world." cnn "newsroom" starts right now. have a good afternoon. stay safe and warm. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com right now, record cold crippling much of the united states, stranding trains, cancelling flights and closing schools. more than 100 million americans are bundling up and wondering if there is an end in sight. also right now, president obama's plan to extend jobless benefits squeaks through a key senate vote. how big of a victory is this for the white house, what happens next with the bill. it's by no means yet a done deal. and right now, a massive shift in americans' views on marijuana. a majority now say it should be legal. two-thirds say there's nothing morally wrong with smoking pot. hello, i'm wolf blitzer in washington. we start with the brutal cold

gripping the nation right now. in fact, we have seen below-freezing temperatures in all 50 states. temperatures in new york dropped about 60 degrees in just one day. oh other areas are seeing their lowest temperatures in the last 20 years. the weather is making for brutal commutes, if you can get going at all. look at this. 1,400 flights aren't going anywhere. and public transportation is shut down in so many areas across the country. we're covering all the angles from the midwest to the deep south, into new york and new england. ted rowlands is in chicago where the illinois governor has declared a weather emergency, activated the national guard. ted, how bad is the situation in the city? do we have an update on the problems plaguing, for example, amtrak trains in th region? >> reporter: yeah. there's lots of problems, wolf. the amtrak issue is being resolved. the trains that were stranded, three in all, 500 passengers, basically spent the night in their trains on the tracks. there was heat, so they were

warm. they are being bussed to chicago. two of the train loads have come into union station here. there is one more to come. there are other issues. the salt on the roadways is losing its effectiveness, because now we're in a second day of below zero temperatures. and this morning's commute was just horrendous. a lot of people stayed home monday. today they decided they were going to brave it and come into work. and there were crashes all morning long, creating just a horrible, horrible snarl on every single chicago freeway. and it's still below zero and it's still very uncomfortable. we're excited that the weather forecast says it's going to get up to zero in the next few hours. that's how bad it is. >> a balmy zero in chicago. ted, thank you. air travel is a mess once again today. thousands of flights still grounded, because of that frigid cold. jetblue seems to be getting a lot of criticism. it's cancelled virtually all flights for 17 hours overnight. that's more than 400 flights in all.

rene marsh is joining us over at the reagan national airport here in d.c. jetblue started slowly getting its planes back in the air a few hours ago, right? >> reporter: that's right. about two hours ago, wolf. you know, you said it. they're really getting a lot of criticism here. we know at this hour they're at about 50%, and they say in another two hours, they expect to be at 100% here. jetblue really has taken a beating, but let's be clear here. a lot of airlines have seen cancellations and delays. let's take a look at the boards here, at reagan. you see we're seeing lots of red here. so they're not the only ones. but they're taking a pr beating, because some say they mishandled the weather disruption. critics say mistake number one, the airline blamed new faa pilot rest rules partially for some of those delays. rules that were two years in the making. that brings us to mistake number

two. critics say that the airline just was not ready for what was the perfect storm. we're talking about bad winter weather, and new pilot scheduling rules. together, it was a mess for the airline, according to critics. we're still seeing cancellations and we spoke to some of those stranded travelers earlier today. take a listen. >> i spent two hours with an agent in miami who was trying to get us on a flight, and ultimately, could only find us a flight four or five days later. which, in my opinion, is unacceptable. >> reporter: looks like you've been here for a while. >> yes. sadly. i'm starting to get used to it. so i had to get comfortable real fast. i actually got in yesterday, but i've been flying from senegal since saturday morning. i've lost track. so everything being cancelled. >> reporter: all right. so wolf, you want to know how you do not lose your mind when

you're stuck in this travel mess? travelers tell me the heaters here at the airport, as well as misplaced optimism. that is how they're getting through and holding on to their sanity. wolf, back to you. >> all right, rene, thanks very much. how cold is it out there? we're to the point, how long is it going to last. chad myers is tracking all of this for us over at the cnn severe weather center. what are you seeing out there, chad? >> reporter: it warms up by thursday and friday. i know that gets us an optimistic time period. but even for boston, not until friday night into saturday. but it is getting better. this is probably the bottom of the barrel when it comes to temperatures. the sun is out, that's helping a little bit, but not when the wind is blowing right through you. blowing through green bay, 31 below. chicago, 23 below. even if your bags are on the tarmac, they may move slowly, because these men and women have to take breaks, as well. you can't be outside moving all of this stuff around, baggage around, for hours and hours, without a break. 13 is the temperature right now. the wind chill in memphis, it feels like 9 in atlanta.

and it was very cold in atlanta this morning. a morning low of 5 degrees. the morning low in new york city, central park, was down to 4. yesterday, the high was 50-something in new york city. 54, essentially, for western new york. tell you what, an awful lot of snow coming down, as well. buffalo could see 1 to 3 feet, especially -- not even in the south towns, where the snow usually is. cold in all those places. but right through buffalo, west secca, orchard park, snow coming down right now and much more to come. there is the record low. central park, 4 degrees. charlotte, 6. charleston, 20 degrees this morning. i know that doesn't seem cold if you're in green bay. but for the people in charleston, that is a very cold morning. that's what it looks like, the new york state thruway, not far from where i'm bosh, the 400 aurora. and for wjrz, buffalo, new york, that's how much visibility you get, four blocks or so. snowing in buffalo, and snowing all across where you and i all grew up, wolf.

>> yeah, at least they know how to deal with that kind of weather, that kind of snow. when you talk about buffalo and we're both from buffalo, south of buffalo, that's the so-called snow belt. but it looks like buffalo is getting pummeled right now, as well. >> that's right. the wind direction right from cleveland right into buffalo. that takes the snow and pushes it into the city. pushes it into west seneca, not dunkirk. but this is a orchard park event and where lots of people live. and it is slow no matter where you are. i had some pictures up last night, 8:00, 9:00, not a car on the road in parts of buffalo. if you get on the row, it looks just like that. covered in snow. >> yeah, a real mess. those are some of the pictures coming in. i'm sure a mess in tunawanda, too -- ken more, where i actually grew up. thanks very much, chad. this is obviously a particularly dangerous time to be homeless.

according to the 2013 annual homeless assessment report, 64,000 people in new york were homeless, an increase of 13%. 54,000 homeless in los angeles. the report says more than 610,000 americans are homeless. and more than one in three have no shelter. now, imagine all those people outside in subzero weather. this is chicago, but it could be anywhere in this bitter cold. we found a church in atlanta opening its doors for those with no place to go. alina machado is joining us from atlanta right now. the morning temperatures there in the single digits. alina, i'll bet those folks are relieved to get a chance to go inside. >> reporter: yeah, wolf. they definitely were. we were out here this morning around 5:00 in the morning, the temperature was about 7 degrees. right now it's in the upper teens. and it feels amazing compared to what it felt like this morning. but this is really uncomfortable. it's also downright dangerous. and that's a big reason why

shelters here in atlanta have x expanded their capacity. the city of atlanta opened up a sellter and this church opened up its doors last night so people who don't have a place to stay can come in. we want to show some video we shot a little while ago from inside the church from the area where about two dozen people spent the night getting refuge from this bitter cold. we're told this church is probably going to be opening up its doors again tonight to help people get through the cold snap. we want you to listen to what the pastor of this church had to say. >> it is a big deal, i think because we're not prepared, schools close, everybody kind of shuts down and gets nervous about it. but especially this vulnerable, you know, community, who rely on shelters or the hospitality of others. we just want to respond, and lots of other groups have responded opening doors to their needs. >> reporter: the good news is that the response here continuing just in the time we

have been here. we have seen several people stopping by and donating coats and more clothes to help these people, this vulnerable community. looking ahead, atlanta schools today close. also several schools throughout the south in states like tennessee, alabama, north carolina, also close. it's unclear at this point if they're going to be open tomorrow. we'll have to wait and see for that. just so you have an idea, wolf, what have the average temperature is here in atlanta, this time of year, it's usually in the 50s. we are not going to be anywhere near that here today. >> yeah. cold in atlanta. cold all over the country, it looks like. thanks. alina. the unemployment benefit debate is moving on here in washington after a razor-thin win for democrats. but what's next in the white house is the fight to extend those benefits. i'll speak live with the labor secretary, thomas perez. he's joining us when we come back. [ male announcer ] megan doesn't know

that coffee breaks down tooth enamel. thankfully, she uses act restoring mouthwash. it rebuilds tooth enamel, making your teeth two times stronger. act. smile strong. unemployment rolls for now, more heading in that direction. earlier the senate voted to move ahead with a debate on a bill to re-establish the benefits, at

least for three months. democrats got six republicans to vote their way. president obama who had been pressing congress to get something done on the extended benefits spoke just a little while ago after the senate vote. >> with what i said should be the first order of business in 2014. and that is extending insurance for the unemployed. the good news is, this morning the senate took a very important step in that direction. >> but it was only a step. there's still a long way to go. let's bring in our capitol hill reporter, lisa de jardine. where do they go from here? they passed this initial hurdle in the senate, obviously a complicated legislative building over there. >> no kidding. not to get too much into the weeds, but no time for a victory dance for democrats. they immediately have to work on

the next step here, wolf. and that is getting another 60 votes. they'll need another 60 votes to actually do final -- get to final passage here. and the thing is, those six republicans who brought about this squeaker of a win for democrats today, they say they're not guaranteed to vote yes the next time. because they want to see this $6 billion extension paid for. and they're not alone. so does house speaker, john boehner. take a look at this statement that the speaker put out, just after today's senate vote. he said, i personally told the white house another extension of temporary emergency unemployment benefits should not only be paid for, but should include something to help put people back to work. to date, the president has offered no such plan. well, it's interesting today, we did hear from new york senator, chuck schumer, perhaps opening the door to some kind of negotiation over how to pay for this bill. >> best choice, pass it, get it done, get it done quickly.

second-best choice, finding a reasonable pay for. >> reporter: so democrats would like this to be an emergency appropriati appropriation not paid for. there you heard schumer admitting they need to negotiate over that. wolf, how does schumer want to pay for this bill? closing loopholes, tax loopholes on the rich and that brings us back to the same debate we have been having for years here at the capitol. >> how surprising was it, lisa, you cover congress very closely, that six republicans went along with the democrats? >> reporter: i'll tell you, i was sitting at my desk with this very pen. we didn't know. we knew that four republicans were likely to side with them. the minute that dan coats of indiana voted yes, that's when it really felt like this could happen. but democrats themselves, wolf, said they were surprised, even the sponsor of the bill said he basically didn't know until the very last minute that this vote was going to pass today. >> all right. stand by. we're going to continue to watch what's happening up on capitol hill, lisa. appreciate it very much. coming up, i'll also speak with

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so there was an possibility first step on extending the unemployment benefits in the united states senate just a little while ago. but definitely not the last steps. there's a long way to go to get this three-month extension off the ground. joining us now to talk a little bit about the white house's efforts to extend the benefits, the labor secretary of the united states, thomas perez. mr. secretary, thanks very much for coming in. >> oh, it's a pleasure to be with you, wolf. >> do you have the votes in the senate and the house to pass this legislation? >> oh, i'm very optimistic that we can move forward, and i'm optimistic in part because there's been a long and proud bipartisan history of passing emergency unemployment compensation when we have financial circumstances and economic circumstances like we have now. the long-term unemployment rate is -- remains at a historic high, notwithstanding the

progress that we have made in growing the economy. and it would quite literally be unprecedented for congress to fail to act when the long-term unemployment rate is as high as it is now. and so i was heartened by what happened today in the senate. obviously, a lot more work to do. we will continue to work this issue hard and we'll work it hard because people are suffering through no fault of their own. people like kathryn hackette who introduced the president today, who, you know, the mother -- single mother of two folks who -- two boys who are in the military. she is -- she lives in her house right now, keeps the heat at 58 degrees, wearing a hat and coat can. she has lost 15 pounds, looking for a job every day. and so we need to help her. we need to help the others who are in the same boat. >> republicans say they're more than happy to help her and help everyone else pass this legislation. they just want to find a way to cut spending elsewhere to pay for it so that the 5 or $6 billion that will be spent over

the next three months won't increase the nation's debt. why not cut spending elsewhere? there's a lot of waste, as you know, out there. and do it and get this done with once and for all. >> it's interesting, wolf. president bush signed an emergency unemployment compensation extensions five times with no strings attached. just last month, the congress acted in a bipartisan fashion to extend the so-called doc fix. that's the payment to medicare doctors for three months, no strings attached. what this bipartisan bill in the senate from senator heller and senator reid does is just that. let's pass this now so that people like kathryn hackette who have lost this lifeline can get that. and then let's talk about a long-term fix so people don't have to legislate month-to-month. >> mr. secretary, is the president rejecting any offset, any cuts elsewhere to pay for this? >> the president, as he has said, looks forward to trying to

find shuolutions that work for everybody. at the same time, again, there's been a long and proud bipartisan history, including, again, five times under president bush, 14 out of the last 17 times, it's been extended. there have been no strings attached. and that's why, you know, the example of the medicare doc fix, where there was a three-month temporary extension while they work out a long-term fix, is -- seems like the right way to go. >> mr. secretary, i raise the question, because senator chuck schumer just said he wants a clean bill, as you do, as well. but if that's impossible to get through the house of representatives where there's a republican majority, he would be opening to finding some offsets, some spending cuts. the question to you as a representative of the president from the obama administration, do you agree with senator schumer that if necessary to pass this three-month extension and help all those people with the president today, you would be willing to cut spending elsewhere? >> well, again, you know, we're

willing to do -- we need to work to address this emergency right now. and i think, you know, in the presidency of george bush, congress understood that it was indeed an emergency. it continues to be an emergency for people. and the administration, you know, remains open to finding solutions for this problem. but, you know, people like kathryn hackette and others have already lost their lifeline. and they can't afford to wait three, four, five weeks while you find long-term solutions. that's why it was so important, and i'm so heartened by the fact that the senate acted today. >> so is that a yes, you are open to that potential compromise, you're willing to at least consider offsets in spending in order to pay for this? >> well, again, i hope that the congress does what senators heller and reid have put forth today. i think that's the preferred way to go, because people are in a catastrophe. a state of catastrophe.

>> i know that's your preference. but i'm only asking if you can't get that through the house of representatives, would he be willing to compromise? >> i think we should cross those bridges when we come to them. i'm confident that when people continue to hear from their constituents at home, which they have been hearing from, they're going to see that we need to act now. and we need to do this extraordinary fix, and then we need to solve the problem in the long-term. that's really -- the look on the faces of people who are looking every day for jobs, and now they can't even pay their rent. they can't even pay the heat. and frigid times like this. that has to be the number-one priority, is to make sure that we're not putting people who are in this state of catastrophe in further danger. >> mr. secretary, thanks so much for joining us. good luck. i know a lot of people are anxious to get those extended benefits, and the question will be, will there be a compromise or won't there be a compromise.

and what i hear you saying is, you're open to the possibility, but you're not ready to commit to that yet. appreciate it very much. >> well, you have a nice day, and it feels just like my hometown in buffalo here today. >> my hometown -- a lot of buffaloa buffaloans, you, chad myers, me. it fells just like the good old days in lackawanna, the suburbs. did you grow up if buffalo itself? >> i grew up in schneider, right outside buffalo, two miles from the state university, ub. >> my alma mater. >> your alma mater, example. >> thanks very much. >> and they'll always remind you of that, you and tim russert. take care. >> thank you so much for joining us. good luck. meanwhile, other news we're following right now, including the growing violence in the middle east, particularly from young sunni fighters working with al qaeda militants to try to create a rare alliance. we're talking about the united states and iran. at odds with each other. but concerned about the

increasing presence of the al-qaeda cross the middle east. places like syria, lebanon, iraq, afghanistan, and yemen. joining us is the host of cnn's "fareed zadeeria gps." does this crazy situation that's developed recently open a potential door for dialogue between washington and tehran? >> it might well, wolf. you know, we have tended to view the problem in the middle east ever since 9/11 in a very monolithic framework. very simple-minded way. if you think about the axis of evil. there are good guys and bad guys. actually, there are a lot of different kinds of bad guys and most of the people who have wanted to kill americans and kill westerners were sunni fundamentalists. they are entirely different from iran, which is a shia country. so the iranians never liked

those guys. iran did cooperate a great deal with the united states in the afghan war. in fact, they helped us get rid of the taliban, install hamid karzai, and so there was -- there were those common interests. and we see them again, as these virulent al qaeda type movements come up. that doesn't mean we'll be able to do it, because there is a great deal of -- you know, old hostilities between the united states and iran for 34 years. but as you point out, at a purely strategic level, the united states and iran have the same interests, which is to get rid of or in some way deal with these highly extreme sunni radicals, who hate the united states, but they also hate iran. >> as you know, fareed, there is no appetite here in the united states to send u.s. troops back into iraq. but short of that, isn't this government of nouri al maliki really capable of reaching some sort of deal?

it's a shiite-led government, with these sunni militants who taking over places like fallujah. >> i'm very pessimistic. the big mistake, american mistake we made, when we went into iraq, we relied exclusively on the hard line shia -- shiite parties, maliki being the head of one of those parties, and we essentially ceded iraq to them. because we saw the sunnis as having been allied with saddam hussein, there was the old guard, they were a minority. the problem is, maliki and the shia have never really incorporated the sunnis. what you need in iraq, it's sort of like what you need in ireland, what you need in all these situations. is a power-sharing deal. so fine, share the majority, but they've got to let in the sunni into various positions of power. if you don't do that, if drives the opposition to violence, to extremism. i don't know what american troops would do in the middle of that, because this is a power

struggle, internal power struggle in iraq between a majority that won't let in a minority and a minority that's taking recourse to violence. >> good point. fareed, thanks very much. fareed zakaria joining us. later today in "the situation room," we'll talk about the resurgence of al qaeda in the middle east, the violence in iraq, among other subjects. that interview, 5:00 p.m. eastern in "the situation room". moan while, an angry and emotional interview with dennis rodman. why has he decided to play a basketball game with other former nba stars in north korea on kim jong-ujong-un's 31st bir. you're going to hear how he reacted to some serious questions from our own chris cuomo. no matter how busy your morning you can always do something better for yourself.

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the former nba star, dennis rodman, angrily defending his trip to north korea with a team of ex nba players. they're there to play an exhibition game tomorrow. organized by dennis rodman. it's actually to celebrate the 31st birthday of the north korean leader, kim jong-un, a man who recently ordered the execution of his own uncle. he's also holding an american in prison in north korea, and he's accused of continuing the

horrific human rights abuses of his father and grandfather. yet dennis rodman calls kim jong-un, a quote, friend. here's part of the really strong interview that chris cuomo had today with dennis rodman and other former nba players. they were all in pyongyang. >> we are using basketball as a bridge for cultural exchange. and that's all about communication. we're not -- again, we're not here to deal with the politics. the date of the game is the date of the game. >> dennis, let me end on this. you do have a relationship with this man. you have said it many times. we have seen it demonstrated. >> yes. >> for whatever reason. are you going to take an opportunity, if you get it, to speak up for the family of kenneth bay, and to say, let us know why this man is being held. that this is wrong, that he is sick. if you can help them, will you take the opportunity. >> whoa, whoa, watch this. the one thing about politics.

kenneth bay did one thing. if you understand. i got it, guy. if you understand what kenneth bay did -- >> yeah? >> do you understand what he did. >> what did he do? you tell me. you tell me, what did he do? >> no, no, no. you tell me! you tell me! why is he held captive. >> they haven't released any charges. >> why? >> they haven't released any reason. >> listen. >> no, let me do this. i would love to speak on this. >> go ahead. >> you know? you've got -- you've got ten guys here, ten guys here. they have left their families, left their damn families. to help this country in a sport venture. ten guys, all these guys here. does anyone understand that? >> we do. and we appreciate that. and we wish them well with cultural exchange. >> no, no, i'm just saying! no, i don't give a -- [ bleep ] i don't give a rat's ass what the hell you think.

i'm saying to you! look at these guys. look at them! >> don't use them as an excuse for the behavior that you're putting on yourself. >> they came here! >> you basically were saying that dennis did something wrong. we don't know what the charges are. don't use these guys as a shield for you, dennis. >> listen, listen. listen. >> no! ain't no chill. i got it. let me do this. really? really? i'm going to tell you one thing. people around the world oh , around the world, i'm going to do one thing. your guy behind the mic right now. we are the guys here doing one thing. we are going back to america, to take the abuse. do you have to take the abuse that we're going to take? do you, sir -- let me know. are you going to take that abuse we're going to get? guess what i do? one day -- one day this door is

going to open, because these ten guys here, all of us, christie, ben, dennis, charles, all these -- everybody here. we could just open the door just a little bit for people to come here and do one thing. >> what an interview, chris cuomo's interview with dennis rodman and some of the other nba players in north korea right now. so what's the white house reaction to rodman's north korean trip? here's what the white house press secretary, jay carney, said, just a few moments ago. >> sports diplomacy can be valuable. and it's something that we pursue in many places around the world, including through direct support. but this is a private trip. and our focus, when it comes to north korea, is on sharpening the choice that that regime

faces. >> he was also asked about chris cuomo's interview with dennis rodman. carney said i heard about it, i did not see it. some of the comments rodman made. he then went on to say, i'm not going to dignify that outburst with a response. but does dennis rodman have a point that basketball diplomacy could help open up north korea to the rest of the world? let's discuss that with the former u.s. ambassador to the uniteded nations, bill richardson. governor, thanks very much for coming in. >> thank you very much, wolf. >> i asked the question to you. you've been there on several occasions. i was there with you exactly three years ago. we spent six days in pyongyang. do you believe that american basketball players going to north korea like this delegation could actually open up that country to the rest of the world? >> well, i've been disappointed in the turn of events of this basketball trip. first that it's being used

propaganda wise by the regime on the birthday of the kim jong-un, the new leader. secondly, i thought dennis rodman crossed a line this morning by implying that kenneth bay might be guilty. by suggesting that there was a crime. there is no crime. kenneth bay is an american detainee that's been there a year in bad health who deserves to come home. i think dennis drank a little bit too much of the kool-aid from the north koreans. so while basketball diplomacy, out of the box diplomacy, which i've practiced, you covered that trip, u.n. envoys, philanthropic groups, the vatican, those are often useful. but i think this one has become a sideshow. while i think the surrounding players to dennis rodman, you know, they're concerned with what's happening. i'm not faulting them. but i think dennis has crossed a line by saying something about kenneth bay that is wrong and

inappropriate. because this is an american detainee who has not been charged, very spurious allegations against him, who is sick, who deserves to come home. dennis should be advocating for his release, along with the other nba players. >> well, maybe he is. i don't know if he is. privately, behind the scenes, in his personal conversations with north korean officials, despite what he said to chris cuomo just a few moments ago. we heard that clip. if he were, and let's hope he does, manage to bring kenneth bay out with him on this trip, would you change your attitude about this whole diplomatic effort on his part? >> i would give him credit for bringing kenneth bay back. i think no american diplomat, no out of the blocks entity has been able to help kenneth bay. myself included. when we were there a year ago. so i would give him credit for

that. but his remarks to chris cuomo, basically saying, do you know what he did? in other words implying that he did something wrong, which is the north korean line, is wrong and inappropriate. so if he's advocating privately, that's good. but we don't know if he's doing that. i mean, he seems to be extolling kim jong-un, saying it's his dear friend. he's playing basketball the day of his birthday. he's now talking about kenneth bay, while he's saying this is basketball diplomacy. he's getting into politics in the wrong way by suggesting that kenneth bay might be guilty. so he's crossed the line. i think the time has come for the nba players to play their game, you know, bring back some goodwill from the common people in north korea. but basically, be very restrained about pursuing this kind of diplomacy right now with dennis rodman at the lead.

>> governor richardson, thanks very much for joining us. >> all right. by the way, the nba commissioner, david stern, will join us live during the 6:00 p.m. eastern hour in "the situation room." we'll talk about dennis rodman, nba players in north korea right now. david stern will join us live. moving ahead on unemployment, the senate voted to at least start the debate on benefit extensions, but will they really get anywhere as far as the bill is concerned? or will this become a major campaign point for the midterm elections? gloria borger standing by, live. ♪ humans -- even when we cross our "t's" and dot our "i's," we still run into problems. that's why liberty mutual insurance offers accident forgiveness with our auto policies. if you qualify, your rates won't go up due to your first accident. because making mistakes is only human, and so are we.

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the debate on extending unemployment benefits for 1.3 million americans moving forward in the senate. democrats got six republicans on board to clear this first critically important procedural hurdle. our chief political analyst, gloria borger, joining us. even if they get it through the senate, it's got to pass the republican majority in the house of representatives. the labor secretary, thomas perez, we just heard, he didn't completely rule out the notion and chuck schumer didn't completely rule out the notion that maybe they would compromise and pay for the $5 or of 6 billion it costs to extend these benefits. >> i think what you were hearing was a signal that there may be some room for compromise there, that the democrats might say, okay, if we can all get together

and figure out how to pay for this, let's not let that stand in the way. so i think that's clearly a possibility. and then if john boehner had some kind of a way to pay for it, then he would conceivably raise it on the floor of the house. >> sail through the senate and sail through the house. all those people with the president and 1.3 million others and their families would get those benefits right away. >> because if the democrats are saying that this is that important, and they didn't do it before the break, they're doing it now, if they're saying this is that important, then perhaps they're open to some kind of compromise and both sides could do it and get it off the table so they could move on to the rest of the agenda. >> and you would think they could find 5 or $6 billion out of these trillions the united states spends out there. it's not, you know, a huge in a scale of things, a huge amount of money. >> it isn't. and don't forget, the president has a lot of other things he wants to get done. and republicans have some things they want to get done, as well. so if this hangs out there and becomes a huge partisan debate, and i think the fact that it

passed the senate, even by the narrowest of margins and it did get that vote in the senate, it shows you that perhaps they all kind of want to move on to get off this. >> just to remind you and our viewers, i pointed this out many times. the u.s. has been spending about $2 billion a week maintaining all those thousands of u.s. troops in afghanistan. the u.s. is hoping to pull them out by the end of this year. maybe if you accelerate the withdrawal by two or three weeks, you pay for the unemployment benefits. there you get the 5 or $6 billion pretty quickly. it's a complicated, bureaucratic situation, but accelerate the withdrawal a little bit, you get the money. >> and then we can move on to other fights. >> if you ask the american people, would you want to keep u.s. troops for another two or three weeks extra in afghanistan or bring them home and pay for unemployment benefits, i think unemployment benefits would get a lot of support. >> i agree with you. >> just an idea. thanks. with a stroke of the pen, the new jersey governor, chris christie, signs the state's dream act immigration bill. will today's event have an

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to prove to you that aleve is the better choice for him, he's agreed to give it up. that's today? [ male announcer ] we'll be with him all day as he goes back to taking tylenol. i was okay, but after lunch my knee started to hurt again. and now i've got to take more pills. ♪ yup. another pill stop. can i get my aleve back yet? ♪ for my pain, i want my aleve. ♪ [ male announcer ] look for the easy-open red arthritis cap. this morning in new jersey, on a stage filled with school kids, the governor chris christie signed the state's dream act that allows children of undocumented immigrants to pay in-state tuition at public colleges and universities. he first signed it last month in private. this was all for the public to see, and maybe for his political

future as well, if he decides to run for president. >> we know that when we bring people together in the state, when we work together despite some of our differences, that we also set an example of optimism for everyone of the 8.9 million people who live here. that unlike what happens in washington, that government can actually work for you. that things can actually get done. that agreements can be reached. and that commitments can be kept. >> let's bring in our political reporter joining us from union city, new jersey. you watched the governor explain this, sign it into law. politically speaking, peter, how will this play if -- it's still a big if -- if he decides to run for president to try to run for that republican presidential nomination? >> reporter: well, wolf, yeah. in a general election context,

it's undoubtedly a good thing. this is a good talker for him as the party tries to expand its appeal. in the republican prprimary, it much more problematic. there's a very vocal slice in the republican party, especially in iowa and south carolina, who are hostile to not just comprehensive immigration reform, but any immigration reform. so this could be a problem for christie. but there's another way to look at this. if you look at polling before the iowa caucuses in 2011, a lot of republican voters said they'd be willing to support someone who they didn't agree with on immigration reform, and "the new york times" actually measured which of the 2012 candidates got the best support on the issue of immigration, wolf, and the two candidates that came out on top in iowa were rick perry and newt gingrich, who had the emotion moderate sorlt of platforms in the republican primary. so christie can sort of stake out that space in the republican party. let everyone else sort of move to the right and he can go after

the moderate voters and those republicans who do want to appeal to the hispanic voters in a general election and win. >> i know there's a lot of hispanic voters where you are right now. this is clearly part of the bigger republican effort to reach out and increase republican support among hispanics out there, isn't that right? >> yeah. christie has been cultivating a brand as a republican with broad national appeal. he tried to do it with his re-election bid here in new jersey last year. he actually won a majority of his panics in the state, beating his opponent barbara bono here. a broad coalition of voters. here in union city, this city is over 80% hispanic. and christie won the city, even though president obama carried it in 2012. so this event today was full of symbolism. he was surrounded by hispanics, so called dreamers, students, and he really leaned in. at one point one of the speakers

introducing him called on washington to pass immigration reform and christie applauded throughout that statement. so again, if christie can get through a republican primary, he'll have a pretty good resume to talk about to hispanic voters in a general election, wolf. >> the key question, if he can get through a republican primary. republican caucuses out there. might have a much better chance of winning a general election than winning the republican nomination. thanks very much, peter, for that. meanwhile, a major shift in attitudes towards marijuana use in the united states. i'm going to tell you what a majority of americans now have to say about legalizing pot. [ male announcer ] the new new york is open.

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major snift attitude is happening in this country right now towards the legalization of marijuana. a majority of americans support legalizing pot. tom foreman is joining us. >> it really has been an extraordinary shift, if you think about it, wolf. what has changed in these past few years has been absolutely remarkable. back in the 1970s, when this was considered the big issue in the country and people were very concerned with, people overwhelming thought the idea of legalizing it was a terrible

idea. that was changed, so much that in our latest poll here, the number jumps to 55% of people saying they think that this should be legalized now. that is a remarkable jump compared to where we were just a few years ago, back when it was being identified by richard nixon as being a problem in this country. >> what does the poll also show us about shifting moral values, attitudes on this issue? >> that's one of the keys here, wolf. part of what's happened here is the population has grown somewhat older. many people who had more experience with marijuana as younger people and accepted it more did not see the evils in it, have grown older now. they're weighing in and making a difference in all of this. those numbers have also changed dramatically. if you look at the older citizens, people over 65, they still think of this as really a bad thing. younger people, not nearly so much. they're inclined to say maybe this is something that can work out and be okay. beyond that, there's the question of how it ranks overall

morally. these days, if you look at the poll we have right now, people think that pornography, infidelity, cheating on your taxes are all considerably worse than what they're seeing right now. they believe that this business over the issue of marijuana is simply overheated, that this is not such a big issue anymore. again, it breaks down a lot by age. it breaks down to a degree by geography. the south is more against it than others. it al also breaks down by political affiliation. republicans more against it than others. but it is quite remarkable to look at this change in such a short period of time that there's been this gigantic shift. you see it in the states. approving medical marijuana and flat-out marijuana use. >> recreational marijuana. you see it this washington state, in colorado. as it becomes legal there and the federal government really not intervening. i think that has an impact on public attitudes across the

country. >> and every indication is that it doesn't stop at colorado and washington, but that this is a momentum thing. >> tom foreman with the latest numbers. interesting shifts. that's it for me this hour. thanks very much for watching. i'll be back 5:00 p.m. eastern in "the situation room." please join us then. "newsroom" continues right now with brooke baldwin. wolf, thank you. i'm brooke baldwin. not a single state in the u.s. has escaped this brutal and let me add deadly cold. all 50 states plummeting to below freezing. yes, hawaii, i am even talking to you. the deep freeze is blamed for at least 15 deaths so far. some killed on icy roads. others simply froze to death. the snow, the icy conditions still grounding thousands of flights and quite literally stopping trains on their tracks. case in point, just outside chicago, more than 500 passengers spent the