lose something they have not done since 1872. elect an african-american to a statewide office. we'll run down the candidates. all that in just a moment. but let's get right to white house correspondent kristen welker, who is standing by for us, again, as president obama gets ready to speak there in maryland. he's going to speak in about 20 minutes, we're told. the theme here, kristen, is fuel efficiency. what kind of proposals can we expect to hear from president obama? >> well, craig, good morning. first, a little bit of context. you recall in his state of the union address, president obama framed this year as a year of action, essentially saying he was going to take a number of executive actions to circumvent congress to get things done, despite the sharply divided congress that exists right now, so this is an example of one of those executive actions. later today, president obama will announce that he's directing the epa to tighten fuel efficiency standards for

medium to heavy duty trucks. now, according to a 2010 study, heavy duty trucks accounted for about 4% of the vehicles on the road, but about a fourth of the green house gas emissions. this is the second time that president obama has called for tightened fuel efficiency standards. the first time was back in 2011. this time, these new standards set to take effect in 2016. we also expect the president to call for new public and private partnerships to speed up energy, the production of energy efficient vehicles, then there is a congressional component to this, president obama is going to call on congress to scale back about $4 billion in subsidies that go to the oil and gas industry. that is, obviously, going to be very tough to get through congress, especially given this election year. now, this announcement doesn't come without some controversy. republicans have typically announced their opposition to the president using executive

actions, especially when it comes to energy efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions, those type of things, so the president getting opposition there, but this is what we can expect to see more of in 2014 in this election year, the president taking executive actions, acknowledging he would be able to get more done with congress. these are smaller scale steps the president is taking, but this is what he's said his strategy is going to be this year. you talked about the savings, the white house predicting this new step will save about $50 billion in fuel costs and about 530 million barrels of oil. that's, of course, something we'll have to track over time. that's what we expect the president to announce. >> kristen welker from 1600 pennsylvania avenue. again, president obama not far from there, upper marlboro, maryland. when he begins to speak, we'll take you there live. for now, the agenda panel, amanda terkel "the huffington

post." zerlina maxwell, political analyst and grio.com contributor. good to see all of you. mike, let me start with you, sir, the president talking about fuel efficiency, specifically for these heavy duty trucks and trailers, ordering new standards. president obama also issued some new standards a few years back requiring fuel efficiency standards for cars and light duty trucks, as well, requiring that it be somewhere around 54.5 miles per hour by 2025, i believe. michael, is mr. obama, is he going to be remembered among other things as the fuel efficiency president? >> he could be. we did get also congress back when it was in democratic control early in his years, we got an increase in automotive standards. that was the first one since the mid 1970s, then, of course, craig, he's going to be doing other things, particularly with respect to carbon emissions from

power plants, from new power plants, so he's doing everything that he can, given the fact that congress is always going to say no, no, no now that it's controlled by republicans in the house, anyway, and republicans have enough to block in the senate. he's doing everything he can and it's good policy and good politics. >> let's talk about the politics of it, zerlina. when the president's moving ahead with these executive orders he promised in his state of the union address, there's the congressman and the man that the associated press has dubbed the chief republican attack dog, darryl issa. he's calling on the gop to unite against president obama's, quote, imperial presidency. his words. i saw him give a speech last night in new hampshire where he didn't stop there. he spent a fair amount of time blaming hillary clinton for benghazi. the president is a tyrant and hillary caused the attack on the embassy. we can sit here and pretend that's not an argument and not

an argument that resinates with a large swath of the american public, but it does, why? >> i have no idea, because it's really an argument that takes place in a reality that has been created by the conservative media infrastructure, so, you know, i think when i hear issa talk about imperial presidency, he wants to talk impeachment. we talk about him being illegitimate, so we had birthers, now we're talking about he's an imperial president. even though he has fewer executive orders than any president since grover cleveland, and that's just setting the stage for impeachment talking, drumming up the drum beat to completely take down this president, and i think that, you know, the american people are smarter than this. the republican party is too afraid of the tea party to actually govern the country, so they are doing all of this rhetoric in order to distract from the fact they don't want to do anything to help people. >> it really is, you know,

again, it's -- it seems to be a bit mind boggling these are arguments people, i guess for whatever reason, people buy. >> it depends what percentage of people you're really talking about. i wonder what percentage of independent voters really -- >> that's an important distinction. >> of course, the conservatives buy it. that's one-third of the country. the independents are another third, or 40%, of the country. how many of them really buy this? i'm not sure. i think most independent voters would go with obama, obviously, fuel efficiency standards can be improved. >> amanda, republicans did use the stimulus anniversary yesterday to reiterate their opportunity for the stimulus, saying in part the stimulus is no success to celebrate, it is a tragedy to lament. senator ted cruz saying president obama's stimulus did actually create jobs, unfortunately, they are all at the irs and the nsa.

here's senator marco rubio. he released a clip on his youtube channel. take a listen. >> five years later, underemployment is still too high, the number of people who dropped out of the workforce is astounding, unemployment remains high, and our economy isn't growing fast enough. proof that massive government spending, particularly debt spending, is not the solution to our economic growth problems. >> amanda, facts are important here, and as think progress reports, over half of the gop caucus praised the effects of the stimulus or took credit for the federal dollars in their home districts and states, despite repeatedly voting against it in washington, d.c. how do republicans reconcile these glaring disparities? >> right, i mean, facts are stubborn things. they don't want to be out there nationally saying that they are former government spending, but back in their districts, they recognize infrastructure spending and the spending from the stimulus was actually really good for their districts and

something that the public supported, which is why they are out there at the ribbon cuttings with giant scissors saying look at the money i'm bringing home for my district. the same with many of these things president obama is doing, fuel efficiency standards, that's something they should be supporting because energy independence is something that many republicans say they would like to achieve and that's what these fuel efficiency standards are doing, but they are very hesitant, because they don't want to hand democrats and obama any sort of victory or say what you're doing is good ahead of the midterm elections, so they are simply going to be out there opposing whatever obama and the democrats propose, and meanwhile, avoiding anything controversial that could divide their caucus, things like immigration or reforming the tax code, because republicans should not be the story ahead of the midterm elections. >> zerlina, you know, what i think gets lost sometimes is especially a lot of folks, you talk about the government bailouts, auto bailout, stimulus package, these things didn't

start under president obama. >> no, and i really think that we have 258 days to get to the midterms and i think conventional wisdom is nothing can get done because congress is divided, but that's not actually the conventional wisdom. the conventional wisdom should be we need 218 votes and bipartisan compromise to get there. the fact the republicans won't bring anything to the floor like immigration or tax reform like amanda mentioned means they don't want to do the job they were elected to do. if you want to avoid bipartisan compromise and congress, what are you in government for? >> the next election. >> exactly. >> the next election. we've eluded to it, and i think we're all kind of talking about the same "washington post" article, today's "washington post" reporting, quote, comprehensive immigration reform, tax reform, tweaks to the federal health care law, bipartisan deals on each are probably dead in the water for the rest of this congress. what are the chances this strategy of avoiding big

controversial issues, what are the chances that's a successful strategy? >> for the republicans? >> yeah. >> well, you know, i mean it could be, because any big legislative success, obviously, would reflect well on the president, so they don't want to do anything that would reflect well on the president. it's pretty much that simple, craig. >> all right. that's a good spot to leave it. always good to see you, amanda terkel, of course, zerlina maxwell in the studio. big thanks to all of you. up next, storm number 18. count them 18. right now, the latest on the system that is spawning thunder snow, freezing rain, and high winds in many places. also, new jersey governor chris christie is going to be speaking to republicans behind closed doors tonight before a trip to d.c. up next, i'll talk live with new jersey congressman frank pallone about the latest accusations in the christie scandal. plus, this -- >> well, you already do have gay scouts, whether you like it or

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for heavy trucks and trailers, as well, so when the president starts to speak there, we will, of course, bring it to you live. meanwhi meanwhile, new jersey governor chris christie's town hall on sandy recovery had been rescheduled for this morning but had to be postponed again, this time because of snow. folks across the northeast have hardly finished digging out from the last round of winter weather. now forecasters are expecting more snow for the east coast today. some parts of maine and suburbs of boston could see up to eight inches today. weather channel's reynolds wolf is live for us in ft. lee, new jersey. how's it looking out there? looks like the snow has stopped. >> reporter: it has, it has, but come on! we're done with winter, aren't we? it's time for spring to get here. it's enough already, but we did have snow earlier this morning. it was around one to three inches. when we first got out here, the crew got out super early.

not much in terms of snow. from 5:30 to about 9:00, it came down fairly quickly, fairly heavily, i'd say one to three inches of snowfall. some spots may have had as much as five, but it's going to continue to make its way up towards boston. they could have widespread delays up towards logan. laguardia, also jfk and newark, we did have some delays this morni morning. we did have cancellations. things are going to get better. temperatures warming up will ease congestion due to the snow. that being said, right here along 95 and the george washington bridge and the toll way, snow or not, you're going to have congestion, and we certainly had plenty of that this morning. roads in really good shape because both in new jersey and in new york, they had a good game plan, a lot of vehicles out, a lot of snow plows and salt trucks, so the words were in wonderful shape. fewer people on the roads, too. you have to remember a lot of kids in the area are out for winter break, so that meant

fewer moms and dads, fewer school buses delivering kids from point a to point b, but the thing that's going to make it easier than anything is going to be the warmup that we can expect over the next several days and into the weekend. got to tell you, spring cannot get here soon enough. back to you. >> that warmup you mentioned, really quickly, all of the east coast, a portion of the east coast, where's is going to start warming up? >> reporter: it's definitely going to be in parts of the southeast. as you know, in the southeast they definitely have had a brutal winter. warmer times coming there and the midatlantic and it will get mild here. i would say, though, keep in mind we're not out of the woods yet. we might be in new york, maybe a few flurries, but later today, looks like parts of boston and maine certainly dealing with more winter weather. >> reynolds wolf for us in ft. lee, new jersey, thanks as always, sir. new jersey governor chris christie will not be holding that town hall event i mentioned a few moments ago because of weather. he will be in new york city

tonight addressing a closed press retreat for the national republican committee. this weekend christie is going to be speaking at a national governor's association winter meeting. this week's round of media events follows the latest reporting on the george washington bridge scandal involving a port authority police officer who was present at the bridge that day and his brother. the police officer has known christie for decades. his brother advised christie in the 2009 election. monday christie issued a statement making it clear he has a relationship with both men, while claiming he has never had any conversations with them about the lane closures. joining me live now, new jersey democratic congressman frank pallone. congressman, always good to see you. >> thanks, craig. >> today's sandy hall again postponed because of weather, going to be rescheduled. when it happens, what were constituents from your district at least, what were they most interested in hearing from the governor? >> well, they are very concerned about getting sandy relief, as

you know, many people still haven't gotten any help to either raise their homes or rebuild their homes, and in my offices every day we get people calling and complaining because they don't know if they are on a waiting list or whether, you know, there's any real possibility for them to get help. he's got a lot of explaining to do. >> where is the money? >> i mean, the second round of money was recently announced, but the problem is so many people are denied. i think something like 80% of the people who appealed their denial have now been approved, which shows to me that the original denials were not justified, and he's now fired, i guess, a second contractor that was administering this money without any explanation why they were fired or who's replacing them. there's a lot of disarray. people apply, they don't hear from anybody, the case managers don't help them. they are on a waiting list, can't find out how to get off the waiting list. >> tonight, again, christie

speaking at the winter retreat here in new york city. last week, the republican governor's association reported that it has raised some $6 million with the help of governor christie and other gop governors, as well. it appears as if chris christie's not having any trouble at all raising money for national republicans, raising money for the party. is it possible that the scandal has become something that does not resinate nationally? >> i find that hard to believe. i mean, every indication i have from colleagues and, you know, political people, is that he really isn't in a position to run for president, but regardless, craig -- >> why hasn't the money dried up? >> i don't know. maybe he has the ability to raise money. the point is, he should be here. he shouldn't be spending all this time traveling around the country raising money, doing these things with the governor's association. he should be in new jersey trying to solve these problems. i understand maybe the snow cancelled this meeting, but this

meeting was very important, because middletown, as you know, is in my district, is a heart of the area most affected by the storm and we're concerned sandy money is being sent for things that aren't related to sandy relief, and that's a major concern also on the part of my constituents and myself, as you know, we've asked hud to look into several things, the firing of this contractor, the ad campaign, which now i understand he's asking for additional ads, another $5 million in ads, and we're just not getting answers, which is why i think hud needs to investigate. they are investigating the ad campaign. >> all right. new jersey congressman frank pallone, always good to see you, sir. >> thank you, craig. >> thanks for stopping by. there are seven african-americans running for statewide office in south carolina this year. that means history is going to be made in the palmetto state. more on that and what it means. this is msnbc. hey guys! sorry we're late. did you run into traffic?

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developing right now, a live look in upper marlboro, maryland. in a few moments, president obama is going to be revealing steps to boost energy security, cut pollution, save americans money when it comes to filling up their tanks. we're told, by the way, just a few minutes away. when that happens, we will take you there live. ♪ ♪ ♪ abe! get in! punch it! [ male announcer ] let quicken loans help you save your money with a mortgage that's engineered to amaze. thanks, "g."

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here we are 142 years later and the palmetto state is poised to elect the first black candidate since him. a record seven african-americans are running this year. in one senate race, all three of the candidates are black. before becoming a senior obama administration official and health care guru, anton dunn was in south carolina. good to see you. let's start with the question people not familiar with south carolina politics are asking right now, what took so long? >> well, there's a lot of reasons it took long, and the first reason is, pitch fork ben tillman, the governor of south carolina in 1890, who oversaw the constitutional convention that transformed the state and snatched away voting rights and other political rights to african-americans and for 142 years we've had a drought where african-americans haven't had the ability to ascend to a statewide office. we've elected people to the legislature, but never to a

statewide office. you can thank ben tillman for putting that in place and making it difficult across the country, but the example primarily is here in south carolina. >> senator tim scott, as you know, running to remain in the senate after being appointed back in 2012 when jim demint stepped down. house minority leader says, quote, the color of his skin, certainly is not representative of the way that he votes on the policies that he seems to side with. senator scott's take on this, quote, his response, "the theory there's some monolithic group of thinkers is just not consistent with reality." would senator scott's election come with an asterisk like rutherford's suggesting or seems to be suggesting here? >> see, here's what i like to say about that, african-americans don't vote as a monolith or think like a

monolith either, but the point is, policy is what matters. policies that advance the diversity in south carolina, that advance small businesses, black and white, educational conditions, those policies matter, so it doesn't really matter, you know, who you are as a person, but the politics you're advancing as a candidate, what's that mean for all the of the people of south carolina, and when you have a state that the population is almost 30% african-american and you don't see the same advancements in education and economic development and business opportunities, you have to look to see what the candidates are doing, what their policies are, what the elected officials are doing. i wouldn't call it an asterisk, but i would say you have to focus on what is tim scott going to do to give them the opportunities everyone else is seeing around the country. >> a guy named rick davis -- uh-oh, president obama is coming, is that right? okay. well, anton, i want to pick up the rest of this conversation some point here in the near future, because i want to talk about some of the specific races in south carolina, and we'll look at those a little bit

later, but right now, president obama in upper marlboro, maryland. >> it is good to be here. and i want to thank jack jacobs and all the folks at safeway for having us here today at this busy distribution center, where delivery trucks get everything from doritos to diapers where they need to go. and, by the way, i have a little soft spot for safeway in my heart, because some of you know i went to high school in hawaii, and i was living with my grandparents, and our main grocery store was safeway. right down the way. and so my grandmother would send me out to go shopping at safeway and everybody there treated me very well. i very much appreciate the good work you guys do, and i want to thank all the workers and businesspeople and labor leaders and environmental leaders who are here today, as we take another big step to grow our economy and reduce america's

dependence on foreign oil. in my state of the union address, i said this would be a year of action, and i meant it. so over the past three weeks, i've acted to require federal contractors to pay their employees a fair wage of at least $10.10 an hour, because we believe in a higher minimum wage. i've ordered an across-the-board reform of job training programs, so we can train workers with the skills that employers actually need and match them to the good jobs that are out there right now needing to be filled. i directed the treasury secretary to create something we're calling myra, it's a new way to help working americans save for retirement, and we've brought together business leaders, who are committed to helping more unemployed americans find work, no matter how long they've been look. the point is, i'm eager to work with congress wherever i can, but whenever i can act on my own to expand opportunity for more

americans and help build our middle class, i'm going to do that. and all of you, i think, understand that although the economy's been doing better, we've spent the past five years fighting our way back from the worst recession of our lifetimes. now the economy's growing. our businesses have created over 8.5 million new jobs over the past four years. the unemployment rate's actually the lowest it's been in over five years, but the trends, the long-term trends that have hurt middle class families for decades have continued. folks at the top are doing better than ever before. average wages and incomes have rarely budged. too many americans are working harder than ever just to keep up. so our job is to not only get the economy growing, but also to reverse these trends and make sure that everybody can succeed. we've got to build an economy that works for everybody, not just the fortunate few. opportunity for all.

that's the essence of america. no matter who you are, no matter where you come from, no matter how you start out, if you're willing to work hard and take responsibility, you can succeed. so i've laid out an opportunity agenda to help us do that. part one is create more good jobs that pay good wages, jobs in manufacturing, energy, exports, innovation. part two, we got to train folks with the skills they need to fill those jobs. part three, we got to guarantee every child access to a world class education. part four is making sure that the economy rewards hard work, with equal pay for equal work and wages you can live on, savings you can retire on, health insurance that you can count on that's there when you need it. now, there are very few factors that are helping grow our economy more, bringing more good jobs back to america than our commitment to american

manufacturing and american energy. that's why we're here today. five years ago, we set out to break our dependence on foreign oil. and today, america is closer to energy independence than we've been in decades. for the first time in nearly 20 years, america produces more oil here at home than we buy from other countries. our levels of dangerous carbon pollution that contributes to climate change has actually gone down, even as our production has gone up. and one of the reasons why is because we dedicated ourselves to manufacturing new cars and new trucks that go farther on a gallon of gas. and that saves families money, it cuts down harmful pollution, and it creates new advances in american technology. so for decades, the fuel efficiency standards of our cars and trucks was stuck in neutral.

even as other kinds of technology led forward, and that left families and businesses and our economy vulnerable to fluctuations in oil prices. every time oil prices shot up, the economy got hurt. our auto makers were in danger of being left in the dust by foreign automakers, carbon pollution was going unchecked, which was having severe impacts on our weather, and that's why after taking office, my administration worked with automakers, auto workers, environmental advocates, and states across the country, and we put in -- we set in motion the first ever national policy aimed at both increasing gas mileage and decreasing greenhouse gas pollution for all new cars and trucks sold in the united states. and as our automakers retooled and prepared to start making the world's best cars again, we

aimed to raise fuel economy standards to 35.5 miles per gallon for a new vehicle by 2016. yeah, wow. that was an increase of more than eight miles per gallon over what cars had averaged at the time, and what we were clear about was, if you set a rule, if you set a clear goal, we would give our companies the certainty that they needed to innovate and outbuild the rest of the world. they could figure it out if they had a goal that they were trying to reach. and thanks to their ingenuity and hard work, we're going to meet that goal. two years later, we've already seen enormous progress. and we're building on that progress by setting an even more ambitious target. we're going to double the distance our cars and trucks can go on a gallon of gas by 2025.

we're going to double it. and that means -- that's big news. [ applause ] because what it means is, you got to fill up every two weeks instead of every week. and that saves the typical family more than $8,000 at the pump over time. i'm assuming you can use $8,000 that you're not paying at the gas station. and in the process, it cuts american oil consumption by 12 billion barrels. so, we let the automakers decide how they were going to do it. we set the goal, said, go figure it out, and they invested in innovative and cost-effective technologies, and some are already making cars that beat the target of nearly 55 miles per gallon. they've got plug-in hybrids, electric vehicles, they are taking advantage of the investments that the recovery

act made in american advances in battery technology, so cars are getting better and they are getting more fuel efficient all the time. and for anybody who said this couldn't be done or that it would hurt the american auto industry, the american auto industry sold more cars last year than any time since 2007. and since we stepped in to help our automakers retool -- [ applause ] since we stepped in to make the automakers retool, the american auto industry has created almost 425,000 new jobs. so we raised fuel efficiency, helped consumers, helped improve air quality, and we're making better cars than ever, and the automakers are hiring folks again for good jobs all across the country. more plants are running -- [ applause ] -- more plants are running at

full capacity, some are even running three shifts, 24 hours a day, churning out some of the most high-tech, fuel efficient, high performance cars in the world, and that's a story of american ingenuity, american grit, and everybody has a right to be proud of it. but today we're taking the next step. heavy duty trucks account for just 4% of all the vehicles on the highway. i know when you're driving sometimes, it feels like it's more, but they are only 4% of all the vehicles. but they are responsible for about 20% of carbon pollution in the transportation sector. so trucks like these are responsible for about 20% of our on-road fuel consumption, and because they haul about 70% of all domestic freight, 70% of the stuff we use, everything from

flat-screen tvs, to diapers, to produce, to you name it. every mile that we gain in fuel efficiency is worth thousands of dollars of savings every year. so that's why we're investing in research to get more fuel economy gains, and thanks to a partnership between industry and my administration, the truck behind me was able to achieve a 75% improvement in fuel economy over the last year, 75%. that's why i call this super truck. it's impressive. this one right here, as well. i mean, these are, first of all, they are really big. but you can see how they've redesigned the truck in order

for us to save fuel economy. and improving gas mileage for these trucks are going to drive down our oil imports even further. that reduces carbon pollution even more, cuts down on businesses' fuel costs, which should pay off in lower prices for consumers. so, it's not just a win-win, it's a win, win, win. got three wins. in 2011, we set new standards for medium and heavy-duty trucks to take effect this year and last until 2018. three weeks ago in my state of the union address, i said we'd build on that success. today, i'm directing the secretary of transportation, anthony fox, who's right here, former mayor of charlotte, and gina mccarthy, the administrator of the epa, two outstanding public servants.

they are charged, their goal is to develop fuel economy standards for heavy-duty trucks that will take us well into the next decade, just like our cars. they are going to partner with manufacturers and autoworkers and states and other stakeholders, truckers, to come up with a proposal by march of next year, and they'll complete the rule a year after that. and businesses that buy these types of trucks have sent a clear message to the nearly 30,000 workers that build them, we want trucks that use less oil, save more money, cut pollution. so far, 23 companies have joined our national clean fleets partnership to reduce their oil consumption or replace their old fleets of trucks with more fuel efficient models. and collectively, they operate about 1 million commercial vehicles nationwide, so this is a lot of companies, and some are competitors, and if rivals like pepsi and coca-cola, or ups and

fedex, or at&t and verizon, if they can join together on this, then maybe democrats and republicans can do the same. [ applause ] maybe democrats and republicans can get together. so when you see these companies' new electric or natural gas powered delivery or garbage trucks, it's due to this partnership, and the reason we're here is because safeway was an early leader on this issue. by improving the aerodynamics of its trucks, investing in larger trailers, more efficient tires, safeway's improved its own fuel efficiency and the results are so solid that safeway now encourages all the companies it hires to ship its products to do the same. so to help our businesses and manufacturers meet this new goal, we're offering new tax credits, both for companies that

manufacture heavy-duty alternative fuel vehicles, and those that build fuel infrastructure so that trucks running on biodiesel, natural gas, or hybrid electric technology, they'll have more places to fill up. let me say this, the goal we're setting is ambitious, but these are areas where ambition has helped out really well for us so far. don't make small plans, make big plans, and anybody who had dire predictions for the auto industry said we couldn't do it, manufacturers couldn't bring jobs back to america. every time they say that, they are proven wrong. every time somebody says you can't grow the economy while bringing down the pollution, it's turned out they've been wrong. anybody who says we can't compete when it comes to clean energy technologies like solar and wind, they've had to eat those words. you can't bet against american workers or american industry.

you can't bet against america, otherwise you're going to lose money every time, because we know how to do this when we set broad, ambitious goals for ourself. [ applause ] so, from day one, we've known we had to rebuild our economy and transition to a clean energy future, and we knew it wouldn't be easy or quick, and we've got a lot of work to do on both counts, but the economy's growing, we're creating jobs, generating more clean energy, cutting our dependence on foreign oil, cutting out more dangerous carbon pollution. if we keep going down this road, then we're going to have a future full of good-paying jobs. we've got assembly lines that are humming with the components of a clean energy age. we have more of the best trucks and cars in the world designed and engineered and made in america. if we keep on going, we're going to leave a better future for our children, and i'm proud of safeway and all its workers to help show us the way.

if it can be done here, it can be done all across the country, so congratulations to all of you. thank you and god bless you. god bless america. all right. [ applause ] >> and there you have it, president obama speaking for roughly 15 minutes there in maryland, talking about increasing fuel efficiency for heavy-duty trucks, those tracker trailers, as well. the president pointing out while it may seem as though there are often far more of them on the roads, they are actually only about 4% of the traffic on the highways, but they are responsible for roughly 20% of road fuel consumption. the president going on to once again point out that by 2025, we should be, we should be, well on our way to having cars that are, literally, doubly efficient. by that i mean, cars that can go twice as far as they can today on a gallon of gas by 2025. the president pointing that out,

as well. so, again, president obama as you can see working the crowd at that plant. again, that's a safeway, safeway plant we're told there in maryland. president obama also spending some time talking about how the fuel efficiency standards that he has announced so far, they have not hurt the auto industry, despite some of the folks who said it was going to cost a great number of jobs and productivity, as well. so, we're going to take a quick break. we'll be right back. this is msnbc. ay helps defend against these digestive issues with three types of good bacteria. i should probably take this. live the regular life. phillips'. [ male announcer ] sponges, take your mark! ♪ [ female announcer ] one drop of ultra dawn has twice the everyday grease-cleaning ingredients of one drop of the leading non-concentrated brand... ♪

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and we are back. we just heard from president obama there at the safeway distribution center in upper marlboro, maryland. he said that he selected that distribution center just a stone's throw from the white house there, selected it because safeway has been a leader in improving trucking efficiency. that's according to a white house press release that we got before this announcement a few moments ago. again, president obama spending a fair amount of time there

talking about raising fuel efficiency standards in this country. you may recall a few years ago the president back in 2012, the president announced that by 2025, light trucks and cars would be twice as efficient as they are today. then today we heard president obama talking about raising the standards for some of these heavy duty trucks and tractor trailers, as well. kristen welker follows the president for us. she is at the white house for us this afternoon. we continue to hear president obama talking about acting, essentially unilaterally, ordering these agencies to do certain things. he calls it a year of action. he's not just calling it a year of action, kristen welker, it appears as based on the last few speeches we've heard that he's sort of poking his finger in the eye of the gop. like saying, you know what, you may not be with me, i'm going to do this myself, and he continues to talk about acting unilaterally, as well.

it's very interesting. >> reporter: right. i mean, this is his strategy this year. it's, obviously, the midterm year, so he knows this is a politically difficult environment. this is the president's way of saying that he's going to highlight his agenda, while getting some small things accomplished. today, obviously, the focus, as you have been reporting, craig, on these new standards, these new fuel efficient standards for medium heavy duty trucks, heavy duty trucks, by the way, make up about 4% of the vehicles on the road, according to a 2010 study, but about a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions. so they are really targeting that. this is the second time the president has called for new fuel efficiency standards, but you're right, craig, it's not just today, it's on a number of different issues. of course, one of the ones we've been talking about quite a bit on the minimum wage, you'll recall that president obama increased the minimum wage rather for new contractors,

federal contractors, so that is another issue in which he has said this is my agenda, i want to get some action really it only impacts a couple hundred thousand people, but it's his way of pressing congress on what he would like to see as an increase for the minimum wage for all workers, as you know, that is an incredibly politically divisive issue. it doesn't seem like that's going to get accomplished. but the question is, what happens when you talk about bigger pieces of legislation like immigration reform? not a whole lot that he can do, not a whole lot of executive actions he can take on immigration reform. the white house saying that he has no plans to address that issue, using executive actions, but still, really setting up in some ways, craig, the agenda for democrats. >> yeah. >> as they fight to hold on to the senate. these are some of the issue that is you are going to hear them campaign on over this next year. >> any indication at this point,

you mentioned minimum wage. today we saw fuel efficiency. any idea what may be next for this white house in terms of the president acting by executive order? >> reporter: well, they haven't given us an indication of what will come next, but certainly, that is something that's under discussion, craig, and there's a theme to all of these executive actions. namely, they deal with the economy, this one, obviously, dealing with fuel efficiency and the environment, but, obviously, the president you heard him today also making a link to the average american, saying that this will ultimately save them money, $50 billion over time. so there seems to be an economic link to all of these executive actions. as you know, the president has made that one of his core issues, as well, raising the middle class. and again, that's something that you're going to hear on the campaign trail from democrats as they face what is going to amount to tough re-election fights this year.

>> kristen welker, thank you. i'm craig melvin, see you back here tomorrow. also this afternoon at 2:30. up next, though, msnbc's olympic coverage of men's hockey, switzerland and latvia. [ park sounds, sound of spray paint ] ♪ we asked people a question, how much money do you think you'll need when you retire? $500,000. maybe half-million. say a million dollars. [ dan ] then we gave each person a ribbon to show how many years that amount might last.

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