fine. on december 2, 1991, the ukrainians had exactly such a referendum. they voted overwhelmingly to separate themselves from the soviet union, and that led 23 days later to the death of the soviet union and soviet communism. all right. michael beschloss and ian brzezinski, thank you both very much for getting up pretty early this morning. see you both again soon. coming up, as expected the fed is raising interest rates, the first of several months that could come this year. we will explain what that will mean for most americans next on morning joe. . also ahead, congress woman elissa slotkin, a former analyst for the cia, joins us. she has introduced two bills related to vladimir putin and the war in ukraine. our coverage continues in just a moment.