>> yeah, wolf.he mta is taking a lot of hereto saying it's recommended over the past 20 years for rail authorities like the mta to institute better control of the track. what the mta has said specifically in response to the federal federal rail administration is that they are going to cooperate with the fra, that they put the safety of employees and of passengers first, that they're reviewing their safety, that they were expediting measures to improve it and an they say they've instituted a hot line. they have a hot line system now so that if an employee or anyone else witnesses something that could breach safety, that people can call in and know that their call will be confidential. so the mta is responding to the fra to try to say that they are -- that they're working towards improving safety, wolf. >> nick, thank you. nic robertson reporting from the bronx, the scene of that horrible horrible train derailment. the senate majority leader harry reid is one of obama care's biggest supporters but giv

so lone wolf may be fair to say that lone wolf or semi-lone wolf terrorism is a similar threat. something significantly below the level of an al qaeda or an al qaeda affiliate. and yet at the same time represents something that is outside that construct. the reason i get there is because the lone wolf, or someone with a very, very small group, certainly has the potential for accessing weapons that we would lump into the weapons of mass destruction category. the classic hierarchy, the chemical biological, rheological hierarchy is one that we can look at and because they okay, many of these are within reach of an individual. you can certainly look at the notion of being able to access some quantity of toxic chemicals. and find some way to introduce this into a setting. that doesn't need to be a mass kill off. it doesn't need to be the kind of incident that produces body counts in the hundreds, but for example, the introduction of a toxic chemical into a school building, the access to cylinders of chlorine, for example, or some other material certainly has the potential to create a

>> wolf, how are you?time starting christmas eve to track santa. look at some of this, you know. this year, it looks more military than usual. santa has f-18s on his tail guiding him around the world. the military says they planned all this. they wanted it to have more of an operational feel. we looked at the video, child advocate si groups are concerned it's militarizing santa too much, especially for young children. let me pause and have a look at some of what the military posted about how they track santa. >> this will get displayed for santa claus. we will now conduct our check. >> confirm that jack frost and the snowman will not be a threat. >> up and continue to monitor for threats. >> santa is most definitely not a threat. >> so, the antigrinch viral system, santa not a threat, jack frost not a threat, part of an intel brief for the test mission they just posted on the internet. you know, it's all supposed to be in good holiday cheer so children around the world can track santa. the question, this y

i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> but we begin with the breaking news from north korea, where the state-run news agency is reporting that an uncle of the leader kim jong-un has been executed only days after he was removed from his military post. let's go straight to our pentagon correspondent, barbara starr. she is working the story for us. until the last few days, this uncle, jang sung-taek, was considered to be arguably after kim jong-un the most powerful person in north korea. what's going on? >> reporter: wolf, that is the question for the united states at this hour. what is happening inside that regime. the uncle, according to the north korean news agency, has now been executed. he was purged, stripped of all his posts a few days ago. the alleged crime is what it always is in the north korean regime, disloyalty to the regime. the question now front and center, kim jong-un, the new young leader in north korea, in power for only the last two years, what is he doing. this man that

wolf?, if there were a need, let's hope there's not a need for evacuation plan for the astronauts and cosmonauts, what do you do? what's the plan? >> reporter: there's always a russian spacecraft that is up there as the, quote, lifeboat, ready to get them out. there have been times in the past they thought they might be getting hit by space junk, they've had to evacuate into the lifeboat just in case. but this is not that kind of a situation. certainly not at this point. and certainly we hope it doesn't get to that point. >> how many people can fit into that lifeboat? >> reporter: they can get them all in there, it's a tight fit. sometimes, arrow indications, there are two of those up there. >> normally they'd do a space walk, go out there and fix the problem. but they're not doing that yet, why? >> reporter: that's right. what they did was, the last time that a space walk, the astronaut, with the european space agency, had an issue where his spacesuit filled with water. nasa hasn't complet

>> it's significant, wolf. now you've got a trend in place for the year, you've got more than 2 million jobs on track to be created the best since 2005. it has been pretty in israble since the recession and the bubble burst and to say you're going to have jobs growth, on track for jobs growth, the best since 2005 is significant. you want it see these numbers, 200,000 a month and more and want to see it continue. the unemployment rate going down to 7%, wolf, the white house acknowledges that one of the big reasons, the big reason why it went down to 7% is because people newly unemployed were having an easier time finding a job. the long-term unemployed still having a problem. the underemployed, the real unemployment rate, 13.2%, people out of work, want to be working full-time, some of them want to working full-time but they aren't. here's the really good news. i saw gains in transportation, warehousing, retail leisure, but also in manufacturing. best manufacturing job growth we've seen in a very long time. and

i turns over to wolf blitzer in "the situation room." \s. >>> right now why it mike make america's enemies nerve out. >>> behind the scenes on air force one, candid images of the remarkable flight carries president obama, president bush, and hillary clinton to south africa. what went on? >>> i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." we begin with chilling new video and details of the final seconds of asiana flight 214. federal investigators have released this previously unseen surveillance recording, showing the plane's tail hitting a sea wall. three people were killed in the july accident. hundreds were injured. now we're learning there were repeated warnings in the cockpit of looming disaster, but why didn't those warnings prevent the crash? cnn's rene marsh has details. >> the details make you shake your head and ask, how could this happen? the pilots got the warning. they were aware they were going down too fast, but the problem wasn't corrected, and it may just be they didn't understand how the automated systems work newry r

. >>> hello, i'm wolf blitzer in washington. estart with a deadly commuter train crash in new york city. this morning had, crews started picking up derailed cars and putting some of them back on track. investigates are are poring over the wreckage to try to figure out how the train crashed. four people died, 67 others injured. one of the survivors spoke on cnn's "new day" this morning describing how she rode out the wreck. >> i wound up going kind of up one side and then just rode into where i was technically on the ceiling. and when it landed, i fell to the side where the windows had been smashed out into the ground. all of those windows had broken through, gravel and glass, big rocks that lined the track were all flying into the windows. i managed to put my bag in front of my face. i don't have any cuts. and then once i stood up, i just immediately was like i still have my phone. it's shattered but it would. i dialed 911. >> joining me with more are our own nic robertson and renee marsh. nick, you're there on the scene. any up

more snow is expected, wolf. so the state assessing the situation right now to develop a plan for the coming hours and, of course, for tomorrow, as well. wolf? >> rosa, thanks very much. let's get the forecast. chad myers is standing by at the cn severe weather center. much of the u.s. experiencing these miss rablt freezing weather conditions at the same time, is that right, chad? >> yeah, we have blizzards going on in the can the das, temperatures, wind while factors 20, 30 degrees below zero. in the northeast, snows like this snow totals from newark, delaware at 12 inches and even into philadelphia had eight inches of snow with this. laguardia, newark, philadelphia all slope. that's the story for the rest of the day. this isn't going to get better really today. we'll see another round of snow tomorrow for you, wolf. 4 to 6 more inches for bwy, bca. up to philadelphia, it's not here now but another small low is running up the same place that the low moved up this weekend. we're not going to see enough ice or as

wolf? >> what's the u.s.nse to india's outrage and there's huge outrage in india right now. >> well, there's huge outrage, but the united states is basically saying look, she was handled as anyone would be handled. there was a proper investigation. five months it took the u.s. attorney to investigate this case. it's a very detailed criminal complaint. but again, once you're turned over to the u.s. marshals, they have to follow procedure or protocol and that's exactly what they did. so she was searched as would anybody be being put in general population. and then she was put in general population with others accused of crimes. wolf? >> deborah feyerick, thank you very much. the feud over the diplomat's arrest is certainly having a direct effect on the u.s. embassy in new delhi. the question is whether the steps taken by the indian government are simply symbolic or i an security risk. mallika kapur has details. >> i'm right outside the gates of the u.s. embassy in new delhi. there used to be large concrete barr

wolf? >> what a story. joe, thanks very much. let's bring in a top cybersecurity expert right now, kevin mandia, founder and ceo of mandia which helps detect and contain computer intrusions. thanks very much for coming in. what should folks do? 40 million people potentially at risk. do they immediately just change their credit card number? because that can be a pain to follow up and tell all your creditors you got a new credit card. >> i don't think the bad guys are going to be able to use all 40 million credit cards. i don't think the answer is to run out and change your credit card. you will be notified. but you got to do the battle against fraud like everybody else, meaning check your online credit purchases. could be from anywhere, but if it's not you, there's a number on your card, call. help out the companies, because target is not going to be alone. there will be other retailers with similar issues. >> how extraordinary is this, 40 million? you work in this business. 40 million credi

wolves or wolf? >> singular. >> wolf. wolf blitzer.esence, and i just have to ask you, do you use vitalis hairspray? >> i do use a hairspray. >> yes. >> but i'm not familiar with the name. i tell the makeup artist. >> oh, you should use vitalis. >> just spray it, don't touch it. >> spray it, don't touch it. i say that about numerous parts of my body. >> my hair we're talking about. >> and other parts. that would be a typical ron burgandy sequence. >> yeah. he would be -- because he did inspire a lot of -- a whole generation of journalists, as you know. >> unfortunately he did. >> nothing else for me to say. thanks to will ferrell for that. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." "crossfire" starts right now. >>> tonight on "crossfire," the budget battle moves to the senate. will it attract enough republicans to pass? and what does it say about our priorities? >> while we don't promise equal outcomes, we've strived to deliver equal opportunity. >> on the left, stephanie cutter. on the right, newt gingrich. in the crossfire, cornell we

wolf blitzer sings in the shower? we know he loves to do the dougie.ne of his most memorable appearances in 2010 is when he showed us his moves, his skills. ♪ ♪ >> i mean, how do we top that? speaking of wolf and his moves, who could forget this moment on the ellen degeneris show from a couple years ago. ♪ ♪ >> and if that hasn't changed how you will now forever see wolf blitzer imagine a younger wolf, rumor has it back in the day he rocked some long hair, played in a band, something he hopes you missed. but here is one photo we can show. i was lucky enough to be on wolf's arm along with these ladies from cnn at the soul train awards. thank you, mrs. blitzer for allowing us to

>> oh, wolf, tremendously.damage already done by the release of documents related to the prison program, is the metadata program. this has been an incredibly painful period. you realize he didn't zeal these one at a time . not like he had to cut and paste each document. he used advanced tools to go into the system as an administrator and basically vacuum it up quickly. but that begs the question, how could somebody do that even with system administrative privileges and not trigger sort of internal watchdogs as to why he was doing it. >> as far as you know, fran, and an you know a lot, has anybody been fired inside the nsa or any other government agency for edward snowden's being able to do what he did? >> not that i'm aware of it, wolf. i will tell you as you listen to the interview last night of general alexander who spoke in its graer detail than we've heard before, this was really a systemic failure. the sort of controls were not in place that would have permitted them to understand the breadth and scope of

>> it was very powerful, wolf.h cherished it, president mandela cherished it and i know president clinton did. in some ways maybe it's presumptuous to say it was a little bit of a father/son relationship. clinton looked up to mandela. mandela was an adviser to him and almost a very personal intimate way, and they shared a real bond, and i loved those beautiful photographs of when clinton went with mandela to robben island and you see them both looking out of mandela's old cell, very powerful. >> i interviewed nelson mandela the day after that visit to robben island back in march of 1998, and during that interview, he spoke glowingly of president clinton, but he also made it clear he did not a have a problem criticizing various u.s. policies and making it clear we an international agenda, there you see a picture of the former president bill clinton, he was president with nelson mandela in the cell in robben island and you see first lady hillary clinton there as well. mandela was not reluctant to criticize the u.s. w

>> wolf.g to people and they're beginning to relive the tram, and also counting their blessings, and at the same time searches for answers. insigh is the train, amanda swanson took this picture. i just rode into where i was technically on the ceiling. >> reporter: a day later in the calm of the studios she grappling with her luck on the way to work. she had been asleep. >> i became aware of the screeching metal. i realized this is a train crash and this is happening right now. >> reporter: she called the police before taking the picture, then began realizing the trauma around her. >> i started listening, looking around, seeing people wobbling about. i could hearing moans, other people assisting other passengers. >> the trauma bay was full. >> reporter: in a hospital not far away, e.r. veteran dr. list man's trauma was just beginning. >> the most critically injured patient and the one we think about the most was the gentleman who had the cervical spine injury, who's going to have most certainly

>> i couldn't hear you, wolf.me. >> i assume you have to pay tax on the $341 million. >> that's after taxes. >> after taxes. all right. so you walk away with $341 million which is not toot shabby obviously. >> 341, not too bad sfa alison kosik, thanks very much. >>> president obama on the downslope running out of time to right his falling approval ratings. what's going on? the numbers are pretty bad right now, but can he turn things around? gloria br standing by. we'll break it down. if yand you're talking toevere rheuyour rheumatologistike me, about trying or adding a biologic. this is humira, adalimumab. this is humira working to help relieve my pain. this is humira helping me through the twists and turns. this is humira helping to protect my joints from further damage. doctors have been prescribing humira for over ten years. humira works by targeting and helping to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to ra symptoms. for many adults, humira is proven to help relieve pain and stop further joi

i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> we're following the breaking news up on capitol hill where the senate has just approved the bipartisan compromise budget that had earlier been approved by the house of representatives. it funds the government through next year's congressional elections, averting the chance of another government shutdown. our chief congressional correspondent dana bash is here. dana, pretty impressive vote if you support this compromise. >> reporter: that's right. 64-36, so it passed with some cushion, to say the least. there's certainly a lot of cumbaya over getting this budget done for the first time in years, but there's also bipartisan agreement that one of the most controversial cuts that made this possible is going to have to be changed. responding to outrage about cuts in military pensions, even senators voting yes on the budget, demanded benefits be restored. >> i believe this mistake must be corrected. >> these heros lay their lives on the line for us, and t

blitzer. >> say hi to wolf. >> hi. >> hi, guys. >> who the hell is wolf?o he is, an enigma, a muse, and as a vodka swilling baby eater, amazing. that does it for us. i'll see you tomorrow night at 9:00 eastern for live new year's eve conch. up next, >>> i'm anderson cooper. welcome to special report, extraordinary people. >> and i'm robin meade. extraordinary might be in the eye of the beholder. to some it might mean someone fantastically athletic or someone uber talented. what about every day folks who simply have to be courageous in the circumstance they find themselves in, or selfless or inspirational. looking back on this year 2013, who do you feel is truly extraordinary? >> that's what we're going to look at in the next hour. you're going to meet some every day people who really did extraordinary things. people like antoinette tuff. in a year that mass gun shootings made news, this schoolteacher changed the story. she had power ofe.

or went out of his way to explain the bill to the american people more than idi >> that's president wolf, on health reform, obama care, and what he said, you know, created a lot of controversy. >> yeah. he obviously does support the president. hillary clinton, as you and all of our viewers know is the overwhelming democti favorite president in2016ingor what does the former president say about his wife and 2016? >> he is saying he doesn't know if she's going to run or not. >> is mrs. clinton running for president? >> i don't know. and i think and she believes that the country should spend at least another year working very hard on the problems we have. we w haveery serious challenges in america. and we have responsibilities around the world. i think it's a big mistake, you know, this constanten four-year campaign is not good for america. we nee to deal with the business we have before us. >> wolf, i did ask him ask the former president what he thought of vice president biden as a possible president in 20716. he says he likes him a lot. >> i guess we shouldn't be surprised about that. we'l

wolf? >> that strategy work for a young senator from illinois in 2007-2008, barack obama. he opposes the war in iraq, she voted for it. it was a major campaign issue on his part. maybe shweeker is going to barack obama's play book against hillary clinton. another story out of iowa, the state's republican governor, terry brand stad had blunt words against biden and his run. biden is dead meat out here. he is so associated with the administration and all of its failures. he was unpopular before and he's less popular now, from a republican, a republican incumbent governor. but that's pretty harsh coming from a governor against a sitting vice president to call him, quote, dead meat. >> reporter: absolutely. what's interesting about that, yes, you're right, he is a republican. but terry branstad, the governor, is genial guy. i spoke to him yesterday in his office, over my shoulder here in the state capitol yesterday, we were talking about 2016. he admitted he knows more about what republicans ar

i'm wolf blitzer.ate 911 calls from one of the most heartbreaking day, police in newtown, connecticut nearly a year after adam lanza slaughtered 20 first graders and then killed himself. >> after arguing the tapes would add to the community's pain. the recordings have generated a lot of controversy here at cnn and instead across the country. >> tell es what we are learning and what portion cnn has decided to air. >> well, wolf, wonderful things, when you listen to these tapes, you don't hear panic or pandemonium or chaos or screaming. you hear professionalism by the dispatcher, but also by the teachers, the administrators who are calling for help. it appears that the teachers did what they had to do when they heard the gunfire, they were able to get to the classroom, hide their kids and lock the doors. that's what comes through in terms of listening to these tapes. one teacher, she says she's on the phone, saying we hear gunshots, i've got to go. i've got to now lock my door. she alerts 911, and then d

blitzer. >> say hi to wolf. >> hi. >> hi, guys. >> who the hell is wolf?you who he is, an enigma, a muse, and as a vodka swilling baby eater, amazing. >>> the following is a cnn special report. >> i'm anderson cooper, welcome to the special rt

blitzer. >> say hi to wolf. >> hi. >> hi, guys. >> who the hell is wolf?s, an enigma, a muse, and as a vodka swilling baby eater, amazing. >>> the following is a cnn special report. >> i'm anderson cooper, welcome to the special report "extraordinary people". >> and i'm robin meade, extraordinary may be in the eye of the beholder, it could be somebody very athletic, or uber-talented. but what about every day folks who have to have courage in the every day situations they're in? looking back on 2013, who do you feel was truly extraordinary? >> yeah, that is what we'll look at in the next hour, you will look at extraordinary people, people like antoinette tuff.

i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> it was a horrifying and deadly disaster, all caught on camera. tomorrow, the national transportation safety board will begin a two-day hearing on the july crash of this asiana jumbo jet at the san francisco airport. the "wall street journal" is reporting that investigators say the crash was caused by a combination of pilot confusion about thrust settings and their excessive reliance on cockpit computers. cnn's tom foreman is working this story for us. what are you finding out? >> reporter: what it looks like in this situation is that in fact, there was going to be an engagement in this discussion about whether or not these pilots in fact relied too much on these computers to land the plane safely and if they did, why, how do you keep it from happening again. >> oh, my god. >> reporter: two key questions surrounding the asiana aircraft as the jet approached the san francisco airport, why did computers controlling the throttle disengage and why did th

sanjay, thanks very much. >> you got it, wolf.for our viewers. don't miss anderson cooper's special report wednesday night honoring the children. "newtown, one year later." it airs 10:00 p.m. eastern here on cnn. [ lane ] do you ever feel like you're growing old waiting for your wrinkle cream to work? clinically proven neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair. it targets fine lines and wrinkles with the fastest retinol formula available. you'll see younger looking skin in just one week. one week? that's just my speed. rapid wrinkle repair. and for dark spots rapid tone repair. from neutrogena®. and for dark spots rapid tone repair. >>> from the primary to the election, the nation watched all the public events of the 2012 presidential race unfold on television, but now you'll be able to get a look at the private, behind-the-scenes moments of mitt romney's campaign. netflix is planning to debut the original documentary called "mitt" on january 24th. cnn entertainment correspondent michelle turner is joining us now from los angeles. this wil

i'm wolf blitzer in washington. we're learning new details about tribut tributes south africa's first black president and president obama intention to attend a memorial service for one of his personal heroes, who transformed his country and inspired people all over the world. >> we've lost one of the most influential, courageous and profoundly good human beings that any of us will share time with on this earth. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >> you're look at a live picture from south africa where it's 6:00 a.m. right now. many people waking up to the news of nelson mandela's death. no single person has changed that country more than the former prisoner who became president and few people are as beloved around the world as a symbol of both freedom and forgiveness. mandela's life and legacy are being celebrated this hour. at the south african embassy here in washington, d.c., at the apollo theater in new york city and indeed all across the united states and around the world. nelson mandela walked out of prison

show, a toy today's wolf becomes a protest in hong kong. bank'sopean central online game commemorating the new bank note and an actual car made entirely out of legos. based on the little red riding hood fairytale, a stuffed wolf at ikea. there is nothing subversive about it, if the cuddly toy has become a symbol of the opposition movement after one through one of the chief executive on december 9. it was a conscious choice of projectile. critics have long nicknamed the head in hong kong the wolves. they say he is a puppet with the fed pulling the strings. plus the word for wolf found similar to a profanity in the cantonese highlight. it is no surprise the wolf has sold out in hong kong. a social media hit. it has its own facebook page, and as we can see from these photos online, whether it is by waving the wolf at demonstrators photos, the him and toy has been adopted by protesters in hong kong calling for democratic reforms in this colony. andmber of online phone games have been created. this pac-man game is one of the most popular. hong k

. >> hello, i'm wolf blitzer in washington. a fierce winter storm is taking direct aim the northeast and the great lake states. 23 states will be affected. that means more snow, more ice and more bone-chilling temperatures. our meteorologist jennifer grey is joining us from the cnn weather center right now. jennifer, we started this week with some bad weather. now what, another round. how bad will it be? how long will it last? >> this is our fifth winter storm this season. we had one the beginning of the week that went into last weekend. we have another one we're tracking. it's going to continue to head up the coast. we are going to see it pull up to the east in the next couple of minutes. we're going to see -- hold on one second. late me get my maps squared away. that low will cause anywhere from 3 to 5 inches of snow in some locations. as it continues to make its way. as it continues to push into the northeast, by saturday night into sunday, we're going to see snow up to the north. snow in places like new york city. so this i

i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> president obama's heading off to hawaii for a vacation and probably really needs it right now. he just got a grilling over at the white house, a news conference on the same day that the latest cnn poll shows his approval rating remains at an all time low. the president took heat on the health care rollout program and especially on nsa spying. we have stunning new revelations about that snooping just ahead. let's get straight to our senior white house correspondent, brianna keilar, for the very latest. >> reporter: president obama came into the briefing room in a good mood. he left in a good mood, but there were some combative moments and he was peppered by reporters about a number of topics. primary amongst them, the nsa spying controversy as well as his signature health care program. the rollout of which he described as his biggest mistake of 2013. it's been a very difficult year for the president. his approval rating stands at 41% in our new cnn/o

go ahead. >> thanks, wolf.has been difficult, and again, the president would be the first to say so, but on issues of foreign policy, i think he also has a terrific opportunity. he's been leading on syria, on icon, on al qaeda. i think people remember first and foremost, he got bin laden, and we're safer today from al qaeda than we ever have been. on issues of foreign policy as well, he has put the american people front and center. and america is looked at in a much better light than they were under george w. bush. so again, yes, tremendous challenges are ahead, but i think it's a terrific opportunity and as long as this president focuses on a thriving middle class, on equality for everyone, i think he's going to do a very good job because in comparison to the gop, when all they're looking at is dividing america on these issues and we're seeing it now with this kerfuffle about "duck dynasty," then they are not in a good place. especially going into a presidential election. >> very quickly, ben, i'm just curious

wolf? >> jill dougherty with that back ground. thanks, jill, very much. joining us is judy gross, the wife of alan gross. judy, thanks very much for coming. >> thanks for having any. >> four years. how emotional is this for you? four years, your husband being held in cuba. >> it's emotional. it's very -- causes me a lot of anger i would have to say right now. i'm angry at the u.s. government. i'm angry at the cuban government. totally frustrated for this lack of action that alan is still in the same situation he was for four years. >> i understand your anger at the cubans. why are you angry at the u.s. government? you just heard john kerry, secretary of state, say they're doing whatever they can to get your husband out of there. >> this is something that i've heard for four years. it hasn't changed. i don't know what that means. doing something. we have not been told what they're doing. so at this point, we feel that we have to step it up a notch and we are asking president obama to get per

>> hi, wolf. what i would like to talk more about or rather less about edward snowden's character or what the appropriate punishment should be, but more about what are the issues at stake. it goes to the really heart of constitutional issues, how do we reconcile domestic surveillance with the constitution. and those, because of his revelations, that's why we're having this conversation now. >> so has he done all of us a favor by bringing these issues to the fore the way he did, or did he do grave damage to u.s. national security? >> i will tell you as a former intelligence officer, i'm deeply offended and upset at his defiance of authority but as an american citizen, i'm glad he did what he did, because now we do understand or are beginning to understand the incredible reach of the nsa surveillance, and is it compatible with what we want our america to be and our values. this country was founded on the best government is the least government, and i don't think that this pervasive surveillance stat

. >> well, wolf, here we are again.ou spoke just in the last block to a very courageous young senior named summer who talked about the experience of what we call acute stress reaction or acute stress disorder as opposed to what we commonly think of as a post-traumatic stress disorder which is a more sustained condition that can come later when they don't deal with the acute stress. for people to shake, have flashbacks, fluctuating moods, all that is completely normal for the next few days both for the students and the parents. but i want to comment just for a second, here you and i are again with another high school. two things concerns me. one is what's going on in colorado. that seems to be ground zero for a lot of these events, for young people. is there something about mental health issues in that state, about the availability of guns, what exactly is going on in colorado to help us understand how to prevent this sort of thing from happening again, number one. and number two, i think based on what we know so far, we

i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> a ten-day mourning period is under way for one of the most influential leaders of our time. we're learning more about the final tributes to nelson mandela. stand by for that, and for my special conversation with the former president, bill clinton. he reveals a time when he and the south african president didn't see eye-to-eye but first, the breaking news we're following. >>> a brutal winter storm turns deadly. at least four people have been killed on icy roads in the southern u.s. we're seeing a dangerous mix of snow, sleet, freezing rain and bone-chilling cold, and it's creating hazardous conditions from texas to tennessee and beyond. now a one-two punch of weather misery is on the way, affecting both coasts from now through monday. we have team coverage beginning with our meteorologist jennifer gray at the cnn weather center. jennifer, what's going on? >> well, we are getting that one-two punch. we have this one system that's continuing to push to

you made wolf smile. thank you, wolf. at 5:00 eastern in "the situation room." >>> a moment now to recognize a minnesota woman named gloria. every day doing her job. she shows an uncommon goodness that makes her a stand-out in her profession. it's a profession made up of people dedicated to helping others. nurses. she gives full-time care to kate, a little girl who suffers from a rare genetic disorder. she goes to school with kate, helped her with her medication, personal hygiene, and much more. she's also learning sign language for kate. now, johnson & johnson has recognized her as the 2013 amazing nurse. she explains how it's kate who has helped her. >> kate has left a lasting impression on my life, and i'm so, so proud to have known her because she inspires me every day. the reward of nursing is making the difference in people's lives. it is a great thing to make a difference, to make a change, to bring that change to a person's life. it's a puzative change, and also, when you do positive things, it reflects in your ow

i know richard wolfe, executive director is promoting this, we're promoting it online. i saw rob reiner in the greenroom. i saw him coming on the show. he has $6.2 million in his pocket. i'm going to ask him for matching funds before he leaves the building today. we may double this within the hour. >> i think we might. we look forward to reporting back to our audience about rob reiner's donation. >> no one knows more about childhood development than rob reiner. he's done very important things. >> a great program. everyone should support it. we'll have a link on our sight. visit msnbc. to contribute to kind go to the last word desks.msnbc.com or call last word unicef and catch lawrence weeknights on "the last word." >> on the show he doesn't look as bombed as in that photo. >> he looks more handsome show. >> bombed in the photograph. >> moving on after the break, leaker, trader, whistleblower, whatever name you choose to call him, the new court ruling shows edward snowden is at the very least influential. we'll discuss it with "the guardian's" ackerman. [ female announce

one of the most insidious hard to defend parts of terrorism that associated with the lone wolf where we built up determined his bod this body ofy and procedure for dealing with terrorist groups and the state-sponsored terrorism the lone wolf individual whose plot puts together a plot often in sympathy with the group is often hard to find before hand. finding and dealing with low -- lone wolves will change going forward. how we figure out how to use the technology to do that while protecting our civil liberties will be one of the key questions of our time. it is with a great privilege that i get to introduce the session today on downloadable terrorism. with that, once again i will try to introduce the person who has been impossible to introduce and that is professor yonah alexander who is i think the world's most or most expert on terrorism. professor? >> thank you very much for your always generous introduction. let's talk about technology. i would appreciate because we are being taped. now, mike mentioned the collaboration with with the international law institute and in fact the la

they do judge it was a wolf in wolf's clothing well honey is a wolf in sheep's clothing a wolf who thinks he can pull the dogs the wool over the. of the international community oh a wolf in sheep's clothing i'm shaking in my heels baby you're the man don't be fooled by this new leaders peace offering remember we've been warned before. there's an old saying in tennessee i know it's in texas probably in tennessee this is fool me once. shame on. shame on you. if you can't get fooled again you fooled the world once now you think you can feel good again. well ahead of the baby he didn't get that phrase generally right and he is one of the best when it comes to instilling fear in fact his central theme was talking about how you ronnie and missiles will be reaching u.s. shores in a matter of years and how secretive iran's nuclear program is of course once again distracting the entire world from the one country that does have a secretive nuclear program and has never officially admitted to its existence yes you guessed it israel and while netanyahu ensures that we don't give peace a chance let's

in wolf's clothing will honey is a wolf in sheep's clothing a wolf who thinks he can pull the wool over the eyes. of the international community oh a wolf in sheep's clothing i'm shaking in my heels baby you're the man don't be fooled by this new leaders peace offering remember we've been warned before. there's an old saying in tennessee i know it's in texas probably in tennessee this is fool me once. shame on. shame on you. if you can't get fooled again you fooled the world once you know you think you can feel good again. well ahead of the baby he didn't get that phrase generally right and he is one of the best when it comes to instilling fear in fact his central theme was talking about how you ronnie and missiles will be reaching u.s. shores in a matter of years and how secretive iran's nuclear program is of course once again distracting the entire world from the one country that does have a secretive nuclear program and has never officially admitted to its existence yes you guessed it israel and while netanyahu ensures that we don't give peace a chance let's move on to my home state

>> well they do, wolf.bout this is, well, of course, the rape allegedly happened back in december of 2012. so an enormous amount of time has gone by. but prosecutors, when they're announcing an indictment or criminal charges, they don't usually do it in advance of the surrender of the potential defendant. and for a very simple reason, he might get on a plane and flee if he knows he's going to be indicted. you can say, this is a famous football player, where would he go? normally, a prosecutor only has a press conference after an indictment has been handed down, after an arrest has been made, to outline what's going to happen next. you rarely have a case where in advance you trigger and signal the arrest of somebody. so i'll be surprised if they announce that there's an indictment or he's going to be charged. they may be saying they can't charge him because there's problems with the case. i think most view lawyers view it that way. >> top of the hour we should know. thanks very much. stand by, we'll have cov

>> not at all, wolf. keep thinking of president nixon, the world's greatest peacemaker shaking hands with may tse-tung zhou enlai even while threw in the process of murdering their citizens. if it's for peace, it's a great idea. if it it's peace for rirn, it's a great idea. it has to be peace through strength. as long as we can maintain our military superiority in the world, i'm all for reaching out for peace. >> here's what you wrote, paul. you said the president did the right thing. you said i'm not naive enough to believe ever believe castro will emulate mandela but i do believe in the transformative of sending out a ripple of hope from the right side of history. so explain. is put you believe the president on the right side of history. >> i think so. first off, america's been on the right side of history. we've had a con tensious relationship with cuba. castro regime has a horrendous human rights record and have for a long time if, right now they're holding alan gross for four years. you've been all o

. >> what, if any, political fall- outs will there be as a result of virginia congressman frank wolf's decision not to run for re-election in 2014. he has served 17 terms and was first elected to office back in 1980. today's press release, wolf would only say that as a follower of jesus, i am called to work for justice and reconciliation, and be an advocate for those who could not speak for themselves. a plan to focus on my future work, human rights, and religious freedom, both domestic and international, as well as matters of the culture and the american family. wolf's district includes a large part of northern virginia, including arlington, fairfax, and other counties. so are republicans in danger of losing the seat? we spoke to larry sabato earlier this evening. >> i suspect that it will go the way of this election generally. if this turns out to be a republican year, then republicans are probably going to win that district. if democrats do better than expected in this mid-term election, then i think they might be able to take it. >> sabato says there have been rumors for quite some

wolf? >> a truly, truly amazing man who made such a unique difference to the world, not only to south africa, but to the entire world. christiane, i want to show our viewers a live picture of his home now. people are beginning to gather. this is outside of johannesburg in south africa. only beginning to pay respects to nelson mandela at the age of 95, who has just passed away. we heard the announcement from jacob zuma, the president of south africa. we want to welcome our viewers who may just be tuning in here in the united states and around the world. we'll have special breaking news coverage of the death of nelson mandela here in "the situation room." we're watching what's going on, christiane and robyn kurnow is in johannesburg watching what's going on as well. we will only now begin, christiane, to get reaction. i'm sure that leaders around the world will want to speak out and pay their special respects to this world leader, from the president of the united states, the leaders in europe

wolf has met it. "hat in "the washington post about frank wolf deciding to retire.he "richmond times dispatch" has that on their front page. wolf will not seek reelection in 2014. that from the "richmond times dispatch." your thoughts on whether or not congress reflects your views. start dialing in. we will take comments on twitter, @cspanwj. you can post comments on facebook.com as well. facebook.com/cspan. post," "the washington frank wolf to retire after 17 terms. the seat will be a prime battleground in 2014. on twitter yesterday, the campaign arms for the house and the senate weighed in. about jimweeted this matheson in utah. uld rather retire than face angry voters and obamacare backlash in 2014, bad news for dccc." dccc tweeted this. "the mass exodus of republicans fleeing john boehner's house." republicanst two announcing they would not seek reelection. this is from nbc on capitol hill, 8 gop house lawmakers have announced they will retire. bachus, bauc -- bachmann, campbell, coble, onein, latham, and democrat, madison. madison -- matheson. matheson barely b

wolf, they say they can't do it. we'll see what happens. wolf blitzer joining us here. our latest poll, wolf, says a survey of senators 35 saying yes votes. at least two republican yeses including john mccain. 20 republican senators have told us they're voting no. what will do we think of getting to the magic number of 60 needed to shutdown the debate and vote on the budget? >> i think they'll get the 60. there's 5 democrats in the senate. 53 democrats, two independents who who vote with the democrats. there's 55. i think almost all of them, maybe one or two won't go along. i suspect almost all of them will. if durbin is right, let's say you need eight republicans, i think they can get eight. they'll get the 60 votes to allow the real vote to go forward. and you'll need 51. you need 50 plus biden if he has a tiebreaker. i suspect the vote will happen. it will pass. the house passed it overwhelmingly last week. the president will immediately sign it into law. there won't be a government shutdown in january. the president for the first time in awhile will be able to leave

on wall come, the wolf street. boyit down with the party that the character is based on. >> it is time for hot shots. we deliver the best pictures from around laurel. >> that is right. -- from around the world. >> that is right. showdown in one is our ace. old one without breaking a sweat won without breaking a sweat. next --than 100 say receive lessons. >> mission accomplished for harry and his injured soldiers. withfinished the walking the wooded south pole challenge. he finished the 120 kilometer track through the south pole's bad weather. prince harry said that it was a success. >> let's take a look at the market. manus cranny is with us. >> they have pulled themselves up on the bootstraps and missed estimates in the heart of europe here in france. that is the critical message. these markets were disrupted by the chinese data and showed a low for manufacturing. the focus will shift to the united states of america and it .s indicated on a flat opening goldman says that there will not be a taper. private that it