embraces the new new york city mayor's vision for a more equal new york. what does it mean for hillary in 2016? pot day two in colorado where 37 stores across the states are selling pot and it's legal. which states are watching closely to see if this experiment brings in a windfall for taxes or goes up in smoke. thousands of minority children lost their schools in 2013. were closures and consolidations a mistake that will come back to haunt educators and governments in 2014? very good morning to you i'm richard lui in for chris jansing. a winter wallop taking aim at the midwest and northeast. almost 3 million people are under advisory. people are stocking up on rock salt. they also have shovels and grocery staples all trying to get prepared ahead of the storm. bill cairns is tracking the wintry weather. bill, it is hitting the east as well as the midwest. >> and the ohio valley got hit harder than they were expecting

this morning. many accidents. they got a glaze of ice with snow on top of it and these are the pictures coming in from cincinnati, ohio. they are up to a winter storm warning. fluffy, white snow building up. it looks picturesque and the windchills are upon ddropping ie teens. if it was just the snow it wouldn't be that big of a deal and we do expect snowstorms and it's the cold behind us that makes it very unusual and we'll get to that in a second and let me tell you how much snow we'll expect first. we're seeing the worst of it now right near cincinnati into central ohio and snowing pretty good and starting to pick up from buffalo to syracuse and albany, new york, two to four inches on the ground and more or less just a small coating. how much snow are we talking in the bull's-eye will be eastern portions of new england and that's who will get the blizzardlike conditions on cape cod and also out there on eastern portions of long island. 12 to 16 inches of blowing, light, fluffy snow.

more or less, three to five pittsburgh during the day tonight and ending by midnight and the snow around philadelphia will to new york city is from midnight tonight to 8:00 a.m. and that's the bulk of it and here's snowfall totals for you. boston is the highlight. providence is nothing to sneeze at. 8 to 12. new york, 4 to 6 and areas to the east of new york city will see significantly more than that on the island. philadelphia, 3 to 5 and washington, d.c. is an interesting forecast and right now calling for an inch or two and we'll watch as the storm tails off. richard, the thing that will make this a memorable storm for people as they're out there trying to shovel. the windchills right now compared to tomorrow morning is a cake walk. try 7:00 a.m. shifling that walk on the driveway tomorrow, minus 13 inial banny and is minus 11 in hartford and this will be the coldest morning cute that you see in years when you factor in the wend chill.

>> we'll take zero in new york city. talking about the 12 to 16 inches of snow that bill cairns is telling us. nbc's ron mott is in boston where that's the case. it's taking effect at noon. good morning, ron. >> reporter: good morning, richard. second day of the new year. the first major storm is bearing down on the city of boston and expected to punch this city very hard. already this morning, pretty light snow falling so the morning rush was okay. probably a little longer than normal and it's the evening rush that people are concerned about and city officials are trying to get everyone to take mass transit if they can. depending where you live around the boston metro, anywhere from 6 to 14 inches are forecast, but the x factor, richard, are the high winds expected to accompany this storm. that will cause real problems on the south shore of the boston metro area because of the windchills from the ocean and we're expecting wind gusts up to

45 miles an hour and that will make for dangerous driving, if not for impossible driving. upon some parents are grumbling to that. the conditions were okay and we thought they would be able to get through today and tomorrow a lot of districts will not be open ask this will be a four-day weekend for the kids and probably for their parents as well, but there will be work involved in that and a lot of cleanup through the weekend for folks. most of the snow that's fallen so far is very light ask dry. that's a lot easier to clean up than the heavier, wet stuff as it heads this way. that's the latest in boston. richard, back to you. >> ron mott, keep an eye on what's happening there when it comes to the weather in the midwest. >> taking you back to washington. the white house managing obamacare on two fronts. first, working on a response to a supreme court decision on bigger control due by 10:00 a.m. tomorrow. justice sonia sotomayor ordered a temporary injunction that

allows one non-profit group run by colorado nuns not to cover contraception. the white house stands by the birth control rule, insisting the regulations are fair. the question at the center of the case, does the mandate to cover birth control infringe on religious liberty? people who signed up for obamacare coverage are able to start visiting their doctors today. benefits kicking in january 1st for millions. the delaware family's thrilled that they can start using the policy. they were stuck with an expensive before, but now, the husband, wife and son pay less. >> this means a lot to people like us being self-employed and being able to have access to a good health care plan. >> i want to bring in our company this morning. "washington post" reporter david nakamura and david graham. david, we'll start with you first. you covered the white house. how concern ared they there about this latest setback with

justice sotomayor asking for a response by 10:00 a.m. tomorrow? >> the white house is standing by this contraception rile. they've faced challenges on this. the supreme court has agreed to hear a couple of cases already which will happen later this year. that's an important milestone, but in this particular case the white house will say these rell edgeous groups can get an exemption if they certify that they have religious objections to this part of the rule. this is a bit more complicated. this particular group is seaing they don't even want to self-certify, because even though the way was structured, because although they would not directly provide the contraception benefit fits, ask that would have to offend, and as other groups already have. the bigger question is the full

supreme court rulings that are coming down later this year on this matter. that will be the bigger case. >> some folks are marching in june on some of the key dates. >> david graham, as obama kicks in on january 2nd now. hospitals were quiet. no big surge of patient, but even phil admitted they expect some problems. here's what he said on msnbc. take a listen. >> we worked very closely with them because we know there will be a spotlight tomorrow. we don't want anybody to have problem, but we know some people will. that's why we've set up a toll-free number. we'll be able to determine in five minutes whether or not they've properly enrolled. if they have a bigger problem then we'll assign a case worker to it and we'll troy to get a resolution as quickly as possible. >> five minutes and then a case worker? what do you expect here? david graham? >> yes. if you just scan the headlines this morning you don't hear a lot of horror stories which is the worst-case scenario.

you would have seen pile-ups in hospitals and very long waits. instead you're hearing about people who couldn't get coverage and people who are contractors and artives and so on who now have insurance and that's the best case scenario for the white house. >> david nakamura, new page of white house.gov for news stories. they're doing the very same thing. when you look at this pr push to get in a positive narrative, do you think it will work to turn out what was a very difficult 2013 when we look at the aca exchange? >> absolutely. it's entering a new phase. it was a terrible rollout. these coverage benefits have started and what we'll try do is highlight these positive stories because what i think they believe is not only will that give more encouragement and boost sort of the overall general public sentiment about the health care program and it helped other people want to sign up for it. only 2 million have signed up

for the federal and state exchanges and their goal is to be 7 million by the end of march. so they're behind their initial planning for this, so i think it's sort of word of mouth and get the positive stories and we'll get other people when still have not signed up, but are uninsured to go forward with looking at this website. >> david gram, i want to talk about what's going on in colorado. they started selling the first legal recreational marijuana yesterday. take a look at some of the reactions. >> i've been waiting 34 years for this. it's a whole new world and not having to be under ground about it or sneaky about it. >> they're expectinging $6 million, just this year and they're expecting $million. >> california is definitely one. you have massachusetts, and a

bunch states -- oregon, as well, where people are watching both on the legislate of side and act vefrts trying to put together petitions to put issues on the ballot and hoping there is a good example where they can say look, there's perfect law and order and everything is going well and look at the tax revenue coming in. it's a make or break movement, and other states will be watching closely. david mack murrah, 37 stores are licensed and later this year, washington state. they'll do it online. the department of justice is not blocking any of this up to this point. is there a point when they will step in on this? >> i think so. there are some rules governing these in each state and i think the obama administration said we're not going to waste our resources in time when the state has voted to go this direction, but if things go into other states and other states are having a problem with people bringing it across improperly. the obama administration has taken a lot of criticism who

expected to be more lenient on this point. i think the obama administration is looking at this as a chance to let states experiment in the way other states are watching this and so is the federal government and they'll let it go forward as long as they don't see other spillover problems when people violate whatever regulations in each state on this. >> nakamura and graham, you guys have a great thursday. >> thanks, richard. a large explosion has struck beirut, lebanon. the cause of the blast is not known and it happened in the strong hold of the shiite-hezbollah group. ten people are hurt, possibly more. firefighters are working on putting out the flames there and several buildings damaged. lebanon has been hit by a series of bombing as a civil war in syria spills over into smaller neighborhoods in the region. let's check news feed this morning.

>> the helicopter to take us home. >> thanks, everyone! >> all 52 passengers onboard that stranded russian ship in theant arctic have now been safely evacuated by helicopter. they're now onboard a nearby aufrt raelian ship. the research vessel has been stuck in the ice and the crew is staying with the ship. minneapolis firefighters say they're not sure if there's anyone in this apartment. four people are still missing, but firefighters cannot getten side because the building is not stable. 14 were hurt, six are in critical condition. investigators say it could be days weeks before they figure out a cause. fans of the 1990s show "the fresh prince of bel air" will always remember him as uncle phil. on tuesday, james avery died after complications from heart surgery. the vietnam veteran and accomplished actor, avery's next film "wish i was there"

premieres later this month. james avery was 68 years old. the murder rate has dropped in five of the largest cities in america. dropping with it, the use of the death penalty, but will 2014 be the year that the death penalty and death row is put to an end? that story coming up. [ male announcer ] this december, experience the gift of true artistry and some of the best offers of the year at the lexus december to remember sales event. this is the pursuit of perfection. before chantix, i tried to quit probably about five times. it was different than the other times i tried to quit. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix varenicline is proven to help people quit smoking. it's a non-nicotine pill. chantix reduced my urge to smoke. that helped me quit smoking. [ male announcer ] some people had changes in behavior, thinking, or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood, and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these, stop chantix, and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of mental-health problems,

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1.3 million americans are starting 2014 with no unemployment benefits. when the senate gets back to work on monday, majority leader harry reid plans to take up the issue. president obama plans to calling on congress to act just before christmas. >> so when congress comes back to work their first order of business should be making this right. i know a bipartisan group is working on a three-month extension of this insurance.

they should pass it and i'll sign it right away. >> the biggest hit is in new jersey. 90,000 lost benefits as a search for a new job. that's roughly 1% of the state's population. joining us now democratic congressman rush holt of new jersey. congressman, thanks for being with us. >> good morning, richard. >> we were just mentioning your state. the hardest hit here. what do you see as the real-world impacts. have constituents been reaching out to you. ? these are not numbers, these are people and it's not just one person it's the whole family and you say 90,000. that's the number of people who lost their benefits a week ago, but there's about another 90,000 that over the next six months will lose their benefits and probably another 90,000 over the six months after that. some of these are people -- all of these who lost their benefits are people who were unemployed for a long time and that's

what's different now than we've had in the last decade or 15 years is that now in this recession the unemployment is long, 6 month, 12 month, 18 months and that becomes damaging not just to the individual psyche and not just to the family structure, but it hurts society and it's economically bad. and so, you know, when my colleagues in congress say well, we'll have to cut these off, these people are just going have to go back to work. they forget this is not by choice. these people are victims. >> the number of people abusing this are is small. >> you until this is a bipartisan solution. you can find a solution when you get to work this month. what can we expect from these folks that have been out of work for six months or more. >> as we start the new year i've been asking myself a lot. well, what's going to be

different in the coming yore. we have the same people. so far, i'm afraid, the same motivations, and so i'm not sure that we'll be able to pass this. what i would like to do is to get my colleagues to focus not on what they call the moral lassitude of these people who are unemployed, but look at the economy overall. how do we benefit the economy? keeping the unemployment benefits rolling benefits the economy. it helps not just those people and not just those family, but the economy at large and we shouldn't forget that, but this past congress, the last 12 months. >> right. ? and i fear the next 12 months the people who cut education, research, investment in infrastructure and social services, they forget that there are things wooey can do to make the overall society and the overall economy work better. >> all right. i want to turn to nsa

surveillance, something you've talked about for years. you're calling for a repeal of the program. "the new york times" as you know, in an editorial they take a side on edward snowden. it is time for the united states to offer mr. snowden a plea bargain and allow him to return home and suffer substantial lower punishment and far stronger oversight of the runaway intelligence community, end quote. representative, what do you think of the op ed? should we grant him cleanmency? ? two differe >> two different questions. should they be doing what they're doing? short answer is fno. should edward snowden face the music for breaking the law? i think yes, but i think with leniency. we would not be having this very important national debate now had it not been for snowden.

>> what do you think? >> i've been trying for years to get this national debate going and -- >> representative, what would that leniency look like? >> well, i -- i think it would -- he now faces two ten-year terms and maybe with additional charges life in prison. that is unreasonable. he broke the law. i have legislation before congress that would extend whistle-blower protection to people in the intelligence community. other branches of the government -- >> so you believe he's a whistle-blower? >> well, certainly, he was a whistle-blower, but know actually a whistle-blower. he wasn't allowed to be a whistle-blower. there was no -- there was no such thing as a whistle-blower in the intelligence community. you had no protection. >> by law, but by your definition he is one. by your definition he is. >> he was pointing out things

that the courts have said and congress has said we're violations of the law and perhaps violations of the constitution ask so by disclosing such things, yes. that's what whistle blowing is. it's exposing waste, fraud, abuse and this would certainly be called abuse. >> democratic congressman, thank you very much for your time. >> a sixth grader if philadelphia dies after an attack on school where there was no nurse on duty. an eye-opening report, that's coming up. yes! one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues... with three strains of good bacteria. [ phillips' lady ] live the regular life. phillips'.

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in decades. just 2% of counties in the u.s. were responsible for the all 80 death sentences last year. richard dieter, the executive director of the information center, the non-profit organization that tracks executions joins us right now. a recent report detailed where the death penalty is being imposed and where executions are being carried out. what did you learn in that report? the numbers were extraordinary. there's been a 75-% drop in death sentences in the past decade and a 60% drop in executions. most abolished the death penalty leak maryland last year and public support is at an all-time low. >> why is it going down? >> i think innocence is the biggest issue. the public, jurors, prosecutors know that the public expects a very tight, scientific case and that's not always possible. dna has revealed that the system

makes mistakes and death penalty doesn't fit well in that system? how does public opinion factor into this? >> public opinion, i think, keeps the death penalty rolling along. it's not going away in 2014, but i think the use, the practical assessment of the death penalty is that it's a program that isn't working. it's becoming irrelevant even if people support it. >> so the majority of americans do support capital punishment, yet you're seeing the number of laws go down and this is because of dna and other technologies that are showing innocence. how do you put those two together, though? will that increase over time, the support for capital punishment? is that what you see or do you see it declining along with the use of it? ? support for the death pen atty is going down. people don't have a moral objection to it, but when they look at it like a government program, it doesn't work. >> 2014, you see less capital punishment?

>> yes. i think there will be more states. new hampshire is ready to abolish the death penalty, delaware, colorado may vote for it. there will be more state abandoning it which will meet less death sentences and executions and texas is using it a whole lot less which is a surprise. >> a look at 2014 and capital punishment. he's the executive director of the center of the death penalty information center. now we'll move to hillary clinton and former president bill clinton. they seem to hava i progressive shift in the democratic party. they were front and center as he swore in bill de blasio yesterday. he also, worked under bill clinton in the housing and urban development office. the central theme of his campaign was a very progressive message, a tale of two cities and income inequality. >> we are called to put an end to economic and social

inequalities that threaten to unravel the city we love. our march towards a fairer, more just, more progressive place. our march to keep the promise of new york alive for the next generation. it begins today. >> president clinton embraced that message with his wife watching. >> i strongly endorse bill de blasio's core campaign commitment that we have to have a city of shared opportunities, shared prosperity, shared responsibilities. we are interdependent. look around. we can't get away from each other. we have to define the terms of our dependence. >> and hillary clinton tweeted this picture saying, quote, so

pleased and proud to see mayor bill did i blass we blasio swor. julian, starting with you here. the washington post, ann asking the question is it prompting a repositioning by the clintons? julian, what do you think? are the clintons repositioning now? >> well, i think if they are it's the right thing to do. income and equality is a terrible problem in this country. 90% of the public -- 10% of the public is getting 50% of the income. this is the first time we've seen in the last ten years since world war ii that even with increases in productivity and increases in the gross domestic product that wages have stayed still or are going down. consumer spending is 70% of the economy. so if wages are going down, that's an economic problem for all of us. whether this is a political repositioning, possibly. you have to keep in mind that in

'08 when hillary clinton ran for president she was beaten by somebody who ran to her left. that person being barack obama, and i think that what the clintons are recognizing and not just democrats, but republicans, as well there is a massive demographic shift in this country. every election and we see the electorate being 3% to 4% browner or blacker and the electorate is younger with every election cycle and i think there say move in the country toward the left as well and particularly a problem and this issa i problem that's been going down when wages are going steady and going down and whoever figures out a solution for this problem will be well positioned for 2014 and 2016. >> let's get your reaction. de blasio is the first mayor of new york city for 20 years and the new york times had this to say about it, they're looking to

moefr new york city's municipal machinery into a closely-watched laboratory of government that had never before been enacted on such a large scale. when you look at this, jonathan, how does a de blasio-clinton relationship, hillary clinton's political aspirations here? >> it's certainly symbolic of the hard left and the democratic party. what i thought was interesting from that speech is de blasio praised bill clinton. he was thankful to bill clinton for pushing back against conservatism in the 1990s. that part, for the clintons and this is their home state, they're new yorkers now. if hillary runs for president in 2016, she'll be xl expected to head de blasio's endorsement, because if she does not get the mayor ask it could be and he

endorsed that day, and i'll say the nom naegss -- secondly, i just didn't hear my friend contest the point that going after income and equality is the right thing to do. if you look at the polling on this the public is clearly concerned about income equality. almost every single economist says and it's because of the notion that consumer spending is 70% of the economy to the extent that you have the wealth concentrated in the hands of the very few, that's a very, very bad thing for the economy. it's not just happening in the united states. it's happening throughout western europe, as well. >> jonathan, i want to get your reaction to that. >> the city council that's dominated by democrats, they'll have the opportunity to do this in the laboratory of new york city and i guess we'll see results. i don't know if we'll see results by 2016, but this is definitely the road they're going. i just don't know the idea of

taxing wealthy people to pay for prekindergarten schooling and all of that stuff needs to be worked out and i guess we'll see the results. >> julian epistein, jonathan kohl edgeio. the battle continues for a girl whose tonsil surgery left her brain dead. her family wants to move her to a long-term facility in new york, but the hospital will not perform the surgeries necessary for the transfer. her family is getting support from the terry schiavo fed work. schiavo was kept alive for nearly 15 years on a ventilator in a case that made national headlines. ariel sharon's health has taken a turn for the worse. sharon had been in a coma since a stroke in 2006, but doctors say several of his org know ans are now failing. the career has stretched across

65-year then as. barbara bush is spending the third night in the hospital and she's being treated for pneumonia. president obama and the first lady are sending good webbes. >> she is blessed to have her family and a fighting spirit that will have her feeling better soon. >> a rarity with twins. these guys were born within three minutes of each other, but in two different years. >> little lorraine was born at 11:58 p.m., her brother, brandon was born new year's day, 12:01 a.m. to be exact. they weren't expected for another 20 days, but after a complications doctors had to perform an emergency c-section. everyone is doing well. something that runs office and has a keyboard. but i wanted a tablet for me, for stuff like twitter and xbox, so my downtime can be more like uptime.

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anniversary. the first day of trading in the new year, down 92 and change. we're looking at the s&p also down, but it's early. cnbc's mandy drury is here with what's moving your money and also making headlines, my friend, mandy, snapchat snafu you, 4 million accounts here? ? more than 4 million accounts hacked. we're talking about the popular photo sharing app and someone claiming to be behind the leak of private account information on these millions of snapchat users. the goal was to raise public awareness ever online security holes in this app. there's apparently this website called snapchat db.info and it went online on new year's eve offering for download a database containing user names and numbers of 4.1 million snapchat accounts and i do believe the last numbers were blacked out. before then, a number of people managed to download this database. one of its readers found his own number and also the number of

snapchat co-founder evan spiegel. they were on this list. >> really? >> if you don't know what it's all about. snapchat was founded only two years ago by spiegel and another guy, bobby murphy. it has been huge with teens because those photos that you post up might be embarrassing and they disappear shortly after they're sent, but it has online security holes. >> worried about who is using it, too. we're talking about teens. >> yeah. >> mandy, let's talk about beer and coffee coming head to head here. >> yes. there's this place in -- in st. louis, missouri, called exit 6 pub and breuery and they were offering frapicino. nonetheless, starbucks was annoyed and they sent a cease-and-desist trademark. he said i'm going to stop using the frappicino name.

he didn't think customers drinking his beer would have mixed it up with the frappucchino coffee version and he included a check to starbucks for six bucks saying this was the total amount we made. we always prefer to resolve trademark disputes informally and amicably and it's ended well. >> and totally different reactions to drinking a starbucks product and that beer pub's product, right? absolutely. cnbc's -- >> in theory. >> in theory. >> thank you so much. among the tourist spots around the world, what do you think is the number one geotagged spot on instagram. this will surprise you. let's start with number five, disney world in orlando, florida, the bellagio fountains is number four.

world times square is the runner-up and this is the one i'm guessing you did not guess, and that's the shopping mall in bangkok, thailand. the number one instagram location in the world. there are a lot of fingers moving on this, i guess. besides the bangkok airport it was the only place outside north america that one on jansing.msnbc.com. ♪ ♪ oh are we early? [ male announcer ] commute your way with the bold, all-new nissan rogue. ♪ [ coughs ] i've got a big date, but my sinuses are acting up. it's time for advil cold and sinus. [ male announcer ] truth is that won't relieve all your symptoms. hmm?

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back to school after the break. for a growing number of them that journy is getting longer. an msnbc piece looks at the growing number of public school closures and the disproportionate impact on african-american and latino-american students. take a look. 88% of students affected by school closures in chicago are african-american. in philadelphia, it's 81% and in both cities, more than 93% of affected students are from poor families. a similar pattern is happening across the country in these locations. joining me now is the president of the american federation of teachers, randy weingarten. randy, thanks for being here. in theory, closing these schools should be better for the students, right? that's the idea. but we looked at msnbc.com's article and the article says, quote, many schools don't have full-time nurses and travel welcome through unwelcoming naeshts and sides have swelled

to the points where the students, a sixth grader died after suffering an asthma attack where no nurse office duty. what is happening here? >> so there is a big difference between closing a school because there's the people have left the county or left -- >> you don't have a critical mass. >> you don't have a critical mass or after years and years and years in trying, the school doesn't work. that's really different than what's going on right now. what's going on right now is a real flawed policy made worse by the budget cuts. these are mass closures of schools that has actually been precipitated by initially no child left behind, but now race to the top and instead of fixing schools like we did in new york city with the chancellor's district, turning them around. what we're seeing the market reformers doing is closing them and a few years later pushing in more charter schools which is now hurting kids, hurting

neighborhoods and actually the schools that kids are going to are not only no better, but you're destabilizing them. >> charter school advocates will say it's filling in that gap, that they are more agile to respond to the market demands and the community demands and one where it becomes lower and that the school is functional. >> look. i'm agnostic about charters. frankly, one of the charters that we started in new york was one of the highest rated in new york city, but that charters at their best create winners and losers and frankly, when you look at the evidence, the charters are no better. charters are not going to fill a void when you need great neighborhood schools welcoming safen viern en viervironments who is poor and you don't make that kid walk farther and farther and farther. starve the schools and take away

nurses and guidance counselors? >> i want to look at this here. in the 2010-2011 more schools -- and most of those were the result of budget cuts and it wasn't because they lost the critical pass and it wasn't because they were functioning well and many of theses canes and minority and there was one chicago community said it is a civil rights issue. >> it is a civil rights issue. you can't use the recession to starve schools for kids who are already poor and need more support and then say the school doesn't work. we'll now open a charter school. take chicago which is where this organizer is. rahm emanuel closed 50 schools last yore saying it was for budget reasons and now a year,

six months later they're opening charter schools that will cost $250 million. newark, new jersey, does a big contract with us last year and now wants to close a third of the schools even before the so-called contract work. this is wrong for kids who want great schools in their neighborhoods. >> all right. randi weingarten, thank you so much for your time and we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] this is betsy.

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the head of the international olympics committee is confident russia will deliver a safe and secure winter games despite the deadly suicide bombings. it's time for the report of "jansing and company's" who's hot and who's not. chairman of 15 minutes public relations and today, howard, we'll look at your picks for then trends of 2014. let's start with what is happening and the olympics. what are you seeing?

>> overall, the people love the olympics and two to one positive with overall sentiment, but there are some things going on that are -- that don't bode as well and that is the recent terrorism makes people very nervous against the business filter trending down, obviously. >> many of the anti-gay policies that are surrounding the sochi olympics. >> it's been a constant theme on social media. 90% negative. people don't like putin. they don't like his policies and there's a lot of reaction to it. if the games can focus on the sport, they'll win. if terrorism and anti-gay politics become the story, they lose. >> this san election year and it's just beginning to ramp up. what do you say to the 2014 midterms? >> it's 50/50 and it will go way down and there are some very contentious races and it will be a horse race for the senate and's lot of infighting among r republicans that we can look to.

>> even at 50/50. what will happen is the same issues, abortion, immigration issue will be front and center ask those gdps will make social media dive? those elections. let's talk about wearable tech, gook or chic? >> we're seeing it on the move. we're talking about google glass, jawbone and fitbit, these are things next to your body that help you do things. a lot of positive trending and a lot of concerns and particularly the google glass about privacy and a great deal of misunderstanding about how you use these devices and 2014 will tell us if they're geek or if they're chic. >> i really appreciate it today on the reputation report. >> that wrap ups this hour of "jansing & co." thomas roberts is up next. >> richard, good morning to you. on the agenda next hour, i know

you were talking about the olympics and we have brian boitano to talk about his place in the presidential delegation, and why he will stake his claim as a member of the lgbt community. we have the nor esther expected to cripple most of new england especially boston and the ripple effects for air travel around the country and this is the first real test for new york's mayor bill de blasio. will he get a passing grade, plus are the clintons aleening future political opportunities for the ultra progressive lens. is specifically, is hellry clinton looking to shift left on 2016, straight ahead. s don't unstuff your nose. they don't? alka seltzer plus night fights your worst cold symptoms, plus has a decongestant. [ inhales deeply ] oh. what a relief it is.

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to gauge whether or not the projects will be done in a timely fashion and within budget. angie's list members can tell you which provider is the best in town. you'll find reviews on everything from home repair to healthcare. now that we're expecting, i like the fact i can go onto angie's list and look for pediatricians. the service providers that i've found on angie's list actually have blown me away. find out why more than two million members count on angie's list. angie's list -- reviews you can trust. i have a big meeting when we land, but i am so stuffed up, i can't rest. [ male announcer ] nyquil cold and flu liquid gels don't unstuff your nose. they don't? alka seltzer plus night fights your worst cold symptoms, plus has a decongestant. [ inhales deeply ] oh. what a relief it is. hi, everybody. good morning. i'm thomas robert. developing news topping our agenda. mother nature, a powerful storm that could have a herculean impact on sections of the country.

winter storm and blizzard warnings are in effect for 100 million people in the midwest to the northeast. here's what's on the way, snow coupled with wind and sub-zero temps. the coldest they've seen in a very long time. it's started falling from ohio to new york and all of this winter weather is coming just in time for the return to work after the holiday. i'll have to go out and go to work, but i'll have to leave recallier, but yeah. i'm just going to deal with it. >> all right. again, this is just the beginning. parts of new england could see up to a foot of snow when all of this is said and done tomorrow. we'll kick off team coverage this hour. nbc's sarah golf is covering the storm and our bill cairns tracking the latest updates in the studio. i want to begin with sarah in manhattan. this storm will be the first big test here for bill de blasio. how are they bracing for the potential of up to eight inches of snow?