he may not look like a pirate, but ted cruz made members of his own party walk the plank. it's wednesday, february 12th, and this is "now." >> president obama -- >> signing that minimum wage hike into law today. >> you work hard. you should not be paid a wage that keeps you in poverty.

>> the baggage workers working at newark airport making choices between food and health care. >> i don't think the american people want income equality. you want income equality, that's mediocre. >> we support increasing the minimum wage to make sure those economic opportunities are there. >> the american people are ahead of some in congress. >> president obama will sign an executive order raising the minimum wage for federal contractors. >> are we witnessing a shift of tensions there on the hill? >> i'm open to a minimum wage increase. >> if you work as hard as these folks, you shouldn't be living in poverty in america. >> it is a busy wednesday in the

capitol. president obama this afternoon issued his seventh executive order since the state of the union raising the minimum wage to 10.10 an hour for workers under federal contracts. while it will boost the paychecks of federal workers next year, the president wants to lead by example. he's looking at you, people in congress. >> raising the minimum wage is good for business and it's good for workers and it's good for the economy. a majority of americans, not just democrats, not just independents, but republicans too support raising the minimum wage. it's the right thing to do. so, that's something congress should keep in mind this year. >> something congress should keep in mind, that's after shaking off the scramble this afternoon as republicans struggled to gather five votes

to break a ted cruz threatened filibuster of legislation to raise the debt ceiling. mcconnell was forced to walk the plank and vote aye. everybody in washington take a deep breath. joining me now is casey hunt. it was a nail-biter. we did not know if this thing was going to pass just an hour ago. what transpired there on the hill? >> it was a nail-bight ter. it's a retire thing to see. initially, there were only three republicans who had voted yes. the first one who voted yes was mike jones from nebraska. afterward senator mccain joked his shoulder has been dislocated as he is one of the people who

was targeted. but you saw leaders huddling on the floor with some of their more moderate members. some of them were in the republican cloak room and walked down to together to cast their vote. cornyn and mcconnell both went up to take that vote. it was a tough vote for both of them, particularly mcconnell. he's facing a primary challenge back in kentucky. if ted cruz wanted to, democrats were willing to let this go forward. cruz insisted on a vote that would take 60 to get there, which meant some colleagues had to walk the plank. >> ted cruz cut off republican noses to suit their face -- i'm

mixing analogies there. what is the relationship between those two wings of the senate? the ted cruz wing and the john cornyn wing. >> i asked ted cruz after the vote whether or not he would still support mitch mcconnell? and cruz said that in the first instance that was going to be up to the voters of kentucky to decide. not a ringing endorsement exactly. >> ted cruz has no friends in the senate. casey hunt, thank you as always. joining me now is the coanchor of "squawk box" and from chicago

director mr. axelrod. at the same time, it is so incredibly dysfunctional in the caucus that members of leadership are being sacrificed to do ordinary business. >> ted cruz wasn't the most popular member before in this caucus. he doesn't care because he's appealing to an entirely audience, the heritage foundation, all the folks on the right who are clamoring for them to turn down the debt ceiling. i happen to believe that john boehner did his -- i think he did his members a favor yesterday because he allowed them to vote against the debt ceiling, but he didn't take down the world economy in the

process. and i think that's what mcconnell and cornyn had in mind as well. it gives you a sense of how tender the dynamics are within the republican right now. >> i wonder what wall street thinks of these she nproblems. >> you were about to say -- >> the seas are not calm. there are still rough waters in there. a real sense that the control of the republican party is up for grabs. this could be used against mitch mcconnell in his primary. this could effectively oust him as senate minority leader. >> i think right now the business community is still trying to figure out who they are supposed to be supporting.

they're trying to figure out how to sort of thread the needle inside this tea party thing they don't know what to do about. they're scared if they actually try to support people to go up against a ted cruz, it will only embolden the supporters of the people like him. it's a bit of a conundrum. i think they're going to be waiting for a while to find out where this all shakes out before they put their heads up above the clouds for a moment. >> let me pivot for a moment and talk about what the president announced today, which was a raise to 10.10 an hour to federal contractors beginning in 2015. it feels like this is a very good issue for democrats. it has broad support nationally. >> it's tough for the republicans to stand in the way of this, even on a broader

basis. today is political. this will only mean a lot, a real lot, if you actually get congress to pass this. i think it is very hard for the republicans or anybody to stand up and say this is a bad idea for employment across the country. 10.10 is not a bad number. if the numb there are legitimate economic issues around -- >> depending on the dollar amount. >> most studies suggest you can raise the minimum wage without hurting employment. in most states, that's been the case. how large is this number? there's probably a case to be made once the number gets too large that would hurt things, especially on the manufacturing side. that's one thing. when it comes to manufacturing and you're competing against other countries, it becomes a little more complicated. >> if you look at the polling

here, support 71% to 27%. the white house cites 288 pairs of counties with minimum wage differentials from 1990 to 2006. there are a lot of facts to support raising the minimum wage makes basic economic sense. chris christie yesterday was talking about the income inequality argument. he as governor turned down a $1 raise in the minimum wage in his own state, which was overturned by voters in new jersey that went against christie's ideas to raise the wages for state workers. it appears the republicans are going to run against. they will take an opposition stance on the question of raising the minimum wage. >> it seems that way, and they're really defying what is a

fundamental value that most americans embrace, including republicans, which is if you work hard, you ought to not have to live in poverty. there are millions of americans on the minimum wage who have families they're trying to support. there's a myth that it's just teenagers at mcdonald's. that's not the case. increasingly, the face of these workers are women. so it's a powerful issue. as we talked about in our previous discussion, there are powerful forces within the republican party. when you consider all these things, there's a fundamental principal, alex, that you should always apply, which is when politicians make these decisions, they think about whether that will effect their own job and their own reelection and what impact it's going to have. they don't believe in the republican party that the greatest threat to them right now is to vote against the

minimum wage. they think that will engender the kind of primaries that they're worried about. that is the controlling fear in the republican party right now, and that will keep them from becoming a national party, but it may keep the minimum wage from passing the congress. >> can i say something about this issue of equality versus inequality issue? >> sure. >> a number of economic historians will tell you. we lived through a special period after world war ii. where if you went to school and graduated, you got a job and a house and a nice wife and two kids and a dog and things just kind of worked out. everything sort of happened. what's happened because of economic forces, technology, and other things, has made "the

leave it to beaver" version of the american dream a challenge. >> you could be paraphrasing the speech the president gave. >> the question is how do you make sure there is a baseline. but i also think you look at what's going on in this country. it's an education issue. we get this unemployment number every week on a friday. that number does not really represent what's going on in the country because there's places in the country where it's obviously much worse. it's much more based on education than anything else. if you have an education under high school, it's under 10% depending on what race you are. i think we need to break apart the equality versus the quality of opportunity argument. >> democrats are talking less about income inequality and more

about the quality. it feels like democrats are reframing this a little bit. would you agree with that? >> yes. but let's accept christie's point. what are you going to ensure quality of opportunity? vetoing a minimum wage, opposing investments that are essential to income growth and opportunity growth is not the answer. so i think he can engage in the language. when you have the policy debate, who wins? >> it's not just about the pizza box. it's about the pizza. thank you both for your time. coming up, power outages and long periods in the cold and dark. that is not just the state of affairs in the minority party on capitol hill. that's the latest warning from

the weather channel as a historic winter storm begins to climb up the east coast. first, one of the power players of the senate joins me to discuss the state of play in the upper chamber, her efforts to fight sexual assault in the military, and what red state democrats need to do to win in 2014. that's next. hey guys! sorry we're late.

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coming up, rand paul versus president obama. today the kentucky senator filed a class action lawsuit over the

government's surveillance program. claire mccaskill joins me to talk about what went down in the u.s. senate. that's next. help him achieve it. ♪epic classical music stops ♪music resumes purina pro plan's bioavailable formulas deliver optimal nutrient absorption. purina pro plan. nutrition that performs.

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a betrayal, a stain, a scourge, a cancer within the force. over the past year, the issue of sexual assault in the military has gone from being an invisible war to a front line battle on capitol hill. if the stakes are high, the victims are staggering. in 2012, there were 26,000 sexual assaults in the military. of these 26,000 assaults, only

3400 were ever reported. a female soldier is more likely to be raped by another officer than she is to die in war. things are starting to change. reports of sexual assaults rose 50% last year providing a glimmer of hope. there are two major bills in the senate that aim to address the problem. one is from the new york senator. it would move authority outside the chain of command and it would assign an independent military prosecutor. the other is from claire mccaskill. it would -- joining me now from

washington is missouri's democratic senator claire mccaskill. thank you so much for joining us. i know it's been a very, very busy day, a very busy week up there on the hill. let me quickly get your thoughts on what just transpired on the debt limit vote. you tweeted that it is sad that it is this hard to get five republican votes to avoid the default of america on its obligations. what was your reaction to this process? >> it's interesting to me that this is hard. we are the strongest nation on the planet. the dollar is used as the worldwide currency. we are an economic super power. the worst thing we could do is send a message to the world that we're bankrupt, that we're not going to pay our bills. this debt ceiling bill doesn't allow any additional spending. it is not a spending bill.

it is just a mechanism that allows us to pay the bills that we have already incurred. the notion that people are playing around with this is hard for me to get around. now, we did eventually we got the votes and eventually those republicans came and did what i think is the responsible thing and we have now ensured we're not going to be a deadbeat. >> let me ask you on that you know on uphill reelection battles, do you get the establishment -- >> i think they have a real problem in the republican party right now. i think they have rigid id

ideaologues. they're in a big battle right now. you see ted cruz versus susan collins and mark kirk and other reasonable republicans that i may disagree with, but they're not out on the ledge like some of these folks are. they have a real civil war on their hands. >> senator, let's talk about the military sexual assault bill that you have sponsored. you're a former prosecutor. and you've argued that keeping the chain of command within the prosecutor does not hurt prosecutions. >> the facts are there. it is important to point out we have already passed this year in the last few months major reforms in this area. this is now the most victim friendly organization in the world because in the defense

authorization bill the provisions that i worked on give every victim their lawyer. we've already made retaliation a crime and we've taken the ability of commanders to mess with sentences out of their hands. prosecutors, jag officers, said the evidence isn't there. it was commanders that said, no, we need to get to the bottom of it. just in the last two year, we know the data supports that we would have fewer prosecutions and we also know it doesn't increase reporting. all of our allies have done this and none have seen an increase in reporting. the way we're going to get more prosecutions is empowering these victims with good support, good help, and good advice and making sure anybody who retaliates is

held accountable under the law. >> i appreciate those facts. you have stories across numerous publications from victims. i'll read an excerpt. i was repeatedly drugged and raped by several of my superior officers over a nine-month period. they made it clear they would kill me if i told anyone. my attackers were in my chain of command so i kept my mouth shut. what is the message you would give to those victims? in order for this to work, they have to believe in the system. >> and they have to have a place to report outside the chain of command, which they do, and they have to have a lawyer of their own to protect them and advise them, which they now have. but the notion that we're going to let commanders off the hook and let them walk away from this and prosecutors who are more

worried about a conviction than whether or not a case deserves a full vetting, that's not the answer. keep in mind, her proposal does this for every crime in the military. we're talking about a barracks thief in afghanistan having to have a lawyer review it before the commander can do anything about it. there are so many things. in fact, an independent commission just found -- and this was majority civilians and women -- by a vote of seven to two, after hearing the 150 witnesses on this topic, the gilibrand proposal is a mistake. this is about the policy. i'm on the wrong side of this for the politics. this is about the policy. >> you and senator gilibrand have worked together on other

things. you're both democrats. you both want an end to military sexual assaults, help and assistance for the victims of sexual assaults. there seems to be strong language coming from you with problems in terms of the policy. do you think it's going to come down to a filibuster? >> first of all, i think that was misinterpreted what i said. i oppose her proposal as it relates to removing command from accountability in this area. things that are controversial, around here they take 60 votes. this will take 60 votes. sometimes naming a building takes 60 votes. it's not surprising this will take 60 votes. i'm not leading some filibuster. i think her policy in this regard is wrong. we have worked together on this

subject and we'll continue to work together. i'm a little upset that there's been so much attention to the fact that two women disagree on something. i wonder if there would be so much attention if two mend men disagreed. >> fair point. republicans seem to be at least trying to get their ducks in a row so they can focus all of their arrows on the affordable care act be. how worried should red state democrats be? >> my advice would be to focus on your state. that is what these democrats do. they are moderates. they are independent. they don't walk the line for the democrat party or for the president. they make independent judgments every day. mark pryor and mary landrieu and kay hagan. our party is in the majority

because we tolerate differences of opinion. we don't fight among ourselves like they have been doing in the republican party. focus on that moderation and independence. make sure your home state knows that. all these candidates are so strong, they'll do just fine. >> thank you as always for your time. >> thank you. after the break, brand new health care numbers and grand ole problems. sam stein explains why republican dominated states hold the key to unlocking the magic of the affordable care act. that's next. [ fishing rod casting line, marching band playing ] [ male announcer ] the rhythm of life. [ whistle blowing ] where do you hear that beat? campbell's healthy request soup lets you hear it in your heart. [ basketball bouncing ] heart healthy. [ m'm... ] great taste. [ tapping ] sounds good. campbell's healthy request. m'm! m'm! good.®

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new health care enrollment numbers released by the administration within the last hour show that 3.3 million

americans have now signed up for insurance through the federal and state exchanges, including 1.1 million americans in january alone. not included in that total are an additional 6.3 million people now eligible for medicaid. a number that would be much higher if it weren't for the fact that 20 states who have opted not to expand the program. a new study looks at what's happened to the poor and uninsured in those 20 states. 357,000 people in dallas. 327,000 in atlanta. and 316,000 people in houston. they'll miss out on basic health care because of political decisions made by leaders in their state capitols. people like israel hilton, a man in texas who has been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer and has an estimated 18 months to

live. he worked his whole life. when hilton started having seizur seizures, he was diagnosed with depression. >> i believe if i did have some type of health insurance, i would have able to afford to get a second opinion or got more detail as far as the type of exams that they did on me. >> they might have been able to treat it better. >> or a different stage. >> should have, would have, could have. >> the states that have said no to medicaid expansion just so happen to be the ones where residents need it most. the party in control of those

states, almost without exception those are stated dominated by the grand ole party. joining me now is the editor and chief unnamed "project x" and political editor at "the huffington post." 1.1 million people signed up in january. slightly higher than the administration's estimate of 1 million people. 24% of the enrolies are 18 to 24. how do you read these? good news? bad news? inconclusive? >> these numbers are great for obamacare. this is the first month where obamacare beat its original enrollment projection. it's going to be 1.1 million for january. you're seeing a little bit of catchup from october and november when nobody could get

in. you're seeing a program that's working well enough for people to sign up. i'm not concerned about the 27% that are younger. i wouldn't be shocked to a sign up surge in april. the younger folks who are eligible come in when the penalty is beginning to loom. the program for the first time is seeming to be on track. the big question mark is how big the marked surge is in advance of the mandate. these numbers, these are the insurance marketplaces for private insurance. not medicaid. it's a reminder that a lot of people who need the help whose lives can be saved by help are being left out for no reason at all. >> i want to talk about that. i have been almost shocked at the public and firm stance that

republican governors and legislatures have taken on the issue of medicaid expansion. that is flying in the face of the fact according to polling 63% of that state favors expanding medicaid. how potent do you think this issue will be in the fall? >> it depends on what state you're in. a lot of people assume these republican governors and legislatures would fold their cards on this. a lot of hospitals want this to happen. it's a huge boon for their states. it was assumed they would put a lot of pressure on the politicians to make it happen. arkansas and new hampshire have created this hybrid system where they take the medicaid enrollment money and they allow people to purchase private health care with it.

you have seen some holdouts. in south dakota, you've seen one of these republican opposition to medicaid expansion. a lot of people who watch us didn't expect it to go on this long. i wouldn't be surprised if it keeps ongoing. >> arkansas is allowing people to buy private insurance. is that a good idea? that arkansas plan is not exempt from politician. there is now -- conservative challengers are trying to get state legislatures to unwind this event. >> is it a good policy idea? the problem people will face is medicaid is a lot cheaper than private insurance. the conditions around that waiver are that the medicaid program in arkansas has to offer care for the same cost. arkansas is saying they can do

it. nobody can see actually how they'll do it. simultaneously the way that politics of that plan worked out, the governor of arkansas created a situation -- or the legislature created a situation where the plan needed to be affirmed. a couple of arkansas legislators lost their seats for various reasons. you may be seeing a tip in arkansas against it. there's a new story about a woman who got a hip replacement that just got put on it. it could be taken away from them. republicans a couple of months ago were screaming that the affordable care act would be cancelling insurance in some places. it's not a great political place to be in. >> there's going to be a lot of debate about the politics and the affordable care act, but i

want to talk to you about something that's raised the h k hackles of those on the right. i will read an excerpt. republicans response was over the top, but none of that excuses president obama's cavalier approach to picking and choosing how to chose this law. imagine if a president rand paul moved into the white house and announced he was going to put off provisions of obamacare that he thought were difficult. >> the president is sort of picking and choosing what he thinks need to be delayed and which ones he doesn't. he has the right under the law.

why not just ask congress to vote on it? there's complications if you were asked to do that. mitt romney pledged to do a bunch of actions on executive orders on obamacare if he was in office. >> thank you both gentlemen. snow sle, sleet, freezing r it is just the beginning. we'll get the latest on this weekend's catastrophic storm just ahead. i had to quit. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix (varenicline) is proven to help people quit smoking.

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the south and up the east coast prepare for what could be a crippling winter storm. we'll have the latest coming up next. first, we have the cnbc market wrap. >> let's take a look at how stocks stand. the dow slipping 30 points. the s&p 500 closing down less than a half a point. the nasdaq gaining 10 points. [ male announcer ] this is joe woods' first day of work. and his new boss told him two things -- cook what you love, and save your money. joe doesn't know it yet, but he'll work his way up from busser to waiter to chef before opening a restaurant specializing in fish and game from the great northwest. he'll start investing early, he'll find some good people to help guide him, and he'll set money aside from his first day of work

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now. this is what it looks like in charlotte, north carolina. more than 3200 flights have been cancelled nationwide. to get a sense of it's magnitude, this is the storm as seen from outer space. 1/3 of the country is on ice. while many commuters heeded warnings and stayed off the roads, this photo was tweeted out writing it was like a scene from "the walking dead." what can we expect from the storm in the coming hours and d days? >> some of us, like in atlanta, we're going to end this nightmare with snow on top of this. we still have freezing rain. snow into the carolinas now in

virginia. if you're in d.c. or the northeast, you're going to see some of the mess here. change over to rainfall. so in d.c., it'll be snow starting out tonight. it's not that far away. then it's going to mix with some sleet and freezing rain and eventually change over to rainfall as this moves up the coast. here in new york and boston, the fact that we're going to start to see that warmer air, we're going to start out with the snow. then we'll see a few inches of snow and then switch over the rainfall. boston, that includes you. to the east of you through thursday night, we'll see a rain event after that time period. this area, a mix of rain and snow. some of the snow totals we're seeing actually could be higher if it was an all snow event. but the fact that we're going to see some rain mixed in, our totals won't be as high. 8 to 12, we're going to start

out with. then we'll mix with the rainfall and lower those totals. alex, back to you. >> thanks, kim. coming up, rand paul files a new lawsuit, quote, on behalf of everyone with a cell phone and he vows to take it all the way to the supreme court. that's next. unlimited talk and text and 10 gigs of data to share for 160 a month? yep. at&t's new family pricing. that's 100 bucks cheaper than us. i know. are you guys with verizon? what makes you think that? oh. just her nametag. and i see you guys at the food court every day. can we go back now? yeah. [ male announcer ] introducing our best-ever pricing for families. 10 gigs of data to share. unlimited talk and text. and 4 lines for $160 a month. only from at&t.

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that would be my daughter -- hi dad. she's a dietitian. and back when i wasn't eating right, she got me drinking boost. it's got a great taste, and it helps give me the nutrition i was missing. helping me stay more like me. [ female announcer ] boost complete nutritional drink has 26 essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin d to support strong bones and 10 grams of protein to help maintain muscle. all with a delicious taste. grandpa! [ female announcer ] stay strong, stay active with boost. good morning. on behalf of myself, freedom works, and everyone in america that has a phone, we're filing suit against the president of the united states in defense of the fourth amendment. >> that was kentucky senator rand paul triumphantly

announcing his showdown. it is a class action lawsuit, but the senator from kentucky is filing against the president as well as the director of national intelligence and the fbi director and nsa director. at its heart is the nsa bulk collection of the u.s.' phone records. there are plenty of organizations, including the aclu and the unitarian church, that have questioned the constitutionality. rand paul versus barack obama lawsuit, you have to sign up for

rand pac. it is rand paul's fund raising platform for a likely 2016 presidential bid. plaintiffs are required to submit their own meta data. plaintiffs are encouraged to make a generous donation to rally 10 million americans to support the lawsuit. 10 millions americans is a lot of americans. it would also be a lot of votes, which is probably why some other political organizations want in on the super lawsuit of the century, like freedom works. perhaps that is why the president of freedom works was standing right next to senator paul this afternoon as he announced his lawsuit. then again, maybe this is all

just a reflection of genuine concern about the creeping surveillance state in our unchecked national security policy. >> if someone comes out of a liquor store with a weapon and $50 in cash, i don't care if a drone kills him or a policeman kills him. maybe not. "the ed show" is up next. good evening, americans, and welcome to "the ed show" live from new york. let's get to work. >> the volkswagen chattanooga plant is on its way to unionizing. >> could become the first foreign owned car factory in the united states with a union. >> some say the