that does it for "the cycle." "now" with alex wagner begins right now. the biggest win for immigrants in a quarter century. it's thursday, november 20th and this is "now." >> it's been a long road to get here. ♪ ♪ >> president obama tonight will address the nation. >> to shield as many as 5 million undocumented immigrants from deportation. >> part of keeping america prosperous and keeping america strong. >> where does the president get to issue work permits. >> there's a human element to it. >> millions of american citizen families. >> many of those people pay taxes and love their children. >> this is blocking people's fundamental confidence in their government. >> >> this is what the president is facing. >> even the hits panic community is not happy about what he's going to do tonight. >> it's very exciting for the immigrant rights community. >> house republicans have

indicated they're opposed to immigration reform. >> they should stop whining and start legislating. >> make no mistake when the newly elected representative of the people take their seat, they will ask. the wait is over. tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern, president obama will announce a sweeping executive action to protect about 5 million undocumented immigrants in this country from deportation. and already, the prebuttales have come fast and fierce. >> if president obama imposes his will on the country, congress will act. we're considering a variety of options, but make no mistake -- make no mistake, when the newly elected representatives of the people take their seats they will act. >> the country is going to go nuts because they're going to see it as a move outside of the authority of the president. you can see instances of

anarchy. >> what do you mean? >> you can see violence. >> but lost or purposely ignored in the political jockeying and the fearmongering are the powerful consequences of this decision for millions of families in this country. thanks to this action, dreamers who came to this country as children can now stay in the count reno matter their age. that policy could affect 1 million people living in the shadows. undocumented parents of american citizens will now be able to stay with their children and gain work permits. for some perspective on the scale of this. in texas and in california more than one in eight schoolchildren have at least one parent who is undocumented. across the country, over 16 million people live in families with at least one undocumented immigrant and that is not to mention the savings. america's program of border security and immigration enforcement presently cost taxpayers about $18 billion every year and then there is the

simple moral choice behind the executive action. a choice which could not be more clear. as the washington post writes, obama's order will be shaped almost entirely by the imperative of keeping parents with their children. joining me now is white house counselor john podesta. thanks for joining me on what i know is a busy and exciting day at the white house. >> good afternoon, alex. nice to be with you. >> i guess i wonder from someone inside 1600 pennsylvania avenue, are you surprised at the level of vitriol coming at you guys for this decision not just from conservatives who are railing about amnesty, but from the likes of tom coburn suggesting there will be anarchy or violence and righting in the streets. >> that's wildly overstated, i think, and regrettable. i think what the president's trying to do tonight when he will address the american people is fix a broken immigration system, he will secure our

border and deport felons, not families and try to do what he can within his authority which is well-established precedence and they've done this back to dwight eisenhower and president reagan and h.w. bush. he's operating under a legal opinion under the office of legal counsel and under the context of what previous presidents has done and that rhetoric is regrettable. >> close consultation with legal teams to make sure that this is all constitutional and within the president's power. is there any way for republicans in congress to unwind this? >> well, i think one simple way would be to pass comprehensive immigration reform, and i think the president will, as he'll say tonight, he's willing to work with democrats and republicans to try to pass comprehensive immigration reform. he's going back to las vegas where he was two years ago where he laid out the principles for comprehensive immigration

reform, a bill that the president didn't agree with every, you know, word of, but that was acceptable to him past the senate by an overwhelming bipartisan vote and the house has sat on it for now 521 days. if they want to do their job they should go back and pass comprehensive immigration reform. the president can do so much here. he can affect certain policies and aspects and create a better system that as i said, more focused on law enforcement where it really counts withed did i portation of felons and not moms who are trying to take care of their kids and the congress has an important role to play here, too, and they ought to get on, come back to town in january, work with the president and pass comprehensive immigration reform. >> it's worth noting, as meaningful as this is this only lasts as long as the president is president and i know bill clinton has come out and told

ari that he is in support to this and you are also close to hillary clinton. i wonder if she has said anything about this and whether as president she would keep this executive action and if she's in support of what the president is doing now. >> i hope that we'll see comprehensive immigration reform that can substitute for these executive actions, but i'm sure she'll have something to say about the president's speech once he gives it. >> that is a deep tease, but i like it. white house counselor john podesta, thanks as always, for your time, john. >> thanks, alex. joining me now is the representative of the 38th district and the incoming chair of the hispanic caucus, linda sanchez and the co-founder of united we dream, christina jimenez. >> congratulations on your appointment and i know you were at the white house for some of these meetings. tell us if you can the mood inside 1600 pennsylvania avenue as hispanic leaders met with the

president last night. >> sure. i think folks are excited, and i think the overwhelming feeling around the table was that we are eager to see this happen. it's long overdue and it's the right time to do it. a lot of hope and a lot of encouragement. >> was the president's mood one of relief, jubilation, excitement, trepidation? >> no. i mean, i think he's excited. i think he's anxious to, you know, make the announcement and lay out the plan, and i think, you know, this gets us moving in the right direction and breaks the lack of leadership on passing a comprehensive immigration reform legislatively. >> christina, we've talked about the political jockeying on this, but it is undeniable that this changes the reality of tomorrow for millions of people in this country. as a dreamer, what has been your reaction the first time you heard about the outlines of this and an expectation of what the

president will say tonight. >> this definitely feels like a victory to our community, to immigrant communities and latino communities that have organized really hard and mobilized and put so much pressure on the president and democrats to take action on this issue, to stop deporting people. so it feels like we've done a lot of work. we are definitely not getting everything that we advocated for, but it's certainly a victory to have about 5 million people from our families, my parents who will be protected from deportation, but at the same time it's an incomplete victory, and a bittersweet moment for us because there are also many families and many members of our community that will not be able to benefit from this program and they will still be vulnerable to deportation. >> in terms of what the republicans will do, one thing, if they're going to do anything, if they're gunning for any kind of action, it's concerted action to stop this executive action from taking place. >> i wonder if you have heard,

john mccain was quoted in an article this morning asking, questioning whether the republicans had standing to bring a lawsuit against the president for this action. do you think they will be able to unwind this through any legislative mechanisms whether that's defunding or lawsuits or somehow shutting down the government as retribution. >> no doubt the attempt will be made and they're hell-bent on trying to thwart anything the president does, and i think they're exposed because they have no ideas for immigration. they haven't put forth any proposal. they haven't acted on the senate bill that was passed over 500 days ago, and they're looking to point the finger of blame at the president and they should be pointing the finger at themselves for their gross inaction on something that is so vital to our country in many ways. no doubt, you know, they are

going to do what they can to derail this, and quite frankly, i think the train has left the station and i think history will show that it was the right time and the right thing to do for the country. christina, let me ask you, in terms of the activist community, they have been unstinting of the criticism of the president to end deportations. does this end the dubious title that the president is a deporter in chief? >> you know, the president has deported over 2 million people, and i'm not really sure, unless those people are brought back to be reunited with their families i don't know how you will repair so many families that have been broken, but this is significant for our community and it is welcome by our community and it is definitely incomplete as i was sharing with you because there are many members of our community that won't benefit, but our community is ready to continue to advocate and organize so that all our families will be protected one day the same way that dreamers

fought to win the daca program in 2012 and we did not stop there. we kept going and now we are up into this second victory and we will continue to do so. >> so let me ask you the same question, congresswoman, in terms of the president being the deporter in chief for those in the congressional hispanic caucus, does this wipe the slate clean? >> well, clearly, you know the president tried to work with republicans. they said they want to increase border security. so there was an increase in enforcement and yet the republicans wouldn't sit down at the table and try to work out an agreement and on the part of the congressional hispanic caucus, we are excited. it is a game changer for our community and a relief for the families who have been living and working here a long time, contributing to their communities and so for us, we're looking at it as a very seminole first step in a process that admittedly needs to continue

because we still need a permanent, legislative fix for this, again, so that we don't have to be looking for executive action in the arena which belongs to congress to legislate it. >> so that sounds like a maybe in terms of still being the deporter in chief. >> i've never called him the deporter in chief personally. >> fair enough. >> so you'll have to ask those that labeled him that. i think he had a very hard job to do which is to show that he was serious about wanting to compromise and he made those efforts as an offering and yet he was rebuked on the part of republicans who reneged on their pledge to tackle comprehensive immigration reform, so again, you know, i think it's a tremendous first step and i think positive benefits for the country as a whole. >> congresswoman linda sanchez andjimenez, thank you for your time. you can catch the president's address live and special coverage begins at 7:45

eastern. five feet of snow has blanketed upstate new york and it can see several more feet of snow. the scandal and the silence. bill cosby has no response to more than a dozen accusations of sexual assault. more on that just ahead. oh, i love game night. ooh, it's a house and a car! so far, you're horrible at this, flo. yeah, no talent for drawing, flo. house! car! oh, raise the roof! no one? remember when we used to raise the roof, diane? oh, quiet, richard, i'm trying to make sense of flo's terrible drawing. i'll draw the pants off that thing. oh, oh, hats on hamburgers! dancing! drive-in movie theater! home and auto. lamp! squares. stupid, dumb. lines. [ alarm rings ] no! home and auto bundle from progressive. saves you money. yay, game night, so much fun. ugh... ...heartburn. did someone say burn? try alka seltzer reliefchews.

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after a massive snowstorm in buffalo yesterday left thousands without power and trapped in their homes, a second round is coming today. the area is expected to get three more feet, bringing the total snowfall this week to 100 inches. that is nearly a year's worth of snow in just a few days.

the national guard has been deployed to western new york to help with snow removal and new york governor andrew cuomo described the hundreds of abandoned cars still on the road as as massive problem. this afternoon authorities confirmed two more deaths as a result of the storm bringing the death toll to ten. let's go to nbc's sarah doloff. >> that on top of the five-plus feet that residents here have already seen. take a look behind me. you can see the street sign just barely peeking out above the pile of snow. for now authorities are pleading with people to stay off the roads and stay home. for some people that's not each an option. all of this snow is forcing them inside, some roads only accessible by snow mobile. believe it or not, the temperatures are supposed to increase by the weekend and we could see the snow melt and create possible flooding conditions and that is a situation that no one here

really wants to think about or deal with right now. back to you. >> nbc's sarah daloff. the allegations against bill cos cosby. ones that have flown under the radar. that's next. have an impact locally. we're using more natural gas vehicles than ever before. the trucks are reliable, that's good for business. but they also reduce emissions, and that's good for everyone. it makes me feel very good about the future of our company. ♪ for most people, earning cash back ends here, at the purchase. but there's a new card in town. introducing the citi® double cash card. it lets you earn cash back when you buy and again as you pay. that's cash back twice. it's cash back with a side of cash back. the citi double cash card. the only card that lets you earn cash back twice on every purchase

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or just $140 for a family of 4! and three: get $150 credit for every line you switch. the more you switch, the more you get. verizon. allegations of sexual assault. new video released last night by the a.p. from an interview earlier this month shows cosby avoiding comment about the rape allegations and trying to prevent the question itself from being heard. i have to ask about your name coming up in the news recently regarding this comedian -- >> no. no. we don't answer that. >> okay. i just wanted to ask if you wanted to respond at all about whether any of that was true? >> there's no response. >> now can i get something from you? >> what's that? >> that none of that will be shown? >> i -- i can't promise that myself, but you didn't say

anything. >> i know i didn't say anything, but i'm asking your integrity that since i didn't want to say anything, but i did answer you in terms of i don't want to say anything of what value will it have? i would appreciate it if it was scuttled. >> i think if you want to consider yourself to be serious. >> uh-huh. >> that it will not appear anywhere. >> of the 16 women who have accused cosby of sexual assault, seven of them have gone public with their allegations including one earlier today. all stories with very similar details including some version of cosby drugging and sexually assaulting them. bill cosby denies these allegations and has never been criminally charged. joining me now is the host of "the reed report." good to see you. >> this is a really tough story on many levels, not just in terms of bill cosby, someone who

we were discussing before meant a lot to us growing up and to this country, i think, and the subtext of it which is race and gender and i want to quote something that you wrote. one reason that we've collectively plugged our ears about the dismal revelations about bill cosby is he made americans feel good about two things in that things that we rarely feel good about. race and gender. >> she goes on to about the racialized critiques of the black man that has been the idea of the black man being predatory. for white america. for multiple generations of american, bill cosby was the first black man they saw with a tv series of his own "i spy" whichly debuted and then he goes to to go to do fatale better which is when i saw a cartoon of black kids and they were fun and

all these different archtypes and then he does the cosby show and completely mainstreamed the notion of black american family. it wasn't good times. >> successful black americans. >> and bill cosby, when the idea was pitched by carsey and warner they were going to make him a blue collar cosby and it was camille cosby who pushed them an upper middle-class family that could be like any other part of americana. that changed this country and made it possible for people to conceive of barack obama. that is all true and for this to also be there in that narrative with a different world and the cosby show and what that meant to us as people to me as a black girl growing up, it's devastating. >> so much of the relationship of cliff and claire huxtable. you have a very full profile of sort of the dynamics that play at "the cosby show" and the creation of this black family for america and cosby's relationship to race which was more complicated than people

understand, even beyond the pound. i'll read an excerpt. if the cosby show established cosby, the pound cake speech earned him a misleading reputation of a political conservative, an african-american willing to stand up to the liberal establishment. in reality, cosby was not necessarily the cultural conservative after he was tagged after that famous speech in 2 2004, 5. >> he's been a controversial figure despite the fact and because of the fact that in his work it is very old fashioned and trying to avoid political controversy. >> right. but going back to the 1960s, he was occasionally criticized for not taking up the mantle of race more and one of the things, one of the interesting things about his life and his career is that you realize in his private life, he thought about race all of the time i think him and his wife

amassed some of the greatest african-american art in the world and he was talking about the importance of race and the importance of racial progress and yet he had the strategy of not making that explicit, generally in his comedic work and part of the idea was i think he was worried that maybe people would aren't think it was funny, and it's a great irony that we now come to the end of his career and his life is now completely obscuring the work that he's done. >> well, and to say nothing of the gender stuff, right? >> yeah. >> claire tux tahuxtable set ase skin color was an icon. in her accomplishments and the humor and the very, i think, deeply tender if that's a way to describe, the deeply tender relationship that she had with cliff huxtable who was for all intents and purposes bill cosby. now, joy, the allegations of sexual assault have been going on for -- since 2005, but the

claims themselves go back to the 1970s. >> yeah. >> and that, i mean, as the volume and the sort of timeline on this is devastating. >> it absolutely is. when you talk about claire huxtable and that relationship it was a co-equal relationship. >> right. >> one of the things that really made the cosby show revolutionary of not just a professional man and his lady wife, but a professional man and a professional woman who had children of different genders and had equal expectations of all of them. and they didn't have lesser abilities, but they expected the same of the girls. this story is the story of very unequal relationships. all of these women were at the time, 17 -- not 17, 18, 19 years old in these allegations so you're talking about very unequal relationships, a very famous person and let's be honest, a very famous black man who was making huge strides for black america, whether or not he was claiming race and a black

man who had a tv series and this is a powerful man to go up again and an icon to go up against for different reasons. >> you must read the cosby lawyer statement after the npr interview surface happened. >> decade-old, discredited allegations have resurfaced and the fact that they're being repeated does not make them true. mr. cosby does not intend to dignify these allegations with a comment and that at age 77 he's doing their best work and there will be no further statement from mr. cosby or any of his representatives. to back to what joy was saying about the co-equal relationship that he was the obstetrician. he was the one concerned with women's health. she was the lawyer and in many ways, he was a sort of, if we're talking about traditional gender roles. he almost had a more feminine role that he was very much the caretaker and claire was busy and she was the alpha in that relationship. >> there was something very old-fashioned throughout his

comedy career. he has played the sort of hen-pecked husband in a very old-fashioned and you might even say sexist way at certain times. in his routine he often talks about how he doesn't have a key to his own house because his wife controls everything and treats him like a baby. there's that -- >> the tradition. >> and i think, but the thing about these allegations is that we're not talking about mere misbehavior. >> right. >> we're not talking about foibles and we're talking about something so heinous and so monstrous. >> so dark that you you can't really integrate it with a comedic persona and it's not like you look at his jokes and say, oh, i can see it now, serial rapist. this is so awful what he's accused of what he's accused of doing and such a monumental accusation, really, that it kind of overpowers everything else and it's not, you kind of can't hold those two things in your mind at once and that's why, for a long time, people their first impulse was maybe to put this

out of their mind. these charges have been broadcast on the "today" show and dwo"people" magazine and th were mainstream outlets and now that it's gotten traction and quite understandably, that's all people want to talk about. >> they're so monumental and so monstrous that they threaten his entire career. everything we know about him. >> it's hard to think of him as a funny person if you're also thinking of this. >> the huxtables were our family. >> right. >> particularly it's very difficult for after can americans because this was not only our family, but it was the affirmation of everything that african-americans had for hundreds of years been saying this is who we really are. see us this way. there's a lot to it. >> for burmese-american families and any family of color. this family meant the world. we have to leave it there. there's more to discuss, it's good to see you both. >> catch joy reid on the reid

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look out. now there's even more of the amazing cinnamon taste you love on cinnamon toast crunch. crave those crazy squares even more. >> it's a momentous day for the freedom to marry. today the supreme court rejected a request to put same-sex marriage on hold in south carolina allowing marriage equality to officially cross the threshold of the deep south. south carolina becomes the 35th state to allow same-sex couples to marry. montana joined the list just in the last 24 hours, but as same-sex marriage becomes law, even in red states, it is still proving an unsettling subject for many republican candidates with an eye on 2016. conservatives are already questioning new jersey governor chris christie for his refusal to fight legalize gay marriage in his state.

rob portman, the first sitting republican senator to publicly support same-sex marriage has found himself the target for marriage campaign to make sure that gop primary voters are aware of his desire to redefine marriage. joining me now is syndicated columnist, author and co-founder of the it gets better project, dan savidge. thank you so much for joining me. in a time of great change, let me start that the national organization for marriage is making a very specific distinction in that ad which is talking about gop primary voters. it seems as if this is going to be a very litigated issue in the 2016 primary which, as we all know is where good, moderate ideas are challenged and maybe sometimes go to die. >> it's a real se sea change. it divides republicans. i don't think rob portman has anything to worry about.

the poll numbers are changing so fast and right now i don't think that same-sex marriage would be popular with republican primary voters, but we're talking two years in the future and we've seen such rapid change on this issue, and i think that rob portman's story about coming to accept same-sex marriage and coming to embrace it because his own son came out to him as gay and just as dick cheney came out supporting it because his daughter was a lesbian. i'm sure he's comforted by the fact that the national organization of marriage is a paper tiger, toothless. they're raising 70% less money now than they were a few years ago. you had jennifer rubin two years ago advising the national organization for marriage to close up shop because they had lost, that this issue was over, done and settled, and i don't think rob portman has anything to worry about. if he does decide to run for president from the national organization for marriage, all of those people at that organization should be getting

their resumes together and trying to fine honest work because there's no money anymore in attacking lgbt americans. >> which is exactly part of the statement and they do target portman and make a point of noting his son is gay. in terms of the rapidly changing land cape, i wonder if at all is a cause for consternation that the courts in the south are getting ahead of where southern citizens have been. those numbers, are, of course, changing in favor of marriage equality, but they're not quite yet there yet. do you worry about the court system and the voters. >> i do. i do worry about backlash and we are not seeing backlash so much in the united states and what we're seeing is backlash abroad. you're seeing countries like russia. you're seeing belarus. you're seeing other countries try to assert their moral superiority over the west by beating up their lgbt citizens and by enacting anti-year legislation and allowing people

to attack gay and lesbian people in the streets. we're not seeing it so much at home as much as abroad. lgbt people in the west and n where full civil equality has arrived. our successes here are actually making things worse for year people in nigeria, in uganda, russia and other countries. >> there is still, of course, one court that has not weighed in on this recently, and we know that justices scalia and thomas said they would block the decision allowing gay marriage in south carolina. it is increasingly looking like circuit court decisions that the supreme court may take the issue up, does that make you -- is there -- does that approach leave you with prepdatitrepidat? >> it does. you're nervous whenever you go up against the supreme court. it's historic landmark decisions on sodomy and stapame-sex marri,

and you have the supreme court refusing to enact stays to block same-sex marriage coming to states like south carolina, montana, kansas, it's hard to imagine that same supreme court would allow same-sex marriage to become legal to come to south carolina when they were laying in wait to undo it. i just don't think that's going to happen, and a decision from the supreme couwon't undo marrit is legal, it will allow states to re-legalize it potentially. people want this issue to be over and done with, and what we're seeing is once you have same-sex marriage in a state it becomes much less controversial. once people see that a gay couple down the street really does no harm to straight married couples and does no harm to children who are being raised by their straight married parents and benefits that gay couple and their children and the demago e

demagoguery becomes much less toxic as the national organization for marriage is discovering. >> it is a moment of breathtaking progress. dan savidge, columnist and author, thanks are being on the show. >> thanks for having me. in less than four hours president obama will act on his central second-term prior sxits we'll look at how it may define his legacy just ahead.

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tonight president obama will change the lives of 5 million people in a major way. we will look at the power of the pen coming up next, but first, hampton pearson has the cnbc market wrap. hi, hampton. >> let's do look at how the stocks stand going into tomorrow. the dow closing higher, 33 points. the s&p up about four points. the nasdaq rising 26 points higher, as well. that's it from cnbc, first in business worldwide.

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our journey is not complete until we welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see america as the land of opportunity. until bright young students and engineers are enlisted in our workforce rather than expelled in our country. >> following the passage of healthcare in his first term, immigration was to be the centerpiece of the second term agenda. in fact, those two issues may end up bookends on an administration that has seen stewardship of the economy and perhaps combatting climate change as the likely legacies of the 44th presidency of the united states, but today's action comes not in the way of a ceremonial bill signing, but in the form of an executive action announced on facebook and in a prime time speech that all four major networks have declined to

cover. with the clock running out and a recalcitrant republican congress, tonight marks the official beginning of president obama's third act, the building of a legacy not through bipartisan cooperation, but single-handed executive choice. >> it isn't about compassion. it seems to be about what the president thinks would be good for his legacy. those are not the motivations that should be driving such sweeping action, and i think the president will come to regret the chapter history writes if he does move forward. joining me now is new york times white house correspondent peter baker and washington bureau chief for time, michael scherer whose piece on immigration is in this week's "time" magazine. you have written that the president feels, quote, liberated and can now pursue his long-term agenda. is it fair that at this point he's playing for the history books? >> well, sure. he's not expected to get a lot

from congress these next couple of years. there are areas of possible cooperation and areas where they have mutual interest and we've talked about those in the last few days, but the big, big, legacy items are the things like climate change, immigration and possibly foreign policy and those are things where he can have a fair degree of latitude with congress. in terms of what republicans can actually do to stop this action. the hill has a headline that read house gop panel says defunding immigration order is impossible. as yet, i have not heard of any feasible legislatesive levers that can throw a wrench in this, have you? >> i think they'll come up with something. what they can do is defund it through appropriations because what's going to be happening is the deferred actions for these undocumented immigrants is going to be funded through fees in these agencies so they don't need congress's money to make this go forward. i think there's other language they can put in law which the president will almost certainly

veto which could lead to fights and showdowns over other things that would instruct the government not to do certain things. i think the white house is expecting that and the white house is also very clearly sending the message that bier not going to, unless you will come forward with some comprehensive bill, we're not going to let you pick this apart. we will veto and there will not be a way for republicans to overrule the veto, and the most likely outcome if they play hard ball is what mitch mcconnell said he will not do which is another government shutdown. >> >> in terms of the accusatio that this is an executive overreach. i wonder how you think this has an echo effect on other pieces of legislation and the keystone pipeline, for example, likely will see another vote in congress in the next session. do you think this informs a

possible veto on something like that? one reason they're not concerned about the legal issue even though there is a robust debate over whether he's exceeding powers or not is that there's very little chance the courts would intervene and nobody who has a case to bring and exacting, exactly. so i think they feel comfortable that even if they've exceeded the legal grasp nobody has been able to call him on it, basically. there is the overlap issue and does this poison the well? it has dominated the conversation in the weeks after the election. there's no more talk about reconciliation and compromise and only talk about this issue and whether it's been provocative or not and the white house is contemplating that getting it out of the way early they can compartmentalize and do business in other things and we'll have additional confrontations about keystone and in the weeks to come. >> and the attorney general nominee. i wonder to what degree they

think that loretta lynch will be the sacrificial lamb here, michael? >> it's totally possible that they hold that up. at some point there is a legacy they haven't talked about and the legacy of his 20-12, electoral coalition and republicans can alienate hispanics by making everything about this issue going forward. and hillary clinton, i assume she's running would be happy to inherit a narrative along those lines and i think president obama would be happy to give it to her. i wonder how unified you think democrats are on this, it's worth noting that he came out moments ago and said i am as

frustrated as anyone that congress is not doing its job, but the president shouldn't make

such significant policy changes on his own. does this become some something that moderate or -- there aren't very many red state democrats left at the present moment, but moderate centrist democrats have to tread a careful line on? i think it's going to be a huge story next year and mcconnell will be counting all year and he'll need four, five, six, serve seven moderates, and i don't think there's enough vote to override a veto. >> foreign policy is not one that has served him particularly well, given the increasing complications in that part of the world and i speak of particularly syria and also iran. we are working on a deal with iran that folks, the negotiators are saying the deadline is thanks for your time. >> we have knowa update. due to the amount of snow in upstate new york the jets-bills game will not be played in buffalo this weekend. that game will be rescheduled and relocated. we'll have more after the break. about 55.

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237. the nas are 150, the bill is passioned and without question the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. >> that was the sound of science being gavelled into silence by the house of representatives yesterday with passage of the secret science reform act of 2014. the object i have here, to require the epa to require solely on technical information publicly available in a manner sufficient for independent analysis. that doesn't sound so bad, does it? a well-intentioned manner of transparenc transparency, except it's not. >> the bill before us today is a wolf in sheep's clothing. it is a dangerous attack on the power of knowledge. the only secret here is the true intent of this bill. >> data on air pollution. something the epa is in charge of regulating to determine whether pollution contributes

to, say, asthma, scientists rely on public health data on real people. people whose health records are private. there is a reason why industry data used for research remains confidential and killing the epa's access to those kinds of studies makes it a lot harder for the epa to do its job, but the truly insidious part of the secret science bill is how expensive it makes it for the epa to do what the epa does best. the congressional budget office says implementing this new-fangled bill would cost up to $30,000 per study and up to $250 million a year or instead of spending all those dollars, the epa could just use fewer scientific studies, except for the fairly serious concern that the quality of the agency's work could be compromised. compromise the epa, you say? that is the secret sauce. that's all for now. i'll see you back here tomorrow

at 4:00 p.m. eastern. "the ed show" is up next. good evening, americans, and welcome to "the ed show," live from detroit lakes, minnesota. let's get to work! ♪ ♪ >> my whole life i've been watching cosby. >> the sexual assault allegations. >> the one man known by many as the tv dad. >> after story after story, you look at the whole thing different. >> i don't talk about it. >> nbc pulled the plug. >> nbc, tvland. >> women who claim to have been sexually assaulted by the comedian. >> it's the same m.o. it's the same old story. >> i think he did it, but there's not enough here to prosecute. >> there is no comment about that. >> how dare you? how dare you take advantage of me? >> the voices of the victims are finally being heard. >> there's