>> it is a good album. doesn't break new ground for beyonce but there are a lot of really good songs on here. i think we will be hearing it on radio, seeing it on the web for months to come. >> thank you so much. i got to cut you off there. we appreciate it. that's it for "the lead." i'm jake tapper. i'll be back in two hours on "outfront" at 7:00 p.m. eastern. i turn you over to wolf blitzer in "the situation room." happening now, a stunning ruling. an nsa surveillance program deemed unconstitutional. the fallout potentially huge so what happens next? veterans' outrage, cuts to their benefits inside the bipartisan spending bill. is congress trying to balance the budget on the military's back? and research coming out this hour, questions whether multi vitamins are really good for you and it actually raises the possibility they may be bad for you. should you stop taking multi vitamins?

i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." just within the last few hours, a federal judge delivered a potentially crippling blow to a secret government program, revealed by nsa leaker edward snowden, declaring it unconstitution unconstitutional. cnn's senior legal analyst jeffrey toobin is standing by along with brianna keilar at the white house. let's go straight to our pentagon correspondent, barbara starr, for the details. what are you hearing over there? >> reporter: well, if you think the intelligence community, the nsa is too much in your business, about what phone calls you make, this federal judge agrees with you. in a massive ruling today, a federal judge said that the nsa program to collect phone call information, who you call, what numbers you call, when you call, how long that call is, unconstitutional. that it violates your fourth amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure. i want to quickly read to you

part of what the judge had to say. quote, he says i cannot imagine a more indiscriminate and arbitrary invasion than this systematic and high tech collection and retention of personal data on virtually every citizen. i have little doubt that the author of our constitution, james madison, would be aghast. the man who revealed all of this, edward snowden, now in moscow, also issuing a statement saying quote, i acted on my belief that the nsa's mass surveillance program would not withstand a constitutional challenge and that the american public deserved a chance to see these issues determined by open courts. today, a secret program authorized by the secret court was, when exposed to the light of day, found to violate americans' rights. it is the first of many. what happens next, the government will have a chance to appeal, this ruling limited to some customers of some phone

companies, but if it is upheld, it could have massive implications across the board and the court also said that so far, it did not believe that nsa had demonstrated that this surveillance program has stopped any terrorist attack, which is the nsa's major point of defense for keeping up the surveillance. wolf? >> barbara, thank you very much. the ruling certainly comes at a terrible time for president obama. he's actually set to meet tomorrow with high tech executives who have already expressed their own deep concern about a lot of these nsa surveillance programs. our senior white house correspondent brianna keilar is joining us with more on this part of the story. what do we know about this meeting tomorrow at the white house? >> reporter: wolf, sources say that president obama actually called this meeting and white house officials say these executives will be here to discuss the nsa disclosures and their economic impact, because many of these 15 companies feel vulnerable because they have been used really as the means for the federal government to

collect some of its data. we are also told by a white house official they will be discussing healthcare.gov, the rather rocky rollout of the federal health care website, but also the bigger problem that that revealed, that the federal government, we've heard president obama say this, is not tech-savvy at this point, not really good at shepherding big tech projects like this. president obama will be talking about ways that the government and the tech sector can partner on things like this. you have some big names who will be showing up. tim cook of apple, sheryl sandberg of facebook, eric schmidt of google, marissa myer of uyahoo! along with other executives and many of these executives actually signed an open letter last week to president obama and lawmakers asking for them to reform these nsa practices. >> no reaction yet, i take it, no statement from the white house on this court decision today? >> reporter: no, not at this point. they're referring us to the department of justice. >> brianna keilar over at the white house, thanks very much.

let's dig a little deeper with our senior legal analyst, jeffrey toobin. give us some perspective. what does this ruling today mean for the obama administration? >> well, it is just an absolutely scathing rejection of the nsa program that the government has defended so strongly, and it is worth noting that the judge was a george w. bush appointee, someone who had worked for republicans in congress, hardly a screaming liberal. in fact, quite the opposite. so he has a lot of credibility, i would think, on this issue. now, it is important to point out that as a practical matter, it only applies to the two individuals who brought the case and the judge on his own stayed his own ruling until the court of appeals can hear it. so today, the surveillance program is still in effect, but it is on legally much, much less firm ground than it was yesterday. >> it now goes to the d.c. court

of appeals. obviously one of the highest federal courts in the nation, just short of the u.s. supreme court. the programs as you point out will continue in the meantime. how long is this process likely to play out at this next legal step? >> oh, probably quite awhile. these cases move at a very slow pace. it's worth noting that the senate, after senator bird unveiled the nuclear option, confirmed two new obama poi appointees to that court who may well wind up ruling on this. but it is also -- this is a political issue as well. tomorrow's meeting at the white house suggests that there may be changes in this program so this legal case, as important as it is, may wind up being moved if in fact the administration does make substantial changes to the program so that legally, it's not in as much jeopardy, but today, it's off to the d.c. circuit. >> jeffrey, thanks very much.

up next, an american man missing in iran for almost seven years, was he really a cia spy? one lawmaker suspects the agency lied to members of congress about this man. and military groups accuse washington of trying to balance the budget on the backs of veterans. they are angry, they are trying to do something about it. [ male announcer ] this is the age of knowing what you're made of.

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you earn free nights in any of them. plus, for a limited time, members can win a free night every day. only at hotels.com the cia apparently lying to congress in the eyes of at least senator john mccain. he's reacted to reports that an american man, this man, who disappeared in iran almost seven years ago was, in fact, working for the cia. our chief national security correspondent jim sciutto has been working this story for us. what's the latest?

>> it's not just john mccain. i have spoken to members of the house intelligence committee. they are demanding immediate updates from the administration on levinson's case as well. as we're speaking to sources, including the levinson family lawyer, we are learning that levinson's relationship with the cia was far more extensive than originally told. his lawyers saying he was an operative, not just an analyst and his work for the cia extended beyond iran to other countries as well. working in turkey, panama, venezuela, far more than a casual relationship. his family has already said the cia lied to them about robert levinson's links to the agency. now senator john mccain told cnn the cia lied to congress as well. >> cia did not tell the truth to the american congress about mr. levinson. if that's true, then you put this on top of things that our intelligence committees didn't know about other activities which have been revealed by

snowden. >> also for the united states government -- >> reporter: the levinson family makes an emotional case that the denial made the government drag its feet to secure his release. the family lawyer david mcgee. >> what they did was contrary to rules within the cia. it was a fireable offense. they chose to stonewall, leave him in iran and hopefully save their jobs. >> reporter: that's an accusation secretary of state john kerry denies. >> to suggest that we have abandoned him or anybody has abandoned him is simply incorrect. and not helpful. >> reporter: still, security analysts say he should never have been in iran. a so-called denied area since the u.s. government has no presence there in the first place. >> given levinson's background, the notion you thought you could infiltrate him into a denied area was particularly risky. this is a retired fbi agent. >> reporter: now the publication of his cia links may further

endanger other americans held in iran and accused of spying, a favorite charge there. former u.s. marine amir hechmati has been held for two years. dan kilde has been fighting for his relieasrelease. >> they can say and do what they want but if they want to be taken seriously as they negotiate this nuclear agreement, there's a lot of skepticism. >> reporter: the family says for their part, they are satisfied with u.s. government response so far on this. in fact, the representative has spoken personally with president obama, secretary kerry about this case. not so for the levinson family. they are demanding a face-to-face meeting with the new fbi director to talk about their case directly. >> in the meantime, we don't even know if he's still alive or where he is. ryan lizza is joining us as well. talking about robert levinson, we have no idea what his status is right now, whether or not -- the assumption is the iranians have him. >> yeah. that's what we know.

look, i think if there is a deal to get him back, we're not going to learn a whole lot about it. we're just going to be in the dark for awhile while this plays out in iran. >> you've got a major article in "the new yorker" talking about the nsa, what's going on. you obviously wrote it before this court ruling today which is obviously very significant as we heard jeffrey toobin say, potentially a game changer as far as the way the nsa would operate in the united states. but how much tension is there right now based on all the reporting you've done between the nsa and the cia? >> well, i don't know that there's necessarily a whole lot of tension between those two organizations. the traditional tension in the intelligence community is often between the fbi and cia. the nsa has been running these programs on their own. they do all the electronic eavesdropping. the cia does more obviously human intelligence, covert programs. they run the drone program. i don't think that's been a major issue.

i think what's so interesting about the court case today is that for the first time, a federal judge said that this idea that you can collect information before you have suspicion of a crime is a major problem. and if that's upheld by the next level, and i think a lot of people think this is headed to the supreme court, that's a big change and that will lead to forcing the nsa to shut down this program that edward snowden revealed. >> let me bring mark mazzetti into this conversation, a writer for "new york times." what's your reaction to this court decision today? >> well, like others, i think it's extraordinary. i think to have a federal judge say what he did about the program, a program that the administration has vehemently defended and for the judge to call it orwellian is extraordinary. obviously this isn't the last step but it's a major victory for those challenging the

program and we'll see what comes of it. but this will all sort of feed into what happens next year, where president obama is going to have to address the overall surveillance issue and sort of how much he wants this to be part of his overall legacy. >> let me play a clip from the "60 minutes" report last night. they had a chance to interview the nsa official in charge of what's called the snowden task force to talk about the damage they believe was done. i want to play this clip. listen to this. >> it would give them a road map of what we know, what we don't know, and give them implicitly a way to protect their information from the u.s. intelligence community's view. >> for an adversary in the intelligence game, that's a gold mine. >> it is the keys to the kingdom. >> the point they're trying to make is what snowden may have stolen, 1.7 million documents

but only a few thousand, a handful or so, a few thousand have been released. it's a treasure trove out there. is that what you're hearing as well? >> well, the numbers that are coming out there about what he stole and how much he stole are really varying. the numbers they gave to "60 minutes" of 1.6, 1.7 million, is a lot higher than the number that the nsa director, keith alexander, gave just a month or so ago of about 200,000. the story we wrote this weekend says that they still don't know the extent of what snowden took. for various reasons, one of them being that the facility where he was working in hawaii didn't have up-to-date monitoring software to figure out what employees were doing in the system. so there's a lot of numbers coming out about what he took and i think all that does is just point out that six months after this investigation began, they are still somewhat in the dark about the extent of what

snowden took. >> to confuse this a little more, dianne feinstein, chair of the senate intelligence committee, told me he took millions of pages. that was her language. so the numbers are all over the place. >> one document could have a lot of pages. >> exactly. >> there are other things to talk about, what's lost here. i was in china when this broke. this was at the time when president obama was going to finally confront the chinese on cyberspying in the u.s., their famous shirt sleeves meeting in california, and what it did to undermine the u.s. position, of course, because if the u.s. is spying, granted, not stealing chinese business secrets but still spying and on its own citizens, greatly undermine the american position on that. you talk about who is rejoicing at this. you have the meeting of the tech chiefs tomorrow at the white house. there are estimates this has led to losses of $35 billion for u.s. tech companies abroad in terms of building business. you have users in europe who are concerned about cloud computing because they're worried about nsa spying. that's another facet of what's been lost by the revelation of this. >> you think it's realistic to

think as this individual who runs this snowden task force at the nsa, thinks that maybe if he comes back to the united states, snowden, he could get amnesty in exchange for handing over all the documents? >> well, to me, that was the most extraordinary part of this "60 minutes" interview was that he even hinted this was a possibility. and of course, it was seen to be quickly shut down by the nsa director and by jay carney, the white house spokesman today. the idea that they would consider or even that it's being discussed is quite significant. i think probably everyone on this panel would probably agree, it is unlikely to happen, but i mean, i think this again is a window into, you know, how concerned the nsa is about all this. >> mark, thanks very much. ryan, don't go away. we have more to talk about with you. ryan has a big article on this very subject in "the new yorker." jim sciutto is not going away either. coming up, the budget axe

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the senate is expected to vote tomorrow on the bipartisan budget plan approved overwhelmingly by the house of representatives last week. but lawmakers are getting an earful from military groups outraged at some proposed cuts to veteran benefits. cnn's tom foreman is joining us now with more. what's the latest on this sensitive issue? >> well, the latest seems to be that this little part of this proposal seems to have been gaining steam all day long as these veterans have grown angrier and angrier about it. is it big enough to knock this thing off course? we don't know at this point. what we do know, many in the military community feel like they have been subjected to a fiscal sneak attack. the military community is up at arms over the new budget deal, specifically over a reduction in veterans benefits. on capitol hill, opponents of the measure are going door to door, trying to turn senators against the plan unless vets get a break. >> we're basically taxing those

folks in this budget control act. we're not against a compromise and budget control act but we're against doing it on the backs of the military. >> reporter: the budget would impose a small cut on cost of living adjustments or cola for enlisted troops who leave the military while young. those who retire in their 40s, for example, meaning annual adjustments for inflation would be reduced 1% a year until age 62. supporters of the measure argue those younger vets will likely have civilian jobs anyway and the current plan quote, provides an exceptionally generous benefit often providing 40 years of pension payments in return for 20 years of service. but opponents like lisa, who is married to a military man, argue those little cuts add up to big losses. >> it's just, it's not right. >> reporter: they say an average enlisted person who leaves the service at the age of 40 could find his or her lifetime purchasing power reduced by more than $80,000. money for homes, kids, college

and more. >> he went to war with the promise that he would return and have that money paid to him. it was a promise made to him, and you know, this kind of took us by surprise. >> these cuts would save about $6 billion for the government and make no mistake, they would have no impact on current retirees. that group shouldn't be afraid. but as i said at the beginning, this thing seems to have been gaining steam all day. it's hard to measure the full impact of it, but there is no question a lot of conversation up on capitol hill tonight about how much muscle this has. >> similar cuts, by the way, in pension benefits for civilian government employees, too. not just the military. so there would be a cut across the board to a certain degree. tom foreman, thanks very much. let's dig a little deeper with our chief congressional correspondent, dana bash, our chief political analyst, gloria borger and cnn political commentator, ryan lizza, who is still here as the washington correspondent for "the new yorker." what's the latest on the vote

count we expect tomorrow? they will need 60 to break an expected filibuster. >> let's take a look at where things stand right now. 60 is what's needed for the first key procedural vote tomorrow morning. just to look at the senate breakdown, 55 democrats, 45 republicans. assuming just for argument's sake here that all democrats vote yes, and by the way i was just told that mark prior, one person on the fence, is voting yes, you need five republicans to get to 60. we have actually seven now but let me just put the first six that we have on the screen. john mccain, susan collins, jeff blake, richard burr, orrin hatch and ron johnson of wisconsin. there's an extra one, just before coming on air. so what does this mean? it means it looks like they are going to get this procedural vote. it might be a squeaker but the way i'm told this might go down from republican and democratic sources is that the flood gates might open once you see the votes coming down.

>> so why is the dynamic apparently a bit different in the senate? usually the senate is more moderate than the house of representatives, which is republican majority, democratic majority in the senate. >> it's like congressional bizarro world. it really is. for years, since 2010, it's been -- the narrative has been the senate votes in a bipartisan way and it gets stopped in its tracks in the house. the opposite now -- >> explaining that to viewers all year. >> exactly. it's the opposite now for several reasons, one of which is what tom foreman just reported on. this military pension issue sort of snuck up on some republicans and the lobbying effort by the groups that support them were caught flat-footed. now they're getting their mojo on. another issue is you have a lot of republicans in the leader and the number two who have primaries and they are afraid to buck the conservative grassroots who are very much against this. >> some of them are quite honestly looking for reasons to

vote against this. >> some of the republicans. >> some of the republicans. this is a very legitimate issue, but they don't want to vote for this because they know that somebody who is running on the right of them in a primary, like lindsay graham, for example, they are nervous. mike enzi, for example. a lot of conservatives. >> mitch mcconnell has a primary, potentially. >> he hasn't exactly said how he's going to vote on this. >> think he will vote no? >> probably. >> so you have senate republicans who are running scared of members of their own party. >> i think that's right. the politics have changed but it's about who has ownership over the deal. a year ago when mcdonnell and biden had a handshake and a deal the senate was this august institution where the republicans and democrats got together and joined hands. now this isn't mcconnell's deal. it's murray who negotiated with the house republicans and consummated this, and add to that when you just talked about -- >> mitch mcconnell didn't want this to be his deal, by the way.

he stayed as far away as he could. >> because he's dealing with a primary challenge. >> the other dynamic among democrats is that i mentioned mark pryor, who is probably one of the most endangered democrats. >> from arkansas. >> from arkansas, very tough race, he's a yes, i'm told by democratic sources that you're probably going to see the most on the left because they're very upset, like house democrats were, that unemployment benefits have not been extended in this. we will probably see some of them hang back, make sure there's a comfortable approval tomorrow and maybe some of those will be able to vote no in order to vote their conscience. >> 1.3 million people who get unemployment benefits who have had unemployment benefits for longer than 26 weeks, they will lose their unemployment benefits unless some separate piece of legislation goes through. gloria, that doesn't look very likely. >> no. harry reid, you know, the leader in the senate, says we're going to take this up as soon as we get back in january. but that's not good enough for a lot of democrats who say wait a minute, you know, we still have

some of these automatic spending cuts in place, we don't like those. we want to -- we should have at least gotten the extension of unemployment benefits out of the deal and they say we didn't get it. >> hold on, guys. i want to bring in joe johns. joe, we're watching all of the political fallout here in washington, but as a lot of our viewers know, there's a presidential contest coming up in the not too distant future, only three years. hillary clinton, she is throwing her weight around a little, isn't she? >> for sure. she's keeping very public, accepting awards and giving speeches but former secretary of state and senator hillary clinton has not said she's going to run in 2016. just the same, there is a super political action committee moving the train without her, holding events and getting people engaged. hopes are running high for hillary to run for the highest office in 2016. the latest des moines register poll shows 89% of iowa democrats have a positive opinion of her compared to 71% who feel the same way about vice president joe biden.

and the super pac ready for hillary is trying to encourage her. it's kicked off events across the country, even though the would-be candidate hasn't said she's ready to run. >> it was just funny that they would do all of this for someone who may not even be running for the presidency. >> reporter: it's among many low dollar fund-raisers at swanky lounges like this with a price tag of $20.16, meant to draw out the grassroots base, not just the big money donors. even without an official campaign, mrs. clinton has gotten congressional supporters from key swing states rallying troops on her behalf. >> these are the ground troops, the soldiers that will be out in ohio, in colorado, in florida. they're excited about doing the grassroots effort. they don't have $10,000 to give to a campaign. they got $20 and they will give you all the shoe leather in the world. >> reporter: the goal isn't just to get folks to sign checks, but to sign up and volunteer as well. so far, they say they have over a million supporters and make the claim that every nine

seconds, they sign up someone new. earlier this year, the group said it had raised $1.25 million but that was before they started picking up the pace. waves of events have taken place already and with more fund-raisers to come, it's sure to raise criticismhat the super pac is becoming a campaign in waiting. >> i think it's a never-ending campaign. but whether this is a phenomenon for hillary or whether this will be the way to campaign in the future, we're three and a half years out, you're going to have to start building your lists, getting out there, getting your name out there, literally with hundreds of people. >> the presidential election is still pretty far off but this organization is trying to establish some relevance now by encouraging supporters to get behind white house agenda items and helping democrats running for congress, all the while claiming to be mrs. clinton's echo chamber. wolf? >> presidential election may be what, almost three years away but the iowa caucuses, remember, less than two years -- maybe

only two years away depending when those iowa caucuses are, new hampshire, south carolina to follow. joe, thank you. let's get back to dana, gloria and ryan. let me go to gloria first. it looks like everything is falling into place at least at this early stage for hillary clinton. >> look, hillary clinton is off on her own, by the way, giving lots of speeches, not out there campaigning, but she certainly isn't in hiding. then she's got this other organization which is completely separate from her, starting to raise money, do what they want to do. so if you look at it, you have to say hillary clinton is running even though they're running on two separate tracks. she is not running this fund-raising organization but she is running her own schedule. >> if hillary clinton does run, do you think joe biden will challenge her? >> i don't think so. there's no case for biden getting in the race -- >> he is the sitting vice president. >> he is, but there's not a policy case. it's not clear what he would run on against her.

in 2008, barack obama had the iraq war. it was something very, very specific that democrats really cared about, it was a huge difference between those two candidates. right now it's not clear what that issue is for anyone who would challenge hillary clinton. but i would also caution that i bet we can find video or writings of each one of us, this point in the cycle in 2008, saying oh, this is -- >> took the words out of my mouth. >> you wonder who that candidate and what the issue is. >> you took the words out of my mouth. the new des moines register poll has her approval rating sky high. it's approval, not a horse race. i asked our polling director where she was this time i guess eight years ago, leading into 2008, and 82%. nationally, not iowa. the point is that she was sky high, nobody could even dream that barack obama would come up and get her. and knowing the people around

her and just sort of understanding how she operates, she's well aware of that. she's seen this movie before and wants to make sure she doesn't get too comfortable this early, even though her approval is so high. >> also, this makes her a target. not that she wouldn't be a target anyway because hillary clinton is always going to be a target. but when she's that high in the polls, the republican candidates are going to be shooting at her and trying to knock her down and say they'll be talking about benghazi, so she is already this person they're aiming for out there because they believe she's also the presumptive nominee, as you say we have been there before. >> there's a set of issues on the democratic left that are sort of bubbling up that will be interesting to see how she responds to. there's the populist economic argument that people like de blasio in new york and elizabeth warren in massachusetts. hillary clinton hasn't really embraced one side of that debate. there are surveillance issues, the libertarian side of the democratic party that's becoming

more vocal. and there are even social issues like marijuana legalization in some states. there's a whole set of issues a lot of young people are kind of into right now on the democratic side. i think that's the wing of the party that could challenge her. although so far, none of those issues looks like the iraq war and obama. >> one little teaser. she's got a book coming out. it will come out in the spring. >> spring of 2014? >> spring of next year. >> 2014. >> correct. 2014. and it's going to be primarily about her time as secretary of state. she's going to be able to try to craft her own message about her time on the world stage, about that legacy, maybe prepare people for a female commander in chief if she so chooses. it's going to be a publicity tour and might look like a campaign tour. >> honestly, i think it all depends on how well the economy is doing and how tied she is to president obama and his success, whether it's success in foreign policy, whether john kerry has some success in the middle east, for example, so there are events

that we don't even know are coming at us yet -- >> three years away from the election, maybe two years from the iowa caucus but maybe one year when these candidates have to say they're running, they should start campaigning, they've got to raise money, get a staff. it's going to come upon us a lot more quickly than folks think. >> she has a staff in waiting, though. she may be different. biden may be like that as well. >> poor biden. he doesn't get the respect. >> thanks very much. up next, new evidence just in that something many folks take every single day to improve their health might actually be hurting their health. why a respected medical journal is now saying enough is enough when it comes to multi vitamins. this is information you may need to know. and you also may know google as a search engine but it's also quickly becoming a major player in the world of, you got it, robots.

this just coming into "the situation room." new questions about multi vitamins. an editorial in a respected medical journal is now slamming the use of daily multi vitamins, citing recent studies that suggest they're not only ineffective, they actually may be harmful. elizabeth cohen is joining us now. elizabeth, what did these studies find? >> what these studies did is took groups of patients and split them in half, so some people got a placebo and some got a multi vitamin. then they looked to see if you took the multi vitamin were you less likely to get dementia.

the other study said were you less likely to have a heart attack. in both studies they said no, you weren't. the multi vitamin did not help protect you against dementia and did not help to protect you against having a heart attack. now, like every study, these studies are not perfect but many experts are saying they really indicate that perhaps multi vitamins aren't good for these two things. >> multi vitamins good for anything? >> you know, it's a very tricky question. there are some experts out there who will say look, if you have a bad diet, wouldn't hurt you to take a multi vitamin, it might work sort of as a safety net. but a lot of people will say there really isn't evidence that these multi vitamins do anything for you. as a matter of fact, the editorial in this study said most supplements do not prevent chronic disease or death, their use is not justified and they should be avoided. pretty strong language there. >> what about individual, separate vitamin d or vitamin c, should people take those kinds of supplements as opposed to multi vitamins? >> there are individual

supplements that might be useful. for example, folic acid for a pregnant woman. there's lots of evidence that women really ought to be taking that if they are planning a pregnancy or even if they're just of child-bearing age. there is some individual vitamins that might be good for individual people for individual purposes, but it's the multi vitamin i think that a lot of people have doubt about. >> so the bottom line, people will say is it a waste of money to by those kind of vitamins? >> the folks who wrote this editorial certainly think it's a waste of money. i would never want to say that definitively but there certainly is evidence that multi vitamins don't really do much for you. >> can they do any harm? >> if you take a multi vitamin and you are taking other vitamins in addition, then you might end up in a situation where you are getting too much of one certain vitamin and that can be a problem. >> elizabeth cohen, thanks very much. let's get some other stories we're following in "the situation room" right now. sources telling cnn a bomb threat at harvard university appears to have been a hoax.

four buildings were evacuated after the threat was called in, although no explosions were reported. cambridge police and the fbi are investigating. the school newspaper reports that some final exams were canceled, raising suspicion the threat was called in to avoid exams. google is investing in more robots. the tech company has purchased boston dynamics, the company behind the cheetah robot which it says is the fastest legged robot in the world, reaching a speed of 29 miles an hour. boston dynamics has been developing robots for the u.s. military for more than a decade. this is the eighth robotics company, google has purchased. the megamillions jackpot could reach $1 billion dollars by christmas. it stands at $586 million right now. the odds of winning, one in 259 million, meaning you're much more likely to get hit by an asteroid. just ahead, a startling new investigation into the boston marathon bombers. did they turn to violence

because of personal problems, not extremist views? plus, it was one of the biggest collapses of this nfl season. was the cowboys' loss also the worst one in team history? rachel nichols standing by. i will speak with her in just a minute. coming up later, mustache versus beard. will ferrell and i talk tv news, comedy and the importance of hair spray. >> wolf blitzer, it is a pleasure to be in your presence. i just have to ask you, do you use vitalis hair spray? [ male announcer ] the new new york is open. open to innovation. open to ambition. open to bold ideas. that's why new york has a new plan -- dozens of tax free zones all across the state. move here, expand here, or start a new business here and pay no taxes for ten years... we're new york. if there's something that creates more jobs,

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the former major league baseball player, ryan freel, has become the first pro baseball player to be diagnosed with a severe brain disease known as c.t.e. it's associated with bruising sports like football and hockey but freel's case suggests baseball may have a growing concussion problem as well. freel committed suicide last year at the age of 36 after playing a relentless and fierce style of baseball for eight seasons. rachel nichols is joining us now, the host of cnn's "unguarded." how do you think this is going to impact major league baseball, this latest development, rachel? >> we've already seen just recently at the winter meetings baseball takes steps to ban home plate collisions. those collisions we see when a runner is sliding in trying to dislodge a ball from the

catcher. but i don't see that many changes. you're still going to see hitters hit by pitches from time to time. an interesting side note to all of this, wolf, is a couple of years ago at boston university they did a study on lou gehrig. they went back through newspaper clippings, medical records. he suffered from a.l.s. and found three or four major concussions with gehrig that landed him in the hospital and several other more minor concussions detailed in the newspapers and there is perhaps a link between his concussions and the a.l.s. they have seen a link between concussions and a.l.s. in football players so this is not the time that we are being introduced to the discussion about concussions and baseball and the damages to the brain but it's coming back around with a player who's much more recent and whose brain they can study. >> only 36 years old, what a tragedy that is. let's move from baseball to college football.

j jameis winston, the heisman trophy winner, winning over the weekend, prosecutors in florida declined to file charges, but his accuser's lawyer continuing to speak out against him. are these accusations now going to linger, hover over him as he makes the move potentially from college football to nfl football? >> one of the big questions is, is the family going to file a civil suit now against jameis winston. the attorney asked for the state to do a review of the case. we're not expecting them to grant that request, the same state officials that decided not to press charges would be involved in that decision. if they don't get that state review would they move to a civil suit? civil misconduct also by the officials in this case. they could sue the state government, the police force, so we'll see if there's more legal proceedings. if that happens, jameis winston might be called upon to testify or give a deposition in that

case. if none of that happens, you would expect this to fade a little bit into the background because he wasn't charged. that's the way it works in sports. >> and that unbelievable finish, the dallas cowboys/green bay packers yesterday. what was tony romo thinking when he did this? >> there are two different camps of dallas cowboys fans, right? the people who defend tony romo to the death and the people who want to see tony romo burned at the stake and i'm not going to get in the middle of them. seven times tony romo has thrown an interception when his team is leading by one touchdown or more in the fourth quarter or overtime of a game. other quarterbacks around the league, nobody else has done it more than four times. so that basically tells you, that's a lot of numbers telling you that nobody can give up a lead like tony romo. >> i've been watching football for a long time and don't remember anything like but i'm sure there was. rachel, thanks very much. coming up, nsa leaker edward

snowden takes some credit for this afternoon's ruling against the controversial spying program. plus playing straight man to the great will ferrell. >> now, we did some research, our crack unit, research on you. >> you have a unit that smokes crack? >> no, we have a crack research unit. plan . the first job i had was as an intern for ron burgandy. he didn't trust any local dry cleaners so he made me learn how to dry clean. if i messed up, he threatened to purchl me. he never did, but i still flinch when he's around. life with crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis is a daily game of "what if's". what if my abdominal pain and cramps come back? what if the plane gets delayed?

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and our giant idaho potato truck is still missing. so my dog and i we're going to go find it. it's out there somewhere spreading the good word about idaho potatoes and raising money for meals on wheels. but we'd really like our truck back, so if you see it, let us know, would you? thanks. what? it's not your usual

christmas card, jeanne moos has a closer look. >> reporter: if you send out one of those old-fashioned year-in-review christmas news letter, now you've got to compete with this. ♪ >> are these christmas jollies? >> reporter: the family's year summed up to the beat of will smith's song "miami" while dressed -- >> in my christmas jammies. >> reporter: and the dad is anchorman ben holderness. ♪ she can count to 100 in chinese and now read books about as thick as these. >> reporter: not to be outdone, his almost 4-year-old son. ♪ in case you didn't see it, he dressed up like a sheep and shook his hips in a recital. >> reporter: and his mom got a bit part in "iron man 3."

we find out that the wncn anchor man -- ♪ next month he's stepping off the anchor desk. he's going to quit his job and come work with his wife ♪ >> reporter: doing what? making videos of course. you know news people, they're always broadcasting secrets ♪ there's room for child number three but i can't i just had a vasectomy ♪ >> reporter: he and three friends went together to do the deed. they call themselves the vas pack. those are soothing packs of frozen peas on their laps. dad wasn't too impressed about his christmas jammies since he's still an anchorman for the cnn affiliate, and even his son tried to shut down our interview. >> mommy, close it. >> you can close it now. >> reporter: but before signing off, mom expressed regret about their jammies.

>> i'm really wishing at this point i had chosen something without horizontal stripes across my back side. >> reporter: there are always vertical stripes for next year. the thing is they bought the jammies last year online and since then, most of the family has expanded. ♪ my jammies fit me just right, but my daddy's are a little tight ♪ >> reporter: tight? we think your dad's pretty loose. jeanne moos, cnn, new york. happening now, a huge setback for government snooping. a federal judge declares a massive surveillance program unconstitutional. now the nsa leaker, edward snowden, is weighing in. plus, inside the mind of an accused boston bomber. disturbing new information suggests that one of the tsarnaev brothers heard voices. and dueling anchormen. will ferrell plays a tv newsman

in the movies but could he do the job in real life? stand by to see what happens when we go one-on-one. >> i'm wolf blitzer -- sorry, i'm will ferrell, and this is cnn. >> and i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." the nsa leaker, edward snowden, is claiming some credit for today's bombshell ruling against one of the u.s. government's most controversial surveillance programs. a judge says the mass collection of americans' phone records violates privacy and the u.s. constitution. snowden has issued a statement saying a secret program authorized by a secret court was when exposed to the light of day found to violate americans' rights. it is the first of many. let's bring in our pentagon correspondent, barbara starr. she's got more on today's ruling and what it means. barbara? >> reporter: wolf, you know, from the beginning edward snowden portrayed himself as a

whistleblower, shedding light on illegal government surveillance. it now looks like a federal judge is agreeing with him. edward snowden blew the lid off the national security agency's once secret surveillance program, and now a federal judge could derail is altogether, ruling its collection of billions of records of telephone calls to, from and within the u.s. is likely unconstitutional. the judge said, quote, i cannot imagine a more indiscriminate and arbitrary invasion than this systematic and high-tech collection and retention of personal data on virtually every citizen. if upheld, the decision has widespread implications. the judge says the nsa is violating fourth amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure. it comes hours after cbs' "60 minutes" broadcast interviews

with nsa leaders defending the program. >> this number, the to/from number, the date, the duration, that's all we get. all we can do is tell the fbi that number is talking to somebody who is very bad. you ought to go look at it. >> reporter: after acknowledging that snowden stole 1.7 million classified documents in an extraordinary twist, the nsa official in charge of figuring out how much damage he did says maybe he should get amnesty. >> my personal view, yes, it's worth having a conversation about. i would need assurances that the remainder of the data could be secured. >> reporter: legal experts say it could be tough to prosecute someone seen as a whistleblower and amnesty could keep snowden under a tight lid. >> snowden is sitting on a huge amount of documents with highly sensitive and embarrassing material. we've only seen a fraction released and it's caused tremendous diplomatic and political problems for the white house. they would desperately like to

see that material returned. >> reporter: now, you know, the nsa choosing to do these interviews with "60 minutes" clear low was its latest effort to defend itself in the public arena but there may be a lot of blow-pack on that as well. "60 minutes" coming under a lot of criticism, especially in the twitterverse, for not interviewing any critics of the nsa, only nsa officials. as for amnesty, the white house's position says they still want snowden sent back by the russians and prosecuted in federal court. now to the roots of homegrown terrorists, startling new investigation into the accused boston marathon bombers and why they turned to violence that suggests that personal problems may have been more of a motivator than any extremist views. brian todd is looking into the story and has the details. >> reporter: wolf, the "boston globe" said the brothers'

personal failures and tamerlan tsarnaev's mental illness may have been the most significant factors in that plot. serious mental health problems, including possibly schizophrenia, personal failures and a sense his life was spiraling down and out of control, all may be factors, according to a new report in the "boston globe" that led tamerlan tsarnaev to plan and carry out the boston bombings. >> the parents talk about him hearing voices. he tells a friend who is somebody he goes to mosque with that there are voices in him telling him what to do. >> reporter: in its investigation, the "globe" cites doctors who knew the tsarnaev family, relaying what the bombers' parents told them and a friend of tamerlan's who said he was mentally ill. one speculated tamerlan had schizophrenia although the paper found no evidence of a diagnosis. what they did find was other potential factors behind the plot, including personal failures and family problems like the divorce of the

tsarnaev's parents and infighting. tamerlan tsarnaev did have his share of set backs, his failure to make the u.s. olympic boxing team, an arrest for slapping his girlfriend, set backs that could have steered him toward violence. >> one of the sources of this could have been some kind of dissatisfaction of the bad, slow transition to coming to another country from a different one as a teenager. that's never easy. >> reporter: the "globe" found no indication that one radical islamist leader or group influenced the tsarnaevs to plot the bombings. instead his personal demons allowed him to latch on the to the demons on the internet. mark thinks the piece gives them excuses. >> it's trying to make us feel sorry for them. it's all sad pitches of horrific

moments in their family. come visit my family now and see how hard it is. >> reporter: "globe "reporter david filipov said they simply wanted to come to a better nkd of the brothers' behavior. the u.s. prosecutor's office would not comment on the "globe" report. attorneys representing dzhokhar tsarnaev did not return our calls or e-mail. >> the younger brother is still alive. there's new information about him as well? >> reporter: the "globe" quotes friends and aquaintances saying that he sold marijuana at the university of massachusetts at dartmouth. that he often made about $1,000 a week doing that and he sometimes carried a gun to protect his supply of marijuana. again, we got no comment from his attorneys or the u.s. attorney's office prosecuting him to that report. >> brian todd with the latest on that story, thank you. still ahead, prayers for the 17-year-old victim of the colorado school shooting from the dead gunman's family. plus, why is the basketball star dennis rodman heading back to north korea even after his

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we're now hearing from the family of the dead gunman in the colorado school shooting. they're joining in prayers for a 17-year-old victim. karl pierson's parents issued a statement saying we are shattered by the tragic events that took place on friday at arapahoe high school. our thoughts and prayers are with claire davis and her family. they go on to say as parents we loved our son, karl, dearly and

we are devastated by what happened friday. we cannot begin to understand why karl did what he did. cnn's anna is joining us with more. i understand claire davis is fighting for her life? >> reporter: yes, wolf. claire davis is still in a coma. she is stable, but remains in critical condition. family and friends are hoping for some good news. they want to make sure she feels their love and support and have set up this tribute to claire here along the school at the fence. they're bringing teddy bears, flowers, signs like this one that say "pray for claire," "warrior strong" and they're hoping all this positive energy provides claire with the strength and helps fuel her fight to survive and to recover. 17-year-old claire davis, an innocent victim of an unthinkable crime. this arapahoe high school warrior now facing the ultimate fight. >> i have faith.

she's a fighter. >> reporter: three days after the shooting, davis remains hospitalized with severe head trauma. a tribute outside the school is growing for the girl that friends describe as a great athlete and students who loves horses. >> claire was just that person that you could always go to for help. she always had a bright smile on her face and was always there for anyone. >> reporter: now davis is the one in need. her family is asking for privacy and prayers. >> and we love her to death and we're all praying for her. >> reporter: the community is responding. hundreds of students from high schools all across the area gathering for this vigil over the weekend. >> for claire! >> reporter: lifting candles to the sky, shining light during a very dark time. >> claire! for claire! for claire! >> reporter: people on social media also are writing about her. total strangers, flooding facebook with well wishers and encouragement. and on twitter, a campaign to get one direction, davis'

favorite band, to come visit, with hash tag #get1dtoclaire. support is abundant but so is the helpless feeling of wanting to do more for davis, shot at point blank range. all because she happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. >> what are your prayers for claire? >> i just parade that we would see the light of day again and best case scenario, she gets to walk with all of her friends and classmates in may. >> there are so many prayers and well wishes. i did speak with a trauma expert today who tells me without knowing claire's specific injuries, knowing she was shot in the head, that very, very, very, very best case scenario, she has a long road of rehabilitation ahead of her. she did say the doctor telling me that the signs are good that 72 hours after this injury and

all this happened that she is stable as far as the survival goes. but quality of life, wolf, is another issue. >> of course all of our viewers wish her a speedy, speedy recovery. ana cabrera, thank you very much. some other news we're following right now, the retired basketball star, dennis rodman, is getting ready to go back to north korea despite new political turmoil and potential danger. only days ago rodman's self-proclaimed so-called friend, kim jong-un, had his own uncle executed. anna is joining us from seoul, south korea. why is dennis rodman going back to north korea at this time? >> reporter: wolf, it's certainly fair to say that dennis rodman is coming to north korea at a very controversial time. as you say kim jong-un had his own uncle executed last week for treason. it was something that certainly shocked people here in south korea and certainly right around the world. his uncle was his right-hand

man, second in command and also seen as an adviser to the young leader, the 30-year-old youngest head of state. as you say, dennis rodman is arriving in pyongyang a little later this week. they are apparently very good friends and he is there to coach north korean basketball players. we also understand that he'll be returning to north korea in january to put on an exhibition match with former professional basketball players but that's what we know about his trip at the moment, wolf. >> might get some insight into what's going on in north korea during this visit. this is the first foreign visit since the uncle's execution. is that what north korea watchers will anticipate to learn something about kim jong-un and what's going on? >> reporter: analysts say, wolf, that north korea feels much more comfortable having someone like dennis rodman as a mediator to the world as opposed to any

other diplomat or government official. as we know, dennis rodman has certainly enjoyed the limelight. you know, when he came back from a recent trip, this will now be his third trip to north korea. he said that kim jong-un wants to change, that he's a good guy, and that he's certainly misunderstood. so i think dennis rodman wants to be the mediator, if you like, between north korea, which as we know is a global pariah, it's developing a nuclear program. it's also at times declared war, raining fire on the united states. we also -- we obviously went through all of that a little earlier this year. but it will certainly be interesting to see what comes out of this trip and what message that he has for the world. >> bringing the american kenneth bey home would be encouraging. thanks very much. just ahead, a very, very

different story. i'll go one-on-one with comedian will ferrell. he plays a tv newsman in the new film "anchorman 2." so what does he think, do i have what it takes to be a movie star? >> if this news thing doesn't work out for me, what do you think? do you think i've got some potential on the big screen? >> it's a great interview with you. great to meet you. li irl like for christmas? i'm thinking the ford fusion... ho, ho, ho!....the what? i need a car that's stylish and fashionable... especially in my line of work. now do you have a little lemonade stand? guys, i'm in fashion! but i also need amazing tech too... like active park assist... it practically parks itself. and what color would you like? i'll have my assistant send you over some swatches... oh... get a fusion with 0% financing for 60 months, plus $500 ford credit holiday bonus cash during the ford dream big sales event. waffle bars... fancy robes... seems every hotel has something to love...

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you probably know by now, will ferrell is back on the big screen as a legendary tv anchorman. it's no wonder he wanted to sit down and talk shop.

>> i'm ready. >> good evening, i'm ron burgandy. >> he just may be the most famous anchorman in america. okay, maybe the second most famous. >> i don't know how to put this, but i'm kind of a big deal. >> will ferrell, and his alter ego, ron burgandy. that lothario of local news first cannon balled his way into television journalism nine years ago in the cult classic "anchorman." >> cap on ball. >> this week he's back in a new sequel. >> i'm a man. i'm an anchorman. >> in the sequel, "anchorman 2," you are no longer in local news. >> no. >> you work for a 24/7 cable news network, is that correct? >> that's exactly correct. we work for gnn. >> no relation to cnn. >> no relation, no relation. to cnn.

and so we find ron and his loveable team of misfits thrust into the sophisticated world of 24-hour news. >> so the whole concept of ron burgandy, people now associate you with ron burgandy. >> with the channel 4 news team, i'm ron burgandy. you stay classy, san diego. >> ron is getting more famous than i am, which that's okay. i can live with that. ron's thrilled. he's finally getting his due. >> he's got that red jacket, very impressive jacket. the mustache. >> the mustache. did you ever go with a fuller mustache? >> do you see any ron burgandy here? any similarities? i do have the little mustache. >> you have that but you'd really have to give it -- let it go. >> i was going to wear a red sportcoat. >> but you have your established look. >> do you notice the red tie? >> i do. a very nice touch. >> a little ron burgandy, i'm assuming. >> and your hair looks great. your hair looks great. that's the most important factor. >> and you know what, when i get my makeup, we all have to get

makeup, they never touch the hair. you know that. >> don't touch the hair. >> don't touch the hair ever. >> or you're fired. >> very sensitive. >> yep. >> an while ron burgandy may not be my look-alike, ferrell said he was modelled after another news anchor he saw in a documentary. >> you know, this all started from a special that i had seen on jessica savage. >> i get asked all the time if local newscasters are just blown dry news readers, and i say that's not true. >> she was the first female to be paired with a guy in local news. >> good evening, i'm mort grimm with jessica savage. >> he had been ten years out of the business and he still talked like this. he still used his newscaster voice. he was saying how you have to remember back then i was not very nice to jessica. i was a male chauvinist pig. >> i liked women but i didn't know that their place was necessarily sitting beside me on

an anchor set. >> and ron is kind of based on that. >> you know, it was more watching -- remembering from a nostalgic sense of how big the local news anchor used to be. >> with five-time emmy award-winning anchor, ron burgandy. >> are you surprised that it's caused such a sensation? >> i think we had ten -- we were rejected by ten studios in one day. it took three years to get made because we had to convince -- we had to convince these studio heads that, no, this is going to be a funny movie. >> well, that's going to do it for all of us here at channel 4 news. you stay classy, san diego. i'm ron burgandy. dammit, who typed a question mark on the teleprompter? >> there's some funny things but it's not very realistic. >> i thought it was hysterical.

>> and i've heard from some people, especially in local news, that say it's the most accurate thing there is. >> part of that accuracy, it turns out, is because before he became a sensation on "saturday night live" ferrell had his own brief stint behind the anchor desk working for a cable access news show right out of college. >> we did some research, our crack research unit on you. >> you have a unit that smokes crack? >> no. so back in 1991 did you try out to be an anchor at a local cable access station called around and about orange county? >> that's correct. i was an anchor. i was also a field reporter. local cable access show, around and about orange county news. i did it for about six months. >> how did that work out? >> it didn't work out. >> it was terrible? >> i failed and got into comedy. >> why? >> you have to start out in places like yuma, arizona.

and when you're -- you have to lug your own camera around. you have to do your own sound. you have to do your own editing. and it was beyond my skill level. >> someone put this in all capital letters and i thought i was supposed to yell it. >> did you ever say to yourself maybe i should have pursued that journalistic career? >> never. >> but you like to play it? >> i like to make fun of it. >> which made me wonder what if our roles had been reversed. >> if this news thing doesn't work out for me, what do you think? do you think i have some potential on the big screen? >> it's a great interview with you. great to meet you. >> if you were ron burgandy right now interviewing wolf blitzer, what would you ask? what would you say? >> first of all, ron would be -- ron would be a little nervous to be in your presence because he's been out of the news game for a while and he -- he would probably be like, well, i'm here now with of course the

esteemed -- it's wolves? wolves or wolf? >> singular. >> wolf. wolf blitzer. wolf, it is a pleasure to be in your presence, and i just have to ask you, do you use vitalis hairspray? >> i do use a hairspray. >> yes. >> but i'm not familiar with the name. i tell the makeup artist. >> oh, you should use vitalis. >> just spray it, don't touch it. >> spray it, don't touch it. i say that about numerous parts of my body. >> my hair we're talking about. >> and other parts. that would be a typical ron burgandy sequence. >> yeah. he would be -- because he did inspire a lot of -- a whole generation of journalists, as you know. >> unfortunately he did. >> nothing else for me to say. thanks to will ferrell for that. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." "crossfire" starts right now.

tonight on "crossfire," the budget battle moves to the senate. will it attract enough republicans to pass? and what does it say about our priorities? >> while we don't promise equal outcomes, we've strived to deliver equal opportunity. >> on the left, stephanie cutter. on the right, newt gingrich. in the crossfire, cornell west, a philosophy professor and ross douthen, a conservative commentat commentator. what's government's role in overcoming inequality, tonight on "crossfire." welcome to "crossfire." i'm newt gingrich on the right. >> and i'm stephanie cutter on the left. in the crossfire tonight, guests with different views about what government should do about the inequality in our country. today it looks like senate dem rats have put together enough republican votes to pass a budget deal. a compromise congress needs to pass. here's why. most important it avoids a government shutdown.

second, it gets rid of those across-the-board budget cuts that were particularly damaging to the middle class. finally it lets us move on. let's start to do the work the american people expect of washington. how about addressing economic inequality? if it's important enough for the pope to highlight for the entire roman catholic church, it certainly should be important enough for washington to take action. instead of the same old ideological fights like big government versus no government, let's agree that the truth is somewhere in the middle and get something done. >> boy, i hate to -- >> i'm sure you don't have anything to say about that. >> i hate to shock our audience but i think a lot of what you just said is right. >> whoa! >> the biggest disappointment to me in this whole budget process, and paul ryan is a brilliant person, but this was really just addition, subtraction. no real creativity, no really interesting useful