earlier in the show, we asked you how do you pass the time without power during a winter storm? >> this is a sign of what is to come. becky said lots of october babies, i guess. >> that could be. >> shea said i go to sleep because the nightmare of having to communicate with my family is unbearable. >> it does take a lot of time and patience with family members with no phones and no technology. "morning joe" starts right now. ♪ things are a real mess there in sochi. a lot of seats for the events are empty either the tickets never got sold or the ticket holders never showed up. the russians are using volunteers to fill the seats but in russia, volunteering is

differently than how it works here. >> they will fill the seats. ice hockey arena. figure skating palace. olga with one leg. reported immediately or you will be shot. live look at sochi which looks just incredible actually. good morning, everyone. it's thursday, february 13th. welcome to "morning joe." if you can believe it, we have people on set with us. we have the chairman of deutch incorporated, donny boideutch. did you trudge through the snow? >> i did. >> senior political analyst mark halpern. >> i have my gear on. >> it must have been treacherous. the host of "way too early"

thomas roberts. that barbie thing was weird, thomas. made me uncomfortable. >> the visual of it. >> yes. i'm glad you just left it there. some things, you just knew on. >> the art. >> i got joe getting ready. joe, i know -- don't put him up but i wore glasses today because alex said i was terrible yesterday and that i couldn't read. and i have my pajamas on. >> thank god for splendor from thomas roberts. halpern is sliding down fashionly and we know about barnicle. the last time i was here, joe was wearing pajama pants. this is a show of elegant thinking. i think it's important that the skin of the show has that same level -- >> what is he talking about, joe? >> thank you, donny. >> let's reset and start over. >> wait, wait. i'm sorry. look at that! look at that!

hello! hello! i'm on the front lines of the de blasio blizzard of 2014 and i'm still getting dressed the way i think a professional journalist should get dressed. i'm disappointed. let's not rise to my high level and, sir! i will not be dear god! i will not -- i do not work for you, sir! i work for the people! >> if you and mika both stand up, i think you both can show off your plaid pants. >> i have no idea what you're talking about. >> i'm shocked and stunned and deeply saddened. mika. >> yeah. >> i'm on the front lines of the blizzard. you guys send me out. if there is a tough story to on cover, i would prefer to be in the safety and the security of that studio. but the blizzard of 2014 that we have all been shrieking about has at least, at least dumped, at least maybe a half, maybe a

full inch on new york city. let's see what bill karins has to say. what do you think? >> we will do that. joe scarborough, thank you for report. you stay safe out there. let's start with the nor'easter that is combining about every nasty part of winter into one giant storm. the latest blast of severe weather has shut down states in the south and is now taking aim at the north. numerous states could see more than a foot of snow. it's also packing a devil punch of ice and freezing rain. more than 7,000 flights have been cancelled or delayed. roads are a disaster in some areas. in north carolina, drivers say virtually every car was stuck in the snow or fish tailing. hundreds of thousands of people in the carolinas and georgia are in the dark and that number could rise. it's a strange scenario when the south is dealing with its second big storm in as many weeks. while athletes at the winter olympics are complaining of the warm weather in sochi. it makes no sense.

let's go right to bill karins with more. >> the worst of it yesterday was in south carolina and areas of georgia where the most damage has been done. that is where about 500,000 are without power and yesterday we brought you the weather channel jim cantore live in augusta and he is back there this morning. what is your damage assessment 24 hours later late, jim? >> even though meteorologically this is not kentucky. what in interstates cloves and secondary roads closed but not because of ice but so many trees and lines down. the 500,000 plus without power, almost 450,000 of them are here in south carolina and georgia. massive, massive ice. you can see it behind me here. we had a burst of moderate freezing rain with thunder and lightning last night and i think that was pretty much the threshold we needed to cross. we have gotten as much as, again, half an inch to almost an

inch of ice on absolutely everything. now you got people that are 20 hours without power. it is freezing. unlike kentucky or the northeast, a lot of these homes don't have fireplaces so no way to heat your home at all. people are trapped in their homes with temperatures dropping into the 50s and possibly even lower here. this is going to get interesting as we go on through the day today. we are going to see the whole fruition of this ice storm. facilities in south carolina and georgia as well as a result of the ice. the massive trees falling through people's homes. this is -- i don't think until we can get light on this, we are going to see the whole fruition of this ice storm. at first glance it reminds me of kentucky 2009. hopefully, we will not be without power ten days as was the case there. >> i'm sure the crews will be working throughout the day and it will warm up slightly by the time we get to the beginning of next week.

yesterday, the snow came in during the rush hour in charlotte and raleigh. a miniatlanta situation. we want to avoid that up in the areas of northeast this morning. not like the storms in the past. this is a bigger storm and going to snow harder in shorter time period especially earlier this morning. the two storms are combining into the nor'easter and move up the eastern seaboard. 6 to 10 inches of snow last night in washington, d.c. in a hurry. it has warmed up a little bit and mixed in sleet and baltimore area still snowing very hard. but it's in this area that i would stay off the roads if you can from baltimore to philly. i-95 into central new jersey and soon the new york city is where the plows will not be able to keep up with the snowfall rate. it is going to snow extremely hard in this region as we go through the morning rush hour. i don't want people stranded on the roads if you don't have to. as far as snow totals go, somewhere close to a foot, d.c., philly, new york, hartford maybe a foot and a half and boston more rain for you so you will get less.

as afraidvertised, this is the winter storm of the winter. >> thank you, bill karins. donny, you and i yesterday, were talking about this storm. you were, in fact, i think saying it could remind you of the kentucky storm of 2009. i'm curious. on the upper east side, do they already have the guys in the little pink vests lining up outside your house and the house of other 0.0001%? >> as i said all throughout 12 years, literally the first flake, i think there would be between 14 and 16 guys, jumpsuits, 0e on the ba80th str blanketing the area. all of a sudden, de blasio takes office and these guys disappear. these guys disappear.

i don't know what happened. i was protected. >> what has happened to america? >> i don't know what is going on. i pay taxes. this was a special task force set up by bloomberg. >> special. >> now the money is going to education and other crazy places and the guy in the jumpsuits don't show up. >> the important things. >> mika, speaking of mayor de blasio, i'm pretty excited about your work. let's get to the news. obviously, i can't let this go by. the mayor is on a task force to actually talk about pre-k. >> i love the concept. >> plans to bring pre-k and you're excited about it and i am too. >> i am. i'm going to find out an advisory position with them and i am very, very excited. let's get to what is going on in washington. even though it's snowing, still things happening there. a party line vote in the senate will send to the white house a clean bill that increases the nation's borrowing limit. president obama is expected to sign it later today but rival

factions of the republican party clashed yesterday as senators mitch mcconnell and john cornyn ended a filibuster to block the legislation. they would not allow the debt ceiling raised with a simple majority vote but tuesday's vote that passed the house the party's leaders who pushed the bill through the legislative process. while no republican was willing to cast the critical 60th vote to end the debate and others saying they wouldn't vote yea without the leadership's backing mcconnell and cornen rallied the floor. they are facing tea party challenges in this year's midterm elections. in the end their gamble paid off with 12 republicans joining all 55 democrats to end the filibuster by a procedural vote of 67-31. orrin hatch said i didn't want

this to come down to be a criticized vote for a few of our people. it just wasn't right. senator bob corker defended the minority leader saying, quote, hopefully people will understand that mcconnell in an incredibly tough race, the toughest republican race in the country had the courage to vote the way the vast majority understood needed to occur. senator cruz, however, did not hide his disappointment, calling it a classic victory for washington establishment interests. when asked if mcconnell should remain a leader of the republican caucus, he replied it's ultimately a decision for the voters of kentucky. joe, after our discussion about speaker boehner yesterday, i wonder what you think of what transpired here. >> i think mitch mcconnell did what the majority of people in the senate wanted him to do on the republican side. obviously, you know, people like ted cruz and mike lee and even mike self was disappointed the way this was set up. i thought it was horrific

strategy. once again, republicans setting themselves in a position they have two choices and both of them end in failure. but, mark halpern, i don't think anything happened to mitch mcconnell yesterday inside the senate that will do anything but strengthen mcconnell's hand in his own caucus in the senate, with obviously some conservative concerns. i still think, though, the fallout from this vote politically is going to happen on the house side, where you actually have john boehner who maybe is tipping his hand on the fact he may not run for speaker again next year. i think the significant story here. a lot of pundits in washington and new york aplued him for what he did but i'm not so sure that this isn't a move that is going to signal that he may have a real problem staying in control next time. >> you know, i think he is actually playing this pretty smart, because boehner and mcconnell have one thing in

common which is when the inevitable happen prepare for it and let it. i agree they may have stage crafted a little to get something more out of it but this was going to happen. republicans have a unified strategy which is make this election about the affordable care act and they had to get this monkey off their back and i think the two leaders took risks because, again, they knew this was inevitable and it was bad for the republican party to have an extended fight against the debt ceiling problem. >> listen to what the "wall street journal" editorial board said calling it the minority maker. the 60-vote threshold was reached after mcconnell and cornyn and ten others voted to let the final debt-ceiling vote proceed. all 12 then opposed the increase on final passage. but thanks to mr. cruz they had

to walk the plank with democrats on a procedural vote. we are all for holding politicians accountable with votes on substantive issues but mr. cruz knew he couldn't stop a debt increase the house had already passed. he had no alternative strategy if the bill failed other than to shut down the government again and take public attention away from obamacare and make republicans even more unpopular. democrats beat the odds and retained their senate majority in 2010 and 2012 in part because they stuck together. if republicans fail again this november, a big reason will this their rump kamikaze caucus. joe? >> i think that was a lot more applicable four or five or six months ago when we were talking did -- why not now? >> because what we were talking about now is actually not just sending a signal out to the base, that we have completely surrendered overnight. there is a big difference as jon

meacham said yesterday between nuclear war and abject surrender. there are gray areas. what disturbs me and a lot of activists and a lot of leaders i've been talking to the past week, this wasn't prepared for any better is that fact. so, yes, we weren't going to see this republican party allow another protracted showdown over a fight where they were going to lose at the end. but we don't want to relearn all of the lessons of the last war and we don't want to send a signal on you -- out to our republican base we are going along with everything. i remember in '98 a lot of republicans that lost and john enson was one of them. he said his poll numbers were shot down the second republicans passed this massive spending bill that newt gingrich and a

lot of people thought was required to get us out of town as quickly as possible and go back and campaign. the base noticed and paid attention and they are paying attention now too. it is a balancing act, okay? you don't want what we had in the fall but i suggest you don't want the complete and total surrender without any fight at all that we had this past week either. it sends the wrong signals. you need main street republicans and you need the base. i think this hurts the base. you know who can handle this, donny? >> who? >> leaders, leaders. i mean, that have some nuance. that have strategic thinking. i don't see strategic thinking and certainly on capitol hill with the republicans. i see a circular firing squad. >> let me pick up where halpern was, joe, on the other side. with the sense if you want to set up for the big fight, if you want to set up to read the republican party as not the party of no, but the party that

is going to be pointing at obamacare and how it is destroying small business, how it is taking too much government into your life, how it is hurting the economy, how it is costing 2 million dollar drops you have to get this argument behind you. yes, they did not have their gla gladiator out but what is the other side of the argument? >> i don't think them to get their gladiator swords or torches out and charge the hill and get shot down like republicans always do in these type of battles. because you and i were focusing on this fight the past 48 hours, doesn't mean john boehner and leadership on the hill didn't know this debate was coming the past six months or at least the past four months.

>> what should they have done? >> set up alternatives. not in a hush capitol meeting but they should have been working the past four months. the fact they knew this was coming meant they could have set up several votes that would have embarrassed the democrats and made them take tough votes and you attach it along with the debt ceiling. would they all failed? yes but would that have strengthened the republican party and send a message not only to the base but to the independents on key issues like military retiree health care reform or talking about the most unpopular parts of obamacare, would that have sent the right signal? yes. nancy pelosi, masterful at doing this. democratic speakers have always been masterful doing this. democrats were masterful doing this when they were in the minority when i was in congress. there is no strategic thinking

on capitol hill when it comes to the republican party. if john boehner doesn't have the competent of the majority of the caucus to get together and strategize and make sure it's a fight between republicans and democrats, maybe john boehner needs to retire. job well done. john, thank you for your service to america but maybe somebody else needs to step in. >> but just remembering what peter king said yesterday. this is not the caucus of 1994 red hot. >> king doesn't -- peter king doesn't represent the middle of the caucus either. >> come on. it's not the first time we have heard this is an impossible team to work with. i'm just saying. >> it's an impossible team to work with if you don't talk to the team. this is about communication. i think we have talked enough about it. i got a couple of more stories to get in, joe. including very exciting big comcast news. i don't know if you heard this.

3.3 million people have signed up for coverage under the affordable care act. >> yesterday, politically, was the best day in the history of the affordable care act. >> i'm sorry. what was that? >> yesterday was the best day in the affordable care act. the report is not all great news but they are now in a stronger position to get this implemented effectively than they ever have been. >> one headline. the first time it meets expectations. >> and on the front page of most papers. i know that alex wanted me to get to on chris christie, but i just wanted to -- >> did he have a good day yesterday, chris christie? >> don't ask that question. >> night has passed. as we reflect back on the day, joe, how do you summarize -- >> we talked about it on "the view." and i think we talked about it well when we talked about it on "the view", right, joe?

>> no, they didn't want to talk to me on "the view." i was just a potted plant. they just wanted to talk about your white. >> you were the most on adorable potted plant i've ever seen. you were so good on "the view." wasn't he, guys? >> he was. >> that was josh elliott. >> josh elliott did well. what about chris christie today? did we spot a flying saucer over central park. >> it's not democrats but another republican. a lot of top republicans have been resisting casting doubt on chris christie's account of the whole gwb thing. but, yesterday, one sarah palin reflected on how her own time in office, when asked about whether he knew something was going on.

>> it's hard to be the ceo of an organization and not know what the closest people to you are up to. it's tough not to know. i know when i was mayor and manager of this city and then governor of the state, certainly you know what your top aides are up to. everyone who is elected is given that honor and that favorite honor of vote. people's trust that we don't blow it and you blow it if you ever try to hide anything. >> mark halpern, sarah palin was a governor and she certainly is qualified to talk about what governors should and shouldn't know. what is behind that? what is behind that clip? >> those two have a long history of not getting along and snipping at each other. i think this needs to be scene in that context. i think the more significant thing yesterday was said by scott walker who said christie is doing a great job and he

believes governor christie when he says what he said, but then he he said but if it turns out he is not telling the truth that is a another different matter and he has to re-evaluate. another person saying i believe chris christie without reservation but saying assuming he is telling the truth, everything is fine. that is kind of an odd thing to say, i think, for scott walker. >> interesting -- >> i don't think that is all. >> why doesn't he say i believe him and he is telling the truth and not if new information comes out i would have to re-evaluate. it seems like a hedge. >> actually, i think that is -- you know? i think that is what a lot of chris christie supporters and friends are saying. >> it's interesting. >> guess what? >> you put sarah palin up there -- >> hold on a second. >> i'm sorry. >> hold on. i need to say this. that's what mika and i have been saying. >> i agree with you. i agree with you and mika journalist should say that but i find for a senior governor to on not just say, i believe him, of

course, he is telling the truth and struck me as a hedge and more damaging, i think, to the environment that governor christie than what sarah palin said. >> there are a lot of investigations going on right now, mark. none of us know how this is going to end. i don't know if chris christie knows how this is going to end. i mean, you know, they are going to look at every text he ever sent and every e-mail he has ever sent. on who knows where these investigations end up. i think scott walker -- i thought -- i don't know, donny deutsche, i thought scott walker was -- >> what all republicans are saying. >> everybody has to say that. what is interesting about palin up there, in a recent poll, christie -- other than to sarah palin, every other republican is faring better now and a dynamic and dramatic shift. it will be interesting to see what happens. but as i've said before, even without a smoking gun, i think this sticks with christie.

i think on a national stage, this is -- there is something about this that -- >> real quickly. an observation of nicole wallace and sarah palin. i think we may have had a freaky wednesday body switch. usually palin on mainstream media and nicole would have done the switch. >> actually a great point. kind of like -- you see "ghost busters" what is it you don't want to cross? >> don't cross streams. >> yeah. i think that happened yesterday with nicole and sarah. freaky wednesday is back. >> didn't sarah quit? i guess she didn't give herself time. all right. coming up on "morning joe,"

senator chuck schumer, the huffington post sam stein, and tina brown. up next we will reveal the new cover of "time" magazine and we have mike and has the top stories in the politico playbook. we will be right back. [ female announcer ] when you're serious about fighting wrinkles, turn to roc® retinol correxion®. one week, fine lines appear to fade. one month, deep wrinkles look smoother. after one year, skin looks ageless. high performance skincare™ only from roc®.

which will cause me to miss the end of the game. the x1 entertainment operating system lets your watch live tv anywhere. can i watch it in butterfly valley? sure. can i watch it in glimmering lake? yep. here, too. what about the dark castle? you call that defense?! come on! [ female announcer ] watch live tv anywhere. the x1 entertainment operating system, only from xfinity.

♪ mika, i had a great time last night. this is really sad that d but i did. a blast from the past. i just ask people about 9:00 what their favorite '90s song was. on twitter, a play list that

will blow on you away. it made me re-evaluate the entire decade. extraordinary music from there. this is one of the nice surprises. somebody brought up santa monica. what a great song. tons of them. i'm not going to usually tell people to do this but, please. don't look at my twitter feed. you know what people say about me? except last night. if you want a play list for whatever, itunes, you name it, rhapsody, a lot of great memories last night. >> i saw that. good conversation too. a positive way of using twirl. he was asking people what their favorite '90s song was. it was fun. >> it was great. it was great fun. mika, should i ask you what your favorite '90s song is or not? >> no. >> do you remember one? >> thomas roberts?

while mika is thinking, thomas, what is your favorite '90s song? >> favorite '90s song? probably a program song. >> halpern? >> i'm sure it's springsteen. >> donny deutsche, your 20-year-old girlfriends, what were their favorite songs from the 1990s? >> billy ocean. >> i think it's time to go to the papers, mika. this is depressing. check out the twitter feed. "the new york times" entertainment world is mourning the loss of a comedy pioneer this morning. >> professor, you are one of the world's far most archeologists. in your diggings why would you say the egyptian architecture is the most ever-lasting? >> the architecture when we dug it up was in good shape.

look at here. look at the pillar. look at it. look at it. look at it. >> that's it. >> sid caesar side early wednesday at his beverly hills home. he is the king of sketch writers inspiring writers like neil simon and woody allen. he aired on tv from 1950 to 1954 and seen as prototypes for shows like "saturday night live." he was 93 years old. ray nagin is guilty of corruption. he led new orleans from its recovery through hurricane katrina. the charges included wire fraud and conspiracy and bribery.

the prosecutors say he accepted money and free vacations and other gifts from contractors who wanted to do business with new orleans. the corruption began before hurricane katrina and continued well into the city's recovery efforts. the charges could lead to a 20-year prison sentence for a man who probably will be remembered by many as recounted in douglas brinkley's book, "the great deluge" of him lying on the floor in a fetal position in a hotel room while his city was under water. >> we keep seeing more of this. as somebody who served in congress, what was your paycheck when you were in congress at the time? >> at the time, $134,000, $136,000. >> is it more prevalent a rationalization going on, what lao what i'm doing? i'm entitled to these little

extra things from a contractor and what not? it seems more and more this happens. did you ever get a whiff of that around you where was this just kind of -- just frustration? >> in congress, i didn't see -- in fact, you hear things. you heard personal stuff about people. but as far as corruption, this sort of cash for favors, i didn't really hear about this. you, of course, about the abramoff scandal where people would go and play golf in scotland and then sign on to a bill and things like that. but, no, but i did hear about it on the local level. and a lot of public officials, i was shocked, you know, there were several county commissioners i heard would take cash to give -- you know, from contractors who would get a big deal. you know, for some reason, there are people that still think that they can do that and get away

with it and it's just inspl inexplicable to me. >> reporter: time warner cable is in a deal with comcast. the merger brings together the two largest cable providers in the u.s. with a combined 33 million subscribers. the deal is expected to receive a tough review from the fcc. we are going to hear more about the deal later on "morning joe" and we are joined by the chairman and ceo of comcast brian roberts, and the ceo of time warner cable, robert marcus. comcast is the parent company of msnbc. >> donny, i want to talk about this quickly. we know brian. we get our paychecks from comcast. they sent us our checks every two weeks. obviously, we are not sort of cool and detached from this

news. but i got to say the stunning thing about what has happened since comcast has taken over nbc universal there is talk there might have been a mistake and it didn't fit right in ge's portfolio that entertainment business and creative content didn't make sense. these guys are printing money. i mean, they bought out, i guess, ge ahead of time because they had extra cash and they wanted to send a message that they believed in nbc universal. now this move. even if i weren't working here, if i were working over at cnn or fox or somewhere else, i would say it's a pretty stunning story about just how successful comcast is right now. >> i'm sure brian will tell you. i went to college with brian and a story of how his dad basically started as a salesman. everything they have done is right. the nbc deal will go down as one

of the great deals in history and they understood. they needed context. they needed to get in the context business and i think with time warner deal they have a third of the -- in this country area they are set up to be one of the most important companies in this country in the coming several decades and it will be interesting to talk to brian. it is a stunning story and they have not done anything wrong. >> thomas roberts, there's actually a part of this story that you'll like. brian roberts' father decided to get in the cable business because he made belts and in the early 1970s, prototypes back in the early 1970s, they had the elastic waist on the pants. >> elastic waist, yeah. >> my lineage, i'm related to brian roberts. my mother is hopeful as she is watching this morning.

>> exactly. there was elastic waist mondays through fridays. he was concerned, seriously concerned that belts were going to go out of business so he said i got to do something. so he found a tablecable compan nobody knew about and bought it in mississippi and years later, it is a stunning, stunning business story of sort of a rags to riches story. >> it really is. >> just keeps growing. this week's issue of "time" magazine features the gldiploma that works. takes an in-depth story of six year high schools as a new model of education reform. can you imagine that? six years, really? the magazine hits newsstands tomorrow. really? >> yeah, why. what is the upside that have? i'm trying to understand. >> high school was the worst time of my life. >> i think people don't go into college so it's like an extended

vacation and like an aa degree program training, so to get people in the work force faster. >> we will talk more about that coming up. >> i'm worried about joe in that weather out there. are you okay up there? i know you're dealing with the elements. you are brave. not only are you a crusading journalist, you are actually bra brave. >> most important thing is you've got to be prepared. and stay hydrated, right? and also thrown third eye blind! >> we are rooting for you, joe, we are rooting for you. >> thank you, babe. that means a lot. yankees captain derek jeter makes an important announcement. "morning joe" sports is next. i'm beth...

and i'm michelle. and we own the paper cottage. it's a stationery and gifts store. anything we purchase for the paper cottage goes on our ink card. so you can manage your business expenses and access them online instantly with the game changing app from ink. we didn't get into business to spend time managing receipts, that's why we have ink. we like being in business because we like being creative, we like interacting with people. so you have time to focus on the things you love. ink from chase. so you can.

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 to his last, which isn't rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade. it's just common sense.

phone: your account is already paid in full. oh, well in that case, back to vacation mode. ♪boots and pants and boots and pants♪ ♪and boots and pants and boots and pants♪ ♪and boots and pants... voice-enabled bill pay. just a tap away on the geico app. ♪ huh, 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. yup, everybody knows that. well, did you know that some owls aren't that wise. don't forget about i'm having brunch with meagan tomorrow. who? seriously, you met her like three times. who? geico.

♪ so we got some big news in sports to talk about today. this coming from yankee captain derek jeter. saying 2014 is his final season. that's it. he wrote on facebook yesterday, i've experienced so many

defining moments in my career. through it all, i've never stopped chasing the next one. i want to finally stop the chase and take in the world. >> this guy has done everything right as a person and an athlete. >> the 39-year-old has won five titles with the yankees during his 19-year major league career. he is considered to be a virtual shoe dunn in for the hall of fame come 2020. went to change gears and talk about the olympics. this just in. american men have swept ski slopestyle. josh christianson had a monster first run and gus kenworthy who is collecting puppies over there that he can bring back to the u.s. to help find homes and nick gephart won the silver. they are happy there on on the podium. two-time u.s. gold medalist shani davis lost in the

1,000-meter speed skating competition and favored to win gold but he dropped to eighth place finish overall. let's take a peek at the medal count. americans sweep as we told you about it has put usa in first with norway. 12 total medals and canada and netherlands tied for second place. great job, team usa. tina brown joins us next with the must read opinion pages and mike allen with the politico playbook. we will be right back.

i dbefore i dosearch any projects on my home. i love my contractor, and i am so thankful to angie's list for bringing us together. find out why more than two million members count on angie's list. angie's list -- reviews you can trust. ameriprise asked people a simple question: can you keep your lifestyle in retirement? i don't want to think about the alternative. i don't even know how to answer that. i mean, no one knows how long their money is going to last. i try not to worry, but you worry. what happens when your paychecks stop? because everyone has retirement questions. ameriprise created the exclusive confident retirement approach. to get the real answers you need. start building your confident retirement today.

purina dog chow light & healthy is a deliciously tender and crunchy kibble blend. with 20% fewer calories than purina dog chow. isn't it time you discovered the lighter side of dog chow. purina dog chow light & healthy.

♪ live look at the snow coming down in washington, d.c. it's going to be a big one across the northeast and the south. here with us now is tina brown, founder of tina brown live media. from washington chief white house correspondent for politico is mike allen. the politico playbook, let's start with that. campaigns are targeting voters. political tv ads will now be able to target specific house hoe holds in some places. explain and that sounds scary in some ways. >> this is how much the state-of-the-art in politics is changing even since the cutting edge obama campaign of 2012. back in 2012, the idea was to find specific shows that persuaded voters to watch and chris christie used in this his re-election campaign. last year, he found that friday night wrestling was a great place to find persuadable voters. this time now, starting next

month in a partnership between directv and dish network, 20 million homes where they can have a specific voter viewer picked out so it doesn't matter what channel or show you're watching, they can pick you out if you're one of those persuadable voters that campaigns want to reach. they examine cable companies will start to offer this pretty soon and it's not very efficient for, like, a house race but in a statewide or senate race, you would have plenty people between the 20 million that both of those two networks have. >> no need to go door-to-door. >> it's no different what is happening in world marketing frankly. there will be no more mass media even as you are consuming mass media. >> i wonder what this is going to be house of cards? >> exactly. >> if you're an independent, nothing. this is the show for you. yeah, it is sinister this kind of little granular targeting and

stuff. it's getting sort of tiny but it's deliver. >> it's good for the consumer because basically you're being bombarded with messages that are relevant to you. if you're a cadillac buyer you're not seeing ads for a hyundai, if you will. >> it's not always right at all. you see netflix because you like house of cards, you'll love this czech series. there is nothing better than human contact. i still think human contact is better than that. >> the important thing we can have consumer sensibilities we still have to make decisions. when you let the technology make the decision we have a society in danger. >> i still think it's kind of spooky we are tracked in every way. politico's mike allen, thank you

very much. >> mike, you kind of own happy friday as a branding guy. i would suggest to you starting out thursdays with, you know, kind of happy thursdays or something. i would extend that, do a little brand extension on the friday thing. >> joe has '90s favorites thursdays. so he's got that. >> okay. >> mika maybe thirsty thursdays? and happy fridays. we could do it every day. >> i like that actually. i'll take it. >> rollback thursdays. >> thomas, your wednesday is what? >> very nice. tina brown, stay with us. this will get better, i promise.

>> i'm trying to think about wednesday. comcast ceo brian roberts will join us along with time warner cable chief executive robert marcus. keep it right here on "morning joe." ♪ can i help you? hey, is it true we can get four lines, 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. [ female announcer ] neutrogena® pore refining cleanser. alpha-hydroxy and exfoliating beads work to clean and tighten pores so they can look half their size. pores...shrink 'em down to size! [ female announcer ] pore refining cleanser. neutrogena®.

[ female announcer ] pore refining cleanser. hey there, i just got my bill, and i see that it includes my fico® credit score. yup, you get it free each month to help you avoid surprises with your credit. good. i hate surprises. surprise! at discover, we treat you like you'd treat you.

get the it card and see your fico® credit score.

♪ ♪ you got to keep them separated ♪ the last time you were on bus, you talked about your obsession with your weight and you were going to change and not be that way. but i'm just astounded you've done what most women would never do. you tweeted out your weight. >> yes, i did. >> i love that. >> what a great lady. >> first of all, i was obsessed with food. >> not trying to be weird but i wish more people could join me, age 46 #normal weight not tiny stop the charades. >> thank you, jenny mccarthy for

doubling down. she was talking about her weight 138 and cherry was talking about hers. a good conversation. we are all tired of lying about it and starving. you're from an industry, tina brown, of women who tend to be under the same type of pressure. >> i don't think that i'm ever going to be tweeting out my weight. that is the one stat i am not going to be tweeting out actually. women are just obsessed. what is fascinating they are not obsessed in other places nearly as much as we are here. you talk to anybody from africa, the last thing they care about. they are women who are big and love being big. people can't adjust that you're gloriously slim. >> the irony is men like women with curves. i'm serious. women want to be like this and men want them like this. >> i did it because i think that

more people should be honest about it. tina brown, thank you so much. coming up at the top of the hour, senator chuck schumer joins the conversation and brian sullivan is in the studio. "morning joe" back in a moment. take a closer look at your fidelity green line and you'll see just how much it has to offer, especially if you're thinking of moving an old 401(k) to a fidelity ira. it gives you a wide range of investment options... and the free help you need to make sure your investments fit your goals -- and what you're really investing for. tap into the full power of your fidelity green line. call today and we'll make it easy to move that old 401(k) to a fidelity rollover ira.

i'm bethand i'm michelle. and we own the paper cottage. it's a stationery and gifts store. anything we purchase for the paper cottage goes on our ink card. so you can manage your business expenses and access them online instantly with the game changing app from ink. we didn't get into business to spend time managing receipts, that's why we have ink. we like being in business because we like being creative, we like interacting with people. so you have time to focus on the things you love. ink from chase. so you can.

♪

wow. a live look at times square. the snow coming down. welcome back to "morning joe." mark halpern and donny deutsche still with us. he is 241 and how many feet tall? he is joining us at the table, brian sullivan. am i correct on the weight? >> i'm not afraid of it. >> in washington, senior political editor and white house correspondent for "the huffington post," sam stein. >> a little whiff of the little man. >> come on! >> i know joe is out on 95. >> are you going to be okay, joe? >> you okay? >> mark halpern just beat you up. a little man? >> it's all right. >> donny, i am -- i'm a storm chaser. you know what storm chasers do, don donny?

they sacrifice themselves. >> they hunker down. >> they now you're bright and politically connected. they do not know the selfless side, the man against nature side. >> oh, my god. i just do not like you. >> i don't want to embarrass you this way. >> are you finished? can i answer? >> yes, sir. >> they chase storms. that's what storm chasers do and what i'm doing today. >> is this mutual of omaha or "morning joe"? >> i think it's a tough one, mika. let's go to bill karins and see what is going to be happening out there later today. it's going to get ugly, isn't it, mika? >> yes. the nor'easter is barreling up the eastern seaboard. >> bill? ism it's not often i try to pass on advice to people because they make their own decisions and i try to give you the facts.

the wording out of the new jersey area heading to new york city from the national weather service of philadelphia caught my attention. they are literally telling people do not head out on the roads over the next two to three hours unless you have a lot of gas in your car and have blankets and a plan to keep warm and a fully charged cell phone because you're risked getting stuck on the roads. doesn't happen often in this region. we get snowstorms but a heavy band of snowstorm it is going to be until 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. two to three inches on the ground now and in three hours we may have 10 inches on the ground. show you that band right in here from philadelphia to trenton. now approaching new york city area. stay off the roads. already reports of about a foot of snow from washington, d.c. west, sterling, virginia, 12 to 13. american university reporting snow. snow still in atlanta at 31

degrees. people still being told to stay off the roads down there. we have three-quarters of a million people without power in georgia and south carolina alone. by the time we are said and done with this storm which, by the way, for new york city and new england isn't until about 10:00 a.m. tomorrow. we will have many areas with a foot of snow. some approaching two feet. >> incredible. bill karins, thank you. we will hear back from you. let's go straight to washington opinion a party line vote in the senate will send to the white house a clean bill that increases the nation's borrowing limit. president obama is expected to sign it later today. however, rival factions of the republican party clashed yesterday as mitch mcconnell and john cornyn ended a ted cruz filibuster to block legislation. they said without spending cuts they wouldn't allow the debt ceiling raise with a simple majority vote. like tuesday's vote that passed the house, it was the party's leaders who pushed the bill

through the legislative process. no republican was willing to cast a critical 60th vote to end the debate and others saying they wouldn't vote yea without the leadership's backing. mcconnell and cornyn rallied the floor. they are facing tea party challenges in this year's midterm elections. in the end, their gamble paid off with 12 republicans joining all 55 democrats to end the filibuster by a procedural vote of 67-31. senator cruz did not hide his disappointment calling it a classic victory for washington establishment interests. when asked if mitch mcconnell should remain the leaders of the republican caucus, he replied it is ultimately a decision for the voters of kentucky. i don't know, joe. it just seems like things are getting done. isn't that the small victory here?

or should there always be a message that the republicans are sending? >> this actually matters a lot to small government conservatives. this is a critical issue. i'm not going to be like barack obama and say i made a mistake. i voted against raising the debt ceiling back in the '90s and i voted against it because there was never anything attached to it that would actually take care of long-term spending, that would actually make sure that social security remain solvent. we choose sometimes to fight on these issues. republicans decided not to yesterday. i certainly -- again, i think ted cruz has a right to ask for 60 votes like democrats would in a similar issue if we were talking about an issue that mattered a great deal to them. a big difference between what happened this past fall and what

happened yesterday and i'm glad ted cruz forced the issue and i know that puts me in the minority. let's go to chuck schumer. so glad to have you, senator, in today. >> i'm the only one you could drag off the streets of washington. the bottom of the barrel, joe. >> no, no. we are not. now that this has passed, the next thing we are going to see is -- i think a discussion on immigration reform. i don't know that it's going to pass between now and the election. you brought up a fascinating proposal earlier this week. for any republicans concerned how the president's enforced the affordable care act. talk about your suggestion and why you did it. >> well, look. first, i believe that immigration reform is the number one thing we could do to straighten the country out and get our country moving again. too many people crossed the board who shouldn't be here and

we turned people away who should be here whether working on agriculture or ph.d.s who create new jobs. they said that immigration reform would increase gdp by 3.5% and more than any democratic spending program or any republican-cut program. i feel a keen urgency to get this done, not for political advantage. if democrats wanted political advantage, we pass a bill that was way to the left and beat up our republican colleagues. in this senate, as you know, with john mccain and lindsey graham and many others, marco rubio, we forged a coalition. in the house a lot of trouble because our tea party friends are very much against it and while a lot of republicans are the same as i believe they were on the debt, they want to vote no but hope yes. there's a real chance, i still think, to get this done. the number one reason they say they don't want to vote for it, they believe that obama will

only enforce parts of the law he likes. not the enforcement and stopping illegal immigrants from crossing the border. if you feel that way, enact the bill now and don't have it take effect until 2017. we could move it back a little the date have you to be in this country to get legalized and get here and travel here. it received a lot of support, even from some republicans, who feel that this would take the number one objection away. i want to pass this bill. so do so many people in this country. we have, unlike on the fiscal issues, joe, whether you're republican party is much more united, you have large segments of the republican community for this, the business community is for it, the evangelical christians are for it. >> a major cross current. i didn't mean to interrupt you but we have a lot of people that want to talk and i want to make

sure you trudging in from the snow sent tisn't just one quest >> boehner and mcconnell voted to move along on the debt ceiling the last couple of days. what do you say about them as far as you're concerned? what do you think motivate them and what effect could it have? >> in a sense, it's the right thing to do, because playing -- you are playing with the debt ceilings is like playing with fire. joe, people can have strong beliefs on deficit reduction but you hurt everybody, including this country, if you hold the debt ceiling hostage. they learned that. ted cruz has a short memory. when he pushed the shutdown of the government that was widely unpopular even with tea party members, let alone just the republican base, but he tried it again and mcconnell and boehner, for the good of their party, said they can't do this. let me say this. i think they gain strength in their caucuses, because many in

their caucus, they don't want to vote for these things because the tea party is so strong in their primaries but they wanted it to pass because they know it will hurt the whole republican party if they follow this extreme group off a cliff. i think it would actually help boehner and mcconnell in his caucus, which somebody said this morning characterized as vote no, hope yes caucus. i hope that will happen on immigration reform. one more thing on immigration reform, one thing there. a discharge -- >> let's go to sam stein. i'm sorry, senator. i'd love to talk but we have a time crunch here. sam stein, go ahead. i think we may start ringing a bell every time the senator says tea patty. he can file in for carl bernstein. go ahead. >> i will ring the bell personally. shifting topics a little bit. i talked to a few people on unemployment insurance and saw a cutoff at the end of december. they want some clarity right now in their lives. they get the sense they don't

think another package will pass and seen a few failed votes in the senate. what can you tell them about the prospects of legislation and when will it be brought up an do you see the house enacting unemployment insurance in the near future? >> we will keep bringing it up. i think it has a chance but not that large a chance but still has a chance. the reason is this. the big tectonic plates are moving. the number one issue sh creating good jobs and raising incomes of the middle class and the people who are in the lower 70%, 80% of america. deficit reduction doesn't have the power that it had before. in part, because we have made progress. the next five years, the ratio of deficit of gdp will decline, it's cut in half from what it was at its peak, a lot of which was caused by the recession. i think issues like unemployment insurance, like minimum wage, are going to gant currency in

the next six months and my little prediction is this. helping the middle class with good paying jobs and helping the middle class with raising incomes will be more important than deficit reduction in the 2014 elections. >> you didn't mention the tea party. >> thank you very much. i'm sorry. thank you so much, senator chuck schumer. he is very disciplined. i wanted the bell to ring but maybe next time. certainly next time. senator, thank you for being bus. we appreciate it and we know the weather conditions are terrible and we look forward to seeing you in the studio next time. >> see you in the sunshine. >> see you in the sunshine and we will ring the bell when senator chuck schumer comes back and mentions the tea party 14 times. brian sullivan, the senator is right about one thing. a fascinating cross currents here. the "the wall street journal" editorial page. you've got the lobbying community and the washington consulting class. you got the catholic church and

a lot of different forces, republican forces that want imprigs reform to pass, but you got the base, a lot of conservatives that don't. how do they sort that out? >> i think they should talk to the business community. joe, you're talking about an industry, a lot of industries in america that need a growing worker base, and i think that immigration reform is a great way to accomplish it. from the higher end, guys, immigration, i mean, i don't know any other word to describe it than stupid. what we do is we bring a couple of thousand really smart kids to america to educate them and then refuse to give them a way to stay here so they go home and use the knowledge they procured at our universities back in their home countries. we need to open up that -- at least that tap as well. bill gates has said this. we need to get smart people to come here and get smart people to stay here. immigration reform needs to be all encompassing. >> no doubt about it. >> go ahead, joe.

>> no doubt about it. i'm just saying, thomas friedman, he said somebody comes to this country they go to our schools, they get a ph.d. we should flip that diploma around and staple a green card on the back of it and hand it to them and grow the jobs here instead of new delhi. >> joe, 25% of all new businesses started in america are by people who were not born in the united states. >> my god! look at the tech companies! and look who started those tech companies! le a lot of first generation immigrants have come to this country and made sure the resolution was here on the internet, not somewhere else across the world. it is short-sided and stupid, that on that end of the scale, on the high end of the scale, that we are not trying to embrace and keep those people in this country to create american jobs. so, mika, big news, obviously, in the merger world last night. and we have got brian roberts

coming on, don't we? >> yep. coming up, comcast is said to buy time warner cable for on $45 billion in stock. we will talk about the huge deal with the ceos of the respective companies, brian roberts and robert marcus next on "morning joe." ♪ spokesperson: we decided to settle this.

a steel cage death match of midsize sedans. the volkswagen passat against all comers. turbocharged engines against...engines. best in class rear legroom against other-class legroom. but then we realized. consumers already did that. twice. huh. maybe that's why nobody else showed up. how does one get out of a death cage? vo: right now, get 0.9% apr on all passat models plus a total of $1000 in bonuses.

[ man ] i don't know if this is gonna be a first or second, but this is gonna be a medal! [ man #2 ] and it looks like we could have another one of those photos! [ female announcer ] every minute. every medal. every screen. the nbc sports live extra app gives you unprecedented access to every moment of nbc universal's coverage of the sochi olympics, now on your tv. the x1 entertainment operating system, only from xfinity.

♪ big news this morning. right here on the family. joining us now is the chairman and ceo of comcast brian roberts, and the ceo of time warner cable, robert marcus. gentlemen, good morning. comcast has reached an agreement to acquire time warner cable in an all-stock deal worth $45 billion. the merger brings together the two largest cable television providers in the u.s. with a combined $33 million subscribers. so let's start right there.

great to have you both on to talk about this deal. what does it mean, brian, and then robert, for the consumers? how will it change, imparkt tct? >> first of all, we at time warner don't operate in the same cities. is there no overlap and no reduction in competition. we don't have any zip codes where we do business in the same zip code in the whole country. so as we look at any competition of which there is much in video, whether it's directv, dish, at&t, vios, verizon, this allows us to compete better by bringing our products in new markets and markets such as business services for small, medium-sized businesses where we have just begun the last five years to compete. again, it allows us to offer companies products in multiple cities, not just in one city where we happen to operate. there is no overlap, no reduction in competition. for consumers, we think there is

a lot of benefits. comcast has increased our flbt speed 12 times in 12 years and we have the fastest broadband in the nation and fastest wi-fi and our next x-1 cloud dvr and entertainment operating system. all of those products and all the ones we hope to invent we are bringing to los angeles and dallas and new york and new markets. >> robert, i would like to hear what you have to say. i think the lack thereof angle of this gets to the regulatory process? >> let me start what it means for the customer. i think at the core, that is what this deal is all about. i think it's an incredibly exciting opportunity for time warner cable customers. the technological innovation that is going to be enabled by the two companies coming together, i think, it be truly spectacular. new products, better products, and just a faster pace of

change. i'm incredibly excited about it and i think the opportunity for our customers is just terrific. on the regulatory front, i think brian really outlined the key arguments as to why this is actually a really good thing for customers, which is the key analysis here. no reduction in competition, improved customer experiences, and we think that this will clear all of the regulatory hurdles and get done. >> there used to be a rule that the fcc where no company could have more than 30% of the multichannel video marketplace. when we bought at&t, broadband ten years ago we were around 29.5%. this transaction, we have said we will be prepared to divest 3 million customers. it was on the court as too low by the the courts on two

occasions. we want to respect the 30% even though it doesn't exist and we believe it puts us back where we were ten years ago, even though today it's much more competitive than it was ten years ago. >> joe, jump in. >> i think a lot of people watching will be surprised to find out two leaders in the industry don't actually operate in the same geographic areas. that is an eye-opener, first of all, this morning. secondly, the shareholders seem to be supportive of this too. brian, talk about why both sides of this deal are so excited about it. >> good morning, joe. the reason, i think, is that because we don't overlap, we have to do many of the same things, so there is a lot of duplications. and there is, therefore, tremendous synergies, more than any deal that comcast has ever been involved with. we think conservatively a billion and a half dollars that can go to be the benefit of the shareholders. in this case, 23% of our stock

is a stock forstock merger. a number of our shareholders have encouraged us to do this. they are well aware of the fact we don't overlap and that these products on we are able to bring to all of the markets and to go into markets that are new markets like interactive advertising and digital advertising, where advertisers want more of a national footprint and, as i said, all of the other products, in digital and in satellite and in telecommunications, the companies are available everywhere. and it's kind of a throwback to why cable is in these different geographies and don't overlap. this consolidation, we think, makes a lot of sense and the shareholders, therefore, thinks it makes a lot of sense. we are able to tell our stockholders -- i realize this isn't cnbc -- but in the first year, this is free cash flow to the comcast shareholders and on a per share basis when you exclude the transaction expenses of the first year, that is highly unusual and very

attractive and a great place for the time warner shareholders so it makes a lot of sense, we believe. >> joe? >> brian, you're right, this isn't cnbc and when you talk like that this makes a lot of our viewers dizzy. we go to dog track around here. willie geist and i do at least. it's very confusing. but i wanted to ask you, it will sound like a softball question but i'm sfastfascinated by it. what has comcast doing the past several years? i was shocked when you wrote a big check to close out the deal for nbc universal. you did it. you said you had extra money. you wanted to tbla check because you wanted to show confidence in the company. and now you're writing another big check. i mean, comcast seems to be doing everything right over the past four or five years. what is working for your company that is not working for other companies? >> well, i don't know about other on companies but it sounds corny but we have some great

people like lockus structured this transaction for us with his team and doing a great job at nbc universal. in some cases, the cable is still the core of the company and neil smith and his team are running our cable company, there is tremendous moment operationally. in the nournting fourth quarter video customers. there is a lot of momentum and we are bullish on the business and bullish on cable and bullish on the cable and wi-fi and smart homes and smart tvs and while we don't have all of the answers, we want to help shape and lead that revolution and change for consumers and for businesses and, hopefully, someday, health care and using monitoring all on broad band. that is the investments we are making and we want to bring those exciting products to time warner markets and help accelerate their growth. >> all right brian roberts and robert marcus, congratulations.

thank you both. great to have you on the show this morning. up next, we head to on sochi for some men's olympic hockey. alexander ovechkin leads team russia against slovenia. that is coming up right here. have a great day. ♪

mother russia, meet your newest olympic champion, jamie anderson claims gold in slopestyle! it's late afternoon on a picture-perfect olympic thursday. temperatures got up into the mid-60s today in sochi, but at olympic park, there is business indoors at bolshoy ice dome, as the russian men's hockey team gets under way in search of olympic gold. welcome inside bolshoy ice dome, katherine tappen alongside keith jones. jonesy, the atmosphere is already electric in this arena. there's no question that these