freeze. we'll have a live report from chicago where the negative temperature with the windchill feels like negative 42. president and congress return with a big to do list. the battle over unemployment insurance, what could be the opening salvo in the midterm elections. >> if on the first day of the new session the republican party says they won't even support unemployment benefit extension, the original round was started by george bush when unemployment was 5.6%. they are going to show themselves so far out of the mainstream it's going to hurt them in the election. >> and the shadow campaign, hillary clinton supporters secret preparations for another run for the white house. if she agrees, maggie's exclusive reporting, how close is clinton to saying yes?

first the know and now the deep freeze, the coldest weather we have seen in decades moving through much of the eastern half of the nation. dangerously low temperatures will drop even lower in cities throughout the midwest and east coast. places that already have taken a pounding from snow and ice. how much lower will temperatures go and how long is it going to last? joining me now, nbc's ron allen from a frigid chicago and wnbc meteorologist rafael miranda in new york. ron, first to you in chicago. it's brutal out there. >> reporter: it is. i can't remember being this cold many other times in my life, ski trips and mountains and things like that but this is brutal. as you can see it's pretty desserted, this is the center of chicago. most people have been told by employers to work from home. usually this area is packed with people. there's nothing here now. there's snow on the ground

because there was a record snowfall yesterday, about 8 inches or so, now we have record freezing temperatures minus 15 or 16 or so, we're near the chicago refer over that direction, you can feel this windchill thing happening. it's what, 30, 40 below. it's incredible, the numbers. it feels -- it just feels very, very raw. i took my gloves off for a moment to make an adjustment and exposing skin to the elements is what really gets you in trouble. we're prepared for this. the crew certainly as well. michigan avenue is pretty much deserted. there's public transportation and buses that are stopped. there are delays all over town. and schools are closed and universities are closed. the place pretty much frozen solid if you will to use a poor pun, perhaps. the airport, still canceling flights here, hundreds today ao'hare. thousands over the weekend. remarkably i got here yesterday flying from new york to chicago, took me about 12 hours, a couple canceled flights and long delays

but remarkably, you can do it. but of course it's not advised. check your airline if you're going to the airport. bottom line is stay inside unless you really have to come out. the governor here issued a warning telling people to be sure to stay inside unless there's something essential they have to do. of course keeping an eye out for the homeless and the vulnerable and elderly. and community centers are set up around town and beyond chicago as well. as for the forecast, we move to the single digits tomorrow, teens the next day and by thursday or friday, we're up near 30. so making a come back but gradually and for now it's pretty brutal out here. >> it's remarkable and takes a lot for chicago and minneapolis to close public schools. ron, i want to let you get into the van, you and the crew, thank you very much. get out of that weather. rafael miranda, let's talk about where this arctic weather is coming from and what they calm the polar vortex. maybe you can explain. >> that's right, the polar vortex is fine as long as it

stays in the north pole. unfortunately part of it slid down to the united states starting yesterday and today. here's a look. that shows the arctic air mass, that's the core of the frigid arctic air and watch as it slides onto the east. that piece of polar air rotating around by tomorrow. by tomorrow it's in the northeast. new york city was mild as we started the day, washington, d.c., tomorrow is a completely different story. starting to feel the cold build in. and by friday, saturday and sunday, much better, the arctic air returns to the arctic where it should be this time of year and we get a break. right now, this is an incredible map showing how many windchill warnings are in effect right now. 35 states are either under windchill warning or windchill advisory, stretching all the way down to florida, of course, atlanta, northeast and back towards the plains for the windchills down to dangerous levels. we're seeing anywhere up to 50 below right now. this is the worst of it for chicago. windchills around 40 below. look at the arctic front beginning to push onto the east. pittsburgh, feels like 6 below there. still holding onto the balmy 30s

for windchills in new york city and that changes overnight tonight and even atlanta, heading downhill in a hurry as well. tomorrow's forecast, there is a high temperature of 3 degrees in chicago. that is an improvement and windchills will still be around 20 to 30 below, especially in the morning. then we're feeling it the northeast. tomorrow allegati tomorrow's high, 10 degrees. even in and around new york city, windchills will be around 15 to 20 below zero. that's our experience with the polar vortex across the northeast down to atlanta. windchills below zero there as well. things are getting better over the next few days. the jet stream takes a jog to the north starting sometime later towards the end of the week and next week looks mild krogs the northeast. even the midwest temperatures in the 30s by the end of the week. i'm sure they were never so excited for 30s in chicago. >> we can just hibernate until then. thank you very much. today the check is not in the mail. 1.3 million americans are not getting their unemployment

insurance. after congress refused to renew it as part of that bipartisan budget deal at the end of the year, the senate is set to vote later today on a three-month extension. the administration says if there is no action from congress, 3.6 million americans will lose unemployment insurance this year. jason furman chairs the economic advisers and joins me now from a very cold north lawn. jason, thank you very much. let's get through the cold facts of unemployment insurance. the bottom line is that bipartisan agreement failed to accomplish this and the white house went along with it because i guess it was more important to get a budget deal and get out of town and not have the government threat of a government shutdown again. what are the chances now? republicans are claiming they won't go along with this unless it gets paid for. >> well, andrea, i'm not a political forecaster, but let me tell you, as you just said, 1.3 million people losing their benefits already, another 3.6 million will lose their benefit. it's not just bad for those

families, it's bad for the economy when you lose their purchasing power. it costs us jobs. this should be a common sense bipartisan thing. 14 out of the last 17 extensions, andrea, were not paid for. most of those were done on a bipartisan basis. it's been treated as an emergency in the past. that's what we should be doing now. >> the long-term unemployed are in fact the people at most at risk because as they get longer and longer into the situation it becomes harder and harder for them to get a job. >> that's exactly right. and the economy is recovering and unemployment rate is coming down. i'm optimistic about what we're going to see in the coming year but there still are too many people who are struggling to find jobs. the long-term unemployment rate is more than twice what it was at any time in the past when we've allowed emergency unemployment insurance to end. so if it was a appropriate to establish this program in 2007

and vast majority of republicans and democrats thought so then, then it certainly is appropriate to be continuing it now. >> i want to ask you about the minimum wage. is this going to be a featured argument as the president prepares for the state of the union and we talk about income inequality, what about the minimum wage fight? there is bipartisan support for it to a certain extent. again, it needs to be paid for. >> well, minimum wage has no fiscal cost. and what we've seen historically is that it raises the wage for workers and it has no meaningful impact on employment because it also helps you retain better workers, better motivate your workers and overall been a win-win for the economy. it certainly is something the president is going to continue pushing for. >> what about the argument though, there is a counter argument by some that it would increase unemployment. would you consider a two tiered minimum wage so that you set

aside those perhaps the younger people and teens for a lower minimum wage than the $10.10 an hour that seems to be bipartisan support? >> andrea, we want to build on the way the current rules work and they are based on a range of economic studies which have taken a look at one state that raises its minimum wage, the neighboring state doesn't. when you look at that, you discover it doesn't cost jobs in the state that raises minimum wage. what it does do is raise wages for families and make a real difference to them and real difference in an economy that's been burdened by inequality for far too long. >> how much do you think that income inequality is a corrosive issue as this economy does finally start to expand and you think that growth is going to continue in this next year, what about the fact that the growth seems to be more at the high end and the people at the lower end are being left behind? >> yeah, if i can quote him to you, allen greenspan eight years

ago described inequality as a threat to democratic capitalism. and inequality is only grown, even more in the last eegt years. it's something that undermines the type of economy that we want to build, i think ultimately it creates challenges for overall economic growth for the policies we need to sustain that growth. that's why president obama described it as one of the defining challenges of our time. >> jason furman, thanks so much. thanks for being out -- story about the cold weather and hope you get inside and warm up. after a campaign that exposed a deep riff with her sister over gay marriage, liz cheney is quitting the race. but for personal reasons. former vice president dick cheney's daughter released a statement. serious health issues have recently arisen in our family and under the circumstances i decided to discontinue my campaign. my children and their futures

were the motivation for my campaign and their health and well being will be my priorities. this campaign stops today my commitment to keep fighting with you and families for fundamental values that made this nation in wyoming great will never stop. our thoughts are with the cheney family. the fight to continue unemployment benefits continues. senator jack reed joining me next. so i c an reach ally bank 24/7, but there are no branches? 24/7. i'm sorry, i'm just really reluctant to try new things. really? what's wrong with trying new things? look! mommy's new vacuum! (cat screech) you feel that in your muscles?

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with 7 antioxidants to support cell health. at a company that's bringing media and technology together. next is every second of nbcuniversal's coverage 0f the 2014 olympic winter games. it's connecting over one million low-income americans to broadband internet at home. it's a place named one america's most veteran friendly employers. next is information and entertainment in ways you never thought possible. welcome to what's next. comcastnbcuniversal. we have a bipartisan bill. we have one of the liberal members of the senate, jack reed of rhode island and one of the conservativ conservative, dean heller from nevada, they say we should

extend the unemployment benefits and they are right. >> harry reid scheduled a vote tonight on a three-month extension of unemployment benefits but most republicans are still oppose the unless there is an agreement on how to pay for the bill. rhode island senator jack reed co-sponsored that legislation and joins me now. happy new year. thanks for being with us. >> happy new year. >> give me your best argument on why it should be extended without paying for it. >> our extension is just for three months, so the finance committee, the committee of jurisdiction can look at the appropriate way to pay for it if necessary. most times we have passed emergency unemployment extension bills without paying for it. we've done it a number of times since 2008. but the best way to do that is not on the floor, various ad hoc proposals, it's the work of the committee. our bill, senator heller's bill and my bill gives the time to do that and allows 1.3 million

americans thrown off the cliff to begin to get some support, continue to get some support and if we don't act, the 1.3 million will grow by about 3 million more people this year. so this is something we can do while we look at the longer term aspects of the program. >> do you have the votes? >> we're working awfully hard. we've got great support. it's bipartisan. senator heller's participation has been critical. listening to constituents and understanding that this is not a place people want to be. $300 a week in unemployment compensation is not having a good job as many of them had earning a decent wage and providing for their families. i think the combination is helping us gain momentum. i hope we succeed tonight. if we don't, we'll try again. this is critical. it's critical to the economy too. cbo has estimated that we will lose 200,000 jobs if we don't

extend these benefits because this money goes directly from the recipient into the local grocery store and gas station, buying heat at this time of year. without that, we're going to lose 200,000 jobs at a time we need them. >> at the same time, this is also a political issue is the calculation from the white house at least that you're better having the political issue against republicans. club for growth called for a no vote among other republican votes. >> i think this is about helping people who have worked hard. what i'm finding out is i talked to people in rhode island. many of these men and women are middle age, they've worked for decades. they've gotten no unemployment before. this is not their choice. they are at a very difficult position supporting older mothers and fathers and younger children. they want to work. and what we should be doing is focusing on that.

so this is not about politics. it's about what's right for our constituents and what's right for the economy. and frankly, if our economy is growing expandinging, that to me is the best politics. >> i want to ask you about iraq. we've seen the claims at least by al qaeda linked forces isis that they have taken over fallujah and ramadi, american leaves were spent in 2004, two of the bloodiest conflicts of the iraq war, you on the armed services committee knows well what was at stake here. was it a mistake to not fight harder to stay behind when we withdrew from iraq? i know this is a spillover also from syria. so we're seeing a regional growth of al qaeda linked militants. >> i think it was a strategic mistake to go into iraq in first place. i was one of 23 people to oppose the operation because it had many consequences, both intended

and unintended and one of them is this sectarian strive between sunni and shia. we're seeing that amplified in present day iraq. this is not only a military operation but also involves the politics, the politics of the al mallky government, shia government, closely lined with iran and this fight is in the sunni hotland, an bar province, pitting not only radical sunnis but also the residual of the iraqi sunnis that supported and worked with us and worked with the central government. so what al malliki has to do is reconstitute politically a relationship with the sunni committee and they will have the ability to sponsor these attacks. if not, this will continue to

deteriorate. >> is he up to it? i hope he is. so far he has shown over the last year or two, sort of tone deaf in terms of many of the actions he's taken against the sunni community. one of the remarkable things he did and this was at the first few months of his leadership is that he demonstrated what i think many people thought was a willingness to crackdown on his shia colleagues when he sent troops down into basra. that sent a message which we hope showed that he would be even handed, that he would not tolerate oppression by the shia or radical action by sunnis. but over the last several months, it's become clear that they have been tone deaf to the sunni community in iraq. >> jack reed, member of the armed services committee and of course the co-sponsor of today's key vote on unemployment, extending unemployment compensation. thank you very much. >> thank you, andrea.

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makes sense of investing. ♪ 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. ♪ the best known woman in american politics, according to maggie haverman's exclusive reporting on politico today and joining us for the daily fix, chris cillizza and anybody capitol hill correspondent kelly o'donnell and maggie haberman. what are the key indicators as far as you're concerned? the meeting in her home here in washington with political experts, the truce between the

super pacts or do you think it's the cautionary advice from two of her closest advisers. i think it's all of the above. it's not certain that hillary clinton is going to run for president. i really don't. i know i'm in the minority on that. i do think that people are doing a lot of things on her behalf. some of it with her approval to begin to prepare for that. that includes looking at the work ready for hillary is doing which has been preparatory in terms of field, they reached a truce with a bigger super pact that helps to line up major donors next year. i think a lot of things are being put in place. i think it's important to remember with super pacts this is not in the direct control of the potential candidate. there's a limit to how much prework they can do at a certain point if they becomes a candidate, only some can form a campaign. i don't think for the next several months whether she's

running. >> i thought it was very significant that two of the people closest to her, cheryl mills, who was her chief of staff at the state department, and maggie williams, her former chief of staff and close advicer, both were cautioning according to your reporting, against a run. what do you think their concerns are? >> i think it's the obvious, the 2008 campaign was miserable for everybody involved. i think that includes a very vast universe of misery. i think that she's in a very good place. they feel like she has had 30 years of public service, more than that. and that she doesn't necessarily need to do this. on other hand, i think that even though they are not urging her on, i think if she decides to run they are going to do everything they can to help her win. they are doing things to help preserve her option. everything is done with -- we would rather she doesn't do this and i i don't think people are propelling her towards doing this. >> chris, in terms of her ability to clear the field, everyone else is sort of waiting to see what hillary does, but

you've got mayors in new york and governors in new york, cuomo and maryland, o'malley and others, certainly the vice president, waiting to see what she will decide. and she acknowledged in a recent interview she has to decide in this coming year. >> i mean, i think she's not going to let her timetable be dictated by what martin o'malley is doing frankly, andrea. but i think she is aware of sort of her place in the race and that from a donor perspective and activist perspective, everything is a little bit frozen until she signals where she's going. that said, my guess -- i'm actually with maggie, i think everyone assumes she's running. i would say she's letting people do everything to prepare for the event you'llty if she does run. that's not the same thing as running. if she does run, there will be someone whose name, folks like us are familiar with, howard dean, possibly maybe russ fine gold who tries to run to her

idealogical left as this true progressive in the race. i don't imagine that you would see a joe biden or andrew cuomo or kirsten gillibrand. >> i thought it was a very significant signal that bill and hillary clinton took such a prominent role in the de blasio inaugural as well, speaking of playing to the progressive wing to the party. kelly o'donnell, certainly on the hill there are a number of senators who are looking at the potential of running and also looking at the midterm elections and what impact that is going to have. are terribly concerned about the midterm elections and obama legacy. hillary clinton will have to decide if she runs just how much to distance herself from some of the unpopular policies of this white house. >> she's one of the rare political figures who already has some endorsements from fellow democrats who would typically in a regular year wait a bit to see what the landscape looks like before so vigorously

saying that they are for hillary. she's got that behind her. but there are few people in american political life who understand the rigors for running for president better. she did it twice with her husband, once on her own. few people know what it takes from you and what kind of commitment it is. it is a daunting thing. and so i think all of what this analysis you're discussing, points into that direction, that those close advisers really get how challenging it would be. and therefore at this stage, they can still have that tone of is it the right move while preparing the eventualtys if that goes her way. there are figures here on the hill who would step forward and would fill that vacuum should she decide not to. it will dramatically change the race. for 2014, one of the big issues for harry reid, can they hold onto the majority? and the whole debate over the health care law and how it rolls out as the year progresses will be very influential, in addition

to the usual factors like the jobs numbers and how are people feeling about the economy and certainly unemployment benefits is something that's on the minds of senate democrats right now and it's being debated with republicans too. there is a vote expected today if weather doesn't interfere. and that's a part of the dialogue that you saw with the new new york mayor and the whole issue of equality and income inequality. and that's part of the kind of progressive outline and it certainly is something that hillary clinton can try to attach herself to as many democrats on the hill are doing as well. >> kelly, is there a chance briefly that they won't have the vote today if people can't get back from out of town. >> there is a possibility. i've been checking with offices. there are a number of members from farther away places who have connection flights and that type of thing that have been affected so far. i'm told that there has been no delay of the vote yet but that could happen this afternoon. if it does, we'll let you know right away. >> thanks so much.

great reporting, chris, thank you for weighing in and kelly o'donnell, of course. and to another big story here in washington. the national zoo's baby panda ready for her close-up. this is baobao, born on august 23rd, making her official public debu on january 18th.

the supreme court effectively gutted the 1965 voting rights acts in june last year when the court struck down a key provision opening the door for states and localities too undo a half century of voting rights gains. >> in the 11 states all confederacy and even in some of the states outside of the south there have been a systemic deliberate attempt to take us back to another period. we must not forget our past and must not forget our history. if we forget it, we will repeat

it. the vote is precious, it is sacred. >> cherilyn i fell joins me to talk about the voting rights restrictions in local contests. it's great to have you. >> thank you. >> we heard about texas and north carolina and some of the state restrictions but as you and i have been discussing off camera, there is a local impact of some of these voting rights cases and what the supreme court did. let's talk about the map and some of the restrictions that have been passed. >> andrea, i think it all can be summed up with the words of the florida secretary of state who said just a few days after the decision, we're free and clear now. and all over the south we're seeing in small towns and jurisdictions voter expression efforts focused at small local elections in the city of pasadena, texas, the plan is to eliminate the two majority latino council districts. the city of beaumont, the plan is to eliminate the majority

black school board. galveston, texas decided to eliminate half of the seats for constables and justices of the peace. andrea, this one strikes home for me because i fully litigated the case 20 years ago that created the justice of peace seats and alouped black voters to elect candidates of their chose for first time. we're seeing precisely what congressman lewis talked about, an effort to talk back the clock. >> at the time what the court decided upon and what people supporting the court decision said was that the south has changed and it's a new south. and we don't have to worry about these things. let's talk about georgia for instance and some of the cases in georgia. the naacp and legal defense fund are spanning all of these states trying to fight and put out fires in all of these different local jurisdictions. >> you cannot imagine what it's been like for communicate activists and voting rights attorneys.

my team at the legal defense fund has been in the south trying to stave off this. in georgia there have been multiple efforts in counties to eliminate polling places. baker county opposed eliminating four of their five polling places. morgan county eliminated a third of its polling places. and finally, the city of athens decided to eliminate almost all of their 24 polling places save for two and those two polling places would be placed within police stations. it was only the community really rising up and lawyers coming down and resisting efforts that allowed these plans to be pushed back. if you can multiply these towns i'm describes and multiply them times the hundreds, you can imagine the kind of level of voter expression and disenfranchisement that's happening under the radar. everybody knows about the omnibus voter suppression bill passed in north carolina and texas voter i.d. law and those are important. what people don't know about are all of these microsuppression

efforts happening in towns and counties and cities all over the south. >> do you see 'legislative remedy? >> we're hopeful. the good news is that we really believe there's bipartisan support for amending the voting rights act to try to deal with some of these issues. ongoing discussions have been happening almost since the supreme court's decision. we've been very heartened by public stance of congress mab sen sen brener and we hope they will stand with him. we really believe that that that legacy is really important to continue. what we see happening in our country right now, this is not the america any of us should want. this is about the preservation of our democracy and preserving the core identification of citizenship, which is the ability to vote and participate in the political process. and when we see this happening in these towns and counties all over the south, this is really anti-american. our expectation is that a

majority of our united states congress as they have in the past overwhelmingly will stand against this kind of practice. >> let me dip into your knowledge of the supreme court. and ask you about today's decision by the court to put a hold, temporary stop to the same-sex marriage in utah following up on what justice sotomayor had done on new year's eve day. tell me about that. is that an indication of where the court will eventually rule, or is this just a temporary hold? >> i think it's a temporary hold. the court generally kind of keels in favor of preserving the status quo. of course, what's difficult in this case is that since the utah, the decision from the utah trial judge over 700 people have been married as a result of that decision. and so the status quo actually shifted fairly quickly. so it's deeply problematic for those couples who already got married in this interim time period. many people recall that the california case, there was a

stay of marriages in that state until the supreme court decided the case last june. so this idea of the preservation of the status quo, i wouldn't read too much frankly into the stay. i think the court is interested in seeing how the appellate court will deal with it. it is a decision of only one trial judge. i think people should not panic. it's obviously deeply disappointing for those people married in the interim. the court is very much watching what's happening in the states on the ground and trying to determine where the country is headed on theish queue of marriage equality. i really read their decision to impose this day as part of that. >> thanks so much. >> thanks, andrea. >> a spoiler alert, can downtown survive the departure of matthew crawley. it was must see tv for all of us fans. season four returned last night, 11 months after the shocking car crash that widowed lady mary. there will be more surprise both

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maliki government. the border between iraq and syria is meaningless from all reporting. >> i think you're right. i think we're looking at two big developments in the middle east. one is the fact that we're beginning to see a regional war taking shape growing out of the syrian civil war. if you look at the violence in lebanon and syria and iraq and the fact there are shia/sunni passions and divisions and fights in each of those places and sometimes the same groups in each of those places. and secondly, we're seeing the worst violence in iraq since 2006 and 2007. the u.n. said last year 8,800 iraqis died and you've just seen this horrific violence in anbar province in fallujah and ramadi over the weekend. prime minister al maliki has driven the sunni population and leadership away and needs to do

with president bush and petraeus did during the surge, win back the loyalty of those tribal leaders in anbar to the west and north of baghdad. >> criticism this weekend from senators graham and mccain, they issued a statement saying many predicted that the vacuum would be filled by america's enemies and sadly that reality is now clearer than ever. mccain and graham somewhat predictably saying i told you so. >> yes, the alternative is difficult. there's a lot of criticism of the obama administration in the words of the critics for abdy indicating the responsibility in iraq and other places. but the alternative is also not really tenable. the only -- if they are arguing the only way to keep a lid on iraq is have american troops in anbar forever -- >> that's not going to happen. >> not going to fly domestically certainly and not going to fix the underlying problems in iraq and syria. >> they probably are arguing we

withdrew too quickly and didn't fight hard enough for residual force on the ground. that said, nick burns, there's another aspect of this, john kerry spending the last week in israel and the west bank and then briefing king abdullah in saudi arabia on what he's accomplished with this tenuous negotiation that could blow up at any moment given palestinian objections to israeli settlement announcements. where do we stand here? at the same time you had the same lindsay graham and john mccain popping up in jerusalem and supporting netanyahu at the critical point where kerry is trying to balance the equities of both sides. >> well, andrea, i think the united states, senator kerry in particular, will have to be active and he is on multiple fronts in the middle east. he is i think doing the right thing on the israeli/palestinian conflict. it's been raging for 66 years. it's terribly important for the future of israel and

palestinians that something be done. at least he has a process started. he's got to scale mount everest to get it done by april, that's an early time line. there are many, many reasons why that might not succeed but i think he's doing the right thing by trying. at the same time, he now has to go to geneva in just a couple of weeks time and see if it's possible to work with the russians and syrian government and even the iranian government to try to lead to a cessation -- a cease fire of hostilities in syria. if you don't tackle that, that leads you back to this regional problem that you've got. all of which is a problem for israel and the palestinians by the way. the violence in lebanon and syria as well as iraq, you've got to deal with the entire region not just that israeli/palestinian in question. >> this is the key challenge and sort of the key question overhanging this. the middle east is dissolving before our eyes in many ways. the israel/palestine dispute is not the crisis zone of the moment.

you have obviously iraq and syria. you have the iranian nuclear issue, go beyond the borders in the middle east to afghanistan. you have a huge number of things he has to deal with. it's kind of -- all credit to him for trying so hard but this isn't the number one problem facing the united states at the moment in the middle east. >> jeff goldberg and nick burns, thank you both so much. to be continued of course. which political story will make headlines in the next 24 hours? that's up next on "andrea mitchell reports." ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] what kind of energy is so abundant, it can help provide the power for all this? natural gas. ♪ more than ever before, america's electricity is generated by it. exxonmobil uses advanced visualization

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chair. what else are you looking at on the horizon? >> those are two big ones right there. economists are trying to factor in what happens on unemployment benefits. there is impact on growth if money is not paid to those folks and not only 1.3 million but 2.6 million that would lose benefits by march and overall 3.6 million is the number we hear for all of 2014. that's a big deal. janet yellen not a big market effect right now. while janet yellen comes from the same institution and same board that bernanke is on, she served as his vice chair for quite a while now. it's a different fed. the fed is on the process of removing accommodation right now in terms of extraordinary quantitative easing or bond buying program to keep interest rates low and next step for the fed is going to be winding that down and going back to a more

normal regime. another thing different for janet yellen is fed in post-financial crisis era is more of a financial bank regulator. before it was all monitor policy with a little bit of regulation and now the fed is trying to be equal parts regulator and policy maker. >> i know you were tweeting on ben bernanke's final speech expected to be his final speech as chair in philadelphia. so you spent a weekend now last couple of days with all of the economic minds of the country who are all gathered there for their annual meetings. what is the projection looking forward for how the economy is going to do in this coming year? >> i'm more confused than i was before the weekend, andrea. having spent all of that time -- >> that's what happens when you spend time with economists. you get confused. >> you know about that. first thing is in the near term there seems to be good consensus that this year is going to be probably the best year since the financial crisis began.

we'll have better growth this year. it seems like from all sides that was a general discussion that we had. the longer term question is the more interesting one right now with guys like larry summers and even some of the experts like robert gordon from northwestern saying the u.s. may be in for a p protracted era of slow gote for the next ten years. the big debate is where we started. this unemployment thing. how much should government be spending if we're into a period of slower growth? should the government step up and take a stronger position on investment and infrastructure spending and helping out unemployed in the event the economy will have slower growth over the next several years. >> steve liesman, auburn or fsu? >> i don't have a dog in this fight. i went to a school that didn't have much football at all. it does now. i'm always going to be for the underdog. i like how auburn beat alabama. i'm an underdog guy.

i go for auburn. >> me too. that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." follow the show online and on twitter. my colleague has a look at what's next on "news nation." i know you are an underdog guy. >> i'm all about auburn. i'm on the auburn team as well. >> more on the developing news that we just talked about on andrea's show. senate back in session at the top of the hour for the first time in 2014 and one of the first things that they have to tackle is how to restore jobless benefits for more than 1 million americans who are out of work. plus, a dangerous deep freeze. the cold air that sent chicago down to a record breaking 15 below is now moving east. meanwhile, jetblue airlines trying to recover from last week's snowstorm shutting down operations at four major airports this evening in order to play catchup. we'll bring you the latest. and the wolf of wall street, a box office hit laced with sex, drugs and record number of

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>> hi, everybody. i'm thomas roberts in for tamron hall. "news nation" following news of this hour. this afternoon the senate will hold a vote on the bipartisan proposal to temporarily extend unemployment benefits. it could be the last hope for the 1.3 million americans who saw their benefits expire just before the new year. it's unclear if democrats can even get to the 60 votes needed to advance that measure. the proposal by republican senator dean heller and jack reid extends benefits for three months and comes with a hefty price tag of $6.5 billion. most republicans say they won't support it without spending cuts to offset that cost. it was in the last hour where senator reid addressed that