but also you may be at risk of losing your power. so stock up now. get what you need now. get your radios and flashlights ready. this is going to be a real ugly one. and wolf blitzer continues our coverage. his program, "wolf", begins his program, "wolf", begins right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com right now, a winter storm hitting the southeast hard. hundreds of thousands of people have no power. also right now, senator rand paul suing president obama and three other top u.s. officials. he says nsa surveillance of u.s. citizens, quote, crosses the line and that it's time to let the courts step in. and right now, newly discovered documents are revealing a lot more about hillary clinton, including her thoughts on the news media, on revenge, and on her desire to become a kindergarten teacher. hello, i'm wolf blitzer in washington.

snow, sleet, crippling ice, a triple weather threat hitting the southeast right now. at least five deaths are blamed on this massive storm. so far, power knocked out to tens of thousands of people, and many flights grounded. georgia has been particularly hard hit. the georgia governor, nathan diehl, will join us live in just a few minutes for an update on what's going on there. but first, let's get to chad myers. he's outside on the streets of atlanta, keeping a close eye on the power outages and the flight cancellations. chad, what's the latest? >> reporter: up to a quarter million people now without power and that number growing rapidly. when i first looked at that number, about 6:00 a.m. this morning, it was at 54,000. i thought, wow, maybe we get lucky. but now up to a quarter million and trees falling and power lines coming down. my coat is wet now. a long time ago, couple hours ago, at least, wolf, all of this stuff coming down was bouncing off. it was sleet. now it isn't sleet. now it's freezing rain. completely covering everything in ice. there is the ice just right on

that little branch of that little plant right there. and the trees getting heavy and the winds blowing 30 miles per hour. 3,000 flights already cancelled across the country. almost 1,000 in hartsfield, jackson alone. i looked at flight tracker, saw three or four flights trying to get to atlanta, not sure they're going to get here or get diverted, but they're at least trying. this now is a more dangerous storm than it was a couple hours ago with all of this being wet and not already frozen on the way down. it freezes when it gets here, because what i'm standing on, the ground, 30 degrees, wolf. >> and within the next 24 hours, this storm is going to move towards the northeast. washington, philadelphia, new york. what can people expect there? >> you know, i'm going to go with 10 inches plus or minus 2 for all of the birth cities. less to the east of d.c., like annapolis, more to the west front royal. and right through the city of d.c., probably somewhere around 8. same story, baltimore, philadelphia, new york. because the storm is driving itself right up the line of

i-95. now, there is an issue that at some point in time for new york city, it may change over to a rain/snow mix that may reduce the amount of snow that you see. the liquid will be the same. but reduce how fluffy the snow is, so your snow totals in new york may be less. they will certainly be less than that in boston, because you do mix over with rain/snow mixing in boston, for sure. >> all right. chad, we'll check back with you shortly. thank you. george howell is also out on the icy roads of atlanta right now, a city paralyzed by a storm earlier this winter. george, what's it like where you are? >> reporter: wolf, we have been driving around pretty much all morning through the sleet, through the freezing rain, and really the best example of the effect that can have is right here on the antenna of our suv. you look at all the ice that has built up on this antenna over just a few hours. and you know, there is more to come. again, this is a multiday event, and as it builds up on power lines, as it builds up on trees,

the concern is that trees will fall, power lines will go down, and as chad mentioned, more than 200,000 people without power at this hour here in the metro area. i want to go ahead and switch over to our camera on the road, just to see you -- somehow you, rather, what the roads look like right now. and, again, people really heeded the warning. people are staying off the roads, they're staying at home. the roads right now, many of these highways. this is interstate 20. i-20 was sanded. so that's good news. people who are out on the roads, basically you have to be sure to drive slowly, be careful. but the roads have been sanded and salted for the most part. also, we know that over the next several hours, we'll get more of this as we get more rain, as we get more sleet and snow in the north. it will be a problem for people, especially if they have to get out. >> all right, george, thanks very much. george howell on the street of atlanta for us. two weeks ago, 2 inches of

snowpacked the same roads with parked and abandoned cars. today looks a whole lot different. joining us now is the georgia governor, nathan diehl. thanks for joining us. i know you're incredibly busy. when we spoke a couple weeks ago, you said the biggest lesson you have learned from the previous mistakes of the last storm was that you need to be -- everyone in georgia needs to be proactive. so has that worked this time around? >> absolutely. the public has been very, very cooperative. people are staying at home, which is the best thing they can do. it gives our crews that are treating the roads the opportunity to be out there. it gives all of the other emergency management people the opportunity to restore power when power goes down. and to remove trees and debris from the roadways, as well as from the other passages in our state along the streets themselves. >> schools were a big problem the last time you and i spoke a couple weeks ago.

you said you had no control over the schools' decision whether to stay open or shut down. i think it's -- as a proactive matter, everyone is has basically shut the schools today and tomorrow, right? >> that's correct. they have. and that keeps the school buses and children from being out on the roadways. that was the appropriate decision on their part. and we have just had great cooperation from every level of government in this emergency. we have a huge part of our state that is under a declaration. some 91 counties now that extends well down into south georgia. so everybody at the local level is working to make sure they're using their resources appropriately. the public is cooperating by staying off the roads. and we are just going to make the best of it, and we're going to come through it. >> we just heard chad tell us, what, more than 100,000 people in georgia already are without power, and more could be without power. and that could last for several days. what do you do in a situation like this, especially elderly

people, who don't have electricity? >> well, first of all, we have our crews ready to evacuate individuals, if necessary. we have some 280,000 beds that are available all across our state parks are available, some 11 state parks have opened up. we have our national guard armories. they have cots available. the federal government has made available to us supplies, if necessary, to be distributed. we are all working cooperatively with state agencies, working with our federal partners who are on standby and are ready to help if we call them. >> have you decided to call on fema, federal authorities, the national guard? are they already involved, or are they simply on standby right now? >> no, the national guard has been involved. they are already out there with their four wheel drive vehicles, their humvees.

they have been engaged have the very beginning. fema has also engaged, since the president has also acknowledged and declared a federal emergency for almost all of the counties that we have put you saunder the emergency warning. there are federal resources on standby for food and supplies if and when we need to call on those. but we don't have anybody in any of our shelters right now. and that's a good thing. but the shelters are available, and we will have transport available in the event people can't get there on their own. >> as we wrap it up, governor, because i know you've got to get back to work, give some advice to georgia residents right now. what's the most important thing they need to be aware of, they need to do? >> well, it's to continue to do what they have done over the last day or so, and that is to stay off the roads unless it's absolutely necessary. they have stocked up on supplies from what we can determine. and also for them to stay out of the way in the event there are

falling power lines, allow the electricity companies to do their job. they will restore power as quickly as possible. but it's important that if you see a power line on the ground, you must assume that it is live and that it's dangerous. and just stay away from it. >> i take it flights by and large, they really have been disrupted out of atlanta hartsfield, right? >> well, we have a ban that's really coming from the metro area, extending easterly toward augusta, georgia, where the ice and snow appears to be headed. and we have alerted our facilities across that part of our state, and we are shifting resources to the areas where the ice seems to be getting the worst. >> do they have enough icing equipment out there, as far as you know? de-icing equipment? >> we think we are in pretty good shape. we have brought many tons of additional sand and salt into the state over the last couple of days. and some of our neighboring

states have been very cooperative in assisting us in that undertaking. we think we will have enough, and we are making that available as we have it available to local jurisdictions that call on us for assistance there. >> governor nathan deal of georgia, good luck to you. good luck to all the folks in georgia, indeed throughout the south right now. these are potentially very perilous times. thanks so much for joining us. >> thank you, wolf. we're going to have much more on the weather situation in the south, and that bad weather moving towards the northeast, including washington, d.c., where i am. much more coming up on this story. also, other stories we're following. did hillary clinton actually want to save white house documents, quote, for revenge? we're going to have the latest insights on the trove of documents left behind, and whether the first lady also considered teaching kindergarten. up next, boehner versus the gop. the house speaker threw in the towel on the debt ceiling when

he couldn't get republicans in line. we're going to speak with gloria borger, standing by live to talk about boehner's party problems. what's going on inside the gop right now.

the country's authority to borrow money and pay its bills. the house approved a debt limit increase yesterday with no strings attached. the vote came after the house

speaker, john boehner, threw in the towel on efforts to attach other items to the bill. just 28 republicans joined 193 democrats in approving the so-called clean debt limit increase. boehner was unable to get all of his colleagues on the same page, although many republicans want to avoid the kind of political brinksmanship that led to the government shutdown last fall, the latest example of the house speaker getting stymied by conservatives in his own party. but boehner tried to shift blame away from his republican colleagues to president obama. >> you won't negotiate, you won't deal with our long-term spending problems without us raising taxes, won't even sit down and discuss these issues. he's the one driving up the debt. the question they're asking, why should i deal with his debt limit? and so the fact is, we'll let the democrats put the votes up. we'll put a minimum number of votes up to get it passed.

>> let's bring in gloria borger, chief political analyst. 28 republicans voted -- >> not an overwhelming number. >> john boehner, though, among those 28 who voted in favor of raising the nation's debt ceiling, without any conditions attached. ste steny hoyer called that pathetic. how serious is this amongst the republicans and conservatives? >> i think it's an ongoing problem that john boehner has had with the hell-no caucus, as i call it in the republican party. and i think he was looking for a way to attach some kind of spending cuts on this. as -- because that's what he promised. he said we shouldn't raise the debt unless we get some kind of spending concessions. he's right in saying the white house was not willing to compromise. but what he didn't say in that clip you showed, republicans couldn't agree on how many concessions they would ask for. he knew what was doable. and what was not doable. and he called their bluff.

because he knew the damage that the shutdown did to the republican party. and he didn't want to go through it again on raising the debt limit. so he finally threw up his hands and said, okay, done. we're just going to get it through. and some republicans, i might add, agreed with him, because they knew in the end they were going to have to vote to raise the debt limit. so why not get it over with quickly in the house rather than have a protracteded fight. now you have this question about what goes on in the senate. >> a will the of republicans didn't want this issue right now, they think health care is better than obamacare, a more powerful issue to get republicans elected, come november. now, if passed, a narrow majority in the house of representatives. now it's in the senate. clearly, could get 51 votes in the senate. but ted cruz, the republican senator from texas, he wants the filibuster so you need 60 -- 55 democrats. you need at least five republicans to break that filibuster. >> yeah.

and i think republicans are struggling to get to yes on this, to be able to get those five votes. there are some moderates who are up for re-election, like susan collins, for example, who could provide a vote. but probably isn't happy about it. if you ask republicans in theory whether they would have liked to get some spending concessions on this, of course, the answer is yes. but they also want the government to be able to pay its bills, right? so this is -- you know, ted cruz has made this very difficult for members inside his own republican caucus yet again. remember, they had some spats in the senate over the government shutdown. they did not want -- republicans did not want to see a filibuster. but they have to deal with this again with ted cruz. and, you know, privately, a lot of them are not really happy about it. >> senators want to get out of washington, d.c. today -- >> it's going to snow. have you heard that? >> get on the planes before the flights start getting cancelled.

so a couple hours to make up their mind. we'll be watching very closely. all right. gloria, thank you. a deadly snowstorm. that is bearing down on the south right now. and the northeast is getting ready to get hit next. we're going live to a city that's in the bulls-eye right now. plus -- more insight into hillary clinton's time in the white house. we have gone through some newly discovered documents that shed light on her thoughts about the news media and a career after politics. ♪ ♪ nothing says, "you're my #1 copilot," like a milk-bone biscuit. ♪ say it with milk-bone.

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all right. so there's more disturbing breaking news coming in about the weather.

more than 250,000 customers -- 250,000 customers, a quarter million customers, are without power throughout the southeast right now. that's as of this hour. especially hard hit in georgia and south carolina. we're going to have much more on this crippling storm. chad myers standing by. don't go too far away, it's heading toward us in the northeast, as well. we're gaining more insight on hillary clinton and her time in the white house. also considering ways to exact refuse revenge. [ no audio ] now our national political reporter, peter hamby, is here. you have been going through' lot of these document right now.

the first issue, revenge. what is that about? >> we actually had two producers go to fayetteville, university of arkansas, to go through boxes and boxes and boxes of notes and files that diane blair left. and it's really intriguing. not a lot of hard news in here, but really intimate glimpse into her thinking during the clinton white house years. one thing jumped out. in 1994, june 1994, hillary clinton told diane blair at the height of the health care battles, i want to record what's going on here for posterity. and diane blair said why. and this is what clinton said -- this is filtered through diane blair, of course. when i first asked "what for," she said, quote, revenge. later telling our side, later after more talks, just brain dumps, just to get it down, while still fresh. that notion of revenge will certainly strike a lot of clinton's enemies as an ah-ha moment. this is her din vindictive side. you covered the clinton white house, full of paranoia and

leaks and media hatred. but that was just one of the most interesting things that's jumped out so far, wolf. >> i know she also, according to these papers that have recently been discovered and people going through, she wanted to preserve a record, detailed record, of her husband's administration, at years of president of the united states. but she was also concerned about keeping too many documents because of potential subpoenas out there. >> yeah, that's right. if you read through these notes, you really see her concern and anxiety about perceived enemies, the media. she was afraid of subpoenas, as you mentioned. and just really wanted to get down her side of the story, just to protect herself in the long run. again, this was in 1994, 1995. you know, really a low point for the clinton white house. so we are kind of getting a glimpse into what she was thinking. of course, as you go later in the documents, into 1997, 1998, we get into the lewinski scandal and also start to see brighter

sides of the clinton white house too. >> i remember those days covering the white house, a lot of officials didn't want to write anything down because of white water investigations. >> lots. >> lots of stuff going on. we know she was the first lady of arkansas, but at the same time, a high-powered lawyer in little rock at the rose law firm, went on to become first lady of the united states, united states senator from new york, secretary of state. so what's all this information about that she really wanted to be a kindergarten teacher? >> that was really intriguing. in the same period, in june 1994, again, really a low point. she told diane blair, when this is all over, i want to go be a kindergarten teacher. you know, she's had a long-time commitment to women and girls. that's pretty interesting. but as you mentioned, she went on to, you know, a really illustrious career. it would be hard to imagine her just going back to wherever she wanted to and just quietly teachi teaching kindergarten. >> an important issue throughout her career. i think tomorrow she and chelsea are doing a whole event on women and girls in new york. part of the clinton foundation.

all right. peter, thanks very much. keep going through those documents. i think our viewers are, as well. >> i think so, as well. coming up later, president obama sued over nsa surveillance. who is leading the case against the president of the united states. but up next, the southeast now covered with a dangerous blanket of snow and ice, tens of thousands have no power. a quarter million people we just told you in georgia, south carolina, elsewhere. no electricity. we're going to give you the latest when we come back. wow, my headache is gone. excedrin really does work fast. not gonna happen. excedrin ends headaches fast. in fact for some, relief starts in just 15 minutes. excedrin. headache. gone. purina dog chow light & healthy is a deliciously tender and crunchy kibble blend. with 20% fewer calories than purina dog chow. isn't it time you discovered the lighter side of dog chow. purina dog chow light & healthy.

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just two weeks after a major winter storm brought atlanta to its knees, the sitting get hit hard once again with a much larger and dangerous storm. dumping ice, sleet and snow on georgia and other southeastern states. and that's bringing down lots of power lines. more than a quarter million customers don't have electricity or heat right now. most of them in the atlanta area. although south carolina is being hit pretty hard right now. that number is expected to rise big-time. unlike two weeks ago, schools are closed, emergency crews from all over the region, they are out in full force right now. they're learning lessons from what happened just a couple weeks ago. our own nick valencia is right outside atlanta in decatur, georgia. what are things like over there, nick? >> reporter: well, wolf, about as bad as we have seen it. the freezing rain really picked up here in decatur, a suburb

outside atlanta. we're also seeing wind and hearing reports that the power here in some of these homes are flickering. this area very old part of town. lots of old trees. so that's why we decided to come here, very dangerous situation for all the residents. you see all those trees behind me, wolf. that creates problems when temperatures are really cold. can run into power lines. and that's why we're seeing tens of thousands of people without power. at last check, according to georgia power, statewide, more than 119,000 people without power. most of that concentrated here in the atlanta area. in and around it. i want to give you a sense of just how cold it is. earlier we saw some kids making snow angels, playing around the snow, playing football. one left their backpack. this is after just a couple hours of being out in the snow. this thing is completely frozen. could probably snap that thing in half if you tried hard enough. so not only are they dealing with freezing rain, also dealing with that cold temperatures and that's going to be a problem. i'm sure our meteorologist will be able to break that down in a little more detail for you. but throughout the week, as this weather event continues and

those cold temperatures stay below freezing, it's going to be a really big problem here in and around atlanta and throughout the state of georgia. wolf? >> yeah, certainly will be, nick valencia, thanks very much. there's also a state of emergency. as you point out in north carolina, david mattingly is on the scene for us there. he's joining us now with more on what's going on. they have had a lot of snow already, david. >> reporter: that's right, wolf of the snow was very chloe to get here, but really making its presence known right now. it's falling at a rate of about an inch an hour. and the roads that were clear a short time ago now covered. for instance, right here in downtown charlotte, take a look. this road right here, an hour and a half ago, completely clear. now you can't see it at all. and the ice isn't even here yet. this is just the snow. they're expecting an ice storm here, as well, that could come this far north. but mostly to the south and east of charlotte.

so that will cause a lot of people to be in the cold and the dark tonight. that's still to come. in fact, the governor having some very straight -- some straight talk for the people who live here about being prepared. listen. >> do the common sense things. we know it's coming. take the precautions right now. do not wait. if you wait, that means you're going to take action, which puts our emergency operations people lives at risk. so there is some responsibility saul of us have to take at this point in time. >> and take a look at this. we have had this just for a couple of hours so far. this is going to go on through the night. they're expecting 8 to 10 inches here in downtown charlotte. maybe a foot or more to the north of here. it's going to be a 48-hour weather event for the carolinas here. and everyone saying stay hum hunkered down and hope for warmer temperatures this weekend. wolf? >> a lot lot of people losing power too in north carolina,

south carolina, georgia, elsewhere, as well. i'm really worried about the elderly. what are they going to do? hopefully they can be rescued if necessary. david, thanks very much. let's go to chad myers on the streets of atlanta right now. where is this storm heading? give us a little forecast, chad. >> it is turning left. it is moving through south georgia and turning left up the east coast. the big kind of left hand hook, if you're a bad golfer. that's where it's going to end up, eventually into d.c., into charlottesville, charlotte. that's where most of the heavy snow is right now and then up into new york city. let me show you what the city looks like. this is a street just outside of atlanta. this is the omni hotel. and i can literally skate on this street if i wanted to. the only reason why this is in decent shape, the police coming through have chains on and breaking up this ice. haven't seen a salt truck, haven't seen a plow, haven't seen anything official to go through and help this out at all. this is going to be a long duration storm. but the difference from 30 minutes ago, wolf, it was

raining. now it's sleeting again. and that's some good news. sleet bounces off the trees and hit the ground. the rain sticks to the trees, freezes, makes them heavier, and makes them want to fall over. the longer we can stay in sleet, the better. the problem is, about five miles south of here, it's probably not sleeting. it's raining hard. and it's 30 degrees. it's a bad combination, wolf. >> and we know that. the flights schedules totally disrupted as a result. charlotte is a hub. atlanta is a huge, huge hub, as well. i think it's the busiest airport in the united states. it looks pretty grim, though, right now, i take it. >> reporter: yeah, there is very, very little activity. when i looked at flight aware this morning, there was one flight that had left atlanta last night still in the air, going to dubai. that's why it was still in the air. and there were about ten planes trying to get into atlanta. but with weather like this, it's going to be tough to clear the runways, tough to clear the jetways and little areas around there. and all the planes that might be still sitting there, they're encased in ice, not going

anywhere. not enough to get that much ice anywhere. right now, 3,100 flights across the united states cancelled. but 850 of those were supposed to leave atlanta. and there's no chance of that happening. >> yeah. all right. chad, we'll check back with you. chad is going to be a busy guy. thank you. coming up, we'll check in on some other partner news we're watching, including the world powers, the star power. they all came together here in washington, d.c. as the white house hosted france's president in a state dinner. that's coming up. also coming up, senator rand paul on the offensive, leading a in lawsuit against president obama and the nsa. i'll talk with the harvard law professor, alan dershowitz, about this and more. 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?

right now, president obama is facing a new lawsuit over the nsa's surveillance program.

among those suing the president of the united states, the republican senator, rand paul. our senior washington correspondent, joe johns, is here. ask you went to law school, so you've gone through these documents. what's going on here? >> well, they're saying this is a violation of the fourth amendment. the metadata program that the united states national security agency has been running for some time. senator rand paul and matt kiby of freedom works, calling this the largest class action suit of its kind of on behalf of users, subscribers, customers of phone service in the u.s., since 2006. suing president obama, the director of national intelligence, director of national security agency, and the fbi director. it's a lawsuit calling on the federal courts to put an end to the federal government's metadata collection and to require purging of the records that now exist. senator paul talked about the lawsuit at a news conference over the last two or three hours at u.s. district court here in washington. >> we think it may well be the

largest class action lawsuit ever filed on behalf of the bill of rights. we've had 386,026 people show an interest in having their records protected. we believe that this lawsuit could conceivably represent hundreds of millions of people who have phone lines in this country or cell phones. we think this is an important first step. we don't do this out of disrespect to anyone. we do this out of respect to the constitution. and out of the belief that these decisions cannot be made in secret by a secret court. but they need to be made in open by the supreme court. >> so what they're asking for specifically is for the court to declare what's known as the mass associational tracking program, unconstitutional as in violation of the fourth amendment. but they're not asking for a temporary injunction. so this is a case that could go

on for years if it clears the procedural hurdles and gets certified by a court, wolf. >> and eventually hoping it it will get to the supreme court where they'll make a decision. all right, joe, thanks very much. so what are the chances of success for this lawsuit targeting a sitting president of the united states? let's bring in the harvard law professor, allen dershowitz, author of "my life in the law." thanks for joining us. is this a serious legal case, or political? >> well, it's a serious legal issue. the metadata issue is a very serious one and probably will get to the supreme court in some context. but this is the wrong lawsuit by the wrong people. you can't bring a lawsuit on behalf of the bill of rights. you need people to bring the lawsuit. you can't bring a lawsuit on behalf of hundreds of millions of people. that's just an exaggeration. and you can't bring a class action lawsuit in a situation like this, because you need nuance. it's probably constitutional in

regard to some people and some activities and unconstitutional in regard to others. for example, we know that we listen in on the conversations of foreign leaders. there's nothing in the constitution that prohibits that from happening. they listen to us, we listen to them. we know that metadata is captured. well, some metadata is okay to have for a particular period of time. but if you capture all the metadata for a long period of time, that will raise constitutional questions. this issue is already before the courts in some different contexts. and those cases will probably reach the supreme court. this is more of a political action than an action that has a chance of actually succeeding on its own merits. >> and the district court level, some courts have said it's constitutional. others have suggested not constitutional. but they say they have what, more than 300,000 people who actually signed some sort of document saying they would like to be part of this class action lawsuit. >> it's not enough just to have people sign a document. you have to show they have been

actually harmed. and, in fact, both decisions that were rendered by district courts are wrong. because one decision said, essentially, everything is constitutional. and the other decision said essentially everything is unconstitutional. that's just wrong. some of what the national security association is doing is constitutional. some of it isn't. and as it relates to some people, it's constitutional, as it relates to others, it's not. what's needed here is nuance, particular airty. calculation. we're not getting that in these lawsuits. what will eventually bring about a resolution to this lawsuit is a lawsuit by somebody whose phone has been monitored, who has been listened to, who can show that he has no association with terrorism, and that kind of a lawsuit has a real possibility of success. but the more people you bring and the more precedent you get, the less likelihood a court will pay serious attention to this as a legal proceeding. >> why is that? because i would assume,

eventually, given the district court decisions, this issue will go before the nine justices of the united states supreme court. >> i agree, it will. but it will go in the context of a particularized lawsuit, by a group of people who have, in fact, been overheard, who have, in fact, had their data used. who can show some prejudice, who can show some impact on them. but when you get, quote, hundreds of millions of people bringing a lawsuit on behalf of the bill of rights, it doesn't satisfy the constitutional requirement of a case and controversy. it doesn't satisfy the constitutional requirement of standing. and the courts always look for opportunities to deduct these kinds of cases and the more people involved, the more general the lawsuit, the more likely the court can find an excuse to not decide. but if you have a particular person who has been harmed in a particular way, the court has to resolve that issue, because that's a real case in controversy. >> it's an important issue, obviously, even the president acknowledges an important issue.

and sort of unites conservative republicans like rand paul, who is a liberty aryan, as well as a lot of liberal democrats like lieden or patrick leahy, they don't like this surveillance program either. so that's why i suspect at some point the supreme court will have to make a decision. >> it's the first issue of bipartisanship in a long time when you have people on the right and left joining together. we know there is something very wrong with the program. but we also know there is something very right about the program. and so i think overgeneralizing endangers both our security and our civil liberties. that's why we have to -- >> we've got to leave it. the critics say there is nothing right about the program, because they say there is no evidence it really so far in all the years it's been under way has prevented any terrorist action from actually occurring. but that's a subject for debate down the road. alan dershowitz, thanks very much. >> thank you. there's a lot more coming up from rand paul and others in this lawsuit. he's written an editorial on

cnn.com. i'd like to you read the whole article by rand paul. let me quote from that article. "we are told that a surrender of our privacy rights is a small price to pay for the knowledge that we can sleep safe and secure in our beds. we reject this premise. we are committed to a safe america. but we do not accept the notion that a surveillance state is necessary to safeguard the lives and liberty of american citizens." you want to read the full article, once again, go to cnn.com. and please be sure to watch cnn later tonight, 7:00 p.m. eastern, erin burnett will interview senator rand paul. that interview coming up, 7:00 p.m. tonight. a legendary news anchor announcing his cancer diagnosis. up next, cnn correspondent, dr. sanjay gupta, will explain how this particular type of cancer is different.

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the former nbc news anchor tom brocaw revealed he is being treated for cancer. brocaw was diagnosed with multiple myeloma that attacks bone marrow cells. they are encouraged by his progress and he remained active, working on projects throughout his cancer treatment over these past several months. the chief medical correspondent is here. what is multiple myeloma? >> it's a cancer of cells within the bone marrow. the bone marrow makes all different important cells. red and white blood cells and platelets that help with clots.

this is known as plasma cells. you make too many of those and they start reproducing. that's what the cancer is here. two things happen. one is the plasma cells can cause problems in other places, but it crowds out the good cells. the red and white blood cells. those are the two problems. this particular type of cancer, again, multiple myeloma is known for the damage that it can cause to bone. we have a picture of what that looks like. these are very specific lesions. you can see them here with the holes in the skull. that's a result of the multiple myeloma. that's one of the most common things that people notice first. pain in their bones. often times in their back. >> then you take an x-ray or mri or whatever and you see a picture and can make that determination whether or not it is multiple myeloma? >> that's right. it's usually what's done and

they x-ray all the bones and do blood tests that will give you an indication as well that you are dealing with multiple myeloma. it's definitive after that. >> what is the treatment? how do you deal with multiple myeloma. some are more aggressive than others. what is the treatment that tom brocaw is going through? >> the goal of treatment is to basically try to kill the cells in the bone marrow that cause the problem. the plasma cells. the problem is you don't want to kill the good cells as well. this is a problem with a lot of cancers. kill the bad things, try to leave the good things intact. often times it is a type of chemotherapy that targets the plasma cells and then if the other cells had been damage, the good cells, you have to reflenish them with bone marrow or stem cell transplants. there is no cure for this right now although i will say talking to colleagues over the last 24 hours, the treatments have

become a lot better over the last ten years. while there is no cure, the treatments are better and they survived longer than before and less toxic than they used to be as well. >> people can live several years with multiple myeloma, right? >> there have been cases, geraldine ferraro lived about 11 or 12 years afterwards. median survival is between 5 and 10 years. people live longer. peter boyle lived about four years. he was 71, i believe, at the time of his death. you get an idea of the age range there, wolf. >> tom brocaw, we wish him only, only the best. thanks for the explanation. we will take a quick break and be right back.

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. guilty on 20 of 21 counts. that's just coming in to cnn. courtesy of wdsu. that's in new orleans, louisiana. ray nagin guilty of 20 of 21 counts found guilty by a jury moments ago. the trial involved prosecutors claiming that nagin had taken bribes worth a half million dollars both before and after katrina. a lot of us became familiar with him during katrina and a horrible story that we interviewed him clearly many times he was in charge of new orleans before, during, and after. since then, there was a charge levelled against him. the jurors deliberating since monday for about three hours opinioni i

continuing yesterday and they reached a verdict of guilty on 20 of 21 counts guilty of taking bribes. that's it for me. thanks very much for watching. in "the situation room," newsroom continues right now with don lemon. >> wolf, thank you very much. i'm don lemon. live from washington, thank you so much for joining us. big news happening here. we will start at the white house today. president obama is about to sign an order to raise the minimum wage paid to federal contract workers. you remember during the state of the union, the president promised. he said i have a pin and i have a phone and i'm going to use it. meaning he's going to use that pen to raise the minimum wage from $7.75 an hour to $10.10 an hour. the room getting ready for the president. he will be out at any