>> what did they get wrong? >> al qaeda not involved in this. some level of preplanning, aspiration to conduct an attack by their affiliates in libya, we know that. >> numbers game. the president's health care law hits a milestone with over 1 million americans signed up through the federal exchange. no time to celebrate for a white house facing an uphill kplim to reach their enroll men goal. xxxx >> very good monday kristen welker in for andrea mitchell in new york. we begin with developing news out of russia where a second deadly explosion rocked the city of volgograd in less than 24 hours. today's attack a rush hour trolley bus bombing killed at least 14 people and wounded 28 hours. nbc's jim maceda has the latest

from moscow. >> hi, kristen, investigators in volgograd are operating under the strong suspicion that the latest attacks were the work of islamist insurgents from that restive north region of welsch. we understand police found links between the two most recent attacks the same group or cell carried out train and trolley bus bom bombings and explosives and components like shrapnel used to maximize carnage were similar in nature. investigators are also linking bombings to public appeal, you recall, that was made several months ago by chechen warlord, an appeal to his fighters to kill civilians and disrupt upcoming winter olympics, an event, of course, that russian president vladimir putin has not only spent a fortune on but

staked his on prestige on as well. he's deployed in sochi 40,000 special forces, police, and agents around that town to make it safe. meanwhile volgograd, why the importance for militants, well, it's a transportation hub, kristen. if you were to take a train or bus from sochi out into the russian hinterland, you would probably have to go through volgograd. it's only about 400 miles from sochi, from the olympic venue, while that other car bombing on friday, which killed three, was only 170 miles from sochi. so it's the proximity to the winter olympics happening just less than six weeks before the games begin that sent out frightening message militants can strike anywhere and at will.

back to you. >> thank you for that report out of moscow. president putin ordered increased security in russia in the wake of those suicide bombings this weekend as jim just said. at least 14 people died this morning adding to the death toll the 17 people from the attack at a train station saturday night. 38 days to the olympics in sochi, putin has been working to revamp his image on the world stage. all eyes are watching how he handles the latest incident. msnbc analyst and former adviser on iran and middle east to the white house and ambassador dennis ross. thank you for joining me this afternoon. so ambassador, i want to just read a statement from putin and get your reaction on the other side to how he's handling this. we will not retreat and will continue our consistent fight against an insidious enemy. how do you think putin handled

it so far? has he been tough enough? has he been out front enough on this particular issue? >> i don't think we have to worry about him striking a posture being tough. it's an image he promotes and acts on. i have no doubt you'll see putin and russians do everything they can from a security standpoint to try to demonstrate russia is a safe forward-looking statement visit. clearly the reason you're seeing acts of terror, they are trying to demonstrate they are around, trying to sow some degree of fear in advance for olympics because they know this is a real showcase for russia and particularly putin. they each have a stake in trying to show from the standpoint of the chechens what they can do to disrupt thins. putin can show how tough he's prepared to be on anybody who tries to affect the security of russia. >> just picking up on that point, president putin has spent

an estimated $48 billion preparing for these games. to what extent have these attacks cast a pall over these games and made people afraid? >> you still have six weeks before you get to the olympics. a lot will depend on what happens between now and then. if you have bombings much closer to the event themselves, it's going to have a chilling effect. there's no doubt about that. it may affect some people that would go. sochi itself is likely to be quite safe because so many people will be there from a security standpoint. they will produce so many different checkpoints. they will close the place down. i do think from the standpoint of those thinking about going to russia, they are likely to have second thoughts. a lot will depend upon does this continue. having seen two bombs in the space of 24 hours, that gives a lot of people pause. if that's all we're going to see, that's one thing. if they see a continuing set of

such actions, then it becomes something else. >> ambassador ross, to that point, i want to read you the statement from the usoc and get your reaction on the other side. they say at any games, no matter the location, security for our team is our highest priority. like past games, we will work closely with the local organizing committee, our state department and law enforcement agencies to ensure the proper security plan is in place. we know the united states has offered to help russia with its security. what do you say took americans planning to attend the games who might, as you point out, be feeling a little nervous right now? >> again, i would say if you plan to go, i suspect, in fact, the security will be okay. the best indicator of that is do we see more of these bombings between now and the time of the convening of the olympic games. if you get close to the olympic game and you're still seeing bombs take place, doesn't matter what anybody says, people are

going to react on what they say. if this is one set of actions that aren't repeated, it becomes something else again. at this point if you planing to, i wouldn't be changing my plans but i'd be watching and seeing what happens. and if we see an end to these actions it's one thing. as i said, if you see them continue, it doesn't matter what the soothing words are. it doesn't matter reassuring words are, people are going to vote based on what they see. >> i'm going to shift to sudan now. obviously that is a region careening towards civil war many would say. regional leaders trying to get south sudan president to meet with his rival to negotiate, try to bring an end to this violence that has claimed so many lives so far. is there hope that these talks will happen, this violence is going to come to an end in the near future? >> a lot depends on not just what the outsiders are able to do. basically have leaders from kenya and ethiopia acting to

broker a set of understandings. the real question is what happens on the inside. this is a classic case of the president and vice president coming from different tribes. this becomes a kind of tribal conflict. if they see themselves heading towards an abyss and do not want to go into it, then you will see them, i think, take a step back. the question is, is this something they can control at this point. it's beginning to take a life of its own. if they don't preempt and meaningf fuful cease-fire i won whether the momentum of the violence itself takes on a life of it's own. >> what are implications for united states. president obama says he reserves right to take action if he wants to to get more engaged. >> in south sudan? i think we played a role before.

i wouldn't exaggerate the impact on this. if we're going to have an impact it would require others, you have security council putting forces in there. it's not just a case of putting forces in there from african countriesish the question is going to be are these effective forces, can they impose a penalty, are there going to be consequences. if that can be done and we contribute to that, then maybe we can contain this. south sudan until recently looked to be a possible success story. now it looks to fall into the pattern of civil wars driven by tribal conflict very difficult to obtain. always have a blood letting, vengeance component to them. you don't want to see that happen. again, the loss of life is so horrendous. >> ambassador dennis ross, thank you as always. we appreciate insights and happy new year to you. >> same to you. numbers in new york city, first from the police department and report showing murder rate

with a big drop on mayor bloomberg's final year in office. 87 fewer murders from last year, that's a 20% drop from 2012. we also got numbers from the "new york times." their report had big financial data. specifically all the money mayor bloomberg paid out of his own pocket. how about $62,000 a week to clean fish tanks he installed in city hall and $6 million for private plane travel during his tenure. mayor bloomberg turned down millions in salary over three terms for just $1 a year. be right back after a quick break.

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unemployment benefits which ran out on saturday. now it's up to congress to extend those benefits. but the democrat leading the charge told me this morning that any deal they reach will likely be short-term. take a listen. >> i'd like to be able to say we have a year. to keep the program going, we thought and the senator and i thought a three-month extension giving us the time to look at changes in funding mechanisms and all those things would be the appropriate way to go, not leave people high and dry, give them some hope we're going to fix this on longer term basis. >> with me to break it down jonathan capehart, writer for "washington post" and msnbc contributor. mark murray political editor and karen a political editor with the washington post. thanks to all of you for joining me. happy new year. i want to go around the horn. mark, i'll start with you. what are the prospects for

extending jobless benefits? will it be a short-term deal if anything gets done? >> short-term is a possibility. a lot depends if there's a larger type deal during the appropriations process. of course there is that deal february come the debt ceiling if they are able to throw some type of longer term unemployment benefits in the mix. congress had its opportunity back in the budget deal in december to get something done when it came to unemployment insurance. neither republicans nor democrats able to get anything. short-term does seem possibility. kristen, as you and i discussed earlier, one of the big hiccups, house republicans want some type of offset. right now even on the short-term deal there doesn't seem to be an offset democrats are putting on the table. >> karen, just pick up on that point where mark leads off, there is no offset as part of this deal. how does it get passed especially when the budget deal

passed. arguably a lot of leverage democrats had was given away in that budget deal. >> i think the question is how much political pressure there will be out in the country. the long-term unemployment rate right now is higher than it has been since world war ii era. it's something that is reaching into every kind of household. people like urban institute have done studies saying it's basically hitting married people, single people, college educated, high school educated. i think there is a question of how much political pressure there will be from the country. but beyond that if you talk to economists, they say the solution lies not in continuing to cut people checks but measures that might get jobs, tax breaks for companies to higher long-term unemployment or perhaps government themselves hiring them. this is a problem that is hangover from the great recession and one that's going to linger.

it does seem to call for deeper more structural solutions. >> jonathan, i want to go to you. what do you think chances are the short-term deal gets passed. i've been talking to folks whose benefits ran out, they say congress is kicking the can down the road. >> yes, congress is kicking the can down the road. karen is right, the pressure from the outside, outside washington, people who are dramatically affected by this is going to be the pressure to get a short-term deal in place. market laid out the political problem here very clearly. republicans in the house demand to know how are you going to pay for this program that annually costs $6 billion a year. they came to washington, came to washington on cut budget, cut spending promise. if it means cutting people off on their monthly benefit of $1100 a month, that to them is

much more paramount than putting money in the hands of the long-term unemployed who don't sit on that money and not spend it. that money goes directly from them into their communities and stores. folks have bills to pay. folks have expenses that have to be paid for. that money is part of economic activity. >> jonathan to your point, folks have bills to pay, a lot of people feel like they don't have enough money to pay those bills. democrats signaling they are going to make the minimum wage fight a big wedge issue coming up in 2014. we want to point out there are already 13 states who will raise their minimum wage this week above $7.25 federal mark washington state, oregon, new york, new jersey, ohio, just to name a few. so karen, is this smart political strategy from democrats to make this a wedge issue into 2015 and is it realistic? >> it's unclear how republicans respond to this. in the past there have been

moments where republicans have been willing to negotiate in minimum wage. some if accompanied by things that help businesses, especially small businesses pay that tax breaks, things like that. so i think at this point, this is going to leave the ball very much in the republicans' court as to how they respond. >> mark, republicans not signaling they are going to move on minimum wage issue at all at least in my conversation. is this purely political maneuver on the part of democrats or is there really a chance this could maybe even get through the senate. >> as karen suggesting, democrats to play offense. play out one of two ways. house republicans say, you know, what we'd like to be on board. we'd like concessions in return. policy achieved, able to get done through a congress that hasn't been producing that much. the other option, democrats get to use this as a political wedge issue. this is something that polls

well according to "wall street journal" poll, 60% of the public backs minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, that includes 45% of tea party supporters and 47% of republicans. so this does have some broad appeal to it. the question is whether there's political will. you can easily see how this is political issue that galvanize democrats turn out folks and at least give them something to campaign for. >> other big political issue in 2014 is undoubtedly the president's health care law. republicans retooling their strategy, just as we get numbers over the weekend. according to the administration, 1.1 million enrolled in federal marketplace, 850,000 through state-run exchanges. jonathan capehart, has the white house started to turn this narrative around? what does that mean for 2014 for democrats? >> yes. i think the white house has begun to turn the narrative around. remember, back in october i

think there were just 27,000 people who were able to get health care through the healthcare.gov, federal website. now that we're looking at numbers in the millions, i think it's right now all together 2 million people who have registered, people look at the numbers. when you get into the millions, especially when the administration was looking to get 3 million people registered by this time or march, things were looking good p. in 2014 as numbers get better and rollout gets better, gives the white house a better argument to make about why and how the affordable care act is necessary. i also think republicans will put themselves at a disadvantage if they keep talking about repealing or defunding affordable care act without backing it up with a credible alternative. >> certainly one we will be watching in 2014. now i want to turn to what might be the most divisive issue of

all. football, of course, i'm talking about. we learned today this redskins coach mike shanahan became one of several coaches across the country to be relieved of his duties. mark, i want to start with you. what do you make of this? what does it mean for the redskins? they need a restart here? >> they do. i'm not necessarily a new coach is the formula. according to the count i have and everyone else has, washington will have their eighth coach since 1999. so you have a whole host of different coaches. whether it's mike shanahan or anyone else there, so they will have number eight. i think there's a question, do the redskins have the money to be able with the salary cap as well as being able to have the talent and evaluation for the draft. i think those things have been hurting the franchise as much as the coach. >> karen, i want to get your take. there was so much drama behind the scenes that led up to this moment. what do you make of it?

>> it has been a can this marriage be saved all along between the owner dan snyder and the coach mike shanahan. again, we are once again coming into january with everybody in washington repeating our favorite joke here, which is what do you call a bunch of millionaires sitting around the tv watching the super bowl? it's the washington redskins. >> jonathan, why don't you have the final word on this point. are the redskins stronger moving forward without shanahan? >> look, you're asking the wrong guy here. i don't know anything about football, i don't know anything about shanahan. i saw him for the first time now. this much i do know, kristen, the name of the football team, personally speaking is an abomination and they should change it. >> that is certainly a heated debate that is going on in the nation's capital and really all around the country. we've been tracking that as well. thanks to all of you for being here. i should say i'm a philly fan, philly girl so i'm happy the eagles won last night.

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that's right for you. syria unlikely to meet the deadline to remove the most dangerous chemical weapons. meanwhile the lebanese army fired at syrian aircraft that violated the country's airspace. the first time lebanon has done for in the three years since syria's uprising began. lets bring in ayman mohyeldin live in cairo egypt. thanks for joining me, ayman. i want your take on it looks

like syria is poised to miss the deadline. how important is the deadline? what are the implications for syria and the united states if it misses the deadline? >> perhaps it's best to look at the statement from the united nations weapons inspector. from both indications this important deadline is loicly to be missed, the overall deadline, which is that to get them chemical-free by 2014 that is on pace. why they are saying they are missing deadline has to do with the volatility of the situation on the ground and year end possibility to transport dangerous chemical materials out from syria to neighboring countries where they can ultimately be removed and destroyed. while they are missing the deadline, the more important target for chemicals weapons and material by next year. >> lets shift over to lebanon. obviously violence spilled over

into lebanon. some refugees staying in lebanon. why did lebanon decide to take action now? what are the potential ramifications of that? >> lebanon has become increasingly involved in the conflict from humanitarian crisis and security crisis. the violence in syria spilled over along similar lines inside lebanon. that led a lot of critics to call on the lebanese government to do more to protect sovereignty of lebanon, that includes preventing fighters from hezbollah which supports the regime from traveling across the border into syria and fight on behalf of the regime. meantime many are criticizing them for not doing enough for fighters supporting logistically, set of fighters from lebanon from crossing the border. the lebanese is coming under pressure for sovereignty, perhaps first time lebanese

government with military tried to assert a little control at least when it comes to its skies. i want to turn to the region you are in, egypt. we are learning egyptian authorities detained a team of al jazeera journalists yesterday, apparently aimed at deterring them from talking to muslim brotherhood. what does it say about the stability of the country and as it tries to make transition to democracy. is it becoming more destabilized. >> there are certainly two major points that came out of that. this is what critics here and elsewhere are saying. one, egyptian government is trying to silence dissent, not tolerating any criticism, particularly media criticism from foreign stations or media, including al jazeera and others. as a result they are really trying to keep pressure on muslim brotherhood and leadership from having any platform to communicate ideas, share with supporters, its plans.

that's why they are going after al jazeera. al jazeera has been criticized being close to the muslim brotherhood and charges leveled against journalist, al jazeera correspondents that do include foreigners, statement came out citing they were meeting with members of the muslim brotherhood. it gives you an example, really, insight into how serious this crackdown is on muslim brotherhood and anyone, perhaps, that tries to challenge the government's assertion of what is taking place on the ground. >> all right. ayman, thank you for tracking it for us and your reporting as always. we appreciate it. well, we wanted to take a belief moment before the new year to remember the 70 journalists from 14 countries killed while reporting in 2013. they worked in every medium, as photographers, on television, in print and online. we are humbled by their sacrifice and send condolences to loved ones and friends. you can find more information about brave individuals at cpj.org. you need a bunch of those to clean this mess.

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"new york times" investigation into last year's deadly assault on benghazi consulate threatening to reignite political and policy debates. remember republicans claim the administration knew the attack was planned and carried out by al qaeda and covered it up. but "the new york times" directly contradicts that claim saying, quote, months of investigation turned up no evidence that al qaeda or other international terrorist groups had any role in the assault. top republicans went on the sunday talk shows to insist that just isn't true. >> there was a group that was involved that claims an affiliation with al qaeda. now, al qaeda is not a central command and control. it was, in fact, a loose group that could take general statements and act on them. >> did they have differences of opinion with al qaeda core? yes. did they have affiliation wall street al qaeda core? definitely. joining me now msnbc contributor

steve clemens, washington editor-at-large for atlantic and editor for atlantic live. thanks for joining me, steve, i appreciate it. i want to get to what congressman issa was saying, making the argument this is about semantics. is this a semantic argument about who al qaeda is, who is affiliated or important development in terms of how we understand the attack? >> i think it's a very important development. i think darrell issa like many have tended throw a lot of islamic groups into one basket and called it al qaeda. it's in exhibited our ability, in many ways, to deal with both the real al qaeda and also to take the blinders off when it comes to dealing with other movements just as important. the primary group when muammar gaddafi was still in power, islamists, opposed united states, islamic fighting group. they were once affiliated with

al qaeda, then renounce thad affiliation. since then other groups have emerged like ansar al sharia like david kirkpatrick focused on. in that it was clear, i think what the kirkpatrick report shows we have signals intelligence that shows al qaeda itself was disappointed in its inability as of yet to penetrate libya. that's part of the picture. so kirkpatrick has given us a much more sophisticated view of what al qaeda is and what it isn't. what it isn't is what bit us in benghazi. >> that's a great point. i want to read a little bit from the article this weekend. the white house had said this was a spontaneous attack and that narrative seemed to change. the article says it wasn't quite spontaneous. benghazi not infiltrated by al qaeda but nonetheless contained grave local threats to american interests. the attack does not appear to have been meticulously planned but neither was it spontaneous

or without warning signals. to some extent the article bolsters the white house's initial assessment but splits the difference a little, doesn't it? >> it does. as i said yesterday, this is a bit of a report that is a pox on both houses. we have footage and other reporting kirkpatrick did that showed this man did do a lot of directing of people on site inside the benghazi compound. the u.s. consulate there and subsequent attack on the cia safe house. but in that i think what is important and often missed the consulate visiting ambassador steven that day said this is september 11th, security seemed to be light that day. it also said our own analysts were very focused on al qaeda groups and that's one of the reason we missed domestic home brewed groups coming up. that merged together with those

incredibly frustrated by the reports of this video, this very offensive video called innocence of muslims which riled up not just folks in tripoli and benghazi but cairo and other places in the middle east. >> steve, were you surprised by that revelation in the article that that video did, in fact, seem to play a role in sparking the attack? >> i wasn't in the sense that one of the things that began to happen in cairo, cairo to a certain degree is an anchor of sentiment and emotion in the region, as anger began to build and as the various viral networks in the middle east, which had become very dense began to move this offensive, they try to use offensive things americans or westerners have done or said about islam or the prophet mohammed to spread this out in their networks as a way to recruit others or create a lot of anger. i wasn't surprised by that.

that seems like a logical explanation. what i think is more important is that this local group, this ansar al sharia group and others there banded together. another really important part of the kirkpatrick report, we became dependent on local militias that we thought would defend u.s. interest. when they were faced with fighting their own brethren, their own cousins, their own neighbors, they withheld themselves. they pulled back and for the most part did not protect u.s. consulate. we were there fairly naively thinking we had a greater position inside benghazi than we did. so i think there were a lot of confluence of factors. that's why "the new york times" has done such an important service here to show various factors that come together to create a horribly toxic situation in which four americans were killed. >> steve clemens, thank you very much. certainly a lot of foreign policy lessons moving forward. we appreciate your insight. new york city mayor bill de

blasio celebrate the new year and his job with former in chief. president clinton will swear him in. de blasio served as hillary clinton's campaign manager. secretary clinton will be on hand for the festivities. ♪ love is strange so when coverage really counts, count on nationwide insurance. we put members first. join the nation. ♪ nationwide is on your side ♪ [ male announcer ] when you wear dentures you may not know it, but your mouth is under attack. food particles infiltrate and bacteria proliferate. ♪ protect your mouth, with fixodent. the adhesive helps create a food seal defense for a clean mouth and kills bacteria for fresh breath. ♪ fixodent, and forget it.

i'm all about "free" travel, babe. that's what i do. [ female announcer ] fortunately, there's an easier way, with creditcards.com. compare hundreds of cards from every major bank and find the one that's right for you. creditcards.com. it's simple. with 1.3 million americans without long-term unemployment benefits, some may be looking for new ways to energize their job search, volunteering actually increases the odds of finding a job. wendy spencer is the ceo of ncs and she joins me now. thanks, wendy, for being here from tallahassee. >> happy new year. >> happy new year to you. >> based on this report, one in four americans are volunteering. that is a boost to the economy?

6.5 million americans served 7.9 billion hours, estimated value, $175 billion. those are really stunning numbers. how does volunteering impact these individuals but also the country? >> well, it's great. there are stunning numbers. i have a great resolution for america. we're making our resolutions this week and thinking about, improving our health, meeting new friends, having new adventures. many people are looking for jobs. i've got a secret weapon for you, kristen, america, get out and volunteer. here is why. our research shows if you are, for example, looking for a job, unemployed and looking for work. if you volunteer you increase the likelihood, the odds of gaining employment by 27%. >> how do you break that down? >> isn't that great? >> it is. it's fantastic. break that down for people. how does it work? i think a lot of people looking for fulltime work are thinking

i'm not going to volunteer because i need to get an actual paying job. what's the link there? >> well, i'll give you a great example. a young lady in central florida received her nursing certificate. she was looking for work. everyone told her, i'm sorry, you need experience. every door was closing on her. she said i'm going to get experience. she volunteered at an adult daycare center. weeks later, they hired her. i can give you anecdote after anecdote of those cases. we have research that demonstrates this is true, especially in a rural community, volunteer to work, increase the likelihood by 55%. i say volunteer by day, look for work by night on the internet. you can see why, you're meeting new people, gaining skills, connecting with communities and helping people. >> the other thing i found so interesting in your report, wendy, actually working moms

volunteering at a higher rate. we have a graphic that shows this as well. 38.5% of working moms volunteer. the national rate is 26.5% who are volunteering. why do you think that is? >> isn't that interesting. you ask people who is the busiest person i know, it's a working mom of school age children but they volunteer the most. we believe it's because they are connected to their community. they are interested in the environment their children are living in. they are volunteering through the schools, other organizations, faith-based groups trying to make sure their children are being raised in a quality community. >> weny, look forward for me. what can you do to encourage people in volunteering? i also know you're going to play a role in mlk day of volunteerism. tell us a little about that? >> several ways. thanks for mentioning martin luther king day coming up

january 20th. volunteer opportunities across the country will be available. this is a real good way to get introduced to what volunteering is. sign up and volunteer at the local community. also serve.gov, our national website. you can just put in your zip code and up will pop volunteer opportunities right in your own neighborhood. i always encourage people, ask a friend who you know volunteers or family member, go with them. there's so many needs in our community. help fundraise for a cause you care about. ask your children what interests them. volunteer as a family. >> to that point, right, can you get your kids engaged in volunteering? we're talking about adults mostly. i imagine if you start kids out at an early age, it will be something they do naturally as adults? >> absolutely. introducing to them. i always ask parents, let them

decide. you don't decide. ask them what are they concerned about. they will tell you, kristen, they will tell you, i don't want another child to go hungry. i don't want another child to have a holiday without a gift. i don't want a child to go homeless. address the needs by engaging children in what they are interested in. >> wendy spencer, thank you so much. we appreciate it. hope you have a great holiday. >> thank you, kristen. there was a big celebration on the "today" show set this morning. matt lauer reunited with jane pauley and brian gumbel for his birthday. even though he couldn't be there in person al made sure his gift was delivered. check it out. >> i wanted to give you something practical. carson daley helping me out. he's got something for you to help you with your look. carson, if you could bring that in. >> i've got it for you here. >> just for men. >> carson, really? al just called it in.

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which political story will make headlines in the next 24 hours. jonathan capehart is back with us. let's start off with syria, they'll miss the first deadline for getting rid of chemical weapons. what are the implications of that for president obama? this is something that plagued this white house and obviously the people of syria for a long time. what are the implications for president obama? >> the implications are it's more of a syrian headache for the president. remember, he had threatened military answer against the assad regime then decided not to in order to pursue a diplomatic solution and part of that solution was getting rid of assad's chemical weapon stockpiles by tomorrow, 500 metric tons were supposed to have been gotten rid of. but because of security concerns and weather, that is not --

hasn't even begun to happen. then the final deadline is early february for the remaining 700 metric tons to be disposed of. this is a headache for the president that's going to continue into next year. >> we'll watch it closely. let's shift to a much lighter note. and new year's eve celebrations. sonia sotomayor is going to trigger the ball drop in times square and become the first supreme court justice to do that. it's going to be a great event. what do you make of it? are you going to be watching? >> of course i'll be watching. she was chosen, tim tom p kinz, times square alliance, said she was chosen because of her inspirational story and it's something that all americans can relate to. so justice sotomayor joins a distinguished list of people who have pushed the button to have the ball drop. the clintons, lady gaga and rockettes and she'll be there along with a few other famous

people, including miley cyrus but tim tompkins says sotomayor and miley cyrus will not be near each other. >> could you imagine the conversation? i would love to hear that. >> i can't imagine it. kristen, one more thing. someone who will not be there for first time in 11 years, mayor bloomberg, the next day he will be on the steps of city hall watching his successor bill de blasio become the 109 mayor of new york city. >> a big and pivotal day for new yorkers. i know you'll be celebrating in grand style. have a great one. >> you too, kristen. >> that does it for this edition of andrea mitchell reports. follow the show online and on twitter. the great brian shackman has a look at what's next on "news nation." >> i can't get miley and sotomayor together out of my

head. in our next hour, major security concerns just six weeks ahead of the winter games after russia gets rocked by a second suicide bombing. at least 31 people are dead and dozens injured over the last two days alone. we'll talk to a terrorism expert to see how worried travelers should be. can democrats turn the minimum wage movement into a winning strategy ahead of the midterms? and time is running out for the family of a 13-year-old girl who is declared brain dead after tonsil, surgery. the court order expires in three hours. the family is still waiting to hear if another hospital will accept her. we'll have the latest on one family's life support fight next on "news nation." as a police officer, i've helped many people in the last 23 years, but i needed help in quitting smoking. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix varenicline is proven to help people quit smoking. chantix reduced the urge for me to smoke. it actually caught me by surprise.

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developing now on "news nation," a california family's heart wrenching and controversial fight to keep a

13-year-old girl on life support could be over in a few hours' time. another set back in the rescue to save 74 people stranded on a ship off the coast of antarctica. will people make better food choices once calorie counts are put on vending machine? it's our "news nation" gut check. we begin with developing news, damage control after two deadly suicide missions in as many days. 31 people have been killed and dozens more injured. raising security concerns ahead of the winter games. the twin blasts rocked volgog d volgograd, 550 miles south of moscow and 400 miles northeast of sochi, where the olympics will be in six weeks. the latest attack happened when a bomb tore through a trolley bus packed with commuters. 14 killed and 28 others wounded.