wants them to pay up some more. also this morning, our brand-new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll on what parents think about their kids playing football, and the dangers of head injuries. and latest on one northwestern university's push for union rights for college athletes. plus, a look back at the politicians who popped up in super bowl tv ads over the years, and what is for a newfound tradition of the presidential game day interview. good morning from washington. it's friday. the last day of january, january 31st, 2014. this is a special football-focused edition of "the daily rundown," and it's not all fun and games. since the future of the sport seems to be in a little bit of doubt these days. let's get to my first reads of the morning. we begin with a simple question. are you ready for some football? it's the most popular sport in the country by far, and it keeps on getting bigger. send night football is on track to finish a third straight year as the top show in prime time,

period. an average of 30 million people watch the playoff games. over 50 million saw the championship games. and, of course, the super bowl is poised to break yet another record for tv viewing audiences. in 2012, it was 111 million viewers. it'll likely be more this time. it's the one event where you can actually say most of the country is watching the same thing. today, fans of both the broncos and seahawks are getting ready for their teams to take the big stage. >> okay, chuck, i'm here in denver -- [ cheers ] -- and i'm at the tavern, and i'm working my way through some of the craziest fans who got up incredibly early, excited for what will happen this sunday. call the game for me. >> denver broncos all day. denver, colorado. >> reporter: here we go. and the question is, why do the broncos, in your mind, have this game in the bag? >> oh, we have the best quarterback in the nation! he is number one!

yeah, peyton! >> reporter: all right. you know what happened to the shirt. >> denver is fanatical. >> reporter: chuck, we're here in seattle with the seahawks fans, including the jet city's chorus, who is performing for us right now. they're waving the 12th man flags, what the fans in seattle refer to, because they play an important role, they're the loudest fans in the league. so loud, they cause earthquakes beneath the stadium during home games. and they are super excited for this year's super bowl. back to you, chuck. >> joe and kerry, those are really actually two passionate football cities for their teams. so as football cements its place in pop culture, it's become a financial juggernaut. as of 2012, the annual revenue was more than $9 billion. nearly $2 billion than the other major sports league, major league baseball.

super bowl has become the biggest marketing day of the year, potentially making or breaking financial futures. it's made players into pitchmen and cultural icons, and what happens on and off the field isn't just sports news -- it's national news. cities are so desperate to please the local nfl franchises that they're willing to spend millions in taxpayer dollars to build new stadiums to keep the teams happy. it's as if nothing can stop football from continuing to be the biggest thing in american sports and american pop culture, except maybe one thing now -- safety. remember, folks, boxing was once the most popular sport in this country. in the early 1900s, before baseball got big and long before there was an nfl, boxing was america's sport. in 1921, 300,000 people tuned in by radio to hear dempsey take on a challenger from france. at the time, it was one of the largest audiences of the day, and it helped usher in the golden age of radio at the time. but over time, the brutality of the sport and the corruption in

the sport took its toll. today, the sport of boxing is a shell of its former self, and has little to no impact on the american culture. question now, how does football avoid that same fate? we'll look at that question throughout this show, including some new poll numbers about how many people would let their kids play football. let's go back to the big game. security, of course, is always a concern at any big event. this is a big event in the new york city metro area. so not surprisingly, security is tight both at the stadium, on the new jersey side of things, at the meadowlands, as well as the surrounding transit hubs in new jersey and new york city. 700 state troopers and thousands of uniformed police will be on hand, as well as snipers, undercover cops, bomb-sniffing dogs, even threats on boats. katie is live for us at times square, although we don't call it times square for the next 48 hours, isn't that right, katie? >> reporter: no, we're going to call it super bowl boulevard, and we have a lovely toboggan

behind us. of course, this is not necessarily the backdrop you'd see for security, but there is quite a lot of security out there. you ran through just a little bit of it, chuck. two cities or states, really, involved. more than 100 law enforcement agencies and millions of people descending upon the metro area. you can bet this is a massive undertaking that requires coordinate. over in new jersey, two and a half miles of fencing surrounding the stadium. there are cameras trained on every movement out there. there are patrols on the land. there are pa trotrols in the ai. you have multiple agencies. but the fbi and nypd are taking the lead here in a couple of ways. they have radiation detectors. they have realtime surveillance. they say they can actually see if there is a suspicious person walking around, acting shady in some way, or drop a suspicious package. it's really hard to go undetected in this city right now. chuck? >> that's for sure. and i think there's no

tailgating, if i'm not mistaken, yet another way to keep security -- to keep things in check, as well, isn't that right, katy? >> reporter: no tailgating. if you want to go to the stadium, you need clear, plastic bags. you can't bring your backpacks, your purse. you'll have patdowns. you can't even get dropped off at stadium. you have to take a $51 shuttle provided by the nfl, or mass transit, and then shuttles under the stadium. it's very tight. and some people are concerned about the hassle it's causing and whether or not it will take away from the fun of the game, and actually how much profit they're getting out of the people who are forced to pay the money to take the shuttle into the stadium. >> yeah, exactly. of course, $51, that's only half of what a couple of hot dogs and a couple of beers will cost. anyway, katy tur. >> reporter: 15 bucks for a sandwich. >> exactly. thank you very much. well, the super bowl is a $70 million event, but is it actually all for charity? that's what the nfl says. nfl may be a $9 billion industry, but it's also

technically a nonprofit organization. bet you didn't know that. because guess what, just 13% of americans are aware that the nfl has nonprofit status. according to a new poll. but buried in the tax code is exemption for business leagues, chambers of commerce, real estate boards, boards of trade, and professional football leagues, which are not organized for profit. technically, it's the nfl league office that counts as a trade organization for tax exempt status. the 32 separate franchises do pay taxes on their individual revenue. but the special status for professional football dates back to 1942 when the league was struggling financially. it was codified in 1966 when the nfl merged with the afl in order to avoid antitrust sanctions, the merger had to be approved by congress. specifically, it had to get by powerful louisiana senator and chairman of the finance committee russell long. long told the nfl commissioner at the time, pete rosell, he wanted the next franchise to be

in new orleans. so after a back-room deal, the ultimate pork, huh, after a back-room deal, whose details are still murky, the merger passed. guess what? the new orleans saints were born. the law also, in effect, create add broadcast monopoly, exempting the rights from antitrust decisions. goodell was paid nearly $30 million in compensation, and doesn't quite need the tax break. and tom coburn and angus king have a bill to strip the nfl and other professional sports organizations with annual revenues of more than $10 million from that tax exempt 501c6 status. the legislation would generate $109 million more in tax revenue over ten years and it would apply to the nhl, pga, lpga, currently all protected. maine's independent senator, who caucuses with the democrats, angus king, joins us now.

>> good morning, chuck. i'm sure americans have thought of the girl scouts and the red cross and the nfl, all in the same kind of nonprofit group, right? >> right. well, let's -- >> come on! >> well, we know some laws were made at a time when, in many ways, sports leagues weren't so profitable, and they were more of a -- seen as a, you know, pick-me-up for a community, almost a way to help a community a little bit, either come together or -- it's a different game today, is that what you're saying? >> oh, absolutely. it's a huge business. and by the way, our bill doesn't -- it has nothing to do with teams themselves. they are profit-making entities. they have to pay taxes. but the league office takes in $180 million a year, and is a tax-exempt organization. it just doesn't make sense. and interestingly, major league baseball and the nba basically have said, you know, we don't want this, we don't need this, and we're not going to do it. so, you know, i may be the only

guy in america who has to go to an nfl game under the witness protection program, but tom coburn and i think this is just ridiculous. >> it's interesting, the nfl has responded to your legislation, and here's their defense. they say this. every dollar of income that is earned in the national football league, from game tickets, television rights, fees, jersey sales, national sponsorships, is subject to tax. there is only one small part of the nfl, they say, that is unrelated to all of the business activity that is tax exempt, and that is the nfl league office. and they say that that makes them just like other trade associations in support of other companies and other lines of businesses. i guess my question is, is this -- you know, why shouldn't there be sort of a small nonprofit portion of this for the league as a trade association -- >> well, again -- >> -- the way there is the u.s. chamber of commerce, for instance? >> well, i think -- let's again be clear what this covers and what it doesn't.

they have an arm that does charitable work. nobody is questioning that. we're talking about the league office that pays the boss $29 million. how many nonprofits do you know pay their executive director $29 million a year? you know, it just sort of is ridiculous. the other reason is, that exemption was in the law to exempt organizations that represented large groups in a whole -- in a whole industry. the national association of manufacturers. the nfl is a brand. it doesn't represent football. it doesn't have anything to do with high school football, or arena football, or college football. it is a brand representing the teams, the very highly profitable teams, and that's different than a broad association of groups of people, the national skiing association or something, that represented a whole sport. this is a brand. and i think that's what really -- what the difference is. >> so what kind of -- this bill that you introduced, what kind of support does it actually have

in the u.s. senate? a lot of times, look, i note that this bill is being sponsor bid two guys who do not have nfl franchises in their states. is there going to be a divide we see states with football and states without the nfl? >> well, i don't know. that'll be kind of an interesting question. but, you know, if you have king and coburn, that's a lot of muscle right there. we just sent a "dear colleague" letter out the day before yesterday, and so we don't really know what kind of support we're going to get. you know, the other piece, as you suggested, one of the problems with these tax exemptions and loopholes is once they get into the law, they're there forever. they're sleeping there. nobody notices. they never have to be reauthorized. and i think one of the important things about this bill is to kind of pull the corner of the tent up and begin the process of looking at this whole, what we call, tax expenditure. tom coburn suggests we sunset the tax code and rebuild it from

the beginning up, so the lobbyists have to argue to put something in rather than keep from getting something taken out. >> well, let me ask you about another protection that professional sports have, and that is the antitrust exemption. where are you on this? it's something that allows basically allows for the leagues to be monopolies, and obviously, you know, you could make an argument, you know, there's plenty of other industries that would love to have the negotiating power and the monopolistic negotiating power that they have, but other industries don't enjoy the same protections. where are you on the antitrust exemptions? >> i haven't look closely at that, and there's a lot of history there. at the time it was granted, it was considered necessary in order to allow the leagues to work. you know, one of the problems with that over the years is that the players were at a disadvantage. they really didn't have anywhere else to go in terms of the

monopoly employment. now, there's, you know, the nfl players association, major league baseball union, they've been able to level that playing field. you know, i think it's something that we need to look at and think about. but i think the tax exemption is the place that we really ought to be looking. now, it just doesn't make sense to most americans. it's the kind of thing that, you know, makes us look kind of silly, i think. >> well, do bring up a good point, the nfl does not represent all of football, not pop warner, not high school, not college. >> right. >> so, therefore, not really the same definition of an actual trade association. angus king, thank you for coming on on this topic. appreciate it. >> thank you, chuck. good to see you. >> all right. up next, the other issue that football is dealing with, the fear of the sport itself. more players speaking out about the toll the sport has taken on their bodies and brains, and our new poll shows what parents really think about their kids playing the game. we're talking safety with the executive director of pop warner

football, next. and president obama weighs in on the safety in sochi. you'll hear what he says about the risks of attending the olympics, and what he believ believes -- what he thinks of the russian security plan. but first, a look ahead at today's politics planner. the president does a google hangout today, by the way. the president also meets with a bunch of ceos at the white house to talk long-term unemployed. we'll hear from the state department on keystone, but they're not going to have a recommendation. they're just releasing the new environmental impact statement. supporters -- opponents of the keystone pipeline may not be so happy is sort of the early word. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. ♪ ♪ make every day, her day

with a full menu of appetizers and entrées crafted with care and designed to delight. fancy feast. love served daily. [ female announcer ] we eased your back pain, you turned up the fun. tylenol® provides strong pain relief while being gentle on your stomach. but for everything we do, we know you do so much more. tylenol®. cozy or cool? "meow" or "woof"? everything the way you want it ... until boom, it's bedtime! and your mattress a battleground of thwarted desire. enter the sleep number bed. designed to let couples sleep together in individualized comfort. he's a softy. his sleep number setting is 35. you're the rock, at 60. and as your needs change over time you can adjust your bed to sleep better together. 48-month financing available through february 2 only at your local sleep number store. find your sleep number setting and know better sleep. that it's given me time toabout reflect on some of life'seen biggest questions.

like, if you could save hundreds on car insurance by making one simple call, why wouldn't you make that call? see, the only thing i can think of is that you can't get any... bars. ah, that's better. it's a beautiful view. i wonder if i can see mt. rushmore from here. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. 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.

even if your team is in the super bowl, being a football fan has become a lot more complicated. people cheer nor the hard hits. a new "wall street journal" poll shows fans aren't ignoring the physical risks, especially when it comes to concussions. and even more worry about their children taking the field. 40% in our poll say they would encourage their child to play another sport. but 57% say they would not do that. the poll, though, shows a real division on the issue of encouraging kids to play football. so let's break it down. first, age is a big split. a majority over 65 would discourage children from playing. by contrast, a full 70% of people between the age of 18 and 34, mostly people without kids, would not discourage a kid from playing contact football. we see the same split when it comes to income levels. lower income, 38%, they'd tell a kid to not play football, but for those who make $75,000 or more, the number almost doubles to 47%. now, let's look at some interesting political splits. 39% of romney voters say they'd

discourage, but a majority of obama voters said they'd do the same. the president himself has said he would not allow a son to play football. he compares football to boxing in a new interview with "the new yorker." but the president says the pros, they know what they're doing. they know what they're buying into. it is no longer a secret. but it is the risk of severe brain damage. researchers at boston university's confirmed 50 cases of chronic brain damage in deceased football players, 33 of the 50 were professionals. the rest played college or high school. as dozens of former players are suing the nfl, more high-profile players are coming forward about their own injuries, including big-time player the. tony dorsett said, i've gotten into several car accidents because of seizures, totalled two cars. my memory is not good. there's a big fight within myself. retired quarterback brett favre told nbc's matt lauer, he wouldn't let his son play football either. >> in fact, if i had a son, i

would be real leery of him playing, and that sounds -- in some respects, i'm almost glad i don't have a son, because of the pressures he would face, but also the physical toll that it could possibly take on him. >> the nfl says concussions are down and our poll showed 41% believe the nfl has taken meaningful action to reduce or prevent concussions. another 20% say the league has not done enough. 38% just aren't sure. so this sunday, super bowl inspires your child to play, what should you tell them? is it safe? i'm joined by john butler, pop warner's executive director. let me start with you. tackle football. when is it safe, and is it safe on the pop warner level? >> we certainly believe so. injury rates are very low. starting in 2010, we were the first national youth sports organization to enact our own concussion rule.

and then in 2012, we were the first football organization at any level to enact rules that limit the amount and type of contact we allow in practice. we believe -- well, we know injury rates go up with age as kids get stronger, faster, develop more force. but certainly at younger age levels we believe it's relatively very safe. >> you know, on the equipment front, i played pop warner football, and i can remember them grabbing for a helmet somewhere in the back of some rusted-out shed, and that's how equipment was handed out. looking back, i'm thinking, boy, that wasn't the safest of equipment and the pads would fall out -- the ear pad wuss fall out of the helmet. what has pop warner done to make sure that on every level, every

level of pop warner football, there is first-grade safety-first equipment? >> we stress the importance of that. we're a volunteer-driven organization. but we really enforce that. everybody is extremely aware of the spotlight that football is now under, so they are much more careful about the quality of the equipment and reconditioning helmets regularly, and so forth. it's become a real point of pride for everyone in the organization. >> you know, the participation in youth football is down, and i know we've seen it in your st s stats. a couple of other youth organizations. now, you say you don't think it's concussion-related. why? >> well, there's a number of reasons. first of all, participation in organized youth sports is down nationally across the board. there's only one youth sport that's increasing, and that's lacrosse. another part of it is that there is more and more pressure on young people to specialize in

one sport at younger and younger ages, so you have children as young as 8 or 9 years old playing one sport year round and the irony of that is that 25% of the injuries in youth sports are overuse injuries, most of which can be prevented. again, we know that there probably are some parents who are leery of allowing their children to play organized football. that's unfortunate, because the emergency room visit rates for other sports are percentage-wise considerably higher. bicycling, baseball, soccer -- >> right. >> -- all have higher rates. you know, when you take your child out for his first ride on a two-wheeler and he falls, you don't say, that's it, you're never riding a bike again. you might get hurt. you know, that's the way it is with sports. >> well, how much -- do you guys have any -- there's not much science in the study of a concussion at 10, 11, or 12 --

i'm pretty sure i had a couple when i played pop warner, and it just -- you know, that was back in the "you got your bell rung" you'll sit up there, and obviously new protocols now, i understand that. but there's not a lot of science out there about the impact on folks under 18, is there? >> no, there's very little research at the youth level. there's more at high school and college, certainly. and we're very involved in doing reserve -- research. we've had some studies done with accelerometers on pop warner players' helmets. we're doing more, we're working with our -- in discussions with a company on equal technology, testing pads in the labs, defuse the force of the blow much more effectively. we want to track better. we're about to start a two-year study with the researcher tracking all injuries, but particularly concussions in 100 pop warner teams. so we're very involved in that research. >> all right. jon butler, the executive

director of pop warner football. appreciate your time this morning. up next, just how low will the temperature go for the big game? plus, we're not going to keep our usual politics on the sidelines. our friday "databank" is ahead with some of the unusual headlines. first, the trivia question. which two nfl teams did a current member of congress help reach the super bowl? first person to tweet the correct answer @chucktodd gets the on-air shoutout. with natural gas instead of today's most used source, how much are co2 emissions reduced? up to 30%? 45%? 60%? the answer is... up to 60% less. and that's a big reason why the u.s. is a world leader in reducing co2 emissions. take the energy quiz. energy lives here. ♪

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.

open to innovation. open to ambition. open to bold ideas. that's why new york has a new plan -- dozens of tax free zones all across the state. move here, expand here, or start a new business here and pay no taxes for ten years... we're new york. if there's something that creates more jobs, and grows more businesses... we're open to it. start a tax-free business at startup-ny.com. we're open to it. i tr ied we're open to it. depend last weekend. it really made the difference between a morning around the house and getting a little exercise. unlike the bargain brand, depend gives you new fit-flex®, our best protection. it's a smooth and comfortable fit with more lycra strands. get your free sample at depend.com.

you can't talk about this super bowl, apparently, without talking about the weather. so the forecast for the super bowl, first one ever held outdoors in a cold-weather climate, it's kind of a big deal. it's been bitterly cold all week in the northeast. but believe it or not, game day is going to feel a balmy, by comparison, here's nbc's

meteorologist bill karins with the latest on the temperatures. bill, we could be in new orleans or atlanta. >> we could be. a lot of the media didn't want to go to a cold weather city. they wanted to go to miami, houston, san diego. >> only miami or san diego, that's my rule. >> that's right. they were hoping it would be cold or miserable so the nfl would never do this again. >> correct. >> that doesn't look like to be the case. peyton manning, temperatures above 40 degrees, is 85-35 in his career. he plays really well. when it's below 40 degrees, below .500, including two losses this year. it looks like game time temperature of 42 degrees. there could be showers earlier. >> but wind chill. wind chill puts it below 40. >> yeah, 30 to 35. >> all right. >> he wore gloves last week, when it was pretty warm, and so, he's ready. he'll wear the glove, and i don't think it will be an issue at all. i know. disappointing. all of the weather people, we thought we'd be important this week. >> yeah, you know, all honesty, a little bit of wind issue they're talking about, that may

have an impact on the kicking game. >> i got the seahawks, by the way. >> you know what? my head says seahawks, my heart says peyton. >> oh, come on. you're right on the fence, huh? >> no, i'm not on the fence. i'll put -- i'm putting my money on the seahawks. >> okay. >> go it were legal. thank you, bill. up next, pay for play. a wild idea from a wildcat. the other crisis in football these days is on the college level. it's not about safety. it's about pay. the northwestern university player who's leading a fight off the field to unionize college athletes. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. really? 25 grams of protein. what do we have? all four of us, together? 24. he's low fat too, and has five grams of sugars. i'll believe it when i -- [ both ] oooooh... what's shakin'? oops. [ female announcer ] as you get older, protein is an important part of staying active and strong. ensure high protein... 50% of your daily value of protein. low fat and five grams of sugars. see? he's a good egg.

[ major nutrition ] ensure high protein. ensure. nutrition in charge! 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. ♪

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. and now for the "deep dive" today. while the nfl is dealing with safety issues, the college game is dealing with money issues. the ncaa is facing a lawsuit from ed owe ban onwho's challenging the association's refusal to give the athletes a

cut of the billion-dollar profits. e.a. sports have already suit has been settled. they're opted against producing a new college football game to avoid the compensation issues. but the ncaa keeps fighting. now the whole thing has gone to another level. on tuesday, members of the northwestern wildcats football team took formal steps to seek union representation, in an effort to be recognized as employees, not just as student athletes. cane coulter who finished his season as quarterback, is one helping to spearhead the effort. he said it's not about getting paid, at least not initially. >> the goal is to get players a voice. right now, we don't have a voice. like i said, it's almost like a dictatorship where everything is put on us without our input, without our negotiation. right now, we want a seat at the table. we want somebody that will be looking out for us and representing us and, you know, have our best interests in mind.

>> this is a significant development in what has been a long running dispute, as far back as the '70s and '80s, they were signing deals with sneaker companies. the athletes didn't make a dime then, and they still don't. colleges insist the scholarships, the education, the opportunity to play amount to that compensation. at the same time, major college football programs brought in $3.6 billion last year, more than $1 billion in profits. now, tv deals make it even more lucrative. you see all of the conference realignment, looking to launch its own network. but coulter and his teammates aren't dealing with compensation just yet, but if approved, the new union would seek to cover medical expenses for sports-related injuries. it wants to ensure scholarships cover the full cost of attending college and are guaranteed if a player's career gets cut short by injury, and it seeks to end restricts on players' commercial opportunities. coulter said nearly 100% of the team signed union cards.

officially, they're seeking representation from the newly created college athletes players association, which would be supported in this case by the united steelworkers. of course, that's only if they get approved by the national labor relations board. the ncaa chief legal officer does not believe that's going to happen. in a statement, he wrote this. this union-backed attempt to turn student athletes into employees undermines the purpose of college. an education student-athletes are not employees within any definition of the national labor relations act or the fair labor standards act. we're confident the nlrb will find in our favor as there is no right to organize student-athletes. "sports illustrated" senior writer andy staples has been following this issue very closely. he joins me now. andy, it is interesting here, right, i've been calling this -- it's been a year of crisis for football, in the pro game it's safety, for all of football frankly. but in the college game, it's been all about this sort of -- all of the different financial issues, and the big business as

college football and the players feeling a little left behind. >> well, it's a deal, chuck, where over the past 30 years, the revenues have skyrocketed, mostly from tv. as you know, 24-hour newschannels, live sports, the only thing keeps the tv universe afloat. and live sports have become extremely valuable. so the schools have figured this out, and they are getting a lot of money for the football games, for the men's basketball games. and meanwhile, the players' compensation, the scholarship, tuition, room, and board has remained flat. you know, you can only raise the revenue for so long before the labor force starts to say, hey, wait a second, why don't we get a little bit more of this? >> right. well, what's been interesting here is the ncaa is clearly nervous about this. and we know they had at their last meeting this idea of essentially allowing the big programs, the big football schools to start their own subassociation within the ncaa, in order to start dealing with

these issues, because the issue of compensating college football players, schools -- 300 universities who have football can't afford to do this. but 65 of them might be able to afford it. >> right. and they actually decided not to go with the sub-association, because they realize that would probably be unwise as they're fighting an antitrust lawsuit to further delineate themselves along revenue lines. and this is-- you talk about the revenue stuff, it ties into the antitrust suit, as well. they do not want these guys to be considered employees, because if they're considered employees, well, they've got a 400-page rule book that explains how they're fixing the price on that particular labor market. so it's a big deal to the ncaa to make sure these guys are not considered employees. remember, the term student-athlete goes back to the '50s. it was essentially a workers' compensation dodge. they were trying to get out of paying workers' compensation for injured athletes. >> an invention by walter buyers back in the day. >> yeah, he admitted it later

himself in his own book. so it's out there. but there's a generation of people who work in the schools and work for the ncaa -- >> right. >> -- who believe this myth that the noble student athlete -- the principle of amateurism isn't a noble principle, anyway. it's all the rich guys want to get together and play amongst themselves and don't want to play against the poor guys. that goes back to england. >> right. now, usually, in a unionized -- a dispute about a union, the company doesn't want to see their worker unionized, they do two things. fight it on the legal grounds. but then sort of the carrot and stick approach. they'll also try to do some things to essentially calm things down. what do you expect short term that the ncaa will essentially do to try to improve this situation for student alth leads? >> well, short term, the big five conferences, the acc, s.e.c., big 12, pac-12, big ten, the ones that can afford it,

they're going to raise the scholarship level. they'll raise it to the full cost of attendance. there's a gap of about $3,000 to $6,000, depending on which school you're going to, between what the ncaa approved scholarship covers and what it actually costs to go there. so they're going to try to fill that gap. there are a couple of folks that are trying to get the agent representation rules changed, so that kids may be able to have advisors or agents while they're still in school, which would kind of deal with a couple of other issues on the fringes. the issues of capitalization, johnny manziel, can he capitalize on his name? he cannot. kain colter said that's something they would like to deal with. they'd say, okay, we'll give you all a salary. because if they said that, they'd have to pay the football players and the soccer players, and -- >> right, that's where this

become as slippery slope, and you wonder do universities give up actually having formally programs and license the names to private organization using the same thing. all sorts of ways it will end up. andy staples, "sports illustrated," appreciate it. looks like you're going to need a lot of law school background to start covering college sports. >> i'm going to fill out an application tomorrow. >> you got it. all right. coming up, when politics and pigskin mix from the power of the presidential super bowl sitdown to the politico commercial cameos during the big game, "the daily rundown's" instant replay is next. first, white house soup of the day -- people join angie's list for all kinds of reasons. i go to angie's list to gauge whether or not the projects will be done in a timely fashion and within budget. angie's list members can tell you which provider is the best in town.

you'll find reviews on everything from home repair to healthcare. now that we're expecting, i like the fact i can go onto angie's list and look for pediatricians. the service providers that i've found on angie's list actually have blown me away. find out why more than two million members count on angie's list. angie's list -- reviews you can trust. in the nation, we know how you feel about your car. so when coverage really counts, count on nationwide insurance. ♪ love is strange just another way we put members first. because we don't have shareholders. ♪ baby... join the nation. ♪ nationwide is on your side ♪ still running in the morning? yeah. getting your vegetables every day? when i can. [ bop ] [ male announcer ] could've had a v8. two full servings of vegetables for only 50 delicious calories.

which 4g lte map has the most coverage? this isn't real difficult. pretty obvious to me. i'm going to have to say verizon verizon. the choice is obvious. verizon is america's largest and most reliable 4g lte network, with data plans starting as low as $45 monthly access including unlimited talk and text. plus free world messaging unlimited for three months. that's powerful. verizon. act now and get a free droid mini, plus $100 to spend. [ 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 and drilling technologies to produce natural gas... powering our lives... while reducing emissions by up to 60%. energy lives here.

♪ open to innovation. open to ambition. open to bold ideas. that's why new york has a new plan -- dozens of tax free zones all across the state. move here, expand here, or start a new business here and pay no taxes for ten years... we're new york. if there's something that creates more jobs, and grows more businesses... we're open to it. start a tax-free business at startup-ny.com. 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. time now for the "friday data bank."

some state of the union and super bowl moments. six days before sochi. president obama says his message to american fans if you want to go to the games, then you should go. at least that's what he told my pal, jake tapper, at cnn. >> i believe that sochi is safe and that there are always some risks in these large international gatherings. i'm always going to feel even better if it's inside the united states, because then we have full control over what happens. but the russian authorities understand the stakes here. they understand that there are potential threats that are out there. and we are coordinating with them. we've looked at their plans. in these large settings like this, there are always some risks involved. and i don't want to completely discount those, but as we've seen here in the united states, you know, the boston marathon -- i mean, there were some risks if you have lone wolves, or small

cells of folks trying to do some damage. >> the other big news out of jake's interview has to do with what the president said about immigration, essentially giving house republicans all of the room they need. he didn't rule out supporting pretty much anything if they can come to an agreement. next up, 1,092, the number of words democratic senator jay rockefeller, west virginia, used in a statement this week that rebuicked the president's plan for nsa data collection. at a hearing wednesday, rockefeller said it is an impossibility to create a new entity that could house billions of phone records safely, and he argued the phone companies do not want to house the data, and he does not trust them to do it even if they could. take a listen to this. >> they do not want to become agents of the government. they do not want to become the government's guardians of vast amount of intelligence data. they are businesses. they are interested in the bottom line. and they're focused on rewarding they're shareholders, not protecting privacy or national security. i think going down this path will threaten, not strengthen,

our ability to protect this country and the american people from a terrorist attack, and massive invasion of their privacy. >> also in the statement, he even brought up the target issue, by the way, as a reason why don't let private companies do this. by the way, on thursday, the president nominated vice-admiral michael rogers, now the head of the navy's fleet cyber command to be the new director of the nsa. turning back to the super bowl. advertisers are banking on the fact that football fans don't just tune in on sunday for the game. this year, the average 30-second super bowl commercial is going for $4 million. that's about $134,000 a second. this year's ads don't feature -- just feature budweiser puppies and former california governor arnold schwarzenegger following a long tradition of politicians and former politicos on the big screen on game day. >> surprise.

>> why is he dressed like fabio? after his 1996 presidential election loss, bob dole poked fun at himself in this ad for visa which re-created what was supposed to be a kansas homecoming. five years later, dole played pitchman again in this ad for pepsi. ♪ [ barks ] >> easy, boy. >> it's almost painful 1994 lay's play potato chip ad who had trouble with the word potato. did dan quayle know he was the punch line? note a young elijah wood. >> excuse me. hello, mr. quayle. care to make a bet? >> sure, son. what's the bet? >> it's rare these days there's

actually a national television event. politicians have used the super bowl to broadcast their messages to a guaranteed audience of millions. in 2012, longtime allies on gun control. mayor bloomberg and tom menino teamed up for this spot. >> giants. >> patriots. >> eli. >> brady. >> we don't agree on much. >> yankees. >> red sox. >> beans. >> bagels. >> but we both support the second amendment. >> and american needs to do what it can to keep guns out of the hands of criminals. >> mayors against illegal guns hired another ad. infamous speech to an empty chair in 2012, there was this chrysler ad, which launched eastwood's unforgettable role in the campaign and heralded the comeback of the u.s. auto industry. >> this country can't be knocked out with one punch. we get right back up again and when we do, the world is going to hear the roar of our engines.

yeah, it's half-time, america, and our second half's about to begin. >> to this day, i'm bet stewart stevens is wondering, why didn't i script him? jon runyan who made two super bowl appearances, both with losing super bowl teams, tennessee in 2000 and that incredible game that ended on the 1 yard line and the philadelphia eagles and the famous vomit game, i guess you want to call it. congratulations to today's winner, our friend, nathan gonzalez. send your trivia suggestions. we'll be right back. pared. fancy feast elegant medleys. inspired dishes like primavera, florentine and tuscany. fancy feast. a medley of love, served daily.

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. [ male announcer ] you're welcome. save get a sealy queen set on befor just $399.osturepedic. even get 3 years interest-free financing on tempur-pedic. keep more presidents in your wallet. sleep train's presidents' day sale is on now. bulldog: oh boy!

bulldog: mattress discounters presidents day sale! what's this? a queen-size sealy gel memory foam mattress for just $497? mattress discounters has the largest selection of memory foam mattresses under one roof! comforpedic, icomfort, optimum... and wow! four years interest-free financing on the entire tempur-pedic cloud collection. [yawns] don't miss the presidents day sale. ♪ mattress discounters

i love chalk and erasers. but change is coming. all my students have the brand new surface. it has the new windows and comes with office, has a real keyboard, so they can do real work. they can use bing smartsearch to find anything in the world... or last night's assignment. and the battery lasts and lasts, so after school they can skype, play games, and my favorite...do homework. change is looking pretty good after all. ♪ time for the final take away of the week. president obama will sit down for what's now become an annual super bowl interview this sunday, and while he is the first president to make the

sit-down a yearly tradition, it was actually ronald reagan who gave the first game-day interview in 1996 when he sat down with tom brokaw. >> do you think that occasions like this help shape our national character, or are they really just kind of entertaining diversions from things like the deficit, terrorism, and ghadafi and so on? >> well, i think it's typically american that we can be diverted from things like this and part of the american personality. >> my, it's hard to believe it's just a few days later that the challenger disaster happened. when asked to choose between the bears and patriots, he wouldn't take a side, just stating let the best team win, just like this president did with cnn today. matt lauer interviewed president obama less than two weeks after he took office in 2009 when nbc aired the super bowl and he asked the president about the struggles that lay ahead for him. >> it's only been ten days. people have to recognize that it's going to take some time for

trust to be built, not only between democrats and republicans, but between congress and the white house, between the house and the senate. we've had a dysfunctional political system for awhile now. >> during that interview, president obama also said if he wasn't able to get the economy in shape during his first term, his presidency would be a one-term proposition. lauer asked the president if that was still the case. >> i think if you go out on the street and ask average americans, is the recovery done, overwhelmingly, they'll tell you it is not. do you deserve a second term? >> i deserve a second term, but we're not done. >> don't forget it was super bowl sunday that a certain "60 minutes" interview with bill and hillary clinton happened in 1992. that happened right after the super bowl. you never know what history is going to be made in these presidential or presidential candidate interviews. that's it for this special edition of "the daily rundown." have a great super bowl weekend. coming up next is chris jansing

and we'll be back the day after groundhog day, if we make it through groundhog day. bye. insurance id card - gots all my pertinents on it and such. works for me. turn to the camera. ah, actually i think my eyes might ha... next! digital insurance id cards. just a tap away on the geico app. could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. everybody knows that. well, did you know that when a tree falls in the forest and no one's around, it does make a sound? ohhh...ugh. geico. little help here. her long day of pick ups and drop offs begins with arthritis pain... and a choice. take up to 6 tylenol in a day or just 2 aleve for all day relief. all aboard. ♪ i've got a nice long life ahead. big plans. so when i found out medicare doesn't pay all my medical expenses, i looked at my options. then i got a medicare supplement insurance plan.

[ male announcer ] if you're eligible for medicare, you may know it only covers about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. call now and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement insurance plans, it helps pick up some of what medicare doesn't pay. and could save you in out-of-pocket medical costs. to me, relationships matter. i've been with my doctor for 12 years. now i know i'll be able to stick with him. [ male announcer ] with these types of plans, you'll be able to visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. plus, there are no networks, and virtually no referrals needed. so don't wait. call now and request this free decision guide to help you better understand medicare... and which aarp medicare supplement plan might be best for you.

there's a wide range to choose from. we love to travel -- and there's so much more to see. so we found a plan that can travel with us. anywhere in the country. [ male announcer ] join the millions of people who have already enrolled in the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp, an organization serving the needs of people 50 and over for generations. remember, all medicare supplement insurance plans help cover what medicare doesn't pay. and could save you in out-of-pocket medical costs. call now to request your free decision guide. and learn more about the kinds of plans that will be here for you now -- and down the road. i have a lifetime of experience. so i know how important that is. delicious, but say i press a few out flat, add some beef, sloppy joe sauce and cheese, fold it all up and boom! delicious unsloppy joes perfect for a school night.

pillsbury grands biscuits. make dinner pop. could there be common ground between democrats and the gop when it comes to immigration? details on a new proposal that might have a chance. was it something i said, mass exodus from congress, why the animosity now is worse than during the civil rights era. and super bowl security goes high-tech, from hand held radiation monitors to infrared cameras. more than 100 agencies are descending and working to keep the big game safe. good morning, i'm richard lui in for chris jansing this morning. could the gop be doing the very same? house republicans now entertaining the most specific ideas on immigration reform we've heard so far. now during their annual three-day retreat, they