i will be speaking with president obama in his first interview since the state of the union address that will air friday morning and on "the lead" on friday at 4:00. if you have a question for the president, tweet me @jaketapper. that's it for "the lead." i turn you over to wolf blitzer in "the situation room." wolf? thanks very much. happening now, an early rush hour turns into a 24-hour nightmare. a major american city paralyzed by less than three inches of snow and ice, thousands of vehicles assistanted on highways, people forced to seek shelter wherever they can find it. the public's fear turns to fury as officials blame one another for a management meltdown. i'll ask a national guard member about the ongoing rescue efforts. as president obama hits the road to sell his state of the union agenda, i'll get reaction from the gop's first responder. kathy mcmorris rogers and the

senate's number-two democrat, dick durbin. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." we begin with breaking news. these are live pictures from atlanta where misery is turning to fury right now. this hour, one of the largest cities in the country virtually shut down for the next 24 hours. a half dozen states across the southeast are now under snow and ice with two people dead in georgia and five in alabama. more than a thousand accidents reported after just a few inches of snow turned major roadways into icy parking lots and stores into shelters. look at this. these are live pictures at traffic cameras around atlanta where everies are under way to clear thousands of abandoned cars and trucks. drivers, some after waiting ten hours or more in traffic, decided to risk their own lives and walk miles in bitter cold to try to get home.

thousands of children forced to spend the night in schools or on school buses. they are finally home tonight. cnn has team coverage of all of the breaking story. our victor blackwell and bringian todd are both standing by. victor, fist to you. downtown in the middle of it all, what do you see? what do you learn? >> well, wolf, it's rush hour here in the suburb of atlanta, and typically this roetd is filled with bumper-to-bumper traffic but not today because this area and most of the area around atlanta shut down, schools, government offices, byes closed, and it's because of the snow emergency and the ice crisis here yesterday. as you said, thousands of people abandoned their cars after waiting for 12, 14, 16 hours in gridlock, bumper-to-bumper traffic. now they have to walk back the sometimes four, six, eight miles to get the car that they left. and in many cases those car have now been towed so it's a hunt for who has my vehicle and why has it been moved. we also know that the national

guard, has been called to the interstate 85 and 75 and are searching buses and cars for people who did not leave their cars but sat in traffic most of the day, giving them meals raid to eat, the rations that are given to soldiers in afghanistan. so the nightmare continues although some of the snow has cleared, wolf. >> the outrage, the public official, the way they handled all of this, this mess, really sst a mess, that outrage is clearly growing, isn't it. >> well, we're seeing it all over social media, hearing it from people on the street and there is a lot of finger-pointing amongst the officials. there was a news conference this morning, mayor kasim reed of atlanta, the governor of georgia, nathan deal, mayor kasim reed blamed the school districts for releasing the students at once. the governor blamed the national weather service. and local meteorologists. no one accepting blame. but the people who sat in that traffic, haed to wait for more than 12 hours for their children

to come home, they are blaming the governor and the mayor and want answers. >> brian todd is watching some of the unimaginable ordeal who have been going on for hundreds of people who have been suffering the last 24 hours. brian, what do you see? >> speaking to our people in atlanta and the georgia department of transportation, we're told more and more vehicles have been steadily moved to the sides of the roads and highways around the atlanta area, more snow and ice has been cleared from the roads, but we want to offer you a point of comparison. this is google maps. the red reps the area of traffic snarl. look at all the areas traffic was incredibly backed up, especially north and west of the city, i-75 north, 285, which is the atlanta beltway, a nightmare. here's a progression. 1:00 p.m. this afternoon, a lot had cleared in the east and central areas. still west and northwest, i-20, i-75 had cleared a little there, but a lot of it was still

snarled. look at this. this is a realtime map. i-166 is the only area in atlanta we see major traffic snarls. we wanted to look at the forensics of all this, how did it all happen. snowmageddon in a major city. an auto graveyard on the interstate. semi trucks jackknifed, cars abandoned by the hundreds. others struggling. over a thousand accidents were reported in the city of atlanta and the greater area. look at these school buses. children stranded inside them. nearly 100 children were stuck on buses until about midnight. >> i was super scared. i was, like, if i don't get home to my parents, i'm going to freak out. >> reporter: other kids had to sleep at their schools. >> spent the night. all the teachers and staff set up gym mats. >> it took a long time for daddy to get here. >> that's right. >> good samaritans tried to free cars that had been stuck for hours while the national guard came out to help stranded victims. >> first priority was look for

people that were stranded, hadn't had any food or swat water and to bring that to them. >> reporter: trucker greg schroeder had been stuck in his truck 23 hours when he spoke to cnn. >> seen hundreds of accidents. not stuck on anything. just nowhere to go. >> reporter: all from a snowfall of at most 3 1/2 inches and a layer of ice so slippery these kids could play hockey on it. atlanta's mayor admits the government was partly to blame because schools and government offices let people out at about the same time businesses shut down in the early afternoon on tuesday. is that how it really escalates so quickly, everyone hitting the road at the same time? >> it does. practically, if everybody is hitting the road at the same time, your demand on the transportation network will be so high that the corresponding capacity or supply of your network will not be able to handle such demand. >> reporter: in atlanta, that led to people taking 12, 14 hours, or longer to get home. what's it like to be stuck or sliding around in this chaos?

>> five miles an hour. >> reporter: here's self-shot video from cnn meteorologist mari ramos. she chronicled her journey home traveling north on i-75. before she got stranded at a hotel, look what happened. >> okay. my car skidded off the road. i'm going to go ahead and get out now because it's pretty scary to stay in here. i'm not alone. there's emergency vehicles behind me. as you can see there. i need help but they can't help me because there's a serious consistent up the road. so they're trying to put some salt there because that big truck in front of me is sliding as well. i can, sir. i can try. >> reporter: in these situations, one traffic expert says drives become distracted by stressful conditions, trying to stay warm, take care of children in the vehicle. they often don't obey traffic laws at those moments, he says, and in many places a simple lack of driving skill is a huge

factor. >> if you are dealing with a southern state that is not used to getting different kind of snow, precipitation, among other conditions, the skills of the drivers will not be able to handle the road condition in a proper manner. >> how do you mitigate this whole thing? well, the expert we just spoke to says in these situations local governments can strager the departures, make people leave their offices in different waves with school age children getting first priority. you can coordinate those departures by region, and he says you can have what's called contra flow, with police closing off the opposite incoming lanes of freeways, directing large waves of drives into those lanes to open things up. that often happens during hurricane evacuations, but none of that happened in atlanta. >> do you have an update? >> mari got home a couple hours

ago. 26 hours after leaving work on tuesday. she spent part of that time in a hotel, of course, but she was stranded there as well. 26 hours it took her to get home. >> we thank our affiliate wsb for contributing to brian's piece with some of those brian, thanks very much.s. the chaos on the atlanta roads looked eerily familiar as some folks out there. social media was buzzing. they were comparing situations there to scenes from the hit "zombie drama: the walking dead," which was shot, by the way, in atlanta. look at this image on the right is a real photo taken by ben gray of "the atlanta journal constitution." you can't miss the resemblance of the promotional artwork from "the walking dead" on the left. up next, troops mobilize to rescue stranded drivers in ice-bound atlanta. i'll talk about the emergency operation under way right now with the commander of the g. georgia national guard. and the republican who gave the official response to president obama's state of the union address.

i'll ask congresswoman kathy mcmorris rogers if there's any room for serious compromise in washington. ♪ driving rock music music stops ♪ music resumes ♪ music stops ♪ music resumes ♪ ♪ [announcer] if your dog can dream it, [whistle] purina pro plan can help him achieve it. nutrition that performs. i love chalk and erasers. but change is coming. all my students have the brand new surface. it has the new windows and comes with office, has a real keyboard, so they can do real work. they can use bing smartsearch to find anything in the world...

or last night's assignment. and the battery lasts and lasts, so after school they can skype, play games, and my favorite...do homework. change is looking pretty good after all. ♪ in fact, they depend on a unique set of nutrients. [ male announcer ] that's why there's ocuvite to help protect your eye health. as you age, your eyes can lose vital nutrients. ocuvite helps replenish key eye nutrients. ocuvite is a vitamin made just for your eyes from the eye care experts as bausch + lomb. ocuvite has a unique formula that's just not found in any leading multivitamin. your eyes are unique, so help protect your eye health with ocuvite.

this is the first power plant in the country to combine solar and natural gas at the same location. during the day, we generate as much electricity as we can using solar. at night and when it's cloudy, we use more natural gas. this ensures we can produce clean electricity whenever our customers need it. ♪ did you run into traffic? no, just had to stop by the house to grab a few things. you stopped by the house? uh-huh. yea. alright, whenever you get your stuff, run upstairs, get cleaned up for dinner. you leave the house in good shape? yea. yea, of course. ♪ [ sportscaster talking on tv ] last-second field go--

yea, sure ya did. [ male announcer ] introducing at&t digital life. personalized home security and automation. get professionally monitored security for just $29.99 a month. with limited availability in select markets. ♪ [ chainsaw whirring ] humans -- sometimes life trips us up. sometimes we trip ourselves up. and although the mistakes may seem to just keep coming at you, so do the solutions. like multi-policy discounts from liberty mutual insurance. save up to 10% just for combining your auto and home insurance. call liberty mutual insurance at... [ thump ] to speak with an insurance expert and ask about all the personalized savings available for when you get married, move into a new house, or add a car to your policy. personalized coverage and savings. all the things humans need

to make our world a little less imperfect. call... and ask about all the ways you could save. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? the metropolitan atlanta area largely paralyzed a full day after snow and ice left thousands of vehicles and the people inside them stranded on area roads and highways. the national guard has now been coming to the rescue. let's get the latest on this crisis with major general james butterworth. he's the adjutant general of the

national guard. based on your information, how many cars are still stranded out there? how many people are still out there who are in desperate need of your help? >> well, we've been monitoring the situation. i think the answer i can give you is the number of folks that we have actually provided assistance to, and the georgia national guard specifically has provided assistance to over 500 individuals and provided transportation to that many people. as far as the individuals that might still be in harm's way because of the temperatures, i can tell you that they have been offered assistance at this point. >> is it -- how difficult is it to reach these folks who are in harm's way? >> it has been more difficult to be honest with you. the roads are markedly improved to what it was 24 hours ago or less and last night in the middle of the night when our folks hit the ground running, we had some challenges. but we have made -- as you have already reported we made drastic

improvements and we've got a lot of success stories. >> are you confident that all the school children, whether on school buses or in schools, are now back home? >> yes, sir. absolutely. i'm confident of that. i can tell you that. that was our first priority, and that's the governor, the direction he gave us last night. we had, as you've mentioned, almost 100 buses that were identified. we cleared -- because some buses were empty by the time we got there. but we cleared over 40 buses. we provided assistance to special needs children and to a lot of other children that were on those buses, transported them to shelter, provided them food and water. might not have been their choice of the type of food, but we made sure they were taken care of. that was our fist priority. >> whatt advice do you have to the thousands of people who had no choice but simply to abandon their cars and trucks and start walking because it was too dangerous to stay in those cars, it was too cold, they didn't have food, didn't have water.

what should they do now? >> if you're talking about getting back to those vehicles that have been abandoned, we have a plan. the governor has directed us to provide transportation back to those vehicles that are out on the highways and on the different areas in the city. and we have a plan, 10:00 tomorrow morning, we will begin providing transportation from central points back out to those vehicles to make sure they can get their safely. we will stop traffic as necessary to make sure those vehicles are moved and, quite frankly, that they will start. >> have you ever seen anything like this in the atlanta, georgia, area before? >> i've lived here all my life, and the one thing i would tell you, we probably average something like this every seven or eight years or so. and our team was prepared, but it is definitely something a little different than what we're normally prepared for. >> i mean, i don't remember -- i know that you get snow at least once in a while, but i don't remember the kind of traffic jams, the nightmare scenarios that we've seen over the past 24 hours, do you? >> well, actually, in 2011 we

had a similar event. it snowed. the temperatures -- they fell drastically, and everything froze, and it was very, very similar to this situation. prior to that, though, to be honest with you, 1982 was the last time we had anything close to this. >> major general james butter worth of the national guard in georgia, good luck to you. thanks for all the important work you're doing. >> thank you, sir. coming up, we have more shocking stories coming in from the ice bound nightmare that's infected atlanta right now. i'll speak with a woman who was stuck on the highway, get this, for 21 hours. and my interview with congresswoman kathy mcmorris rogers who gave the republican response to the state of the union. can the two parties agree on immigration reform? you're going to be anxious to hear what she says in "the situation room." here's a

dthd when electricity is generated with natural gas instead of today's most used source, how much are co2 emissions reduced? up to 30%? 45%? 60%? the answer is... up to 60% less. and that's a big reason why the u.s. is a world leader in reducing co2 emissions. take the energy quiz. energy lives here. ♪

became big business overnight? ♪ like, really big... then expanded? ♪ or their new product tanked?

♪ or not? what if they embrace new technology instead? ♪ imagine a company's future with the future of trading. company profile. a research tool on thinkorswim. from td ameritrade.

. president obama hit the road today selling the second-term agenda he laid out in his state of the union address and acting on his pledge to take action. let's go live to our senior white house correspondent jim acosta. jim? >> reporter: wolf, these post

state of the union speeches have all the feel of campaign events. that's because the president still has a sales pitch to make to convince a skeptical public that with the stroke of a pen he can move the country in the right direction. after days of promising to use his executive powers, president obama put his pen to action at a pennsylvania steel plant. >> it's done. >> reporter: and signed an order establishing a new retirement program. the new m.y.r.a., as the white house is calling them, will allow americans to contribute a part of their paycheck to new casualties they can tap at any time with the savings and interest backed by the government. >> i could do more with congress, but i'm not going to not do anything without congress. not when it's about the basic security and dignity of american workers. >> reporter: the post state of the union sales pitch started at a big box store in maryland where he unpacked another one of his executive orders, a new minimum wage for federal contract workers, something

mr. obama said congress should extend to the rest of the country. >> it's time to give america a raise. >> look forward to having great conversation. >> reporter: the obama administration went into full campaign mode with the new unilateral approach as cabinet members and staffers flooded social media. but republicans see a tidal wave of white house overreach and bypassing congress. >> you've got a pen and a cell phone. you also have the constitution of the united states. this is the most important document. i know the president knows this. he taught it. >> reporter: at a senate hearing, attorney general eric holder argued the president is just following the lead of his predecessors. >> i also want to assure you and the american people that the president will not act in a way that is inconsistent with the way other presidents have acted in using their executive authority. >> reporter: back at that steel plant, jim lloyd said at least somebody in washington is doing something. >> well, we understand he's only able to do so much. >> reporter: as for those

retirement savings accounts, the white house is yet to say how many people will be affected by all of this. that's because it's going to get started as a pilot program that may not be up and running until the end of the year. as for the rest of the president's campaign-style swing, he'll be in wisconsin tomorrow to talk about job training programs and it's on to tennessee to talk about upgrading schools. wolf? >> he's selling his agenda. jim acosta in pittsburgh, thanks very much. republicans rolled out a small army to respond to the president's state of the union address, but in keeping with one of the themes of the evening, the first response, the official answer to president obama came from a woman. and joining us now representative cathy mcmorris rodgers, the house republican conference chair. the number four republican in the house of representatives. thanks, congresswoman, very much for joining us. >> absolutely. good to be with you. >> you gave a very emotional speech last night, a strong speech. you raised some important issues, didn't go into a lot of the specific points of those

issues so, let's go through some of them right now. immigration reform, which looks like there's something that house speaker john boehner and the president might be able to eventually reach an agreement on. are you ready when all the dust settles that agreement would allow millions of these illegal immigrants eventually to have what they call a pathway to citizenship? >> right. well, obviously, immigration is a big issue that faces the country. we've been a history -- we have a history, a long history of legal immigration. later on this week, the republicans are going to be meeting. it's our annual gathering. and we're going to be talking more about these issues and the specifics as we move forward. but there is a desire in the house led by speaker boehner to take action to fix what is a broken immigration system. we recognize that as a country. the house believes that we should take it in a step-by-step approach. and you've seen the joo dish committee been working on different pieces of immigration, whether it is the border security piece, interior

enforcement, the guest-worker program, visa reform. the republicans believe that it would be more successful if we took these pieces one at a time and moved forward. >> personally, would you support, though, when all the dust settles some pathway to citizenship? >> we are looking at taking action to deal with the 11 million that are here, bring them out of the shadows. we have not made a decision as to what those details look like. the judiciary committee has had some hearings. but some kind of a legal status so that we can bring them out of the shadows if they meet certain criteria, but that all needs to be determined still. >> so you're not necessarily ruling it out. >> i'm not personally in favor of citizenship, but i'd like to look at some kind of a path in which those that are here could work through a process and

become -- get some kind of a legal status if they meet certain criteria. >> what about the children of these illegal immigrants, the dreamers as they're called? would you be open to allowing them to eventually get citizenship? >> well, again, the house is looking at some options, but most that would address those that are here, especially the children that, through no fault of their own, find themselves in a situation where they don't have the papers but yet they were -- they grew up here, they basically do not have a home country. we need to take action. but it's most important to me, and i think i represent a lot of republicans, in that we got to start taking some steps and we've got to get the foundational pieces in place before we jump to what is going to be probably the hardest part of this issue to address. >> i want to move on, but i want to be clear, on the children, you are open to a pathway to citizenship for them. >> i'm looking at what the

judiciary committee is working on. i haven't yet made a commitment. >> all right. let's talk about the minimum wage. do you support the president's push to raise the nation's federally mandated minimum wage? >> the president needs to be working with congress on a whole host of issues that will get people back to work. and i think that the best response to minimum wage, to unemployment, and on all of these issues is to focus on job creation. actually getting people back to work. and i think states have made -- can that i can mare own decisions as it relates to minimum wage. but we need to be focusing on policies that are actually going to get people back to work and get them employed, because as i said last night, a job is so much more than just a paycheck. it's what gives you purpose, dignity. it's the foundation for a better life. and we have seen really

lackluster job reports. we need more jobs in this country, get our economy growing. that's the best solution to the issues that are facing the unemployed and those that are seeking better jobs. >> so i take it that means you don't necessarily support an increase on the federal level of the minimum wage. >> i think there's better solutions. >> but philosophically speaking, do you support a federal minimum wage to begin with? >> i -- you know, minimum wage -- you know, that is -- there is a federal minimum wage. that is -- i think that's appropriate. but at this point i think we need to be focusing on policies that are actually going to get people back to work. >> let's talk about women and equal pay for women for the equal work. president pointed out last night that women represent about half of the workforce but they only make 77 cents for every dollar a man makes. and then he went and made this point. listen to this. >> it is time to do away with

workplace policies that belong in a "mad men" episode. this year let's all come together, congress, the white house, businesses from wall street to main street, to give every woman the opportunity she deserves, because i believe when women succeed america succeeds. >> this was the high point, one of the high points of the president's speech in our focus group in iowa of voters who were actually watching the president. are you with the president when he says that there should be laws mandating equal pay for equal work for women? >> yes. yes. absolutely. republicans and i support equal pay for equal work. my message last night was one about empowering everyone in this country no matter what your background, no matter where you live, what corner of the country, no matter what your experiences are. we want you to have the opportunity for a better life. >> cathy mcmorris rodgers gave

the official republican response to the president of the united states last night, a very emotional, strong, powerful story you have, congresswoman. thanks so much for joining us. i'm glad we could get through some of the substantive issues from the republican perspective. >> thanks, wolf. up next, a top senate democrat responds po what we just heard. can they actually reach an agreement on immigration reform? and i'll ask the number-two democrat in the senate, dick durbin. he's standing by. we'll discuss that and more. farmer: hello, i'm an idaho potato farmer. 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?

how much money do you think you'll need when you retire? then we gave each person a ribbon to show how many years that amount might last. i was trying to, like, pull it a little further. [ woman ] got me to 70 years old. i'm going to have to rethink this thing. it's hard to imagine how much we'll need for a retirement that could last 30 years or more. so maybe we need to approach things differently, if we want to be ready for a longer retirement. ♪ afghanistan, in 2009. orbiting the moon in 1971. [ male announcer ] once it's earned, usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because it offers a superior level of protection.

and because usaa's commitment to serve current and former military members and their families is without equal. begin your legacy. get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve.

house republicans say they're open to a deal on long-stalled immigration reform, although the question of a pathway to citizenship remains a major stumbling block. do democrats think they can overcome it? and joining us now, the number-two democrat in the united states senate, senator dick durbin of illinois. senator, thank for coming in. >> thank you. >> looks like you have an

opportunity to achieve some immigration reform. the president spoke about it, cathy mcmorris rodgers. i interviewed her. she said she's not personally in favor of citizenship for the illegal immigrants, a pathway to citizenship, but she is open to some sort of compromise. other republicans are as well. can you work out a deal that avoids the issue of a pathway to citizenship? >> well, understand that was one of the two pilars that we built the senate bipartisan immigration reform bill on. first, effective border enforcement, which republicans assisted on, and pathway to citizenship, which democrats insisted on. i want to sit down and talk. i don't want to quit on this issue. our immigration system is broken. if we can sit down with house republicans i believe we can achieve agreement. >> what about achieving legal status for those immigrants, getting citizenship for the kids, the children, the so-called dreamer, but avoiding the so-called pathway to citizenship for the adults? >> you touch med in a tender

spot because i introduced the dream act 12 years ago and those dreerms mean an awful lot to me. the first thing they're going to say to me is what about mom and dad? we have to have an approach to this that doesn't create a class of second-class people in america who aren't residents, aren't citizens, have some odd legal status. some european countries are struggling with that today. we don't need that in america. let's give people ready to step forward, declare who they are, where they work, where they live, pay their fine, learn english, an opportunity to find citizenship. now, how they reach that point, let's discuss between democrats and republicans. >> it doesn't look like you have a lot of republican support right now or at least enough republican support to raise the federal minimum wage. so is that really for all practical purposes going to be left up to states? >> states are going to move forward. they're going to outdistance the federal congress. but look at the national polls. democrats, republican, and independents all accept the following premise -- if a person gets up and goes to work every

single day, they should be paid a fair wage. they ought to be able to make it. not only live from paycheck to paycheck but put a little money in the bank. they can't do it at $7.25 an hour, and everybody knows that. so let's come up with a wage that's reasonable. these are not just wage earners. they are also spenders. they're buying goods and services to make the economy move. >> so on this sensitive issue, you don't see an agreement anytime soon. is that right? >> well, it depends. we've not called it in the senate. i can't measure it against how many republicans will step forward. wolf, i can even remember the day when this was a bipartisan issue. now it's sadly very partisan. i hope that changes. >> the president threatened to veto legislation in the senate, legislation that would increase the sanctions against iran if this deal doesn't work out. the iranians say that's a deal killer. the president said he would veto it. many of your democratic colleagues, they supported chuck schumer, the number-three

democrat in the senate, the chairman of the foreign relations committee. are you with them or on the president on this issue? >> i'm going to stand with the president on this. i don't trust iran. i think the president's right. we have to verify everything that they promise. but what's the alternative? if we don't work out a negotiation, there are two options -- a nuclearized iran, which is unacceptable, or a war, which is also unacceptable. let us give these negotiations a chance. if they fail, then of course i'll vote for more sanctions on iran. >> big picture. the president made it clear he wants to cooperate with congress, he wants to get legislation through, but if not he's going to take unilateral executive action as it's called. so what does this say in your sense of this presidency? >> well, it says this -- our memories are still fresh of the 16-day government shutdown which the republicans thought was a good way to play their political handle. it was a disaster. but our memories are also fresh of a bipartisan budget agreement. just a few weeks ago we want to work with the republicans and

solve problems. but the president has said he has a responsibility to the american people to create jobs and help working families. if he can't get the cooperation of republicans he'll do everything in his executive power to achieve it. >> senator durbin, thanks very much for joining us. >> thanks, wolf. >> on this note, cnn's jake tapper will be sitting down with president obama and you'll be able to see the interview friday morning starting at 6:00 a.m. eastern on "new day" and of course later on jake's show "the lead." that's at 4:00 p.m. eastern only here on cnn. just ahead, democrats afraid of being seen with president obama, why some are keeping their own party's leader at arm's length. plus, a 21-hour nightmare. i'll speak to a woman who was trying to get home only to become trapped on atlanta's icy roads. [ fishing rod casting line, marching band playing ] [ male announcer ] the rhythm of life. [ whistle blowing ] where do you hear that beat? campbell's healthy request soup lets you hear it in your heart. [ basketball bouncing ] heart healthy. [ m'm... ] great taste. [ tapping ] sounds good. campbell's healthy request.

m'm! m'm! good.® her long day of pick ups and drop offs begins with arthritis pain... and a choice. take up to 6 tylenol in a day or just 2 aleve for all day relief. all aboard. ♪

all aboard. nwas the most watchedage otelevision event ever.s so, what's next? the upcoming winter games from sochi. where every second of nbc universal's coverage

will be available on every device. on tv, online or streaming on the nbc sports live extra app. beginning february 6th, experience the winter games everywhere. welcome to what's next. comcast nbcuniversal president obama's taking his second-term agenda on the road,

but some of his own party may run the other way when they see him coming. the president right now near his all-time low in the polls is seen as harmful to the re-election chances of some vulnerable democrats. our chief congressional correspondent dana bash has really been all over this story. first on the story, way ahead of the curve on it. what's going on here? >> you know, there's actually a term for this, wolf. it's known as the six-year itch. for about the last 100 years or so, nearly all president who is get a sixth year in office lose seats in the midterm elections. it's especially true when the president's popularity is really waning. no surprise there. but vulnerable democrats up for re-election in the senate now want to avoid being part of that pattern. >> coloradans love the president's optimism. >> reporter: colorado democrat mark udall carefully praised key parts of the president's speech. the senator is up for re-election this year. does that mean you're going to campaign with him or you'll have him campaign with you side by side? >> we're going to be running a strong campaign based on

colorado's interests. >> reporter: that was a yes or no. yes or no? >> we'll see what the president's schedule is, what my schedule is. coloradans are going to re-elect me based on my record. >> reporter: wow. one more chance. you won't say yes or no, will you? >> we'll see what the schedule allows. >> reporter: translation -- he's keeping his distance, and obama won colorado twice. alaska is a different story. obama lost it twice. and the senate democrat running there knows it, saying this about the president. >> if he wants to come up, i'm not really interested in campaigning. >> reporter: democrat mark begich didn't stop there. >> if he wants to come up and learn about alaska, bring it on. i'll drag him around, show him whatever he wants to see, but i want to convince him and show him some of his policies are not in the right direction. >> reporter: there's as much distance between you and the president as here and alaska. there's more. begich's own campaign later sent out this press release touting his criticism of the president on cnn. "these senate democrats know their history." in midterm election, the

president isn't on the ballot but he can often his hurt party in congress. in fact, since fdr, second-term presidents have lost an average of six senate seats. that happens to be exactly what republicans need to win the senate this year. in 2006, when george w. bush was president, democrats benefited, seizing the house and the senate. ♪ it's a beautiful day it's now the same point in the obama presidency and it's tricky for democrats. the senate majority leader tuesday. >> you would encourage some of your most vulnerable senate democratic candidates to invite president obama to appear with them? >> yes, and they will. >> reporter: today he clarified. >> it's up to the individual senators. i mean, that's -- i can't tell them who to ask to campaign for them. that's up to them. >> now, reid's point is that president obama is someone who is personally popular and in reid's words loved, that's especially true, of course, among core democratic voters but most importantly among democratic donors. so at the very least, wolf,

congressional democrats want the president to get out there and raise money big time like other second-term presidents have. but so far there is nothing, nothing on the schedule to do that. >> yeah. all right. stand by. i want you to be part of this conversation. gloria borger, our chief political analyst is here. ryan lizza, our political commentator and national correspondent for the new yorker is here as well. this isn't a new phenomenon, as dana points out, some of these democrats running away, in effect, from an incumbent democratic president, whose job approval numbers are in the low 40s. >> that's what he was trying to do last night is get those numbers a little bit up, because if he grows more popular, more and more of those folks will want to be campaigning with them and he'll be able to give them the help he would like to give them. as dana points out, he can always raise the money for them, that's one thing, but they would like it if they >> there's not just mark begich in alaska but mark hagen.

he can't be there when she is there. mary landrieu, he was very busy. she couldn't be in louisiana when he goes to louisiana. are we going to see more of this with these vulnerable democrats? >> you'll see these guys looking at the polling in their state and seeing how popular obama is. i think this is a little different. but some of these candidates are going to say at some point there's a subset of obama voters who came out in 2008 and 2012 because i don't want it to look like the last midterm which was very republican. there's this balancing act. how can they get obama to help them turn out the democratic base and not turn off the older frankly whiter voters who are really down on him right now. >> how about landrieu in louisiana, big minority vote there. obama can help get out the vote for her there. >> ultimately, i can tell you that at this point i'm told by

people involved in making these decisions there's nothing on the schedule and there's no desire to get the president there yet. but one other interesting point to what both of you were saying about getting the base out, in 2012, somebody just told me this statistic. there were ten states where mitt romney won and there were democrats on the ballot for senate. five of those democrats actually won with obama actually on the ballot. now a couple of those talked about legitimate rate and candidates that torpedoed themselves. some were good candidates on their own and they're hoping that they do have a cast of good characters. >> let me move on. because the vice president, joe biden, appeared on morning shows this morning. he defended the president, deflected questions about his own potential run for the presidency in 2016. let's hear a little bit of what he said. >> in my heart, i'm confident that i could make a good president. it's a very different decision to decide whether or not to run

for president. i'll make that decision later, but now's not the time to talk about that. now is the time to talk about the opportunity we have this year. the only reason a man or woman should run for president -- i'm sure hillary views it the exact same way -- is if they think they're better positioned to do what the nation needs at the moment. >> you spent quality time with the vice president. what do you think about those responses? >> you know, those are just your usual hemming and hawing, i wish once in a while someone would come out and say, i'm really interested in the presidency and i'm starting my super pac. >> if there's anybody that would do it by accident it's joe biden. >> his problem is that you've got some of the obama people like jim messina, top obama person -- >> campaign manager in 2012. >> starting a super pac for hillary clinton and joe biden doesn't have that going for him right now. and i think that's a problem for him because it implies some kind of not real but maybe endorsement from obama, which

isn't there, but, you know, these are obama's people. >> maybe the elephant in the room with biden -- i hate to say this. he's been a good vice president. obviously been a great asset to obama. but he was not a good candidate the two times he did run for president. in 1998 he flamed out and in 2008 he flamed out. a lot of people blamed hillary clinton's campaign for being a messy campaign, it's hard to see the case for biden in terms of being a great presidential candidate. being vice president for eight years, that doesn't turn you into a better candidate out on the stump either. >> as opposed to -- >> the difference is in '88 and in '08, he had a huge democratic field at the beginning or a much bigger democratic field. stiff competition. presumably he would only run if hillary clinton weren't there, then there would be other people out there, but nothing -- nobody of the stature of joe biden. >> and he would also be 74 years old on inauguration day.

that's something to consider when you talk about a transition in the party to younger base, they brought in all these younger voters. it might be a mismatch. >> but if hillary clinton doesn't run, and we assume she's going to run, assuming she's healthy. >> right. >> if she doesn't run, do you think he would run? >> the way i look at these guys is they're running until they say they're not running. unless you rule it out, you're basically you're running. that is the process of running. right? you do all the things, you make sure the media talk about you, you don't rule it out. you start organizing. you do all those things. so in my mind he's running and hillary clinton is running even though they haven't publicly declared. and at the point where they say, okay, i'm not running, that means they lost. i think that's the sort of useful way to look -- >> it must be frustrating. he's been vice president for five years. as ryan says, a good vice president, five years. to see all these obama folks now, for all practical purposes,

working for hillary clinton. >> sure, i'm sure it's very frustrating, but he's been around the block. he's been here for years. he's run a couple of times. he knows how it works. and he knows that hillary clinton is a force and somebody who, if she did decide to run, if you look at any poll, will be the person republicans would fear most. so he gets it. i don't know, maybe this is going too far, but people who know biden and have covered him for a long time, you sort of look at him and saw, aw, joe biden. because everybody likes him. he's a really likable guy. and the question is whether that translates, if hillary doesn't run, to somebody who can be a formidable candidate. >> watching him this morning on these news shows answer the questions about secretary of defense gates who criticized him in the book, he said, look, he and i disagreed on every single issue. i make no apologies for that. who do you think biden is talking to? the base of the democratic party. >> we'll have a lot more

discussion with joe biden, hillary clinton, down the road, guy, thanks. coming up the city paralyzed by snow and ice. new stories of people trapped in their cars in some cases for almost 24 hours. we're about to go live to tehran for exclusive reaction to the president's state of the union speech. hey kevin...still eating chalk for heartburn? yeah... try new alka seltzer fruit chews. they work fast on heartburn and taste awesome. these are good. told ya! i'm feeling better already. [ male announcer ] new alka seltzer fruits chews. enjoy the relief! [ male announcer ] new alka seltzer fruits chews. discover card. hey! so i'm looking at my bill, and my fico® credit score's on here. yeah, you've got our discover it card, so you get your fico® score on your monthly statements now, for free! that's nice of you! it's a great way to stay on top of your credit, and make sure things look the way they should. awesomesauce! huh! my twin sister always says that. wait...lisa? julie?! you sound really different on the phone. do i sound pleasant? for once in your life you sound very pleasant. at discover, we treat you like you'd treat you.

free fico® credit score. get the it card at discover.com. my dad has aor afib.brillation, he has the most common kind... ...it's not caused by a heart valve problem. dad, it says your afib puts you at 5 times greater risk of a stroke. that's why i take my warfarin every day. but it looks like maybe we should ask your doctor about pradaxa. in a clinical trial, pradaxa® (dabigatran etexilate mesylate)... ...was proven superior to warfarin at reducing the risk of stroke. and unlike warfarin, with no regular blood tests or dietary restrictions. hey thanks for calling my doctor. sure. pradaxa is not for people with artificial heart valves. don't stop taking pradaxa without talking to your doctor. stopping increases your risk of stroke. ask your doctor if you need to stop pradaxa before surgery or a medical or dental procedure. pradaxa can cause serious, sometimes fatal, bleeding. don't take pradaxa if you have abnormal bleeding or have had a heart valve replaced. seek immediate medical care for unexpected signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. pradaxa may increase your bleeding risk if you're 75 or older, have a bleeding condition or stomach ulcer,

take aspirin, nsaids, or blood thinners... ...or if you have kidney problems, especially if you take certain medicines. tell your doctors about all medicines you take. pradaxa side effects include indigestion, stomach pain, upset, or burning. if you or someone you love has afib not caused by a heart valve problem... ...ask your doctor about reducing the risk of stroke with pradaxa.

drags into a second night in the south's biggest city. stand by for new horror stories from people who were stranded on the road for hours and hours. and hours. plus an iran exclusive. cnn is there for a surprising response to president obama's state of the union address. and this, justin bieber surrenders, the pop star is in canada right now to answer an assault charge. we want to welcome our

viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." begin with the breaking news this hour. the snow and ice paralyzing the deep south. the misery is spreading from louisiana to the carolinas. millions of people are caught in the chaos and the gridlock. at least seven people have been killed. hundreds are injured. the biggest nightmare of all has been in atlanta. this city has been shut down for over 24 hours. residents are being told to stay home for at least another day. and thousands of commuters wound up trapped for hours on roads littered with wrecked and abandoned cars. now a pr disaster is unfolding as local officials try to explain what went wrong. victor blackwell is joining us live from the metro atlanta area. what's the latest, victor? >> reporter: wolf, the misery stretching into a second evening. thousands of stranded people spent the day struggling to get home or find the car that they

were forced to abandon yesterday. and the local leaders spent this day explaining what went wrong and why they are not to blame. new day, same nightmare. national guard members now are searching stranded cars and giving tired, hungry drivers mres. >> basic nutrition. that's what your soldiers are eating out in afghanistan when they're out on patrols and everything else. >> reporter: but for many, it's too little, too late. >> it's a nightmare, and i have yet to see a snow plow or anybody slinging sand. i've been on the road for over 16 hours now. i'm not seeing anybody out. >> reporter: on social media frustrated georgians blame governor nathan deal. one tweeting i'm a lifelong republican. governor deal, you failed. i will never vote for you. another, kasim reed, you failed the people of atlanta once again. during a news conference neither leader is accepting blame.

>> i'm not going to get into that blame game, but the crisis that we're going through is across the region. so if you look at anybody's street in any community across the entire region, there's no one who is doing any better job than we're doing in the city of atlanta. >> well, i talked to some of your meteorologists, and let me say that there were a couple who said they were disagreeing with the national weather service. >> reporter: a sober tone from the mayor and the governor as they review the response wednesday but representatives from both the mayor's and the governor's offices confirm the two were together at an awards ceremony tuesday at an atlanta ritz carlton. governor deal posted this picture and the tweet, i was honored to introduce mayor kasim reeds a he was named 2014 georgian of the year. congratulations. hours after mayor reed received his hardware, brittany louise was forced to abandon her car and sleep in the hardware section of an area home depot. >> they gave us food, they gave

us blankets, thissy gave us pillows, they put down -- they were showing the news. it was really amazing. >> reporter: wednesday the ice thawed and many of the thousands of people trapped made their way home just as temperatures began to slide toward freezing again. many schools and government offices were closed for another day as local and state leaders mull over just how two inches of snow became a statewide crisis. >> did you make the right call? >> well, i think we did under the circumstances of what we knew at the time. we've just got learn the lessons from this. >> reporter: and wolf, many of those stranded cars, the thousands you mentioned, some of those are now being towed from the interstate so people who are going back to get those cars are finding nothing and they have to start that search all over again. wolf? >> what a nightmare in atlanta, victor blackwell reporting.

our observe kye own kyra ph one who had a hellish trip home during the gridlock. joining us vee ja skype. tell us your personal story, where were you, what happened? >> wolf, i'll tell you, i'm here at the airport now. you can probably see everybody behind me there because so many people tried to get in and out of the city, now the airport is insane, but last night, let me tell you, i left work about quarter to 1:00, it took eight hours to get home. i had to ditch my car, i had to drive -- or walk, rather, eight miles to get to my house. as you know, wolf, i had twins. i was concerned about my kids. but what i saw during that walk home and during that eight-hour commute was horrendous. i saw desperate people on the streets. i saw pregnant women in 24-hour pharmacies, people in sleeping bags, sleeping looking for food, looking for water. kids on school bus, school buses blocking off roads, it was absolutely crazy. and when i heard the mayor today give that news conference and last night talking about how

everything is now under control and what was amazing is how he said there were no deaths earlier this morning. and he didn't even know the status of all the injuries and what had happened. and as you know, we've seen the number of people that have now died in what was a complete -- i mean, it was utter chaos. i mean, the entire city was paralyzed, wolf. >> and you were showing our viewers some of the pictures you sent us. people sleeping in a drugstore. it just looked like it's hard to believe that this could happen in the united states of america with a little more than two inches of snow. >> yeah, and you know, i lived in green bay, wisconsin. okay? we commuted when it was five feet of snow. you could drive, you could get around. because that city was prepared. they had salt, they had dee icing capabilities. they had the manpower to get ready for big snowstorms. so you can go on with business as usual. the leadership in this area was not ready. they knew what was coming, and

they were not prepared. no child should have ever gone to school yesterday. and it's appalling that 24 hours later i'm hearing my neighbors, they're texting me saying my kids are finally home from school. that's unacceptable. >> it certainly is, kyra phillips reporting for us. the georgia governor's office says 95 school buses were immobilized by the snow and authorities were forced to assist them in atlanta. more than 1,000 weather-related traffic accidents have been reported. and those are just the ones we know about. let's check in with cnn's michael holmes. he's on the road in atlanta right now. just back from baghdad. who would have thought you would have to cover a story like this in atlanta. >> you're right, wolf. the irony does not escape me. a week back from baghdad and here we are looking at this. what a nightmare it's been. kyra's dead right. people around here just cannot believe that this happened. i got to show you. this is one of atlanta's main

freeways. this is 75 north. and it is at 6:00 p.m., this should be jam packed. it's not. but last night this was a parking lot. and have a look over here. these are the cars that people just got out of and abandoned in the middle of the night. some people slept all night in their cars. we spoke to a truck driver earlier who had been since 4:30 yesterday afternoon by the side of the road. you can see here the police came along and put this plastic on all these door handles showing that they checked the cars and no one was in them. all these people have just abandoned them. there's some in the emergency center lane as well. they're all over the place. you can come back and have a look over here on the side, wolf. there are dozens and dozens of cars. as you say, we've been on the road all day. and we have seen this up and down the freeways. fortunately, the gridlock seems to have passed for now. and traffic is moving. that's because everyone's gotten home.

but even now all these hours after it happened people have not come back to get their cars. i'll tell you what, the other worry whoer is that you've got water on the road, on some of these roads and it will refreeze. when we were out earlier, wolf, we did see some good stuff. we saw a young man walking down the freeway, this was on i-20, with gas cans in his hand and water bottles in a backpack looking to help people. have a listen. >> well, i just came here -- i bought some water and some towels to see if anybody was stranded, to see if any families needed some water. i actually met some other samaritans that they gave them some gas and gave me some gas to help out more people. >> you're literally walking down the freeway looking for people who ran out of gas. >> i found two couples i'm going to bring back to my house, let them warm up a little bit, give them some food. >> why are you doing it? >> i'm just doing it just to help. so i look on the news and they said they have trouble. i'm getting to the people, so i

thought it i might come out here and lend an extra hand. >> reporter: that was pretty nice to see. all the atlanta schools are closed tomorrow. not a bad thing. this stuff's going to start freezing up overnight, what hasn't dried off already. back to you. >> michael holmes on the scene for us in atlanta. thanks very much. what a story that is. there's news coming in, get this, justin bieber now facing assault charges in canada. we're learning new details about yet another brush with the law. stand by. and we heard the republican reaction, the tea party reaction, now we're going to get the iranian reaction to the president's state of the union speech. we go live to tehran for an exclusive report. our own jim sciutto is there. mine was earned in korea in 1953.

afghanistan, in 2009. orbiting the moon in 1971. [ male announcer ] once it's earned, usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because it offers a superior level of protection. and because usaa's commitment to serve current and former military members and their families is without equal. begin your legacy. get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve.

this just coming in to the "situation room," the pop star justin bieber is in toronto right now, he's from canada, and he's about to face an assault charge with an encounter with a limousine driver about a month ago. this comes a week after bieber was charged with drunking driving, resisting arrest, driving without a valid license when police saw him street racing in miami beach. our national correspondent susan candiotti is working the story for us. what are we learning, what's going on? >> reporter: wolf, more trouble for the biebster, it would seem. our source telling us that, in fact, he is in canada at this hour and his arrest could come within the next hour or so in connection with an alleged assault on a limo driver that happened just last month. now, this has all been prearranged. they've been in consultation with a lawyer representing mr. bieber and he will be said to be turning himself in, surrendering to authorities in a police

precinct in toronto. my first tells me this could very well result in an arrest on an assault charge. what happens to him is unclear at this particular hour, but you know just last week he got into trouble in miami beach, arrested for driving without a proper license, driving under the influence and resisting arrest without violence, so he still is facing those charges as well. >> and we got those live pictures from that police station in toronto where supposedly he's about to appear, is that right, susan? that's right. apparently this is in connection, according to the cbc, with this ray ledged assau -- alleged assault after a maple leafs game. we're getting information he's already entered a not guilty plea to all those charges in florida in miami beach when he was drag racing on the streets of miami beach. are you familiar with this part of the story. >> yeah, reportedly that's

already happened, a written guilty plea. his lawyer roy black, who i covered for many years in miami to see if that's the case and we're checking other sources as well to find out whether that has happened. that still has to make its way through the court system, of course, in miami-dade county. >> susan candiotti thanks very much. our senior legal analyst jeffrey toobin. he's got a lot of legal problems, this young guy. >> you have to keep track of this. first of all, you have the alleged assault on the limo driver in toronto. that's what susan's story. you have the alleged drunk driving drag racing in the rented lamborghini in miami. you also have the alleged egging of a neighbor's house in los angeles county, which is also under investigation. so he better knock it off or he's going to get into serious trouble. >> our legal residence here in the united states, he's a canadian citizen. there's a petition to basically

bar him from coming to the united states. a petition that's gone to the white house. >> right. he's 19 years old. he shouldn't be drinking. you shouldn't even be able to rent a car at 19, but obviously he's in a separate category from most people. given the kind of charges he's facing, these are not usually the kind of charges that would get you deported, but it is possible if these turn into felony charges in both miami and los angeles. the prosecutor's offices are deciding how to proceed. and one thing prosecutors look at is are these people getting in trouble? is someone look -- should they get a break or are they taking advantage of the system? and if you keep getting arrested, prosecutors are not going to be happy with that. >> hold on, susan is getting a little more. >> we also have to remember he had a busy week earlier this week because he was seen on video in panama with friends surrounded by body guards walking on the beach there and we understand that he was getting advice from some of the

people closest to him. remember, he's been very close to usher who has been his mentor and got him started with the recording contract years ago. so now what happened between the trip to panama and now he's in canada, a lot of stuff must be going on behind the scenes, consultations, perhaps, perhaps, he's trying to clean up his act and face the music. >> i don't know if usher is telling him this. >> maybe not, no, right. >> but maybe some good advice would be to stop getting arrested. >> thanks very much, guys. we've got other news we're following here in "the situation room" including reaction to the state of the union address from the president. reaction from inside iran. our own jim sciutto is in the iranian capital. he's got an exclusive report. we're going there live when we come back. they lived. ♪ they lived. ♪ they lived. ♪

(dad) we lived... thanks to our subaru. ♪ (announcer) love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru.

wow, this hoh no.s amazing. who are you? who are you? wrong answer. wait, daddy, this is blair, he booked this room with priceline express deals and saved a ton. yeah, i didn't have to bid i got everything i wanted. oh good i always do. oh good he seemed nice. express deals. priceline savings without the bidding.

before those little pieces would get in between my dentures and my gum and it was uncomfortable. [ male announcer ] just a few dabs is clinically proven to seal out more food particles. [ corrine ] super poligrip is part of my life now.

now with an exclusive,

you've heard the republican response to the president's state of the union address. how about the iranian response? our chief national security correspondent jim sciutto is inside iran right now. just spoke with the foreign minister of iran. jim, how did it go? >> well, this is his first on-camera response to the state of the union. as in all my dealings with him, he's friendly but he's firm and direct. he said the things he liked about the speech, that the president will veto any sanctions bill. things he didn't like, that the president said all options are on the table including the military option. this is what he gave us including a behind the scenes look at his long day behind diplomacy. for the iranian foreign minister it is a grueling 16-hour day starting at 8:00 a.m. with a cabinet meeting then greeting the turkish prime minister and ending just before midnight with a visiting lebanese delegation. one of his last orders of business -- >> this is a response to state

of the union. >> positive or negative or mixed? >> well, mixed. >> reporter: what was your impression of the speech? >> well, obviously, what comes out of white house and the state department in the united states is for domestic consumption. it doesn't matter how the americans try to spin it, when it comes to iran, it does matter. >> reporter: on news today that the u.s. will begin sending weapons to the syrian opposition, however, dr. zarif was unequivocal. you heard that the u.s. will be sending small arms to some of the rebel groups. do you think that's helpful? >> no, i do not thing a war can be stopped by more arms. >> reporter: with midnight nearing, in came a call from his wife. >> it st my wife. >> reporter: i knew it. it was time to go home.

as we left, he took us to the state room where he receives visiting foreign diplomats. i asked him if he can imagine seeing john kerry in ta room some day. he said, you know, i can imagine it, but the human imagination is a remarkable thing. frankly, in his words, we're not there yet. i think u.s. diplomats would say the same thing. but this interim deal is a step. but as you and i know they've got a long way to go. >> jim sciutto in tehran with that exclusive reporting. we'll check back with you tomorrow, jim, thanks very much. other news we're following. the director of national intelligence here in washington is out with disturbing information about the spread of al qaeda. let's go straight to our pentagon correspondent barbara starr. what did he say? >> wolf, james clapper was testifying before the senate today. he was asked the critical question, is al qaeda still as k capable as they were on 9/11 of carrying out an attack.

he he a very interesting answer, yes and no. and the answer is it's a different al qaeda, much more dispersed across the middle east and africa. listen to what he had to say. >> i can't say that, you know, the threat is any less. i think our ability to discern it is much improved over what it was in the early part of the 2000 period. so i think that dispersion and decentralization actually creates a different threat and a harder one to watch and detect because of its dispersion. >> decentralization and dispersion, what is he talking about? the u.s. intelligence community is watching very carefully these al qaeda affiliates, if you will, popping up all over the

place, libya, north africa, yemen, of course, somalia. all of these places that are not the 9/11 pakistan core al qaeda that attacked the united states. these are the new affiliates. they are very strong, they're growing in strength and there's a good deal of concern that they do pose a threat to the united states and to europe. and one of the biggest concerns is in syria right now. al qaeda affiliates on the rise. a number of foreign fighters going to syria and clapper said today one of the big es concerns is that those foreign fighters will return to europe or possibly to the u.s. >> a potentially a huge, huge threat. thanks very much, barbara starr at the pentagon. remember, you can always follow what's going on here "the situation room" on twitter. "crossfire" starts right now.