among the 12 stars with him, vin baker and cliff robinson. the flamboyant rodman says he wants to show the world that north korea isn't so bad. u.s. officials have criticized his efforts, especially not talking about the country's human rights record described as among the world's worst. >>> the senate is back in session. it could make history on its first day of work. senators voting on whether to confirm janet yellen as head of the federal reserve. if that happens, she would become the first woman ever to lead the fed. she would succeed ben bernanke. his term ends at the end of this month. >>> you will want it pay attention to what happens in the senate today if you've been out of work for several months. senators will hold a test vote on a bill to extend long-term unemployment benefits. it would extend benefits for three months and find ways to pay for that later. the measure may have a hard time passing in the house, though, even if the senate approves it. >>> this morning, investigators trying to determine what caused a fire that critica

announced the lineup of a new team that includes nba all-stars kenny anderson, cliff robinson and vin baker. they will play a north korean team that rodman train ed to mak the birthday of dictator kim jong-un. rodman has not commented on the execution of kim jong-un's uncle, but the north korean dictator saying just this past week his uncle was a despicable human being. >>> tonight back in washington, president obama is back at the white house after spending the holidays in hawaii with his family. but not everyone is back at the white house. a gift for the first lady. mrs. obama staying behind in hawaii. the first lady getting a few extra days of sunshine there as an early birthday present. she turns 50 in the coming days, and so we say, happy birthday mrs. obama. >>> there is still much more ahead on "world news" this sunday night. the self-described tiger mom is back. her first book, causing a backlash. and wait until you hear what she's saying now about why certain groups make it in america. >>> and later tonight, the aurora borealis is back. the first images of the new year and what you

basketball team will take on the american side that includes kenny anderson, cliff robinson and vin baker. along with hodges, christie and charles smith. >> it's all about basketball, entertainment. >> reporter: in a statement overnight, former new york knick charles smith said that he's excited to participate in the game. kim and rodman met last february when rodman took the harlem globetrotters to north korea for a documentary series. he went back in december to help train the north korean team. rodman has been criticized for his new friendship with the leaders of one of the most oppressive countries in the world. >> lot of people in america don't approve of what i have been doing. but that's not my problem. >> reporter: rodman responded to the backlash in an interview with george stephanopoulos. >> are you aware of his threats to destroy the united states? >> i understand what he's doing. i don't condone that. i hate the fact that he's doing that, the fact is, you know what, that's a human being, he's been a friend to me. >> the u.s. and north korea game is set to tip on wednesday. unc

campaign, arriving with a squad of former nba players and street ballers including kenny anderson, vin baker, and charles d. smith. the players will take part in an exhibition game on wednesday. >>> and a hollywood tough guy with a krooer in politics? yahoo! tweeting action movie star steven seagal is considering running for arizona governor. talking about the potential bid while promoting his new reality show. the actor teaming one prominent maricopa county sheriff joe arpaio for the series. documents seagal's duties as a member of arpaio's volunteer possy in arizona. >>> and the beard debut heard around the world. at least around the twitter universe. here are some reactions to carney's makeover -- jillian tweeting, "i think carney's beard finally makes him look like a grown-up." jewelee, "he must be a "duck dynasty" span." and the former white house press secretary tweeting, "imagine if i had shown up to the podium with a beard. now that would have been big news, people." what did carney have to say about his facial hairdo? [ laughter ] >> my wife says she likes it, so there. tmi. >> you

smith, vin baker and eric floyd. this trip is controversial.e with a dire human rights record that threatens to unleash nuclear war. on top of that, rodman has no plans to press kim jong-un to free american missionary kenneth bae. >> i'm not trying to save the world or kenneth bae. that's not my job. my job is one thing, sports. i'm not an ambassador or just whatever. no, i'm not. i'm going to do there and do my thing and try to interact him with him on that point of love. the guy is awesome to me. that's about it. >> but these guys do speak the language of sport and were telling me they believe they can break down barriers and build bridges through basketball. if you are a betting man you put good money on the nba all-stars beating the north korean selection. but my question is how much would you want to spoil a north korean dictators's birthday treat? >>> after six years, "saturday night live" is finally getting a black female comedian. finally. >> i didn't say anything about a girlfriend. but you can call me -- >> the show confirming reports

basketball team will take on the american side that includes kenny anderson, cliff robinson and vin bakeralong with craig hodges, doug christie and charles smith. >> it's not political. it's nowhere near political. it's all about basketball, entertainment. >> reporter: in a statement overnight, former new york knick charles smith said that he's excited to play in game, writing, cultural exchange is about sharing, sharing ideas and thoughts on education, culture and life. kim and rodman met last february when rodman took the harlem globetrotters to north korea for a documentary series. he went back in december to help train the north korean national team. rodman has been widely criticized for his new friendship with the leader of one of the most repressive countries in the world. just last month, kim had the second most powerful man in the country, his own uncle, executed for treason. >> lot of people in america don't approve of what i have been doing, but that's not my problem. >> reporter: rodman responded to the backlash in an interview with abc's george stephanopoulos. >> are you aware

smith, we've got doug christi, we've got vin baker, we've got eric floyd.ple are describing this as basketball's version of that movie "the expendables," where a team of has-been action heroes get together for one last mission. what we've got to see, though, is whether rodman's main mission is to party with a dictator or whether he's planning a diplomatic slam dunk. john? >> a lot of big names there, karl. you have to wonder what the family of kenneth bae thinks right now watching these american basketball players go to north korea when their family member, kenneth, is still in prison there. karl penhaul from beijing this morning, thanks so much. >> and you have to wonder about the assurances of security for those basketball players as well. >>> all right, breaking news from california where a 13-year-old declared legally brain-dead has now been removed from a hospital by her family. jahi mcmath has been on a ventilator since complications from tonsil surgery left her brain-dead. it's not clear where her body is heading. at least one rehabilitation facility

among players challenging north rianne national team, former nba stars, vin baker, kenny anderson andobinson. those are the headlines. back to dagen and connell. connell: oh, man. dagen: we're shaking our heads going okay. connell: charles payne was asked to be part of that team but not available. he had to come back to talk to us about level 3 communications. >> wanted to know how the hook shot was looking. dagen: waiting for the call to take shanahan's job. connell: be the next redskins coach. >> i will grab it in a heartbeat. that dennis rodman thing is the gift that keeps giving. level 3, you guys remember level 23, right? it went public in 1998. they raised $14 billion. best funded startup in history where they barely made it. then again how many internet telecom names did survive that meltdown? now they're coming on strong. the last quarter. , they finally beat the street after a string of earnings misses. they're making it into enterprises. long-awaited upgrade for enterprises to buildout and spend money envoys data. the cloud, the company is finally taking advantage of it. you

he has rounded up a squad of a dozen former nba players including vin baker, kenny anderson, cliff robinsonodman says he wants to show the world that korea is not that bad a place. the u.s., though, remains at odds with north korea over their nuclear weapons program. >> i'm not a president. i'm not a politician. i'm not an ambassador. i'm an athlete who wants to go over there. >> the u.s. players will compete against the north korean team on wednesday as part of a celebration for kim jung un's birthday. >>> the northeast and the midwest, as you know, are suffering from severe cold but some say our warm weather here, that's another sign of global warming. steve paulson and other forecasters say the bay area weather will probably stay warm and dry through the middle of the month. that follows the driest year on record. now, a san francisco state meteorology professor compares this to 1977's weather patterns. one of the most severe droughts in california history. >> while we expect with global warming is for the patterns like this to occur more frequently. however, it's not proof of global war

vin baker, he battled alcoholism. kenny anderson, dui, lost his coaching job. craig hodges once accused the nba of blackballing his political views. so it's an interesting group of guys. >> yeah, it is an interesting group. but i don't think it's necessarily fair to point out the problems they've had in the past. >> why not? >> i don't think that's what this is about. we're making this about politics when it's about basketball. i don't think that that part of this is fair. >> then why do you think they went over there? >> i think they went over in essence to bring our game, which we take all over the world, to try to grow and expose, and in the same breath, also utilize it as an opportunity to maybe start some discussion and some dialogue. >> do you think it is entirely altruistic? >> they may have individual agendas. that i don't know. but again, i don't know that we're necessarily carrying this out completely fairly. i don't have any conversations with these guys. i know them. >> if you were invited, would you have gone? >> i probably would not have gone. but

the players include former nba all star kenny anderson, cliff robertson and vin baker.s birthday. brian? >>> all right. president obama is pushing congress to restore emergency jobless benefits more than 1 million americans essentially saying have a heart. a recent cbo report finds extending unemployment insurance could cost the government about $26 billion. so will reinstating benefits help or hurt the economy is it does it help or hurt the person? joining us right now, economist peter. are you for this or against it? they're going to vote it and need only five republican votes to pass it. what should happen? >> i think they shouldn't do it. these were emergency benefits. if we extends it, we're creating a permanent entitlement. then it comes down to how do you pay for yet another permanent entitlement? >> what do you mean pay for it? they say this comes out of your paycheck. employers pay for it, don't they? >> employer employers pay for it out of payroll tax. the cap is $12,000. a lot of these benefit which is go to middle class executives that don't want to take a s

kenny anderson, cliff robinson and vin baker.ath after being shot at point blank range. they were able to dodge every bullet. footage of the attack released by italian authorities after a two-year investigation led them to the shooters. tucker? >>> thanks, clayton. well, a district judge who shot down florida's law requiring drug tests for welfare benefits. she said in her ruling, quote, there is no set of circumstances under which the warrantless suspiciousless drug testing in this case could be constitutionally applied. so is this another win for entitlement nation? joining us is florida state representative will weatherford. he brings his take on the ruling in his state. mr. weatherford, thank you for joining us. opponents of drug testing say it's unwarranted government intrusion into the personal life of citizens. what's your response to that? >> well, here's my thought. we passed this bill two years ago. we did it because we felt like we should not be using taxpayer dollars to subsidize someone's lifestyle if they're taking

players on the team and vin baker, doug christy, chris robinson and kenny anderson. stern said in a statement: >> rodman, faced criticism from all sides. elliott engel, a democrat calls the game a cruel joke. he went on to say the people of north korea are suffering and was offering them basketballs. rodman said proceeds will go to charity in north korea. the game is set for wednesday. >> that wraps it up. >> next - seattle's political surprise, a socialist is now a key city player. what it says about the city and its people. plus, the picture is amazing. wait until you hear the story behind it. >> colder, polar air in alaska, and definitely well up near siberia. temperatures near freezing nor alaska were stretching down into parts of chicago. where we had a minus 6. very cold, polar vortex, a core of cold air. heavy and dense and sinking through canada, and down into the united states. i brought in wind chills, 50 below zero. very dangerous to be outside. this kind of cold air has been so thick and so heavy that it has gained momentum so take it all go down towards