and, you know, [ bleep ] the e.u. >> and the lawyer who argued roe v. wade 41 years ago is here with an update on some of the challenges of that landmark case she won. brand new security measures are also now in effect for those traveling to russia for the olympic games. the tsa is banning liquids in flights to russia. the ban is going to last for the next 30 days and includes most aeros aerosols, gels, powders, and liquids. meanwhile, president obama just weighed in on these ongoing terror threats in sochi. it's an exclusive interview with nbc's bob costas and the president stresses the u.s.'s coordination with russia. >> i think the russians have an enormous stake, obviously, in preventing any kind of a terrorist act or violence at

these venues, and they have put a lot of resources into it. we're in constant communications with them, both at the law enforcement level, at the military level, at the intelligence levels. >> all of this, of course, is happening on the backdrop of the opening ceremony, set to begin in less than an hour. our own chris jansing is live in sochi for her seventh olympic games. chris, what is the latest that officials there are telling you about this security situation? >> well, let me tell you first what's going on on the ground and if i sound out of breath, it's because i've been running here. i can tell you with the opening ceremony about to get under way, we've seen a noticeable step-up in security, the lines are starting to get long. up until this point, things had seemed to be going much more smoothly, but now is the first time they'll have to deal with the crowds so they are being careful as they let people go through these checkpoints and you need not just a ticket, but a security pass that allows you

to get on the grounds of this olympic park. in terms of what's going on at the airport, i just spoke to members of the u.s. delegation who have just arrived, janet napolitano, brian boytaneau, they told us they were impressed with the level of security, but, obviously, these threats, this chatter that they heard, there could be a threat in toothpaste tubes caused them to say any kind of liquid, aerosol, gel, coming in from the united states would no longer be allowed. now delta is the only airline that flies directly here. they issued their own directive, but again they are saying out of an abundance of caution, they took this step. on the ground, at least officially, ioc officials and russian officials feel comfortable with security as the games officially get under way shortly, ari. >> we, of course, wish you and

everyone there a safe time as we learn about some of these threats and the precautions. i also want to, of course, chris, get your thoughts on this opening ceremony beginning at the top of the hour. what kind of show do they have in store? >> well, it's really interesting for all the olympics that i've been to, we've said many times this is my seventh olympics, i think i've heard less about this opening ceremony than any other. not a lot of leaks coming out. in fact, the russian directing this said, look, we don't have the kind of celebrities, for example, that they had in london. you're not going to see a james bond cameo. you're certainly not going to see what is now that famous clip of the queen parachuting into the stadium, and also they were asked is it possible we'll see the president, vladimir putin riding into the stadium shirtless on a horse. he laughed and said, i don't think that's going to happen either. the one big name that is known internationally is the opera diva, she will be singing. we know they've had a couple of

rehearsals for people that have been there. they are starting to get the kinks worked out and there will be an elaborate lighting of the caldron. >> chris jansing, thanks for your reporting. >> as i catch my breath. >> don't forget, if you have questions for chris, go to jansing.msnbc.com and ask away. now we're going to turn to the job market, which is starting the new year where it left off in 2013 on a disappointing note. new numbers show 113,000 jobs were added last month. that is considered a small step in terms of raw gains, but it is lower than the fed and leading economists had expected. there were estimated of 185,000, overall, the unemployment rate ticked down to 6.6%. that's actually the lowest in more than five years. the new report also provides an

update to the december jobs report. it was revised by 1,000 jobs for a weak total of 75,000. now to make sense of it, let's bring in dan gross and peter morici. welcome to you both. peter, your take today. >> well, this is extraordinarily disappointing. we expected a colder than normal winter to have a consequence, but the construction sector looked good. this really does indicate we are in a slower period this first half of 2014 than we were in the second half of last year. the economy has shifted from third back down to second gear. >> yeah, dan, let's look to peter's point what industries we're talking about here. who's hiring, construction, 48,000, professional business services up 36,000. the leisure and hospitality industry up 24,000, manufacturing an anemic 21,000.

>> all that isn't bad, the government cut 29,000 positions, federal, state, local. that is not supposed to happen. we're about 1 million short of government employees since 2010. if you were to add that in, it's not as tragic. you know, when you look at the household survey, which is how we derive the unemployment rate, the labor force bumped up in january, there are 500,000 more people who said they were working in january than in december, so it's not universally bad news. people want disappointing, two months in a row, but it's not tragic. >> just briefly explain that grab you're talking about between a half a million and the 113,000. >> so, the payroll survey, they call companies, how many people do you got on your payroll, that's the payroll jobs figure. household survey, they call people at home, did you work this week, how much are you working, do you want to work,

have you quit looking and extrapolate from that and give us the unemployment rate, the number of people who say they are employed. that number, the labor force, employment to population ratio, all these sort of wonky things. >> somewhat of a split decision for those who want to see a glass half full. analyze that on the fed, whether they do anything different. >> this is not a split decision. we are really trying to put lipstick on a pig. if i give dan back his 30,000 lost government jobs, we still come in about 140,000, 150,000. that's well below what we expected and half of what we need, a third of what we need, to bring unemployment rate down to meaningful levels. the fed's going to be in a very difficult situation, because this is not so bad it should reverse course, but it provides the excuse to do so if it

chooses. it is likely that as the weather warms, the economy will improve. it won't be where we want it to be, where we would like it to be, but it will be better than next year. if the fed is smart, it will stay the course, continue tapering, because it's run its useful life, allow equity markets and bond markets to go through the inevitable adjustment, because we're going to see a lot of housing activity, pickup truck sales and car sales overall, and that will carry us forward. >> let me go to dan. number one, peter is making it clear, he is angrier about the economy than you. number two, he's willing to give you the 40,000 public sector jobs. we don't get the jobs to the people, but for the hypothetical, respond to that and the fed. >> i will pocket those jobs and take the revisions we're going to get. >> you hear that, peter? >> jobs will be revised in the next two months, december from 74,000 to 75,000, november was

revised upward from 240 to 275, so they discovered an extra 35,000. two months time we look and january turns out to be closer to 200,000, which it will not be so bad. of course, it could be downwardly revised. >> the market reaction in the fed? >> about what expected. this is not a signal that the economy is pitching back into a recession or even into a sharply lower growth mode. the fed is on its path. it took a long time to decide to taper. it is a deliberate process. i think they actually have to be pleased when they look at the financial markets where interest rates are and where the stock markets are. of the tapering they've done so far, they've reduced monthly buying by $20 billion, i think from the market perspective the fed has to be pleased. that's been the case for this whole expansion and the fed has never really gotten exercise about the employment problem. >> peter, briefly, any lipstick

there that works for you? >> i think that looking forward, that things are going to get better and i think that this year will be better than last year. i think these numbers will be revised upward, but even with upward revisions, there are disturbing things in the numbers. one out of every six adult males between the ages of 25 and 54 are unemployed. there doesn't seem to be much relief for them. we need to find some way to get the economy back up into fourth gear, not third, but fourth. i know more government spending and more government employment won't do and it will make us feel better, but we have to ask ourselves why, technology and globalization is so destructive today, where it wasn't in the '80s and '90s and i don't think we solved that riddle. >> i hear you on that. thank you both for joining us on big jobs friday. after the break we'll look at the speaker drawing new lines on immigration. >> and, frankly, one of the

biggest obstacles we face is the one of trust. >> speaker boehner saying there may be no deal here and the reason might actually surprise you, and is it really over? that's all up next. [ male announcer ] research suggests cell health plays a key role throughout our lives. one a day men's 50+ is a complete multivitamin designed for men's health concerns as we age. with 7 antioxidants to support cell health. one a day men's 50+. where their electricity comes from. they flip the switch-- and the light comes on. it's our job to make sure that it does.

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welcome back. new comments from speaker boehner on immigration reform. now, the speaker says the principles may not matter if, if, the president doesn't enforce the laws that congress passes. >> listen, there's widespread doubt about whether this administration can be trusted to enforce our laws, and it's going to be difficult to move any immigration legislation until that changes. >> that is one way to look at it, but dnc chief debbie

wasserman schultz says congress is making excuses because they aren't serious about immigration in the first place. here's what she told msnbc's andrea mitchell. >> i think what's playing is, hide the cheese. what they are doing here is just trying to delay and draw this out and pretend that they are committed to the principles of comprehensive immigration reform. >> i want to bring in our company, dafna linzer, managing eder tor at msnbc, and philip bump, staff writer at "the wire." sooner or later, philip, people are going to know that. sooner or later. let's start with the hide the cheese. that's a very serious charge in politics, as you know, but what it is is her saying, i don't believe you. this really isn't about the law enforcement issue and interestingly she got some support on the seriousness aspect on that from "the wall street journal." i want to put up two highlights.

they agree the gop is right to mistrust obama. they've felt that way a long time but say the gop is wrong, philip, to claim immigrants steal jobs and the wall street editorial board says a real plan would include immigration reform. >> that's absolutely the case. there's been a lot said about what john boehner said with immigration reform. he was able to say this is something that -- he was able to mollify his base, he was able to give some cover to the people voting on the debt ceiling bill, and at the same time he was able to ding obama, he's aweless, look what happened to healthcare.gov. i don't think this is about the economics of it, i think it's about the politics of it and i think this is a short-term blip. >> which means, what? >> end of january, once midterms or over, rather once the midterm primaries are over. >> you still think it can

happen. >> absolutely. >> let me play more from speaker boehner to give him his fair due on the full context of what he wanted to say. take a listen. >> the american people, including many of my members, don't trust that the reform that we're talking about will be implemented as it was intended to be. the president seems to achieve the health care law on a whim whenever he likes. now he's running around the country telling everyone that he's going to keep acting on his own. keeps talking about his phone and his pen, and he's feeding more distrust about whether he's committed to the rule of law. >> dafna, your take on that. >> i think to say this is a short-term blip through march, you really have to believe that not only does boehner truly want immigration reform, and i'm not 100% convinced that's the case, but he's able to sway enough people in his own party to go with him and he's not able to do that on almost anything, so i don't know why this would be any

different. while i agree with philip, this is all about the politics, there's 11 million lives on the line here and that is something we really need to stay focused on, beyond the politics. it's about people. >> i appreciate that. to that point, philip, part of the counterweight to dafna's analysis would be, well, if he wasn't going to do anything, he wouldn't take the major messaging retreat and put out a written statement of, quote, principles. if the principles can't last a week, query whether they are strong principles. i want to put up something you wrote recently, on "the wire" the website," now the republican fever is actually broken. something's different now. >> yeah, i agree that john boehner has not demonstrated he's great at rallying his base. i think that has been proven multiple times. i would also agree that john boehner is literally the embodiment of the republican establishment in the house of representatives and he has to do

what he has to do to do what the establishment wants, which i have little doubt is to do something on behalf of the 11 million people you referred to. i think what we are seeing in this debt ceiling fight in particular is that for the first time, the hard right conservatives in the house are actually willing to say, you know what, let's just get this thing done. michele bachmann said this, justin amish said this, people that normally give boehner a hard time, who are making the debt ceiling fight easy, i think that's because the first fight they got with obama was last october and they lost badly. >> right, you're referring to to i think it should cost him his speakership. you also have the inner play here, where we've had more serious policy about the people in the balance. take a listen to senator mitch mcconnell on this. >> i think we have sort of an irresolvable conflict here. the senate insists on comprehensive, the house says it

won't go to conference on comprehensive and wants to look at step by step. i don't see how you get to an t an out come with two bodies in a different place. >> patty murray and paul ryan, very far apart on budget priorities, they made a deal. >> they did. you can make a deal here. all the ingredients that you need are known to everybody. the question, this goes back to philip's original point is the political will. do they think it is going to be more advantageous to go ahead and come to an agreement on immigration reform, or is it more advantageous to them in midterms to not? i think that's really the question. >> right. as long as the short-term priority on the politics is constraining, you have the fact people are thinking about their very local districts. when you look out to 2016,

something the media spends too much time on, but you say, boy, we lost hispanic voters by 40 points, yeah, you probably have to do something. dafna linzer, philip bump, thank you for being here. two more states are considering sweeping new restrictions on abortion rights. we're going to get reaction from the lawyer in that landmark case, roe v. wade. that's coming up. and it feels like your lifeate revolves around your symptoms, ask your gastroenterologist about humira adalimumab. humira has been proven to work for adults who have tried other medications but still experience the symptoms of moderate to severe crohn's disease. in clinical studies, the majority of patients on humira saw significant symptom relief, and many achieved remission. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal events, such as infections, lymphoma, or other types of cancer, have happened. blood, liver and nervous system problems,

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think, to help glue this thing and have the u.n. help glue it, and, you know, [ bleep ] the e.u. >> now the two were talking about the ongoing political crisis in the ukraine. jan psaki called the eaves droping, quote, a new low. nuland called e.u. officials and apologized for her remarks. meanwhile here in new york, funeral services will be held today for philip seymour hoffman. amy adams, kate blanchett, ben stiller, joaquin phoenix were just some of the names. hoffman died last weekend of a suspected heroin overdose. we also have an update in west virginia on the chemical spill. some charleston area schools sent children home yesterday after several reported burning in noses and eyes, one teacher fainted. still, a federal official told residents as recently as wednesday that water was safe to drink. vice president joe biden

taking aim at our country's infrastructure. biden was at an event in philadelphia and while he complicated the rail system, he didn't mince any words about one of the country's busiest airports. >> if i blindfolded someone and took them 2:00 in the morning into the airport in hong kong and said where do you think you are, this must be america, it's a modern airport. if i took you and blindfolded you to laguardia airport in new york, you must think i must be in some third world country. i'm not joking. >> he's not joking. the vice president highlighted recent rankings that showed the u.s. is actually falling 20 spots in the last decade in terms of infrastructure and all the way below barbados. while chris is in sochi, i'll be sharing my must reads. a piece revealing why vladimir putin fought so hard to bring the games to russia and why russia's government has evolved

under putin's sometimes authoritarian leadership. it's up on our facebook page. now let us know what you think, head to facebook/jansingandkrochlt. hey guys! sorry we're late. did you run into traffic? no, just had to stop by the house to grab a few things. you stopped by the house? uh-huh. yea. alright, whenever you get your stuff, run upstairs, get cleaned up for dinner. you leave the house in good shape? yea. yea, of course. ♪ [ sportscaster talking on tv ] last-second field go-- yea, sure ya did. [ male announcer ] introducing at&t digital life. personalized home security and automation. get professionally monitored security for just $29.99 a month. with limited availability in select markets. ♪

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ed

turning to politics now, a new forecast suggests democrats have a decent shot at taking back the senate. the gop has a 54% chance of winning the six senate seats it would need to take control in november. former obama adviser david axelrod says democrats also have to contend with a major spending operation. >> the independent spending the koch brothers have spent $12 million already this year in these states, so i think democrats have their hands full in 2014 and they better train their attention on these races. >> let's be clear, democrats are

bankrolling a huge senate effort of their own, pulling $60 million into ten states for what the times calls the most data-driven ground game yet. in a nod to new tactics by the obama campaign, the money goes not only to tv commercials and field organizers, but big data to mobilize new supporters. let's bring in an obama campaign veteran, former political director, worked for the 2008 obama campaign in ohio and managed cory booker's senate race and john feehery, served as president of quinn gillespie communications. welcome. >> thank you. >> on the point of senate democrats trying to take these millions and go to big data, something the obama campaign excelled with. isn't that harder as you go down ballot? >> sure, it is harder.

turnout in the midterms is less beneficial to democrats than past years, but data comes down to it. democrats have to compete in all three phases of the game and in politics and campaigns, first with persuading likely voters, but for democrats in particular, we have to expand the electorate. that means turning out new voters and registering nonvoters, and what the dsec is doing here with their targeting effort is figuring out the most efficient way to allocate resources and i think it's exactly the right thing to do for 2014. >> john, speak to that. there really isn't much doubt when it comes to list building at the presidential level, democrats have excelled recently on that. a lot of republicans said they'd like to be as effective as the obama campaign, yet what republicans have argued, tell me where you stand, is the midterms and a time of sporadic voting is

really favorable to republican chances right now. >> there's no doubt about that. there's data and then there's history. 2008, 2012, the president had data on his side. in 2010, history came back. midterm elections are better for republicans than democrats, especially with a democrat in the white house. the only time it hasn't worked out for the republicans is when they tried to impeach president clinton. i think history is on republicans' side and it depends if they stay on offense in the congress and if the democrats continue to try to run away from the president in these red states, which a lot of them are trying to do, and that never works. we'll see what happens. >> you know, john is definitely right on that historical fact and that is definitely driving some of the strategies we see of republicans that want to go against a second term incumbent democrat here. take a look at one campaign ad about kay hagen on that point.

>> kay hagen votes with barack obama 96% of the time. what will it take to change her mind? how many families will have to lose good health coverage? how many workers will have to lose their jobs? how many people will have to pay for kay hagan's loyalty to obama? >> you had a base in new jersey that was excited about the incumbent president. how do democrats deal with this in other states where it's a different environment? >> look, i think the white house is very sophisticated about how and when they are going to deploy the president, and there's a lot of ways for the president to be helpful. he can make phone calls behind the scenes, help with fundraising, lend his name to targeted efforts to constituencies that particularly support him, but the fact of the matter is, it is going to be a tough environment for democrats. i agree with mr. axelrod we're going to have to invest. that's what the dsec and the

entire democratic infrastructure is focused on in 2014. >> john, i want to put up on that point some of these states where we're seeing chances of a republican takeover increase. west virginia, up to 74%, south dakota 71%, iowa 55%. we are still, of course, a ways away. is that, do you think, reverberating in a congress here that feels on the republican side they actually don't have to do as much? they can hold those gains, they don't need, as we've been reporting today, to take significant action on immigration? your thoughts? >> well, my own personal thoughts is there's never a good time to do immigration reform, and my view is let's get it done because i think it's good policy. taking away the politics. that being said, you know, these are very difficult times for democrats in these states. i would put on there north carolina and colorado is tough, alaska's going to be tough. just a lot of places, even michigan is tough for the democrats. there's going to be a lot of places where the democrats want

to defend. if you're thinking where the money is going right now, a lot is going to the hillary clinton campaign. the question is, that's what david axelrod has been talking about. there's no doubt the obama campaign is sophisticated. the problem for them, president obama is not on the ballot. they might not try to vote for some of these democrats in red states. tough situation for them. >> right. that is a midterm dynamic, and, of course, the data point we began with is trying to make up some of that ground, but that may be difficult. thank you both for your time today. >> thank you. >> absolutely. general motors' first woman ceo has been named fortune's most powerful woman in business. mandy, tell us about this month that mary bar has had. >> it's been a pretty busy month. she took over as ceo of general motors last month, january 15th

and she's escorted vice president biden around the detroit auto show, then this, the honor of fortune magazine. she's been named the number one, then you have ibm, number three of pepsi, then the ceo of brazil's petro gas is number four. as for her pay, recently mary bar told fortune she never asked for a promotion or a raise and being committed to the job is her key to success, but she's being rewarded anyway, so the board agreed to pay her $1.6 million in the annual sort of cash base salary, then she's eligible for another $2.8 million under a short-term incentive plan, then she's got stock awards tied to company performance, sort of like on a longer term basis. the base salary for a lot of these big execs is a starting point. a lot of stock options can make up of what you take home. despite reports that she's getting less than her male predecessor, apparently that's

not the case. >> you make a lot of money on those stocks and pay less taxes on them because they don't count on income, something a lot of people don't understand, partly because it doesn't make a lot of sense. two other points, interesting she didn't ask for a raise. we hear people should ask for raises, particularly if they are doing well. that's interesting she chose to share. the second point, equally important, mandy, mcdonald's, pink slime in the nuggets. you have a fact check. >> yes, let's take a look at this mcdonald's video that's gone viral. >> what are legitimately in mcnuggets, is there pink goop? this is a question we get a lot. we don't know what it is or where it came from, but it has nothing to do with our chicken mcnuggets. >> they are delicious, i can tell you that, but what's in them, mcdonald's says, no, it's

not the pink slime or goop and to prove it, they've released this video we're watching now that kind of shows the entire nugget making process from start to finish. they apparently stopped using that so-called pink slime after 2011 and it's made with white boneless meat, so as we're taken on this tour, it shows you how the breasts are taken from whole chickens, blended, squeezed, squished, and formed into nuggets. >> you know, mandy, just for some real talk, i'm glad we got the fact check on the slime and there's all sorts of stuff on the internet, but for me, that set of video didn't make me feel much better about the chicken just visually. >> it didn't? >> no, not really. >> it made me feel a lot better. >> one out of two, maybe that's a poll sample, if half the country likes the video. thanks for your time today. >> thank you, see you next week.

>> absolutely. seems just yesterday the beatles arrived in the u.s., but it was 50 years ago today the fab four had a ticket to ride from london to jfk airport in new york. the airport is commemorating the date. billboard is celebrating the long and winding road with a list of the beatles' biggest billboard hits. number five, "let it be," "get back" is number four, "she loves you," runner-up, "i want to hold your hand," and the beatles' biggest billboard hit of all time, you might have guessed it "hey jude," we're going to post a link to the beatles' 50 biggest billboard hits on jansing.msnbc.com. on my knees. [ daughter ] i've mastered the art of foot cleaning. oh, boy. oh, boy. oh, boy. [ carmel ] that drives me nuts. it gives me anxiety just thinking about how crazy they get. [ doorbell rings ] [ daughter ] oh, wow. [ carmel ] swiffer wetjet.

you guys should try this. it's so easy. oh, my. [ gasps ] i just washed this floor. if i didn't see it i wouldn't believe it. [ carmel ] it did my heart good to see you cleaning. [ regina ] yeah, your generation has all the good stuff. [ daughter ] oh, yeah. to prove to you that aleve is the better choice for him, he's agreed to give it up. that's today? [ male announcer ] we'll be with him all day as he goes back to taking tylenol. i was okay, but after lunch my knee started to hurt again. and now i've got to take more pills. ♪ yup. another pill stop.

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we know this. because you're one of us. at citi, we believe in everyone's potential, which is why citi and evan are giving back to community sports programs to help future athletes every step of the way. new developments over the battle of abortion access as two more states are opposing bans on

abortions. the supreme court ruled women have a constitutional right to choose abortion. today, a majority of adult women live in areas where local laws restrict access to health care that includes that choice. and that's because of a recent surge in state laws. look at this, over the nine years from 2001 to 2010, 189 restrictions were enacted. and then there were more restrictions passed in just the most recent two years, about 205. now that is not what most people expected when roe v. wade was first decided. >> the court ruled in cases from texas and georgia, but all 50 states are effective, whatever their laws. >> today's decision came as a shock to both anti and pro abortionist forces. >> well, it means that january 22, 1973, will stand out as one of the great days for freedom and free choice. >> how many millions of children prior to their birth will never live to see the light of day?

>> that was january 22, 1973. it was a big day for sarah weddington, a pro choice advocate, who was just one of five women in her class at university of texas law school and argued and won roe v. wade before the supreme court. she was one of the first women to win such a big case in american history and as weddington later recalled, she went to the court's lawyer's lounge for one final stop before that historic argument and found there was no ladies room in the lawyer's lounge at all. sarah weddington joins us now, welcome. >> thank you, nice to be with you, ari. >> excellent. tell me how we are doing and whether we are anywhere near where you expected when you won that case, looking a generation forward. >> absolutely not. if anybody had said to me on january 22, 1973, you will still be talking about this in 41 years, i would never have believed that. by the way, they do have a ladies room now in the lawyers'

lounge but only got it after two women were on the supreme court, sandra daye o'connor and ruth bader ginsburg, and what we're seeing now is a really acceleration of the actions trying to make abortion, if they can't make it illegal, which the opponents would like to do, then they are trying to make it unavailable, and so you see all this legislation in almost every state that's trying to keep women from having access to the procedure or being able to afford it or having a place that's fairly close to them. so they can get to it. and it reminds me at the time before roe v. wade. here in texas, abortion was illegal except to save the life of the woman. that's the only exception. so women traveled to california where it was legal. then governor ronald reagan signed that bill into law. it was only when he started

running for president that he became opposed, or they went to new york, but there were very few places, and you had to have money to get there. >> sarah, let me ask you how that moved into the political consciousness, because when you won that case and went on to be in the legislature, it was considered a new day in america for the pro choice movement, and yet the original democratic platforms prior to that, democratic and republican, didn't even mention abortion, yet then by '76, both parties entered the fray with it as a national political issue, the gop platform in '76 says the republican party favors a continuance of the public dialogue

today we're not talking about a constitutional amendment, but in many states as we showed in the lead, death of this choice by other means. >> exactly. and so that's why you're going to be seeing a lot of u.s. supreme court attention to this, or other federal courts. we'll be having, or we've already had an argument last month on whether or not massachusetts could have a law that says, you cannot almost assault a woman, but certainly go up and argue with her about her decision to have an abortion. and we've got hearings coming up on all kinds of things. so it's an issue people are really going to be, i think, focused on, because it will be in the news. or even here in texas, you have every candidate on the republican side for lieutenant governor saying, we don't even

think abortion should be available in cases of rape or incest. >> i was going to say, we've seen that, of course, become sort of the edge where some republicans have walked back that language. again, it shows sort of how different we are a couple decades out. i want to put up on the screen, though, the facts about the actual incidents. from 2011, abortions in the united states down 13% from a few years prior. for those, and i know you've argued this now a good portion of your life, but for those who feel this is a human life, who feel religion and their god teaches them that, what do you think is the best legal approach for them under current law to advocate something that many people feel strongly about? >> well, the real question comes down to who gets to make the decision, the woman or the government? and i say, not the government. because she knows better than

anyone else what her circumstances are, what the considerations are. she and her family should make that decision. so, i understand that other people disagree. they have a different focus, but i still think it's up to the woman to make the decision. >> sarah, before we go, i don't mean to interrupt, i want to ask you since you have this experience that most people don't have, arguing before the supreme court, do you think in the next couple years outside of the free speech context that you mentioned, do you think they will actually wade in and have a fuller hearing on some of these restrictions? >> i do, because so often the supreme court will accept cases where you have a diversity of judgments, decisions, in lower federal courts, and we're beginning to see that now. where one federal court in one state, an appellate court, of course, would decide one way and another court would decide a different way and that's just the number of cases that are on

their way to the supreme court. i don't think one case will completely change the law, but i think there will be cases that the supreme court will hear, and as an attorney, you know that. >> it does seem that we're getting to a different sort of pitch. haven't done anything really big since 1992. a lot of people wondering what it would look like today. it's an honor to have you on the show and a privilege to hear from you. sarah weddington, thanks for your time. >> thank you so much, ari. >> you're welcome. today's tweet of the day comes from skier lindsey vonn, she tweeted out this instagram photo and wrote, walked the runway last night for go red for women to raise awareness for heart disease for women. it's not happening, honey. let her get it. she got her safe driving bonus check from allstate last week. and it's her treat. what about a tip? oh, here's one... get an allstate agent. nice! [ female announcer ] switch today and get two safe driving bonus checks a year for driving safely. only from allstate.

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it is the end of an era in late night. >> thank you very much. thank you. [ cheers and applause ] thank you. >> after jay leno walked out on

the tonight show stage for the last time, the audience gave him a huge extended ovation, before handing it over, of course, to our own jimmy fallon. and from president obama, to kim kardashian, to oprah winfrey, all the big names came out for leno's last show. he is known, of course, for being very funny for a very long time, but leno did get emotional when saying good-bye. >> you know, it's fun to kind of be the old guy and sit back here and see where the next generation takes this great institution, and it really is, it's been a great institution for 60 years. i am so glad i got to be a part of it, but it really is time to go, hand it off to the next guy. it really is. and in closing, i want to quote johnny carson, who was the greatest guy to ever do this job, and he said, i bit you all a heartfelt -- >> a classy way to go out and no one better, of course, to quote,

we wish jay leno very well and welcome jimmy fallon, who takes over for the tonight show after the olympics, that's on february 17th. all right, that wraps up this hour of "jansing and co." i am ari melber in for chris jansing and i'll see you back here, if you want to come back, at 3:00 p.m. eastern today. on "the cycle." alex witt is up next. book? what? trick number one. look-est over there. ha ha. made-est thou look. so end-eth the trick. hey.... yes.... geico. fifteen minutes could save you... well, you know.

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hey, everyone, i'm alex witt, and topping our agenda on the day we hit our debt limit, we have what we call a weak jobs report. the labor department says the unemployment rate fell for january 6.6% with 113,000 jobs added. economists have expected a gain of up to 180,000 jobs. the republican national committee blasted the report in a statement saying, it shows the percentage of the americans in the workforce hasn't been this low since the 1970s. the white house says what's important is that the

unemployment rate has gone down and we shouldn't read too much into the specific number of jobs added. >> if you look at the last 12 months, 2.3 private sector jobs. even this last month at 142,000 was a little bit below expectations. other months it's a little bit above expectations and it's basically averaging out. >> meantime, moody's chief exist mark zandi says it's all about the weather. >> i think the weather is all over this, and nothing fundamental has changed in the economy since you pointed out look at the data in august through november, you know, nothing fundamental has changed. >> and checking out wall street this hour, here's a look how the markets are reacting to all this. things are looking up, not in a really big way, but a moderate way. the dow, s&p 500, and the nasdaq. with more now, i'm joined by former white house economic adviser, jared bernstein, also the man with whom i trust our