>> what if anything have we learned today? my mom's birthday. happy birthday mom. gay guys can't go to make up at 5 people 55 a.m. >> i learned i don't care who wins the playoffs. >> ten years and you can start complaining. georgia walker ford. congratulations. what a beautiful baby. awesome stuff. god bless. time for "the daily rundown" with the hardest working woman in news. kristin welker. is. >> a second suicide attack on mass transit in russia in less than 24 hours. 30 people are dead, raising serious security concerns before the winter games kickoff in

sochi. out of work and out of time, more than a million unemployed americans are without a source of income. the charge to renew federal benefits. the benghazi attack, a new report e ignites weather al qaeda was involved on the american compound in libya. and good morning from new york. it's monday, december 30th, 2013 and this is "the daily rundown." i'm kristen welker for chuck todd. we start with developing news in russia. a bomb tore through a trolley bus packed with commuters in a city of about a million people. live from moscow and the security issues, president putin is having to deal with this. what's the latest here, jim?

a state of emergency has been called and they issued a statement saying that this morning's bus bomb was carried out by a male suicide bomber. people were going to work or to the market at the time when the bomber struck and now as you suggest a city of 1 million is terrified. reports that residents are staying inside and afraid to go out about their daily lives. a suspicion is this is the work of iz almostist insurgents from the caucuses area. police are calling the attack acts of terror and connecting them both to the public appeal. if you recall that was made several months ago by the war lord as an appeal to his men to kill civilians and that's an event that russian president putin steaked his prestige on.

he deployed 40,000 special forces, police and agents around so much tow make it safe. it created a ft. knox-like sochi. it's like a new country. 1500 square miles of security zone. you may be able to pass the olympics and the security will be incredibly tight. security experts like to point out a massive or dramatic attack that shuts down. it would happen here in moscow or st. petersburg. >> two bombings are related as you pointed out, but the 30 explosion doesn't seem like that was related at this point. is that correct? >> right. it doesn't seem like it was related directly. of course they are all related.

you can't imagine that a bomb that went off the car bomb that they are referring to on friday that killed three. only 170 miles east of sochi, much, much closer. you can't imagine that was by accident or not planned. not part of this imagine concentration of attacks. back to you. >> reporting from moscow, we appreciate it. here at home, one million americans are constructing a deal to renew the unemployment benefits that expired this weekend. extending benefits is topping the 2014 to do list. a solution is being pitched in the senate. republican dean helder and democrat jack reid have a short-term fix they hope can pass the shame ber and gop-controlled house. president obama spoke with both

over the weekend and the white house supports their extension, but the fact from proposal to law could be filled with legislative obstacles. happy holidays to you and thanks for joining me. >> thank you. >> before we talk about unemployment insurance benefits, i want to get your reengz to the terrorist attacks in russia. what does it mean for the sochi olympics. should americans feel service about heading over there. >> as your reporter pointed out, the security is elaborate and extensi extensive. they are taking every precaution. that opens up to terrorist attacks. inspired or directed by or trying to disrupt the security and sense of security in russia.

it is related to the olympics and anyone going to russia has to be mindful and it will be intense. the attempts could be made to try to do something in sochi or anywhere else in russia. i want to get to benefits and i know you working on a bipartisan deal. are you confident this could pass through the house? >> i hope it will pass. we are working hard. is the senator and i have a-month extension and we hope to secure a procedural vote on january 6th when we return so we can move and take up the measure and pass it. >> do you think you have the votes right now if you had to take a vote right now? do you have enough votes?

we think we have a running start. it reflects a phenomenon you have states like mississippi and tennessee and arizona that are above 8% unemployment and particularly long-term. we are appealing to our colleagues. the right thing to do and that number will increase in the next weeks and months. this is good for the economy. about .25% of gdp growth. for economic reasons and helping

people and particularly what we see in the long-term unemployment are women who worked a long time. many of them have responsibilities to children or their own parents. they can't pick up and leave to somewhere that has a low unemployment rate. they need the help and we will make progress. >> i have been talking to republicans on the hill unless it is offset. your legislation as i understand it doesn't come with offsets. why not and how do you get republicans in the house to save on this. >> it is designed to be three months. there a long list and many, many more corporate loopholes from themselves.

particularly if they use to pay for the benefit will be a step forward. you can't overnight say here's the list, take it or leave it. one of the ironies is the same people who said i won't vote for it unless there offsets. that's the other benefit that people depend upon. i think we can find it and we need time. in addition that in the next three months, there others that have to be considered. an extension of taxes that have to be looked at. an additional round of support for medicare payments to doctors. we hopefully can put this together with appropriate offsets if necessary. >> let me ask you one more on this point. what do you say to the americans who lot of their unemployment benefits this weekend who say they feel like they are staring

over the edge of the cliff and don't feel like three months is long enough and they say you are kicking the can down the road. what do you say to the americans who say it's not long or good enough? >> they are right, but we want to make sure they have something while we work for a long-term solution. the worst thing is to turn our backs and walk away and say it's over. we can't do that. again, these people and one of the things about unemployment, you have to work. these are working men and women. many have worked for 10, 20, 30 years. this is the first time we had a serious situation of unemployme unemployment. we have to help these people. we have a year's arrangement and to keep the program going, giving us the time to look at

the changes in funding and all those things would be the appropriate way to go and not leave the people high and dry and give them hope we will fix this. >> i want to get your take on the report that came out over the weekend that reignited the debate on what led to the ax tack on september 11th 2012. saying there doesn't seem to be a link to al qaeda. the american made video that many perceived of being at the root. does it change what happened? >> it's well-researched and based on the interviews on the ground with libyans who were there. they carefully were put and raises serious questions that contradict the dialogue or the story that many republicans are trying to paint.

it raises questions about al qaeda involvement. it suggests the confused tribal and radical elements. it points to an individual who suggest are stable and anti-american as well as gadhafi. that viral video was being shown on the table coming from egypt was causing concern. it paints the picture of that evening in confusion. the first appeared to be deliberate, but there was a mob and looting and then finally they moved the activity over a few miles away to the cia and

there was a more deliberate attack. it raises questions i think appropriately and contrary to the narrative that there was a deliberate and meticulously planned attack that the white house should have anticipated. >> senator reid, thank you for your time and happy new year to you. >> happy new year. >> the obama administration is trying to put the problems with healthcare.gov in the rear view mile an hour ors and it ark peers the wind might be at their backs. they released eye-catching numbers. 975,000 people enrolled in the federal market place in december, pushing the total since october 1 to over a million. there is a long way to go for a white house hoping for 7 million sign ups by march 31st. mark murray joins me now by the

first read. are they starting to turn the tide on health care? >> they have the ability and improvement in the enrollment numbers. people who want to go on healthcare.gov and get insurance now can. these numbers don't tell us whether the companies are getting the right information and whether it's the right mix between healthy and sick recipients, but it does tell us if you are someone who said i want to go on the website and be able to enroll, you can do so. that's a big change from a month ago where they had all the problems with the website. that is improvement and they are not where they wanted to be. they had to be at 3.3 million and about two million by the end

of december when the add up the state exchanges as well. >> what are the politics for republicans as they look towards 20 freab? do they need to change their strategy? >> they are changing. they are not talking about repeal. they are talking about the bad news and the bad stories that have come from the three-month roll out of the law. where the strategy is changing, we have seen them focussed on extenting the benefits earlier. on talking about going after and raising the minimum wage. that allows them to change the conversation and where they have been over the past two months. >> quickly, i want to get your reaction to jack reid. he seemed optimistic and couldn't say he had the votes to

get legislation through the senate. the senate to be able to move legislation through the house and that brings out a three-month extension. particularly when it doesn't contain the offsets and. >> the debate over what happened in ben gazay is back. we will dig into the debate over what led to the attack on the z that killed four americans and how it could resonate into the election. first a look ahead on the politics planner. you are watching "the daily you are watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. there's a new form of innovation taking shape.

at a company that's bringing media and technology together. next is every second of nbcuniversal's coverage 0f the 2014 olympic winter games. it's connecting over one million low-income americans to broadband internet at home. it's a place named one america's most veteran friendly employers. next is information and entertainment in ways you never thought possible. welcome to what's next. comcastnbcuniversal.

welcome back, everyone. an explosive investigation is reigniting debate over the attack in benghazi that killed four americans including chris stevens. the report directly disputes republican versions of what happened the night of the attack and put the issue back on the political front burner where it may remain through 2014 and 2016. first and foremost it under cuts claims that al qaeda had a direct role in the 2012 attack.

there was no evidence they had any in the assault. it points up that the times said does not have ties with al qaeda. they took issue on that on the sunday talk shows. take a look. >> there is a group that was involved and claims an affiliation with al qaeda. it was a loose group that could take general statements and act on them. >> do they have differences in opinion and affiliations? definitely. >> the article argue that is the distinction between the groups who hold similar ideologies is largely political that focusing too closely may have districted experts from other dangers.

benghazi was not infiltrated and contains threated to local interests. it does not appear to have been planned and neither was it spontaneous or without warning sins. an anti-islam video circulating at the time did have a in fueling the violence. that would jive with early claims made by susan rice which were sharply rejected boy republican critics. congressman issa said he still rejects the version of events. they did not name the video as a prime cause. that i seized on it with a lot of other information and chose to use that as a talking point. >> the administration has not disputed the article even though actions are called into question.

the people were members of the militia they they helped protect the same mission. >> let's bring in the monday gaggle. david rode is a foreign affairs columnist and this is the managing editor. thanks for being here. happy holidays. does the times report shed new light and change the conversation and change our understanding of what happened? >> the most important thing is increase the complexity which is not necessarily in the political arena. and they are thoughtful about a lot of things in play here. as we started strategic errors in the run up. a lot of the events have proved to be more complex than we realized.

this will remain an issue not just in 2014 if hillary clinton runs for president to the 2016 elections. >> since you bring that up, i will play a sound byte and let you all respond to it. take a listen. >> some people suggested this is trying to clear the deck for hillary clinton in 2016. >> i don't know, but there is a roll out of stories that susan rice will have a direct discussion with the ongoing investigation. >> do you think that is attack? >> i find the timing odd. i don't want to speculate. >> david and mike rogers questioning the timing. how does this play in 2016 if hillary clinton decides to run? does it change the narrative for her? >> i don't think it changes dramatically? it won't change the dynamic which is the blame game. it shows how much the system is serving us so badly in

washington. it is all points and all them saying hillary clinton is the person responsible. they made huge mistakes and no republicans and no word if petraeus is being held accountable. there were problems. the state department did not provide resources there and secretary kerry reinstated the employees that had been suspended for not responding to requests for more security in benghazi. both sides are not addressing the real issues here. >> i want to turn to you. we talk about hillary clinton in 2016. how does this impact the white house president obama heading into 2014. they spent a fair amount of the first part of the year dealing with the fallout from benghazi. >> i don't think that there will be a conclusive answer on this. the accountability issue and there is a great piece in politico about why we will never stop arguing about benghazi. a lot of this has political

aspects and a disagreement within both parties about whether things are accurate and which are accurate. he was also saying that there links in the intelligence from certain al qaeda aspects. obviously there is some disagreement overall about what the conclusions to be drawn out of this. it will continue to play out. >> that's right. people looking at this said it has implications for other conflicts. i will head the articles. it shows the loyalty and the difficulty discerning friend from allies of convenience and decades of western sentiment. both hanging over syria's civil conflict. >> it means we face a different threat. we are having a post 9/11 debate about al qaeda.

it's not a threat anymore. all kinds of loosely affiliated groups. the people who carried out this attack were not linked to al qaeda. they didn't really look and turn because of this video. not simply focusing on al qaeda itself. much urk innier and still dangerous situation. >> since the spring, this assumption that america had for a very long time, it's necessary and desirable. it's not the case everywhere in the world. in the debates that we had about syria. there is a lot of question about even if we intervene, who would we help. when you had the local groups that are vying per power and able to be influenced.

eye other terrorist groups or impulses and it's very doifl draw the line. >> thank you. first, a rescue mission and passengers on the russian ship stuck in the ice off antarctica are preparing for new year's eve on the ice and having a ball. we will tell you which supreme court justice will join the biggest party on the planet. first, today's trivia question. since 1789, how many people have served in the u.s. senate? the first person to tweet the correct answer will get an on air shout out. the answer and more coming up on the daily run down. stay with us. i can't believe your mom has a mom cave! today i have new campbell's chunky spicy chicken quesadilla soup. she gives me chunky before every game. i'm very souperstitious. haha, that's a good one! haha! [ male announcer ] campbell's chunky soup. it fills you up right. i would not say i'm into it. but let's see where this goes. [ buzzer ]

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24 is how many hours syria has left to get the sem cal weapons out of the country. that i are not close to making it happen. syria is missing the deadline due to security problems in bad weather. the government has until mid 2014 to destroy the chemical weapons for good. next up, six. that's the number of days 74 crew members have been stranded on a research ship stuck in the ice in antarctic a. the third attempt failed when an australian ice breaker couldn't reach the ship. the ice is ten-feet thick. there is enough food and water and they're using the time to do extra work. 109, bill deblazio becomes the 109th mayor and bill clinton will swear him in. he served in the differently housing and urban department and hillary clinton's manager when she ran for senate. he released this photo of his family with the clintons in 1999, but the clintons's

loyalties were split in the election. the wife of deblazio's competitor was theed a aide to mrs. clinton. sonia sotomayor will be the first to drop the ball in times square on new year's eve. she will join both clintons, lady gaga as button pusher who is started the iconic ball drop on new year's eve. speaking of dropping something, brace yourself for sticker shock. 10,000 is how much it will cost you and a guest to dine in a new york city steak house on new year's eve. the owner said the economy is improving so he is offering a five-course menu that includes caviar, a salad, steak, and lobster tail with truffle. you get a bottle of wine and chocolate cake for dessert. how about two pieces for $10,000? how pundits and the public

changed the course of the 2012 election. we are taking a dive into the moments the media described as game changers. they seemed big at the time, but did any of them really matter? you are watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. and now my journey across the country has brought me to the lovely city of boston. cheers. and seeing as it's such a historic city, i'm sure they'll appreciate that geico's been saving people money for over 75 years. oh... dear, i've dropped my tea into the boston harbor. huhh... i guess this party's over. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. i don't have to leave my desk and get up and go to the post office anymore. [ male announcer ] with stamps.com you can print real u.s. postage for all your letters and packages. i have exactly the amount of postage i need, the instant i need it. can you print only stamps? no... first class. priority mail. certified. international. and the mail man picks it up.

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>> during the 2012 campaign, it seemed like every day brought a new x factor that can change the landscape of the race. few actually did the trick. here's truck with more. hurricane sandy to rick santorum. he is chalk full of game changers. which move the needle? when mitt romney clinched the republican nomination, an average of polls had the president up by 1.8 points in june we got this from the 39. >> we created 4.3 million jobs over the last 27 months.

over 800,000 just this year alone. the private sector is doing fine. >> but the president's allies thought they had the perfect way to attack romney. at least $10 million was spent hammering him overtime at bain capital. >> romney shut this place down. they shut down entire livelih d livelihoo livelihoods. this was a booming place. they turned it into a junk yard. >> the president seemed to hand the momentum back to romney with this line in virginia. >> if you got a business, you didn't build that. somebody else made that happen. >> within a month, romney had chosen paul ryan as a running mate capping a furious three months. on the day of the convention, the polls were unchanged. romney trimmed 3/10 of 1% off the president's lead. fast forward and the president

was riding a wave. the lead averaged points. two days later, the consulate was attacked and the ambassador killed, leading to a wave of criticism. they questioned whether they could turn the tide and game changers. the 47% remarks and super storm sandy struck. where did it leave us? it turns out it was the same place we were when the conventions ended the. the president won by over four point, almost the same margin he had in september. according to the gamble, there were 68 incidents that were labeled game changers and in the end, none seemed to change anything. lynn? i will start with you. congratulations on your book. it's a wonderful antidote to the books out there.

let me start with the idea that nothing mattered. nothing mattered? >> we have to be a little careful saying things like nothing mattered. the story that john and i are trying to tell in the gamble is that all of these things that the candidates do matter. it's just in 2012 in particular, they were both well-funded high quality candidates so the things they did canceled each other out. in terms of changing the game, the game stays the same. what they are doing is having effects. >> what's interesting is i guess and i think you sort of talked about this. there were tactical things mattered. when it was spent and when it wasn't. you can't say the decision by the campaign to do what he did from may 1 to august 1. the decision by the romney campaign not to really respond themselves, but allowing outside groups to do it.

that tactical decision seemed to matter regardless of the messages. >> we find when you advertise more than your opponent, you can shift the needle in your direction. the problem for obama by spending that money early is that most of that advertising effect wears off relatively quickly. even within a day or two. people think campaign advertising is like nuclear radiation. once it gets in, it never leaves. in reality it's like tylenol. >> the argument is if you have an advantage at any point in time. the obama campaign they knew from september 1 to november seventh, dollar for dollar they would be even. where could they find the advantage? they cook the advantage in july. >> there lots of reasons to do that. you can read all about that in the day by day, they may want to

increase fund-raising and get attention on something else. did it move the needle on election day. the decay of the adds in may, june, and july. >> they each spent a billion dollars on their own. forget outside groups. not quite half went to television stations. did they waste $2 billion. they spent a lot of it trying to neutralize. >> they tried what? >> it's like an arm's race where both make sure they can kill the other. at the same time you want to make sure that you don't disarm and give the advantage to.

>> is it possible this is the way reelections are run. it's differently when there is not an incumbent involved. >> it's possible for a number of reasons. we want to be clear. our story is a story about 2012. you may not the candidates and campaigns fighting each other. there is time for a 1972 or the campaign like that to happen. >> you are saying that if everything is equal financially, everything is equal as far as knowing how to respond a cycle and knowing how to deal with this increased cycles. nothing that changes the locked in sort of place where americans are about the two parties.

some will change their mines, but the challenges at the beginning. we have an event of an event that upon his the other. how it swings back and forth, back and forth. it's hard for one candidate to get a solid advantage of all of that. the candidates would need weeks and weeks of good news only for them. that's rare to get in a presidential election. >> is the media irrelevant some. >> absolutely not. it's one of the most interesting parts of the story for us. a lot of other accounts are written by journalists who take themselves out of the story. you are playing a role and particularly in the prime easier. john mentioned it's hard for candidates to sustain long periods of positive or negative coverage. in the primaries, the media is

driving. >> what's the lesson for reporters that you like them to take away and future candidates? >> one of the lessons is to condition to do what they do. lots of interesting way to cover the percentage. as opposed to hyping everything as opposed to the one percentage that hypes the race. >> thank fist are getting up earlier and being on the west coast for me. i appreciate it. >> important lessons for reporters and candidates. as you get set to ring in the new years. who americans admire most. the biggest political stories of the year and what shapes the next two years of politics. the white house soup of the day, 15 bean. we'll be right back. i take prilosec otc each morning for my frequent heartburn.

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>> how many people served in the u.s. senate? in total more than 12,000 people served in congress. about 16% served in the senate. we want to say congratulations to today's winner. congratulations to you. we will send your trivia suggestions and be right back, everyone. we're aig. and we're here. to help secure retirements and protect financial futures. to help communities recover and rebuild. for companies going from garage to global. on the ground, in the air, even into space. we repaid every dollar america lent us. and gave america back a profit.

we're here to keep our promises. to help you realize a better tomorrow. from the families of aig, happy holidays.

in our last show of the year, we want it to look back at some of the people you said you admired most in 2013. gallup compiled a list of the

most admired men topped by president obama, two other presidents, bush and clinton also made the top five, along with pope francis and the reverend billy graham. as for the most admired women, hillary clinton came in first. she was followed by oprah, michelle obama, sarah palin, conderice and in laumalala. let's bring back our gaggle. katherine, i want to welcome you. this is your first time on "the daily rundown." what do you make of the most admired list? >> i was surprised pope francis wasn't higher and malala made the list. that's pretty impressive in terms of name recognition. >> malala is so stunning because she's so young and has inspired so many people. david, what stood out for you? >> i think obama's popularity given his very low approval ratings. it was surprising he did so well on this poll. >> i didn't hear miley cyrus's

name. >> she was the one omission. all right. i want to get what you all thought was the biggest, most impactful story of 2013. >> i'll say the changeover at the vatican hugely influential. >> absolutely. david? >> the snowden leaks. the nsa wire tap story. >> continuing to reverberate and will do so. >> through next year as well. >> katherine, for you? >> i'd say the obama care rollout. it's been less than ideal and it's the signature domestic policy for the administration. >> and it seems to be turning a tide. >> yes. >> potentially. we'll have to wait and see. all right. and i just want to, david, quickly get your reaction to syria. does it look like they're going to meet their deadline? >> i think that's no surprise. i think syria will be a huge problem. across the middle east there's going to be more and more turbulence. the key thing for the u.s., and we talked about this earlier, i think that the jihadists are becoming less popular and more brutal. in benghazi, the militia that

carried out the attack has been driven from the city. so there are people turning against them, people, arabs, muslims in the region that are opposing al qaeda more and more. how does the u.s. take advantage of that. >> certainly the foreign policy story to watch in 2014. i'm going to do shameless plugs and i'll start with you, david. >> a not very uplifting plug but syria related. i think of the 30 journalists who have been kidnapped, about half of them for the purposerei syria. i feel for all those familiefam >> i'm going to plug 365 time.com year-end photo gallery. there's a picture for every day of the year. >> katherine, we'll end on you. >> buzzfeed, we have our 31 most important gifts of the political year and it's a fun list. >> i love those lists. all right, good. well, i have a shameless plug and my shameless plug is for the newest member of our "daily rundown" family. our executive producer, brook

broeer and his wife kate welcomed charlotte into the world on december 25th. mom, dad and big brother graham say she is the best christmas present ever. i love that picture. it is just darling. we want to say congratulations to the whole brower family. what a great christmas present. that is it for this edition of "the daily rundown." coming up next on msnbc, chris jansing. have a very happy new year, everyone.

two prominent republicans are pushing back on major "new york times" reporting that investigates the 2012 attack in benghazi. was susan rice correct when she said it was a video that sparked the attack that killed four americans? plus 1.1 million and counting. more americans are signing up for obamacare as the white house and democrats start a push to get more success stories into the news. and fast food strikes across the country are bringing more

attention to the fight over income inequality. which states are raising the minimum wage on january 1st and the future battle grounds. good morning to you, i'm richard lui in for chris jansing on this monday. we start with developing news out of russia. just 38 days before the winter olympics there in sochi, a second terror attack in two days. this raises questions about security as the world's best athletes converge to that region. this morning a suicide bombing ripped apart a trolley bus during morning rush hour killing at least 14. at a nearby train station yesterday, a similar attack killed 17. and on friday, a car bomb exploded in a town just 170 miles from sochi. nbc's jim maceda is in moscow following all of these developments for us. jim, good evening to you there. how is russia handling the aftermath on the ground and for that matter those who are watching from abroad? >> reporter: hi, richard. well, russian officials, first