t. it is friday january 16th and this is "now." the supreme court of the united states agreed to settle the long standing legal debate over marriage equality. this april, the justices will review an earlier appellate ruling that bans same-sex marriage in four satetates, michigan kentucky ohio, and tennessee. last week florida became the 36th state to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples. let's go to our nbc justice correspondent, pete williams. pete explain to us if you can to those of us at home the events and rulings that led up to this point and gave the supreme court/forced their hand to rule on marriage equality. >> let's not understate the significance of what the court may do here. it is going to be beyond the 14

states that don't have same sex marriage. it is going to go to the majority of the states where same-sex marriage was put into place by court rulings. can a state refuse a license to same sex couples who want to get married in that state? and can a state refuse to recognize a marriage that is legally valid in other states? just last october, the supreme court declined to take this case, which allowed a marriage to take effect in 20 more states. what's different today than was true in october is now there's a split among the circuits. you just mentioned one federal appeals court that covers those four states. it ruled that states can constitutionally ban marriage. the other appeals courts have said no, states can't, it is

intuitionunconstitutional to ban same-sex marriage marriage. it will be a nationwide ruling. >> just to clarify the important explanation you had at the top. this is bigger than 14 states because some states had same-sex marriage bans. now those states who wanted to have bans may not be allowed to or may be allowed to reinstate those bans or go forward with them depending on this ruling thus larger than 14. is that right? >> that's right. if the supreme court says no a state cannot ban same-sex marriage, same-sex marriage becomes the law of the land. it would be legal in every state. in the court says yes, a state can constitutionally ban same-sex marriage, it would still be legal in the states that choose to do it on their own by vote of the people or the state legislature, but other states that want to ban it like these four can still ban it.

it would be a mixed picture, if the court says there's no constitutional right to same-sex marriage. >> let me ask you one more question. we know the supreme court didn't take up this issue in october. it famously took up u.s. versus wind wind windsor. justice kennedy was a swing vote. i know this is obviously very early, but do you as a court watcher have any inkling as to how this might break down on the bench? >> no. i don't think anybody does. i guess the people who brought these cases think that now is there time with marriage in 36 states and this almost consistent rush of lower court rulings that struck down bans so they believe that momentum is on their side, but nothing is certain here. of course it is always possible the court could answer them differently. i can't stand here and think now

of the legal rationale. you have to recognize it from other states. because those two questions are separate i guess you have to consider the possible of a separate outcome, but nobody shows for sure. the stakes are very high here. but you are right to say that justice kennedy, who has written all of the court's major gay rights decision, will be critical. >> pete williams, thank you for the information and clarification. joining me now is heather mcgee and jacob weissburg and nick. jake, let me start with you. i think everybody had something to say about this. the decision of course hasn't been handed down, but the very fact the supreme court is finally going to decide something that has -- the country's attitude about gay marriage has changed so dramatically even from the time president obama was elected into

office, six, seven years ago. what feelings are stirred up when you hear about this? >> i don't think the supreme court is taking this on to delay the tremendous momentum that gay marriage has as a rights revolution, as a cause. i think they've been very cautious about getting ahead of social change. you know there's an argument that you're much better off from the point of view of bringing this change about for it to come through the political process, for people to vote for it as opposed to them having it imposed on them by court. 70% of the population of the country is living in states where gay marriage is legal. not to say they are looking at it through a purely political lens but i think there's a judgment call to be made that they might be a little late. they're not too early. >> they're right about on time.

>> yeah. >> i mean that is a huge part of supreme court decision-making. there's this continual litigating. i think some folks thought the court was ahead of the country on roe v. wade. >> i think there's been a narrative for a long time in our conversation about the court in that the court is sort of this ar arbitor of justice. hindsight, it feels like it was ahead of its time but it really wasn't particularly when you think about civil rights. the court was quite slow in actually making brown real over the next decade. we have to give a lot of credit

for this to people outside of the court. social change happens when culture changes. when people are organized. when the voices of the american people are united and organized. from people who are saying we're trying to influence the courts but doing it in a democratic way. >> the windsor case occupies a spot in history. that decision if gay marriage is made law of the land in summer, that will be seen as a pivotal moment. a lot of people work behind the scenes on that. >> it just puts them back on the cusp of history on an important social issue, but they have been on this cusp over and over again and they have always ruled narrowly on technical grounds.

do they radically embrace it? do they stay on top and go forward or say, narrowly we can do this or that? >> that is an interesting question. how broad can and will this ruling be? james, thanks for joining me. it is a huge huge news day. in terms of this breaking news we have to report, that the supreme court is going to be taking up the issue of marriage equality nick from "the new york times" is pointing out that the court carves out unique spots and tends to shy away from broad decisions. do you think that could come into play that tendency in this case? >> thank you, alex. it is a great day.

look, i don't think they're going to take a small step here. but also there's a way to look at this that there's only a small step left. >> right. >> there are 36 states that have the freedom to marry for same sex couples. 59% of the country already agrees that same sex couples should be able to make that commitment. >> when you talk about the men and the women that have worked to get this case where it is the thing that seems to have forced the supreme court's hand or encourage them to take this up depending on which way your opinion cuts as to the court's enthusiasm for this upcoming decision, when we talk about the events that have led us to this moment, tell us a little bit about the six circuit court. because that ruling as i have read it -- this is breaking

news. one of the judges that ruled in that seemed to say the reason he was ruling is there's a fundamental right for states to decide what marriage is and who is allowed to get married under state law. tell us a little bit about that argument, the sort of federalist argument and how it plays out here. >> well sure. part of the debate here is that states get to decide this. look that argument has been advanced in other contexts as well including in the context of marriage for interracial couples. of course states don't get to decide. they don't have the control over marriage that means they get to decide that interracial couples can't get married. the same is true in this context as well. the constitution is there to

protect all of us. it is there to protect the fundamental values that stitch us together as a society as one of those values is that marriage is a core part of american culture and everybody can get married to the person that they love. >> again, this is highly premature but in terms of justice kennedy, who has been the swing vote on this issue, is there a sense that this is sort of the final piece? it is a big step and a small step that the court needs to take. >> this is the end of a journey the country has been on for a long, long time. you know what? the country wasn't ready in 1970. the country is just ready for this now. this won't be a revolution. it will be enormously important to same sex couples and their

families across the country. it is a small step to finish the job, but it is an enormously important step and an enormously important day. >> thank you. hang with me. when we come back after the break, we'll bring you the latest on the anti-terror raids in europe overnight. plus not a safe operating space for human beings. that would be planet earth, according to scientists. more on ted cruz's role in the coming apocalypse. mitt romney is still thinking about running for president again. we are going to try to figure out why just ahead. ? who are you calling a shrimp? that, my friend, is a big shrimp. it's red lobster's big shrimp festival. i get to pick my perfect pair from six creations for just $15.99. so open wide for crispy jumbo tempura shrimp with soy ginger sauce,

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president obama and british prime minister david cameron are vowing international cooperation against violent extremism as europe widens its crackdown against suspected terror networks. the president and prime minister said the paris attacks call attention to the ongoing threat of extremism and the president raised a fundamental issue in the fight against radicalization. >> our biggest advantage is our muslim populations, they feel themselves to be americans. >> prime minister cameron agreed but with a caveat. >> you can have tragically people who have had all the advantages of integration, all the economic opportunities that our countries can offer, that still get seduced by this

poisonness radical, death cult of a narrative. >> the press conference comes today after massive anti-terror sweeps across europe. they were a series of raids last night. belgium prosecutors said they disrupted an imminent plan to kill police officers and in germany germany, they searched 11 properties and detained turkish nationals suspected of providing help to those in syria. authorities have announced the belgium and german raids were unrelated to the attacks in paris. people have detained 12 people in paris who are being questioned as to whether they provided support to the suspects in the three day terror spree last week. joining me now is a former fbi special agent, don berelli. let me first ask you practically

speaking -- we're hearing news of all these terror raids, the break up and monitoring of terror cells across europe. to what degree was this happening when we weren't paying attention to what was going on in europe? >> i think we have been paying attention for a long time at least people involved in the counterterrorism business have been looking at europe for a long time. it was even reported today that the u.s. had information about the belgium plot for weeks or months months. while it has been under the radar in the news it's not surprising that this information is coming out now. i'm certainly not surprised to see the action taken by the bell belgians yesterday. obviously, when you break up these cells, you try to keep it under the radar, if you want to protect an ongoing investigation for intelligence purposes.

in this situation, i think the belgians wanted to send a clear message to not only their citizens but the isis supporters. we're on to you. we're going to take action when we deem it necessary. the citizens will be protected at all costs. this was a bit more public and out front than you would normally see in europe. >> is there a measurable gap between how europe conducts surveillance and gather intelligence and how we do? i don't mean in terms of the classic nsa surveillance. is there a gap and do you imagine that gap will close in the coming months and years? >> i think each country in europe has its own unique laws and in some cases those laws are more restrektictive than the laws we have in the u.s. some investigations we could dispatch fbi agents or

investigators to embed with our european counterparts to share that information. but in many cases, the laws are a bit restrictive. they don't have some of the tools that we have in the tool box here. listen, you need to go take action now. go out and arrest the people involved. they're getting close to the plot and their laws would not allow them to do that. >> thank you for the info. back with me my guests. the president -- there was a long press conference. i what are your thoughts on that analysis, that conclusion? >> i think that was a sign of a less fearful president about saying what he really believes about our highest ideals and aspirations. you can see the president

responding maybe a year ago and not wanting to say anything about american muslims. that had often been the case so i was glad to see him say that, in fact, one of our biggest strengths is our diversity and the integration that we aspire to on our home soil in the u.s. >> jake? >> i think it is a very important point that obama makes. there are big differences between america's muslim population population and in europe. i think the big difference is the one he puts his finger on which is there is economic opportunity here which is much greater than it is in europe for muslim immigrants. and there's the opportunity to assimilate to become this -- there's really no argument to the effect that you can't be muslim-american. that you can't be muslim and

american. in many of these european countries, it is still seen as a conflict. it is a minority. it is discriminated against and the prospect is for it to stay that way. >> i have to bring in this case today. duke, the university was going to allow the muslim call to prayer from its bell tower and they reversed that decision stay today because there was a great amount of uproar on campus. what do we make of that? is that a sign of -- >> america is a great place to be a muslim and start a business and raise a family and be an immigrant relative to other countries, and certainly to some home countries for these people. but there are pockets of intolerance of this faith. it is too bad i think that duke had to shut it down. from the stories i have read it is about threats that were made, security issues.

i thought it was beautiful to see this church allow a different faith to celebrate in their building, which is very american to me. >> and an important part of exactly what the president was talking about. i want to get everybody's read on how the french have responded to this. we know that the french government has a greater amount of leeway to crack down on dangerous speech and in the recent days after the paris attack a 28-year-old man was sentenced to six months in prison after he was found guilty of shouting support for the kouachi brothers as he passed a police station. another man praised the acts of the gunmen while the police detained him and was sentenced on monday to four years in prison. the french government sees these people as threats and they are

going to be locked up for months and in some cases years. when you think about whether or what that does to a population that feels targeted and marginalized people will say absolutely with reason what are the long-term ripple effects of this? >> the shoe has been on the other foot with the hate speech laws are people are often prosecuted for saying hateful or prejudicial things about muslims. you combine that with the french culture of secularism. >> pretend nobody is religious as opposed to everybody can be religious. >> the country is known for not

being religious. i am particularly concerned about this overreaction to people saying things which while hateful and terrible, are not terrorism and are not support for terrorism and are not committing terrorism. >> at the moment that "charlie hebdo" is printing up copies of its newspaper, some muslims will say this is as hateful to me as a guy driving by a police station and yelling support for the kouachi brothers. >> we have to remember that "charlie hebdo" is a left newspaper in france. by attacking the french left which granted many political ideologies has its problem with race but it was a pro-immigrant, although

satirical newspaper, it is isolating. so i think the friends that i have in france that are on the left are really reeling and figuring out what to do now. where's the safe space to reach out to the muslim community in france when there's been this attack against one of their own. >> there was a huge uproar in france after it was revealed that the u.s. had been spying on french citizens or surveilling them and now the whole debate over wiretapping takes a different twist, if you will. i wonder to what degree do we expect the contours of that debate totally get sanded down in the wake of something like this. >> i reminds me a little bit of the u.s. after 9/11 to see a similar debate. terrorism is a lot more frequent

or common or familiar unfortunately to people in europe. you would not have thought to see a similar unfolding or a kind of a panic about doing sweeps and surveillance. we're seeing that now. it shows you what a moment this has become in europe. >> this was called the 9/11 for europe. it is definitely an inflection point, to put it mildly. real proof from real scientists about the threat of climate change. that's next. sound good? great. because you're not you you're a whole airline... and it's not a ticket you're upgrading it's your entire operations, from domestic to international... which means you need help from a whole team of advisors. from workforce strategies to tech solutions and a thousand other things. so you call pwc. the right people to get the extraordinary done. ♪ ♪

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have announced that this year was the hottest year ever recorded. for those who aren't scientists climate change is real. here is that info in chart form going back to the year 1880. the redder it gets, the hotter it gots. 18 climate scientists concluded that earth in the coming decades could cease to be a, quote, safe operating space for human beings. that's not the news you want to open up and read on friday morning. joining me now is dr. gavin schmidt. ted cruz who is now heading up the subcommittee on science, has

said there's been no climate warming. what is the number people can't seem to grasp? >> people don't like bad news. there's all sorts of ways to fool yourself into thinking this isn't happening. when you get an opportunity like this, the 2014 data which comes on top of 2010, which was the warmest year and 2005 which was the warmest year they talk about that. >> el nino happened in 1998. that globally rose temperatures. republicans cite that because those temperatures were warmer as evidence that we have cooled off since then. >> we haven't. you have a long-term trend that's being driven by greenhouse gases and noise on top of it.

some of it is related to el nino and some of it is related to basic weather patterns. if you're smart with your statistics, you can draw lines any which way you like. the planet is warming. the record temperatures that we're seeing in the ocean and regionally and in the arctic all of these things are real and they're being caused by us. >> when we find ourselves talking about climate change and species extinction, mass chaos and they thinkings dying off, this is a huge economic argument. but the issue of climate change is a huge economic problem. it is a huge political problem, which is why the department of defense in the united states of america has called it a huge pressing national security issue. what better term should we be

using to talk about this in framing it economically? >> a few years ago, there were a series of reports going down to the state level to see what the economic impact could be to the states. it is immensely difficult. the fact is it is an economic problem because it is an economic imperative from the oil and gas fossil fuel industry that is driving the republican party to be a climate denying party. so we have now got these new leaders of our really important environmental and science committees who are some of the biggest climate deniers, whose number one contributors are the oil and gas industry -- and it is so deeply shortsighted. for a very small amount of money in the grand scheme of things these republican congress members and senators are saying i'd rather get this contribution

check and fill in with this ideology of anti-regulation than invest in my country for the long haul. >> the issue of fossil fuels and the fact they have such a grip on the political process, in the 2014 midterms there was -- the number of dollars donated by big oil to candidates to sitting congressional representatives and senators is dramatic. john boehner yesterday was asked about climate change. and basically, he said we have had changes in the climate, but i'll let the scientists debate their source. that is a very convenient way of actually dealing with the problem. >> we have a scientist right here. if anyone wants to call him and ask him, he's right here. >> he's also not an economist. >> government officials make

decisions all the time without having ph.d.s in the subjects. there's politics here too, which is i'm fighting climate change could make life more expensive. which is a problem politically for everybody. it's a problem for both sides, and that's the underlying fault line in politics i think. >> to not have this totally be depressing discussion we're having past a certain point there's not much we can do. but there is still mitigating that is still possible at this point. >> there isn't going to be one point at which there is no point in doing anything. we're always going to be making decisions that are better for the climate or worse for the climate. hopefully, we can get better at making decisions that are better for the climate in appropriate and cost-effective ways. and the earlier that we do that

the easier it is going to be. the big problem with climate change is the longevity. it stays around for decades and centuries and even longer. once you start warming up the oceans they stay warm for decades and centuries and longer. we're talking about a system that is like a super tanker. hey, watch out. there's rocks over there. you might want to start moving. everyone is just say, no i can't see it. it's foggy. we need to be building a sustainable conversation about dealing with this. this isn't just going to be an issue for 2014 and 2015. it is going to be an issue for the next decade and the decade after that. it has to be something that works regardless of who the chairman of the subcommittee is. it has to work regardless of who the president is. it has to be a conversation that brings in more of these groups

and more of these church groups evangelicals evangelicals, catholic groups, they are all on board that we have to be good stewards of the environment and the earth. there are constituencies that do care about this, even some republican congressmen. there are people who can be talked to across the whole spectrum. >> in terms of the country embracing the reality of this, katherine richardson writes today, the american ethic is the sky is the limit. no, it isn't. the earth is the limit. do you think there's some fundamental sort of difficulty that we have philosophically in tackling this because of our americanness? >> no i don't think so. look at the beginning of the show we were talking about gay

marriage an issue where in a period of six years the impossible became the certain, where public thinking just dramatically changed. why isn't that possible on climate change? is it actually happening and we're just not quite as far along with it? the question is going back to what nick was talking about is there people who have economic interests as opposed to moral views that makes it harder to change? i think opinions starting to change very dramatically on climate change. as in gay marriage, this may be 2008. not 2015. >> remember the days when newt gingrich and nancy pelosi sat on couches together and talked about climate change. we have to leave it there. please come back every day and tell us what the real facts are, because clearly some people are not scientists.

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tonight in san diego, mitt romney is set to deliver his first public comments since he shook up the 2016 race one month ago. peggy noonan urged mitt romney,

don't do it. there was exactly no mitt momentum. politico reports all have deep skepticism about a mitt romney bid. then there was the cochair of romney's 2012 campaign. >> i'm not happy frankly with the way he has chosen to reenter presidential politics and i think his friends need to be honest with him about it. >> ben, the former obama campaign staffer, how did you and your friends greet news of romney's potential entrance in the 2016 campaign? >> this was a moment we never thought we would revisit. the candidate who paid $12 million in cash for his house in la jolla has now declared

himself the poverty candidate. it's easy to live in a bubble where you have developed a network of donors and supporters who sometimes tell you what you want to hear. i think in this case romney heard what he wanted to hear but didn't necessarily measure where the support lay among grass roots activists, but i think democrats are reaching for a big tub of jiffy pop this week because it really has shaken up the field and made the republican primaries more complicated than they would have been. >> yes candidates live in a bubble, but usually when you are no longer a candidate, you're not still living in that bubble. do you think he's surprised that almost every republican out there has been i don't know? >> like father like son. romney's dad was the punch line to a joke about the guy who couldn't stop running for president, even though nobody wanted him to.

third time around he's finally living up to his dad. that suggested he's going to run. i think george romney ran five times. he's also going to run in 2020 and 2024. >> from a democratic standpoint hillary's people say i hope he's in the nominee. we will cream him. >> i have never seen a smile that big on ben's face. >> he's got the talking points already. it's done. the work is done. >> romney has his fans and he was the strongest candidate in a weak field in 2012. with chris christie looking damaged and beat up from the scandals and jeb bush on the far side of a run, he was thinking you know what? i can get back into this. when jeb got in, it was a real shock and they had to really scramble. the problem is there are, you know, all these people in the

gop who want this to be their moment to roll out the next generation. >> right. >> and instead, it's mitt romney and george bush. i just wonder for that party, that's their chance to show they have a deeper bent which they do. >> the bench is deep. the bench is overpopulated. the bench has turned into the bleachers. there's news that lindsey graham is quashing speculation that he's going to run. can they shrink the number of people who are going to run for president in 2016? >> it doesn't look like it in this phase. there's a huge dichotomy of views on social issues on

economic policy, we'll see that play out over the next couple of years. we don't whether the republican primary electorate has changed it all. does somebody like governor jeb bush play in a state like that? it may be the republican primary electorate hasn't changed and some of the candidates may move to the stop of the list once certain states become important. >> the rnc has moved the primary into july from august to give the rebel rousers less time to take down their preferred establishment candidate of their choice. then three of nine of the debates are going to be on fox or on fox business. if you can't deal with it shut down the avenues of discussion or participation. >> i think many of the perceived

ed ed differences are just window dressing. when it comes down to what members of congress and the president actually end up spending most of their time on which is economic policy decisions, special interest wish lists, there's not a lot of diversity within the republican party. i would like to see an active democratic primary as well. we have spent all this time talking about the republican bleachers and not the democratic party. i think it would be good for both parties and lots of parties to have contested primaries. >> there is no bench. there is a seat on the field versus an entire bleacher full of republicans. we already know who is going to be working on hillary clinton's

campaign this week. there is a lot of speculation. the staff may already be in place. >> nobody seems to be running against her. you have a curious dynamic in the democratic party. you have the intellectual force and energy is all around elizabeth warren who is not running, who thinks she can most influential without running. there's no gravitational force onto right side of the party. >> well ted cruz is -- >> i'm talking about the democrats. hillary clinton is the center and trying to occupy all the space. there's sort of no other counterpoint. i think that dynamic is going to

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that's all for now. "the ed show" is coming up next. good evening americans, and welcome to "the ed show" live from new york. let's get to work. >> if you're going to run for president -- >> i say something to defend someone. >> is he in or is he out? >> i never plan on becoming a politician. >> we are visibly giving every belief and every value for the sake of political careers. >> it's very difficult to speak to a large group of people these days and not offend someone. >> for the sake of political correctness. >> construed as nasty or offensive. >> we have to change that. >> not