president obama speaking live this hour, rallying house democrats at their annual retreat. do democrats have any chance to take back the house? meanwhile, hillary clinton's got some advice. she told students to grow a thick skin, and she's the one who will know. she'll need it if she does run to president again. and we're talking to authors of a new book about her inner circle. and a big victory for same-sex. meanwhile, ted cruz and mike lee are pushing for a bill that would roll back gains for marriage equality. good morning to you, i'm ari melber in for chris jansing. we're beginning today with the snowstorm, impacts being felt far and wide. in philadelphia, for example, a huge pileup involving up to 100 cars you can see in, snarling traffic and that's on an icy philadelphia turnpike. two people were already sent to the hospital.

the storm dumped as much as 28 inches of snow in some areas and there are now 21 deaths reported in connection with with this storm sweeping the country and over 400,000 people right now are still without power in about 15 states. more than 1,500 domestic flights have been cancelled this morning and nearly 3,000 delayed because of the ongoing after effects of all of this inclement weather. according to one estimate, it's going to cost businesses about $15 billion, and folks, it is not over yet. to give you more of the latest news, we have nbc meteorologist bill karins in a moment, but we are beginning right now with ron mott in portland, maine. go ahead. >> hey, ari, good morning to you. the folks here in new england are used to getting a lot of snow. i had a guy come up to me and say, is it may yet? tomorrow it's supposed to snow in portland, monday into tuesday. last night officially they got

about nine inches in the city, which is a pretty decent snowstorm. more snow upstate. the real thing we were concerned about last night is the wind. you can see what it's done in this park here downtown, the wind whipped up probably 40, 45 miles an hour gusts last night and the system played out as it made its way up the seaboard to maine. snow most of the day yesterday, then it warmed up enough we got the mix and overnight it fell back into snow. as you can see, still flurrying right now. we're expecting to pick up another inch or so today before the next system tomorrow. portland last night, they usually get about 62 inches for the year, they are about 65, 66 inches for the year, so they've had plenty of snow and there's still more to come, as we mentioned, folks are done with winter here. back to you. >> a lot more to come. nbc's ron mott in the valentine's day look there with the red scarf. we love it and wish you happy valentine's day in the snow.

>> thank you, to you, as well, and all those watching. >> thank you very much. there are reports as we know of more snow on the way. we want to get you all the updated information. we have nbc meteorologist bill karins with the update. bill? >> already up in portland, maine. drive five more hours, ron, and you'll be in a blizzard come saturday night, into sunday morning, because that's what's heading for maine. that's about it. the storm, the next one, unbelievable, isn't it? four, five storms in a row. this is the next one, it snowed this morning in des moines, now snowing north side of st. louis and it will head toward indianapolis and louisville and lexington. just enough to make it difficult for the drive home. now the big storm, this is the nor'easter, that's huge, as big as it gets. this is a much smaller storm and moving quickly. the path is going to dive to the coast and then once it feeds off

the warm waters here in the gulf stream, it's going to explode and become its own little nor'easter, but it's going to develop so late in the gulf of maine, it's not going to have blizzard effects or huge impacts from hartford southwards or providence southwards. three to six inches, boston. portland, where ron was, maine, 12 inches, bangor about 12 inches, and east maine could get a foot, two feet of snow. the timing, again, for people's plans on the weekend, washington, d.c., philadelphia, light snow. new york city, right around 2:00 p.m. as it falls during the daylight hours, roads are going to be fine. then we'll watch the snow melt next week. all these locations should be in the 40s, if not 50s, a week from today. >> it is something. bill, we wish you a very happy white valentine's day, as well. >> i'll be shoveling, that will be my love of the day. >> if you at home feel like you've been watching or battling a tougher winter than usual,

that's because this is, indeed, the one of the worst in years. take a look at this statistic, more of the surface of the great lakes are frozen right now than at any point in about 30 years. right now the amount of ice covering the great lakes is 88.4%. the last time it was higher than that was 1979, when 95% of the surface was pure ice. temperatures are supposed to jump back into the 40s next week, so that record is safe for now. now for politics, we turn to some major new developments in the battle for marriage equality, this time coming in the states of virginia and indiana. the state senate in indiana just delayed a proposed constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. you can see folks applauding that there. senators refused to insert the language of the ban that would cover civil unions. here's how one state senator described this step. >> let's hope that cooler heads will prevail, that there will be a recognition that the future of

indiana does not include and cannot and shall not include discrimination in our constitution. [ cheers and applause ] >> meanwhile, this morning, politicos in virginia are acting to a blockbuster ruling by a federal judge just last night. district judge wright rejected the argument that tradition requires only heterosexual marriage to be recognized under law, quote, tradition is revered in the commonwealth, and often rightly so. however, tradition alone cannot justify allowing same-sex couples the right to marry, any more than it can justify virginia's ban on inner racial marriage. those are strong words, where interracial marriage bans were on the books until 1967. let's bring in "washington post" blogger reid wilson and carrie budoff brown.

reid, the point in indiana overlaps what's happening in virginia, and here's why. the folks in indiana think that if they keep this issue off the ballot for a couple more years, it is less likely that people will reject this attempt to get marriage equality. in virginia and other places, we're seeing judges come around and also reject these kind of bans. is that march a matter of time at this point? >> well, it is, especially through the federal courts. this is a concerted strategy by supporters of same-sex marriage, who really went through legislatures as much as they could in states like washington state and california and oregon. rather oregon is going to be coming up on the ballot in 2014. once they hit all the democratic states that they could, the only available avenue they had to legalize same-sex marriage was through the courts, so there's something like 37 cases in about 15 states that are taking a look at these same-sex marriage bans.

new ones every day in states like missouri and kansas and mississippi, alabama, all over the sort of red america, if you will. so, yeah, the next steps in the same-sex marriage fight is going to be happening in these courts in the states. >> yeah, and carrie, to that point, when you look back at what just happened in virginia last night, the rejection of this kind of ban, it was just about eight years ago where you had a vote on this, and if you look, 57% at the time that supported that ban. 43% opposed. and if you look at related issues like ken cuccinelli and attorney general of virginia, that is a state where statewide offices on this issue, the attorney general, and the democratic governor now have shifted, right, so it raises the question when you look at a bell weather, once conservative leaning state like virginia, whether folks have moved away from these issues and whether they help republicans on the ballot at this point. >> well, i think a good indication of that is that my

inbox this morning, i don't have any sort of statements from the top republican leaders in the house or the senate or even rank and file themselves really weighing in on this. and you've seen this, you know, with the supreme court ruling back in the summer when they ruled, you really saw a muted response from leaders of the republican party, because there's a real sort of hesitation. they realize where the public is moving and where their rank and file in the party is and a real tension that's forced them to recalibrate how they deal with this on a national level because of the tension that exists right now. virginia, what happened there sort of seals that sense of inevitability surrounding this issue, when you have a southern state like virginia, you know, federal court there ruling this way and could have an impact on other southern states that have similar laws and that's really different than when you see california and the west coast and ruling and passing certain laws that loosen up and secure marriage equality.

>> yeah, i think that is well put. our reporting reflects that same reality. not a lot of pushback from big leaders. we did have a new statement out from senator cruz, who said he had new legislation on this, but not the kind of fortified, organized republican response we saw, at least in the bush era. reid, i want to read to you one other part out of the decision in virginia, where we see the idea of personal liberty versus tradition. "government interests in perpetuating traditions, shielding state matters from federal interference and favoring one model of parenting over the others must yield to this country's cherished protection that ensure the exercise of the private choices of the individual citizen regarding love and family." religious views of what a marriage is, which is a longstanding, and, i think difficult debate for many, but

rather an almost libertarian argument that this in the private sphere has to be protected under the law, regardless where religion lands on tradition. your thoughts on the debate going in that direction. >> yeah, that's the cornerstone of the legal strategy being organized by supporters of same-sex marriage. you know, we've seen a lot of the same attorneys arguing these cases around the country, ted olson and david boyce argued the california case, the virginia case, so we're starting to see these same legal arguments making their way all over the place. one really fascinating part of this strategy, though, is that there is a second tier to this. there are a number of cases around the country that are trying to force states to recognize the fact that the marriage exists, that if some couple gets married in a state that allows gay marriage and moves to a state like texas, and in texas there's an interesting case where the two couples are suing for the right to divorce. now that requires the state of

texas to recognize their marriage in the first place, so i think that's sort of the clever subterranean way of moving even the most conservative states in the country towards recognizing same-sex marriage. >> reid, real quick, why did you have to bring up divorce on valentine's day? >> sorry about that. hey, there are other cases in states like ohio, where people are trying to get their marriage recognized on death certificates, you know, every little way people are trying to get marriages recognized. >> i just wanted to get some love in here at the end of our segment. it's true, the government is involved in these issues. they can't actually duck them forever. reid wilson and carrie budoff brown. coming up, we're going to delve into "hrc," a look at hillary clinton's state department and inner workings of her powerful political machine. the authors are here on set to dish. that is right after the break. [ park sounds, sound of spray paint ]

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hillary clinton left office one year ago this month, but to the political and media world, it sometimes seems she's never left. she is subject to constant speculation about another presidential run, second guessing about her time at the state department and sometimes bizarre trips down memory lane. some critics went digging through the archives of her old friend diane blair looking for material. hillary says all this kind of stuff isn't personal. >> one of the best pieces of advice that i've ever heard from anyone is eleanor roosevelt in the 1920s, who said that, you know, women in politics or in public roles should grow skin like a rhinoceros. it's important to learn how to

take criticism seriously, but not personally. >> fine advice, but according to a new book, clinton's 2008 team often had a more frog-like skin. remarkably thin. in "hrc," the clinton campaign is shown collapsing in spasms of sometimes vindictive desperation. authors jonathan allen and amie parnes join me. what are the things you learned that are most surprising? >> well, we learned how she would govern, we learned what she would do when she was president, the decisions she would make, but this is a larger narrative about her comeback story. she's been through a lot of falls through the course of her career, there was the monica lewinsky fall, there was the 2008 campaign fall, so how does she come back, what does she do, does she wallow, does she come forward? she doesn't like to wallow, she moves forward. >> some of the most striking

stuff is behind the scenes at the state department, where she was dealing with a incredibly challenging diplomatic period for the united states. i want to read part of the discussion around her strategy when there were mistaken killings in pakistan that the u.s. needed to deal with. you write, you report that she says, if they attack me for saying, look, i'm sorry in this diplomatic situation, so be it, i'm willing to do that. and you talk to another diplomatic aide who said, hillary believed the ability to admit you're wrong is a sign of strength, not weakness, one of her senior aides said. yet at this same time, there were a lot of attacks on barack obama and his administration over a sort of apologetic approach in foreign policy. >> go back to this time in 2012, mitt romney had written a book, "no apology," he was accusing obama of going on an apology tour. in this case, there had been a mistaken drone strike in pakistan that killed 20-something soldiers there. pakistan wanted an apology.

they had closed down some of the supply routes to afghanistan in retaliation for that, and hillary clinton's argument was, we need to apology to them. this is hurting our ability to conduct our foreign policy, to conduct the war. they felt the pakistanis had been complicit with the taliban and other bad actors in that region. they didn't want an apology for, i think, some anger reasons in terms of being angry at pakistanis, but also political reasons, the white house in the milds of a campaign didn't want to apologize and play into romney's hand. she said we're going to apologize. she worked out a soft apology to pakistan, supply routes reopened again and romney didn't, in fact, attack obama. look, i don't mean we should never apologize when we do something wrong, what i mean, we shouldn't be apologizing for america and our general cast on the world, which i think is

surprising. i was shocked that obama was never attacked for that apology. >> that was also striking, because you played out the story of basically diplomacy with a security dividend and political risk, and in the end, romney leaves it alone. so they got the upside without the downside. there's also the issue that could come up, what role did she play in, she and her state department adviser, harold coe, were also defending the way we do targeted killing abroad. >> there's no ending between the way she sees drone strikes and the obama administration, they are completely on the same page, but what you saw is harold coe going out there and speaking about how defending it almost, but saying that the obama administration should be a little more transparent and explain it more to the people about what they are doing exactly. >> and that was very much the argument in the state department and outside they were making in the administration, if you're going to do the targeted

killings, you need to explain it to the american public, what are the rules of engagement, why are you doing it, harold coe gave a speech in march 2010 before officials were willing to do that, to talk about those things, so they were a little more transparent about it, but she agrees with the drone policy. >> right. there's this issue again where she is tied to not only, obviously, her husband's administration, but this administration and these issues become more litigated in a political context, does she have to simply say, well, i defend everything and work on it, or does she create her own policy if she were number one? i want to play, as well, reince priebus talking about why everything from that clinton era, including lewinsky, is on the table. take a listen. >> i think everything's on the table. i don't see how someone gets a pass on anything. i mean, especially in today's politics. i think we're going to have a truck load of opposition research on hillary clinton. >> amy. >> i think that you're going to

see them basically do everything and we're seeing this on howard county -- health care now. they are already starting to tie her to health care, it's not going to just be benghazi, it's going to be health care and domestic policy. >> briefly, john, what new idea does hillary clinton stand for if she runs in 2016? >> that's a great question, what is her vision for the united states? >> do you have the answer to that question? >> i don't. >> do you? >> i think it's going to be a whole different campaign, hillary 2.0, if you will. she learned her lessons from 2008, what went wrong in terms of technology. she learned she needed to embrace the fact she's a woman candidate. you're going to see all of this on stage in 2016. >> no one at this point with serious doubts, i think, her competence and her intelligence. the open question is, what does she stand for beyond continuing the policies of now 16 years separated by bush of democrats that she's linked to and that, i

guess, is maybe unanswerable. the book is "hrc," reporters, jonathan and amie, thank you for joining us. coming up, we're going to get, if you've been waiting for it, olympic fix. two americans to watch on the slopes today and a sweep for three americans in slopestyle. chris jansing got up close and personal with the three guys who dominated the podium. we're going to talk to her live from sochi. that's later this hour. so you're telling me your mom has a mom cave?

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the way i got myself to go to sleep for a couple of nights was i honestly prayed they went to another program, she said. it's probably more likely people have gone to bed hungry, her view of the situation. the report is by msnbc.com, and you can find it on our facebook page. let us know what you think. and right now, we are waiting for president obama to address the house democratic conference in cambridge, maryland. we're going to bring that speech to you live. that's up this hour. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ told ya you could do it. (dad vo) i want her to be safe. so, i taught her what i could and got her a subaru. (girl) piece of cake. ♪ (announcer) love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru.

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>> there isn't a republican party. i wish there were. i wish there was a republican party. i wish there was one person you could sit across the table from, make a deal, make a compromise, and know when you got up from that table, it was done. >> strong words. let's bring in chris kofinas, msnbc contributor and former bush/cheney adviser, robert traynham. your take on joe biden saying there is no republican party? >> well, i mean, if you look at the last four cycles, there's at least seven senates, delaware, indiana, missouri, even nevada where they were in a position to win and should have won, but didn't because the candidates were so out of touch from the mainstream, they ended up losing. this is a continuing problem that we see the republican party

kind of suffer through, this internal civil war. that doesn't necessarily translate to an easy road for us, because if you look at a lot of the polling, there's pox in both houses among the electorate, but it definitely, i think, complicates the road for republicans who assume because it's midterm of a second term that they are guaranteed to pick up, you know, significant number of seats, whether in the senate or the house. >> you mention the polling, take another listen to what joe biden was saying, the vice president, today about support for some of the democrats' agenda. >> on every major issue, the american people agree with the democratic party. 72% of the american people supported increase the minimum wage, early childhood education, 86% of the people. immigration reform, 73% of the democrats, 60% of republicans. background checks on weapons, 55% on marriage equality.

and even 55% is all the difficulties you're facing now with the aca, 55% of the american people don't want to see it repealed. >> robert, he's got numbers. what do you got? >> well, i think the numbers are a bit skewed and depends who you're asking and who is the messenger. if you look at other polling data and the political reality, the political reality is house republicans most likely will increase their majority in the house of representatives. you can make the argument because of gerrymandering and conservative districts, that's the way it is. but let's move over to the senate, looks like republicans most likely will pick up the senate come november, and here's why. when you look at the affordable care act, when you look at the economy, in the context of minimum wage, most americans according to a gallup poll are saying we're not exactly sure we're comfortable with the direction the democrats are putting the country in, so with all due respect to the vice president, he can spew on his numbers, but according to political reality, that doesn't

jell up with what he's saying. >> well let's look at that point, chris, as we await president obama coming out, just about five minutes away. he is on the ground there at the democrats retreat and we're going to bring the president's comments live, but look at robert's point from the dynamics here, political forecasting and historical trends suggest democrats will lose ground, the president averages a loss of 29 house seats. very few exceptions to that. that is the historical context, what do you make of it? >> well, it's a factor that, yeah, i think you have to take into consideration. the reality here is, midterm elections are very different than elections during presidential years. midterm elections, you tend to have older, not as many young or minority voters turn out, so i think it complicates things. part of this is, and this is where you're seeing the democrats focused on the bread and butter issues, rallied that

base and nontraditional midterm voter to come out. part of this, i think, to dampen what could be a bad year, depending how you look at it, is, you know, how the affordable care act plays out. you know, the numbers are getting better in terms of enrollment. if that continues, that becomes less of a negative. if that doesn't, then it complicates things. listen, i was advising candidates in the last midterm election when we got slaughtered in 2010, but we still won. you have to figure out what your positions are and how you're going to differentiate yourself, not just from the party, but in terms of whether it's the president or the republicans, you've got to establish your own kind of candidacy and vision for the country and not be wedded to one party or individual. >> you have to admit one of the counters to that is senator manchin is one of the democrats known for distancing himself the most from the president and some of his policies. that would be, i think, partly the conservative argument, yes, you can win if you come over to

our turf. before we go, robert, i wanted your general thoughts on what you expect from the president today. again, he's going to be speaking momentarily to the democrats retreat and this is a period where the democrats made a signal towards immigration. what do you think we will hear from president obama? >> i think the president's going to be optimistic. i think he's going to be very bullish on immigration, although speaker boehner said it's dead on arrival. the president is going to say, look, run on our record, the affordable care act, focus on the positive and not on the negative, and i think the president's also going to say, look, at the end of the day, i'm still president for the next one and a half, two years, whatever the case may be, so i think the question becomes whether or not that audience who are on the ballot, not the president, is going to be receptive to that type of message. wait a minute, the political realities, as we mentioned a few moments ago, do not jell up with your optimistic view in how we are as a national party.

>> robert traynham, we will see if you are right. chris kofinas, happy valentine's to you both. >> same to you. >> thank you. regardless of party, democrats and republicans can agree on, it's a very exciting day with team usa at the olympics with a clean sweep of a new event. first, we're going to look at the latest medal count here, norway is still in the lead, followed by the netherlands, the u.s. comes in third at the moment with 12 medals, russia and germany are also in the top five. now we go live to sochi and msnbc's chris jansing. americans swept the men's slopestyle. you spoke to the gold medal winner, joss christensen, what did he tell you about this victory? >> i know you'll be shocked, but he said he was stoked, not only the fact he got gold, but that they swept. he was not expected to win gold at all. he was the last person named to the team, but he said he just went out there and had fun. take a listen. >> for the most part, you're

just scaring yourself in a good way, and pushing yourself to limits that you maybe thought you couldn't get to, and it feels so good and free. >> speaking of feeling good, can you put into words what that gold means? >> it's slowly starting to set in. i never really thought this would happen for me. about a year ago when they released what the medals looked like, a few of my friends and i made it our iphone backgrounds so we could see it every day, set our mind on the goal, and after finals yesterday, i couldn't really grasp what just happened. >> well, joss got a little emotional, too, because six months ago, his dad, one of his biggest supporters, died, and he said he knows he's up there jumping up and down and supporting him. meantime, the silver medalist, gus kenworthy told me even more than the attention he's getting for getting silver, he's getting attention for the tweets maybe you've seen about the puppies he wants to bring back to the

united states. he found a mother and four puppies. he says he has a home for them and thinks it's going to happen. couple other guys i want to tell you about, super combined today, ted ligety, bode miller, they were shut out of the medals, and instead a swiss man took gold, and he again, somebody who wasn't even expected to be on a podium. this has been an olympics for big surprises. for example, you never know where vladimir putin is going to show up, and guess where he was just about an hour ago, at team usa house, that's where the olympians and their families all get together, they have a store there where you can buy team usa merchandise, they've got a bar and relaxing lounge areas. vladimir putin was given one of those silver jackets that you've seen a lot of team usa wearing, nike jackets, and one final thing you didn't need, jackets today, it was 61 degrees. this unseasonably warm weather continues, but so far, there haven't been cancellations up on

the hill, but a lot of people are spending their time not just in these venues behind me, as you see the cross-countriers in tank tops, they were spending time at the beach. i was at the black sea myself, this morning. i walked into the water, the water is really cold. i think you have to have an olympians' heart to dive in. >> glad you're enjoying some of the warm parts. you've spent a lot of time with these athletes. how do they keep in touch with people back home who weren't able to make this trip, as we're seeing so much celebration? >> the olympics has changed so much. this, obviously, is only really the second, i would say, big social media olympics, and it's huge. the number of tweets, the number of facebook posts, far surpassing what we saw in london, and, obviously, everybody's got face time, everybody is following each other on the social media, so, you know, i talk to them about the folks who were back home, and, you know, they are getting videos from parties people have

been watching the events, so it feels very interconnected, and you can see that it's really kind of getting these athletes all excited about what has happened to them, and they are having a really good time with it. i think it is worth mentioning, for example, in joss's case, his mom didn't decide to come until the very last minute, so a lot of these athletes don't even know they are making the team until the end. it's a last-minute decision, security concerns, so some people did stay behind. it's nice to see they are able to keep in such close touch. >> it lets us all be stoked along with the athletes. chris jansing, thanks for your reporting. >> thanks, ari. and we are also keeping an eye on, as we told you, the president coming out any moment to deliver remarks at the house democratic issues conference, which is up in cambridge, maryland. you're looking here at congressman joe crowley, we will bring that to you live as soon

as congressman crowley finishes those introductory remarks. the winter blast could put valentine's day plans on ice. bertha combs is here. bertha, valentine's day can be a heart breaker for florists and restaurants if they can't maximize sales today. tell us. >> i think a lot of them are breathing a sigh of relief in terms of storms. if you're a procrastinator and forgot to order flowers, you might try to use the weather as an excuse, but it might not work. a lot of florists tried to make sure they could get things out on time, the fact that the snow has let up today in much of the country will give them a lot of time to try to get that out there, although maybe a little bit late overrule. one sheriff's office declared on their facebook page the county would be a no-valentine's zone today, so use that as an excuse.

>> i don't know what that means. >> you can use that as an excuse, can't get out, couldn't get flowers because we weren't able to hit the roads. no-valentine's day zone. >> i don't know if a note from the sheriff gets you out of obligations. also derrick jeter. >> there's a lot of love for derek jeter and that is raising ticket prices. if you want to catch a game during his farewell season, he announced he's retiring after this 2014 season, you're going to have to pay a lot. within two hours of the announcement, last game of the season, which will be at fenway park, they jumped more than 160%. the average, $800 at fenway. unbelievable. and in the bronx for his final game there, $1,200 on average. >> all right. cnbc's bertha coombs. thank you for that valentine's

day reporting. we are going live to the democratic issues conference. president obama taking the stage to address the democratic conference live. let's listen in. >> thank you, everybody have a seat. thank you so much. thank you. thank you, everybody. everybody, sit down, sit down. it is good to see you. joe, thank you for the wonderful introduction. let me be the first to say, happy valentine's day to our fearless leader nancy pelosi. paul will hopefully give you more than just a thank you. to steny, to jim, javier, steve israel, who is doing an extraordinary job under very difficult circumstances, debbie wasserman schultz, who's putting in more miles than just about anybody i know.

and all of you, it's great to see you. we just saw each other at the white house fairly recently, so i am not going to give a long speech here. i want to spend most of my time answering some more questions. but let me just make a couple observations since we saw each other. first of all, i stated in our state of the union that the single most important thing we have to do, not just as a party, but as a country, is make sure that there's opportunity for every single person, that we are focused every single day in this town or in washington, on making sure if you're willing to work hard, if you're willing to take responsibility, you can get at it. doesn't matter where you live, what circumstances you were born into, what you look like, who you love, you should be able to make it here in america.

and as i said at the state of the union, i want to work with congress to make that happen. but i'm not going to wait. because there's too much to do. and america does not believe in standing still. america insists on moving forward. we laid out some very specific ways that we can move the country forward, breaking them down into a few categories. number one, creating more good jobs that pay good wages. number two, making sure that folks are trained to fill those good jobs. number three, making sure that our kids have the best education in the world. and number four, making sure that hard work pays off. that people aren't poor if they are working full time, that they have some semblance of retirement security, that they

can count on health care if, heaven forbid, something happens to them. and already just in the last couple of weeks, we've put forward a range of executive actions that are going to make a difference, so yesterday, for example, i had a chance to be with a group of minimum wage workers for federal contractors. these are folks who are washing dishes or cleaning clothes on our military bases, our facilities, and sometimes the debates on capitol hill get so abstract, and to be next to folks, average age, by the way, 35. these aren't teenagers. these are folks who are looking after families and trying to raise kids, and to see what it would mean to them for us to have a federal minimum wage of $10.10 an hour, and how much

relief that would give them, and how committed they were to the american dream and getting ahead and just hoping that somebody was standing up for them, it reminded me of why i'm a democrat. and it reminded me why i'm so proud of this caucus, because you're standing up on behalf of them. and so we signed the executive order. these folks are going to get a raise, and what i said yesterday is that now it's time for congress to act, because america deserves a raise. [ applause ] i pointed out yesterday, as i pointed out at the state of the union, that the majority of low-wage workers are women, which is why we're going to keep on pushing to make sure that we have equal pay for equal work, and we have sensible family policies.

because, as i said at the state of the union, when women succeed, america succeeds. i still believe that. [ applause ] we've traveled to manufacturing plants up in wisconsin to talk about how we can continue to accelerate advanced manufacturing and technology in this country, and we've got some great possibilities to create hubs that keep us on the cutting edge. we signed executive orders to advance the kind of job training that is going to help people get trained for jobs that actually exist and link up businesses with our community colleges. we've already, through executive action, set up a new retirement

account, myra, which allows people to get a start-up 401(k). so across the board, we're moving, but as i said at the state of the union, and i want to repeat today, we can get a whole lot more done if we've got congress working with us. and this caucus has shown time and time again, under the most difficult circumstances, the kind of courage and unity and discipline that has made me very, very proud. and i was just talking to nancy before i came out here, the fact that we are no longer going to see, i believe, anybody trying to hold our government hostage and threaten the full faith and credit of the united states of america in order to contract policy concessions, the fact that we were able to pass a

clean debt limit is just one example of why when you guys are unified, you guys stick together, this country is better off. and i could not be more thankful and appreciative and prouder of what you're doing. just a couple more points. number one, you've seen reports over the last couple of days that we actually slightly exceeded our targets for aca sign-ups and enrollments this past month, in the month of january. we now have well over 3.5 million people who have signed up and are getting insurance through the marketplaces for the first time. that does not count the close to 7 million folks who have signed up for medicaid because of the law that you passed or the 3 million young people that are staying on their parents' plans. we're starting to see data already that the uninsured rate is coming down. we're going to keep on pushing on this to make sure that here in america everybody can enjoy

the kind of financial security and peace of mind that good quality health insurance provides, and i just want to say thank you for all of you hanging in there tough on an issue that i think ten years from now, five years from now, we're going to look back and say, this was a monumental achievement that could not have happened, had it not been for this caucus. and finally, there are some big things that we have to do that i cannot do without congress, where we have to get congress, and the american people are on our side, a federal minimum wage law is one of them. another one, though, is making sure that we've got a smart immigration policy in this country that grows our economy, gets people out of the shadows, makes sure that our businesses are thriving. that's got to be a top priority. we're going to have to keep on working on that, and i believe, frankly, that there are folks on the other side of the aisle who

genuinely want to see this done, but they are worried and they are scared about the political blowback. and, look, everybody here is an elected official, and we can all appreciate the maneuverings that take place, particularly in an election year. but when it comes to immigration reform, we have to remind ourselves that there are people behind the statistics. that there are lives that are being impacted, that punting and putting things off for another year, another two years, another three years, it hurts people. it hurts our economy. it hurts families. and part of what i'd like to think makes us democrats is not simply some abstract ideological set of beliefs, but the fact that we're reminded every single day that we're here to help a

whole bunch of folks out there, our neighbors, our friends, our communities, who are struggling still and need our help. and they are counting on us. the good thing is, they've got some outstanding members of congress, who are willing to fight for them, regardless of the political cost, starting with your leader, nancy pelosi. i'm grateful for you, and i'm looking forward to making sure this year we keep on making progress, even if we continue to get a little resistance from the other side. the american people know that we could be breaking out if washington gets its act together, and it's important for us to lead that process. all right? thank you very much. [ applause ] all right. thank you. thank you. all right. >> we'd ask if the media would

please leave, our friends in the media. >> president obama there speaking to the democrats issue conference, praising the democratic leadership for being united, mentioning inequality, the jobs agenda, his work on the minimum wage, the president saying the movement and the fight over the minimum wage is what reminds him why he's a democrat. the president also citing health care numbers over the aca, 3.5 million people in the program, and the president making an argument we've heard before there to the democrats gathered in maryland, that over 16 million people in total are now covered thanks to the affordable care act. as we saw, president there finishing his remarks, the media leaves, and he will then have a private discussion with members there of the democratic caucus. now that wraps up this hour of "jansing and co." i am ari melber in for chris jansing, and alex witt is up next.

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alex witt. and topping our agenda today, president obama just wrapped up a speech at the house democratic issues conference in cambridge, maryland. the president was there to rally his caucus and gear them up for a 2014 fight in hopes of winning back the house. >> the single most important thing we have to do, not just as a party, but as a country, is make sure that there's opportunity for every single person, that we are focused every single day in this town or in washington, on making sure that if you're willing to work hard, if you're willing to take responsibility, that you can get happy. >> also offering a pep talk of his own this morning, vice president biden. >> keep your eye on the ball. keep your eye on the ball. the american people are where we are, and let's go out and make every single effort, not just to defend, but to aggressively

push, aggressively push our agenda. thinker with they are with us. they are with us, and i'm sure glad i'm with you. >> they are keeping their eye on the ball, as well as on income inequality. the house dems trying to force a vote to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. congressman steve israel urged his democratic counterparts to fall in line. >> if there is a republican who will not sign this discharge petition because they argue that the economy cannot afford an increase in the minimum wage, people are going to want to know why that same republican continues to vote for a minimum subsidy for big oil companies of $40 billion every ten years. >> nbc's luke russert is in maryland for us. good day to you. this is a big retreat. it's all about strategy sessions for the house democrats. look, we're less than nine months or so out from election day, so