good thursday. i'm craig melvin in for tamron hall. "newsroom" is following the senate. any minute, the senate is set to take a procedural vote on a measure that would restore those benefits to the now 1.7 million americans whose benefits expired abruptly back on december 28th. a live look now inside the upper chamber. senate majority leader harry reid is proposing a three-month

extension. he says that his plan not only pays for the $6.4 billion price tag, but would also reduce the deficit by $1.2 billion. to do it, reid wants to change corporate pension rules and end unemployment benefits for anyone earning more than a million bucks a year. >> we've virtually done everything the republicans asked. they'll come up with a lot of excuses why you can't do this. they want amendments from this president. >> nbc's capitol hill correspondent kelly o'donnell joins us now. the measure needs 60 votes to move forward. it sounds as if senator reid has that pay for plan that a lot of republicans have been clamoring for. how close is this vote going to be? >> reporter: in talking with democratic sources, i am told they will not get the 60 votes needed to move forward and the expectation at this point is there are not the five republicans willing to move this

to the next stage in the debate. that's a significant setback. it is not entirely a surprise. this has been an issue that has been brewing since december. and as you have reported, and we've talked about before, they were looking for ways to try to pay for this and they tried to go for something they thought would attract republican support. now, some democrats, especially house democrats like leader nancy pelosi, said this is an emergency kind of measure to help people who are out of work, and it need not be paid for, meaning finding cuts elsewhere. harry reid has tried to take a different tact to say let's see if we can pull along some republican support, and initially there was some. but one of the issues is not directly related to the unemployment insurance, but the ongoing tug of war between leadership in the senate over the rules. republicans want the ability to put forward their own amendments to come up with their own ideas to adjust legislation, not only on this topic, but others. and harry reid has not allowed that. and even though he has taken an approach that would in most

cases be attractive to republicans, it's not going to go forward. so this is part of a real arm twisting that has been playing out for a period of time with rules changes in the senate, and it's not the end of the road. they can bring it back again, but it is a real setback today. it also would face a very tough road in the house. so this is a political argument democrats can also make that if this does fail, as we expect and sources tell us, they can make that claim that democrats are trying to restore these benefits to people who need them most and they can argue that republicans are not going along. craig? >> kelly o'donnell on the hill for us this afternoon. kelly o'donnell, thanks as always. i want to bring in barbara lee of california. member of the house appropriations and budget committees. also a member of the congressional black caucus, which in the past hour held its first national day of prayer to end poverty and income inequality. let's start with where we left

off with kelly o there. the senate measure that would have extended unemployment benefits. at this point, it looks like it is not going to pass. the upper chamber once again. what now? what's next? >> this is really a tragic moment for our country. when you look at the fact that we have, first of all, 1.7, 1.8 million people, and it's growing now, who have lost their unemployment compensation, these people want to work. it's really a shame and disgrace that we're not even giving them this bridge over troubled water until they can find a job. what next here in the house? we're trying to figure out a way to bring up the bill, if the speaker would allow it to come up, i'm sure we would have the votes to pass it. but the speaker will not allow us to bring up a bill to extend unemployment compensation. this is an emergency. people are living on the edge. they're on the brink. and so we should do this and as was said earlier, this is an emergency, and so the pay-fors

should not even be an issue. we should do this. this is the right thing to do. you know, also, it's economically prudent to do this. people will spend money if they have money to spend. also we would create about 200,000 more jobs if we would extend this. so i tell you, i cannot for the life of me understand why people would be so mean-spirited and so cruel and be so stupid economically speaking because this doesn't make any sense for the economy. >> all of those reasons notwithstanding for a second, politically, one would think that perhaps if you would bring up the extension of the unemployment benefits, the raising of the minimum wage, those are two issues that enjoy popular support. when you ask the average american whether they support those two things, the average american says yes. one would think that there might be a number of folks who would say, you know what, let's take these off the table. let's not even allow these two

things to come up during the midterm elections. why is that not part of the conversation? just the political advantage that that might give. >> it should be, but there are those in congress, probably 65 to 70 members of the tea party, or tea party supported members, who really don't want to bring up anything that would help the middle class and that would help people who are striving to become middle class. nor really want to help the poor or low income people. so when you look at raising the minimum wage, when you look at extending unemployment compensation, who does this help? this helps people in the working poor, the majority of people who are making minimum wage, you know, they're poor. they rely on taxpayer subsidies, food stamps, medicaid, section 8. and, you know, i have to always remind the public that taxpayers in a study that was recently

done are supporting these big corporations who are paying minimum wage to the tune of $243 billion. so one would think that even the tea party would see this as an economically feasible strategy to address jobs and to lift people out of poverty, but for some reason they won't. it's really very mean-spirited, i must say. and i hope that sooner or later, we'll see some breakthroughs this year. i'm very please that the president has said he is going to issue executive orders, when in fact congress won't act. that's what needs to be done. too many people are living on the edge. >> congresswoman lee, we're going to have to leave it there. thank you for your time. >> thank you. we are also following some developing news in florida right now. here is a live look inside the courtroom where witnesses have started taking the stand in the trial of michael dunn. the man accused of shooting an unarmed teenager during a

dispute about loud music. along with attempted murder for allegedly shooting at three teenagers who were in that suv with davis. as we've reported, he maintains he was acting in self-defense. saying he felt threatened and he thought he had a gun. just moments ago, the prosecutor said evidence shows it was not self-defense. >> when that defendant opened fire, jordan davis was sitting in his car seat with the door closed with nothing in his hands. and he was leaning over, away from the gunfire toward leyland bronson. secondly, the words from that defendant's own mouth at the time of the shooting, words of hate. words of intent. words that he can't now take

back. >> dunn's attorney argued davis was the aggressor after dunn asked him and his friends to turn their music down on the night of november 23rd, 2012. >> his words to michael dunn were, "i'm going to [ bleep ] kill you, i should kill you right now." see, that's what he didn't tell you the facts are beginning to come out prior to any gunshots being fired. all because michael dunn asked for a common courtesy. >> joining me now, attorney faith jenkins and lisa bloom. the author of "suspicion nation," the inside story of the trayvon martin injustice. lisa, let me start with you. the jury was seated yesterday.

as it breaks down, ten are women. six men. three african-americans. ten identified as white. two identified as asian. and another identified as hispanic. how important is the makeup of the jury? >> it's extremely important that there be african-americans on this jury, and i don't know if they're going to be on the regular jury or serve as alternates. because one of the key issues in this case is assessing the perceived dangerousness of jordan davis and his friends. and we know from a pile of sociological studies that whites consider african-american males in particular to be dangerous, in many situations when they are not. whites tend to see an african-american guy with a wallet and they see it with a gun. blacks, on the other hand, assess the dangerousness of other blacks more reasonably. so i don't know if those three are going to be on the regular jury or not. i hope that they are because that is the essence of this case. jordan davis did not have a gun and he was perceived as having a gun. at least that's what michael dunn says. >> i want to play more of jordan

guy's opening statement. here's more of what he said. >> before his girlfriend got out of the car, he turned to her and said i hate that thug music. that was rattling his rear-view mirror. and his girlfriend looked at him and said, i know. and went in the store. and rather than going to the store himself, or move his car, the defendant chose to roll down his window. >> what does that tell you about where the state's going to take this case? >> michael dunn's state of mind in this trial is key. he's going to assert self-defense, meaning he was in reasonable fear for his life. and so the state, they're going to argue, no, he was just angry. he didn't shoot inside of this suv at these kids because he had to. he did it because he wanted to. he was angry. they were playing this thug music. he referred to them as thugs before that shooting ever happened. and they're saying that he

reacted based on a bias that he had towards these kids, not because of fear for his life. >> lisa, that face there, john dunn, a very familiar case to anyone who followed the george zimmerman trial. you've got to wonder what sort of lessons the prosecution may have learned from that trial, the lessons that they might try and apply here. >> right, and that's what the entire first half of my book is about. in my opinion, the state of florida did a terrible job in the george zimmerman case. they missed the key evidence in the case. they argued the evidence that they had very inappropriately. they lost a winnable case. so i'm very surprised that they put two of the same lawyers on this case. the facts of this case are different, but there are a lot of similarities. for example, they were afraid in the george zimmerman case to talk about race. they stayed as far away from it as possible. race is also present in this case. they have letters from this defendant with explicitly racial comments, very offensive

comments about african-americans. i hope they're not afraid to bring them into this case and show the jury who michael dunn is and the way he thinks about african-americans. >> you think those letters should be allowed -- by the way, this is a live look, by the way, once again inside this courtroom in florida. you just mentioned the state's attorney there. what do you think about these letters? should they be allowed? >> i think in this case, one difference you're going to see is the prosecutors are not going to play michael dunn's statements to the police in their case in chief. i think that way he's going to be forced to take the witness stand to tell his story. that's one way that those letters could come in, because they're going to ask him about any prejudices that he's already admitted he has in those letters and if he denies it they can cross-examination him on it. also, one thing in jury selection in this case, they asked all these jurors if the race of jordan davis or his age will play a role in their decision and all those jurors answered no. >> i want to play a quick sound byte. this is from the defense attorney's opening statement. here it is. >> we're not here to change the law.

we're not here to say anybody deserved to lose their life. but under the law, it's justified. and michael dunn, after the facts of this case and the law, had every right under the law to not be a victim. >> lisa, who starts this case with an advantage, the prosecution or the defense? >> you know, it's all decided in jury selection, in my opinion. it all depends on how those juries perceive this case. i think there is more sort of outrage against michael dunn because he shot into this car because of loud music. nobody was physically threatening him. as mark o'mara, george zimmerman's attorney has pointed out, michael dunn doesn't have a scratch or a bruise or any marks on him. there was no physical altercation. he could have gotten in his car and taken off. but we have all of the same factors. stand your ground. lax gun laws. a culture of racial profiling that contributed to george zimmerman's acquittal and could

contribute to the acquittal here. anybody who's going to place bets on this case i think is guessing wildly. we just don't know how this is going to turn out. >> we'll leave it there. we are going to continue to follow this trial. thanks to both of you. still ahead here, a new terror alert just one day before the opening ceremony of the winter games. details on the airline warning about explosives hidden in tubes of tooth paste. and a live report from sochi. also, big break. police name a suspect in a 25-year-old disappearance of university of florida student tiffany sessions. >> she's my masterpiece and i just want everybody to know that it's been a 25-year struggle. it would be nice to be able to put her to rest. >> 25 years. that is sessions' mother there speaking this morning. coming up, i'll talk to her father who says he's convinced a serial killer abducted his daughter. and don't forget, as always, you can join our conversation on twitter. you can find us @newsnation, one

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almost 600,000 power are without power this afternoon. most of those outages, about 500,000, are in pennsylvania alone. pennsylvania's governor has declared a state of emergency, cutting red tape to try and get help to the folks in those affected areas. chris is in upper dublin, pennsylvania, for us. the obvious question, what are you hearing butt how long it's going to take to get folks back with their lights on, back with some heat? >> reporter: the governor said there are now about 5,000 crews

in the area, from as far west to chicago, north to canada. they're working 16-hour days to try and get these 400,000, 500,000 people back on. they hope, they're optimistic, that they can get most on by tomorrow night, by friday night. but they said certainly not everyone will be on. it could go through the weekend for some customers. >> how cold is it there? >> reporter: you know, it feels pretty good comparatively to what we've experienced with the polar vortex. right now, my car is saying about 26 degrees. weather saying 26, 27 degrees. it feels nice. there is some melting going on because of the sun. but it is below freezing and it's not expected really to rise above 32 here today. maybe a little bit above that tomorrow. the thing that's dangerous for these power crews is with so much ice and snow still on the trees, still on the power lines, one guy, the governor said told him that they call this the widow maker storm, because if some ice or snowfalls, it could

really endanger these power crews. >> chris, thank you. even today, the snow and ice continues to make travel quite treacherous. these are some pictures from the dallas-fort worth area with an inch of snow and ice and freezing temperatures are turning the roads and highways into an ice skating rink. the number of accidents reported are mounting. schools are being let out early. many of those schools are already cancelling classes for tomorrow. if you are familiar with the dallas-fort worth area, then you know this is not the kind of weather they see there ever. forecasters expect, expect being the operative word, expect the snow to end there over the next few hours. still ahead here, it's official, the rich teenager who killed four people in a drunk driving accident will not be sent to jail, after using the so called defense.

coming up, chris christie in texas right now to help raise some money for republicans to stay in the governor's mansion. but he's getting snubbed by the very candidate he's there to help. it's just one of the things we thought you should know. 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. there's not one way to do something.

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some new security fears ahead of the olympic games in sew shi. the department of homeland security is now warning airlines that recent intelligence suggests terrorists may try to smuggle explosives on to planes bound for russia inside tooth paste tubes. this morning, officials insisted concerns bullet a terrorist attack are being overflown, all of this as the olympic torch arrives in sochi. the opening ceremony takes place tomorrow. nbc's kevin tibbles following it all for tlus in sochi.

at this point, what more do we know about the possible threat outlined by u.s. officials? >> well, craig, i think you pretty much summed it up. obviously there is concern when there is any sort of event this size taking place anywhere in the world. but because of the situation, the political situation here within russia itself, people are taking all of these threats, perceived or otherwise, very seriously. people are not being permitted to have any sorts of liquids or gels when they are flying within russia itself, coming to sochi from moscow, for example, people are being looked over very carefully. there is a ring of steel around this facility, as we've heard so many times there. are many soldiers along the roadways, along the path that the train takes up into the mountains. but at the end of the day, it is also the russians, the deputy prime minister today coming out saying, are things really dangerous here? he says they are not any more dangerous here in sochi than they are in new york or

washington or boston or any other major city around the world. >> let's turn to the games here for a minute. new competitions. 12 new competitions, as i understand, in this year's olympics. i understand also that two of them started today, correct? >> reporter: absolutely. and at least one of them is absolutely breathtaking to watch. the slopestyle snowboarding competition, the one that unfortunately shaun white had to pull out of. but in watching these kids, men and women, young men and women flying, perhaps soaring higher than they've ever gone before. very exciting to watch. i think it's going to be a real crowd pleaser at these games for young and old to watch. very exciting. and then the other one is something the figure skating competition, as you think of them as always being sort of an individual event or a pairs event with men and women. now we have sort of a summer olympics gymnastics style team figure skating event in these olympic games, also something that fans of that sport i think

are really going to take to. >> kevin, what can we expect from tomorrow's opening ceremony? >> well, you know, russia is a country steeped in all sorts of history. obviously it is the recent past that we often think about in the west. the soviet years, of course. but, you know, i think that russia wants to put that in its past. i think that is one of the main reasons these games are being held here in sochi. i think they want to put themselves on the world stage as an up and coming nation. i think that's what vladimir putin has in mind. i think in this stadium tomorrow night, we're going to have a real cross section of russian culture from the dance, the music, the art, and i can tell you while we don't know what's going on inside that stadium when the rehearsals are taking place, it certainly sounds interesting. they sure have a lot of people going in and out of there for these rehearsals.

a lot of young volunteers looking very excited to be a part of all this. and i really wouldn't -- in terms of the people that i've met here, going in and out of the olympic areas and around the athletes' villages and what have you, you know, yes, we are in russia, but i've got to tell you, it really doesn't feel that much different than the other olympic games that i've been to. a lot of young people, a lot of excitement. a lot of athletes looking at this thing and i think tomorrow night we're going to see that in the stadium here. >> a grand spectacle undoubtedly to come. kevin tibbles, always good to see you, sir. thank you so much. still ahead, house republicans may be running out of options when it comes to demands for raising the debt ceiling. >> mother teresa is a saint now, but, you know, if the congress wanted to make her a saint and attach that to the debt ceiling, we probably couldn't get 200 republican votes. meanwhile, the treasury is set to take extraordinary

measures to keep the nation from defaulting on its debt tomorrow. we'll have the latest on that. also, a final good night from jay leno as he prepares for his last appearance as host of "the tonight show." >> i did it for 20 years, and it was great. it was a lot of fun. but you get older. [ screaming ] ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] introducing the bold, all-new nissan rogue with intuitive all-wheel drive. because winter needs a hero. ♪

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let's just say, i saved him $519, and it certainly didn't go toward that ring. am i right? [ laughs ] [ dance music playing ] so visit progressive.com today. i call this one "the robox." we are following some breaking news. republicans in the senate just voted down a bill brought forward by democrats that would have extended unemployment benefits for three months for roughly 1.7 million americans who are unemployed. in a 58-40 vote, closure as it's called was not invoked. our kelly o'donnell called it at the top of the hour. it's still at this point, according to kelly o, there is a chance it could be brought forward once again in the upper chamber. but even if it was to somehow get passed there, its future in

the house very, very uncertain. nbc news senior political editor mark murray joins me live now. mark, this probably isn't much of a surprise to anyone who follows politics closely down there, huh? >> it's not a surprise, craig. and of course, always being able to obtain that 60-vote threshold on legislation in the senate has been a tough obstacle. although meeting that obstacle has been more realistic and something that's been more achieved and getting some of the democratic-backed legislation in the house of representatives. so i think you put it very well, that even if democrats were able to muster and get 60 votes on this, its prospect and future in the house of representatives would be very uncertain. although it comes at a time in which there has been a little bit of progress in congress, craig. as you know, the president is going to be able to sign the farm legislation into law tomorrow. and you also did see some comedy when it came to the appropriations process and getting a budget deal done. but of course, this type of

legislation, democrats were unable to stick it in that budget deal from late last year. and its prospects for going forward certainly remain uncertain. >> let's pivot here to the debt ceiling really quickly. "the washington post" headlines senate democrats very much in the driver's seat. no matter how you slice it, democrats have the upper hand right now in the debate over the debt ceiling. goes on to say even if house republicans land on the negotiating position sturdy enough to win passage, democrats would be left with a vehicle for resurrecting their arguments from the fall about republican intransigence. how likely is it that it's going to come down to a measure that's passed only with democratic support? >> of course, back then, it wasn't just a standoff of the government shutdown. it was whether or not to also raise the debt ceiling. and you saw a lot of republicans

vote to raise the debt ceiling without anything in return. in some ways, kind of breaking the rule where republicans said look, if we're going to raise the debt ceiling, we need some spending cuts, or something in return for that. republicans are still trying to get something in return, but one thing that was really interesting yesterday, our hill producer was able to interview a lot of republicans and many of them were often saying if we're not going to get anything big, it's better just to put this debt ceiling to a vote, let democrats pass it maybe with a few republicans here and there to get it through and get the 217 or 218 votes needed. but essentially just to kind of move on and get this beyond this. so that would be a huge break from what we've seen some debt ceiling standoffs in the past in 2011 on into the future. and so, you know, it remains to be seen whether or not we are going to get that, but it does look like you're going to have kind of a cleanish debt ceiling raise that would be mostly done by democrats. >> mark murphy for us in washington, d.c. mark, thank you. >> thanks, craig.

president obama and the first lady started their day by attending the annual national prayer breakfast in washington, a nondenominationle event has been attended by every president since dwight eisenhower. he expressed that freedom of religion across the world is a central tenet of u.s. diplomacy and he singled out a few countries that have fallen short. >> i realize that china's potential rests on upholding universal rights, including for christians and tibetan buddhists and muslims. broadly made the case that no society with truly succeed unless it guarantees the rights of all of its peoples, including religious minorities. whether they're muslims in pakistan or in iran or christians in egypt. in syria, it means ensuring a place for all people.

alawites and sunnis. >> the president also offered prayers for kenneth bae, the u.s. missionary held in north korea while he was arrested leading a tour group. he also offers a prayer for the idaho pastor being held in iran since september of 2012. still ahead here, a major break in a 25-year-old cold case involving a university of florida student who went for a walk and was never seen again. i'll talk to the father of tiffany sessions, who's convinced that a serial killer was behind his daughter's disappearance. plus, former new orleans mayor ray nagan takes the stand in the corruption trial against him. it's just one of the things we thought you should know. you stod 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 ]

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tiffany sessions, a 20-year-old university of florida student went mising nearly 25 years ago. today, authorities announced they named a prime suspect in that case. he is a man named paul woles, a known serial killer who died in prison last year. in a news conference, detectives and tiffany's family made a plea for public tips that could lead to tiffany's body. >> please come forward. it's very important that, for me, that i find out because this is my only baby. she's my masterpiece, and i just want everybody to know that it's been a 25-year struggle, and it would be nice to be able to put her to rest after all these years. >> tiffany sessions' disappearance when she went out for a walk in gainesville made national news. it also led to one of the largest missing persons searches

in history, organized by her father, patrick sessions. he says he's never stopped looking for his daughter and he joins me now on the phone. mr. sessions, first of all, how did the breakthrough in the case come about? >> well, we found a tie-in to another case that happened a few years after tiffany disappeared, a girl named beth foster, who was abducted and murdered and her body was recovered about two weeks after she was abducted. we didn't initially tie the two cases together because they weren't really pure roles involved in beth's case. what changed was the increase in the accuracy of dna testing. last year it came back a solid hit on him from beth. and so, we started looking at him harder. and interviewi ining him. but unfortunately, he wouldn't talk. when he died in prison, the investigators were able to get

his personal effects and we found his diary naming the girls that he had killed other than tiffany. but in tiffany's case, he named the date and he put number two in front and behind that, and we believe -- we know he murdered a girl in miami and he got a life sentence for it. and he only served nine years. but she would have been number one and tiffany would have been number two. we think it was sort of a code, because at that point, he was not a suspect and if he had written her name down with the rest of these girls that he had been convicted of, he would have been, you know, implicating himself. >> mr. sessions, in your heart of hearts, did you think that this day would come? did you think that they would find the culprit responsible? >> well, i sure thought that early on. and i've got to tell you, after 25 years, you know, the last, you know, ten years have been

pretty depressing, and i wondered at that point whether it was. we were still trying. we got lucky. we got a cold case detective who is really good. and he followed through with the leads and we got a miracle here. i can't believe after 25 years we know who did this. >> patrick sessions, father of tiffany sessions. again, this morning, prime suspect announced in that case down in florida. thank you, sir. thoughts and prayers with you and your family. >> thank you very much. appreciate it. a texas judge has ruled that there will be no jail time for the teenager who claimed the defense of afluenza following a drunk driving accident. that tops our stories around the news nation. ethan couch was ordered to take rehab after prosecutors requested jail time on charges related to two people injured in the crash that killed four others. last summer, the judge did not specify a minimum amount of time in rehab for the teenager.

meanwhile, the victims' families are outraged, saying the gravity of ethan's actions should not be forgotten. the children of martin luther king jr. are batting each other over possession of their father's iconic bible and nobel peace prize. the civil rights leader's estate controlled by his sons dexter king and martin luther king iii are suing to compel king's daughter bernice king to turn over the items. bernice king says that her brothers only want the items so they can sell them for profit. in a news conference today, she said she is disassociating herself from her brothers. >> it's not about another sibling rivalry. it's about standing on principle. it's important that i am on the right side of history. when the record books are written, let it be said that there was at least one heir who tried to further the legacy left

by her father and mother. >> dr. king's traveling bible was used in president obama's second inauguration. still ahead, our "newsroom" gut check. it has to do with this sign, this sign that tells people guns are banned, and why some school officials don't want to post it as required by illinois law. plus -- >> probably when the sitting president came on, when barack obama came on. i mean, the actual president of the united states. i'm sure that was pretty amazing. >> one last might. we'll take a look back at jay leno's time on "the tonight show" as he prepares for his final show. [ male announcer ] this man has an accomplished research and analytical group at his disposal. ♪ but even more impressive is how he puts it to work for his clients. ♪ morning. morning. thanks for meeting so early. oh, it's not a big deal at all. come on in.

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tonight jay leno delivers his final monologue after more than two decades in the host seat. and you can expect a lot of surprises in his final show. leno's final guests include country music superstar garth

brook, comedian billy crystal will also stop by. crystal, you might remember, was his first tonight show visitor when he took over back in 1992. as you've probably heard by now, leno is handing over the reins to that guy, jimmy fallon. he stopped by the show monday and delivered a nice tribute to jay. >> i will do my best to make you proud every single night. thank you. >> well, i think you'll do a great job. jimmy fallon, ladies and gentlemen! starts on the 17th. couldn't be happier for you, buddy. >> as far as what lies ahead for leno, he's signaling that this certainly does not mean he is retiring from the business, telling "variety," when you stop you stop, when you're older, you just sort of slow down and look for other things to do. ted johnson joins me live now. leno is going out with solid ratings right now. what's his legacy going to be? >> well, i actually think it's just what you said. the solid ratings. look how different the late

night environment is now compared to back in '92. there was so much more competition. and it's all about web video. it's about what can get the buzz the next day. nevertheless, leno has really captured this mass audience. some would say it's a thing of the past. but it's very lucrative for the network, i have to say. the other thing that he's been able to do is really, this was on earlier, bring in political figures to late night television. and i think it was an extraordinary thing when you had a sitting president visit a late night talk show for the first time, when you had barack obama visit back in 2009. i wouldn't be surprised that now this is going to be an expectation for obama's successor that yes, part of the job is to go and visit "the tonight show." >> you mentioned the president, and jay leno had this reputation

for being a nice guy. but he really went after a lot of folks in those opening monologues. and a lot of times, they were politicians. in fact, he wrote about how the center for media and public affairs did a breakdown of who his top joke targets were over the years. bill clinton at 4,607 jokes, ahead of george w., ahead of al gore, ahead of the sitting president. way ahead of hillary clinton. 4,607 jokes. he did a lot with president clinton. president clinton was never on the show, correct? >> yeah. i'm not sure if there's any correlation right there, but look at the figures. that's one in ten jokes were actually about bill clinton. and a lot of that obviously due to the monica lewinsky affair, which was kind of heaven for jay leno and other late night comedians. >> what were some of the great moments you'll remember? >> i actually think that the thing that put leno on the map

as kind of a newsmaker, the ability to be a newsmaker, was when he interviewed hugh grant. when hugh grant had this scandal. this was in the mid '90s and leno got him on the air and said what the hell were you thinking? i think that showed that leno could actually be a hard-hitting interviewer when he wanted to be. and again, to just go back to president obama, i think a lot of political figures look at the tonight show and think hey, we can go on here, it's going to be a lot of softball questions. but leno has evolved, and he has managed to break some news in the questions that he asks. when he talked to obama in august, he asked about edward snowden. he asked about gay rights in russia. all of these made headlines the next day. >> ted, thank you. >> thank you. folks, there's a lot going on today. here are just a a few of the things we thought you should know about. ray nagan took the witness stand

in his own defense today in his federal corruption trial. he has been denying any wrong doing. nagin is charged with awarding lucrative contracts in exchange for more than $200,000 in kardashian and othcashe and other kickbacks. meanwhile, the scandals involving the george washington bridge lane closures and allegations over withholding superstorm sandy recovery funds appear to be following him to texas. both texas governor rick perry and the leading republican candidate to replace perry greg abbott are skipping today's fundraisers. those are just a few of the things that we thought you should know. time now for the thursday edition of "newsroom" gut check. most people are probably familiar with this particular sign. there it is right there. a black gun with a red slash

through it. signaling concealed weapons are not allowed. now schools in illinois are required to display the sticker. it's in compliance with a state law for all schools, government buildings and churches to remind the public that there are limits to where guns can be carried. some officials and parents are raising questions over whether the sticker is too disturbing for students and said administrators are even saying they don't want to post it in schools at all. it's important to note schools in illinois do not allow guns on campus. so, what does your gut tell you? should schools be required to display the gun ban sign? you can go to newsnation.msnbc.com to cast your vote. that's going to do it for this edition of "newsroom." i'm craig melvin. "the cycle" is up next. welcome back. how is everything?

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[ male announcer ] bob's heart attack didn't come with a warning. today his doctor has him on a bayer aspirin regimen to help reduce the risk of another one. if you've had a heart attack, be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. this is the first power plant in the country to combine solar and natural gas at the same location. during the day, we generate as much electricity as we can using solar. at night and when it's cloudy, we use more natural gas. this ensures we can produce clean electricity whenever our customers need it. ♪ let the games begin. fans and athletes are streaming in to sochi, and the competition is already under way.

it's 3:00 eastern, midnight in russia. this is a live look at the scene in sochi. the opening ceremonies will air tomorrow night. but for the first time in 30 years, events are taking place before the official kickoff to the games. some of these events totally new. slopestyle snowboarding and team ice skating made their debut today. we've already got some results to report. yes, these are reports. here they come. and we'll be done in about 40 seconds. we start with some good news for team usa. the ladies crushed it in their first slopestyle event. jamie anderson and carly shore both automatically qualified for the finals on saturday and will go for the gold. the american men fell short on the tough course, failing to automatically advance to saturday's finals. team usa is competing without star shaun white who pulled out of the event yesterday to focus on the half pipe. his three teammates can still make it to the finals by finishing in the top four in saturday's semis. this year i get even more of my favorite winter sport, ice skating. the brand-new team competition is already under.