e is changing car insurance for good. [ female announcer ] call an allstate agent and get a quote now. controversy at the games. could one article of clothing be costing the u.s. olympic gold? we're going to hear from one of the skaters involved. it's still here. and more is on the way. another crippling blast of winter expected here in the northeast. where and when in a live report. still no word. jurors may be deadlocked in the trial of a man killing a teen because of loud music. so what could be the holdup? a report that takes a kr comprehensive look at the george washington bridge incident. what it means for chris christie. hey there, everyone. high noon here in the east, 9:00 a.m. out west. welcome to "weekends with alex witt." another blast of winter weather expected to hit the northeast this today after this one-two

punch created havoc across parts of the country. including this. a building collapse in salem, virginia, falling under the weight of the snow. in albany, new york, one woman wanted to surprise her husband who was flying home from a business trip by digging his car out of the mountain of snow it was buried under. >> i never thought it would be this buried. i'm definitely out of breath. no, i haven't done anything like this. he'll be surprised when he comes back. >> that was nice. the weather channel meteorologist, kate parker, is in harrisburg, pennsylvania, with more on how people are digging out and preparing for another round of the winter weather today. hi, kate. >> reporter: alex, yeah. harrisburg, pennsylvania. that's where i am. the snow keeps falling here. we have been kind of doing a tour of pennsylvania this week, because this area was just slammed by a winter storm two days ago, where we saw over a foot of accumulation. we already had a foot on the ground. today we are adding another 3 inches. we could even see more than that in this area. so certainly an area that's been hard hit.

and an ice storm two weeks ago didn't help anything out. that made matters worse. so folks are still trying to pick up the pieces of all of the downed trees from two weeks ago. they get hit with a foot of snow, and now with another 3 to 4 inches of snow, it's difficult. people have been plowing, and have been shoveling their driveways and their sidewalks for days on end, it seems. and the roads, you know, the road crews have been doing everything they can to keep them nice and plowed, nice and clean. and to tell you the truth, they really look tremendous. they look wonderful, considering just how much snow this area has received. i had one person here tell me they have measured 38 inches of snow at their house so far this season. but i know that in other areas like philadelphia, we're up over 54 inches and that was as of yesterday. so that number will continue to climb. so alex, it's a weather-weary state, just like everyone else in the northeast. and even the deep south ready for a break and hopefully a little bit of a warmup this next week, alex. >> i hear you.

weather channel meteorologist kate parker, thanks so much. later on, we'll bring a full look at the forecast for you. let's go now to the olympics and the day's headlines from sochi. first up, arguably the biggest nonmedal event of the games, and provided drama. the u.s. men's hockey team meeting russian in overtime. and then on the slopes, american julia mancuso competed in the women's super g. a medal would rank her among the best ever. we'll bring the results in just a minute. and another balmy day in sochi. olympic officials say the warm weather has not had any serious effect on the games or forced competition to be moved so far. today's high, though, 64 degrees. here we go with this spoiler alerts. the next few minutes, we'll talk about some of the olympic events that have already happened but not yet been broadcast. so turn away if you don't want to hear them or turn the sound down, although you might be able to read something. you can watch it on nbc tonight in prime time. let's get more on the games, msnbc's brian shactman. so, we were all watching and i

have to tell you, back at our desks, the big hockey match between the usa, russia, men's rivals there. what happened? >> reporter: well, listen. first of all, for perspective, for people who don't know the result and don't know the story, russian president vladimir putin has basically said if russia wins gold in hockey, everything else is gravy. and the pressure was palpable all across olympic park, and even all the way to our nbc studios. the game was tied at the end of regulation. they went into overtime. it stayed tied. they went into a shootout, which is each team has a breakaway on the goalie and after three rounds whoever has the most goals wins the game. but they were still tied after that. eventually, in the eighth round, tj oshie scored to win the game for the united states. now, both teams couldn't make it in the medal round and meet again, alex. i do want to tell you, tj oshie, born in washington state, played high school hockey in minnesota, college hockey in north dakota and professional hockey in st. louis, missouri. the guy is america.

and he's obviously trending on twitter. >> yeah. well, and to include the fact that the president just tweeted out something and named him by name, and, of course, congratulations to the rest of the team. that's kind of cool. what about the other things on for usa today, usa team? we have julia mancuso. talk about that. >> reporter: yeah, well, julia, the super g. so the super giant slalom in between giant slalom and the downhill as the speed of the town hill, but more turns. i will tell you about 60% of the people in the field here did not finish, okay? they were off the course. so whoever says the weather isn't a factor, who knows if the course was too tough or what. but julia did make it down. she finished in eighth place. she said afterward, she saw everyone fall, might have taken it more conservatively, but finished in eighth place in a race that was a very difficult course and difficult day for all of the racers. shani davis, we'll talk about the uniform of the speed skaters in the next half hour. he had the 1500, which he

finished in 11th place. he struggled, and, again, u.s. speed skaters, it's a head-scratcher, whether it's uniforms or not, we're going to talk about it. but they continue to be out of the medals. >> yeah, well, it makes sense. we'll talk about that the next half hour, all of the controversy there. let's talk about friday. really great story here. noel pakis-pace, quite the emotional reaction to that. >> yeah, if you don't know her back story -- this is public so i can share it. basically, she was out of the sport. she had a miscarriage, and her husband said, you know, maybe you should get back into the sport. and she said the only way i'm going to do it is if my family is with -- i'm getting choked up now. my family is with me the entire way. so when she won, she wanted to be with them. and this is what she had to say. >> man, you know, all that went through my mind when i crossed through the finish line and i saw i just won a medal -- i won a medal, silver medalist. i want to share this moment with those i absolutely love and i

want to be with them. but i'm here, and how am i going to get myself up there and the stairways were blocked and i'm like, i just have to go straight up. that's the only way it's done. that's how i had to do it. >> reporter: she was talking with our own chris jansing. the irony is, they had to pull her out to get to the flower ceremony. you've got to stop hugging everybody, you have some business to take care. and honestly, alex, i love these stories. americans, we love winners, right, we love gold medals, but winning silver or bronze, second or third-best in the world after all of the work you have done means so much. and i think it's honestly a really good lesson for everybody out there. >> oh, yeah, it's a great lesson. and also, they win by so very little. the margin, you know, between gold and silver and bronze is so small. you just have to go, you're all winners, absolutely. so okay. brian shactman, we'll come back next half hour and talk about what's going on with the speed skating team outfits. thanks. >> thanks, alex. team usa may not have won a medal in men's figure skating but sure put on a great show.

jeremy abbott finished 12th in the competition, and jason brown finished ninth in his olympic skating debut. he had a smile from ear to ear at the end of his performance. you would have thought he won the gold. well, jason is joining me right now from sochi, and i'm so glad to have you, jason. it's pretty amazing what you've accomplished, and i see you still have that smile on your face, because you made top ten. that is amazing, your first olympics. what was going through your mind there? >> thank you so much. it was so exciting to be able to skate last and just to go out there and soak up every moment, take it all in, and enjoy it. i've worked so hard on this program, and to go out there and just skate it and perform it for the audience, that's all i wanted to do. i wish, you know, i skated a little better. but to be in that top ten, my first outing of -- on the olympics and to just go out there and have fun and enjoy it all. i couldn't have asked for more than that. >> that's great. and certainly the crowd reacted with a lot of love toward your performance. i know there were a few technical issues. so when you're on olympic ice, jason, how do you recover when a

little something goes wrong? >> for sure! you know, for me, it still hasn't hit me i was on olympic ice. it's something that for so long you dream about it and you envision it and you imagine what it would be like. and when you're on it, it feels so -- you know, you have seen it. you have pictured it. and it doesn't feel real. and it still haesn't. all i wanted to do was go out there, it felt like another competition and the crowd was incredible and i just wanted to go out there and just skate my skate. >> what about pressure, though? how do you deal with that when you go from the short to the long and then you're standing and then you have to do a certain level of ability and performance to get on a podium? what kind of pressure is that? >> for sure. there is a lot of pressure, you know. you want to -- you put pressure on yourself. you want to be the best that you can be. you want to give -- you know, you want to put out your best performance to get a medal. you always want to do your best. and i think that's the main pressure that i put on myself, because i can't control the scores. i can't control, you know, what

the judges do and what all of the other skaters do before me. all i can control is myself. so i really put that pressure on myself to go out there and skate my best and some days you do that, some days it's not -- you know, you fall a little short. but i enjoy it every single moment. >> yeah. can i just ask you about pressure, too, because your teammate there, jeremy, he had a pretty strong reaction when he was asked about his fall on the ice. and here's what he had to say about it on the "today" show this morning. let's take a listen. >> i've been called a head case for many, many years. and it's just -- you know, you start to buy into it for a while. and i have come to learn that i am so much stronger than people give me credit for and i give my own self credit for and i was fed up with it. and i said look, you guys haven't been in this position and it's very, very difficult. >> yeah. so what's your reaction to that? i mean, you've got people judging what's going on in your head, potentially. let's face it. we have never been in your shoes or your skates on olympic ice, right? >> yeah. you know, i give jeremy so much

credit. he is such an incredible competitor. he is such an amazing teammate. and skater. and you know, he goes out there, and he gives it his all every time he steps on to the ice. and that's something that i'm so proud of him for, and that, you know, i give him so much respect and he's such a role model and inspiration that i look up to. and he's so right. you know, it is -- every skater is different when you is step on that ice, the way you handle nerves, what you have gone through to reach that point. and i think everyone comes from, you know, a different part. and i think as athletes, we all understand, you know, what it feels like to be out there. and although everyone is different, and the way you feel is -- could be completely different, i do definitely think that empathy and that sympathy and that understanding of, you know, your teammates and what is going through their heads is definitely there. and i couldn't be more supportive of him. >> well, we're supportive of all you guys, because you brought home the bronze for the team effort, and we appreciate that. will there be anything else for you? do you do any sort of exhibitions, or are you just going to have fun in sochi?

>> i am going to take the rest of the time to just enjoy. i want to cheer on my teammates, you know. tomorrow is the senior dance event. and i am going to be there for charlie and maddie and evan and alex, i'm going to be there cheering them on. and i just can't waiting to to other events. i was there for the u.s.-russia hockey game. >> that was good! >> so proud of the team. they were incredible. >> yeah. all right. well, have a great time. you're far from the seniors, only 19 years old. we're going to see a lot more of you, i just know it, jason brown. thanks for talking with me. >> thank you so much. thank you. i hope so. >> for sure. and here's a look at the latest medal count. the netherlands and russia at the top both with 14 medals. team usa and norway with 13. germany rounding out the top five with 12. here's what's topping news now for you. workers at a volkswagen plant in tennessee voted against joining the united automobile workers union. the close, 712-626 vote marks the set back for union makers in

the south. volkswagen didn't oppose the evidence, leading organizers into the plant to make their sales pitch. >> between the two institutions, volkswagen and the uaw, i know of not one incident of any aggression or animosity coming out of this process. >> it's a problem that the uaw has a need for our money. they don't care about these guys. they really don't. i have been there. >> in los angeles, officials are dubbing this weekend's planned closures on jamzilla. they are expected to last until early tuesday as six miles of freeway are being repaved, up to a quarter million drivers a day may be affected. and the 4.1 magnitude earthquake has rattled south carolina and georgia, no reports of injuries or serious damage. drought relief for california, but it's not rain. plus, a star of the movie,

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the verdict in the so-called loud music murder trial could come in at any moment. that jury is in its fourth day of deliberations, deciding whether mikchael dunn is guilty of murdering 17-year-old jordan davis. dunn says he shot davis in self defense in the parking lot of a florida gas station. nbc's kerry sanders is outside the courthouse in jacksonville, florida. kerry, what are the chances we're going to see a verdict today? any indication of what that verdict might be? anything like reading the tea leaves here? >> reporter: well, they are moving forward. and it's likely that we will see something today. the thing i think that's perhaps most interesting is that they may come back with a partial

verdict. there are five different charges in this case. the first top charge would be the first degree murder. and that is for the shooting of jordan davis. they can come back and say it was first degree murder, second degree murder, manslaughter or justifiable. but there are also other charges here. there are three charges of attempted murder. that's because in the car that jordan davis was, there were three other people. and the fact that he continued to shoot at the car, they brought the charges of attempted murder. and then there is the shooting a missile into a vehicle, okay? so that would be at the very bottom of the list. based on the questions that the jury has asked to the judge, and one of the questions they asked, is the defense of self defense separate for each person in each count. the answer was yes. but what the jury is asking is, can we find perhaps not guilty on one, but guilty on another. they wanted to know whether all the charges need to be collectively yes or no. and the judge explained to them,

no, you can come back and say, for instance, three cases of attempted murder, yes. shooting a deadly missile, yes. and maybe coming back with a different conclusion on the top charge, which would be first degree murder. or it could be any sort of combination of that. but based on the indication of what they're talking about, it appears -- remember, this is a 12-member jury, alex. it appears that it is that top charge, the one of first degree murder, second degree murder, manslaughter or justifiable homicide. it seems that that is the one that is being perhaps most heatedly discussed by those jurors. and remember, here in north florida, which is, you know, the peers on the jury, this is a conservative area. gun ownership is quite common, and it may be that somebody believes on that jury and is a holdout, saying that they strongly believe that he was correct in defending himself. and there needs to be a unanimous decision here. it could possibly be that maybe all but one thinks he was

justifiable, and somebody says they believe that he's guilty. bottom line is, it looks like that's what they are held up on right now. you can hear some fire engines and sirens behind me here, but further off in the distance, a small crowd in front of the courthouse, and they have been chanting that they want justice. in fact, some were even chanting some rather angry words towards the prosecutor here, because i guess there is a general belief along some of them outside of a first degree murder conviction, that they will not be happy with the outcome here. >> yeah. and i understand there is a -- by the duval county -- they have said we have all sorts of contingency plans for safety based on any demonstrations. but so far everything has been real peaceful. kerry sanders -- except for the loud noise behind you -- but we'll keep watch with your help. appreciate that. let's go to politics. new today, president obama says one of congress's top priorities should be raising the minimum wage. in his weekly address, the president highlights the action he took this week to increase pay for federal contract workers

to $10.10 an hour and encouraging congress to follow suit. >> most low-wage jobs are held by women. and raising the minimum wage wouldn't just raise their wages. its affect would lift millions of americans out of poverty. and help millions more work their way out of poverty. without requiring a single dollar in new taxes or spending. >> mean time, the president is in central valley today, an area dealing with a severe throughout right now. the president met with california governor jerry brown and outlined some new steps his administration is taking to address the state's dire water problems. nbc's kristin it welkwelker indian wells, california, in the palm springs area, a beautiful area, as we can tell. kristen, what kind of steps is the president taking here? >> reporter: well, alex, good afternoon. first, for some context. california is the source of about half of the nation's fruits and vegetables, and it's currently facing what is being

described as the most severe drought in modern history. so it is against that backdrop that president obama announced new steps the federal government intends to take to deal with this crisis. we have a graphic of some of the steps. he announced $100 million in aid that he's going to accelerate to ranchers. that money was approved under the farm bill that was recently signed into law. he also announced $35 million in extra aid to communities that have been hard-hit. additionally, he directed the department of the interior to give increased flexibility to water contractors, and he called on federal facilities within california to curb their water use. here is a little more of what president obama had to say yesterday when he was touring the hard-hit area. take a listen. >> california is our biggest economy. california is our biggest agricultural producer. so what happens here matters to every working american. right down to the cost of food

that you put on your table. >> reporter: now, president obama's announcement was met with mixed reaction. some farmers said it's a really important first step, but they also made the point that this is a long-term problem, and it needs long-term solutions, so they are calling on the state and federal government to do more to deal with this from a long-term perspective. and like so many issues that we discuss, alex, this is also incredibly politically divisive. house republicans passed a bill recently that would approve emergency aid, basically, adding more water to the valley, but democrats, the white house, blocking that, saying it could ultimately harm environmental protections here. so that is where things stand. but this is a dire situation here in california with a number of communities really running the risk of running out of water. >> yeah, trying to get that water from the sacramento delta area. doesn't look like it will happen now. kristen, thank you so much from indian wells. a comprehensive new report

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welcome back to weeks weekends with alex witt. olympic and para olympic track star oscar pistorius released a

statement on the death of his girl friend. he said he would carry the loss for the rest of his life. he says he mistakenly shot st n steenkamp at his home, thinking she was an intruder. oil analysts say we'll see a spike as spring approaches. the national average $3.34 a gallon, aaa predicting a peak between $3.56 and $3.75. actress allen page announced she was gay in a very public way. the crowd gave her a standing ovation. back in sochi, a swirling controversy, new suits for the american sweet skating team are being questioned. they were supposed to give the usa competitive advantage at the olympic games. now there's speculation of perceived design flaw in the suits made by underarmor may have contributed to the team failing to medal. brian shactman is joining me now. okay, so what do we know about these suits and the way they

were made, something about a vent? >> reporter: yeah. so lockheed martin, the defense technology contractor and underarmor got together and made this special suit called the mach 39, never tested in competition. and some of the complaints you're hearing about is a vent in the back that allegedly is -- giving some drag and slowing the racers down. so they all -- the long track skaters switched to the old suits and did so well in the world cup and world championships and didn't help the men today in the 1500. they didn't have anyone finish higher than seventh and shani davis didn't make the top ten. he was several seconds behind the leaders. and before the race, i want to have you listen to what one of the skaters had to say about it. >> to be honest with you, we're dealing with high-performance sport right now and thousands of vaerms we're dealing with. and i think what happened, unfortunately, is the media jumped on one variable. and they haven't talked about ice conditions, they haven't talked about a big thing like momentum. they haven't talked about maybe

100 other things that could be influencing our performance right now. but the reality is, i have full confidence in the u.s. speed skating and our apparel provider, under armour. >>. >> reporter: two variables, they trained in high altitude and hard ice. here is warm and soft ice. so that could be a factor. whatever the issue is, the confidence was rattled, they switched to the old suits, results still poor and one of the worse shoegs by speed skating by americans in decades. >> interesting. we'll have to fix that, that's for sure, if it's a design flaw. what about the big crowds out there? are there big crowds? many americans in them? >> reporter: well, alex, today was different. it's a saturday. the weather was outstanding. and we had one of the marquis events at the coastal cluster at ice events with the u.s. and russia hockey games. the crowds were huge. and we caught up to a few of them. see what they think. >> we have been very surprised with russia, how friendly the people are.

it's just been amazing. >> it seems like the second the torch was lit, the olympic spirit took over. >> that's our fifth game. we love coming to the olympics and meeting people from all around the world. it shows you that there are -- we can all be friends, you know, and it's a nice experience. >> there aren't a lot of americans here. and i'm sorry they didn't come, because they have missed a great experience. >> reporter: before today, there really weren't a lot of americans. i would say that there were athletes, their families, some american volunteers, and media. in terms of just straight fans, there were not many at all. it was mostly russian. but i will tell you, a lot of americans came out for the hockey game today. >> yeah. and those americans making their presence known. those hats? way to be subtle. >> reporter: yeah. >> yeah, not so much. okay, brian shactman, thank you so much. >> thanks, alex. in prime time tonight, be sure to tune in for men's speed skating, men's skeleton and women's super g. a comprehensive review by the associated press found that

the george washington bridge lane closures ordered by new jersey governor chris christie's aides did not lead to any deaths or endanger anyone's medical care. the ap did, however, find that paramedics and police were severely delayed by the traffic jams, with one dispatcher saying, quote, ft. lee traffic is a nightmare. joining me now is sean boberg. with a welcome to you, i first want to note, we have reached out to the christie administration for a comment on this story. they did not immediately get back to us. but how does the ap's reporting compare to what you have seen? >> we heard indications previously from the mayor and first emergency first responders in ft. lee they had trouble getting through the traffic. what we're hearing from the ap report is confirmation that there was no worst-case scenario here. you know, there's still unanswered questions about the economic impact. of course, you know, this is -- this just added to frustration of people who were trying to get to work, trying to take their kids to school. and there is a political cost,

as well. this was an elimination of the worst-case scenario. >> a surprisingly candid line from the ap reads, quote, the lack of life or death consequences reflects good fortune, not good planning. i mean, no deaths isn't exactly a high bar to set for success. but do you think this will serve as any measure of relief at all for governor christie's trouble? >> no, i think the political questions continue. and as you can see, there is another component here. if you follow the story, there is the question of whether there was a cover-up after questions were first raised, and who in christie's office was involved in talking about a traffic study that was the true reason behind these lane closures. that is something that will continue. >> sean u you're reporting the state legislature committee investigating this scandal sent out another 18 subpoenas earlier this week. who are the targets in the new round? >> varies officials in the port authority, several in the governor's office and it looks like the focus is really on

whether there was an attempt to suppress this story, the true reasons behind the lane closures, as well as looking into some other issues related to the port authority, cancellation of a rail tunnel, and some controversial toll hikes back in 2011. >> okay. i know that the committee requested documents about the governor's helicopter flight history. apparently due to allegations or suspicions he flew over the bridge and saw what was going on during the traffic jams. wednesday, in fact, the state police confirmed he did not. are there concerns the committee is going too far and trying too hard to dig up dirt? >> well, you've heard that concern from republicans. and i think it's fair to say that if you see a vast expansion of their focus and you see that they're not coming up with successful leads, then there could be an erosion of trust. i think that's fair to say. there is a political question, they don't want to overreach here, for sure. >> this committee was able to look earlier this week at the previously subpoenaed documents.

did they find anything? >> it's hard to say. they have been very quiet, and there are hundreds if not thousands of documents. it's going to be a painstaking process. they're looking at each document at a time and trying to piece together a time line. remember, the initial e-mail from bridget kelly that said "time for traffic problems in ft. lee" was one of hundreds. and you have to put each in the context of the e-mails and messages that come before and after to see its significance. >> sean, is there a time frame here, at which we must hear this committee's report or is it open-ended? >> typically in the past what they have done is release documents when they call someone to testify. now, barring any leaks before that, we could see people call to testify in the range of weeks to months ahead. and presumably some documents would be released at that time. >> okay. sean boberg, covering the port authority. thank you, sean. >> thank you. supreme court justice clarence thomas and his comments that are sparking a new debate about race in america.

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supreme court justice clarence thomas has caused a controversy over comments he made this week when talking to college students in florida. in the speech, first reported by yahoo! news, justice thomas said in, part, quote, my sadness is that we are probably today more race and difference-conscience than i was in the 1960s when i went to school. now, name a day it doesn't come up, differences in race, differences in sex. somebody doesn't look at you right. somebody says something. everybody is sensitive. joining me now is james peterson, director of africana studies. and joe watkins, republican strategist and former white house aide for president h.w. bush who nominated justice thomas, we should say, to the supreme court. good to see you both. >> good to see you. >> so james, i'll begin with you. what is your reaction to this? >> well, i think the comments

are, they're a little ignorant. i don't know if they're deliberately ignorant. two things. one, for us as a nation to become more race-conscience and more difference-conscience is actually a good thing. we do need to celebrate those differences, engage them, be aware and become more culturally competent about them. the real problem with justice thomas' comments, they're talking about these sort of individual racial interactions like somebody doesn't like me because i'm this or somebody doesn't like me because i'm black. that is not what racism is about. it's the systemic issues. i care whether people don't like me prevents me from getting a job or means i end up in the criminal justice system more regularly. and so i think the institutional things are what we need to stay focused on. the individual things need to be worked out but not as important as institutional racism. >> joe, i know that you met with clarence thomas a few times. what is your take on this and how this plays into his ideology. >> well, i think justice thomas

is sincere in terms of what he is saying. i think he is talking about what he knows from his own experience and all of our experiences are different. i would disagree on a number of levels with what he thinks. certainly in regards to -- with regards to people. one of the things he said was about northern liberals being worse on him than others. and i would just say this. if you can't categorize anybody. you can't prejudge anybody. you can't look at people and say that because they're from one part of the country or because their skin color is of a certain hue they're going to be a certain way. james and i both went to the university of pennsylvania, one of the great ivy league schools in the country. we're two different people. we're both african-american men, but you can't judge us based on how we look or based on the university we attended. you've got to look at us as individuals. and i think that you have to look at -- we have to look at each other as individuals, we've got to learn to love each other. and i think that we have to also give people the benefit of growing. people that i met a long time

ago who may have been racist when i first met them may no longer be racist. they may have evolved as human beings. we've got to give people that room. >> yeah. do you think, james, there is a difference between race being a constant topic of discussion, like justice thomas is saying, and institutionalized racism, like there was in the '60s, meaning did no one talk about it then because they weren't allowed to? >> i think, yes, we could certainly make some assessments about clarence thomas' comments about breaking down barriers in savannah, georgia, about the silencing of race and racial issues. he's reading them as good things. i don't think that's necessarily the case. we need to talk about institutional racism in the 21st century. let's look at the criminal justice system. look at public schooling. look at different policies like stop and frisk. look at the dunn trial where we can't even talk about race in a courtroom. at the end of the day, it's not that these individual anecdotes about race are not important. they are. i know they heard people's

feelings, so on and so forth. but what justice thomas is doing in these comments, he's skirting the issue. when we look at housing, when we look at public education, when we look at the criminal justice system, when we look at unemployment rates, when we look at systemic institutional issues, it's clear that racial bias still informs too much of our institutional structure here in america. yes, it's a huge difference between that and individualen anecdotes. and we have to keep our eye on the prize when it comes to rooting out our country. >> that quote you bring up about the northern liberal elites from clarence thomas, i want to read it in its totality. the worst i have been treated was by northern liberal elites. the absolute worst i have ever been treated. the worst things that have been done to me. the worst things that have been said about me by northern liberal elites, not by the people of savannah, georgia. so talk about that. equate that with your own experience. i mean, it seems like it's a political ideology. that's what he's accusing them.

that's coming after him. >> i think we're all shamed by our personal experiences and clarence thomas is somebody raised in the deep south and went to school in the northeast with some of the elite institutions in the northeast like holy cross. and he's talking about his own experiences as a young man growing up in those places. i have lived in the deep south, i've lived in alabama, i've lived in indiana, which is in the midwest. and, of course, i was raised in the northeastern part of the country. and what i've learned from all of that, people are people. and that you have to give people the room to grow. i would never say -- of course, i had incidents, as every african-american man or woman may have had when going to school. if they went to school in northeast as i did and clarence thomas did. you can't label people because of something that one person may have said or one person may have done. people are people and you've got to give them room to grow. you've got to forgive them, and then you've got to love them. and that's the only way we move forward as a country. if we stay rooted in what somebody did to me 50 years ago

or 40 years ago, we never moved forward. we have got to learn to forgive people and love them and help them to grow. >> yeah, i appreciate that sentiment a lot. james, i want to ask quickly. you're a professor at the private university, which doesn't get anymore liberal elite than that. what is your take on justice thomas' comment. >> i don't think people would describely high university as a liberal elite institution. >> it's in the neighborhood. >> i don't know. that's a whole different segment, alex. i think that the idea that something that students said to him or something that people said to him or that northern liberal elites are critical of him because he's black and not progressive and leftist is really -- misses the point. to compare that to the kind of structural racism in the south that he grew up around is inadequate. it's apples and oranges. i'm talking about structures and systems that pro vent people from having access to the american dream. justice thomas is talking about people insulting him. they can both be racism, right.

>> but the institutional variation is much more important for us to focus on, think about, root out and actually eradicate in this society. >> okay. james peterson, joe watkins, thank you both so much. i appreciate it. great conversation. >> thank you. a new article on the seven ways olympic athletes stay motivate and had why do some choke in critical moments? (meow mix jingle) right on cue. (laughs) it's more than just a meal, it's meow mix mealtime. with wholesome ingredients and irresistible taste, no wonder it's the only one cats ask for by name. we are the thinkers. the job jugglers. the up all-nighters. and the ones who turn ideas into action.

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the flame in sochi burning bright this saturday. later on tonight in prime time, julia mancuso let's to get another olympic medal in the women's super g. but not all olympians end up on a wheaties box. what keeps them going through years and sometimes a lifetime of training? a new article in "the atlantic" looks at what it takes for athletes to stay motivated. joining me is the associate editor for "the atlantic." you look at these winter olympics and they're so interesting, because there are so many obscure sports within

them. can you understand why a hockey player might be able to stay motivated when they have the prospect of fame and fortune in the nhl, but other sports that have grueling training regimens like cross-country skiing or speed skating, they don't have a lot of tangible reward. so what keeps them going? >> right. well, one thing that came up repeatedly in sort of studies of these athletes and interviews i had with coaches and athletes was that they were really intrinsically motivated and a lot of them actually loved the preparation for their sport, and even when they weren't competing, they really threw themselves into their practices. they really wanted to beat their best time. and they got a lot of joy and kind of reward out of that. so i think that's a big part of what kept them going. >> so you write about these seven ways that athletes like this can stay motivated. so what are the most important ones? >> right. so one thing is rational self talk. so especially kind of in between competitions or, you know, they

might be getting a lot of negative feedback and a lot of criticism. so what a lot of them do is sort of take these various, you know, points of criticism and kind of evaluate them one by one, decide which ones are valid and which ones aren't. and, you know, really dismiss the ones that they feel like just aren't true. and then some of them actually tell themselves, you know, i'm just going to skate for myself. i'm not going to pay attention to the judges. another important thing is staying optimistic. and i know that's kind of a cliche thing to do. but actually, in interviews with olympic athletes, they all said they were really optimistic, whereas, you know, not all said they were particularly smart or even organized. but they all felt like they had special abilities and special qualities that set them apart from the competition and would allow them to do better. >> i'm curious. with these seven motivational entities, would they work for professional athletes the same way? or is this do you think exclusive for olympians? >> i think it works for

professional athletes also. some studies were conducted just on elite golfers, or even, you know, really high-performing college athletes. but i think a lot of them can also work just for people who have, you know, situations where they're like, presenting in front of a lot of people or doing other kind of high-performance tasks. >> yeah. you have another article that you wrote, and this was about what makes these athletes choke. and i'm just going to throw up shaun white. he fell there in the halfpipe final. he's considered one of the greatest snowboarders ever, if not the, still. what happened there? and is it really just inevitability of the passage of time and you have to defer to youth in a sport like this? >> not necessarily. i mean, in his case, you know, there was some conversation about issues with the halfpipe itself and sort of the -- >> conditions, yeah. >> right. but there is some kind of evidence that shows that professional athletes, for them, it's all kind of in their muscle memory. and so they don't actually have

to think about what they're doing as they do it. for them, it's all automatic. but whenever they're, you know, kind of have all this attention on them and people have set expectations really high, they sometimes can choke if they start thinking about what they're doing. and so that's why they want to really avoid kind of going through and thinking oh, i'm going to do this, you know, flip like this. or i'm going to, you know, spin a certain way. they just have to kind of trust their instincts and trust their training has prepared them to do that. >> yeah, it's incredible what they do pull off, though. whether they win or not. olga khazan, thank you so much, from "the atlantic." >> thanks for having me. still no word. jurors may be deadlocked in the trial of a teen who was killed because of loud music. n the lau. my tide, downy, and bounce all come in free & gentle. so we get a cleaner, softer blankie. uh oh. [ female announcer ] tide, downy, and bounce free & gentle.

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the u.s. east coast braces for its second winter storm in three days. a senator says he doesn't want to serve gays. and all dolled up, what's ban bee doing in "sports illustrated" swimsuit issue and why some are not happy about it. good day to all of you. welcome to "weekends with alex witt". here's what's happening right now out there. we head to the olympics and the day's biggest headline from sochi for the u.s. team. it was what some are calling the biggest event of the games, where no medal was at stake. and it provided the expected drama, of course. the u.s. men's hockey team beating russia, 3-2 in overtime. off the field of play, former tennis champion, billie jean king, has now been named a member of president obama's official delegation. it's an apparent sign of pro it

test against russia's anti gay laws. and now we're going to get to a spoiler alert. we'll talk about some olympic events that have happened but not yet aired so turn away if you don't want to hear. remember, you can all watch on nbc and prime time tonight. now for more, let's bring in nbc's kevin tibbles. and with a welcome to you, kevin, big day. great day for team usa in men's hockey. >> reporter: alex, i can bet a lot of people across the united states have never really heard the word "tj oshie," outside of st. louis, where he plays professional hockey. but i can tell you -- and outside of minnesota, where he comes from. but i can tell you tonight after that game, i think this young man could probably run for high office anywhere in the great union of the united states of america, because this performance that he put on at the end of tonight's game in the overtime period was just absolutely phenomenal. he is the hero of the game. and i think we're going to be

seeing and hearing a lot more of tj oshie in the days and weeks to come. >> i think you're absolutely right. and we were telling folks last hour that the president put a tweet out there and tweeted him and congratulations by name as well as the whole team. so he's getting his due reward, for sure. >> reporter: indeed. >> not such a big day, kevin, for the women's skiing or men's speed skating. let's talk about julia mancuso. >> reporter: julia mancuso did finish eighth today and a lot of people are pointing at the weather for the results in a lot of these races. a number of women did not actually even finish the course, because there were a lot of falls. the warm weather, i guess, is affecting a lot of the skiing. we understand that julia sort of slowed down to make sure that she finished the course. but she it finish eighth. but on the up side, she still remains the most decorated women's olympic downhill skier in u.s. history. as for shani davis, well, he finished eighth, as well. so eight is the wild number for today's olympians.

but again, shani davis is way up there in his own personal medal count for team usa, as well. >> absolutely. what about the weather? because you have great weather out there. it's like 60 degrees today or something. but how is that affecting the games, or is it, kevin? >> reporter: well, as i just mentioned, it's affecting a lot of the mountain games, cross-country, downhill and the like. down here in the olympic village, everything is indoors in terms of the skating rinks and those sorts of venues. those are not being affected. and frankly, i think it's being a big draw down here, getting a lot of people to come out to the olympic park to take in the events like what's taking place over my shoulder right now. and we have met a lot of americans who have come here and say they're having a great time. >> the second the torch was lit, the olympic spirit took over. whatever that is, people have become friendly. russian security guards, it doesn't matter. police, whoever you talk to. everybody is just open and

friendly. i've never seen sochi like this. i've never seen russia like this. >> the russian people are so friendly. i'm having the best time i've had. >> every day, meeting new people. people happy to see us. it's just strange to have people so excited to meet americans. >> reporter: and you know, talking about that olympic spirit, alex. inside the bolshoi ace are ice arena, obviously the numbers were about 90% russian, 10% american. the russians were loud, but they were polite. they were screaming score, score. and it was just a lot of smiles all around. really raucous affair. and my voice is also husky as a result of it, alex. >> well, i'm glad to hear that. we had a lot of fun watching in our production team area, as well. it was very exciting. all right, kevin tibbles, we'll let you go rest that voice. thanks so much. here is the latest look at the medal count for you. russia leads the pack with 15 total medals.

the netherlands and team usa behind with 14. norway has 13. germany rounding out the top five with 12. and here is one last note about nbc. meredith vieira became the first woman to solo anchor olympics prime time television coverage. she did an outstanding job. she is going to do it again tonight. the u.s. speed skating team is claiming a wardrobe malfunction. they say their suits are putting a drag on their times and we'll show what they're doing to correct that in our next half hour. so another storm system is ramping up. at least 146,000 are still without power across georgia, north carolina and south carolina. this from the last winter blast. mean time, more than 1,000 flights cancelled today. so for more, let's go to the weather channel, meteorologist kate parker, who is in harrisburg, pennsylvania. once again, hi, kate. >> reporter: yeah, alex. i'm here at harrisburg, pennsylvania, where the snow has been falling all morning long. and it's really just insult to injury. most of the snow you see around me now, these drifts, these are created from the last two

storms. they have been digging out for a while here in harrisburg and they have been working hard to to keep up with the snow that keeps accumulating. these areas were clear earlier this morning. we have already gotten -- this is an ideal measuring space, but whenever you have so much snow accumulated all over the place, it's tough to find a nice, flat surface. and without snow on it. and we got up to about 3 inches so far this morning. and it's insult to injury in this area. you know, they have been working hard at trying to keep the roads clear. they actually look pretty if in this area, well-treated and well-maintained. so hopefully we get a little break this next week in pennsylvania. alex, that's what they really need, some time to recover and deal damage from the ice storm two weeks ago. they're still trying to pick up those pieces and those branches. and they have had a little bit of trouble. back to you, alex. >> okay, kate parker from the weather channel, thank you so much for that. to politics and new today, president obama continues to push his year of action, focusing his weekly address on raising the minimum wage and

pressing congress to take action. >> you deserve to know where the people who represent the people stand on this issue. they don't support raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, ask them why not. the opponents have deployed the same old arguments for years and time again proven wrong. let's prove them wrong again and give america a raise. >> dozens of organizations are promoting national youth enrollment day, including united way worldwide and the american cancer society. the goal is to educate young adults about their new coverage options and the need to be enrolled in health care before march 31st's deadline. more help will soon be on the way to drought-stricken california. president obama is in southern california this weekend after touring some of the hardest-hit areas in the central part of the state. nbc's kristen welker is in indian wells. let's talk about what the president had to say about all of this. >> reporter: well, alex, president obama announced new federal aid to this area. this comes as california is

dealing with what is being described as the severest drought in modern history. so here are the headlines of what president obama announced. first he said he's going to accelerate about $100 million in federal aid to ranchers here. now, that is money that was previously approved under the farm bill, which was signed into law recently. he also announced $35 million that's going to go to some of the areas that have been hardest hit. additionally, he has directed the department of the interior to give extra flexibility to water contractors. and he is calling on federal facilities here in california to scale back their use of water. here's a little bit more of what president obama had to say yesterday. take a listen. >> everybody, from farmers to industry to residential areas, to the north of california and the south of california and every place in between, as well

as the entire western region, are going to have to start rethinking how we approach water for decades to come. >> reporter: now, farmers said they welcomed president obama's announcement, but they also want to see the state and federal government do more to deal with this issue in the long-term. this is also an incredibly politically divisive issue. house republicans, for example, just approved emergency legislation that would bring more water into the valley, but democrats, the white house, are blocking it. they say ultimately it could curb environmental protections. president obama also linked this crisis to climate change, alex. and he announced hiss intention to propose new legislation that would approve $1 billion for research, development and preessential of these types of climate-related disasters. alex? >> kristen welker, thank you so much from southern california, indianwells. a new book looks at hillary clinton's potential presidential run. i'll speak with the authors,

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in a panel this week with melinda gates, hillary clinton had some it tough love advice for women looking to join her line of work. >> 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. >> and now a new book takes a look at how secretary clinton used that style to transform herself from the bitter defeat of 2008 to states woman, to leading contender for 2016. joining me are the authors of "hrc: the state secrets and

rebirth of hillary clinton." amy barns, expectant for the hill and jonathan allen, reporter for bloomberg news. that explains why you have no time to be on the show lately. you're writing a book. >> that's right. i'm jealous two of my favorite people in the world there are together in new york. >> we were singing praises during the commercial. let's get to this book. it's pretty cool. amy, start with you. we have a review of the book. and here's one quote. the portrait of hillary clinton that emerges from hrc is that of a woman with a bias for action, in one source's words, someone who would rather act than be passive in the face of opportunity. do you agree with that assessment? and how has that guided the way she has worked? >> she does have a bias for action, that's for sure, and a source told us that in the book. and we have seen that again and again in examples. she supported the invasion in libya. she -- the surge in afghanistan, the raid on bin laden. she was right 100% behind obama on all these things. and so i think, you know, when

we're drawing contrasts between her and biden, vice president biden, we could say he was a dove and hillary clinton is deductible definitely the hawk in the cabinet. >> your book describes an incredibly driven woman whose work ethnic made those around her concerned for their health at times. is that the type of person who doesn't run for president because there is not much else on the career ladder after secretary of state, or does this reveal insight for you? >> i think she has been running for president ever since the 2008 election. and if you extend it backward, since 2006 or so. and really the question is whether she is going to stop running. you have seen -- and we tracked through the book all of the things she did to sort of build her operation. her operation was the senate office and then the presidential campaign and then the state department office. now, again, potentially a presidential campaign with the sort of resting stop as a philanthropic organization. but it's really one organization that she keeps tending to and building the political network

grows. and we go through all of that in the book to show readers just how much she would be setting up for 2016 already. >> it's interesting, though, because president obama, we talked about a moment in the book where he actually has to tell secretary clinton to slow down that it's a marathon, not a sprint. so this kind of goes into her work ethic. and we talk a lot about that in the book. >> right, and in fact i was going to bring that up of and it says he's expressing concern to her aides and he says i love her. i loved my friend. so from that, amy, did you get the sense the president wants her to run in 2016? >> he does. but it's going to be tricky because he doesn't want to go on vice president's biden's side or take her side. so i think he'll stay out of it until that happens. but i think he does want her to run. we talk in the book about how they're relationship kind of evolved. how both sides didn't really like each other at first and have they didn't really trust each other. but they became friendly. and, you know, we talk in the book about how he actually -- president obama asks secretary clinton to stay on for another

year which speaks a lot, i think. >> when you look at the last couple democratic presidents, bill clinton's genius and in '0 8 the ground swell of support from the hope and change platform. how do you see hillary clinton setting herself apart if she runs? >> well, certainly, i think she would embrace this time around the historic nature of the candidacy as a front-running woman for the presidency. last time armound, pushed hersef apart, didn't want to talk about running. in the book, we have this dramatic scene before her concession speech. after all these months of campaigning, still uncomfortable with the idea she is seen as an icon among women in the united states, particularly democratic women and doesn't really want to talk about that. and there is is a young speech writer who sort of goes forward and says you've got to do this. you have to talk about it. you have to embrace it. you have to talk about the 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling and embrace that part of

you. and i think that will be be a major difference in 2016 than in 2008. and i think also we'll see some -- we'll see whether or not she has learned the lesson of who to have around her in terms of staff. last time around, a lot of people she had there for loyalty reasons, not necessarily competence reasons. we'll see if she has learned that lesson. >> yeah. amy, you mentioned vice president joe biden, and i want to talk about him. because there is a vignette in the book i want you to talk about from denver. but the thing is, biden-clinton here. y ions ago, what does he do -- hillary clinton she is the big 800-pound gore i will la, could suck the money out of the room, certainly, if nothing else. so talk about that scene and what that pore does in denver. >> she gives one of her best speeches, i would say, of the

campaign. she has to rally democrats around barack obama. she does that. she gets off the stage, she goes into a holding room. and in runs joe biden, and he drops to his knees, and praises her, his hands up in the air. and that kind of speaks to their relationship, i think, in a nutshell. they're friends, they have breakfast in this washington when they're both in town frequently. they really like each other. the bidens and the clintons get along very well. so i think it's going to be an interesting dynamic, should they run against each other in a primary. >> do you think that will happen? what is your sense, both of you? can you get back to your reporting, just for a moment, instead of being authors? >> sure. we talk about this a little bit in the book, alex. but reporting, as well. look, joe biden's allies are trying to keep his options open for him. he is trying to keep those options open. you see him going to the -- the party dinners and talking to the party leaders in the early primary and caucus states. he is definitely somebody who is trying to figure out a way to run for the presidency. again, his third run. hillary clinton and joe biden

both were in 2008, remain friend. my guess, they would find out a way to remain civil in a primary. i don't think joe biden's decision is necessarily going to be based on what hillary clinton does. as will a lot of other decisions among possible contenders in the democratic primary. >> okay. hey, nick is telling me you have to go but quick question. 30-second commercial for hillary clinton. big tangible achievement. what do you think that's going to be? either of you want to talk about that? amy? you can take a stab at that. >> i think it was that she was, you know, very loyal to the president. and she supported everything. she doesn't really have any big marquis peace deals, but she was his biggest confidante. she certainly did rally around him, for sure. >> so then coming off the popularity of the president then. >> are i think so. i don't know if you have anything to add, john. >> yeah, it's no not clear whether she runs the third term of obama or third term of clinton or perhaps looking forward to the future rather than the past or offer a new vision for the united states for

2016 and beyond, which is i think what voters will probably want to hear from her. >> we're so glad to hear from you. the book "hrc." thank you so much, jonathan and amy. amy, sign my book on the way out of the studio. >> thank you. the jury in the loud music murder trial has now deliberated for 26 hours. what are the issues keeping them from reaching a verdict? [announcer] a healthy dog is a playful dog. [dog] let's do this larry. [announcer] help him keep those muscles while he loses a few pounds with beneful healthy weight. made with wholesome rice,real chicken,soy, even accents of vitamin rich veggies. it's calorie-smart and tastes so good. beneful healthy weight...from purina.

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total effects from olay. your best beautiful. i have a cold with this annoying runny nose. [ sniffles ] i better take something. [ male announcer ] dayquil cold and flu doesn't treat all that. it doesn't? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms plus has a fast-acting antihistamine. oh, what a relief it is! any moment now, we could see a verdict in the so-called loud music murder trial. that jury is now in its fourth day of deliberations, deciding whether this man, michael dunn, is guilty of murdering 17-year-old jordan davis. dunn allegedly shot davis in the parking lot of a florida gas station, after arguing over the volume of davis' car music. attorney john burris is joining me to talk about that. welcome back, john. we were talking about this last weekend. let's get to it again. what do you think is keeping this jury from reaching a verdict? >> i think they're trying to deal with the whole question about mr. dunn, whether or not he had a reasonable belief his

life was in danger and could use self defense. they are troubled by it. and number two, this whole question about him leaving the scene. is that evidence of guilt of some kind. and thirdly, the fact that the car that the kids were in was not searched immediately, so not able to say independently there was no gun. that gets back to whether you believe mr. dunn or not. and i think that's really the thresh of the question right now. also this. he did shoot into the car, even if he was acting in self defense there. he might have been unreasonable to do so so therefore a reduced verdict in a way. but also shot into that car a number of times, where other kids were in that car who had done nothing to him. so the jurors could say, look, he's not guilty murder, could be guilty of involuntary manslaughter or attempted manslaughter with respect to the other kids in the car. >> right. and with respect to the other kids in the car, he's got three attempted murder charges against him in addition to the first degree murder, which can be pled down, though.

also shooting or throwing a deadly missile into an occupied vehicle. the jury was asked, john, if they were allowed to reach a verdict on some charges but not all. the judge said yes. what do you think about that question? >> well, i think that's important. sometimes jurors don't know that. they have to be unanimous on any decision they make. that's guilty. but they don't have to be unanimous on all of the decisions. they could be -- it could be a hung jury on many of them. i think the judge was making sure they had an understanding that each individual charge has to be evaluated and stands on its own. a case like this, you have a number of charges that you have. like first degree murder but second degree murder and manslaughter on top. each one of those and the same with the attempted murder. so a lot of different charges here. and you have to go through the facts and agree upon the facts. i don't know that a jury has agreed upon these facts yet. because they have to wonder about this -- mr. dunn, who seemed to be a reasonable person, who would then -- would then shoot into a car.

he must have had some basis to believe that. and if so, might say that was unreasonable to believe that, but i think the jury is having some trouble with that issue. >> yeah, you have to wonder, this guy was on his way home from his son's wedding. the whole -- the context is just bizarre. here's something that happened this morning, john. the jury asked if they could consider self defense separately for each charge, or if it has to consider it all together. so -- what's that? >> that means they're working through them. every one of the charges has a potential self defense to it. and so you have to have some facts to support that or the jury -- the prosecution had to nullify any particular self defense argument. so what they're really saying is that we're looking at each individual case, and the murder case, the manslaughter case, we want to see. now, you can have self defense for the murder case and that will cover all of the sub -- other cases involved there. then you have to look at the ones in terms of the individual boys. and those are tougher questions, because those boys hadn't done anything. so the question is, can you use

an umbrella approach on self defense, because your mind-set at the very beginning, you thought you were in danger, the fact you shot into a car any number of times, a jury could say that was self defense based upon that one incident or say, look, you can't have self defense for people who haven't done anything to you. so therefore, they can say you can't -- we will not give you self defense on the attempted murder case, but i can give it to you on the murder case against jordan davis, if you reasonably believe your life was in danger. >> are you getting a sense, john, from the questions and the time it's taking, this is a jury that's just doing an extraordinarily thorough job? or are they leaning towards being deadlocked here? >> well, i thinkit both. one, trying to do a thorough job, no question about that. but it's not that long for a murder case. i've seen murder cases -- you could be out easily a week. but some of the questions suggest that some jurors are concerned about other facts. and i think that this -- the good faithness of the self defense is something that's

troubling them. obviously, whether or not mr. davis tried to get out of the car was an event that was there before. i think the jury is working pretty hard. but that money -- there is probably some efforts here in terms of division within that as it relates to a number of these charges. difficult charge from first degree murder down to manslaughter. and so jurors have to believe that he wasn't acting in self defense in order to get down to the lesser included offense or even to get the murder. i don't know if that can happen here, given the fact that, you know, his conduct at the outset was one of reacting to what he perceived to be there, reasonable or not. that really could get you to a manslaughter, frankly. >> okay. great analysis, as always. john burris, thanks so much. we'll see you again. >> certainly. u.s. speed skaters changing their suits in hopes of winning their first olympic medal. will it make a difference? [ ma] new vicks dayquil severe. helps relieve your ugliest, nastiest, roughest, toughest cold symptoms. new dayquil severe. with maximum symptom fighting ingredients.

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in with the new, out with the old. speed skaters are ditching the suits they have been waerearing thinking they affect their performance on the ice. sarah, you wrote this article on the new suits that were only introduced last month and after six events, no u.s. speed skater has medaled, including the world's top-ranked skaters, shani davis, heather richardson. what is the big criticism skaters have about these suits. >> well, the main thing, the suits were given to the athletes not too long before their olympic competition. under armour made all of the suits we have seen so far in competition and the new suits they debuted in here in sochi were given to them on january 1st, which doesn't give them much time to train or get used to them before it they have the biggest event of their lives. >> so why would they do that? you would think they would try this sufficient stuff out. when did they first notice there was a problem here? >> part is that -- the people we

have spoken to for this story, which has been developing for a few days, say there is this culture of suit-watching in speed skating. a lot of rival teams and athletes from different countries will try to take a sneak peek at what the other teams are wearing, see if they have a faster suit. so the decision was made to actually keep the new suits under wraps until the olympics, and hindsight is 2020 but looks like they weren't making the choice to do that in sochi. >> and sarah, there is is some sort of event, is it, that was supposed to allow heat to escape from the body. it's on the back, but that may be not is what is happening there. >> right. so the under armour made the suits in collaboration with lockheed martin ask tried to incorporate a lot of high-tech new features, including this ventilation panel on the back. but the problem is that some of the athletes felt like it was actually creating too much drag and slowing down their times.

so between the men's and women's thousand meters earlier this week, some of the women decided they want today patch up the ventilation on the back, and they felt like that wasn't enough of an improvement. so the team talked about switching to some other suits they had used in earlier competitions in the season. what. >> is under armour saying about this? >> under armour is saying they're provided all the suits to u.s. speed skating. they have been their initial outfitter and partner since 2011. and they came to sochi with three different models of under armour suits. of course, they debuted in the first suit causing all of the controversies called the mach 39. but they also brought an earlier version they used in some of the world cup races in the fall. and so they were prepared to make a switch if they needed to. and that's just been the case over the last few days. they made that decision late last night, early this morning. sochi time. >> well, i think they should go back to the suits they had in

the last olympics, because shani davis was remarkable there. and i guess they'll figure it out going forward. thank you so much. appreciate your insights on this. >> thanks. a big night tonight, so be sure to tune in for you the gold medal finals for speed skating and alpine super g, prime time on nbc. this week, kentucky became the latest state to recognize out-of-state same-sex marriages when a federal judge struck down the ban wednesday. kentucky joins a growing list of conservative states where judges have ruled in favor of same-sex marriage, including virginia, oklahoma and utah. joining me now, john yar mouth, member of the commerce committee. welcome, nice to see you. >> good to see you, alex. >> so you have said practically speaking, sir, this is the end of the ban on gay marriage in your state. let's look at the latest poll which finds that 55% of kentucky

voters oppose legalization. could you see a vote for same-sex marriage passing in the near future? >> well, no. but i think this is the kind of thing, as -- historically, when talking about civil rights of individuals, these are things not subject to a vote or a majority rule. that's what our constitution has designed to protect the civil rights of minorities. that's what the bill of rights is about. so no, wouldn't pass a vote. but judge heyburn, in his decision, a brilliant decision, by the way, from a republican appointed judge, basically said there is no legitimate government interest in treating people differently. and in this area. so -- and he strongly hinted in the decision that if he were presented with a case testing whether the constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in kentucky would be constitutional, he would rule it unconstitutional. so, you know, kentucky is like every other place in the country. this is a -- attitudes are changing quickly. >> yeah. >> and, you know, give it five more years, and i think a vote

would change the outcome. >> i was going to say, the evolution -- we have some numbers to compare. we talked about the 55% that would oppose it now, ten years ago it was different. 7 2% of kentuckians opposed same-sex marriage. so with the 17% difference now, what do you think is changing in a state that most people see as very conservative? >> well, i think, first of all, people realize that now people -- gay and lesbian couples are getting married all over the country. the sun still comes up in the morning. their marriages aren't being threatened. and actually, now more and more people actually know married same-sex couples. so it's like anything else. people are -- fear of the unknown. but things like this become more and more common, then their attitudes change and they're more rapidly accepted. kentucky is the same way. but kentucky still has a very strong fundamentalist, religious core in many parts of the state. and that's going to be a tough part of the society to crack. >> yeah. okay.

let's switch gears here now and talk about the white house, which released the latest obamacare enrollment numbers this week. 3.3 million people have now enrolled, which is about halfway or so to the cbo estimate of 7 million by march 31st. what do you think? would you bet on with two months to go it's going to happen? not even two months now. >> right. no, just a month and a half. i don't know if we'll get to 7 million, but i think the new estimate is that we'll get close to 6 million, which, given the onset of the program and all the problems there i think is remarkable. and if you look at the pace of sign-ups where it's basically 1 million people a month, you know, that's a pretty good sign. in kentucky, we're still enrolling 1,700 people a day. and so the pace of enrollments has actually picked up a little bit in kentucky, even though kentucky has had a smooth operation from the beginning. we're now 231,000 kentuckyions who have signed up for coverage since october 1st, and 50,000 of

them are in private plans. and the greatest news is that in even the private plans, 32% of those who signed up are under 35. so the mix is very, very good. >> yeah. and that was super important. they had to get the youth signing up. >> very important. >> republicans, as you know, accusing president obama of changing the rules in the middle of the game here. and they say that the employer mandate extension is illegal. if this were a republican president, would you be fine with the white house changing the law without congressional approval? just have to ask. >> oh, probably not, alex. i was pretty outspoken when george bush said i am the decider, and i didn't think that was very good at the time. but, you know, the problem we have is that even when we have problems with the affordable care act, that both sides agree on, we can't get a legislative fix. this is an area we probably could get bipartisan agreement on, extending the employer mandate. i don't think republicans would vote against that. but, again, if you put a bill up to do that, then all of a sudden it's going to have a repeal provision added to it.

and the whole thing will fail. so the president is in a tough spot. he wants to make this work for the most people in the country. and unfortunately, congress is not cooperating with him in making the changes that would make the entire program function better. >> yeah. i do appreciate your honesty. let's take a listen to the president in this morning's weekly address. here's that. >> most low-wage jobs are held by women. and raising the minimum wage wouldn't just raise their wages. its effect would lift wages for about 28 million americans. it would lift millions of americans out of poverty. and help millions more work their way out of poverty. without requiring a single dollar in new taxes or spending. >> what is the conversation in congress on this right now? either side think they can raise this issue in an election year? >> well, of course, democrats are strongly and almost unanimously in favor of raising the minimum wage to at least $10.10 an hour.

we know there are a lot of republicans who understand that this is a -- something that could be very helpful, again, not just in lifting people out of poverty, but in actually creating more economic growth. but they're worried about their primary elections, and people in their own party. so it's highly unlikely we can get the house. but i think if you actually put it up for a vote, there would be a majority, largely democrats, but there would be a majority of the house that would vote for raising the minimum wage. >> okay. representative john yarmouth, always a pleasure. >> barley makes it into the "sports illustrated" swimsuit edition and some don't like it. g good around ♪ ♪ turn around, barry ♪ i finally found the right snack ♪ [ female announcer ] fiber one. to prove that it's still fresh on day 30. [ byron ] what do you guys think of the smell?

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contributor, susan dell percio. does she belong? we're talking about barbie appearing on the cover of the "sports illustrated" swimsuit edition. we have some video of the photo shoot. remember, this is a doll being photo shot here. the theme of the campaign is unapologetic, about the unrealistic perception of a woman's body. so goldie, what do you think, and should "sports illustrated" be unapologetic? >> i think magazine covers of all stripes are as much inspiration as aspiration. let's take a look at barbie. if she were real, she would be 6 feet tall and 100 pounds. her breasts -- mostly comprised of her nearly 40-inch breasts. she would have a size, 21-inch waist. and so to say that barbie, who would not be able to support her neck or back and have to crawl around on all fours really is sort of the inspiration for women or men everywhere, i think

really is a falsehood and we ought to recheck our values. >> juanda, an opinion piece in "time" magazine, jonathan alter's daughter. she says barbie has worked every second of every day since invented in 1959. sure, she started off as a teen fashion model but worked her way up to fashion editor, went back to get her doctorate in astro physics so she could be an astronaut by 1965. in the 1970s, performed surgeries and won the 1975 olympics. and in the '90s, ran for president, performed with the rockettes and played for dallas in the wnba. so is this "sports illustrated" cover the next evolution of barbie? >> i have to tell you, i really disagree with a lot of the points in that piece. we are talking about a doll. a children's play thing here. look, we're watching all day right now as the winter olympics, and there are a lot of really fantastic women who are powerful and strong and out having these real accomplishments. why not put one of them on the cover instead of something that's a child's play thing? >> yeah, well, you have a point

there. there's a reaction on twitter, though. it has been fierce. some calling it creepy, others say not appropriate for a child's toy to be on the cover. there are those who say they love the idea. so susan, you can chime in here. what do you say? >> why not? it seems like clever marketing. and, in fact, she is wearing a more conservative bathing suit than most of the models wear on any other issue. so it's a clever thing to do. they saw a dip in their sales, and they're trying to bring it back. i really don't see much ado about this at all. >> i was going to say, much ado about nothing and you let me to that. let's go to the restaurant reality check. some customers say they are deeply offended by an oklahoma city restaurant owner. here is part of our affiliate, kfor's report. listen to. this. >> even the business's t-shirt is offensive. derogatory slogans against homosexuals splashed on both sides. it has the "n" word on the front and check out the sleeve. offensive to women.

and threats of violence against muslims, minorities and democrats. james proudly wears the shirt. >> i really don't want gays around. >> so in addition, one customer said he was denied a now, the owner is denying that saying the customer created an issue by being too loud. but is this a matter of freedom of speech or not? >> i think some of it is a matter of freedom of speech. but there are some places where he may be acting in defiance of both federal and state law. there are absolutely codes around public accommodation, fair housing, equal access to employment. so there maybe some law-breaking here. but if i am customers of that restaurant and i don't agree with this, i vote with my feet. i walk out until he has no revenue. i think that's the answer here. and that is to set aside any law-breaking that may also be happening. >> it's gotten a lot of reaction online. people have voiced their opposition for the restaurant's facebook page.

are we hearing more about this because of social media? >> we absolutely are. i think goldie is right. this is a situation where if you don't agree with a business owner, you don't have to patronize there. but you can tell everyone else about your bad experience there, affect the company's reputation online and make sure other people know exactly what's going on. these stories would have been chitchat between friends 10, 15 years ago. now they're really taking on new life. >> you can let your feet do the talking and walk out. but when you think about what this restaurant owner is denying, he's denying service to certain people. what do you make of all this? this guy's disabled and he can't get a steak dinner? >> there's no room for any of it. they urged people who were discriminated against to reach out to the oklahoma attorney general's office. i really hope people do.

there's no room for this. it is i believe illegal in many cases that were reported on. and he should be put out of business whether it's because of lack of customer or illegal action. >> remember that bakery that refused service to a couple for their wedding cake -- >> because someone filed charges. >> sit tight, everyone. why did big city mayors and netflix make it to the week's best and worst? [ fishing rod casting line, marching band playing ] [ male announcer ] the rhythm of life.

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let's go back to the big three for the best and worst of the week. goldie, best and worst? >> my best of the week is city of atlanta. we underwent a plague in terms of ice storms and earthquakes. but we withstood it all. my worst of the week has to be the testimony of michael dunn who was accused in the first-degree murder of jordan davis in florida and my second

worst of the week is state attorney in florida, angela corey, who just can't seem to get it right, whether out of incompetence or malfeasance. she ought to resign or be recalled. >> we're definitely following that trial. susan, what's yours? >> best week goes to mayor elect of san diego, kevin faulkner. he had a decisive win. great news for the republican party in california which holds no republican seats statewide. worst week goes to new york city mayor bill de blasio. whether it's the way he handled the snow crisis. his thumping governor cuomo. and he picked a fight with al roker. you don't do that. that's just wrong. >> absolutely. >> best goes to netflix. the messages i got, their decision to roll out "house of cards" on valentine's day got a lot of people on their couches. and worst is the obama white house.

they got obamacare enrollment numbers but nobody's paying attention. you win some, you lose some. >> we talked about it a little bit. just saying. thank you guys. that is a wrap of "weekends with alex witt." see you right back here tomorrow at noon eastern. t.j. holmes is in the house next. as a business owner, i'm constantly putting out fires. so i deserve a small business credit card with amazing rewards. with the spark cash card from capital one, i get 2% cash back on every purchase, every day. i break my back around here. finally someone's recognizing me with unlimited rewards! meetings start at 11, cindy. [ male announcer ] get the spark business card from capital one. choose 2% cash back or double miles on every purchase, every day.

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a better way to save. ally bank. your money needs an ally. this is the creamy chicken corn chowder. i mean, look at it. so indulgent. did i tell you i am on the... [ both ] chicken pot pie diet! me too! [ male announcer ] so indulgent, you'll never believe they're light. 100-calorie progresso light soups. we want america to win the games. >> we have lots of experience. but we also have some young guys that have to step up their games to beat the russians. >> today, a rematch of the miracle on ice of sorts. team usa hockey beats team russia. and this was a thriller that went to eight rounds of shots. yes, the extra penalty shots. we're going to be live in sochi. we'll also talk live with the captain of the 1980 miracle on ice team. hello to you all. i'm t.j. holmes. craig melvin is off today. you are watching msnbc.