a dangerous mix up and down the east coast right now. snow, sleet and freezing rain. it's expected to be the pweulgest storm of the winter in some parts of the country. new twist in the reaction over the scandal new new england's deflated football. the race for the white house. why one event in iowa could give us a better look at who might be running for president. and then what might surprise you about marijuana sales in one state. hello, everybody. it's high noon in the east and 9:00 in the west, and welcome to "weekends with alex witt."

alex is off today. some areas getting blanketed by snow and in some cases, the worse of the season so far. overnight snowfall remains in a lot of areas, and the fierce winter storm causing trouble on roadways but not necessarily drivers. some say they saw it coming. >> stay off of the side streets because the main roads are being salted and plowed but the side streets are not so for me living at the bottom of a hill you can see you have a hard time getting up. >> let's go live to msnbc's chris with an update. looks white behind you, chris. how bad is it? >> yeah as you can see right now the snow has gone from really big puffy flakes down to what looks like a little ice

crystals, so the storm may be tapering off but we are expected to get more this afternoon. things have changed here on the ground, and i want to show you here in massachusetts, we are 25 miles north from the city of boston, and here in downtown andover, we are down to bare pavement, and that's probably the temperature but also the sanding and salting that has been going on through the course of the morning. and mike seidel just said we probably have closer to five inches of snow here on the ground. the system is affecting millions of people here in the northeast, everywhere from the d.c. area up through new york and connecticut, and new jersey, and most places that are seeing a lot of snow are seeing something in the 5 to 9-inch range. it's a heavy and wet snow that has been falling all morning. great for snowballs and not for shoveling.

we heard there are a few jackknifed vehicles and spinouts, and i-90 is down to 40-mile-per-hour speed limit from mississippis to the new york border so people are asking folks to take it easy as they head out, and as the day goes on and the storm starts to subside, temperatures are going to drop and now forecasters are talking about another major storm which might come through monday night, but that's still forming at this point. back to you. >> for anybody in the northeast the worst may be yet to come. another storm, as we just heard, is in the forecast. let's get more on that right now, and for more we are joined by mike seidel who has an update from massachusetts. >> good afternoon. we have already had four to five inches of snow and there's more snow ahead for millions, and

right into the northeast and new england as we go sunday into monday and tuesday. clipper system fast moving and it will drop through the northwest. and in chicago, we are looking at least one to three inches and then it will move east along i-70. indianapolis columbus and cleveland, another spot that can pick up several inches of snow. just in time for the monday morning rush hour snow moves into d.c. and baltimore and philadelphia. as the clipper system hits the coast, it will wind up and become a major coastal storm. plowable snow maybe heavy snow back into parts of new england. and monday night and tuesday we could be talking about more than six inches or maybe a foot of snow several days out so stay with the weather channel. in the meantime this storm will wind down this evening across massachusetts, coastal new

hampshire, and maine. back to you. >> thanks for that. another big story developing today. white house officials are pushing back on a "washington post" report that says the situation in yemen is forcing them to suspend counterterrorism there today. this comes as president obama is headed to india right now, a trip being cut short so he can fly to saudi arabia to pay respect to the king abdullah. kristin, what are u.s. officials telling you about this? >> reporter: well any reports that claims they suspended the counterterrorism operation is false. we have a graphic that reads, quote, the political instability in yemen has not forced us to suspend counterterrorism operations and anything to the contrary is false.

we also continue to partner with yemeni security forces in this effort. having said that it's hard to imagine that the united states counterterrorism operations would not be impacted on some level, of course, president hotty was a strong supporter of the u.s. drone counterterrorism program that targeted al qaeda and the arabian peninsula, and the operation that are opposed to the drone program so that would make it difficult for the united states to precede. take a listen. >> the president, who is pro american has probably been the largest instrument of support for the united states in yemen against al qaeda. it's his forces that have worked

with american forces counterterrorism against al qaeda, and he is pro american and his government is collapsing, and it's a major loss for the united states counterterrorism in yemen. >> they are monitoring what is happening in yemen quite closely, and there's an emergency session of parliament that has to accept the rez resignation of the president there, but a lot of instability and unknowns right there. >> did any of this catch the white house by surprise? were they anticipating this president could be ousted in such a short period of time? >> i think they thought there would be an agreement, and then the announcement came that he resigned and it seemed as though the white house was caught off guard.

you will see in the official comments they said they were still trying to assess the developments on the ground and they did not have a response worked out at that point in time. they say their biggest concern is the safety and concern of u.s. personnel. the embody is sill open but they evacuated nonessential personnel. the embassy remains open at this point. and then a new online message from isis. the message khraeuplsz one hostage was killed and demanded a prisoner exchange for the other. the prime minister called the message outrageous and unforgivable. he is demanding the hostages be

released. chicago cubs hall of famer, earnie banks, died friday night. banks, also known as "mr. cub" was a two-time mvp and he was 83 years old. and sky mall magazine the in flight shopping magazine that kept us busy during airplane rides is closing up shop after 25 years. sky mall says sales started declining after people started to use gadgets to surf the web instead of the magazine. and then 653 days before the 2016 presidential elections. >> do you believe the next president of the united states will be speaking from this stage to you today?

as do i. >> that was iowa congressman, steve king an organizer of today's event. let's bring in casey hunt who is also there, too. thank you for joining us again. quite a bit of applause when he asked that question and has congressman king captured the mood with his enthusiasm? >> reporter: well he is certainly relishing his moment in the sun at the starting gun of the 2016 caucus cycle in iowa. you heard him saying he thinks the winner of the nomination ultimately will be somebody in the room and by that account that will eliminate jeb bush and mitt romney. instead, we are hearing from a lot of the potential candidates who would work to appeal to the

right wing here in iowa and that's rick santorum who won in 2012, and mike huckabee and also senator ted cruz of texas, and somebody who has a lot of fans here in the tea party base. what you are seeing here is the beginning of all of this. there's a lot of behind the scenes meeting and greeting going on. governor scott walker while he is not meeting with the press, he did meet with senator joni ernst. she is here onstage right now. >> tell us who has generated some of the early buzz there today? >> reporter: a couple things. first of all, i think walker is somebody that is potentially flying under the radar, and has been mentioned frequently as somebody is interested in taking a look at. he is governor of a midwestern state not far away.

and i think the question for him so far is what else are people going to learn about him as this process unfolds, and can other candidates succeed or does he become to be known as a one note candidate. chris christie is oning toe to watch. he has a personal relationship with steve king and king defended christie at a hearing a few years ago, and then you are likely to hear a positive introduction from steve king. and christie might be seen as too moderate. >> thank you for the update. stay warm out there in iowa. >> thank you. and then maybe a boost to the economy, but the governor is having second thoughts. what does he really think of legalized pot? under pressure with the super bowl eight days away will we see any resolution to the

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it has been over two years since colorado voters voted to legalize marijuana use. this is what the governor said on friday. >> i voted i opposed it as publicly as humanly possible, but it passed. i could have waved a wand and i would have said it's a bad idea. >> critics are at odds with the marking on edibles. the nfl is confirming the

footballs were under inflated when the patriots beat the colts for the championship. in a statement the ceo said during three days they were here and we provided access to every full-and part-time employee. let's start off. if the nfl had answers right now, don't you think the league would hold off on putting those publicly out there until after the big game? should it regardless of how much damage it does to the nfl brand to wait on that information, or wait until after the game? >> they have to wait until after the game. it's nothing new. the investigation will be on going, and the interviews ahead, they are going to start putting the pieces together who had the

balls after the officials had put them back into play, and who was in charge of those balls? >> tim, the nfl has not talked to tom brady yet and some people think that's a surprise. what do you think league officials might be looking for exactly right now? >> they are looking for who did it. they know somebody did it. the lawyer in me says that even though i like tom brady and coach bull acheck and even if i didn't i would want to say they are innocent until somebody proves they are guilty, and they said they didn't do it and whether they are find out who did it or not, the team is going to be punished from this. >> take a listen to this sound bite from the head coach,. >> i never have spoke with

football air pressure. that's not a subject i ever have brought up. >> is that even plausible? as a head coach did you ever talk to anybody about footballs throughout your career which included a super bowl i might add? >> i didn't get in the middle of it and the quarterback knows how he wants them, and i would talk to the quarterback and equipment people are you getting what you want. a lot of times i have had a lot of quarterbacks a lot of those guys where they get a good feel of a ball and like it and give it to the equipment man on wednesday and thursday and say put that one in the bag for the game and a lot of times they pick the balls as the week goes on. >> this is what tom brady had to say this week about it. >> i have no knowledge of anything. i have no knowledge of any wrong doing, or -- yeah i am very comfortable saying that i am

comfortable saying nobody did it, and as far as i know, and i understand i was in the locker room preparing for a game and i don't know what happened over the course of the process with the footballs. >> here is what mark bernell had to say. he said i did not believe what tom had to say, and don't believe there's an equipment man in the nfl that would on his own initiative deflate a ball without his starting quarterback's approval. so tim, i will put you on the spot. mark brunell was a quarterback, do you agree with him or is tom brady's story more likely? >> until somebody can prove that he actually did that i am tempted to believe tom brady. here is the thing, those footballs have been deflated for a while. there have been reports and

concerns about the patriot's footballs for other games in the season, and one thing i am surprised nobody is talking about, if you look at the patriots' fumble ratio on run plays, it's extraordinary low. i mean it's off the charts low compared to every other team in the league. even teams that are playing inside of a dome. so you know they may find out that there is a pattern in this and somebody has been clever about it and if you look at the turnover ratio, there is proof that lower, you know a. lower pressure in the ball makes it easier to handle. coach fossil will handle that better. >> you are a practicing lawyer. did tom brady seem believable to you in that news conference and what question would you want to ask him? >> well he -- there were some -- i think if you were going to cross examine tom brady, he would say he had no knowledge, and maybe you would

say do you have knowledge of somebody that might have knowledge? you know what i am saying? because he was being a little circumspect. again, i think, look i think it's plausible and we are just getting into theorys, and it's plausible the equipment people or somebody knows that he has a desire to have a lower inflated ball because it comes out of his hand better and it's better for him, and he says listen, i hope the balls are just the way i like them without getting into the specifics of letting the air out of them. >> the super bowl is eight days away what affect with the controversy have on the game? do you think it will damage new england's chances? >> no i don't so. i think they still have work to do. but the one thing is that everybody doesn't talk about, in the first half new england scored 17 points when the balls

were deflated. when the balls were up to speed in the second half they scored 28 points. maybe what they ought to consider, if they did it don't ever do that again, let the balls be up there. >> it doesn't support favored the patriots. >> will there be an asterisk in peoples' mind if they win, will it be tainted in history? >> some people they are tainted, all right? but other people will say, hey, you know, i agree with what was said earlier, listen we live in the united states. you are innocent until proven guilty, and let's not say they are guilty until they get done with the investigation. >> final word tim? >> i think the game was so lopsided that nobody is going to look at that game. i know there's a lot of fans in

baltimore and the ravens the game they squeaked by them and they will say maybe those deflated footballs gave them the edge they needed to beat our team by a point. >> thanks a lot. still ahead, the unique way congressman john lewis is reaching america's youth and educating them about the struggle for civil rights in this country. 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.

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constipation that works! mmm mmm live the regular life. now to the storm dumping snow from new england to new jersey. the northeast is getting pounded today after a mild start to winter. snow, rain and ice making for dangerous driving conditions and that's where we find the weather channel's reagan reggie. she is about an hour outside of new york. >> reporter: the snow has been falling continuously for hours now in the town of newburgh new york. you guys might be having rain in new york city, but it's a winter wonderland up here. what kind of snow? if we look at the pile you can

notice i am getting up here pretty easily. we call it like heart attack snow, a lot of weight to it and you will be moving it and removing it you have to be careful because if you are not used to heavy lifting it can cause damage or hurt you. you will see the tree and some of the clumps of snow are still stuck in but it's like ice coating, too. this is what we are dealing with here in newburgh and we are going to the shopping blahsplaza, and all of this is cleared out and the road crews have been working since the wee morning hours. what happens tonight when the temperatures dip down into the teens? if you look here you can see slushiness and other areas, puddling. the concern is this is going to freeze overnight. crews are in place to make sure it doesn't happen.

if it does they will spread salt and sand so everybody's drive is safe. back to you. >> thanks. at the top of the hour we will bring you the latest on another storm headed to the northeast and it could arrive just in time for the workweek. it's time for headlines at the half. a woman that tried to go to syria to help isis militants has been sentenced to prison. back in september she pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to provide support to a terrorists organization. her attorney calls the punishment a temporary setback. >> i want everybody to know what a wonderful person shannon conley is. she will get past this but she will. >> her attorney went on to say they would have preferred the lighter sentence but would not criticize the judge's rational. and then prohibiting the

state judges from belonging to the boy scouts of america. a florida woman in critical condition after a 400-pound black bare ear attacked her. she reached into the cage to pet it. she was airlifted to a hospital. congressman john lewis is the only surviving member of the big 6 of the civil rights movement. alex sat down yesterday to talk about the reasons he joined the movement. >> i grew up 50 miles from montgomery. would would visit montgomery or birmingham and i saw little signs that said white men, colored men, and white women, and colored women, and i made a decision that i would do whatever i could to bring down

those signs in segregation and racial discrimination in american south. >> in light of his on going determination, the congressman and co-author have written a new really released book "march." they talked about why the book is so important to them today. >> you put these civil rights stories into graphic form? where did that come from? wasn't there a book by martin luther king late in the '50s that had something similar? >> he told me about the montgomery story, and i looked it up online and well done and it was done by dr. king. and maybe i was young enough to not know any better but i asked

him, congressman why don't you write a comic book and he said i will do it only if you write it with me. >> that was an honor to be asked to do that. this gets into the thick of things into the whole civil rights movement and the struggles there. what is your message in this book? >> my message is very simple. it's saying to another generation, it's saying to young people, to children, this is what we did, and this is what we faced, and just think in 1961 the same year that president barack obama was born and they could not travel to the south together using the same restroom facility in the same waiting room we were testing the decision of the supreme

court, and "march," we wanted it to make it plain and simple. people risked their lives, black and white citizens of our country, beaten arrested jailed, almost 400 of us went to the state prison in the state of mississippi, and those signs that said white waiting and colored waiting came tumbling down. >> clearly you are targeting this book to the next generation, if you will and to do that you are also using social media. don't you go when you speak to students and you say, hey, what might martin luther king jr., tweeted, things like that, and what is the response from these kids? >> i think we only started to realize its potential.

in my day job i handle the congressman's social accounts and we tweet frequently and we are asking that question of a new generation. here are the principles and here is what another generation did and how they organized and put pressure on public officials. if we can use social media and tupl blur and you name it these are opportunities to bring the conversation to the national forefront and get people to show up and make their presence be their voice. >> congressman you said one of the most satisfying things about the series that you are writing is the ability to help educate the next generation, and then hearing from them later on. what are you hearing from them? >> hearing over and over again people saying i love the book and are making it real and plain. and grandparents are saying i'm going to get this book for my

son and daughter and grandchildren, and people are saying it should be in every school and library. i was in atlanta during the time of dr. king and his father, and dr. king would be preaching and his father would say, make it plain, son, make it real. "march," book one and two, making it plain and real to people. >> was it real to you when you read the book martin luther king put out? >> it had a profound impact on me. it was so real to follow the drummer of montgomery. to see people walking rather than riding segregated buses. >> i want to thank you very much representative lewis. good luck with the book. >> thank you very much. again, the graphic novel is

called "march book two." the last part of the trilogy will be coming out later. and then gop frontrunners singing a brand-new tune on income inequality and climate change, and will that work for them. that's all coming up next. places, bends and all. going this way and that. bumps and grooves, curvy and flat. for skin as flawless as can be. new venus swirl. and try new venus with a touch of olay with five times more moisturizers you only know in a fire to get out, to escape and now ok you are outside and you are safe but what do you do now and that's where the red cross came in... . we ran out of the house just wearing our pajamas. at that point just to even have a toothbrush that i could call my own was so important... . ...you know it just makes you feel like a person again.

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of our mutual funds beat their 10-year lipper average. t. rowe price. invest with confidence. request a prospectus or summary prospectus with investment information, risks, fees and expenses to read and consider carefully before investing. in an apparent new approach to some issues jeb bush and mitt romney adopt add new tone as they hit on topics like inequality and climate change. mitt romney cited climate change is one of the biggest problems facing the country. then you have jeb bush who last night put a focus on the middle class in his speech to the

national automobile dealers association. >> they see a small portion of the population on the economy's up escalator, and portfolios are strong and paychecks are weak. millions of americans want to rise but they are losing hope. >> and we have our msnbc contributor and editor of blue nation.com, and we have our republican strategist. mercedes i wanted to start with you. who are these guys? >> what i have to tell you is jeb bush used the word hope in his speech as well and there's a current president that used that word. i think they are running on the idea of positive change in the country and the fact they are focusing on the issue that president obama has been unable to really tackle and that's

dealing with the middle class and moving forward. the climate issue is not something that pulls highly with american voters per se but it's interesting how to say governor romney took that approach as well. looks like they are going towards the middle as they are talking about the issues and they are addressing the great egs challenges here in america. >> how successful can people like mayor romney and bush be speaking about these topics. >> romney has a problem wherever position he has taken, he changes that position. so that is his underlying thread that is the problem and i believe that's why he did not win last time. if he is going to do that again, it's not like that goes away. for jeb bush though jeb bush talking about as a former governor of a huge state about

the middle class that's a smart tactic on his part and he cannot go back to the far right because if he does that then his issues on common core and immigration will make him stand apart from the rest of what i am calling the cantaloupe conference which is the people out in iowa the far right wingers. if he does that, he is still in big trouble as well. i think he is in trouble because of the policy positions. either, bush or romney they are going to have problems with the electorate. mitt romney is out polling bush in every single poll. that i find intriguing for many reasons. i don't know, that's for the republicans to decide. it's a fascinating dynamic between those two. >> it's never too early to start polling, obviously. here are early polls we want to

show you. the possible match-up between clinton. she leads bush and romney. so at this point, who do you think is the stronger frontrunner for republicans? >> first of all, hillary has not opened her mouth in quite sometime, so let's start from there. i think it's such an open field. just yesterday senator marco rubio talked about the plan that one of the advisers said they are going to proceed as he is running like a presidential candidate. this can change the dynamics as to see what happens. when you look back in iowa in 2008 governor huckabee won. this is a wide open field. i think for us to just focus on jeb, obviously governor jeb bush is a strong candidate, and my hope is that governor romney decides not to run, because i do believe that if we continue to be a party that remains divided

it will be difficult to bring together the three coalitions which is on the cultural and which for the early states they are impacted early. iowa the social conservative, and new hampshire, it's free markets, and south carolina it's all three of the different components as known as the reagan philosophy. they need to be able to bring together the three groups. >> hillary clinton, not opening her mouth, does that mean she will run or not run? >> i think everybody knows what her positions are. she is an open book. literally, she just wrote a book. does that hurt her? not with women. and it doesn't with millennials and doesn't with the middle class, and is there anybody that is going to push her from the left side.

and i think when you get into a general election per se at that point the republicans are beating the living hell out of each other, which i love and if that's the case hillary clinton will come out looking good. she has not declared her candidacy. the republicans will beat -- they have to make a decision. will they beat each other up in the primary or hillary clinton or try to do both. con elope conference republicans, beat up a woman, hillary clinton, and that turns people off and i welcome them doing that for the next two years. >> do you think that's true? >> the problem with hillary clinton, she is not a great candidate. jimmy, you know this. when she ran against president obama, she made one mistake

after another -- >> that was a wonder in and of itself i think. >> she will have to discipline herself and train herself to the point that she is able to become, quote, unquote a. good candidate. the fact that she is a woman, actually it helps her. that is why for the republicans, if you have the long and drawn out process, i don't think it's the best approach. you spend millions of dollars during the primary season and if you are able to lock it up early on and build the support and build the broader coalition where you are able to bring in the three legs of the stools as well as the women and independents and you are able to have a strong and formidable candidate against hillary clinton. i think a jeb bush could run a strong campaign against her and marco rubio could, and so i think she will be up against some of the major candidates that, you know, i think it's going to be interesting to see in the next two years. >> the conversation does not end here. thank you very much for joining us. >> thank you. >> thank you.

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historic talks wrapped up in cuba this week. 6 as they map out an unchartered relationship a. small group of exiles is watching. there's a elderly group of cubans that ran from castro's government. they have not left that 17-mile parameter at guantanamo since. and michael phillips covered this story. thank you for joining us. you reported there are about two

dozen exiles that call america this home. >> they have had a safe life on a naval base and an easy life had government jobs most of them and given government medical care and housing, and on the other hand it's a small life and there's a 17-mile barbed fence that contains their existence. >> they are giving free medical care and housing and do they want to leave at this point? >> i think most of them don't. they had the choice over the years. originally there were hundreds of cubans anti-castro in the 1960s and went to the base and asked for refuge. either the ones that remain are

u.s. citizens or residents, however they have chosen to stay and the government's agreement is they won't force them to leave. >> what do they do? >> well most of them are quite old. the oldest is i believe, 95. the youngest is in his early 70s. so they are almost all retired with one exception who still works in the base store. they live the lives of the elderly for the most part. they play dominos together and listen to music, and sometimes they talk to each other, and sometimes they have had feuds for decades and don't talk to each other. >> is there a sense the u.s. may force them off the base now that relations have been normalized with cuba? >> well that's still in negotiations with the relations, and i have not heard the navy is thinking about them asking to leave, and if they were going to leave they could go to the

united states and have the right to do so. i don't think most of them trust the castro brothers and would not be anxious to return. a few have visited mainland cuba over the years, and most of them have not been back since 1961 since they crossed the fence. >> thank you for that. a fascinating report and we will see what happens to those. lottery sales are falling fast. what does it mean for the economy. tonight, every dish came out of the cupboard. literally. can this mess be conquered by a little bit of dawn ultra? yes. one bottle has

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the winter's first significant snowfall in the northeast and another one is on the way. we will take measure of the wintry assault. what is the nfl doing to solve the deflated football? and skymall in bankruptcy court. what is killing the catalogue's business. and what is behind the slump in lottery sales?

good day, everybody. welcome to "weekends with alex witt." alex is off today. snow plows were out through the night trying to get a start on the roadways but snow sleet and rain has made it tough to stay ahead of snow conditions. in orange county new york 71 crashes were reported. the department of emergency services there warning drivers to take it slow. >> driving in the winter's slippery conditions is unique and people just have to keep in mind that the roadways may be slippery and dangerous and they need to use due care. >> and chris is live in massachusetts to give us a sense of what it's like out there.

>> reporter: we made the complete switch over to rain about 25 miles north of boston. it started turning over to rain an hour ago. now we have gotten about 500 inch -- five inches of snow on the ground. we expect another one to three inches putting this at probably eight or nine inches of snowfall. as you mention the biggest snowfall this season in the boston area. coming into today boston itself had only five inches of snow and usually has 17 at this point in winter. this is main street in andover. cars are moving about freely this afternoon as people go out and run saturday errands. no commute today being a

weekend. across massachusetts, turnpike i-90 is down to 40 miles per hour in either direction. there have been at least three tractor trailers that have jackknifed or gone off the road around here and police departments are reporting spinouts or fender benders, as people are getting reactlamited. they are more may be on the way. >> thank you very much for that update. developing now, japanese officials saying they are investigating a new online mess edge from isis. the message claims one hostage was killed and demanded a prisoner exchange for the other.

japan's prime minister called the new message an outrage and unforgivable act and its demanding the hostage's immediate release. it's not verified whether the video is authentic or if it was from isis. we're following a developing story out of the middle east. this one is regarding yemen. white house officials are pushing back on a report in the "washington post" that says the situation in yemen is forcing the administration to suspend counterterrorism operations there, and the cabinet and president resigned after pressure from rebels. president obama is flying to saudi arabia after the death of king abdullah. let's talk about the situation in yemen. it's one very concerning for the

white house and the stability and security in the region. what does the white house say about the developing situation there? >> reporter: the white house pushing back on the report you just read there. the political instability in yemen has not forced us to suspend counterterrorism operations and anything to the contrary is false. as we have in the past we will take action to disrupt the continuing threats to the united states and we continue to partner with yemeni security forces in this effort. still, it's hard to see the unrest in yemen, that it won't have impact on the united states counterterrorism strategy. the president who was pro american was a big supporter of the united states' drone program, for example that targeted al qaeda, and the opposition forces that now seem to be in control, and they are opposed to the united states'

drone program. this was a point underscored in a conversation you had with an ambassador mark ginsberg. take a listen. >> the president who is pro american has been probably the largest instrument on support in yemen against al qaeda. it's his forces that worked with the counterterrorism forces. his government is collapsing and it's a major loss for the counterterrorism effort in yemen. >> u.s. officials say they are continuing to monitor the situation in yemen closely, including an emergency meeting being called by parliament and they will determine in the meeting whether or not to accept the resignation of that president, and they are in close

contact contact. and then 29 people are dead. rockets rained down in southeastern ukraine. the rebels rejected a peace deal and said they were going on an offensive against the government. today the sports world mourning the loss of earnie banks, and banks because the first black player for the chicago cubs and played from 1953 to 1971. he was inducted into the hall of game in 1977. in a statement president obama praised the man that brought to chicago's baseball fans. he became as known for his home runs and mvps as for his cheer, his optimism and love of the game. confirmation from the nfl about the scandal capturing the nation's attention a few days before the super bowl.

the question now is how did this happen in ron mott has been following the story for us. >> reporter: a lot of people have been suggesting the nfl wrap up the deflate gate controversy, but it seems the saga is going to go on just a while longer. >> i did not alter the ball in any way. >> tom brady and coach belichick has said in a statement. the nfl said nearly 40 people have been interviewed with more to go and the investigation is on going, and will be thorough and objective and is being pursued expeditiously, in other words, hinting no clear end in

sight sight. >> no definitive answers until after they face the seahawks in glendale. >> the nfl update comes a day after duel news conferences. the star quarterback giving what some on social media giving a less than believable answer. >> i have told you all i know. i don't have an explanation for what happened. i told you all that i can tell you from my point of you. >> the nfl says both teams' footballs were right before the game. >> he professed to have no knowledge of what happened to the balls. most people probably found that that stretched a little bit. >> brady's former teammate had brady's back on the field for 11 seasons and spoke out in his

defense. >> i promise you tommy did not have any record of doing anything that would lead people to believe he would pull off a stunt like this. this is one of the most ridiculous things that could have played out. >> the patriots said the team is fully cooperating with investigators. the game is eight days away from now, and they will practicing today and the rest of the weekend and then off to arizona on monday after a big sendoff in downtown boston. that's the latest here in massachusetts. let's send it back to you. shots heard around the world. one basketball player's magic touch makes history. and then helping us read the tea leaves about the 2016 presidential election. i want my foyer to smell more like a foyer. i want his bedroom to smell like he's away at boarding school. surround yourself with up to 6 hours of

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the white house today is denying a report that some counter terror operations in yemen have been put on hold because of a government coup there. the washington post reported the u.s. now has to free some operations there, but the white house issues a statement saying quote, the political instability in yemen has not forced us to suspend counterterrorism operations, and anything suggestion to the contrary is completely false. joining me now is maryland's senator who serves on the foreign relations committee. how concerned are you about the power grab in yemen and what are you hearing about the fate of the u.s. counterterrorism operations? >> the more stable government we have the less chance the terrorists will have a safe haven. the government that was there

had pro western tied with us to fight terrorism, so that's another disappointment that that government does not have the control it needs. it does affect the ability of terrorists to have a safe haven, but our efforts will always continue and it will not stop and it will be more challenging without a stable government we can work with. we will continue our anti-terrorism efforts in any part of the world. >> the obama administration expressed concerns about the ties that the rebels have. here is what the press secretary said yesterday about iran's involvement with those. >> based on what we know right now, it's not clear that iran is exerting any sort of command and control influence over the rebels. we are aware of the reports that there are ties between the rebel group and iranians and we are concerned about that. >> do you believe iran is

actively supporting these rebels and if so is that a cause of concern for you? >> we are concerned about the rebels. we know they have ties with iran and their objectives are not consistent with what we want to achieve. we are not comfortable at all that the rebels are not assisting terrorists organizations. that's a major concern to us, and their ties to iran is a major concern. we lost the government that was in -- that had the power was certainly one that we could work with. there's still a void in yemen in regards to their ability to have a stable regime. we knew that. so it was not an ideal circumstance but the circumstance has certainly gotten much worse. >> where do you see the situation going? the pro american government has all but collapsed, and the rise of the iran-backed rebels are

the power brokers, and you have thousands demonstrating against all of this and where do you see the situation going from here? >> yemen is going to be a major concern to the united states. we know there are many terrorists organizations that feel they can operate and train in that part of the world. we cannot let that happen. so it's a major concern to us. we will continue to get our attention to that area, and use resources in that area, and work with the allies to make sure there is no safe haeuf havens for terrorists organizations. >> isis has been launching several attacks, and john kerry in london said they are turning the tide against terror groups such as isis. take a listen. >> police enforcement and intelligence community, many countries have come together in

an effective way to fight against an insidious long-time planning process that has been in place. and in a sense we are flushing them out. >> senator, do you agree with the assessment? are there reasons to be optimistic? >> it's a long-term policy to deal with isis, and yes, i think the secretary of state is absolutely correct. in iraq we have seen working with travel forces we have done a much better job in containing isis. the central government more receptive to the moderate sunni population has helped us in the ability to go after isis, and in syria, we are trying to get the ground support necessary to hold isis back, and the air campaign is having an impact in iraq and syria against isis. i think we made progress in the

last couple months. >> before you go i want to get your opinion on a situation, and it's about house speaker's invitation to israel prime minister? >> our country is always stronger when we work together the executive branch and congress. it's up to the speaker to extend invitations to attend a joint session of congress and i think it's important that that particular use is coordinated closely with the white house on foreign policy. i would have hoped there would have been more communication between speaker boehner and the white house. >> the editorial board wrote this event to be staged and marched a mile from the white house is a hostile attempt to

lobby congress to infact more sanctions against iran. do you think the president will veto on push by congress to sanction iran further? >> we know the sanctions is what iran to the bargaining table. we know if iran does not live up to its commitments to reach agreement, the relief they receive will be imposed and tougher sanctions will be re-imposed. the president is asking us to wait until march, and i think those of us that support additional sanctions are sympathetic to the president's request. i think there's a growing consensus between supporters of additional sanctions to give the president until march to get the agreement with iran. >> senator, thank you very much for joining us this saturday afternoon. attention shoppers the high

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an unbelievable performance. golden state warriors guard, klay thompson, shot his way into the record books last night by scoring 37 points get this in one quarter. that's something even the legendary will chamberlin did not do when he scored 100 points in a single game. he set a record for making all nine of his three-point shot attempts. he did all this in a span of ten minutes of action and wound up scoring a career high of 52 points. that's what we call on fire. and then nbc's kevin tibble.

>> need a self-cleaning cat litter box? a life-sized king tut coffin cabinet, a glow in the dark toilet seat or the giant travel sleeping pillow thingie. even the stars in first class believe they are hooked. but at least skymall has gone the way of peanuts and pretzels. >> you don't need to open a skymall and get your pet warmer or vibrating cushion or whatever weird stuff they sold. >> did you ever read skymall? >> i never bought anything from skymall. >> it's disturbing. that's part of my shopping portfolio. it's a lot of stuff that people

need. there's a lot of good and quality fun in there where they can entertain everybody. >> for others like the daughter of actor, richard dreyfuss, memories. >> skymall magazine was a staple of my childhood, we used to travel in between my divorced parents and no matter what the skymall was always there to distract us. >> who knows where you will buy a big foot? >> it's not who is there, but who is not there. that may speak volumes at the political summit today. we will find out what that means coming up next. of 38 miles-per-gallon highway you can feel like royalty in the nissan altima.

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if you're running a business legalzoom has your back. over the last 10 years we've helped over one million business owners get started. visit us today for legal help you can count on to start and run your business. legalzoom. legal help is here. welcome back to "weekends with alex witt." an update on the storm bringing

snow. a mix of rain and snow in new york and slippery roads all across the region, and when this round is done believe it or not another storm is right on its heels. let's go to kristin dahlgren. how are you? >> reporter: we're hanging in there. it has been a long day already. take a look in front of us and you can see we just crossed into massachusetts. this is what we are behind right now. the snowplow is up so the snow really has stopped in the area but he is still dropping a lot of salt and sand there to keep these roads clear, because it's kind of a freezing rain right now. it really is. the wintry mix, that can be just as dangerous on the roads. it really is kind of slippery out here still, although a lot of people out on the roads and lot of people still moving pretty quickly here as we go past the plow here and it's

pulled over and then you can see things clear up again and the traffic is moving. we started the day in new jersey, and then we got on the roads, and as we went it turned into rain and an icy mix. eight inches of snow in connecticut. there were some accidents. we got some pictures in from the massachusetts state police on i-90, and there were a few accidents, and still pretty dangerous out there. if you don't have to go out it's a good idea to wait this one out, and then as you said again, another storm moving in. while we had an easy start to the winter without the big storms, it looks like we are piling up now and we have one more on the way. >> kristin, please keep your eyes on the road and drive safely. to politics now and a dozen or so high profile republicans in des moines iowa for the

freedom summit today. iowa's freshman senator, joni ernst said she is hoping it can carry the momentum in 2014 forward. >> we saw it in 2014 but we can't stop there. we can't stop there. we have got to take this enthusiasm and continue pushing forward. we have the momentum. and we need to use it as we are going forward into 2016 too. >> msnbc's political correspondent joins us again. casie, who is getting the most attention today there so far? >> reporter: well we have heard from a couple of the big-name speakers here so far, ben carson the neuro surgeon, he got a nice reception, and people were excited to talk to him. and donald trump, he warns he is thinking about running for

president again. the most interesting thing while he was speaking he went after mitt romney and jeb bush. he said you can't have push and proceeded to blame george w. bush's presidency for giving us president obama, and the crowd applauded when he went after jeb bush. it's a place where the grassroots conservatives, they are finding a warm reception. onstage right now is somebody that i think is going to be a person to watch coming out of this and that's wisconsin governor scott walker. as a governor he could potentially appeal to establish candidates. he has a good reception for focusing on his background as a union buster in wisconsin, and that's something voters here have keyed in on and as i heard from sources is an interest to

voters. >> and some frontrunners are not there today and how is their absence being noted today? >> well jeb bush took a notably different tone out in san francisco yesterday, and he said we need to find a way for many of the people who are here without documentation to stay in the country without having to live in the shadows. that's different from what you are hearing onstage today. we have not heard anything along the lines of the many remarks that steve king over the years has been criticized for making talking about cantaloupes, and his tweet that ref referenced the woman that was deportable and you hear about border enforcement and a fence and making sure americans get jobs

before others do. it's a divide from what you heard from bush yesterday. >> thank you very much for that update. i wanted to bring in lauren fox and a white house reporter for washington. what do you make of the people who are not attending the summit? >> well i think they are going to let some of the conservatives make their moves early and make their mark now with the freedom summit that we are seeing in iowa. they are going to be more concerned about going forward and trying to be electable when the general election comes around. i think that's why we are seeing mitt romney and jeb bush step out of this. in 2012 mitt romney made wrong turns early in the primary process on some of the things he said about immigration that later caught up in the general election and that was why he got 27% of the latino vote in 2012. let's go to president

obama's state of the union address earlier this week. he laid out a proposal one he thinks will help the middle class. >> let's talk about equality. we can use that money to help more families pay for child care and send their kids to college. we need a tax code that truly helps working americans get a leg up in the new economy and we can achieve that together. >> do think that white house officials actually think they are going to get things inenacted, those things specifically? >> the president was trying to throw out ideas and plans that he thinks will appeal to a large number of middle class americans trying to get into the middle class, that are broadly popular. i think secondly he is framing the debate going forward over the last two years, and he is trying to get the upper hand on republicans, and the white house

recognizes it's unlikely the republicans who are already saying they are not going to take the ideas up directly but what it does is keep the white house going out in public and talking about these things and daring the republicans to stop it. and the republicans are going to have other ideas that they think will create jobs and the white house thinks it's a good strategy going forward for them and to set up the next candidate for the tkepldemocratic party in 2016. >> the republican leaders responded to whether the president's proposals will go anywhere in there respective chambers? >> let me ask you, dead or alive, raise taxes on the wealthy? >> why would i want to raise taxes on people? there's no free lunch. the president wants to raise taxes because we wants to increase washington spending. >> i will take that as a dead. >> dead. real dead.

>> any proposal that republicans and the president can work on to get past realistically. >> the child tax credit was something mitch mcconnell and john boehner said we will consider that and be willing to talk about it but free community college that the president talked about in the state of the union address, and raising the minimum wage they said they are dead on arrival and not going anywhere. the president is making an opening argument and wants to campaign on it but he knows it's unlikely either of those will pass. >> do you think it's a public sentiment that could force john boehner and mitch mcconnell to change their positions on that? >> i think the american people would have to be very engaged in getting congress to pass certain things like increasing the minimum wage. we have seen groups come out and talk about these things, and certainly it helped the president get re-elected in

2012 but i think it's unlikely it will force pressure on congress to pass any of these. >> there's a report that there could be disrupting the counterterrorism. >> he made a case a few months ago when he was talking about expanding u.s. military operations against isis, and yemen was a u.s. success story and that was to build partnerships to existing governments friendly to us, and use drone strikes to carefully attack terrorists groups but this is clearly a setback, and it looks like the administration is flailing as to what to do next about this. it's not clear how they will be able to re-establish that government, which is critical really, for what they are trying to do. >> thank you both for joining us

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recent numbers show states are not hitting the jackpot when it kwuplz to lottery. new jersey lottery sales are down more than 9% after the state predicted a skwrupljump that 7%. joining me to talk about the future of the lottery is our guest, meg. thank you for joining us this afternoon. why do you think we are seeing this slump in sales in lotteries around the country? >> well there are at least two things going on and i want to talk about new jersey specifically in a moment but the larger trend that i think is the one game that is really causing the downward turn and causing pain for many state lotteries is the powerball jackpot. it's a multistate lotto game,

and most states with lot raez offer this game to their players, and is that particular game has seen a decline in sales of more than 40% in the past year. >> why -- states use lottery money for programs that benefit the state. in massachusetts lotteries comprise 8% of revenue, and 4% in florida. the numbers range from 3 to 4% in illinois pennsylvania and maryland. do states rely too much on lot raez for programs? >> states should not be in the business of offering lotteryies at all to help. lotteries are unsustainable and unpredictable and an unfair way to fund public services. >> the most recent jackpot was $90 million, and the odds of winning a lottery are really

remote. >> the truth is if people are not spending money on lottery tickets they are likely spending money on other things, buying clothes, and that's pumping money into the economy, and in many cases the goods and services are subject to things states collect as tax as well. >> and then players can not afford and with sales down could it be poor people are spending their money on things they need and not the lottery? >> unfortunately, beyond the lottery, because there's a high reliance on sales and consumption taxes and other things that are highly regressive, not just the lottery that is falling on low-income

folks, and a lot of people are playing the lottery, and it's about that one game less people playing the powerball, and many people were speculating because the jackpot is so low. $90 million may sound like a lot of money to you and me and two years ago the jackpot was upwards of $500 million. and the states got a big boom because of the size of the jackpot. >> let me lump two questions into one. do you think the downward side is cyclical and a rebound is about to happen and if that rebound doesn't happen are higher taxes inevitable? >> i don't necessarily think that there is going to be a rebound. i think this trend is not really new. when states first enacted lotteries you saw a tremendous growth from year to year in the amount lotteries were able to bring in. they have embraced other forms of legalized gambling while annual sales may grow a little bit year to year that growth

has really slowed down. so i think over the long run, lot raez are just not going to be a good bet for states particularly not for them to rely on funding critical investments which is what most lottery funds do they pay for things like smaller classroom sizes for kindergartners, and pay for programs for older adults, and the state should not have to rely on the fate of the lottery to fund the critical investments. >> thank you for joining us. who is telling players on new england patriots to stop talking about the under inflated footballs? the air war coming up next. until your insurance company jacks up your rates. you freak out. what good is having insurance if you get punished for using it? hey insurance companies, news flash. nobody's perfect. for drivers with accident forgiveness, liberty mutual won't raise your

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a short while ago new england patriots players addressed the controversy surrounding the under-inflation of footballs in the afc championship victory against the indianapolis colts. >> i'd love to get into that with you, but we have been instructed by our union as players to reserve comment on

this situation. it's an ongoing investigation, so in order to protect our players, we're going to go ahead and not talk about that. >> the patriots organization says it is cooperating with the nfl's investigation, joining me now are donte stallworth the huffington post former player and terrence moore. thank you both for joining us. donte, you first, you played in the nfl, can you tell immediately if a football is under-inflated? >> i can't. i did yesterday, i was able to for the very first time i was able to have two footballs, aun at 10.5 psi and the other at 12.5 psi. i don't think that anyone could have could have been able to see the distinction between the two balls during the course of a game. i think that's why the refs didn't pick up on it until the equipment manager spotted it out, then he notified the refs.

you can't tell at all. if you're focussing on squeezing the end of the ball where the least amount of air is then you can tell. i don't think during the course of the game no one would be able to tell. >> donte, only eight days away take us inside the locker room for a high pressure game like a super bowl. how does this controversy distract the players, effect that locker room chemistry? >> i think for the new england patriots, they're going to be fine. they were one of the teams that has had some adversity in the past. i was on the team that when we were going through the whole spygate issue in 2007 and we ended up playing in the super bowl that year. i think for the new england patriots this is really going to motivate those guys. if you'd listen to what they said all week these guys are really trying to put this behind them and that's what bill bill preaches that all the time. he says ignore the noise. and that's just been one of his main key points going back to decades. >> terrence i also want to note that you are visiting professor

and sports journalism at miami of ohio university. what do you make of the players being told to not talk about this and how do you think this affects the nfl brand? >> well first of all, this is a godsend for new england, all be the super bowl next week everybody can do their search i knew nothing thing and i can't say anything. i agree with donte thavs not going to affect them anyway because bill belichick loves us against them type of philosophy. aye been in situations i've covered 25 super bowls. and covered the oakland raiders about 35 years ago, and the new england reminds me of the raiders team. they had an incident with john matuzac who was out on the loose in the middle of the night and on bourbon street basically tearing everything up in sight, and the raiders came back and destroyed the eagles in the super bowl. so certain teams feed off of that. as far as the nfl image, this is not going to affect it at all. people love the nfl, but there's one big thing that nobody's

talking about here and that is the, back in november when when the colts play new england, they told the league then that they thought the balls were deflated so why didn't the league be on hyper alert coming into the afc championship, we have to watch it more closely. even if you can't tell the difference. whether it's deflated or not, just the fact that they were alerted back in november they should have been prepared for this situation. >> terrence bill belichick denied having anything to do with the deflation, tom brady denied, here's what he said this week. >> when i pick those footballs out, at that point, you know to me they're perfect. i don't want anyone touching the balls after that. i don't want anyone rubbing them. you know putting any air in taking any air out. top me they are perfect and that's what i expect when i show up on the field. >> so, the terrence, boltttom line, do you believe him? >> how about they play for

pinocchio on broadway. let's start with belichick, belichick knows everything. he's like those old russian dictators, current russian dictator, guy in north korea, he knows everything that goes on in that organization. you know i was talking on this network a few days ago that a couple years ago, he sat at home about -- sent home two or three players because they were late in a blizzard they called in advance, he sent them home. that's how much he's into detail. and the other thing is this even if he did not, said he didn't know until monday morning, this guy is such a control freak, you don't think he would have gotten on the phone and found out within seconds what exactly happened? >> yeah well thank you very much for that donte stallworth and terrence moore. thank you very much for the insight. certainly going to be preoccupying us for the next eight days that's for sure. that's a wrap up here for "weekends are alex witt."

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