of don and leeza jenkins. they traveled to kiev in early february to bring home three girls and one boy. all four have lived in orphanages in ukraine for most of their lives. the family's story started with the adupgz of one teenage girl through a group called project 143 which brings orphans to the united states. that led the jenkins to the girl's friend and th

we'll have a live report from nbc's bill neely in crimea and mike mcfall, as secretary of state johnads to kiev tonight. >> the fact is he's going to lose on the international stage. russia is going to lose and russian people are going to lose, he's going to lose all of the glow that came out of the olympics, his $60 billion extravaganza. not going to have a sochi g8 and may not remain in the g-8 if this continues. >> snow more. 17 days until spring as another winter storm slams the east coast after icing over the midwest and south. we'll have the latest as we dig ourselves out right here in d.c. >> the problems will linger on the roads but should we taper off in the

the former ambassador to moscow, mike mcfall, told chuck todd on "meet the press" earlier today thathis is something that the u.s. is watching very closely. take a listen. >> things that we thought were settled 20 years ago, or at least in ice in these conflicts, he's now trying to say we have to open up the pandora's box. >> so he's going? >> i find it very dangerous. he's going to make it an issue that we're going to have to now negotiate, and we're going to negotiate i think in a weak position given where he is right now. >> reporter: alex, to your second question, the potential for any real progress after these talks, white house officials tell me they're really in a wait and see mode. they're waiting to see how serious vladimir putin is about diplomacy, defiant in the face of sanctions on the part of the united states and the eu. but you'll recall that this past week, president obama spent several days trying to shore up support among his european partners, trying to further isolate russia. they suspended russia from the g8, and also threatened more sanctions. so it is possible,

. >> our own former ambassador to russia said, mike mcfall said in a big op-ed in the "times" on mondayout u.s. disengagement. and that's what people in europe are very much feeling. i've had conversations recently with two of our major allies, ambassadors in washington and there's a sense that the united states is just absent. >> you know, we read the ambassador to the ua, yousef, because he's an ambassador, he couldn't be as blunt as he wanted to but it was all coded. it said, okay, you want to be engaged? how about being engaged, the middle east is blowing up. we all hear it off the record from ambassadors across the planet and from world leaders across the planet that the -- >> even leaders that don't normally disagree with you. the israelis and gulf countries are speaking with one voice on this. >> the united states disengaged. >> he's laughed at sanctions. >> we've sanctions about 20 individuals and more banks. we should be doing sanctions on many more institutions, beefing up the action of nato, turning back on these missile defense agreements we have in the past. there's going t

ambassador mcfall, john herbst and mike -- >>> the president is making more big unilateral changes to the health care law. we'll have the latest for you next up. later on, things got ugly today on capitol hill, as former i.r.s. official lois lerner again took the fifth in a house hearty. you'll hear how heated and nasty it got between two top congressmen. >>> speaking of a skittish world don't forget that free market capitalism is the best path to prosperity. those countries of the former soviet bloc that went west into nato and the european union get the capitalist story. mr. putin does not. i'm kudlow. we'll be right back. ♪ [ girl ] my mom, she makes underwater fans that are powered by the moon. ♪ she can print amazing things, right from her computer. [ whirring ] [ train whistle blows ] she makes trains that are friends with trees. ♪ my mom works at ge. ♪ >>> new obamacare changes are coming out today. the administration now says it will allow insurers to keep people on the noncompliant health plans that were originally canceled. remember those very plans that president obama firs