the third legal tango in two weeks. and a walk down abby's road. is it time to do away with the state of the union. president obama is about to leave milwaukee for his fourth post state ooft union pitch. he is headed for nashville while republicans are powwowing at the annual retreat. one of the deliver four gop rebuttals is about to speak. her republicans are calling this year's event the congress of tomorrow. this year the gop is taking on a talk like approach with big names outside the box speakers and innovation lounge. it is happening now on the eastern shore of maryland. luke rusert is there.

have you stopped by the lounge yet? >> reporter: i have not but why aren't you here? you are young. you are a female. that is what they are trying to have talks to try to gear towards their side of the political spectrum. they would have loved to hear from you. >> maybe next year. what are they talking about this year? >> the big story is two things. number one, immigration reform. at 4:30 p.m. they will give out principles of what they think immigration should be in the house. it is unclear specifically what that will be. we know there will be some pathway not to full citizenship but sort of legal status. the main kicker, though, is border security. all along we have not gotten adequate response from house gop as what constitutes border security. some say even if there was a plan put forth we don't trust president obama to execute it

faithfully. the other thing that we can tell you is that eric cantor said the house gop will vote on an alternative to obamacare in 2014. a lot of what we are seeing is a theme from republicans. they don't want to be a party of no but a party of we stand for, excuse me, something else. lastly we hear the gop plan to deal with the debt limit. they don't want to have a knock them out drag them out fight over that. expect to hear something on that realm in terms of a more, shall we say, diplomatic approach. a lot of issues going on, immigration, health care, the debt. rebranding for 2014. no longer the party of no. >> not as catchy as the party of no. >> it is interesting on those issues. they may go from party of no to party of maybe. the gop retreat, thank you very

much. joining us here in new york, senior editor of the new republican. >> it starts with the ted talk. where it goes nobody knows. i want to get your thoughts. there is at least at the messaging level a difference here. john boehner said he wants to be judged on how many laws they repeal. they are not talking about repealing immigration laws. one of the weirdest is they didn't hold a lot of votes on gop proposals at all let alone other people's ideas. >> there is a lot of talk these days that president obama's popularity is down. compared to the republican congress his popularity is sky high. and i think republicans are starting to feel a little pressure that they actually have to stand for something. and the country is getting a little annoyed at seeing a party

that is much more successful at shutting down the government than making the government do its basic job. i think they are feeling the pressure and at least talking about passing laws. again, talking about passing laws is a lot different than passing laws. at least they are talking about it. >> and talking about passing laws is easier than actually passing them and doing something. having a difficult time talking witho without -- now talking about having a probation period before legalization. what if you come out of the shadow in the probation period and border security does not work out and then you have to push back and you get deported. republicans are having a difficult time messaging on this. look at paul ryan talking to chuck todd. >> the plan will have a pathway to legalization and not citizenship. is that how you understand it? >> that is right. it involved a probationary

status. >> citizenship not on the table? >> what i'm trying to say is you have to make sure this is not amnesty. >> citizenship, the folks that are here illegally, citizenship ever going to be available to them under the republican plan? >> so no new special pathway. what this debate in the senate bill said is a pathway for undocumented immigrants to get citizenship. we are not going to do that. >> the establishment understands they have to do something. the tea party, radio folks say don't give them amnesty. how does the gop get out of this situation? >> i don't know. i don't think john boehner knows. we have seen this play out over and over again. it was the same one that played out over the shutdown. you can hear it in ryan's voice.

every word he said he was calculating how would that play to the center of the party? they don't know. that is the scary part of this is the leadership does not have control. you see them trying to send signals to beoth sides. we are not going to do this. you don't want amnesty we do amnesty. they are in a really tough spot. they don't know how they are going to get out of it which means none of us know. >> it seems to me part of the reason they are in a tough spot is because the obnoxious over the top destructive behavior is politicly rewarded. when ted cruz shut down the country it was terrible for the country and republican party and great for ted cruz. recently huckabee while condemned by a lot of people it has been good for him politicly. he is rising in the polls.

how will the leadership get control when the political incentive is to be extreme? >> the base likes this. the republican base likes to see this behavior. at the end of the day we just have to wait until they finally go too far and the pressure from the rest of the country becomes unbearable. that is what we saw happen in the fall. hopefully it will happen again. that republican base is very powerful. and we have seen time and again the republican leadership make a decision that the rest of the country goes what are they doing. they know it is unpopular but it is what the base wants and what the base wants the base gets. >> you wrote an interesting piece this week about the fact that we have short term memories and don't think about the long term impact presidents can have on public policy. remember changes in public policy frequently take longer than one presidential term.

a law that made new plant regulations possible. the reality is different. republicans that control the house and enough votes to block most legislation in the senate and not to mention president obama's approval rating which is not so high, doesn't give a lot of authority there. do you think history will write about this time in a more positive light? >> i think so. people forget a lot got done in president obama's first term. i think at a time when congress isn't passing a lot you can look back and see what president obama is doing and the seeds he is planting for legislation. i like his prekindergarten for example, universal prek, something a lot of other countries have and we can have a real conversation about it down the road. if we get a plan like that and get people behind it. there are republicans who even support it, people will look back to what president obama has done and the speeches he gave.

even when he leaves office maybe five or ten years from now there will be something to show for it. >> abby huntsman says things start slow and move fast in politics. the blame game over atlanta's snow mess gets heated. ♪ we're gonna be late. ♪ ♪ ♪ oh, are we early? [ male announcer ] commute your way with the bold, all-new nissan rogue. ♪

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traffic finally moving in and around the atlanta area.

roads have been crippled for days now because of a winter storm that dumped only a couple of inches of snow but had plenty oaf ice. the rhetoric has heated up first the mayor. >> from the outside looking in it may look like atlanta was not prepared. >> the eyes of the nation are on the state. i'm not going to get into that blame game. the crisis that we are going through is across the region. >> while the mayor appears to be taking a swipe at the governor the governor admitted the buck stops with him after putting the media on his radar. >> the national weather service had continually had their modeling showing that the city of atlanta would not be the primary area where the storm would hit. the reality is the storm developed and the volume of traffic became so heavy in such

a short timeframe that it became difficult to keep them moving in a safe fashion. >> word of advice for the governor do not tick off al roker. >> the atlanta metro area added a winter storm watch by the national weather service. we move ahead now into atlanta metro area upgraded to winter weather advisory monday evening. tuesday night winter weather advisory upgraded to warning a full eight hours before snow started. as you watch radar you see it move in. 2.6 inches. there was plenty of time to make those adjustments for any kind of snow removal. so you decide. >> what a mess. matt pearl is there to sort all of this out for us. >> reporter: it has been interesting comparing and

contrast in terms of how they have responded to the situation. mayor reed likes to take things to the public. he is no stranger. he will go to discuss issues controversial to the city. in this case snow storms happen everywhere but occur differently in the south. i'm used to covering storms in buffalo that have as many feet as inches. in the south they happen every few years. even though that is frequent enough to warrant attention it is rare enough that when they happen people don't know how to handle them. when mayor reed says this is a world class city and the ninth largest market in the country and strikes a cord when this is a city that has people stranded in cars for more than a dozen

hours. we have heard from our governor who has been quiet on the national front and came out in a press conference and said this is my fault, the buck stops with me. he said part of the reason he didn't act sooner is because people tend to get upset when preparatory actions take place. he said he will take that opportunity to take preventive action in the future and people can't be upset with what happens then. you have the mayor and governor trying to react to this and doing so on the fly in many ways. >> matt pearl in atlanta. you have heard the political spin. what a mess. it is a disaster. the one thing you never want to do is go against al roker or weather reporters. they are often wrong. it is tough to predict weather estpel especially many days in advance.

we are seeing obviously no one wants to take the blame. this is politicians 101. they never want to say they did anything wrong. the mayors saying this is not my problem. this has to be the governor's problem which there was a mishap in terms of coordination. they should take a step back. a little too late for that. this is a disaster. a friend left work at 6:00 p.m. and ended up getting homet at 11:00 a.m. the next day. he said he had to get out of his car because it was not moving. so many kids stranded. >> the facts add up on this. it was really crippling for a lot of people. i got on the phone yesterday with someone driving an 18 wheeler strachbded well over 16 hours and left the car and

walked about four hours to get food and supplies. he walked by people including a pregnant woman and picked up out of his own pocket diapers and supplies and hachbded them back to those people, went back to the car. there are stories like that here. also a failure, as you are saying. this is where local politics is different. it is not about ideology. it is about competence. there is no republican or democratic way to fix a pot hole or keep roads open. with this much anger and this much suffering, how many people look at local politicians who they may have liked but dismiss them on competence. >> it is a political situation. it is not d&r situation. meteorologists often make mistakes. this was anticipatable weather

situation. they knew what this was going to be. the scientists did. the politicians made a political decision that it was too much economically to cancel a day in a big southern city so they wanted to keep going. when they did the threat analysis they hoped for the best case scenario rather than fearing the worst case scenario which is what happened and snarled the city. a great essay talking about this says the georgia governor articulated well he was afraid to be wrong than he was of people being stranded in his cars. until we develop a system that keeps politics out of it this kind of thing is going to keep on happening. he said this is similar to what happened in hurricane sandy. the politicians got in the way of the scientists making a science-based decision. it is not just the mayor's fault. it is also the governors.

>> you will see some politicians pay a price for this. a lot of times people separate ideology when it comes to some basic competence. it would not be the first time that a politician was turfed for handling a snow storm poorly. you had the mayor of chicago in 1979. the mayor of denver in '83. the mayor of atlanta was just reelected. governor diehl is up this november. he has been leading in the polls against carter who is seen as a strong democratic contender. something like this could shift the dynamics quickly. >> atlanta is looking at him like we have a bad deal. >> i was not saying that weather people make mistakes. i was saying it is predictable.

it is easy to laugh at reporters when it is not as sunny. that is not what i was trying to say. we are following a number of breaking news stories. if i can impart one lesson to a new business owner, it would be one thing i've learned is my philosophy is real simple american express open forum is an on-line community, that helps our members connect and share ideas to make smart business decisions. if you mess up, fess up. be your partners best partner. we built it for our members, but it's open for everyone.

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a verdict will be read in the retrial of amanda knox. knox is currently back in her native seattle where she vowed to fight extradition back to italy. the justice department announced it will seek the death penalty against accused boston marathon bomber dzhokhar tsarnaev. he pleaded not guilty to all 30 charges against him. the bombings killed three people

and injured hundreds of others. continuing the breaking coverage of the winter storm that crippled the south. atlanta's airport is trying to return to normal. we are hearing of passengers waiting more than a day in the terminals. so far today we have seen more than 5,000 delays nationwide and more than 2,000 cancellations. also today the song keeps getting more sad for troubled pop singer justin bieber. he is charged of assaulting his limo driver. bieber is a canadian citizen. white house.gov petition to deport him.

a group of college athletes is trying to gain a voice and unionize. members of northwestern's football team says the current system leaves them unable to cover basic expenses. the university says student athletes are not employees and collective bargaining is therefore not the appropriate method to address the concerns. it is part of the larger conversation about the future of unions in the country. union membership is dropping and that is having negative impacts across the board for all workers. jake rosenfield is associate professor of sociology and is author of the book "what unions no longer do". thanks for joining us. >> thank you for having me on. >> i wanted to start with a history of what unions used to do and the positive impact that they used to have on our economy. >> absolutely.

so the basic argument of the book is that you cannot understand what has been happening in terms of inequality in this country without accounting for the dramatic decline of organized labor. when unions were strong they combatted inequality of various kinds. they were able to provide a vital bridge and able to combat political ineequality. that power has been decreased dramatically as representation rates have plummeted. >> you document that people not in unions have -- basically because when there is high density union activity it lifts all boats. yet you also show that that has recently declined. that is to say unions because of

the overall decline aren't lifting nonunion wages. isn't that a problem that people want to argue today that unions are good for the economy? >> i don't think it is a problem because it points to the fact that when unions are strong millions of millions once benefits because nonunion employer in heavily unionized industry would have raised wages because that is what the union was doing or because they were scared of the drive. one way to keep it out is to keep workers happy and one way to do that is to pay them well and keep up with good benefits. that powers decline. >> so, jake, two nights ago during a state of the union address the president talked about what he saw as causes of

inequality. >> before the great recession hit massive shifts in technology and global competition had eliminated a lot of good middle class jobs and weakened the economic foundations that families depend on. today after four years of economic growth corporate profits and stock prices have rarely been higherer. and those at the top have never done better. but average wages have barely budged. >> you even have the president acknowledging that a good portion of wage stagnation is due to structural decline. even if we return to levels of unionization that once was would it have the same effect? >> i think it is a great question. on the one hand it is absolutely true that tech change. we see enormous varquatiiations

canada with unionization rate two to three times than our own. you look at nations like denmark, sweden and norway they have representation rates over 50% and lower inequality and these countries experience what the president was talking aboutwit and under gone decline in manufacturing and opening up of markets to global trade. that speaks to a unique set of circumstances here in the u.s. that accounted for dramatic decline. about one in three to around 1 in 20 today. >> that is a driver of the income inequality today. the thing i'm most fascinated aboutt is to see student athletes at northwestern university trying to start a union. i am proud of them. we can argue about whether or not they are employees. i argue they are absolutely employees. they work and get a salary in terms of scholarship and creating value for the

university. we see that unionizing can change an industry where there are no unions. that is why the status quo fights back so hard. >> i think that is right. you can look at the history of industry after industry of americans and see the dramatic change that came with organization. the northwestern case is pretty unique. it is yet another example of workers or players in this case agitating for some collective representation that we have seen among fast food workers, wal-mart workers, restaurant workers throughout the country. that is something relatively new. i would say the ncaa is not wal-mart but like wal-mart i hazard to guess ncaa wants nothing to do with it. >> do you think we are seeing a new rise in organized labor whether through traditional

labor unions or other organizations? >> i think it is a bit too early to tell. there is no magic bullett for organized labor out there. the more supporters can draw the issues of inequality and stagnating wages and poverty together with the plight of organized labor the better off i think it will be for labors fortu fortunes. by bringing them together we make absolutely clear to those people, from the president on down whovise expressed real concern that you are not going to be able to combat it without a revitalized labor movement. >> so well said. thank you so much. and up next developing news on those terror arrests in sochi with the games just one week away. we have all of the details next. mom, dad told me that cheerios is good for your heart,

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we are exactly one week

until the start of the olympics in sochi and crystal is excited. there are new developments this afternoon related to what has become the story of the games so far, security. russian authorities say they have two suicide bombers in custody. meantime investigators continue to search for three of the so-called black widows, a terror group which has vowed an attack within the so-called ring of steel. so many are wondering if organizers forgot about the fun thing. the massive security undertaking is the cover story of "time" magazine. they cover so many story lines surrounding the games. sean gregory is a senior writer. can you break down what they are doing in terms of the security that they have not seen. >> 40,000 people on the ground.

that's massive in olympics. and for winter olympics it is usually scaled back. this is the most expensive winter olympics of all time. russia is sparing no expense to try to make the games safe. >> let's talk about athletes. davis, the great speed skater who sometimes goes fast on the ice and gives bad interviews afterwards. is this finally the game where he becomes a big, huge star? >> he is still a private guy. he trains alone and does his own thing. it is interesting him going in trying to become the first male skater to win the same event three straight olympics. >> in this edition you talk about this bitter ice dancing feud that the winningest coaching duo in ice dancing history has broken up and creating all sorts of drama and tension among the ice dancers. >> both russian immigrants came

over. russia ice dancing has a long tradition and came over to try to eget americans to be good at the sport. now it is charlie white favorites. figure skating is usually the favored sport. we are not as strong in figure skating. dancing which is a little more loose and fun is going to get a big boost. >> the barn sisters who have had a guinness commercial made for them. basically this was their last year competing and tracy gave up her seat to her sister who was sick the day of the trials. she passed it on to her sister. i think we will all be cheering for both of thep. >> you can be simple about the olympics about spirit. that was an example of real sisterly love. how could you not cheer for

those guys. >> you think we will get hockey gold? >> women's hockey. >> how about the guys? >> the u.s. men's team has had trouble in europe, hasn't won a medal in europe since 1956. since pros have taken over when america goes overseas it is not good for america. >> sean gregory thank you so much. up next the obama administration matching words with action. ari takes us into a courtroom giving america's veterans a second chance. music stops ♪music resumes music stops ♪music resumes [announcer] if your dog can dream it. purina pro plan can help him achieve it. nutrition that performs.

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it was one thing that united everyone in the chamber during the president's state of the union, standing up for veterans. i travelled to see an innovative program in action. >> without a doubt second chance is what a lot of us need. some people need a third chance. >> reporter: ronald could be in prison. not so long ago he was arrested and struggling with alcohol abuse. on this day the air force veteran is in court to celebrate his graduation. >> it is nice to have a happy occasion in federal court. we do not see many of those. >> reporter: he and four fellow veterans got a second chance through a special court program. one that offers vets treatment instead of the cell. >> it is nice to see you looking as good as you look because when

we first met we didn't look so good. >> the first court opened in upstate new york nearly six years ago founded by a judge who noticed a recurring issue among men and women returning from war. many come home struggling with ptsd. of the 140,000 veterans in american jails today the justice department estimates 60% face substance abuse problems. >> there is a chronic need for more of these kinds of efforts. >> for attorney general eric holder programs like these go beyond breaking the cycle of aabuse. >> we owe them in the most profound of ways. >> they work and well for the veterans they are designed to help. an estimated 70% of veterans who enroll in these programs finish

them successfully. 75% avoid re-arrest. in an exclusive interview with our presume guilty series the attorney general said these courts are just one part of broader reforms, reforms that prioritize rehabilitation over prison which are central to the new smart on crime approach at the justice department. >> it is the right thing to do to have a criminal justice system perceived as being fair and acts in proportionate ways. >> less than a decade after the first veterans court opened the doors there are more than 130 such courts across the country. nevada and texas passed legislation to create new veterans courts. for veterans these courts aren't just an alternative, they are a life line. >> if you had problems in a jail and you have no hope and you kmp out of jail and you see a judge who gives you an opportunity,

better take it. >> joining us now is judge robert russell. he created the nation's first veterans treatment court in new york and spoke to us for this report. this started for you with a case of a vietnam veteran in 2006. tell us about that. >> yes. thank you very much for having me. in 2006 i was presiding in a mental health treatment court. and there was a veteran, vietnam veteran about 6'4", fairly sizable gentleman. and he wasn't doing well in his community mental health treatment program. and when he came to court on this particular day his posture was slump, his eyes directed at the floor and the carpet in the courtroom. he wouldn't engage or have eye contact with me. and i asked him how are things going, why wasn't he really

engaged in his treatment program. and he wasn't articulating why. he was merely just giving shrug of shoulders, grunts. i had two individuals in the courtroom, project director and jack o'connor, both vietnam veterans. jack served in the army 82nd air borne. and hank served in the marines i asked them to go out of the courtroom and talk to this gentleman. about 15, 20 minutes later they returned to the courtroom and this gentleman who wasn't doing well in his mental health treatment program stood in front of me looking directly into my eyes and said judge, i'm going to try harder. it totally amazed me how twoe veterans can motivate him in just that short period of time to indicate he will try harder. from there that began our

journey of exploring what more we can do to assist our veterans. >> describe to us the program that you devised and what the results and benefits have been. >> the results and the benefits have been tremendous. what i enjoy tremendously and one of my most enjoyable courts to preside over and how the united states department of veteran affairs have been with us in the beginning and working and planning this initiative. i asked him if they would place a federal health department employee in the courtroom from the veteran affairs and they agreed to do such. they provided someone from the benefit affairs to assist with benefits and we have a number of veterans from the community who volunteer as peer mentors. what we work to create is a one

stop location for veterans to address not only their mental health, their substance, their housing needs if they are homeless we get them in safe housing. in addition with regards to just mentoring to help them to move forward. but it's a court that is designed where they report back to court every two weeks. we work to address their progress or lack of progress. and then they held accountable in their consequences. we realize we have one of the most and the best equipped military in the world, well trained, resilient. unfortunately, some come back with the invisible wounds of war and we need to address the, post traumatic stress and some brain injury. >> judge russell, rehab was supposed to be a part of the war on drugs that president nixon

outlined and we fell into doing mass incarceration because it is better for the politicians but not better for the people suffering with the disease of empathetic approach is working for you and people you're seeing. >> yes. i think when the attorney general holder used the term "smart on crime" it's for us in the justice system to learn that we cannot jail our way out of some of the societal issues. we need to be able to address the underlying issues that has a contributing and motivating factor for some who find themselves getting arrested, for those that are career criminals, for those who life is crime, that's a different category. for those that become addicted to substances or for those who suffer the wounds of war and are having challenges readjusting

back home, we should be able to do what we can for those who have served us to help them to get stable, get back, become productive in our society and community again, and we all are better served. society is better served. tremendous cost saving and in addition we have someone function. >> i know that's what animated you to set up a program, over 100 around the country, and attorney general holder looking at the model. thank you for your time. we've posted an article about veterans courts and the work judge russell is doing at the top of our cycle page. we're also answering your questions on that today. we are going to look at this next tuesday as well with an online chat and discussion. again, you can learn about all of it on the cycle home page and our facebook page too. coming up, we're going to get some political advice from that noted sage of political wisdom, happy gilmore. a few things. you stopped by the house? uh-huh. yea.

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mr. grif finish shoed the following statement. "the tweet last night was outrageous and sun epable. we immediately acknowledged it was offensive and wrong, apologized and deleted it. we have dismissed the person responsible for the tweet. i personally apologize to mr. priebus and to everyone offended. at msnbc, we believe in passionate, strong debate about the issues, and we invite voices from all sides to participate. that will never change." signed phil griffin. we'll be back after this.

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and find the aarp medicare supplement plan to go the distance with you. go long. for a brief moment standing together it felt like we were going to make it happen. >> every difference deserves a vote. the families of newtown deserve a vote. the families of aurora deserve a vote. the families of oak creek and tucson and blacksburg and the countless other communities ripped open by gun violence,

they deserve a simple vote. >> here we are a whole year later and there has been zero movement on gun control. it's not just gun control. frankly many of the issues mentioned in this year's speech were simply repeats from last year like immigration and tax reform. don't get me wrong, i love the amazingly awkward moments like biden channeling the fonz from happy days or speaker boehner giving obama the men toes thumbs up. but beyond entertainment, how does the state of the union move us forward as a nation? how is it any different from running for eighth grade class president promising ice cream at lunch? i lost that race. but knowing fair well that nothing would ever happen. the state of the union today is more symbolic than anything else. it's about each side getting to air their own agendas. for republicans that apparently means four different vergs in a come different languages. but why not? it's also the perfect opportunity for lawmakers to wait for hours just to get that seat on the aisle so they can show their face on television

shaking hands with the president. >> they literally have to bring their work to the chamber and wait four hours to get those seats along where the president is most likely to shake their hands. >> wow. bring your work to wait. seriously, this is not a one-direction concert. we shouldn't make fun. at least it's an incentive to get them to the office. and they don't get to see the president all that much. maybe that's the point. the president can't show up to capitol hill once a year to give the state of the union and expect things to just happen. that's not the way it works. it's when the tv cameras and teleprompters turn off when real progress can be made. mr. president and congress, prove me wrong. buck the tend of speeches and turn words into action. if this is going to be a year of action, the clock is already ticking. as happy gilmore taught us, you can't let even one day go to waste. >> oh, yeah, yeah. bring that [ bleep ] on, man. god, i love it. >> awesome!

>> oh, god that hurt a little but i'm all right. >> my god, son, what are the hell are you doing? >> 364 more days till next year's hockey tryouts. i got to toughen up! oh, god, that felt good! yeah! >> only 363 days until the next state of the union. it's only ten seconds to now with alex wagner. take it away. >> thank you, abby. house republicans are thinking outside the box. can they legislate from there too? it is thursday, january 30th, and this is "now." >> today the speaker and his house members -- >> at the annual winter retreat. >> biggest policy problem. >> we're the alternative party. >> not having realistic alternatives pms. >> maybe we won't have a shutdown over the debt ceiling next month. >> it does seem like the leaders of the house republican party are lining up to pass some sort of immigration bill.

>> throw a wrench in his rebranding effort. >> what will republicans agree to in terms of a pathway to the undocumented who get some sort of status? >> his with or without you message to wisconsin and tennessee. >> i want to work with them, but i can't wait for them. >> he'd rather blow kisses to his liberal base than work with republicans. >> he called us to work together. >> they want those that disagree with them to sit down and shut up. >> i was going to start out by saying the state of the union is cold. >> it is a new day. ensconced in a party retreat at the hyatt regency chesapeake bay golf resort spa and marie ena in columbia, maryland, house republicans pledged to turn the page on their obstructionist tendencies. >> it's important that we show the american people that we're not just of the opposition party, we're actually the alternative party. >> the discussion at this retreat is going to be not just about