week. plus, new poll numbers that show he may have an uphill battle. police catch up with a pair of teenage sweethearts wanted in a crime spree across the south. how their run from the law ended this morning. how did he survive? a man somehow walks away from a crash between two semis and all he needed afterwards were two little things. for the record books. new numbers about the pope's mass today in the philippines. ♪ good day to all of you. it is high noon here in the east. welcome to "weekends with alex witt." we begin with breaking news. a car drove nearby joe biden's home in delaware and multiple shots were fired. kristen, what's the latest? >> just to set the scene at the vice president's house, it is located several hundred yards off of the main road not

visible from the main record. according to an official with the secret service, this all unfolded last night at about 8:00. that's when that car drove down that main road near vice president biden's house at a high rate of speed. secret service officials say they heard multiple shots fired and then the vehicle drove off at a high rate of speed. they set up a security perimeter, started their investigation in conjunction with new castle county police. about an hour later, alex at 9:00 p.m. last night, a vehicle drove by police was acting suspiciously, so officials stopped that person arrested him, took him into custody for resisting arrest, and questioned him. at this point in time there's no indication that the two incidents are related. it's important to point that out. but obviously police very interested in talking to this person. the investigation continues today. we have a reporter on the scene from our affiliate wcau who says that police continue their investigation throughout the day and are on scene at this point in time.

meanwhile, i was told by a senior administration official that vice president biden and dr. jill biden, who were not home at the time were briefed late last night on everything that unfolded. the white house obviously watching this very closely as well. >> okay. kristen, couple things. this is not the naval observatory, right? this is their private home. >> correct. >> and how far away is their home from the road where these shots were fired? you said it was back a little bit, but how far? >> it's about several hundred yards, alex. you can't see the home from the main road. i have reported from vice president biden's house in delaware before. it's not visible to the naked eye when you're standing on that public road. however, obviously this was of serious concern to officials, to secret service officials who were posted outside and saw that vehicle drive by who heard those shots fired and saw that vehicle drive off at a high rate of speed. so very important to point out that point, alex.

that this home is offset. it's secluded to some extent. still, this is being taken very seriously as police and secret service continue their investigation. >> as well it should. thank you so much for that. let's go to a developing story. the freezing rain creating dangerous driving and walking conditions around the northeast. a massive pileup involving at least 60 vehicles happened on interstate 76 in montgomery county pennsylvania and at least one person has been killed. here in new york city, at least two bridges were closed because of the dangerous conditions. new jersey state police say 231 accidents were reported just since midnight. the state tran sit service had to suspend bus service statewide. let's get more on the forecast. to do that we go to the weather channel's paul goodloe. hey, paul. >> alex it has been a mess across much of the mid-atlantic the northeast, even new england this morning with rain coming in on top of very cold air at the surface. frozen roadways frozen bridges, a lot of freezing it rain and ice on the roads.

we're talking about hundreds and hundreds of accidents. even some injuries as well. at the height of this we had about 32 million people under some type of advisory or warning this morning because of the ice. that number has dropped down to around 24 million. still, that's a lot of people dealing with frozen weather this morning. here in foxboro, our temperature has been steadily climbing. now we're in the middle 40s. our forecast for the afc championship game going on in gillette stadium behind me is for temperatures to top out in the mid to low 40s with rain coming in. just rain here in foxboro. we're no longer under a freezing rain advisory. same thing with boston. but areas west and south of here still dealing with that. patriot fans are all over the northeast and mid-atlantic and new england. some of those perhaps delayed because of the weather conditions this morning. the good news is this game is going on at 6:40 versus say, noon. so we expect that conditions even across the region all

across the area to rise above freezing as we head throughout the rest of this afternoon. but the damage is already done for millions of residents across the northeast and new england. again, unfortunately, it's been a mess this morning. but in terms of the forecast for later on tonight and tomorrow we expect the rain to push on through. cooler air to come through, but we don't expect the ice as we head towards monday morning across the region. that's the only good news here. again, for the game behind me what we do at the weather channel is we forecast the winner based on how these two teams performed in previous weather similar to the forecast we're forecasting. again, with with the rain we take a look at the stats and the hometown patriots the past two seasons, they are 2-0 in rainy weather. the colts, they are 0-2 playing in the rain the last two seasons. based on that, my forecast is for the patriots to win the game tonight and go on to play in super bowl xlix. alex? >> i love you weather geeks at the weather channel.

paul goodloe, thank you for that. well this morning, two kentucky teens are in police custody after being on the run for more than two weeks. police captured them overnight in the florida panhandle. nbc's kristen dahlgren has more. >> reporter: 18-year-old dalton hayes in custody this morning along with his 13-year-old girlfriend cheyenne phillips. the local abc affiliate showing hayes in police custody. police say their crime spree spanned several states. >> they're not accused of committing any violent crimes but with the teens thought to have two stolen handguns there were concerns about things escalating. phillips was first reported missing two weeks ago, the same day hayes changed his facebook status to engaged. a week later, police say the teens stole two trucks ditching one and using the other to flee kentucky. on january 12th they were spotted at a south carolina walmart buying mints and allegedly cashing stolen checks for $40. days it later, this truck was

found abandoned in georgia while another truck, one like this with two guns in the back was taken from a firefighter. dalton's mom said she hadn't heard from her son since this text january 6th. i'm fine and safe. i love you. you are my number one hero. then friday reports they were seen in florida. and now word this morning that they're in police custody. police say found asleep in a stolen vehicle outside a restaurant in panama city florida, bringing two weeks of drama and tension to an end. >> and that was nbc's kristen dahlgren reporting. let's head oversea where is the ripples from the "charlie hebdo" are churning around the world. protests have turned deadly in muslim countries. at least three people have been killed in a former french colony. there are reports one man was burned alive and one of several catholics churches set on fire. on today's "meet the press," the

editor in chief of "charlie hebdo" responded to the violent protests. >> we do not kill anyone. we must stop conflating the murderers and the victims. we must stop declaring that those who write and draw are provocateurs that they are throwing gas on the fire. we must not place thinkers and artists in the same category as murderers murderers. >> joining me from paris for the latest is nbc news' ron allen. what's been the reaction to all this in france? >> reporter: well alex one reaction has been there are millions of people in the streets here and across this country last weekend essentially supporting what the editor just said supporting "charlie hebdo" the magazine, and supporting the idea of freedom of expression and free speech. there's a new poll out today that essentially says 57% of the people here agree with that

idea. the question was, should newspapers continue to publish images of the prophet muhammad which of course have enflamed passions in the muslim world. 57% agree with that idea. 42%, however disagree with it, which is a significant number of people who say there should be limits or at least some second thoughts about just how far you go in publishing these images and what you publish. a significant number but still a majority of 57% of people who agree with the idea that the newspaper editor just espoused. still a strong feeling here about the idea about the notion the value of freedom of expression. at the same time, here in france over the past week or so since the attacks, there are literally dozens of people who have been arrested for hate speech, for saying things and being accused of inciting terrorism or saying things supportive of the terrorists or the killers, the gunmen who carried out those attacks. some people are saying that there's perhaps a double

standard, that those people could be arrested for doing that saying things while the newspaper can publish these images that clearly cause offense to some people in certain parts of the world. meanwhile, the investigation continues. overnight, there were three people released from custody in france. we believe they were female associates of the 12 people they took into custody a couple of days ago. there are still nine in custody here. authorities still trying to get to the bottom of the attacks, who provided weaponry, money, hideouts, and other support to the gunmen here. across europe, there are still a number of people dozens who are in custody. officials in belgium, germany, greece among some of the countries where they are doing pre-emptive arrests to try and stop any potential attacks from happening. here again, a concern about more future attacks. investigation continues. still people in custody and the roundups and raids continue across europe. >> all right. thank you so much, ron allen, from paris. appreciate that.

in other news now, a record 6 million people attended a papal mass in the philippines today. pope francis rapped up his pilgrimage in the capital city of manila. the previous record crowd for the vatican was 5 million, who turned out for st. john paul ii's final mass in 1995. incredible story out of oregon. a big pileup on icy road conditions, but a man was pinned between two semi trucks and walked away with mere scratches. in fact, all he needed to cover his cuts were two band-aids. the escape happened after a crash that involved about 26 vehicles, most of them trucks. about a dozen people were taken to the hospital with minor injuries. on the eve of the martin luther king holiday, oprah winfrey is expected to lead a march in selma, alabama, later today in honor of the late civil rights leader. winfrey is a producer of the oscar-nominated film "selma." on friday winfrey attended a private screening of the film at the white house.

and a single case of measles in orange county has turn sbod a minor crisis for california and surrounding states. officials now confirm more than 50 people have been infected with the disease. what's worse, the outbreak has now spread beyond people who contracted the virus at the theme park. experts say one reason the disease is moving so rapidly is the falling vaccination rates among kindergarteners in orange county. a new nbc news "wall street journal" poll is showing mixed results when it comes to how americans feel about the state of the nation. this comes two days before the president delivers his state of the union address. here's what the poll found. 40% saying the state of our nation is divided. 23% saying it's recovering. 19% say it's troubled. deteriorating was the response of 19%. 16% saying broken. 16% saying hopeful. while only 4% said the state of our nation is strong. meantime we are getting some new insight into what president obama will say when he delivers his address on tuesday

night. the president is expected to call on congress to raise taxes for the nation's wealthiest taxpayers in order to give some relief to the struggling middle class. let's bring in new york democrat congressman steve israel. the congressman is the former chairman of the democratic campaign committee. welcome to the show. >> great to be with you. thank you. >> let's talk about the president who laid out a slate of financial reforms on tuesday. what do you see as being the key components of that? >> well i hope that when the president gives his state of the union he focuses on two words, paycheck growth. there's a sense in the middle class in this country that if you're very rich the government has been there for you, if you're very poor the government helps you out, but if you're in between, the government has lost absolute track of you. i'm not saying that government has all the answers, but it would be nice if government just had the backs of the middle class. that's what i think this state of the union will do. it's going to propose a very significant tax cut for middle class families. paid for by bringing the capital gains rate to where it was in

the reagan administration. and paid for by eliminating trust fund loopholes. those are the kind of common sense financial policies that will grow paychecks again in this country. >> and imposing a fee as well in the big financial firms with assets of more than $50 billion. right now, the republicans hold a majority in the house and the senate. historically, legislation proposed in the state of the union addresses during a divided government has just over a 40% success level. many of these proposals are already opposed by many republicans. how does the white house expect them to get passed? >> well, alex this is going to be a test of the new majority republican major in the senate and the expanded republican majority in the house. this is going to be about, who you are you for? why are you in washington? if you're going to protect and defend trust fund loopholes and protect and defend more tax cuts for the wealthiest who have done very well during this recovery and turn your back on middle class, i think people are going to remember that. you remember alex in 1992,

jaim carville famously said it's the economy, stupid. in 2014 2015 it's my paycheck stupid. and the dividing line in congress is going to be, are you for bigger paychecks for the middle class, or for more subsidies and tax cuts for the subsidies and very rich. >> all right. we're going to be quoting steve israel in 2015 with it's my paycheck stupid. "the new york times" has commented on the president's plan. here's the quote. it is also the latest indication that the president untethered from political constrainted after democratic losses in the midterm elections is moving aggressively to set the terms of that discussion even as he pushes audacious moves in other areas like immigration and relations with cuba. do you think a lame duck president, this president, can successfully set a political agenda as the political establishment is looking ahead almost two years from now, less than, two 2016? >> yes, alex.

if he roots in everything in middle class strength middle class progress and opportunity. the middle class, they want big, bold, they want solutions. republicans in the house of representatives and the senate have been big and bold in terms of bailing out the rich. republicans in the house and senate have been audacious in terms of providing more tax cuts for the very wealthy. and squeezing paychecks for average, hard-working middle class americans. those average-, hard-working middle class americans want to see compromise and progress. they keep hearing these statistics about how the economy is recovering. it is statistically. all they know is when they look at their pay stubs, they're not seeing that recovery. this state of the union will acknowledge that we have built a foundation of progress for the economy, but now that foundation has to grow those paychecks and pay stubs for the middle class. >> okay. last question i want you to put on a second hat as an author. i want to talk about your new book, which is "the global war

on morris." it's a political satire. it does lambaste the very real administration of president george w. bush. do you think there are real life lessons in your book? >> oh absolutely. in washington sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. this is the story of an incident american on long island who was the victim of excessive surveillance and spying by the bush administration. it is satire. it has been called hilariously funny. but i've learned, alex that it's not that the book is that good in the reviews. it's that a book by a congressman is presumed to be that bad. i'm gratified by the reviews. i hope people will agree with me it's a hilarious look at some of the excesses of the bush administration in the global war on terror. >> you're certainly showing your humor and charm here on the show. thank you very much representative steve israel. >> thank you. >> a half a dozen american lawmakers are in cuba today hammering out the details as the u.s. swiftly move toward normalizing a relationship with that country. so what will a new future with cuba look like? and how can the president and his allies overcome staunch

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want to go back to the developing story here in the northeast as freezing it rain continues to create dangerous driving conditions across multiple states. wcau joins us from montgomery county, pennsylvania. they've had a fatal accident near where you are, matt. what's the latest? >> reporter: well this accident happened almost six hours ago and the cleanup continues. you're looking at interstate 76. this is a major road in eastern pennsylvania. you can see within the past 30 minutes, one lane has been getting by here on the eastbound side. now, the crash happened on the westbound lanes. you can see that over there on the left side of your screen. we've been seeing tow trucks

come by and remove some of these vehicles. updated numbers here, 56 cars were involved in this pileup early this morning. 30 people injured and one person died out here as well. it was so bad at one point that police had to use a bus to take the injured people to hospitals because there were so many. so as you look live right now, you can see that the cleanup is still under way. there's no indication from state officials at this point of when that road is going to be reopened there on westbound lanes. but this has been a big problem for much of the morning here near philadelphia. alex? >> okay. matt, thank you so much for that. for all of you out there walking, too, be careful. the move to normalize relations with cuba is moving forward. six u.s. lawmakers are in cuba today to meet with government leaders, international diplomats, as well as church officials. new rules went into effect yesterday. let's bring in a political

features writer for "the washington post" and a good friend of this prod cast. manuel, good to see you. what do you see as the new future for cuba? what's that going to look like? >> it's still being written right now. this is a country that in some respects is living in a time warp. old cars infrastructure that's just a mess. people talk about buildings falling down right before their eyes in cuba. this is going to be a long road. >> okay. after the president's december announcement, here's what you wrote. the sweeping changes to u.s. policy on cuba did fundamentally alter a cure yoe of american foreign policy that deeply influenced popular culture. so what happens when cuba becomes just another one in the neighborhood here? >> i think it'll be a while until it is just another country in the neighborhood. it still is a place that elicits incredible passions from people not only in florida but in other parts of the country.

but what we saw, and i think what allowed the obama administration, the space to do what they have done is that there's a generational change among cuban-americans, and younger cuban-americans had grown tired of a policy that they did not think was working. >> well there's a lot of opposition still toward this move. you mentioned cuban-americans. there's politicians, including florida republican senator marco rubio. he said the new rules skirt the law. is there enough opposition to slow or potentially stop the president's plan? >> i don't believe that there is enough opposition to completely stop it. but there is certainly enough opposition to complicate things for the president. for instance he'll want to get an ambassador set up in havana. that has to go through the senate. very strong voices like marco rubio and like bob menendez from new jersey will step in and

attempt to slow that process or completely block it. >> okay. manuel, we'll see what happens. thanks so much. >> it's so great to be with you. >> thanks. ahead a live report from the tea party convention in myrtle beach as the ultra conservative group seeks out their 2016 contender. first, the best and worst cities to work in. does your town top the list? that's next in number ones. earning unlimite purchases. that's a win. but imagine earning it twice. introducing the citi® double cash card. it lets you earn cash back twice, once when you buy and again as you pay. it's cash back. then cash back again. and that's a cash back win-win . the citi double cash card. the only card that lets you earn cash back twice on every purchase with 1% when you buy and 1% as you pay. with two ways to earn, it makes a lot of other cards seem one-sided.

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so cvs health is changing healthcare. making it more accessible and affordable with over 900 locations for walk-in medical care. and more on the way. minuteclinic. another innovation from cvs health. because health is everything. let's get down to today's number ones. in a new poll on what americans think are the nation's top priorities, fighting terrorism stops the list for the first time in five years. 76% of americans cite defending the country against terror as a top part. 75% include the economy. 67% name jobs as the priority. with plenty of sun and surf miami is a tropical playground, but what about a great place for work? a new career bliss study says it is. miami tops the list of happiest

cities to work in. the city includes a range of factors it like work environment and opportunities for career advancement. on the other hand, cleveland is named the unhappiest place. many cities faring poorly are in so-called bad weather areas. now lebron james has returned to cleveland from miami may not when a big winner in the standings just yet, but he has the best-selling jersey in the nba this year. >> what's your name? do bears even have names? >> of course they do. my name is -- >> wow bad manners. that is paddington bear. it's opening this weekend at the box office. it's expected to bring in about $25 million. however, "american sniper" appears to be the big money winner with projected earnings around $75 million. maybe even $80 million or more through monday. receiving six oscar nominations last week will surely help boost "american sniper" box office take. those are your number ones. it's a fact. kind of like mute buttons equal danger.

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welcome back to "weekends with alex witt." new details are coming in today on the major anti-terrorism raids across europe. the paris prosecutors office has confirmed that three of the 12 suspects arrested friday morning have been released. the three released women are believed to be companions of those men still in custody. authorities are investigating whether the group provided logistical support for the paris attacks. meanwhile, belgian authorities say five suspects are now in custody, all linked to the cell they say was planning imminent attacks on police throughout the country. in a new interview this morning, the director of euro poll issued a stark warning about the threat of sleeper cells. >> the people responsible for these outrages in paris are part of what was thought to be a dormant cell not active since around 2005 and 2006. so what it shows you is that even so-called older cells, sleeping in nature can wake up at any time and carry out terrible attacks. >> joining me now, msnbc contributor donn birr relly

former fbi special assistant in charge of the joint terrorism task force. welcome to you, don. with what he was just saying these dormant sleeper cells, this one had been dormant since 2005 or 2006. they come back. let's add following them to everyone else out there on the profile. >> it's a daunting task for sure. to physically follow people around 24 hours a day takes a huge amount of resources. you multiply that by the number of people out there. there are not enough police officers available to do that. what you need to have is good intelligence network in place. human intelligence sources, electronic surveillance along with physical surveillance. and you need the support of the community. i mean you know the old saying here in new york. if you see something, say something. you need the public support to tip you off because you cannot follow everybody 24/7. >> let's talk about these raids across europe and also -- well that potential attack on the u.s. capital that we found out about this week.

people might get the sense that there are home grown terrorists everywhere. but the actual attacks are pretty rare. so is that because they aren't everywhere or is it because law enforcement is that good? considering what you just said about the description of what law enforcement has to tackle what is it? >> it's a variety of things. i mean it's important also to put the distinction between what happened in europe with the kouachi brothers versus the individual planning the attack on capitol hill. very different situation. you had two brothers in france that had received training. they were prepared. they had planning. they had logistical support. they had money. versus this lone wolf situation we saw with the capitol plot. so you have a different situation where these individuals, the lone wolves that basically become self-radical ietzed but don't really have any logistical support that fall into the fbi's net. that's not to say they are not

dangerous. they can be very dangerous. you have two situations that are different in this case. >> let's talk about the law enforcement agencies that have been on top of things throughout europe. intelligence communities and the association with the u.s. how closely does everyone work together? and are there still gaps? >> there are gaps but they work very closely together. it's much better than it was before 9/11. i know even in my own experience with the fbi, we would be working very closely with our european counterparts, and in some cases embed fbi agents with our counterparts and vice versa. there's always that intelligence sharing, that collaboration, fbi, cia, military our european counterparts. the level of information sharing is significant. but that's not to say that you can thwart every plot. obviously we've seen that you can't and things fall through the cracks but you do the best you can. but the information sharing is significant. >> what about the technology aspect of things? i know you're aware that u.k. prime minister david cameron came to the white house and made

some proposals. he wants law enforcement communities to have encrypted information. do we need to go there? >> well we have seen over the course of the last seven, eight, ten years the biggest game changer in terrorism has been technology. social media and the like that's recruited people logistical support. everything has been done kind of in this social media realm. law enforcement needs the tools to be able to thwart that and intercept those critical communications. now, the balance is that there needs to be oversight. it needs to not just have, you know, kind of a blanket, swoop up every piece of communication. there does need to be privacy concerns in place. but i actually saw the fbi director speak a couple months ago. his number one fear was this going dark fephenomena would lose

the capacity to intercept these critical communications. we could live in a very dangerous world if that happens. >> okay. don, thank you for your candor. appreciate that. this weekend, we're getting a look at possible conservative candidates who want to be in the white house in 2016. the three-day tea party convention in myrtle beach, south carolina is drawing about 1500 people from across 28 states. today's speakers include texas senator ted cruz and retired neurosurgeon ben carson. let's talk about what's going on there. >> yeah, let's talk about it. so this is definitely a cattle call of sorts for tea party candidates in addition to carson and cruz you have rick santorum tomorrow. this comes at a time when right now there's a lot of action on the establishment side. you see mitt romney indicating he might run after jeb bush is starting to look more seriously at a rub. chris christie isn't too far behind necessarily. but on the tea party side they still also want to make sure

that they have a candidate, one candidate or just two, who can consolidate support and then compete with some of these bigger establishment candidates. >> and are you seeing who that might be? is any one or two people emerging? >> well, it's always the big problem. supporters of every one of these candidates think it should be their guy, and everyone else is just clearly inferior. i've heard the case from a lot of supporters of ben carson here. there's an active effort to the draft him. there are a lot of ted cruz supporters. some rand paul supporters. the things here tend to stay a little more social conservative than other tea party groups here in south carolina. so there's definitely a little more emphasis on social issues than someone like rand paul who's more libertarian. >> so more mainstream republican candidates jeb bush chris christie, mitt romney, what are you hearing about them? >> well over here supporters of the tea party are often very excited to see that so many

establishment republicans are getting in the race. not because they like these guys. i've heard nothing but torrents of insults and abuse thrown at christie, thrown at bush and romney. but because they think they might cancel each other out. they might turn those big-money advertising super pacs on etchach other. they see an opportunity there as long as they can consolidate support behind one of their own. >> does that mean they're more concerned about the potential democratic candidates at this point? >> i have heard a lot less mention of hillary clinton here than i've heard mentions of republican rivals. not just on the presidential level, but especially on the legislative level with john boehner. seems like they want to win this part of the playoff bracket before they start looking at the championship game. >> okay. thank you so much. and as the tea party searches for their prize fighter, looks like mitt romney is stepping back into the ring for the establishment. same man, new message? that's next. locked up. case closed? you don't know "aarp."

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mitt romney is reportedly considering running for president in 2016. in a related story, charlie brown is planning on finally kicking that football. >> mitt romney's potential third run for president did not slip by those folks at "snl." but as the former republican presidential nominee considers another run, part of his message from friday night's address is raising some eyebrows particularly his comments on poverty. here's what "the washington post" writes. quote, in his broadest strokes and aspirations, what romney outlined was an agenda that many americans, republicans and democrats alike, likely could applaud. for the former massachusetts governor the question that will come quickly is whether he has the credibility given his past campaigns to persuasively deliver that message. in other words is this the authentic mitt romney? joining me now, former vermont governor and former head of the democratic national committee,

howard dean, and republican strategist leslie sanchez. we'll go ladies first. leslie, is this the real mitt romney? >> could be third time's a charm. i think there's always been this evolution of governor romney. and governor romney certainly is a strong leader within the establishment, strong fundraiser. but his private sector business experience did not sell well with the public. i think a lot of people are looking at the governor really skeptical about what's going to be new, different. you can shape it any way you like. you can reframe the optics. you can say this is the new authentic version. the reality is he had some discrepancies as governor. he had romney care. now there's a contrast with obamacare. you had a lot of republicans and establishment conservatives scratching their heads, wondering what would be different this time around. >> i'm sensing hesitation in your voice. how about you, governor? would democrats cheer a romney candidacy? >> well, i hope not. because i actually think -- i don't think mitt romney can beat hillary clinton for the reasons laura said.

you know he appears to be willing to say whatever it takes to win. american people get that and they don't like it. but he would drive a lot of people out of the republican primary, and that would be a good thing. a bush/romney fight, clearly two heavy weights, is good for the republican party, because it squeezes out all the people who made fools of themselves last time and branded the republican party in a very unflattering way in the primary. so obviously i have no control over whether he runs or not. i think it's good for the republicans, probably not so good for mitt romney if he does run. >> on the heels of that i want to get with you, leslie on a cbs news 2016 poll, which came out this morning. it found that a majority of americans actually want mitt romney to run in this race. 59% want him to jump in. 50% were backing jeb bush. 40% want mike huckabee. 30% want sarah palin. 27% want rand paul. that's the field right there. here's what florida senator marco rubio said about romney this morning on cbs.

>> polls like this at this stage in an election are nothing but a name recognition. it doesn't surprise me that people that have run for president are doing well in a poll like that. >> so is he right? is that something the romney campaign should take note of? because there's been an awful lot of backlash in his own party. >> it's way too early. i'm still scratching my head on that 30% with sarah palin. sorry. i may be one of the few people. the question is, you know, where does the republican party want to go? i think the party is certainly at war with itself. i think the positives here are that it's a robust state of candidates, going to be a robust debate. where's the heart and soul of the republican party going to land? is it going to be for small government, fiscal responsibility, and working with democrats? because it's an open field. that's what you're seeing a lot of shakeout. it's going to be a good robust primary. it's going to raise an audacious amount of money on both sides. i think it's really going to

land the country, forget the bicoastal liberalism. >> you're absolutely echoing what mike huckabee said this morning on abc. he's seeing that same thing. it's going to come to the center part of the country. governor, i want to get with you on the state of the union. the president will be addressing congress on tuesday. certainly outlining new proposals. is the president being overly optimistic about getting anything done with this congress? >> i think both sides are overly optimistic optimistic. i think it is possible. mitch mcconnell is not a stupid guy. he understands, i think, that if the republicans, when they control the house and the senate, can't get serious legislation on the president's desk then they ought probably not to be in charge of the white house. so it is possible they could work on issues like trade and tax reform. the republicans have to give up a lot of things that they don't want to give up. i personally believe that

corporate income tax should be lowered. i also think it ought to be paid by closing loopholes. that's going to be hard to get republicans to agree with. so this is tough stuff on both sides. i do think the president has the upper hand. the president's been active for the last couple of months, doing things that the american people approve of. the republicans know that the american people do not approve of their views on things like immigration and their views on ordinary middle class people giving ordinary middle class people a chance which they haven't managed to find a way to do. so it'll be fascinating. i'm hoping for the sake of the country they can find a way to work together. but given the last four years, it doesn't look promising yet. but let's see what happens. >> okay. we'll all cross our fingers, i guess. former governor howard dean leslie sanchez, thank you. still ahead, a preview of the president's state of the union address.

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president obama is set to deliver his penultimate state of the union address on tuesday. the president is expected to unveil reforms aimed at closing tax loopholes to ease the burden on the middle class. susan knox is the senior fellow at the new america foundation. she served in the treasury department during both the clinton and obama administrations. with a welcome to you. >> thank you so much. >> glad to have you here. let's go through all of these proposals. here we go. closing the trust fund loophole. the white house saying that's going to ensure the wealthiest americans pay their fair share on inheritances. raising top capital gains and the dividends rates back to the rate that was under president reagan. reforming financial sector taxation. and also a new tax dret for two-earner families. if all these proposals are implemented, how effective would they be for the middle class? >> the idea here is really trying to address the fact that the middle class has not been sharing in the recovery. we're seeing a lot of good economic news coming now. at the end of last year beginning of this year.

but president and white house are really cognizant of the fact that a lot of people do not feel the recovery themselves. and most importantly, the fact that middle-income wages have been stuck. actually for a few decades now. they're just not moving at all. the idea is how do we get more money in people's pockets? in that perspective, this could be very useful could be helpful. it's not going to be the silver bullet that all the sudden families are going to be feeling great. >> okay. you know about the politics of all this. how does this sit with the republican majority in congress? >> well already paul ryan's spokesperson came out saying this is not a serious plan. there are going to be a lot of problems trying to move this politically. i would call this the opening bid for the president of saying i want to signal to the country what my priorities are, where i think we need to be focusing right now. not to say that i think this is going to be the final plan that gets passed. i think there's going to be a lot of negotiation. >> so the president's putting all this in the state of the union. he's also going to do these city tours to help get his message

out. how important is it for him to get the american public just the average citizen, out there behind him? can that make a difference on capitol hill? >> i think it can. i definitely think it can. you know from lobbying your individual members to when people are out home in their districts and are going to town hall meetings and starting to hear about, you know, that thing the president mentioned about free college? that sounds good, can we have that one? there are things in here about retirement plans, which is another thing people are feeling squeezed about. so they're creating an incentive to create automatic iras so people automatically get put into them when their employer doesn't have a pension plan. so it's almost like obamacare. all the sudden the republicans are against it but when people start to realize, gosh you know, i have coverage when i didn't before or that pre-existing condition thing is gone, all the sudden their mindset starts to shift and that has a big impact. >> do you have a sense which one is going to be the biggest uphill battle?

>> i would say the capital gains tax rates because i think the idea, the republican ethos is all about how do we invest in the country, promote growth. their view is that capital gain -- we need to be investing more. the more people are taxed on their investments, which is how this is being framed, the harder it's going to be to grow and move out of that. >> okay. good to see you. see us again. >> absolutely. ahead in the next hour, americans are saving big money at pump, so where's the bounce in the economy? that's coming up. curl up with their favorite man. but here's the thing: about half of men over 40 have some degree of erectile dysfunction. well, viagra helps guys with ed get and keep an erection. and remember, you only take it when you need it. ask your doctor if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain; it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. side effects include headache, flushing, upset stomach and abnormal

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good day to all of you. welcome to "weekends with alex witt." approaching 1:00 p.m. in the east, 10:00 a.m. out west. we start with breaking news. shots were fired near vice president biden's delaware home last night. let's go to nbc's kristen welker who's joining us from the white house. >> first, the vice president's delaware home is located about several hundred yards off the main road from where those shots were fired. according to an official with the secret service, this all unfolded at about 8:00 last night. that's when a car drove by the vice president's house at a high rate of speed, and secret service officials heard those shots fired. they saw a car drive off at a high rate of speed. they then in conjunction with local officials there established a security perimeter and about an hour later at about 9:00 a car drove by was acting suspiciously, so police took that person into custody for

resisting arrest, and they're questioning him to try to determine if there's any connection between that odd behavior and the shots that were fired. i want to underscore this point, alex. at this point in time there is no indication that the two incidents are connected. now, a senior administration official here tells me that vice president biden, dr. jill biden were not home at the time but they were briefed on all of this afterwards. we have a local reporter on the scene with our wcau affiliate there, philadelphia affiliate, who says the investigation is ongoing at this hour as police try to get to the bottom of exactly what happened. at this point, no charges have been filed against anyone. no one was injured. >> all right. let's switch and talk about the state of the union, kristen. of course, that's delivered on tuesday. late yesterday the white house unveiled that tax reform plan that the president's going to outline. share some of the details of that. >> well this is the bottom line alex. the president's plan boils down to this idea. increasing taxes on the wealthy

to help middle class americans with things like housing, childcare, retirement savings. broadly, the president is proposing to raise about $325 billion over the next ten years. here how those numbers break down. the proposal includes increasing the capital gains and dividends tax rates to 28% for high-income earners, imposing a fee on the liabilities of roughly 100 big financial institutions. the idea there, alex is to try to dissuade them from excessive borrowing. then closing the trust fund loophole. administration officials says hundreds of billions of dollars escape taxation every year because the wealthy essentially pass money on to their relatives, and all of that is tax free. so the question where does all of that money go? the president would like it to go toward things like a $500 tax credit for about 24 million credits, streamlining childcare tax incentives up to $3,000 per person, and also funding his plan to pay for the first two years of community college for every student. that is very popular in the

polls, by the way. now, as you know as we've talked about republicans have traditionally opposed increases to capital gains taxes. you can guess what the reaction was. it was swift. it was sharp. i got this from the spokesperson of paul ryan. he says quote, this is not a serious proposal. we lift families up and grow the economy with a simpler, flatter tax code not big tax increases to pay for more washington spending. now, the white house argues that 99% of the impact of the tax increase would fall on the top 1% of earners. polls show many americans favor increasing taxes on the wealthy, but the question is what's going to be different this time? why would congress pass those initiatives this time when it's a republican-controlled congress? obviously an uphill battle there. now, the president feels emboldened to some extent because of the economy, alex which has been showing signs of strength. of course, he only has two more years in office, so he sees all of this as a legacy issue as

well. i'm told he has spent part of this weekend working on his speech. >> you can about imagine. it's only a couple days away. you're outlining the difference and the divide between politicians. we also have new numbers to share about how americans view the state of the union. this is according to the latest nbc news "wall street journal" poll. 40% are saying the state of our nation is divide. how does the president make his case to the average citizen when this nation and the congress seems so divided? >> well you're right, alex. and i am told that what the president's going to do is tout all of the advances that have occurred over the past six years, particularly on the economy. you could expect him to make a very strong case there. the fact the unemployment rate is down to 5.6% the fact that gas prices are down that the auto industry has come back. these are things he wishes democrats had argued more forcefully for in the elections. but then he's going to look to the future and say here's how we

can move forward and find some common ground. by the way, republicans want to find some common ground with president obama. they want to get some things done because they now own congress. they know that their record is going to be up for a vote in 2016. so both sides have identified some areas of common ground. that include things like corporate tax reform but also trade and infrastructure projects. i am told that this is going to be more about selling this uplifting message. that's part of why you saw the white house unveil all of these proposals ahead of time which is a big break with the past. >> okay. kristen welker thank you for the conversation. appreciate it. and we want to remind all of you to watch the state of the union here on msnbc. our coverage begins tuesday night at 8:00 eastern. new details are coming in on the major anti-terrorism raids across europe. the paris prosecutors office has confirmed that three of the 12 suspects arrested friday morning have been released. meanwhile, belgian authorities say that five terrorism suspects are now in custody, all linked to the cell they say was planning imminent attacks on police throughout that country.

protests against "charlie hebdo" magazine have turned deadly in muslim countries. at least three people have been killed in the former french colony of niger. and there are reports that one man was burned alive in one of several catholic churches set on fire there. also in pakistan today, thousands of people took to the streets in cities throughout the country, and on today's "meet the press," the editor in chief of "charlie hebdo" responded to the violent protests. >> translator: we do not kill anyone. we must stop conflating the murderers and victims. we must stop declaring that those who write and draw are provocateurs, that they are throwing gas on the fire. we must not place thinkers and artists in the same category as murderers murderers. >> joining me from paris with the latest, nbc news' ron allen 37 let's talk about the reaction in france. what's it been like? >> well alex it was an interesting poll today in the sunday newspapers that spoke to

that comment that the editor at "charlie hebdo" just made to you. it's said that 57% of the people here support the idea that newspapers should still be able to print images of the prophet muhammad, as was the case last week when that new edition of the news magazine came out that's sparked all the outrage in many parts of the muslim world. at the same time 42% of the population here says that these magazines should programs show some restraint, which is an interesting number. so many people here have been marching in the millions saying "i am charlie." clearly, there's a group of people here who think this issue perhaps needs some rethinking, some restraint. so that was an interesting development. as far as the investigation continues, yes, you're right. we understand three of the suspects here in france were released by authorities, but there are still nine in custody. they're still trying to find all the links to the gunmen who carried out those attacks last week. how did they get their weapons? how did they get their money, vehicles? did anybody provide other

logistic support? there are still a lot of loose ends. and here the detention periods for those suspects has been extended. there are new tough anti-terrorism laws here in effect that allow police to extend the detention of some suspects. they're also going to lead perhaps to greater surveillance and greater security measures here as well. across europe there are also what are best thought of as pre-emptive arrests going on. dozens of people in custody in greece germany, and belgium. in germany, the authorities got such good information about a possible attack that they canceled a large demonstration planned for tomorrow that some said was pro-european, but many others saw as anti-muslim. the gathering was canceled because of concerns about death threats. that gives you an idea of the seriousness of some of these issues here. and this is going to continue for some time because all this relates back to the fact that there are literally hundreds if not thousands of young men in western europe who have gone to

participate in the battles in iraq and syria, supporting groups like isis and al qaeda and have come back home in some cases to continue the fight here on the home front. that's the endemic problem. that's why so much of europe is on high alert. >> absolutely right you are. thank you very much, ron allen, in the heart of paris for us. let's go now to the massive record-breaking turnout today for pope francis on his final day in the philippines. what a scene it was. an estimated 6 million people jamming the parks. nbc's ann thompson joins us from manila. hi, ann. >> hi alex. it really was an incredible sight. vatican officials are calling it the largest event in papal history. 6 million people came to see pope francis today, despite really lousy conditions. though it never showed on the faces of the faithful. the marquee event of pope francis' visit, a mega mass. an active devotion even a tropical storm could not mar. francis again returned to a

theme of his trip the protection of children. >> we need to care for our young people people. >> reporter: before dawn manila teemed with people waiting to get into resolve park. some who had been there all night. the pope's stay began at the city's largest university where the crowd was so big, there was hardly room to move. a sea of smartphones strained to capture the moment. children lifted for a kiss. here he heard from young people. this 12-year-old a former street child cried as she asked why god allows children to be victims of drugs and prostitution. the pope said we only come close to answering her question when we cry with her. he spoke off the cuff in spanish but switched to english to hit another theme, the protection of the environment.

>> your country, more than many others is likely to be seriously affected by climate change. >> by noon it was pouring. at the park, people sought shelter where they could. a resilience one worshipper says stems from the devastating typhoon of 2013. >> no storm can break or destroy the faith of the filipino people. >> reporter: pope francis said he had only one criticism of this day, that there weren't enough women at the meeting of the people. sometimes, he said, we're too macho. alex? >> thank you so much, anne thompson. now to a nightmare out there on the roads. freezing rain and black ice is making driving in the northeast very dangerous, if not deadly. the vicious weather has forced highways and bridges to close in the philadelphia area. a pileup involving at least 20 cars has occurred on a major road i-76 that serves the

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new numbers show americans are not spending the money they're saving with cheap gas at the pumps. a commerce department report on wednesday showed a big drop in consumer spending back in december. in fact, it fell rather a little less than 1%. but that's the biggest drop in 11 months. the price of brent crude is at $50 a barrel and the average price of a regular gallon of gas

is $2.07 a gallon. that makes a record 115 straight days of price cuts at the pump. joining me now, suzy kim, national reporter from msnbc.com. glad you're here because you just wrote a piece about this very timely in which you talk about how americans save $1.25 billion a year for every one cent drop in the average cost of a gallon of gasoline. where is the bounce the economy is supposed to get from the cheap gas? >> this is definitely the question that economists are asking themselves. as you mentioned retail sales dropped in december significantly more than folks had been expecting. so to clarify, at least part of that is because the price of gas is so much cheaper, but even when you take out the cost of autos and gas from the retail sales, retail sales still

dropped by 0.3%. this might indicate americans are still feeling a little cautious about spending even this extra money. that said analysts still do expect this economic boost to kick in over the course of the year provided that oil prices still remain low and prices at the pump are still benefitting ordinary americans. >> but is that the only place where there's a problem, where the retail sector is not feeling a bounce? or are there other areas of the u.s. economy? >> there's an interesting trade-off when it comes to gas prices. there are definitely winners and losers. the losers include big oil producing states like texas, north dakota, other places like that, that are definitely standing to lose jobs from this. however, economists are expecting that consumer spending will ultimately make up for that loss in jobs and that there will be a net gain. but the thing is that the truth still isn't being played out in the numbers.

we'll have to wait and see whether that boost is going to take place. >> why aren't we hearing a bit more about the upside of these tremendously low oil price? it almost seems like a tax cut for the middle class. >> that's exactly the way economists are framing it. it's the equivalent of a tax cut that some analysts predict will be equivalent to $125 billion over the course of the year. that's not insubsubstantial. but part of the reason we aren't hearing more about this is the stock market tends to be a little more volatile in terms of responding to these oil price drops. the truth is that oil producers are kind of disproportionately represented in the stock market whereas consumer spending is a lot more diffuse. so when oil producers, who are taking a loss from this, get a hit, the stock market will tend to respond a lot more acutely and rapidly than the promise of future consumer spending going up. >> you talk about this relationship being like an imperfect barometer. what about states like texas?

how do they try to insulate themselves from the oil price shocks? >> one thing texas has done and big oil states have learned from previous oil shocks the previous significant one beginning in the 1980s, is they've tryied to diversify their economies outside of oil. regardless of what happens, they have other sectors like healthcare and energy beyond oil that they're trying to basically promote to say that their states can flourish despite what happens to the price of oil. so you're seeing that in places like texas. in places like north dakota where the oil boom is very new, they're going to take more of the shock. >> okay. interesting discussion. thank you so much for bringing it to us. and the price of gasoline can vary greatly by state. here, for example, you see today's average price in new

jersey. it fell to $1.99 overnight. that pump price might attract motorists from delaware. gas there costs $2.17 a gallon. or drivers from pennsylvania, where the average price is $2.32. or especially neighboring new yorkers. we see the pump prices averaging about $2.53 a gallon. those of you in new jersey don't be surprised to see plenty more out of state license plates these days. why has president obama not close the get mow after ordering its shutdown? one commander sees it needs to close right away. we're going to talk with him next.

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transfers, 122 remain 13 years after the camp opened. now, in a new column in "politico" magazine, the first commander of the guantanamo bay argues it is a blight on america's history and it must be closed now. he joins me now, general michael leonard. thank you so much for being here. >> thank you, alex. appreciate you having me on. >> i'm curious when you came to the conclusion that it wasn't working. >> well i think when we first opened the facility, nobody believed that it was going to be around 12 years later. as we began to see more and more of these detainees released without action it became fairly clear that these detainees, many of them had just been sent there that probably should never have been sent there in the first place. there were some really strong operational reasons to having a facility created outside of

afghanistan in the early phases of the war. but as time went on it became pretty clear that this facility needed to close. >> here's what you write, sir. quote, who we are as a nation cannot be separated from what we do. it is hard to overstate how damaging the continued existence of the detention facility at guantanamo has been. repressive governments use it to deflect criticism of their own policies. violent extremists use it as a recruiting tool. it's a symbol for many around the world of torture, injustice, and illegitimacy. has guantanamo engendered more extremism than it has potentially protected us from? >> alex i believe that it has. one of the serious problems we have is that the jihadists use it to advance their own narrative. and this is something we need to address. it simply is doing a favor for

those that would do america harm. so it is a national security issue. >> and clearly a major issue here is where do these released detainees go? just this week it was reported that the leader of a new isis contingent in afghanistan is a former taliban commander who spent several years at gitmo. so what's your response to those concerns? >> well, that's a fair concern. i've never said that releasing the detainees that have been cleared by the periodic review boards does not come with some risk. whether you accept that it's 6.9% of the detainees that have returned to the fight under those that have been released by president obama or almost 30% as it claimed by other individuals, there's a couple of things that we need to consider. first, those -- many of those detainees that were released we know who they are because we captured or we killed them. we've also gotten a lot better

at determining who actually is likely to be a recidivist. in my view the importance of closing guantanamo is greater than the danger of the recidivism. it's a matter of balancing that risk. >> what about monetarily? because nothing gets support, bipartisan support, in washington like saving money. you make a financial argument on this, sir, because you note that the annual cost for a detainee at gitmo is more than $3 million while at a federal supermax facility in the u.s. the annual cost is incredibly less $78,000. why is there such a difference? >> well alex you have to consider that the detention facility at guantanamo is isolated. so just about everything that gets there has to arrive either by airplane or by barge. that drives the price up dramatically. but as i made those points on the money, i would say that the

national security issue and the moral issue probably are even more important than the actual cost, which is obviously extraordinarily high. it's just a fact that as a commissioned officer and like all of the officers enlisted that i served with and have fought so courageously in afghanistan and iraq and elsewhere, we take an oath to the constitution. that constitution stands for something. it's our view my view at least, that the constitution should not stop at the water's edge. >> major general michael leonard, sir thank you very much for your insights. >> thank you, alex. straight ahead, it is a journey of the heart that will now take them to the supreme court. how this couple's fight for parental rights led them down the aisle to a fight for marriage equality. you're going to meet them next.

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the justices agreed friday to review an earlier appellate ruling that bans same-sex marriage across four states those being michigan kentucky, ohio and tennessee. the decision is due by the end of june. right now 36 states allow same-sex marriage. the ruling will determine whether same-sex marriage bans in the 14 remaining stateds are allowed to stand. among the cases to be decided is a challenge to michigan's ban on same-sex marriage. joining me now is the couple who brought that case. april and jane thank you so much for joining me. i'm going to begin with you, april. your case is one of those that's going to be heard by the court. what was your reaction when you found out? >> you know we were really excited and proud that our case was going to be taken to the supreme court. >> nervous at all? >> i don't think initially. i think, you know, the excitement overdid the nerves but a little nervous now. >> yeah.

jane, as i understand it you have been together ten years as a couple. you are raising four children between the ages of 2 and 5. hat's off to you. but your view on michigan's marriage, you're going ahead here. is that what inspired you to go the distance in your lawsuit? >> absolutely. you know the rights and the welfare of our children and their protection is what drove, you know, the initial start of this lawsuit. if something were to happen to one of us, you know, we wanted to make sure the other parent got the rights to the kids. with michigan law, that wouldn't necessarily be the case. >> because it stands that a single parent can adopt the children. so you each have two, correct? so you're talking about if something happens to one, the other two would not be covered, basically. >> correct. >> okay. so april, if the court strikes

down the ban, what does that mean to you and your family? what are your options? talk about the future if that happens. >> if they strike down the ban? >> uh-huh. do you then go quickly and get married and celebrate? and opposite what happens if it doesn't strike down the ban? >> you know if they do strike down the ban, we will be planning a wedding and also looking into resources to second parent adopt both of our children after we get married. and yeah there will be some celebrating going on. and the same token, we're hopeful that the ban will be struck down and have not really touched on what we're going to do if it doesn't happen. >> would you have to consider moving? would that be one of them? >> you know we don't want to move from our home state.

my kids were raised here, born and raised. i was born and raised here. my parents are here. it would be a discussion that we might have to have but at this point, we're staying hopeful that we'll be able to stay in michigan. >> yeah absolutely. jane, what do you say to those who remain opposed to same-sex marriages? >> wow, what do i say? i guess i would say that, you know, one, we're not different than anyone else. we live our lives pretty much similarly to, you know, straight parents. we go to pta. we take the kids to school. we make dinners. obviously we work. i would say get to know some same-sex couples and just see that there is no difference. the similarities in our lives

are just like theirs. >> you guys are making it work. as i understand it you work 12-hour shifts at the hospital. one will be home with the kids. one is at work. then flip that. you guys are doing it like everybody else. you're just trying to make it work for your four kids. >> correct, correct. there's nothing -- you know nothing other than raising children and living our lives together and going to work and school. yeah, our life is really not anything different. >> all right. well april and jane ladies we'll be watching outcome of everything in june. we look forward to speaking with you then. thank you so much. >> good luck. >> thank you. >> thank you, alex. the state of our union is strong. it's a phrase that's become common over the last 30 years as our presidents gave their annual address to congress. on tuesday, the president will deliver his sixth state of the union. but as each year passes some ask the question should it be canceled altogether? "the chicago tribune" wrote on

that topic, quote, the public appetite for the whole spectacle, however s less than before, and he may have a point. if you take last year's address, for example, 20 million fewer people watched it compared to the same point in president clinton's term in office. as associate professor at george mason university joins us. richard, with a welcome to you. your take on how relevant is the state of the union, and when is it the most relevant? is it a certain point in the presidency? is it when the country is focused on a specific topic? >> the state of the union address is always important. and it's important as a big television event, and it's important for this reason. most of the american people don't pay much attention to politics. this is one chance one opportunity a president has every year to reach a large public. while the audience has been dramatically declining, it used to be something like 50 60 70 million people would watch the

state of the union address on tv. now it's down to about 30 million. that's obama's expected audience this week. still, that's 30 million people. you can try to explain the complicated politics to of the country. let me give you some statistics here to put this in perspective. a majority of the american people do not know we have three branches of government. a majority of the american people do not know which party is in control of congress. it's vital that they have this information. one way you can get them vital information about our politics and the way our government functions is through these television addresses. >> okay. what about the success of the proposals? because that is certainly mixed on the state of the union. you have 43% of the president's proposals actually passing in the legislative session. during divided government it's a 41% success rate. a 49% success rate during unified government. so making those proposals during

the state of the union when the success rate is so mixed dido you worry about the publicity afterwards? >> well, obama's had a record of failed attempts. no question about it. last year he wanted gun control. that didn't work. two years before that he wanted to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 up to north of $9. that didn't work. so a lot of the times it doesn't work. but you're trying to shape public opinion. so here's a president's chance to say, here's my agenda. this is what i'm focused on. and that's what obama's trying to do. >> yeah has he taken a different approach this year to the state of the union? he's going out on the road and previewing some of his proposals. do you think that could be effective? >> honestly i don't know. he better have some surprise in that state of the union address, otherwise the next day he won't be able to dominate the agenda. if he doesn't have some big surprise in there that everybody is talking about the next day, then his basic chance here to

help shape the agenda has been dramatically reduced. he went the last two weeks around the country to try to preview what some of his themes are going to be. that was effective in helping blunt the republican congress' control of the national agenda during the last two weeks when they for the first time in years were able to say we've got both the house and the senate and here we are, we're the big boys on campus now. so that's been effective the last couple weeks. i think that worked. but he better have something big in there for us. otherwise, the next day it'll be the republicans carping about his proposals and that'll be it and we'll be asleep. >> well but to use your phrase with republicans being the big guys on campus for the next two years, how do you see this president's final two years playing out? >> well there are a few areas where he can come to agreement with the republicans. it's possible on taxing big

banks. he wants to do them if they're over $50 billion, adding an excise tax. that's possible that you could get the republicans, some people in the tea party actually like that idea. that might work. he's not going to get a big agenda through the congress but what's he mainly going to do the last two years? he's going to do what every president in his circumstance does where you're at the tail end of a presidency. he's going to focus on foreign policy and executive actions. and still, he still needs the public behind him on those. so even if he can't get the stuff through congress, he needs to get the public behind him. so this is his second to last shot at trying to get the public interested in what he's interested in. >> all right. from george mason university richard shankman thank you very much. we're going to remind all of you to watch the state of the union here on msnbc. coverage begins tuesday night at 8:00 eastern. it's a self-driving car that will amaze you. what's it like to be in one? a journalist who took it for a test drive is coming up.

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yesterday thousands of protesters gathered outside of a muslim conference in a suburb of dallas, texas. those protesters waved americans flags and held signs that said "stand for jesus" and "texas will not be silenced." they were met with counterprotesters in support of that conference which was titled stand with the prophet against terror and hate. at a news conference last night from a local islamic center this statement was issued. >> as muslims, we firmly believe in the right of free speech and strongly condemn those that resort to terrorist attacks in response to people or entities that exercise that freedom. however, as a respected pope francis alluded to in his statement, freedom of speech does not give people license to insult anyone based on race or religion. >> well, joining me now is steven clemons, washington

editor at large for "the atlantic." a welcome to you, as always my friend. we're lucky here in the u.s. that our protesters usually resort to flag waving not flag burning, not deadly violence. but we do see this division. do you get the sense that the incredible unease in europe right now is going to spread here? >> i don't think it's going to spread here because i think what we saw unfold in texas as gross and disgusting as i think that was is not a new thing. we've had bigotry. we've had anti-muslim activity here in this country for a long time since 9/11. and every once in a while it pops up. there's no doubt that what we saw unfold in paris has triggered this again, and people are trying to sort of heighten the fear mongering about what a class of american citizens represent here which is entirely bigoted and wrong. so i don't think it will spread. i think it's here but it's just sort of like something that's subordinated and pops up every

once in a while. we have to be a smart society and push it back down. >> let's listen to british prime minister david cameron who spoke in a new interview this morning. >> what i don't want to do is try and say there's some clash of civilizations going on. that's what the terrorists want. they want this seen as a war between what they see as the true islam and the rest, and that's not the case. what these terrorists represent is the perversion of a major religion and not its true adherence. there are fanatics who have attached themselves to a death cult. >> steven, as much as we may hear that from the clear-eyed people on both sides, does it really resonate in reality? >> well i think there's unfortunately in this area a lot of ignorance. what david cameron is trying to shine a light on is to say that islam is a respected and an important classical great religion of the world. we need to -- we have been at

peace with it for a thousand years, and we can continue down that course. but i think there's a lot of ignorance. i think when you hear barack obama as you did in that same press conference and say in europe that he hopes that they don't use just a hammer against terrorists and further alienate communities from whence they came that they try to heal and bridge those societies, to some degree we need to do that in the united states as well. we need greater examples of celebrating great muslims in our societies and their contributions. go to deerborn, michigan and look at in this case arab arab-american, a museum to arab-american accomplishments and tributes there. we don't see enough of that. the topic remains exotic to many americans, who think that what they saw unfolded in paris with quite responsible and civically minded muslims in dallas texas, that's exactly what you want to see people doing engaged in civil society, peacefully and

engage in honest politics. but the kind of protests were very, very disgusting, in my view. >> but the past 13 years of war have really been a big factor in this clash of civilizations perception. you mentioned the president. there were a lot of expectations when he came into office especially after that cairo speech in june '09. what do you think his legacy is going to be for the muslim world? >> i think it's going to be mixed. i think the cairo speech is what won for barack obama the nobel peace prize. there's been a lot of disappointment after that. his coming to this and trying to say there's no false choice between our affections for israel, our affections for the arab and muslim world, that we can find a way to broker peace and responsible relations between these groups. that largely hasn't worked out. it's been a real disappointment that president obama has in himself because i know how much he cares for it. i think it will be a mixed record down the road as you look forward because it's been that one ball that he's not really been able to move as much as he

nearly thought he would be able to when he came into office. >> okay. from "the atlantic," steven clemons. thank you. >> thank you. >> self-drivingself-driving cars when will they hit the road? we'll talk to someone who went on the test drive of his life next. [container door opening] ♪ what makes it an suv is what you can get into it. ♪ [container door closing] what makes it an nx is what you can get out of it. ♪ introducing the first-ever lexus nx turbo and hybrid. once you go beyond utility there's no going back. your mom's got your back. your friends have your back. your dog's definitely got your back. but who's got your back when you need legal help? we do. we're legalzoom, and over the last 10 years we've helped millions of people protect their families and run their businesses. we have the right people on-hand to answer your questions,

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drivers are getting their first look at the hot new car models of the year. crowds have checked out more than 500 cars in detroit on saturday. among those getting the most buzz, the ford gt, it also has more than 600 horsepower and a price tag that could hit $300,000. the mercedes benz is getting a lot of attention. this futuristic car is a driverless one. it has front seats that rotate to face the rear. the audi has a driverless car, as well. here's a commercial showing the a-7 parking itself. wow.

well my next guest rode in this car and wrote about his experience in "wired" magazine. and joining me now alex davies. alex, with a welcome to you. i was laughing when i read your description of driving in this a-7, which they call jack by the way. you say it's almost boring, and that's a good thing. why boring? >> yeah, well, that's the whole idea is that the idea is that once the car can take over control for you then you don't really have to do anything. and all of a sudden you're just sitting on the highway. and so as we're doing this drive, we were just driving for hours down the i-5 on california california just not a particularly exciting highway. so once you don't have to drive anymore, you just kind of zone out. >> yeah. would you be able to zone out enough to take a cat nap in the back? >> i don't know if i would get out of the driver's seat, which is also completely illegal. >> okay. >> and will probably stay that way. but i do think that once people get used to it they'll quickly zone out probably to the point where they'll doze off a little bit or start reading. and that's supposed to be one of

the biggest benefits to cars that can handle themselves on the highway. >> right. >> not only is it safer, but you get some of your time back. >> but you can take over the driver's wheel because you have to sit there in the driver's seat. but if that happens, that means it's bad news, right? >> probably. well, yes and no. if the car spins out or does something like that, then yes, that's the point where you want to take over control. but the bigger point for audi and the automakers working on this technology is that the cars aren't capable of handling every situation yet. if it encounters heavy rain that makes it harder for the censors to see the road. >> you talk about driving on highway 5. you're driving through the desert those are boring roads, i've done them but they also did a drive up to pike's peak that was a 12 1/2 mile drive, it took 27 minutes.

so, i mean, this car can actually pretty much overcome anything. i mean, it's designed that way. >> yeah and the point of the testing at pike's peak and a formula 1 track in germany was to see how the car handles at the limits of traction when it's going really fast when it's taking the corners really hard. and that way they understand how the car will behave when it's pushed to its limit. >> right. and how long until we see these cars out on the road? and how much are they going to cost? >> so cost i don't really know yet. the audi i was driving in to begin with the regular version costs about $100,000. so you'll be going up from there. >> yeah. >> but, so what audi wants to do is in the next couple of years is to introduce a few basic technologies. the parking itself in a garage thing. it showed off a couple of -- or last year in las vegas, that should be here within a couple of years. then the highway driving i tested at will be here, maybe about five years from now.

>> pretty exciting stuff, alex davies, thank you very much for the conversation and the great pictures. something to look forward to. appreciate it. >> thanks for having me. >> that's the wrap of the show. have yourself a great day. up next "meet the press." see you next weekend. i have the worst cold with this runny nose. i better take something. dayquill cold and flu doesn't treat your runny nose. seriously? alka-seltzer plus cold and cough fights your worst cold symptoms plus your runny nose. oh, what a relief it is. this is the equivalent of the sugar in one regular can of soda. and this is a soda a day for a year.

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this sunday, counter terror raids have been launched across europe. whatever happened to the west's strategy to disrupt all of these radical islamist groups. as "charlie hebdo" hits the streets, protests -- then there's mitt romney. he says maybe i will. and republicans say maybe you shouldn't. >> heaven knows i have experience running for president. >> the sour reaction to mitt