freaks should be in the hall of fame. >> put them in. >> disagree. >> just have a separate wing. declare the era. explain the steroid era. put them in. >> very good. >> performance enhancing. >> very excited. >> do you know who chuck todd's got on today? supremes reunited. >> with diana ross. >> all coming up. >> all there. straight ahead on "the daily rundown." it's unbelievable. gates swung wide open. former pentagon boss's book roughs up vice president biden. but it's a cutting critique of secretary clinton that could potentially spark a challenge from the left for 2016. we'll tell you about that. also this morning, as top senators try to separate the wheat from the chaff on the farm bill, the white house is hoping for a deal. we'll talk to agriculture secretary, tom vilsack.

50 years after president lyndon johnson declared a war on poverty, a look at what's improved and what challenges still remain for president obama and whoever succeeds him on this issue. good morning from washington. it's wednesday, january 8th, 2014. this is "the daily rundown." i'm excited to be back. it's a little chilly. a little less chilly in pasadena. but we start with the latest on the extreme cold that plunged all 50 states into record cold temperatures over the last few days. jetblue is now flying again after shutting down monday due to icy conditions. 150,000 passengers were stranded overall. 2,500 flights have been delayed nationwide today. 15 states are under windchill alerts or advisories. another 11 states are under a winter weather alert. up in the northeast, interstate highways near rochester and buffalo were closed last night because of blizzard conditions. nbc's katy tur has more on the snow and the cold in that part of new york state.

>> reporter: hey there, chuck. you know when you're happy that it's 12 degrees and only negative 7 with the windchill that something is definitely very wrong. although it's a lot better here today than it was yesterday. all the areas around here about ten degrees warmer than they were yesterday. the really bad area is still about 50 miles to the north of us in adams and water town where they're feeling the heavy, lake-effect snow. it's been snowing two inches an hour there for the past two days. will continue today. you can only imagine how much snow they're getting. they can't even measure it because the winds have just been so strong. as of now, 20 mile an hour winds here in oswego. it is better than it was yesterday. today should still be pretty bitter, though. tomorrow things are looking up. chuck? >> thank you, katy. wherever you go, oswego. we're going to check in with nbc meteorologist bill karins a little later on the vortex. now let's turn to my first reads of the morning on politics. while fighting to stay relevant inside the capitol and within

their own political parties they also have to begin to do battle with historians. now president obama faces the challenge so many occupants of his office have before him. his version of history has to compete with a second draft. in this case written by a former aide who can go along way to shaping the perception of the obama presidency. particularly on foreign policy and his ability to do the job. one of the most important goals of the next three months for this white house is to hammer out a security deal with afghan president hamid karzai. now in a sensational new memoir, the first from the point of view of a cabinet insider with b former defense secretary robert gates questions the president's leadership and his commitment to the war in afghanistan. the challenge, of course, for the white house, gates is a perceived straight talker. a bureaucratic in fighter. really an ideological partisan. sure, he's a republican. but he's always had a reputation for being loyal. if outspoken. and his credibility has been burnished by president obama himself who persuaded him to stay on at the pentagon after

two years of serving at president bush's secretary of defense. even awarding him the medal of freedom a few months ago, the nation's highest civilian honor. >> you're not only one of the longest serving secretaries of defense in american history, but it is also clear that you've been one of the best. >> gates in this memoir describes a meeting in the situation room in march 2011 where the president became visibly frustrated about the withdrawal timetable from afghanistan writing, quote, i thought a president doesn't trust his commander. he can't stand karzai. doesn't believe in his own strategy and doesn't consider the war to be his. for him it's all about getting out. of course, plenty of obama supporters will be happy to hear that version. that the president was set on finding an exit strategy, period. and the fact that he didn't trust military commanders. to an extent, your view of this book will depend on your view of the iraq and afghanistan wars in general. gates does have some praise, by the way, for the president calling him a man of personal

integrity. he calms the bin laden raid, quote, one of the most courageous decisions i had evers,ed in the white house. his harshest judgments of the administration are reserved, frankly, for the white house national security staff and for vice president biden. gates calls the white house by far the most centralized and controlling in national security of any i had seen since richard nixon and henry kissinger ruled the roost. folks, this all has to do with that initial afghanistan review in the first year of the obama presidency. i'll get into more of that later. gates blasts former national security adviser tom donnalin and his team for aggressive, suspicious and sometimes condescending and insulting questioning of our military leaders. folks, it was always very ugly between the white house and pentagon. got uglier after the white house believed the pentagon was pushing them and pushing a strategy by leaking this and that. gates accuses biden individually of poisoning the well against the military leadership and says in one of the books most damning

critiques, quote, i think he has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades. gates and biden have always been oil and water. gates, buttoned down and disciplined. biden, well, he's biden. these comments are personal. especially when biden is already fighting all sorts of perception issues about his capabilities ahead of 2016. this one probably hits him as hard as any as you can have. it might explain why, frankly, the white house is allowing still photographers of the president's weekly lunch with the vice president today. something when i saw it in the media was like, well, this only has one thing, it's all about the gates book. biden criticism, though, isn't the only nugget with 2016 implications. while the book is full of praise for former secretary of state hillary clinton, the two were very close in this obama cabinet, the quote -- this quote is one of the most intriguing of the book. quote, hillary, gates writes, told the president that her opposition to the 2007 surge in iraq had been political because she was facing him in the iowa

primary. of course, the caucuses. this only reinforces one of the biggest knocks against hillary clinton. that she will say and do anything to win. critics of the white house have already seized on the gates book. arizona senator john mccain used it to hammer the white house on its iraq strategy. >> 90-some young americans died in fallujah. 600 were wounded. now we see people driving around with black al qaeda flags. that's so sad. what do we tell their families? this morning on "today," former white house senior adviser david axelrod objected to the idea that the president was opposed to the iraq surge for political reasons. >> i'm not suggesting that he made things up to sell a book. but i think the language that he used, for example, on that iraq story was -- was vague and it was subjective. and it was -- there was no declaration on the president's part that he made that decision on a political basis. and there wouldn't have been. because, as i said, he was

opposed to the war in iraq from the beginning. i'm not going to -- i'm not going to impugn him in any way. i'm just telling you from my experience, and i was rather close to the president when he was in the united states senate, that was absolutely not the case. >> as you can tell, this tap dancing around what to do about this gates memoir is fascinating. look at this statement from the white house that they put out last night from the national security council spokesperson. she writes, as as always been the case, the president welcomes differences of view among his national security team which broaden his options and enhance our policies. the strongest defense in there is reserved for vice president biden. more from this quote. from his leadership on the balkans in the senate, to his efforts to end the war in iraq, joe biden has been one of the leading statesmen of his time and has helped advance america's leadership in the world. president obama relies on his good counsel every day. there are others that say, by the way, that biden and the reason why he was the one

clashing the most with gates in the pentagon is that some people believe he was playing the quote, unquote, bad cop on behalf of obama here. all of this will sort itself out as more and more books come out. later in the hour we're going to talk about what it all means for the democrats and more on this hillary clinton angle, 2016, later in the show. now to the debate over income and equality. president obama will offer a little bit of a state of the union preview tomorrow when he announces the first five so-called promise zones. it's at an event in the east room. what these are are troubled neighborhoods in five cities who'll be eligible for tax breaks and other forms of assistance all designed to create jobs, encourage companies to start opening up businesses in some of these troubled areas. the president also plans to campaign in the months ahead for an increase in the minimum wage. universal preschool. and to make college less expensive for the middle class. allish sh issues which democrat believe will help them fight back in their attempt to keep control of the senate and fight back against health care that republicans want to beat them up on. the senate voted 60-37 yesterday

to move forward on debate on a three-month extension of emergency unemployment benefits. six republicans joined democrats in voting for the bill. rob portman and dan coats warned, however, they could vote no on future procedural votes unless the bill is paid for. >> best choice, pass it, no strings attached. get it done. get it done quickly. second best choice, finding a reasonable pay for. that's a lot easier said than done. again, as i said, i'm worried that we may be being somewhat walked into a cul-de-sac by our colleagues who don't have an intention of doing that. >> the hurdle this bill will face became clear almost immediately when senate republican leader mitch mcconnell proposed it would be paid for by changes to the president's health care law. >> i'd like to propose that we be allowed, my side be allowed to offer an amendment to pay for

these benefits by lifting the burden of obamacare's individual mandate for one year. >> he wants to pay for them by whacking obamacare. that's a nonstarter. if they come with something that's serious, i'll talk to them. but right now everyone should understand the low hanging fruit is gone. >> among the offsets that some senators are proposing, let me go through them. new hampshire's kelly ayotte. she will role out on amendment which would prevent illegal immigrants from claiming the child tax credit. john thune a payroll tax break for businesses that hire long term unemployed. tom coburn wants to block jobless benefits from those receiving disability benefits. does this sound familiar? new york democrat chuck schumer proposing that congress end tax deductions for companies that move operations overseas. something that gets brought up a lot. other democrats want to pay for the extension with cuts to

agriculture subsidies. even if the three-month extension were to pass the senate it does face a very uphill path in the house. speaker boehner made it clear yesterday in addition to demanding that an extension of expired benefits be paid for, he would also tie it to republican priorities like building the keystone pipeline, expanding exemptions from the health care law and opening energy exploration on federal land. all, of course, are nonstarters for the white house. house republicans are aware of their vulnerability on this empathy issue and have released a series of talking points for members among them. for every american out of work it's a personal crisis for them and their family. washington has lost its priorities. if it's more focused on making unemployment easier to tolerate than it is getting people back to work. but democrats led by the president have made it clear they want to go on offense on this issue. >> i've heard the argument that says extending unemployment insurance will somehow hurt the unemployed because it saps their motivation to get a new job.

i really want to -- i want to go at this for a second. you know, i -- [ applause ] that really sells the american people short. >> one of the six republicans who voted to move forward on the unemployment benefits bill joins me now. indiana's senior senator, dan coats. senator coats, good morning to you, sir. >> good morning. >> why did you do it? >> i did it because i thought we needed a sound debate on this. if we had not passed this motion to proceed, and that is to debate it, talk about it, offer amendments, we wouldn't have had an opportunity to provide those alternatives that the president said, you know, if republicans have ideas, bring these forward. well, harry reid as majority leader of the senate is not allowing us to bring those ideas forward. he was hoping this would fail yesterday, then just blame republicans for being heartless and cruel. what i wanted to do and what senator ayotte, senator portman and the six of us wanted to do was get to the point where we

could go down on the floor, offer alternatives and put it before the american people. not only how to pay for this bill so we don't keep loading debt and deficit on our children and grandchildren, but also reform the program so it's not just sending more checks and extending more unemployment checks, but policies that will get people back to work. >> all right. let's talk about the pay fors that are out there. different -- different ones out there. ayotte's got the one about preventing illegal imgranmigran from claiming the child tax credit. things like that. what do you want? what would you support? >> our colleagues have a number of amendments of ways to pay for this. we'll see whether or not senator majority leader reid will even allow us to offer those amendments and force his members to vote for it. i've offered a basket of options to the senate on my amendments here that will raise more than enough money to pay for this program if it goes forward. but i also want to reform it so that we are getting people opportunities to get back to work by increasing our economy.

we're in the fifth year now of this great recession with stagnant growth and high unemployment. that's hurting people in my state. i don't want to just keep sending checks saying, we're never going to fix it. let's get this economy moving again. i have a combination of efforts the majority leader can choose from. some of them are just ridiculous expenditures that are fraud and waste and abuse that ought to be used as a pay for for something that's more vital and more effective. >> give me an example of one. you heard harry reid claiming there's no more low hanging fruit. sounds like you believe there is. >> there's a lot of low hanging fruit. and it's the government agencies themselves that audit and overlook these programs that have suggested these. these are not just ideas pulled out of the ether by republicans here. here's one that is just a no-brainer. look, in order to get social security disability payments, you have to prove that you are unable to work.

in order to get employment -- unemployment benefits, you have to prove you are able to work. we have -- we know that many, many people are getting checks for both. you're either able or not able. eliminating that alone creates more than $27 billion of savings. this bill is $6 billion. >> right. >> that's a great place to start. >> that would pay for it. before i let you go, where are you on raising the minimum wage? >> again, the issue is not what government mandates. the issue is getting this economy moving again. if we can do that, we can create the kind of opportunities, the kind of growth that will raise wages, that will get people back to work and so washington's trying to deictate the solution to our economy. this administration's had five years to do it. the results are in. it ain't working. >> you would vote against raising it? >> i want to see what the bill says, what it does, how it's paid for the same as this. i'm not just simply going to blanket no to everything. there are people out there hurting. but let's get better policies in

place for them and get these alternatives up for debate and up for a vote. >> all right. dan coats, senior senator from indiana. thanks for coming on this morning, sir. up next, does the farm bill finally have a chance? agricultural secretary tom vilsack will be here to explain. watching "the daily rundown" on msnbc. [ police radio, indistinct ] the comeback trail. there is no map. no mile marker. no welcome sign. one day you may find yourself here. and you'll need someone to bring you back. to carry you home. at liberty mutual, we believe with every setback there's a chance to come back and rise. liberty mutual insurance. auto, home, life. explaining my moderate to severe so there i was again, chronic plaque psoriasis to another new stylist. it was a total embarrassment. and not the kind of attention i wanted. so i had a serious talk with my dermatologist

about my treatment options. this time, she prescribed humira-adalimumab. humira helps to clear the surface of my skin by actually working inside my body. in clinical trials, most adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis saw 75% skin clearance. and the majority of people were clear or almost clear in just 4 months. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal events, such as infections, lymphoma, or other types of cancer have happened. blood, liver and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure have occurred. before starting humira, your doctor should test you for tb. ask your doctor if you live in or have been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. tell your doctor if you have had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have symptoms such as fever, fatigue, cough, or sores. you should not start humira if you have any kind of infection. make the most of every moment. ask your dermatologist about humira, today.

clearer skin is possible. i took medicine but i still have symptoms. [ sneeze ] [ male announcer ] truth is not all flu products treat all your symptoms. what? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus severe cold and flu speeds relief to these eight symptoms. [ breath of relief ] thanks. [ male announcer ] you're welcome. ready? go.

well, it's been the poster child for congressional dysfunction. now the long delayed farm bill may finally be headed for passage. but what's it going to look like? back when there was ideological diversity inside both political parties, the farm bill was put together with geographical, not ideological coalitions. those coalitions are mostly gone and it's no longer safe to assume anything. particularly when it comes to

the farm bill. senate agriculture chair debbie stabenow said tuesday she's, quote, feeling very good for prospects about hammering out a deal before the end of the month. negotiators sedge ycheduled to thursday or friday. the main sticking points, though the senate and house bills both cost in the $900 billion range, there have been deep divisions over the cuts to the food stamp program. while the senate bill cuts 4$4. billion from s.n.a.p., the house cutting nearly $40 billion. an old farm bill tensions over dairy policy, so-called dairy supply management, have broken out yet again. according to reports the emerging compromise cuts $8 billion from the supplemental nutrition assistance program. dairy issues still not resolved. we bring in agriculture secretary himself, tom vilsack. he joins me now. let's start with s.n.a.p. $8 billion.

>> what i've suggested all along is that if we get the policy right, we're going to get the number right. i think the policy is going to be right. it's going to look at efficiencies in t program. it's going to tighten up -- >> have there been a lot of inefficiencies in the program? >> the error rate and fraud rate of this program is at historic lows. but there are issues involving ways in which people qualify for the program that can be tightened up a bit without disqualifying millions and millions of people who would otherwise qualify for the program. that's the key here. we want to maintain the integrity of the program. i think the compromise that folks are working on will do that. they're going to get the policy right. you know, frankly, america needs this bill. we need it because we want to remain food secure. and it's this bill that basically provides the confidence and the assurance to farmers that the risk of farming will be reduced to the point that they can continue to stay in the business which allows us to be a food secure nation. >> this dairy thing, obviously the way the farm bill is written sort of convoluted, right? if the bill doesn't pass and we revert back to some 1940s era way that we decide how the milk

market essentially will work, explain this. and what's the compromise? >> well, if we don't have a farm bill, permanent law comes back into play. which puts the united states department of agriculture in the business of buying commodities at highly inflated prices which creates shortages in grocery stores starting with milk. nobody wants this. the way to avoid it is by congress getting its job done by passing a farm bill that is long overdue. the reality is that we've lost nearly half of our dairy producers in the last ten years. that's a concern for small towns and rural areas. >> why? >> because the volatility of the market. prices go up. prices go down very quickly. it's very hard for operations to be able to adjust. that's why they are focused on trying to create a less volatile milk market. greater stability in pricing. and some kind of assurance that folks aren't going to go out of business if they face a precipitous decline in prices. the problem is not so much that. it's the speaker's resistance to how we would govern the amount of money the government would pay in this program. congressman peterson is very concerned about the ranking member is very concerned about

the cost to the government. he's trying to regulate and make sure it doesn't cost too much. >> it's interesting to me, i've been watching lately about every time there is an attempt to find something to pay for something, the first or second sentence is, oh, there's this cut in agriculture subsidies. so the implication is that there's just too many agricultural subsidies that the government is involved in. do you have this point of view? >> with due respect to those folks i think there's a lack of understanding what those subsidies actually do. they reduce the risk of farming. think about farming today, whether it's dealing with subzero weather, the snowfall that occurred in october and basically wiped out livestock operations in the dakotas, mother nature sometimes doesn't cooperate. the bottom line is that can result in people going out of business because it's expensive to farm. the reason why we're a food secure nation is because we have extraordinarily productive people that stay in the business of farming. we benefit as consumers and as americans by having people farm. they don't have to farm. but we reduce the risk to a reasonable level. >> you think it's important for government essentially to find sometime some ways of -- how

many farmers are we paying not to farm? you know what i mean? that's -- >> less than 1% -- >> that's what gets thrown out there. >> the entire farming population is less than 1% of the population. if you look at the 85% of what we produce in this country, it's produced by nearly 200,000 to 300,000 people. that's .1 of 1%. that's an extraordinary story of productivity and creativity that's allowed the rest of us to have all the jobs we have. we don't have to worry about people staying on the farm to produce enough to eat. we do that with a relatively small number of people. the reason we do is because we have programs that make sure those folks stay in business. >> ask you about ethanol subsidies. is this -- is ethanol now outdated? i say this because of the natural gas boom that's going on. energy boom going on, particularly in the upper midwest. but it almost makes you wonder, the whole point of ethanol was to find a way -- biodiesel -- you know, find a way to have fuels that would cut us, you know, so we weren't dependent on foreign oil. now we have other ways to not be dependent on foreign oil. >> the reality, we have to be

careful. we have growing economies around the world that's going to use those oil resources and there's going to continue to be a stress on oil resources, number one. two, the oil resources we're now getting are going to be more expensive to get. that's going to be a cost issue. this ethanol industry helps to create 400,000 jobs and support lower prices a t the pump for consumers. we're spending probably somewhere between 25 cents and a dollar a gallon less for gas because of ethanol. it clearly has reduced our reliance on foreign oil. frankly, it's provided us stabilization for farm income that's allowed us to support our rule areas. >> do we still need to be using this much of corn for fuel as opposed to food? >> the reality is we're not using any less for food than we did. the reason being we've increased productivity. the question is what do you do with increased productivity? you're finding alternative ways to use it. it's not just ethanol. it's not just fuel. it's plastic. it's chemicals. it's building termaterials crea out of agricultural production. there's an enormous opportunity

to reshape the economy and redesign it creating new manufacturing jobs based on a biobased economy. that's what's happening in rural america. >> all right. you're in the cabinet. i got to ask you about the bob gates book. this was your fellow cabinet member. >> i haven't read the book. look, we're not involved very much in foreign affairs. i have a lot of respect for all of the folks who were mentioned in that book. the president's a very forceful leader. very patient leader. and does, indeed, like to have -- >> did you see tension between, say, the vice president and gates during cabinet meetings? >> no. >> you never saw that tension firsthand? >> not at all. >> that part of it surprised you? >> i didn't see it. >> all right. tom vilsack, secretary of agricultu agriculture. iowan. pittsburgher. the federal government started a war 50 years ago. the question is, who's winning the so-called war on poverty? we'll discuss the battles of the past and the fights still ahead for congress both on capitol hill and across the country. first, today's trivia question. who was the first sitting house member to be elected president? first person to tweet the correct answer to @chucktoday

and @dailyrundown will get today's shout out. answer and more is coming up. oud 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 and drilling technologies to produce natural gas... powering our lives... while reducing emissions by up to 60%. energy lives here. ♪ [ cellphones beeping ] ♪ [ cellphone rings ] hello? [ male announcer ] over 12,000 financial advisors. good, good. good. over $700 billion dollars in assets under care. let me just put this away. [ male announcer ] how did edward jones get so big? could you teach our kids that trick? [ male announcer ] by not acting that way.

ok, last quarter... [ male announcer ] it's how edward jones makes sense of investing. ♪

to prove to you that aleve is the better choice for him, he's agreed to give it up. that's today? [ male announcer ] we'll be with him all day as he goes back to taking tylenol. i was okay, but after lunch my knee started to hurt again. and now i've got to take more pills. ♪ yup. another pill stop. can i get my aleve back yet? ♪

for my pain, i want my aleve. ♪ [ male announcer ] look for the easy-open red arthritis cap. time for hump day data bank. money, marijuana and medical scams. number 49. that's how many days it's been since florida congressman tray radik announced he was taking a leave of absence after pleading guilty to drug possession charges. on tuesday he returned to work insisting he would work hard to rebuild voter trust. next up, 106. the number of people mostly ex-cops and firefighters who are indicted in the largest social security scam in history. the manhattan district attorney says the accused were coached on how to fake symptoms of mental illness so that they could get federal assistance. ultimately, bilking the

government out of some $400 million. what's worse? many of them used the 9/11 attacks as the reason for their fake illnesses. next up, 2.5 million. that's how much cash former new york major michael bloomberg donated to a superpac that's in charge of an effort to keep democrats in control of the u.s. senate. close aides suggested the donation may be just the first step in a broader effort to help democrats in 2014. so the one time republican mayor turned independent now a major democratic donor. that brings us to another money number. 4 million. that's the amount raised by the ready for hillary superpac in 2013. the group raised most of the money in the second half of the year amid growing speculation that hillary clinton will, in fact, run for president. again, this group, they are the ones that have sort of seized this space in being the place holder for people to go whether they will be the ultimate group in charge of running the clinton campaign is still an open

question. finally, 55%. that's how many americans say marijuana should be legalized. this is a new cnn poll that shows the number of those in support of legalization has jumped significantly. consider this. the pro marijuana numbers are up 12 points from two years ago. up more than 20 points since 2012. and have doubled since 1996. put that in your bowl and smoke it. coming up, some questions that affect all of us. how is the government handling poverty? is homelessness or nutrition better than it was when president johnson declared a war on poverty exactly 50 years ago this day? we'll look at the progress and the setbacks next. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. ou run into traffic? no, just had to stop by the house to grab a few things. you stopped by the house? uh-huh. yea. alright, whenever you get your stuff, run upstairs, get cleaned up for dinner. you leave the house in good shape? yea. yea, of course. ♪ [ sportscaster talking on tv ] last-second field go-- yea, sure ya did. [ male announcer ] introducing at&t digital life.

personalized home security and automation. get professionally monitored security for just $29.99 a month. with limited availability in select markets. ♪ ♪ ♪ yeah? then how'd i get this... [ voice of dennis ] ...safe driving bonus check? every six months without an accident, allstate sends a check. silence. are you in good hands?

to roll out a perfectly flaky crust that's made from scratch. or mix vegetables with all white meat chicken and homemade gravy. but marie callender's does. just sit down and savor. marie callender's. it's time to savor. 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. today a deep dive into the democrats' pitch to voters for 2014 and beyond. they're taking a page, basically, out of president lyndon johnson's first state of

the union delivered exactly 50 years ago today. >> this administration today, here and now, declares unconditional war on poverty in america. the richest nation on earth can afford to win it. we cannot afford to lose it. >> 50 years later, president obama plans to echo lbj's war on poverty tomorrow when he discusses new assistance for troubled neighborhoods. in his state of the union later this month is expected to address some of these key issues including current fights over unemployment benefits, the minimum wage as part of a broader struggle to close the gap between the rich and poor. republicans, meanwhile, are trying to get on the right side of this issue before 2016. this empathy problem that they have. to that end, senator marco rubio will discuss income mobility today while congressman paul ryan plans to address poverty in

a discussion with my colleague at nbc, brian williams. he does that tomorrow. on the democratic side congressman barbara lee plans to launch a series of 50 speeches in 50 days to honor johnson's efforts. president johnson's war on poverty was part of his bid. between 1964 and '65 he passed the economic opportunity act to create jobs. programs made -- that became permanent like the food stamp program. and he established medicare and medicaid. he also passed education legislation that launched head start, spent billions to help clean up slums and lift people out of poverty. in the short term it did work. the official poverty rate fell from 19% in 1964 down to about 11% just ten years later. but support for social programs declined in the '70s and '80s due to economic insecurity and criticism over government assistance in general. in 1987 president reagan famously said the war on poverty was over. and that poverty had won.

by the '90s the focus shifted away from the root causes of poverty and instead turned to reducing welfare dependence. >> we have to end welfare as a way of life and make it a path to independence. [ applause ] >> now, the effort to get more people back to work helped reduce the poverty rate around the turn of the century. but it's been on the rise ever since. the latest numbers from the census bureau show that 15% of americans still live below the poverty line. just four percentage points lower than it was 50 years ago. think about that. despite that, though, the ranks of the poor have actually grown from 36 million in raw numbers in '64 to more than 46 million in raw numbers in 2012. a closer look at the numbers show a mixed bag at best. the number of african-americans below the poverty line has been slashed from nearly 42% in 1966. but it still sits at over 27%. thanks to medicaid and medicare,

americans over 65 have seen their poverty rate plummet from more than 28% at that time down to just 9% today. for kids under 18, the rate has grown from 17.6% to nearly 22%. and for people 18 to 64, the rate has jumped more than three points. that's despite the fact that the money spent on government assistance has skyrocketed. more than half of the budget in to 12 went to social security, medicare, medicaid, children's health insurance or other safety net programs. a little under $2 trillion. roughly 50 times the amount that the federal government spent on social welfare programs in 1965. bob her vert is a distinguished senior fellow at demos and spent years reporting on urban affairs and social friends. annie lowry is the economic reporter for the "new york times." annie, let me start with you. anniversaries have a way of sort of sparking a conversation. then the anniversaries go away and the debate about the issue of what to do goes away.

is that what -- is that a point that we're at right now when we're talking about these poverty issues? or is the income inequality issue something that might actually have the attention of lawmakers? >> i think that you're right. that these anniversaries sent to come and go and nothing changes. but it's worth noting that 2014 is actually a really big year in terms of government programs, alleviating the effects of poverty because of the medicaid expansion. the medicaid expansion means that millions of childless poor adults are going to have access to health insurance in a way that they didn't before. i do think that both parties are really, really serious about tackling inequality and poverty as an issue. we've seen a lot of new proposals on the republican side. we've seen democrats hitting the republicans for trying to cut some safety net programs. and also focusing on opportunity. but i think as always the question is whether anything can pass congress. and i think as you've reported many times, it's very hard to imagine them doing too much this year. >> bob, i want to go into sort

of the folks that are falling through the cracks. i want to put up a stat here. these are the -- the poverty rate for single mothers is nearly 31%. african-americans, 27%. hispanics, nearly 26%. people under 18, nearly 22%. this is today's numbers. i'm not reading the numbers from 1964. but i'll be honest, when i looked at them i thought these were the '64 numbers at first. >> we're in a terrible situation when it comes to poverty. for example, more than 1 out of every 3 black children is growing up poor. you know, but we -- when you look at johnson's war on poverty, you have to understand that things -- as bad as things are now they would be much worse if that hadn't happened. try to imagine where we would be if we didn't have medicare, medicaid, the school lunch program, you know, food stamps, that sort of thing. i mean, we'd really be in a much more terrible situation. but i have to say that i am not optimistic going forward. i do not expect the government

to do anything substantial about poverty. and the reason is because we can't address the root causes of poverty. that means not just jobs, but good jobs. jobs that pay well. >> right. >> more importantly, no one even is willing to talk about redistribution. redistribution of wealth and income. and you cannot make a serious dent in poverty without redistribution. without taking something from the haves and moving it toward the have-notes. >> give me an example of what that would look like. >> well -- >> and how is this done successfully? >> well, for example, if -- we did a better job of it in the early post-world war ii years. but, for example, you would have to raise taxes and begin to make really solid investments in things like infrastructure, r & d, public education system, higher education. it would take a tremendous amount of money. i don't see anything approaching

anything like that in the cards right now. >> you know, annie, you were reporting on something that you were talking about that one of the biggest issues right now for the working poor is that they're just -- you know, if you were working poor 30 or 40 years ago you could get into an entry level job that didn't pay very well, kept you below the poverty line for a while, but you could work your way up. and you could get out of poverty. just by working at a specific place. that's missing today. and is that sort of among the root causes here in your mind? >> absolutely. one of the main problems that we're talking about when we're talking about the persistence of poverty is a lack of jobs that are going to keep a family afloat. and a lack of jobs that are going to allow people to kind of work for a long time and keep their family from falling into poverty later. and i think it's, you know, so much of what you were talking about with bob, it's a problem that i don't know that the government knows how to solve. it's something that has to do

with globalization, that has to do with the decline of labor unions with b that has to do with technological change. i think the question then is how do you improve opportunity by making sure that the workforce keeps on becoming more educated and more skilled? but what do you do in the meantime? and especially for -- for kids. because a lot of children are still growing up in poverty. and that problem has also remained remarkably persistent. >> bob, right before tom vilsack left my set, when he knew i was previewing this, he said, hey, the poverty rate in rural america is worse than it is in urban america. that gets lost a lot of times in these discussions. >> i actually think that the press has not done a good job in talking about poverty. if you travel around the country, you will see that the situation is much worse than the impression you would get from politicians and from mainstream media. it's not just that there are so many people officially at or

below the poverty line. there's a tremendous number of people just a notch or two above the poverty line. so we're approaching now probably a third of the american population that is essentially low income. >> and is it basically on the -- if they're not there, on the verge of being officially below the poverty line. >> exactly right. >> this is not nearly the amount of time that this discussion deserves. but hopefully we'll keep on it. i thank you both. bob herbert, amy lowrey, thank you very much. up next, the polar vortex is pulling away. that's good news for every state in the union. find out which states are warming up fastest and which ones are still struggling in the deep freeze. first, white house soup of the day. just a plain old lentil. that's a good hearty soup on a cold day. we'll be right back. the day buit 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. ♪ this is the creamy chicken corn chowder. i mean, look at it. so indulgent. did i tell you i am on the... [ both ] chicken pot pie diet! me too! [ male announcer ] so indulgent, you'll never believe they're light. 100-calorie progresso light soups. [ chainsaw whirring ] humans -- sometimes life trips us up. sometimes we trip ourselves up. and although the mistakes may seem to just keep coming at you, so do the solutions. like multi-policy discounts from liberty mutual insurance. save up to 10% just for combining your auto and home insurance. call liberty mutual insurance at... [ thump ] to speak with an insurance expert and ask about all the personalized savings available for when you get married, move into a new house, or add a car to your policy. personalized coverage and savings.

all the things humans need to make our world a little less imperfect. call... and ask about all the ways you could save. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? when my son was born, i remember, you know, picking him up and holding him against me. it wasn't just about me anymore. i had to quit. [ male announcer ] along with support,

chantix (varenicline) is proven to help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke. chantix didn't have nicotine in it, and that was important to me. [ 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, which could get worse while taking chantix. don't take chantix if you've had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. if you develop these, stop chantix and see your doctor right away, as some could be life threatening. tell your doctor if you have a history of heart or blood vessel problems, or if you develop new or worse symptoms. get medical help right away if you have symptoms of a heart attack or stroke. use caution when driving or operating machinery. common side effects include nausea, trouble sleeping and unusual dreams. i had to quit smoking to keep up with this guy. [ male announcer ] ask your doctor if chantix is right for you. and back to the nationwide

deep freeze and the promise of a warmup on the way. if you want to call the 30s warm at this point. all 50 states dipped below 32 degrees tuesday. even hawaii. check out the fountain outside the county courthouse in the county courthouse in mississippi. it's frozen solid, but the worse may be over for most of the country. nbc meteorologist bill karins joins me now. bill, the vortex, is it disappearing within itself, is it just retreating, explain. >> the piece of it is that so-called attacked us is retreating back up to the north where it should be back up there in northern canada. that's good, chuck, but we're feeling the effects. we're past the worst of it, by far. balmy 15 wind chill in washington, d.c., but the northern plains, fargo, minneapolis, they are feeling the effects. dangerous day to be outside. but the rest of the country, the slow warmup has begun. this is the map you want to see, red, yellows.

we're about 12 degrees warmer in the midatlantic and 15 to 20 degrees warmer throughout much of the country compared to this time yesterday. where do we go from here? nice january thaw thursday through saturday, no problems, warm weather. we could be up to the 60s in d.c., 50 and dry on sunday, chuck, but then another arctic blast the end of next week. we can deal with that. we expect that this time of year. >> i was going to say, in the winter, it's cold. all right. bill, thank you, sir. trivia time. it's james garfield who was the first and only sitting house member to be elected president. john q. adams answers forgot the fact mr. adams became a member of congress after the presidency. today's winner, a returning champion. send your trivia suggestions to daily rundown. we'll be right back. [announcer] word is getting out. purina dog chow light & healthy is a deliciously tender and crunchy kibble blend.

with 20% fewer calories than purina dog chow. isn't it time you discovered the lighter side of dog chow. purina dog chow light & healthy. to help me become an olympian, she was pretty much okay with me turning her home into an ice rink. ♪ she'd just reach for the bounty select-a-size. it's the smaller, powerful sheet that acts like a big sheet. look, one select-a-size sheet of bounty is 50% more absorbent than a full size sheet of the leading ordinary brand. use less, with the small but powerful picker-upper, bounty select-a-size. i just served my mother-in-law your chicken noodle soup but she loved it so much... i told her it was homemade. everyone tells a little white lie now and then. but now she wants my recipe [ clears his throat ] [ softly ] she's right behind me isn't she? [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup.

[ clears his throat ] [ softly ] she's right behind me isn't she? when i first started shopping for a hybrid... i didn't even look at anything else. i just assumed you went and bought a prius. so this time around we were able to do some research and we ended up getting a ford... which we love. it's been a wonderful switch. it has everything that you could want in a car. it's the most fun to drive... because it's the most hi tech inside... i think this c-max can run circles around the prius... the biggest difference would definitely be the acceleration of the car... if you can get someone to test-drive a c-max... they would end up buying this more times than not.

take away time. here we go. former pentagon chief bob gates's new memoir does not only question president obama's leadership and offer a harsh critique of vice president biden, it can also have a serious impact on another democrat running in 2016, hillary clinton. writing, "i found her smart, ied listic, but pragmatic, tough minded, funny, a very valuable colleague, and a superb representative of the united states all over the world. wow, almost like an endorsement of her to be the next president of the united states, but look at this criticism here. it could be damaging and he may not have meant it to be damaging, but this excerpt which says her opposition to the iraq war was politically motivated. it reinforces an idea her decisions are politically calculated, she's a clinton, if you will, she will say and do anything to win.

it's one of the worst knocks against anybody with the last name of clinton and gates's comments could make it tough for her to shake it, especially now if she's having to placate the left again, which is much stronger today than it was even in '06 and '07, so it can have an impact on the primary, make it tough to deal with the de blasio/warren wing. on foreign policy and a host of other issues. anyway, be very interesting. this is part of the issues that she's got to straddle here. again, gates and her were very close. there's no doubt in my mind gates was not trying to be critical of hillary clinton and wanted to send a message he was a huge fan of hillary clinton, but that nugget about the iraq war and the surge is something that could come back to haunt secretary clinton. that's it for this edition of "the daily rundown." coming up next, it's chris jansing. i'll see you laerlt.

we have warmer times coming your way, especially for the upcoming weekend. as far as the rain goes, little in texas, little in the way of travel concerns. have a great day. anna, your hotels have wondrous waffle bars. ryan, your hotels' robes are fabulous. i have twelve of them. twelve? shhhh, i'm worth it& what i'm trying to say is, it's so hard to pick just one of you, so i'm choosing all of you with hotels.com. a loyalty program that requires no loyalty. plus members can win a free night every day only at hotels.com there's nothing like being your own boss! and my customers are really liking your flat rate shipping. fedex one rate. really makes my life easier.

maybe a promotion is in order. good news. i got a new title. and a raise? management couldn't make that happen. [ male announcer ] introducing fedex one rate. simple, flat rate shipping with the reliability of fedex.

surprise, six republican senators vote yes for unemployment benefits. >> who knows, we might actually get some things done this year. >> we'll hear from speaker john boehner for the first time this hour about the future for more than 1 million unemployed americans. strange things are happening because of the extreme cold. besides hell freezing over, hell, michigan, that is, escaped prisoners are turning themselves in. and now we're hearing about the economic impact. the deep freeze hitting wallets. plus, our new york's power politicians in a battle to show the country who's more liberal. is there a feud between new york city's brand new mayor and the new york state governor? good morning, i'm chris jansing. washington and the political world are buzzing this morning about that bomb shell book from former defense secretary robert gates, who calls the current white house the most centralized and controlling since the nixon administration. in his new memoir out next week