captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions >> woodruff: treacherous roads, hundreds of thousands without power in the south. even delayed valentine's day flowers. the latest winter storm has moved on, but the east coast is still digging out from it's wake. good evening, i'm judy woodruff. also ahead, a swing to california. where the problem isn't the snow or the cold, but a historic drought, straining towns and farms across the state. >> with the so-called rainy season half over, the state remains in bad shape; with reservoirs far below capacity, and rivers trickling like it was summer. and the state's huge agricultural production is in jeopardy in the central valley as groundwater is becoming scarce.

>> woodruff: and it's friday, mark shields and david brooks are here to analyze the week's news. those are just some of the stories we're covering on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... friends of the newshour. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs

station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: this was the day after for much of the eastern seaboard, digging out from the latest winter storm. in parts of the northeast, snowfall topped two feet, and in the south, nearly half-a-million customers spent a third day with no power. the storm was also blamed for 25 deaths. hari sreenivasan reports on the day's developments. >> reporter: heaps and heaps of snow made a messy aftermath as the big storm moved on. plows and trucks worked overtime to clear streets from the deep south, all the way to the northeast and new england. but for many, the morning commute was treacherous. one stretch of the pennsylvania turnpike outside philadelphia had three separate pile-ups this morning. >> there was a big truck right behind me and he didn't stop in time he slid into the back of me, which pushed me right into the b.m.w. >> reporter: in washington, it

was back to work for federal employees after yesterday's snow day. but many had to step gingerly on sidewalks and streets coated in ice. in connecticut, governor dannel malloy declared a road salt emergency, with some municipalities running out. >> storms are variable, so some folks have burned through the salt that they've had faster than other towns. and so we're going to make sure people have salt, but we're not planning for two weeks, we're planning for 60 days of weather conditions that we may have to respond to. >> reporter: here in new york city, the mounds of snow began melting as the weather warmed, leaving slushy, icy puddles. but the respite will be all too brief: there's more snow in store for tomorrow, followed by a blast of bitter air early next week. this storm gave the city a rare look at thunder-snow last night, as lightning lit up the skies. but traveling by air remained a daunting prospect, with more than two thousand new cancellations today.

for the week, more than 14,000 flights have been scrubbed and for the winter so far, that number is 75,000, the worst in 25 years. moreover, the relentless winter is getting the blame for falling retail sales. they plunged more than 9% just during the polar vortex storm last month. car sales also fell last month, with february looking just as bleak. some dealers say they've had no customers for two or three days this week. and the floral industry, especially, is feeling the effects on this valentine's day. a number of flower shops have had to suspend deliveries. >> we have to start making decisions about what we are going to do and when we decided we were going to cut off delivery for the 13th and 14th, that's a major piece of florist business. >> reporter: others, though, pledged to deliver no matter what, trudging through snow and slush in the name of love, and money. >> woodruff: the weather was good for one industry, ski resorts, where sales and rentals

are going strong. or, as the owner of a new hampshire ski spot said today: there's never too much snow. we'll look more closely at the economic fallout, right after the news summary. >> woodruff: a volcano exploded to life on indonesia's java island overnight, forcing more than 100,000 people to flee. at least three people were killed. ash and debris that spewed from mount kelud blanketed the region for miles. it was eight inches deep in some areas, and workers rushed to protect a famous ninth century buddhist temple by covering it with plastic sheeting. the eruption was so powerful, it was heard 125 miles away. >> woodruff: southern england braced for another night of gale-force winds, hammering waves and, more rain. that meant the already-extreme floods afflicting the region will get even worse. we have a report from john ray of independent television news, who visited a series of coastal towns today.

>> reporter: it is unrelenting, barely a chance to catch your breath between crushing waves. from chezle beach and beyond, the wild southwest wet and wind weworse still to come. it's much wisers to make for cover. to batten down the hatches, and to stack you want sandbags once again. in dorsett, residents are being told to be ready if disaster strikes to evacuate their homes. >> i live on top of the island, my tiles clang every night when you get 60, 70-mile-per-hour winds. >> reporter: it will get much worse. >> each time i think will they stay on?

but flooding is the worst thing you can have. >> reporter: there is nowhere left for the rain to go. it is bubbling out of the drain on to the road. there are yet more flood warningings, because along this desolate and devastated coast they are not yet repaired the damage wrought by the last storm. here in chezle, the beach stands between the beach and the homes below. it is a test of resolve and nerve. >> we are sandbags and everything, so it's a lot of-- it's worrying. >> reporter: but nothing points to an end to the torment. as evening falls the winds are whipping up and the tides are rising. this is a winter in which the extreme has become routine and the exceptional the norm. and it is not over yet. tonight britain's defenses will be tested yet again. a few might find adventure in adversity, bit for most, it is cold and wet and miserable.

>> woodruff: britain's environment agency says it could be weeks before the flooding finally abates. >> woodruff: this was the warmest day yet at the winter olympics, in sochi, russia. spectators soaked up the sun, but organizers had to cancel training for two events. some cross-country skiers even cut their sleeves off to stay cool. as for the competition, a spoiler alert: tune out for a moment, if you don't want to know results just yet. japan's yazuru hanyu won his country's first gold medal ever in men's figure skating. and american noelle pikus-pace took silver behind britain's elizabeth arnold, in women's skeleton. we'll talk to a reporter at the winter games later in the program. >> woodruff: in syria, a car bomb killed as many as 43 people in a village held by rebels. one opposition activist said the bomb exploded next to a truck filled with diesel, setting the fuel on fire. the blast burned cars and damaged a mosque where worshippers had attended friday prayers.

a united nations envoy met separately today with the two factions in the syrian peace talks, but both sides said they're at an impasse. the opposition and the assad regime remained divided over whether to focus on political transition or fighting terror. >> the regime has not submitted any other proposal about transition to democratic practice away from bloodshed, away from imposition of the people in power on the population. we hope to receive positive response. we haven't received anything yet. >> those who do not give a chance for discussion and agreement on combatant terrorism are definitely not part of the syrian people, and contradict with the wishes and aspirations of the syrian people. and we want to continue our

discussions until we reach an agreement on this point because this is a crucial for the syrian people. >> woodruff: there were also new questions about syria's chemical weapons. reuters reported the regime has handed over just 11% of its stockpile and is likely to miss a june 30 deadline for destroying all of it. >> woodruff: there was progress as north and south korea met today for their second high- level talks this week. they agreed to go ahead with upcoming reunions of families separated during the korean war. and, the north withdrew a demand that south korea and the u.s. delay the start of joint military exercises. a u.n. commission wants the international criminal court to prosecute north korea for crimes against humanity. the associated press says the panel has found it says there's evidence of extermination and deliberate

starvation. north korea denies it. >> woodruff: italy has suffered another political upheaval. enrico letta resigned as premier,after a rebellion in the ranks of his center-left democratic party. that puts matteo renzi in position to become the country's youngest premier ever. he has agitated for sweeping change to rescue italy's economy. the battle over gay marriage in virginia is headed to a federal appeals court. last night, a federal judge ruled the state's voter-approved ban is unconstitutional. virginia's new attorney general, mark herring, had declined to defend the ban. he spoke today in richmond. >> the arguments raise bide those supporting virginia's wan on same-sex marriage were essentially the same arguments my predecessors used years ago to justify virginia's ban on interracial marriage and justify segregated schools. the injustice of virginia's position in those cases are not

being repeated this time. >> woodruff: virginia is the first southern state to have its bar against same-sex marriage overturned. but, the ruling will be on hold, while the appeal goes forward. on wall street today, stocks ended the week on an up note. the dow jones industrial average gained 126 points to close at 16,154. the nasdaq rose three points to close at 4,244. for the week, the dow gained a little over two percent. the nasdaq rose nearly three percent. still to come on the newshour; what the winter storms have done to the u.s. economy; philadelphia mayor michael nutter on fighting poverty; a historic drought strains california towns and farms; the latest from the sochi olympics; plus, mark shields and david brooks on the week's news. >> woodruff: this week's storms

in the south and the northeast were the latest punch to businesses, retailers, government offices and employees coping with a tough winter. jeffrey brown looks at the economic impact. >> woodruff: it's just the middle of february and many states have seen more than their usual share of snow days. even in the midwest and plain states, where harsh winters are normal, there've been weeks where sub-zero temperatures have frozen activity. mark zandi is watching and assessing the fallout as chief economist of moody's analytics. mark, generally, first, what kind of negative economic impact is the bad winter having so far? >> well, it's been really cold since early december, and now we're getting a string of storms that are really disrupting economic activity. you can see it best in the job market. we lost roughly 50,000 jobs in the month of december because of the atypical weather, not quite that in january, and given what happened this last week, i

expect we'll lose 75,000 to 100,000 jobs in the month of february. it's really hurting the economy at this point. >> brown: and this goes beyond what's normally accounted for already, the so-called seasonally adjusted type of assessment? >> yeah, that's exactly right. so, you know, obviously in the wintertime, it's cold and you don't see as much economic activity normally. but we account for that. economists account for that. the government stazistitions account for that in their data. they seasonally adjust the weather but the weather we are seeing is outside what we see ordinarilily and the impact on the economy is not normal. >> brown: break it down a little bit by sectors or types of businesses. >> well, you know, it's hurt the auto industry a lot. auto sales are way off. we got some industrial production data and auto production is down as a result. anything, obviously, related to construction, housing, either

the housing recovery is just in its infancy, and this is-- has put it back on its feet. retailing hit really hard. restaurants, travel, the airlines. if you move anything around-- trorpgz, distribution, warehousing-- that gets strupted. widespread disruption, and i think one key thing since a lot of people in much of the country is having to spend a lot more just to heat their homes, they have a lot less to spend on everything else and it hurts everybody else. >> brown: we should mention, i guess today is valentine's day associate candy and flower industries? >> yeah, you know, getting those cut flowers to the stores i'm sure is a little wit difficult. where i'm from, here in philadelphia, just looking at the-- i went to bamy wife a valentine's card and it wasn't as crowded as it normally is. i'm sure valentine's is being disrupted as well. >> brown: how about reegeally? of course, one of the phenomenon

is it het places lieb the southeast particularly hard. >> yeah, and it's not-- obviously, the southeast generally doesn't get this weather. i mean we've had ice storms in dallas and parts of louisiana. atlanta and charlotte had been basically shut down for the part of the past few weeks and it's been incredibly disrupted there. in the northeast we're more used to and it prepared for it but this is beyond the pale. lots of people have lost power and that's affected their ability to do their work. even the midwest, as you mentioned, it's been brutally cold, so cold, it cut down on construction activity in that part of the country, which normally, you know, they can weather a lot of weather. so-- and it's also important to point out, it's not the winter, but we've got a big drought in california which is also have been an impact. >> brown: just finally with-- to put it into larger context, mark, the economy still struggling to get a foothold,

right? so how do you look at wheeze going on in these months affecting that? >> well, jeff, you know, i-- this is temporary. i mean, we'll overcome this once we get more typical weather as we move into march and april. things will bounce back. you can't get everything back. you can't get those airline trips back. but in-- and those cut flowers for valentine's back but we'll get most of it back and the economy will get back on track. it's just, obviously, very discouraging. the recovery is now four and a half years expoald it really hasn't kicked into high gear. i thought we would late last year, but the winter has really delayed things. ultimately, this economy is moving in the right direction, and i think once we get more typical weather we'll see that. >> brown: all right, mark zandi, thanks so much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: we return tonight to the subject of poverty and inequality. in recent days, we've spoken

with members of both political parties weighing in on the problem, for our series of conversations, "closing the gap." for a closer look at how one particularly hard-hit city is coping, we turn to philadelphia, where more than 28% of residents live below the poverty level. that's the highest rate of any u.s. city with more than one million people. the median income in philadelphia is just above $34,000. that's the second-lowest of any u.s. city, just ahead of detroit. joining us now from philadelphia is democratic mayor michael nutter. mr. mayor, we welcome you to the program again. >> thank you, judy. good to be with you. and happy valentine's day to you. >> woodruff: thank you, and to you. and i want to start by asking you a question we've put to i think all of our other guests on the subject, and that is how do you see inequality in this country? what does the gap look like to you? >> i think, unfortunately, judy, it's a pretty complex issue, and it is far ranging, in many

instances, certainly here in philadelphia, it is intergenerational. it is certainly about income but it's also about education, it's with some folks, quite honestly, losing a sense of hope and can't see a vision for the future. boots economic investment-- what do you see going on in your neighborhood? what is your access to jobs? the fact that african americans and latinos and many others of color, the unemployment rate gets published in the papers is nowhere near reflect iive of what's really going on in many of our neighborhoods and other cities all across the united states of america. it is economic, but it's also about access to health care. it's about the snap program. it's about fresh fruits and vegetables and do you have supermarkets in your community or not? it's a wide range of factors that all combine that end up addressing the issue of poverty and inequality i think as you laid out. >> woodruff: well you know, of course, that philadelphia is one of five places in the country

designated by the obama administration as so-called promise zones, meaning-- what does that mean to your city? what does-- it happened last summer-- go ahead, yeah. >> it was just a couple of weeks ago. and it was very, very proud on wehalf of the city to, one, have some really great partners to submit that application with, to be designated by president obama and his administration as one of these promise zone areas. it means a number of things-- one, we're one of the first five in the united states of america. as the president talked about in his state of the union address in 2013. two, it means that you'll have acstoas greater federal and private resources when you're applying for federal grants, because we're a program zone, we'll get extra points in terms of how we score on those grant opportunitys. private sector is more inclined to invest in these areas because they know that there is a plan-- this is.

a two-square-mile area b35,000 people could have had in west philadelphia under, partners with drexel university and the people's emergency center, mount vernon manner, and our own community and economic opportunity office, in my administration, so you put all of that together, the section of the city has had some challenges, but it also has many positive assets. when you look at the wealth of young people who live in that community and others who are trying to get a better education for themselveses and take care of their neighborhood and the housing stock, this is an opportunity for to us pour significant amount of coordinated resources into an area, transform it, and then use that same model all across the city of philadelphia to address issues of inequality, and certainly poverty. >> woodruff: as you understand it, at this point, there's no federal money connected with it, but it does mean that philadelphia and these other zones will be eligible for that.

does this send a signal in order-- you want to correct what i'm saying? >> yeah, just two fine points. first of all, there is already significant federal and state and city funding going into this particular area already. what we're talkin talking abouth the promise zone is access to additional dollars going forward. but through this plan, we've already been able to better coordinate the resources we're already getting. i do want to mention to you, it's important to us. it may be just a little bit but our poverty rate has dropped almost two point down to the 26% range. some progress, clearly not enough. we have a lot more work to do, no doubt with it. but i just want to stay focused on where we are on the ground here in philadelphia. >> woodruff: well, thanks for clarifying that, but what i wanted to ask is does this send a signal that you believe-- you believe progress can only come if there are federal dollars attached to it. >> well, clearly cities are not

able to, you know, have an overwhelming impact on the larger issue of poverty and income inequality by ourselves. so that's why partnerships, certainly with the federal government-- assistance and support from the state-- all three levels of government working in partnership, we all represent the same constituents. they pay taxes, and every level of government has a responsibility. i think what president obama has done here is very sharp, very straightforward, and very clear. partner-- work together-- develop a plan, apply to the federal government, apply to the corporate and philanthropic communities, demonstrate that you have a plan and can show the partnerships and the stakeholders, again, the many that i talked about earlier, and additional resources will, in fact, come to you. so i think that this is the mod they'll the federal government is going to use across a variety of departments and agencies, and represents a change in how the federal government will partner

directly with cities all across america. >> woodruff: as you know, many republicans say that so many times of the federal money that has been directed at poverty in this country has not had the intended effect. one of the folks we've interviewed in this series of conversations, my colleague gwen ifill this week, talked to senator marco rubio republican of florida, who talked about the fact that so much money has gone into helping what he called pain, alleviate the pain of post, but it hasn't helped people come out of poverty. and he went on to say part of the super bowl a cultural problem, that the federal government can only do so much, but part of the problem has to come from people themselves. what do you say to that? >> look i believe in the united states of america's-- again, as the president has said but i certainly agree here on the ground, the government does have an obligation to its citizens, and, clearly, many citizens can utilize and access resources

that we have. and there's always a part of this is the level of personal responsibility to get engaged and be involved in, you know, raising your children and also trying to make things better for yourself. that does not mean, though, that local, state, or federal government agencies or leaders can walk away from american who are in need. this isut foundation of our country. and i wish many elected officials, especially at the federal level-- whether they're democrats or republicans or in the house or in the senate but especially many on the republican side of the aisle, i wish that they would actually come on the groind and see what's going on in communities all across the united states of america. many of them talk about programs that they barely know what they actually do. and so, proposing to cut the food stamp program, better known now as snap, i'm not sure what purpose that's trying to pleas. cutting the community development block grant program, i'm not sure what purpose you're trying to accomplish. you're actually hurting the

american public. you're hurting neighborhoods. you're hurting communities. we can't just run the government on political rhetoric and ideology. these are real people with real challenges and real problems and the federa the government does e some obligation to try to make things better for americans. >> woodruff: in 10 seconds, you're saying they don't have the information to make the right decisions on this or they're just wrong? >> some are just wrong and some have no idea what they're talking about and some would do better to come on the ground-- walk the streets that i know and see what positive things are going on in communities, how dollars are being utilizes and their action and rhetoric is actually damaging the american public that they claim to want to help. >> woodruff: mayor michael nutter of philadelphia, we thank you. >> thank you, judy. >> woodruff: while much of the

nation is struggling with a wet and freezing winter, the southwest is experiencing record heat and for weeks, california has been suffering from a serious drought. as you can see on this map, more than 90% of the state is experiencing a severe to exceptional shortage of water. the areas shaded in red and maroon are the most extremely parched areas of the state. president obama is visiting california today where he's meeting with farmers in the central valley as part of his trip. he's directing more than 160 million dollars in federal aid, much of it going to provide relief for farmers and ranchers with livestock losses. special correspondent spencer michels has been spending time with farmers and others feeling the effects. here's his report. >> reporter: dairyman don debernardi has had a rough winter. the 700 cows he milks at this organic dairy in sonoma county, california, are eating costly

hay, not the lush green grass they usually munch on at this time of year. the 14-month drought kept it brown until just now. that could put his organic certification in jeopardy. he's had to truck water in to clean his milking barn. his springs are dry. >> as far as pasture, were not going to have any feed for at least two months. >> reporter: and what's the result of that? >> well, we have to truck hay in, where there's not much hay left in the state. >> reporter: so what are you going to do? >> we come out of state. we have to try and get hay somewhere. >> reporter: each of his cows drinks 35 to 40 gallons of water a day. like a lot of dairymen, he's considering selling some of them for beef, since its too expensive to feed them. >> well have to wait and see if the pasture comes, or how the hay supply holds out. we probably will sell some. you cant afford to feed an animal all year and buy hay to feed it. >> reporter: the problem, says debernardi, is too many people and not enough stored water. >> more people come into

california, they build more homes, but they do not build any infrastructure for the dams for water supply. >> reporter: 50 miles north of the cattle ranch, in the wine country of sonoma county, grape growers, whose vines are dormant right now, had been told by water officials that the drought could be of biblical proportions. they use water in the winter to protect the grapes from frost, and in the summer to irrigate them. without enough, the crop gets smaller and are vulnerable to freezing. the early february rains in northern california got everyone excited, until they realized that what seemed like a monumental storm was just a drop in the bucket. water officials say the state would need six or seven more storms like that one to really end the drought, and that seems unlikely. with the rainy season half over,

the state remains in bad shape; with reservoirs far below capacity, and rivers trickling like it was summer, and the states huge agricultural production is in jeopardy in the central valley as groundwater is becoming scarce. in the mountains, whose melting snow provides much of water for the rest of the state, the snow pack increased this month from 10% of normal to 22% but that's far too low. last month, governor jerry brown officially declared a drought emergency and called on all citizens to cut back at least 20% of their water use, though conservation efforts would be voluntary. in cloverdale, a quiet agricultural town in sonoma county, 90 miles north of san francisco, it's 8,500 residents were told by the state they, along with 16 other communities, could run out of water within two to four months. while public works director craig scott doesn't believe the situation is that bad, he says the towns plight is serious. >> we just have had the driest year on record in 2013.

this storm that we just had in the last few days has been the first significant storm in over 14 months. i think with tree ring analysis, its the driest year in 400 years. >> reporter: cloverdale gets its water from wells along the banks of the russian river, which feeds an underground aquifer. the river's flow now is comparable to what it usually is in the dry summer so there's concern the wells production could decline. the town has no dam to store its water and depends on a few tanks. >> this water is heading out into the pacific ocean. we have no way to store it right now in sufficient quantities to get us past these really giant drought events. we have storage in the system; four days worth of storage. a reservoir of the magnitude to actually get us from season to season would be a huge expense. >> reporter: so cloverdale isn't thinking big, its mayor, carol

russell, and the city council, are taking smaller steps, declaring a what they call a mandatory cutback of 25% in water usage, including a ban on lawn watering. >> this luscious landscaping is designed to save water, and have a garden that is essentially made up of things that don't require a whole lot of water to survive. >> the city council is considering tougher measures, including higher rates and fines called stage three. >> a stage 3 isn't best because 25 ps of mandatory. now it goes up to 50% and you end up with an allotment of water per person, per household. >> reporter: one of cloverdales most thriving businesses depends

on a lot of water. bear republic brewing company, a regional brewery that makes racer five i.p.a., is trying to conserve water. for every gallon of beer they use 3.5 gallons of water, much lower than the industry standard. co-founder and brew master richard norgrove says he isn't sure if cloverdale's wells will provide the brewery with enough water this year. >> we may have to truck it in. we could move our production out of state; we could move our business to a community that's not affected by water use problems. but those aren't really part of what the family plan is. >> reporter: instead, to insure an adequate water supply, bear republic has entered into a private-public partnership with cloverdale, to bring more wells into production. >> we lent them close to half a million dollars to accelerate well drilling, which is really helping the infrastructure for the community. if we don't manage our

watershed, we may not even be able to grow this business, because there's not going to be enough water for everybody. >> reporter: and the town is equally enthusiastic with the arrangement. >> they came to the city and said, look, can we expand? and we said, yeah, we'd love you to, but there's a water problem. were in the middle of a drought. we got together with them and what they're helping us do is develop wells for everyone. >> reporter: meanwhile, many californians are resorting to less-exotic, time-tested ways of saving water: bricks in the toilet tank, low flow toilets, short showers and less lawn watering. all means of coping with a drought that hydrologists are predicting will continue throughout this year, and perhaps even beyond. >> woodruff: as residents in california cope with the problems spencer chronicled, the president is proposing the creation of a new one billion dollar fund to help communities deal with the impact of climate change. that money would need to be approved by congress, but it will likely face significant opposition among republicans in

the house. >> woodruff: we've reached the halfway point of the winter games in sochi, a week that has seen its share of spectacular victories and some surprising disappointments for the american team and others. christine brennan has been covering the action in russia for u.s.a. today and a.b.c. news. i caught up with her earlier today. christine brennan, it's great to have you join us again. once again a spoiler alert for our viewers. we're going to talk about some results. chris teen, here we are at the end of the first weeks, the americans have had a tough day on the ski slopes. >> that's right, judy. the u.s. ski team, the alpine ski team, is one of the highest profile events at the games, bodie miller, ted ligety, and

julia maciewso. miller and ligety did not have a good day. miller has not had awe good olympics, coming up with the term "to bodie" meaning being shut out. he's 35, 36 years old. you know, it's-- at this point in his life, this is towards the end. but i think the disappointment is that there were no med althoughs. julia mancuso now is the only one who has won a medal for the u.s. >> woodruff: we watched figure skating yesterday where the big news last night were some big falls. and the surprising exit of a russian favorite. >> reporter: judy, it was 30 minutes that seemed like it was the bermuda triangle had entered the figure skating arena. first off, you had yevgeny plushenko, two olympic gold met medals, two olympic silver

medals, he comes out and he's looks-- he looks like he's injured. he's hurting. he goes over to the referee-- reminiscent of, frankly, of what tonya hard dignity with her skates 20 years ago, withdraws, waves to the crowd and is gone. that drama 30 minutes later of followed by jeremy abbott who fell hard on his quadruple jump, and instead of getting right up, popping up the way most skaters do, he just laid there and it seemed like forever, an eternity, his coach was about to rush out on to the expies help him but he popped up and kept going and the crowd spurred him on. incredible drawm and only in figure skating. it never, ever disappoints. >> woodruff: i want to talk about snowboarding and how well the american women have been doing. >> reporter: well, yes, the american women, with x-game sports we look at it from shaun

white to the slope styles of skiing. the u.s. women of course are going to be stars of these olympic games in large part of course because these are our best female athletes and they get a chance to shine at the olympics. but i think if you look at it in total, and, again, say these edgy extreme x-game sports, the u.s. is doing great. all four gold medal medals are m x-games, relatively new sports in the olympics for the u.s. the international olympic committee brought these sports in to try to attract a newer audience, younger viewers to watch the coverage on the networks. and the reality is i think if the i.o.c. hadn't done it, the u.s. olympic committee would have because the yuz just cleans up in these medals, u.s., canada, north american smorts. and you can pretty much rely on the fact they're doing something that wasn't done 20 years ago in the olympics, the u.s. is going to do well in it. >> woodruff: one thing you wrote about was the overhang or shadow of the old spirit of the soviet union. the fact that you're there in russia and you really can't get

away from the history of this place. how are you seeing that while you're there? >> reporter: you know, it comes, judy, in little waves and snippets. for examine, the lighting of the light, the athlete had a racist tweet regarding president obama, and she's lighting the calderon. they're not former russian athletes. they're former soviet athletes and those of us of a certain age can't help but remember that. and for sports fans and the united states it was the miracle on ice. you see these people and it kind of brings back that time. the using of their anthem, of course, is the old soviet anthem. i certainly love that anthem but it has haupting tones that take us back to another time when we were not friend with them. obviously, it was the cold war. so the russian figure skating, occasionally you see judging,

the eastern bloc, the cold war can be alive and welin figure skating judging, i can tell you that. for the first time ever in a full olympics, the complete olympics is in russia. the fact that we're here and the u.s. is the big cheese, always, the fact that the united states and russia are at it a little bit in a friendly rivalry-- and i do stress friendly-- but there are moments when you look back to the old days and they were not quite so friendly, obviously. >> woodruff: when you stum up the week, what's been the highlight for you? what do you take away at the halfway point of the games? >> reporter: i have to say the fact that there has been no-- knock on wood-- huge news. thinking of the sochi, all the kitchens, the terrible concerns about terrich bsecurity, protests involving the antigay law-- there were a couple earlier. of course, i'm in the-- talk, to you right now from the press center inside the secure zone, its ring of seal, so to speak,

so we wouldn't see that. put the bottom line is there has been almost no news. the big snooze no big news. we're talking about athletes. we're talking about sports. we're talking about the thing we should be talking about at the olympic games. i'm not saying those other issues may not rise up-- again, let's hope everything goes well with security-- but so far, a week into the olympics, not a big news story to be had in terms of security, and that is a huge, huge upset. >> woodruff: christine brennan, we're so glad to have you talk to us. thank you. >> reporter: judy, thank you very much. >> woodruff: and to the analysis of shields and brooks. that's syndicated columnist mark shields and new york times columnist david brooks. welcome, gentlemen. and it's valentine's day. and by the way, pink tie, tie with hearts, very nice. so because it's valentine's day, let's start talking about the

debt limit. >> nice segue. >> woodruff: we watched this drama play out which ended up in the senate, with senator ted cruz of texas, essential he hanging some of his fellow republicans out to dry. what was he trying to accomplish and did he do it? >> nothing says valentine's day like senator ted cruz, our national aphrodisiac. ( mark laughing ) what he was trying to do, it's unclear. the official explanation was that he wanted republicans to fight. he thinks there's a spending problem in the country, and republicans should fight harder before raising the debt ceiling. they should get some spending reforms. he was going to force a the love republican senators, including mitch mcconnell, that are up, to make them cast an unpleas apt vote which is going to make it harder for them in the primaries. he put a lot of people in a tough bind. the basic problem is it the

republicans have been here before. they're not all insane. they saw how badly it went and made a completely rational strategic decision, let's just let it go and move on and talk about something else. that's called basic strategy nursery school style. there are some who think strategy is bad and want to run into the wall again and again and i would put ted cruz in that category. >> woodruff: is it working for him, mark? >> we'll fiewnd out in about two years from now. if ted cruz is going national, he has carved outaise nirks which is "i'm not the establishment republican. we tried john mccain. he worked across the aisle. he was bipartisan, and he got 90% of democrats voting against him. and then we had blue state mitt romney, who worked with democrats in massachusetts, and 93%-- there's only one republican who had democratic votes. that was ronald reagan.

he was an ardent conservative. i'm the anti-washington candidate. i think that's what he's casting himself as. i think david is absolutely right that what he's done to his own party, the democrats owned the debt ceiling. they were going to raise the debt ceiling all by themselves with nobody else's votes. what he forced republicans to do, and they had-- no republican could be the 60th vote to cut off debate. so they had to round up seven more to cast an unpleasant vote. as bob dole used to say wisely, we senators love to make tough speeches. we don't like to cast tough votes. and this was a tough vote that ted cruz forced them to cast. >> woodruff: so where does this leave tea party? and we should say, this comes on the heels of the house, where speaker boehner couldn't, david, round up enough republicans to get behind a plan that would counter the-- the democrats wanted a clean extension of the

debt limit with no strings attached. the republicans were looking for something. they cooperate get enough vote but it never came together. what does all this say about what is going on in that party? >> the tea party is going to be a permanent feature of the party. those people were always here before we called them the tea party. there are two features. one, like a lot of respects they think we're spending too much money. two-- and this is more a matter of strategy-- they don't believe in it. they don't believe in strategy. they believe simplicity. whatever washington is doing, just mess is up. so a direct, full-bore frontal assault approach again and again and again. somebody like john boehner says you pick your fights. but they're against that sort of game playing. what i would qual just intelligent strategy. they are going to be a permanent part of the party. what is happening now is exasperation. what you're seeing is beginning to see the republican establishment, who have been terrified of the 5 tea party, sy

we've got to stand up. the most weirdly cowardly people on earth are the establishment. they hate to take on the renegades. you're seeing john boehner leading the ray, really, in a series of press ccheses the past couple of weeks or months, saying,"i'm not going to do it your way. i'm going to do it my way. this is the way i was taught to do politics. i will do it this way." you're seeing bob corker, others, certainly john mccain, other ands saying, no we're not going to do it that way. we're going to do it the way parties are supposed to do it, strategy, a little surrender here, a little aggression here, not just run into a brick wall. >> woodruff: what does that mean, mark, for policy, for legislation, for addressing the country's problems when you have one party that is so divided -- not that the democrats don't have that. >> i think, first of all, just to review, last month we were celebrating the fact that they'd come to a budget agreement, the first time in three years, and the budget-- and then patter murray, the democrat in the

senate, and paul ripe, the respect in the house, reached this great agreement, congress voted on it, and it was stort of a step in the right direction. and those are the bills we agreed to pay up and come the bills and they say, "no, no, we're not going to pay them. we're basically going to defau default." john boehner acted like a grown-up. he wasn't nathan hale or patrick henry, but in this climate he looked like it because it was good politics and good public policy. he did the right thing for the country, and he did the right thing for his part party. he brought them back from i a second self-destructive closing of the government which cost the republican party enormously. what does it mean going forward? i'm not sure. it's a better climate. it was a victory for the president, a victory for the democrats in the sense they didn't-- they did get a clean bill. but i don't see it as a great

compact,o a great concord. i really don't. i mean, i think immigration is where the president had his biggest hope, and i don't see that any closer this week than it was last week. >> fiwere the president, i would hit-- i would take advantage of this moment of division or rancor, whatever you want to call it, in the republican party, and i would have two big proposals that i'd just talk about endlessly. the first would be immigration, which does split the republican party and hit that every single day. maybe you can create a governing majority. maybe there is enough upset with the tea party to do that. the second thing would be poverty. marco rubio, paul ryan, some of the people you have been talking to, they have stretched republican orthodoxy a fair bit to allow for some government action to address poverty, some subsidies, increase the earned income tax credit. so there's been some movement there. and they differ with them how to pay for it and that sort of thing. nonetheless, there's movement there, and i think there's a potential for a governing compromise on some sort of

poverty legislation which, for the democratic political advantage, would split republican party but also yield possible legislation. >> woodruff: so you're saying that mainstream republicans could go along with something like on immigration and dealing with poverty, and just say good-bye-- or say tea party, too bad. >> i don't eye mean, david was a lot more bearish on imgraigz than he is today. i think-- first of all, mitch macom, the republican leader, may 20 primary, fighting for his political life in a tough general election, has already said there will be no immigration this year. and john boehner stated the principles and quickly got shot down, i mean, got pulled back to earth. so i don't know-- the votes may be there. there might be 45, 50 vote. i haven't seen them self-identify and say we want to sign a discharge. with the democrats yet to bring immigration to the flor. >> i was just saying if i were the president, you have two

subjects, immigration eye agree with mark, it's extremely unlikely-- but at least you have an issue that sprit the republicans and that's a political win. poverty, i think there's a chance of a substantive win if you have the right set of packages and it's on people's mind and the republicans have a hankering to show they do have a policy. >> if you want to split the republicans, the republicans are on the short side, in popular support, minimum wage, which 70% of people want raised; equal pay for women for equal jobs. they're on the wrong side of that. if you're going to just talk about taking advantage of republican weakness and republican defensively, i'm emphasize those two. >> woodruff: and the republicans we interviewed this week, marco rubio, and senator tim scott, adamantly against the minimum wage. let's talk just a minute about the health care law. there were good numbers, david, that came out, the administration announcing 3.3 million, i think, people have signed up on the exchanges. on the other hand, the administration announced that it

was going to extend the deadline for medium businesses to bring their employees under health care coverage. is this-- does this mean the health care law is healthier or does it mean it's weaker? i mean, how do we read what's going on? >> it's both, it's both. so if you want to draw a straight line for a lot of the different stories that have been going through on health care reform, i think you'd say one thing it's health care law is probably going to reduce the number of uninsured-- not probably, it will reduce the number of uninsured. and the good enrollment numbers are a piece of that. the second thing on the down side is costs will probably be a lot higher than estimated. so what you're seeing is the exchanges are not competitive. a lot of places, there's just only one fortune in the exchange, one company, a blue cross or something in the exchange, so there's no competition over price and, therefore, it's a lot more expensive to get the policies. also, i think they're going to have no mandates. we had a big fight, individual mandates for companies, and

they're really walking back every mandate. >> woodruff: including the individual? >> i personally-- and this is just conjecture-- i think they're going to have trouble getting mandates, period, and that will raise cost because you won't be able to subsidize. >> without the individual mandate, there is not. i agree with david on the walking back, judy, it was projected seven million by the thirst of march. now the congressional budget office says six million, which is not as good as democrats had hoped for, or the architects had hoped for. a lot better than republicans had hoped for. i mean, republicans have based their 2014 campaign on bangladesh. i think the whole test is going to be-- in july, people looking and say, gee, this has worked, for my nephew. this has worked, for my daughter. this is better. my neighbor's life is better off. it's going to be really a pragmatic, practical test of whether it's working. it's not going to be ideological left or ideological right.

>> woodruff: that's my question is it a winning issue for republicans to be hammering way. >> if you look at the polls it's still an unpopular thing, especially in the red state, where a lot of senate democrats are up for reelection. and mark is right, it could turn around-- my friend got coverage, my bartender got coverage, my bartender got coverage, but the costs over the long haul could prove to be extremely expensive. there are a lot of extremely unaffordable programs that are quite popular. >> woodruff: we wish both of you happy valentine's day. >> thank you. >> woodruff: we hope it hasn't been too expensive for the two of you. >> excellent point. >> woodruff: david brooks, mark shields, thank you. >> woodruff: again, the major developments of the day. this was the day after as much of the eastern seaboard dug out from the latest blast of winter. the storm was blamed for at

least 25 deaths. and there was more evidence that the hard winter has taken an economic toll. factory output fell in january after two months of gains. on the newshour online right now, hoping to impress your valentine tonight? before you splash yourself with your favorite scent, read our pheromones primer. it details what role the chemical compounds play in peaking a sweetheart's interest. and how perfumes and colognes that claim to trigger desire are lacking in the science. that's on our homepage. and we look back at 20 years of and a reminder about some upcoming programs from our pbs colleagues. gwen ifill is preparing for washington week. which airs later this evening. here's a preview: glen we're tackling some tough questions tonight-- what's going right in washington, what's going wrong, and the reasons why. the answers might surprise you

tonight on "washington >> woodruff: tomorrow's edition of pbs newshour weekend looks at how cell phones are transforming africa and in some ways ahead of the u.s. and we'll be back, right here, on monday with a look at arkansas's plan to use medicaid dollars to buy private insurance for low-income residents that may be in peril. that's the newshour for tonight, i'm judy woodruff, have a nice weekend. thank you and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects

us. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

this is "nightly business report" with tyler mathisen and susie gehrig. brought to you in part by -- >> thestreet.com. founded by jim cramer thestreet.com is an independent source for stock market analysis. it's home to cramer's multi-million dollar portfolio. learn more at thestreet.com/nbr. stock have their best weekly performance of the year after a rocky start to 2014. unhealthy outlook. weight watchers, one of the best-known name in this weight loss, lost a big chunk of its market value today as people flocked to new technologies like apps and fitness bands to shed the pounds. market monitor. looking for stocks that pay dividends and do well in a slow-growth