let's bring in white house correspondent brianna keilar.se clearly pushing back on gates' criticism of not only the president but the vice president. >> reporter: that's right. and today, wolf, i asked jay carney about what is perhaps the most serious charge that secretary gates leveled against president obama that he sent 30,000 additional u.s. troops into afghanistan during what was called the surge for a mission gates says the president didn't believe in. >> obama was skeptical if not outright convinced it would fail about sending 30,000 troops in. are you saying that he's wrong? >> i'm saying that the president devised the mission and has great faith in the troops who carry out the mission and in the mission itself that it's the right mission to pursue in afghanistan, it has been, i think that's been borne out, that doesn't mean it's not a challenge. of course it is. >> reporter: notice, wolf, that jay carney did not outright slam secretary gates. this is something that the white house has been wary of doing, afraid it would backfire. i

brianna keilar for us at the white house. >>> justified force or murder. the parents of a north carolina teen demanding answers after a police officer tased, shot and killed their son right in front of them. the family called for help after the 18-year-old had been behaving erratically but 70 seconds after the officer arrived, the teen was dead. david mattingly has the story. >> reporter: he was a skinny and obviously talented teen when he pounded out hard rock rhythms on his drum set. but family members say the 18-year-old also struggled with schizophrenia and sunday he became too much for his parents to handle alone. >> could you send abofficer over here? we have a son that has schizophrenia and he's not doing very good. we've got to get him someplace. >> reporter: that was his stepfather calling 911. he told the dispatcher this had happened before and all they wanted was help getting him to treatment. >> he wants to fight his mother. he's got a screwdriver. he's not doing good. she's scared to death of him. >> reporter: two officers from two different d

brianna keilar is at the white house for you. >> reporter:.ressured congress to extend long-term unemployment benefits for 1.3 million americans. >> this is not an abstraction, these are not statistics. these are your neighbors, your friends, your family members. it could at some point be any of us. >> reporter: from the east room of the white house with the background of unemployed americans, obama rejected the republican argument that unemployment benefits take away motivation to work. >> i can't name a time when i met an american who would rather have an unemployment check than the pride of having a job. >> on this vote the yes are 60. >> the senate voted to take up a bill that would restart the long-term benefits, which expired at the new year. six republicans joined 52 democrats and 2 independents. in the house where republicans are in the majority, they are demanding the 6.4 billion cost be paid for offset with cuts to other government. programs. democrats in the white house oppose offsets and republicans say it's all about politics in a

hi there, i'm brianna keilar in washon

hi there, i'm brianna keilar in washington in for wolf blitzer. he said he wouldn't wait for congress to get things done. now president obama says he'll take executive action to raise the minimum wage for federal contract workers. the announcement comes just hours before the president delivers his state of the union speech tonight. he'll be facing americans who are worried about where the country is headed. in a new nbc news "wall street journal" poll, only 31% say the country is better off since president obama took office. a combined 68% say it's either worse off or in the same place. and tonight he'll try to reassure americans by focusing on issues like the wage gap. president obama pushing forward in his bid to close the gap between rich and poor. he'll tell lawmakers tonight, he's not waiting on them to raise the minimum wage. at least for americans working on government projects. his executive action will force any company signing a new contract with the feds to pay workers at least $10.10 an hour. almost $3 more than the current federal min

brianna keilar explains. >> president obama is promoting his go-around congress economic message from the state of the union address. but as he pitches his plan, the issue of gun violence is following him to nashville where he's scheduled to tout new public-private partnerships today at a high school reeling after a student was killed by gun violence tuesday. a 17-year-old student is charged with killing his 15-year-old friend inside this apartment building. witnesses told police that the shooter was playing with the gun when it discharged. last year gun control was front and center in obama's state of the union. >> the families of newtown deserve a vote. >> but after a failed vote in congress to expand background checks. >> the amendment is not agreed to. >> gun issues got just a mention in this year's state of the union. >> i intend to keep trying with or without congress to help stop more tragedies from visiting innocent americans in our movie theaters and shopping malls or schools like sandy hook. >> that report from brianna keilar. the president by the way will address the school

>> brianna keilar at the white house, thanks very much. and don't miss cnn's special coverage tomorrow night. coverage begins at 7:00 p.m. eastern, right after "the situation room." >>> we're following a developing story right now, nypd, the new york police department says there has been a report in what they describe as a small -- repeat, small explosion, at 88 lexington avenue in manhattan. lexington and 26th street. police are responding. when asked about any injuries, they said they can't confirm anything right now. they are simply responding. these are live pictures courtesy of our affiliate, wabc. once again, a small, key word, small, explosion apparently in the lobby at this building at lexington and 26th street in manhattan. we'll see what's going on and update you as soon as we get more information. >>> here in washington, intrigue on capitol hill. one congressman calling quits, and another fighting back against accusations he has gone awol. what's going on? we'll explain when we come back. ] research suggests cell health plays a

let's go to brianna keilar. brianna?, this was a very long and jovial meeting that president obama had last night. members of congress came armed with questions for him. one source inside of the meeting told me it was a single question that a senator asked about iran that gave president obama the chance to make his case to them. >> is our economy -- >> reporter: president obama making his case for college affordability today but behind the scenes, a big push for iran. in a rare two-hour strategy session wednesday night, president obama and democratic senators hashed out their plans for the coming year and talked about their differences on iran. afterwards, something extremely uncommon for this president, a casual cocktail hour with obama sipping a martini outside the east room. one senator in attendance tells cnn it was one of the most powerful arguments he's heard from obama, a lengthy impassioned and detailed explanation. it's a case he's been making since november when iran agreed to a six-month negotiating period on

our senior white house correspondent brianna keilar has exclusive behind the scenes details how the presidents preparing john king will take a close look at which promises the president made last year, which ones were kept, which ones weren't. also will anderson cooper, jake tapper, the full resources of cnn, that's coming up next. helps reduce the risk of heart disease. keep heart-healthy. live long. eat the 100% goodness of post shredded wheat. doctors recommend it. ♪ drimusic stopsusic ♪ music resumes ♪ music stops ♪ music resumes ♪ ♪ [announcer] if your dog can dream it, [whistle] purina pro plan can help him achieve it. nutrition that performs. [ male announcer ] what kind of energy is so abundant, it can help provide the power for all this? natural gas. ♪ more than ever before, america's electricity is generated by it. exxonmobil uses advanced visualization and drilling technologies to produce natural gas... powering our lives... while reducing emissions by up to 60%. energy lives here. ♪ energy lives here. humans -- we are beautifully imperfect creatures, living in an imperfect world.

let's go to senior white house correspondent brianna keilar who is taking a closer look.the reaction over at the white house to this rather dismal report? >> wolf, white house officials aren't just looking at this one month. they're urging people to look at the overall trajectory of job growth but they're also using these latest numbers to make the case for why congress should extend long-term unemployment benefits. it's the number the white house wanted but not the way they wanted it. the nation's unemployment rate dropping below 7% for first time since president obama was elected more than five years ago. but economists say the dip is due in part to more americans giving up looking for work. today's jobs report was the worst in nearly three years. just 74,000 jobs created. >> now we're back to this really frustrating situation where the economy does seem to be picking up some momentum but it's not leading to a lot of job creation. >> reporter: that, some say, doesn't help the white house argument that the economy is recovering slowly but steadily. though it does help th

let's go to our cnn white house correspondent, brianna keilar. what went on behind the scenes?> reporter: wolf, this really went down to the wire. a white house official telling me that even as of yesterday evening key policy decisions hadn't been finalized. president obama worked with his advisers well into the night thursday on his speech revealing changes to nsa spying programs. the final decision, by all appearances, came very late. >> i'm, therefore, ordering a transition to end the metadata program as it exists. >> reporter: but the deliberating isn't done. the president saying that his administration will consult further with experts and ultimately leave congress to decide which third party will store details like phone numbers and length of calls. >> who we going to hire? snowden's contract to collect the information? it's not about who holds it. i don't want them collecting every american's information. >> reporter: thursday night, david cameron was asked to detail his proposal. shortly before his speech friday morning, white house officials alerted key members of cong

let's go to our senior white house correspondent brianna keilar. brianna? wolf, the white house and congressional democrats think they have a winning here, and today president obama used the bully pulpit to make his case. president obama pressured congress to extend long-term unemployment benefits for 1.3 million americans. >> this is not an abstraction. these are not statistics. these are your neighbors, your friends, your family members. it could at some point be any of us. >> reporter: from the east room of the white house, obama rejected the republican argument that unemployment benefits take away motivation to work. >> i can't name a time where i met an american who would rather have an unemployment check than the pride of having a job. >> on this vote the yeas are -- >> reporter: six republicans joined 52 democrats and two independents. in the house, where republicans are in the majority, they are demanding the$.4 billion costs be paid for, offset with cuts to other government programs. democrats in the white house oppose offsets. republicans say it's

senior white house correspondent brianna keilar is live for us in washington this morning, good morningbrianna. >> good morning to you, john. the fact is president obama needs congress if he's going to have any big legislative achievements like immigration. and he talked about that but he also announced executive actions on things like education, energy jobs and technology. >> america does not stand still and neither will i. so wherever and whenever i can take steps, without legislation to expand opportunity for more american families, that's what i'm going to do. in the coming weeks i will issue an executive order requiring per contractors to pay their federallyunded employees a fair wage of at least $10.10 an hour. >> so he's announcing here this increased minimum wage for employees, new federal contracts. we're talks, tops, 1 million americans, probably less. so it's pretty modest. but part of the reason he was doing this was to put pressure on congress to a. do an increase in the minimum wage for everyone. and also, john, he'll be visiting a costco today in maryland. part of this wa

our senior white house correspondent brianna keilar is joining us right now from the white house. nna, this is a pretty unusual meeting, the president invited all these democratic senators to the white house, they had some cocktails. what happened specifically as far as the desire among many members of congress to impose new sanctions against iran right now? >> reporter: yeah, wolf, they did talk about this, we're told by one senator who was in the meeting telling my colleague, dana bash, that the president gave a detailed impassioned plea for congress to not impose new sanctions on iran. the white house very much in odds not just with congressional democrats -- or pardon me, congressional republicans but also democrats. there's a bipartisan bill in the senate that would say to iran if you don't come to a deal here during this six-month time period, if you don't come to a longer term deal in that time, you're going to have sanctions come down on you after that. the white house and president obama feel very strongly that that's a bad idea, that that could actually make iran walk awa

. >> brianna keilar, thank you so much. >>> is this about selling books or settling scores? tells the truth? all of the above? none of the above? let's bring in the editor of foreign -- and -- david and danielle, thanks for being here. i wanted to start with your gut reaction. about what is in the gates book. david, does it surprise you? you know, i think all we have to do is back at the beginning of the obama administration and people were hailing the president for having a team of rivals, that meant discordant voices, a variety of opinions, and what you're seeing is there were a variety of opinions in the middle of the white house. >> what is extraordinary is they would be voiced so strongly at this point in the presidency? >> it's really unusual. i think it speaks to the degree of frustration that gates felt. i think it speaks particularly to his frustration the way he and the military commanders were treated by people within the administration, and of course look at the middle east right now. we are rushing to the exit in afghanistan, iraq, where we rushed the exit, has

joining me with a closer look is cnn senior white house correspondent brianna keilar. what do you make of this release? >> these may be some of the most important numbers we've gotten sob far because they tell us who these people are. and young people are key to keeping the costs down. because they are, generally speaking, cheaper to ensure. they're supposed to offset older people who are more expensive to ensure. when you look at the breakdown here the expectation at this point was that the young folks, 18 to 34 years old, would make up for about 40% of those who have applied. that was the goal. we're learn iing now it's about 24%. that is far short. you talk to administration officials, white house officials, and they say yes, but it's still a sizable chunch. this is sustainable. outside experts look at this and say there may be some cost increases because of it. for instance, kaiser says it will be about 2.5% increased cost in premiums. on the flip side, jake, these numbers are new, so we're waiting to hear from the insurance industry which obviously may have a very

our senior white house correspondent brianna keilar has been working her sources. what are you seeing and hearing? >> wolf, i've spoken with a number of sources very familiar with president obama's speech tonight. they say he'll deliver a populist message focused on middle class families. in addition to announcing that heal increase the minimum wage for employees working on new federal contracts, we should expect, i am told, the announcement of executive actions on technology, education, and in this key midterm election year a focus on women. >> clean energy ---ing >> facing midterm elections that will frame his final years in office or leave him a lame duck, the president won't just describe the state of the union tonight. he'll try to turn around the state of his presidency. in an address focused on working americans, obama will push to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to more than $10 an hour. arguing hourly wages today in effect go only enas far as when president truman was in office. on a host of issues, the president will tell congress that if they,

. >> brianna keilar, thank you so much. happy friday. i'm brooke baldwin.ctly a happy friday for a lot of people in west virginia. more than 300,000 people can't use their tap water to bathe, drink, cook, or wash. this is happening in west virginia because of a chemical leak. it infiltrated a nearby water treatment plant in charleston. this is so serious the u.s. attorney is investigating here. look at the map. nine counties in the southwestern part of the state are currently affected. even president obama is stepping in, declaring the incident a federal emergency. let me take you back to yesterda w

. >> brianna keilar at the white house, thanks very much. >>> it is martin luther king jr. day, as all of us know, the day the nation remembers dr. king's legacy. there was a brief ceremony at dr. king's memorial here in washington earlier this morning. that's the memorial that was dedicated to dr. king back in 2011. later this afternoon, the president and the first lady will also take part in a public service project here in the d.c. area. we're going to bring you tape of that event once we get it. >>> there are growing security concerns over the upcoming olympic games in russia. even with thousands of soldiers and police on the streets, we're going to talk about contingency plans to evacuate americans, potentially, if it does come down to that. we still run into problems. that's why liberty mutual insurance offers accident forgiveness if you qualify, and new car replacement, standard with our auto policies. so call liberty mutual at... today. and if you switch, you could save up to $423. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? a man who doesn't stand

brianna keilar reports. their success or failure will determine if democrats hold on to the senate - or if president obama's second term agenda is stymied by republicans controlling both chambers of congress in his final two years in the white house. the time now is 422. we will take a quick break here on the kron4 morning news as we head out to take a look at the bay bridge approach. the toll plaza. at traffic lights. we're now looking up to mostly cloudy skies at this hour. construction for nicaragua's inter-ocean canal will start at the end of this year, contradicting a recent announcement that it would be delayed until 2015. the president of the canal authority said all the studies needed to start building the canal are being carried out in a timely manner. over the weekend, there were reports that construction would begin a year later than planned because the waterway's path has yet to be defined. legislators approved a grant in june for a beijing- based telecommunications company to build and operate t

cnn's brianna keilar has the story. >> president obama will meet up with a another leader. this time, this present for the first time since it came to light in october that the nsa had information about 60 million phone calls made by spanish citizens. the explanation was satisfactory as long as there was no new developments. it comes as president obama is trying to finalize reforms that he would detail on friday. >> they are near complete. he is finishing up and he will do so for the next several days. we have not quite concluded this process. >> the president has issued that there will be some changes especially spine on allies. >> just because we can do something does not necessarily mean that we should do it. >> there also want to have an improved system for security clearance and classified information. also, new transparency reports would be tell how many times they go through phone records and how many people have had their records port. >> we believe that we had scrubbed these programs and not an appropriate balance. >> outside company stated that that wonder if thes

. >> we have brianna keilar with more for us. t to be finalized. president obama worked with advisers into the night on thursday. the final decision on his biggest announcement came very late. >> i'm ordering a transition that will end the section 215 bulk metadata program. >> reporter: the president saying his administration will consult further with experts and lead congress to decide which third party will store details like phone numbers and length of calls. >> who will we hire? edward snowden's contractor? i don't want them collecting the information. i don't want them collecting every american's information. >> reporter: thursday night, president obama called david cameron. shortly before his speech on friday morning, key members of congress were alerted. while vacationing in hawaii for two and a half weeks over the holidays, president obama poured over recommendations with his advisers between rounds of golf. in december and january, he met with tech ceos from facebook and google, privacy experts and house committee members

our senior white house correspondent brianna keilar has been looking into the story.oing on? >> reporter: wolf, it's pretty basic politics. in a tough election year you don't want to be too cozy with the president whose popularity is near an all-time low, but that doesn't mean that president obama can't still in some ways help democrats and in turn help himself by keeping them in control of the senate. a warm welcome for president obama in north carolina today. but noticeably absent -- >> your senator couldn't be here but i wanted to thank her publicly for the great work she's doing. >> reporter: democratic senator kay hagen is facing a tough re-election battle. her office said she stayed in washington because the senate is in washington. republicans balked at that explanation. >> senator hagen conveniently will not be able to be there to stand with the president of her own party, who she has continued to vote with. >> reporter: with president obama's dismal approval ratings, vulnerable democrats, especially in the conservative south, aren't jumping at the chance to b

let's bring in our white house correspondent brianna keilar over at the white house with all the latest information. what's going on? >> reporter: wolf, democrats need five republicans to join them for this to pass, and they seem unsure if they have that. though republicans seem to be indicating to cnn that they will be able to provide those votes. either way, it's going to be very close in what is a key test vote to begin debate on extending these long-term unemployment benefits. it's also for president obama the opening sal vo in his sixth year in the white house. it's back from vacation and on to the next battle for president obama, getting benefit checks to the long-term unemployed after congress failed to pass an extension before the holidays. >> let's get them done right now in a bipartisan way and everybody can share credit in doing something that's the right thing for the american people. >> reporter: house republicans want the $6.5 billion cost offset with cuts to other government programs. it's a concession democrats see little reason to accept convinced republicans come off a

let's go straight to brianna keilar who has the latest. >> reporter: this is adding to the tension notistration and american citizens but allies of the the u.s. other countries who worry the nsa is going too far. you saw that today as spain's president visited the white house. president obama meeting up with yet another leader of a country upset with u.s. spying. this time spanish president mariano bray. since the first time since it came to light in october that the nsa scooped up information about 60 million phone calls made by spanish sit sens. the explanations were satisfactory, he said, as long as there were no new developments. it comes as president obama finalizes reforms that he will detail on friday. where is he at in that process? are those decisions complete? >> they are near completion. he is finishing his work and will be doing so for the next several days. so we're not quite concluded yet in that process but coming close. >> the president has signaled some openness to the changes especially spying on allies. >> just because we can do something doesn't mean we necessarily

our senior correspondent there, brianna keilar. we are waiting for the president to designate the six regions of the country that he has deemed necessary to infuse job creation, tax breaks, etc. tell me more about this. >> these are economic promise zones. this is snag president obama stated in his state of the union address. one of the interesting things about what's going on in the white house is guess who was at this event. mitch mm connell was in the senate as well as rand paul and one of the zones is actually southeastern kentucky that of course is in their states. they expressed skepticism that this is anything but a distraction from obamacare woes and say that it's similar to something they supported in terms of economic programs and economically depressed area and they are here for this event. >> let's listen to the president. >> welcome to the white house, everybody. that was one of the best instructions i have ever had. we are so proud of kiara for that intersection and sharing your story. just so poised. i know jeff is o

. >> brianna keilar, thank you so much. happy friday. i'm brooke baldwin. not exactly a happy friday for a lot of people in west virginia. more than 300,000 people can't use their tap water to bathe, drink, cook, or wash. this is happening in west virginia because of a chemical leak. it infiltrated a nearby water treatment plant in charleston. this is so serious the u.s. attorney is investigating here. look at the map. nine counties in the southwestern part of the state are currently affected. even president obama is stepping in, declaring the incident a federal emergency. let me take you back to yesterday when this began when the leak 13i8ed into the elk river and made its way downstream. it came from the 48,000 gallon tank at the chemical storage facility. this is a mile away from the west virginia american water company and it set off anodor that has been described as black licorice when authorities knew something was wrong. the big problem is that officials say they can't tell how much leaked into the water system. until they can figure that out, folks

brianna keilar tells us how the president reached that decision and why it might change by the end ofd, this went down to the wire. one white house official telling me even as of thursday evening, key policy decisions were yet to be finalized. president obama workeded with his advisers well into the night thursday on his speech revealing changes to nsa spying programs. the final decision on his biggest announcement by all apeeshs appearances, came very late. >> i am therefore ordering a transition that will end the section 215 bulk metta data program as it currently exists. >> the president saying his administration will consult further with experts and ultimately leave congress to decide which third party will store details like phone numbers and length of calls. >> who we going to hire? eric snowden's contractor? i don't want them collecting information. it's not about who holds it. i don't want them collecting every american's information. >> thursday night, obama called david cameron to detail his proposal. shortly before his speech friday morning, white house officials alerted ke

let's talk about it with senior white house correspondent brianna keilar joining us with much more. post" said 2013 was the president's kind of worst year yet. clearly they're trying to swing the pendulum and regain momentum. what do you expect to see in 2014 for the president to get back on track here? >> it was a really rough year, kate. is he trying to get back on track for 2014, president obama is going to try for a big push on immigration. you know that's going to be a heavy lift he faces a divided congress but he's still going to try for it, and he's also talked about climate change in the economy being important for him, he talked recently about income equality, wanting to address that and when it comes to climate change and the economy he'll try to circumvent congress but when it comes to immigration you could see a hard-fought battle there. you mentioned a potential debt ceiling fight, that he's something that could push some of his priorities to the side early in this year, which he really doesn't need that. >> i think maybe he probably hopes what happened in 013 doesn't h

brianna keilar is live at the white house with part of the reaction this morning, brianna?that was bun of his big announcement as it he's increasing the minimum wage for employee working on new federal contract projects. but he'll be continuing that push today when he goes toe maryland speaks at a costco, highlighting the fact that that's a company that's taken it upon themselves to go ahead and increase this for workers as he also presses congress to do this for all american workers. [ applause ] >> reporter: for over an hour, more than 7,000 words. president obama telling his biggest auld yens of the year he's not waiting on congress to start his year of action. >> wherever and whenever i can take steps without legislation to expand opportunity for more american families, that's what i'm going to do. >> reporter: obama wants to combat inequality using new executive orders on education, job us and energy that don't require congressional approval. he's raising the minimum wage for new federal contract workers and encouraged private sector businesses to pay their employees m