news couple that seemingly has it all? how about two first-class tickets on aero flat on the caucuses? >> let's go. >> yeah. >> why not? >> they won't let us know. >> i'm going to the olympics. >> i'm boycotting. i'm not even going to watch until you guys go. >> that's right. >> we should go. >> it will be the movement of our time. >> you'll even cut your hair. >> no, way too early. stick around. chuck is straight ahead. >> it's actually luke. >> luke, chuck. chuck, luke. interchangeable. >> have a good day. shock and outrage, al qaeda-linked militants seize a region where more than 1,000 u.s. troops lost their lives during the iraq war. secretary kerry says there's no chance u.s. troop also go back into the country, but top republicans are demanding more action. also this morning, in case you're still not sure, a new report shows it's not a question of if, but how hillary clinton will run for president.

and if a potential republican opponent writes how the gop can write its course. plus, team cold hits a big chunk of the country, and what's causing the depp freeze? good morning from washington, it's monday, january 6, 2013, and this is the "daily rundown," i'm luke russert in for chuck todd. and there's a lot to get to, including liz cheney's decision to drop her bid for the u.s. senate in wyoming. we begin in iraq with scenes that will give war-weary americans to flashbacks a decade ago. there is new fighting in fallujah, ramadi, where al qaeda has seized control. more than 1,300 americans died in the province during the iraq war. most notably, during bloody battles in fallujah in 2004 and

ramadi two years later. secretary of state john kerry says despite those sacrifice, the u.s. military will not return to iraq. >> this is a fight that belongs to the iraqis. that is exactly what the president and the world decided sometime ago when we left iraq. so we are not obviously contemplating returning. we're not contemplating puts boots on the ground. this is their fight. >> over weekend, senators john mccain and lindsey graham lashed out at president obama calling the situation predictable. in a joint statement, they said that after the u.s. withdrew from iraq in 2011, quote, many of us predicted that the vacuum would be filled by america's enemies and would emerge as a threat to u.s. national security interests. sadly, that reality is now clearer than ever. the concern is that a group called al qaeda's islamic state of iraq and the lavant is trying to create a sunni muslim state

that stretches across the border into syria, and that country, al qaeda militants are facing the first serious opposition from moderate fighters after securing parts of northern syria. it has opened a new front in a war that's seen multiple factions fighting president assad's regeem, taking advantage of the chaos. with me to sort it out, jim miklaszewski, and eamon who has spent many years covering the middle east for us. thank you for being on the program. >> you bet. >> mik, is there any role the u.s. has, even under the radar, in iraq and fallujah, and considering the massive american losses ten years ago to secure that city, what is going on in the halls of the pentagon right now? is there some consternation about this, that this may have been in vain? >> certainly, there's no immediate combat role in iraq, as second of state kerry said. nobody is even considering the

possibility of putting u.s. boots back on the ground there in iraq. it's important to remember, though, given the protests of senators mccain and graham that, you know, when the u.s. was bargaining or negotiating with iraq to keep some trainers and advisors there in iraq after the vast majority of troops withdrew, it was clear that president obama, his administration had no intention of keeping anybody in iraq, any combat forces. right now, there are only 200 u.s. american military, but they're all confined to the embassy there in iraq. now, what can the u.s. do now? according to state department officials, what they're thinking about doing is providing some kind of military consultation at long range, but speeding up delivery of some weapons system, such as hell fire missiles and surveillance drones, but ask graham and mccain, that's just not good enough.

but in response to that, and what really sounded like a policy statement from deputy national security advisor ben rhodes over the weekend, he said the united states has no interest in putting boots on the ground in every conflict that arises in the middle east, or committing itself, getting bogged down in an open-ended war in the middle east, such as we're seeing pretty much in iraq. so i don't think the white house could have been more straightforward and explicit about where they stand o.j. the possibility -- on the possibility of sending any troops back to iraq. >> eamon we've talked previously about the complicated tribal differences that have arisen in the middle east, especially since the onset of the iraq war, and for laymen out there, can you sort of break down what's happening specifically in fallujah? you have this group, which is basically taken the void that was al qaeda in iraq, now gone

over to syria. they're fighting more moderate sunni tribes within this city, then you have the role that iran is playing with the shiite government in iraq, with al maliki and syria. >> this is about allegiances. you have to go up 10,000 feet to look at the entire region to see what is slowly being a sectarian fault line running across from syria into iraq, and you get a better look at what's happening in fallujah and ramadi. -- against the shiite dominated government in iraq. a lot of the tribal elders, a lot of the groups had legitimate grievances about the iraqi government, how it was more sectarian, not providing adequate resources to development in that part. and so, that grievance has built into very militant frustration, protests over the course of the last several months have been

sustained. but what you are seeing, also, is the erosion of the border between syria and iraq, and as a result, the sunni militants on both sides, those that have these grievances against what they perceive to be a rise of shiite dominance in the region are now trying to form a united front, formed united groups that are inspired, and coordinating some of the attacks like we're now seeing al qaeda in iraq. and as a result, that, you are now having a panborder movement between syria and iraq that is not only fighting against the iraqi central government, but also in syria against the regime of president al assad. >> and i think interestingly enough for americans, leading the fight in fallujah right now is not the iraqi army. it's, in fact, sunni militant -- excuse me, sunni tribes that are supportive of the government, but the iraqi army providing air cover. considering we as a country spent a lot of money trying to bolster up the iraqi army, how

is that playing out with the pentagon and the brass? >> well, at this point, as john kerry said, this is their fight. and the pentagon has pretty much -- and military leadership, after some resistance to pulling out american forces, they're resigned to the fact that u.s. forces are not going back in. this is an iraqi fight. but here is -- here is the real irony in all this. iran today, of course, being predominantly shia country, has offered to assist the iraqi military in beating back this militant movement, this islamic militant movement there in iraq. so you have on their border iran offering to help the iraqi military. here you have the u.s. offering to help the military and provide them arms that, could it be, the iranian military might be using

sometime in the future? that's the true easteirony of t situation right now. no clear indication that iran has accepted -- or that iraq has accepted the offer quite yet. >> eamon, go off on that, you know, you know iran so well. what is the key role here specifically, not only in this fight, but also moving forward? >> well, you know, as jim pointed out correctly, iran is very much keen to support the shiite dominated government in baghdad, that of nouri al maliki, and they want to preserve the regime of al assad. so they're not only offering the military support, but financial and diplomatic, to prop up the assad regime. they do see the rise of sunni mill tansy in the western part of iraq as a threat, not only to the stability of iraq but to the regime, and that's particularly why they're keen to helping. keep in mind, as you were mentioning, also, the iraqi government is trying to win some of the sympathy, some of the

hearts and minds of the sunni tribes in the area by saying to them, this is not about sunni-shia divide. this is about terrorism and mill tansy, and they're calling on the residents of fallujah and other areas, trying to create this pan-border movement, so to speak. >> jim miklaszewski, ayman, thank you. the senate is back at work to dive into the policy fights that will define the two parties' messages ahead of the elections. now just 11 months away. they're focused on income inequality with a procedural vote to extend unemployment benefits for 1.3 million americans. the three-month extension is sponsored by republican dean heller and democrat jack reed. in order to clear a 60-vote hurdle, democrats have to get

four more republicans back on board. back from his hawaii vacation, the congress pressed congress to pass it, previewing a speech he'll give at the white house tomorrow. >> denying families that security is just plain cruel. we're a better country than that. when congress comes back to work this week, the first order of business should be making this right. >> i think it's a little insulting, a bit insulting to american workers when rand paul says that unemployment insurance is a disservice. they want to work. >> i'm not opposed to unemployment insurance. i am opposed to having it without paying for it. i think it's wrong to borrow money from china. >> i according to the cbo, a three-month extension would cost $6.5 billion. the senate will also vote on janet yellen's nomination. she's expected to be confirmed as the first woman chair of the federal reserve. also on the to-do list for

lawmakers this month, a push by democrats to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. that's expected to be the centerpiece of the president's state of the union address. negotiators must hammer out a $1 trillion spending bill before government funding expires on january 15th. and craft a farm bill compromise. the longer they wait, the longer the consequences, like a projected spike in milk prices. the president is expected to announce reforms to the nsa surveillance programs in january, hanging over all this, ladies and gentlemen, the future of the health care law. democrats are working aggressively to change the story line in 2014, even while downplaying expectations. >> 2.1 million have signed up, the 7 million by march. how do you get there? >> there's no magic number. the key is to enroll as many people, have an exchange that's working. >> nbc's senior political editor

mark murray is here with this morning's "first read." mark, obviously, busy, the kickoff to a new year, new legislative fights. i want to talk to you about income inequality. this seems the democratic message. republicans will hammer away on health care, and democrats will go to a populist message. that's at least what we know so far. >> luke, it was the playbook in 2012 and how barack obama was able to beat mitt romney. when you look at the exit polls, one of the things that hurt mitt romney is voters were saying his policies would benefit the rich, and not the middle class or the poor. it seems that democrats going for minimum wage increase, going for unemployment benefits, other things to kind of hit at this income inequality, where when the economy seems to be getting better, but a lot of people say, hey, the economy isn't benefitting me. democrats want to pinpoint this. the open question is whether or not this ends up taking away from the health care law. the republicans definitely want to press on that. it does seem democrats have found the narrative they want to

stress. >> an interesting story out of wyoming. liz cheney, the daughter of former vice president dick cheney, has announced she will not continue her campaign, citing family health reasons, not pertaining to her father, but her children, saying that's why she dropped out. this probably alleviates a headache that could have been playing for the gop for quite sometime. >> oh, absolutely. this probably would have been the most tuned-in primary in the country, maybe the most divisive when you look at the republican party. luke, she cited the family reasons and the health issues, but she was trailing in the polls. she also had to deal with carpetbagging issues she had moved from northern virginia, and then, of course, there was that very public dispute over gay marriage with her sister, mary. so when you take that all together, this was going to be a very tough election for her to be able to win, and if she now holds out for the next six years, another 12 years this could ab race in which she could be able to do something with. this doesn't necessarily end her political career, but this was always going to be an uphill

fight. >> spend more time in wyoming, that might help out. we'll talk more about this later in the show. mark murray, thank you for joining us. coming up, the big chill. a record-breaking arctic blast has gripped the midwest in a dangerous deep freeze. we'll have the latest on where the subzero temperatures are heading next. and does the road to 1600 pennsylvania avenue run through wisconsin? the cheese heads. we'll take a deep dive with governor scott walker. first, a look at the politics planner. 8:00 p.m., i think, is the most important. [ male announcer ] this is george.

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in today's databank, we've got new gadgets, a bad habit, a deep discount, and bitter temperatures. we start with a chilling number not related to the weather. 16 million. that's how many americans were the victims of identity theft in 2012. that according to the bureau of justice statistics. more than half had financial losses of almost $2,000. the bureau also says i.d. theft costs more than any other property crime. next number? 20,000. that's the number of new gizmos and gadgets they're expecting to unveil this week at the consumer electronics show in las vegas. smartphones and tablets still top consumer spending, but analysts say 3-d printers could be a big hit. speaking of gadgets. here's a number. 53. that's the percentage of people affected by distracted walking. according to a new pew study. more than half of cell phone

owners say they've been bumped into by other cell phone users who weren't paying attention. but here's the rub. only 23% admit they themselves were guilty of distracted walking. that should be way higher. the next number, 13 million. that's how much michael jordan had to take off the price of his house in illinois. jordan has had the 9-bedroom mansion on the market since march 2012. he listed it at $29 million, but keeps cutting the price. now you can get the place for the low, low price of just $16 million. and speaking of lows. negative 9 degrees. that was the wind chill at kickoff between the 49ers and packers yesterday in green bay, wisconsin. one fan wore ski goggles to cut the minus 9 degree wind chill. i've never seen that at a football game. this was not the coldest nfl game ever. in fact, it didn't even make the top five after all of the hype. the coldest kickoff was the 1967 ice bowl at lambeau field when

the wind chill hit negative 48 degrees. bart starr, great qb sneaking against the cowboys. coming up, more on the deep freeze gripping a lot of the country today. we'll have a live report from chicago where the forecast calls for an afternoon high temperature of negative 10 degrees. oh, my! first, today's trivia question -- who is the first woman to succeed another woman as a governor? the first person to tweet the correct answer to @dailyrundown will get an on-air shoutout. that's coming up on "the daily rundown." i'll give you a little hint. think very warm. think snowbird. think. [ female announcer ] who are we? we are the thinkers. the job jugglers. the up all-nighters. and the ones who turn ideas into action. we've made our passions our life's work. we strive for the moments where we can say, "i did it!"

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in fact, 26 states are either watches or warnings for the coming wind chill. the snow and ice have knocked out power to tens of thousands of people in indiana, michigan, wisconsin, and illinois. 3,000 flights are delayed right now, and another 2,800 are cancelled because of dangerous conditions. bottom line. it's going to get even worse over the next 24 hours. nbc chicago meteorologist alicia roman joins us from one of the coldest spots. out on michigan avenue in chicago. alicia, i take it folks are not out there doing their january shopping right now? >> reporter: no, absolutely not, luke. you know what, if you look behind me, it's kind of bare, especially for a monday after the holidays. not too many people are out, but the people that are out are bundled up head to toe like me, even with scarves in front of their face. and that's a good thing, because the actual air temperature this morning at o'hare dipped down to negative 15. and that breaks the record low

from this -- on this day, previously. so negative 15 is now the new record. but that's not it. it's the wind chills that will really get you. wind chills this morning down to 35 below, even 45 below, and it's worth mentioning that frostbite will set in, will start to set in within five minutes when the wind chill is down to 40 below or 45 below. so that's what chicago is dealing with this morning, and this afternoon. not only this afternoon, high temperatures today will be about 10 below. so not going to get any better this afternoon. this just comes after lots of snow that came through us -- or came through chicago just yesterday, up to a foot of snow. it will get better, though, i promise. back to you, luke. >> alicia, thank you so much. so how long will the brutal temperatures last? let's check in with nbc meteorologist bill karins. bill, what's the -- >> too long, too long! >> -- give us a run john -- on the "daily rundown" how long we'll deal with it, why we even have it. >> it hasn't even gotten to you,

d.c., new york, philly, boston areas, you're still enjoying mild air considering what you're dealing with tomorrow morning at this time. one example, new york city, the feel-like temperature 60 degrees colder at this time tomorrow than it is now. that's unheard of. here's the historic outbreak. it's now centered over the top of minnesota, wisconsin, through the dakotas, moved into illinois, indiana, and eventually pushing to the east coast. i updated this map. 27 states now under warnings, 35 states under warnings and advisories, including our friends all the way down in central florida and south texas. this is just a massive outbreak of air. it's intense and massive. so who has the lowest temperature right no you? -- now? in northern wisconsin, minus 29. that's not wind chill. nashville, 7. you're now colder than fairbanks, alaska, in tennessee. yes. we're doing one of the upside down weather patterns, and the wind chills in chicago, minus 41. and now, pittsburgh is down to 7. so the cold air is heading to

the east, and the ride home will be different for people on the east coast than going to work. we have some rain left over. not too much snow. here's what everyone wants to know. when will it warm up? a nice january thaw from about january 9th to the 13th, so about four to five days from now, we go into what we call a zonal flow with the jet stream. it's more mild weather pattern. it will still be cool in the northern plains, but that's a lot better than record low. luke, the answer to your question is, soon. this is like a one or two-day event for most locations. >> just make it to january 9th. bill karins, thank you so much, sir. appreciate it. up next on the "daily rundown," a deep dive into the future of the republican party with wisconsin governor scott walker. and could a clinton presidential campaign soon emerge from the shadows? you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. don't go anywhere. and then we can float to school. ahh. [ female announcer ] remember when you thought anything was possible?

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hero in a target for democrats when he waged a knockdown, dragout fight against public sector unions three years ago, and now walker is the washington insider's pick for the republican outsider of 2016. you hear it at all of cocktail parties. one of the few potential candidates who has the conservative credentials to appeal to tea party republicans without alienating the establishment. but first, he's got to make it through yet another election. chuck todd spoke to governor walker about the future of the republican party and his own. >> joining me now is the republican governor of wisconsin. scott walker, new book is "unintimidated" a governor's story and a nation's challenge. governor walker, good morning, sir. >> chuck, good to be with you. >> well, it's -- when i see a book like this, and it's a, here we are, 2014, your own election year is coming up, but i see a book like this, automatically folks start jumping to 2016. should we be viewing you as a

presidential candidate stop day, whether it's 2016 or not? >> well, i mean, the nice thing about that question it's flattering based upon our performance. i'm not on that list because of some speech or personal performance. it's what we're doing in wisconsin. that's what the book is all about. people will be surprised it's not a biography. it doesn't tell about my childhood. it tells about what we've done in the state of wisconsin, and we'll continue to do that and talk about that in the 2014 election. >> so give me your diagnosis as to why there is a chunk of wisconsin voters who said no to recall on you and voted for president obama over mitt romney. who are these people and why did they do it? >> yeah, it's a bizarre midwestern phenomena, one of those where in the past we've elected tommy thompson, russ feingold, the blue state in the bush-gore, kerry elections, but i point out that voters in the center want leadership. they want people to stand up and

tell the voters what they're going to do and how to do it. we pushed big, bold reforms in 2010, got them done in 2011, 2012, and the voters kept us in office. a few months later they erected barack obama in the state of wisconsin, as the country did across the board. in both cases, it was a contrast between big, bold reforms, whether you agree with them on the left or the right, paralleled with the other guy, we're not the incumbent, and in states like wisconsin, it's not enough for people in the middle. >> you're implying criticism mitt romney. in your book, you don't imply it. >> i say it. >> not mitt romney the person. and i'm happy to make that distinction for you, so you don't have to do it. but in particular, you're very critical. the 47%, because you thought it opened up a bigger problem for mitt romney, and that's this idea that he wasn't -- he didn't care about the issues that

people say that meant most to them personally, care about people like me, that question. it's always a very important question, it's more important than ideology sometimes with swing voters, and you thought 47% he lost touch with that. explain. >> yeah, and i think the important part was not just it was politically inappropriate, something he shouldn't have said out in public, but something that really the campaign shouldn't have thought. and my point was going back and doing research, back to 1980, because i think many in the romney camp tried to parallel their campaign very much like the reagan campaign in 1980 against jimmy carter thinking, you just make it a referendum on the incumbent, the economy is so bad, voters will put someone in new, and what they missed was reagan had an aspirational message, and i listed some in my book a reagan speech in 1980, if you're living in poverty, we'll lift you out of it. we want to give you hope not based on the government but on the optimism of the american

people. that never happened in the romney campaign, and the 47% made people think, even if they weren't in that category, for a lot of people, in my state and across america, they felt they were a paycheck or two away from some day needing temporary assistance, and they realize here's a guy not concerned about either like them or someone that they thought were not that far removed from. >> let's talk about safety net issues now. minimum wage. are you in favor of seeing it raised nationally? >> no. it would -- i started out just like paul ryan did, working at mcdonald's, jobs that involve the minimum wage are jobs for young people. the last thing we want to do is having fewer young people, when unemployment rates are -- >> you could split that minimum wage. hang on. you can split that conversation. there's some states that even do that now, where there's a minimum wage up to 18, and then as an adult, a different minimum wage. what if it was something like that? when you have a grown adult living on their own, this not

about teenagers. this is about somebody 23, 24, 25 -- >> the answer to that is doing what we're trying to do in the state of wisconsin where just as important to adding more jobs, and we'd like to see more jobs, one of the things we're most proud of recent numbers show more of the top states for increases in average weekly wages. we've seen our personal income go up, number three, four in the country, those are the sorts of things we're doing. we're not just helping create jobs, but helping employers create better jobs, family-supporting jobs. that's not something you mandate by the government. it's something that you encourage with a better environment. >> is there a chance that both you and paul ryan would be running for president, or no chance either one of you would end up in the same campaign? >> well, i mean, to me, i've said, not just because i'm on the ballot, but i think more important, the '16, there is '14. we see it in the budget deal paul was able to get through.

i said the best thing is to help a senate candidate in louisiana, arkansas, north carolina, alaska, much more so than just the 2016 election. i think paul and i and a lunge of others will be focused on making sure there's a new united states senate after this next november's election. >> is chris christie conservative enough? >> yeah, sure. chris is -- there's an issue here or there, but that's true of any candidate. if you look at his record, he's had a democrat legislature in both houses, taken on tax reform, entitlement reform, education reform, yeah, a few issues here or there that he and i aren't exactly on the same page, but that's true of a lot of folks out there. it's true of a lot of other conservatives out there, whether it's john kasich or susanna martinez, and i think new look at any one of the 31 republican governors in the united states, and they make a pretty convincing case they could be a

great chief executive in their own states and an equal compelling case in a couple of years for the nation. >> scott walker, republican governor of wisconsin, "unintimidated," somebody who may be running -- not may be, running three statewide races in less than four years, and something that will be written about by political scientists, 20, 30 years from now. >> getting good at it, chuck. >> yeah. >> great interview, chuck todd, governors, governors, governors, the message from walker. up next, on "the daily rundown," who's in and who's out as liz cheney ends her wyoming senate run? is hillary clinton ready to get back in the ring? first, the white house soup of the day, tort leaney. ♪ love love is strange ♪

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bill and hillary clinton will be in attendance saturday when close friend terry

mcauliffe takes the oath of offense there in richmond. it will come just ten days after the clintons were front and center at mayor de blasio's inauguration in new york city. all of this amid a nearly year-long effort foreshadowing a possible white house run that includes a new politico article that describes at least one political strategy meeting at her home last summer. let's bring in our monday gaggle, dan balls, chief correspondent for the "washington post," tracy is a democratic strategist and senior advisor for the group ready for hillary, calling for a clinton run in 2016, ahem, and alfonse is executive director for latinos with conservative principles. i'll start with you, traci. not a question of if but when. the one thing we've heard from all of the clinton advisors of all time is that even if she didn't want to run, the pressure on her would be so intense from the democratic party, just to

the idea that you're our only hope, hillary. you're our only hope of preventing a republican coming into the white house. how confident are you? >> well, another synonym for what you call pressure, i might call an unprecedented unification of the democratic party, and that's a good thing. we all believe that, that in the world of the groups that are working and hoping for a candidacy with hillary clinton, we want to be prepared for that, to have learned lessons from 2008, to be applying the new tools, to be truly ready for what would be a pretty extraordinary and, of course be historic campaign. so i look at it as unification, and that's a good thing for the democratic party. i think it has implications on campaign finance issues across the board, and certainly there's enthusiasm for her candidacy in the form of over1.5 million people. >> they seem to be trying to move away from the mistakes in 2008, having more of a data-driven campaign, something that was successful for obama.

so if we talk about unification being the mantra so far for democrats in 2016, i don't think that necessarily fits the republican profile for 2016, especially if ted cruz runs for president, we know pretty much rand paul will, as you heard scott walker with chuck todd, chris christie, sort of the executive leaders, who are governors against the more sort of substance guys from the senate. that could be quite divisive. how does that play against a unified democratic front? >> you could also have governor christie. the primary process is a healthy process. i think at the end you'll have a very strong candidate, and this time around, we're going to have a number of candidates, you just mentioned some, that will be very, very strong. i think this idea of the inevitable candidate is very risky for the democrats, because she wants the inevitable candidate in 2004, and at the end -- or 2008. >>. ya he. >> and at the end, we had brm

barack obama outflanking her on the left. and that's what groups for hillary clinton have they need to -- >> and, dan, there is some talk, brian schweitzer this morning on "morning joe" gave indications that -- let's take a listen to what he said. >> do you think you'd be a good president? >> i think so. let me tell you why. because as governor, i spent eight years, every single year i was governor, we had the largest budget surplus in the history of montana. i cut more taxes than any governor in the history of montana. when you have a democrat like me that's good with money and republicans have to admit it, they say, oh, geez, we don't want to run against him again. >> and schweitzer has also taken some swipes at hillary clinton and more democrats, calling them corporatists and being this populist. but you wrote a lot in your book about hillary clinton trying to learn lessons from '08 in terms of her organization. have you seen her make those moves to sort of -- a person like schweitzer couldn't come out of nowhere and make this a long primary? >> what tracy talked about, the

unification, make it is much more difficult for somebody to come at her in the way that barack obama did. secondly, there is no barack obama on the horizon within the democratic party. >> yeah. >> i think that's very important. but i do think that the absence of a serious primary challenge is not always most helpful. i mean, i think that candidates often are helped by a tough primary process. and so, the question for her, i think, at this point, still is, can she really run her own organization in a way that brings all of these disparate members of the group, can she make that effectively run within her own campaign, that's still a question. >> how much would you think there would be the obama-clinton divide? >> it's a lot about winning. >> you've already seen that in the priorities usa -- >> a bunch of the obama team are

formally or informally getting behind secretary clinton. so some of that has been solved. but there's -- i mean, there are just overlapping relationships there. >> right. >> and lines of authority or absence of lines of authority, and until there's a formal campaign structure as opposed to the shadow campaign that exists, we don't know whether she's really solved those problems. >> you think -- you're chomping at the bit here to get in. and as you should. do you think there would be -- one -- i wouldn't say the clintons, they promote the insider fans and that's why they lose control of what happens with the new campaign. do you think they would make a solid effort to have an executive in charge of the campaign and let them do as they please and let them incorporate all of the elements? >> if we're lucky enough for hillary clinton to run and for her to make that very personal, very momentous decision, i have faith that they will know how to run that campaign. as to her being inevitable, if

she was, we wouldn't have to be doing this organizing on the super pac side. so i definitely reject the word inevitable. >> all right. the panel will be right back. we'll have more on this and more on the political talk of the day. trivia time. janet napolitano is the first woman to succeed another woman as governor. she's succeeded jane d. hall as governor of arizona. congratulations to the day's winner, oliver. very good. congratulations to you. send your trivia suggestions to dailyrundown@msnbc.com. we'll be back. the capitol is slightly colder tomorrow. george. the day building a play set begins with a surprise twinge of back pain... and a choice. take up to 4 advil in a day or 2 aleve for all day relief. [ male announcer ] that's handy. ♪ tdd#: 1-888-852-213434 tjust waiting to be found. ties tdd#: 1-888-852-2134 at schwab, we're here to help

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now to some 2014 politics. that music just gets me so excited. liz cheney brings down the curtain on her senate run, citing health issues, not her

struggling campaign. let's bring back in our gaggle. alphonso, i want to start with you. obviously, this had a potential to be divisive. already was. you saw this was dividing a family, this was dividing a party, dividing a state. liz cheney has said the reason she dropped out was the health of her children and family, and we'll take her at her word for that, but not to have to play out this fight is probably good news for a lot of republicans. >> i think it is, but we have to remember that in here case, she wasn't the tea party candidate challenging an establishment republican. she is part of the establishment, and senator ensee is a well-known conservative. some of the ads that ran in wyoming, specifically the ones on gay marriage, questioned her conservative credentials and made a lot of people think. i think it would have made it tough for her. certainly, she mentions the health issue why she's withdrawing from the campaign

and we wish her and her family the best, and hopefully, they'll overcome the situation. >> just in terms of context here. obviously, there is a lot of media attention on this race because of liz cheney's last name, because of who her father was and the devisiveness within her family. you have to think at its core, this alleviates a lot of struggles, because this really divided people who had known each other for a long time. as alphonso was saying, establishment versus tea party. this divided brother against brother, sister against sister. >> not only it divided the cheney family, but people who were a part of the extended family, and i think it was not writ large tea party versus establishment, it was a soap opera, and i think that the absence of that will be probably helpful to the republican party.

i don't think it has big meaning beyond this, i mean, it's not one of the real interesting battles in terms of the primary fights that republicans are going through. the seat is safe from republicans. it's not going to affect the overall mathematics, so i agree. she's, obviously, made a decision for her family and we wish her well on that. >> tracy, real quickly, divisive gop primaries, one in georgia, one in texas, and kentucky. those are hopeful for democrats. >> or in iowa, i think there's something like a half dozen people still duking it out for who's going to challenge bruce brayley for that seat. >> plugs around the table. start us off. >> point out to a couple of politico stories that highlight the work of a conservative organization that's becoming a major player in the conservative movement. >> good man. >> with the 50-year war on poverty anniversary approaching, i hope everyone can go to

shriverreport.org and read the very influential report on women and children in poverty. >> maria does a great job. >> i'd like to give a plug to my colleague matea gold about the network of the koch brothers. >> front page! read it. i'm giving a shout out to two people, greg martin, first day as producer, and florida state, win for the s.e.c. today. go seminoles, kristen todd, we're going to pull it out. i feel it. that's it for this edition of "the daily rundown." tomorrow on the show, republican senator ron johnson will be here. coming up next on msnbc, chris jansing and co. see you tomorrow. chuck will be coming back from a florida state victory. we've got, right? uh-huh. yes! well, i found this new thing called... [ dennis' voice ] allstate quickfoto claim. [ normal voice ] it's an app. you understand that? just take photos of the damage with your phone

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wind chill down right dangerous to be outside in more than half the country. >> two grills going, one for warmth. >> one for the feet, one for the food. >> those football fans in green bay, they braved the cold. we'll have a live report from chicago. plus, after a public family feud with her sister, liz cheney says she's dropping out of the race for wyoming's senate for other family reasons. we'll break down what this means for her political future. and is colorado causing other states to look at pot differently? new york's governor set to set new rules for medical marijuana in new york. is the tide turning for pot? good morning, i'm chris jansing, happy new year. the first big vote of 2014 in congress comes today, 5:00 this afternoon. what happens could set the tone for the coming year. will it be more partisanship and acrimony, or will there be a