Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by support also comes from Carnegie Corporation of new york, a foundation created to do what Andrew Carnegie called real and permanent good. Celebrating 100 years of philanthropy at carnegie. Org. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. And friends of the newshour. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Woodruff that blustery winter storm dropped a foot of snow on the midwest before setting its sights on the northeast, where today it closed schools, and snarled commutes on the ground and in the air. At least 13 deaths were blamed on the storm, many from car accidents. Hari sreenivasan has our report. Sreenivasan snow plows across the northeast started working early and often, in an effort to erase the first big storm of the new year. Though the snow has mostly tapered off now, its the drop in temperature thats cause for concern. At subzero temperatures you worry about frost bite. Youre worried about hypothermia. Sreenivasan and in a press conference this afternoon, Massachusetts GovernorDeval Patrick said it could have been worse. Mother nature is fickle as you know and has a mind of her own. We had a from my perspective, a lucky break or two. One is that the storm came largely in evening and not in the middle of a workday. I mean, started largely in the evening. And it followed the forecast that hasnt always happened. Sreenivasan wind gusts of up to 50 milesperhour were reported in parts of massachusetts, and wind chills as low as minus30 degrees. Boston was hardhit with nearly 14 inches of snow blanketing the citys streets, and communities to the west got nearly double that amount. Coastal flooding is now the biggest concern in scituate, massachusetts. Many residents have already evacuated their homes. New york and new jersey were still under states of emergency. We can safely say weve had our first significant snowfall of this year. Sreenivasan in new york city, bill de blasio faced his first major challenge as the new mayor, asking people to let the street cleaners do their jobs. Can tell you already, we have a very powdery snow. Sreenivasan earlier this morning, he took to his own driveway, to shovel snow outside his brooklyn home. By midday most of the commercial centers of new york city were up and running. Traffic was moving well, the sun was out, temperatures were in the high teens. But up north, the biting cold temperatures and wind chill made things much more difficult. In maine, the subzero temperatures kept many people inside. But some tourists still braved the arctic air at a Historical Military attraction. Bone chilling. Most of me is warm, except for my legs. Sreenivasan and airports across the u. S. Remained backed up, with holiday travelers stranded after more than 2,000 flights were canceled today. The warning has been coming for a couple of days, so we expected it. We booked a hotel here. And were stuck; well make the best of it. Sreenivasan and although the midwest was hit with the worst of the storm earlier this week, the arctic air still lingers across the region. Woodruff the Obama Administration announced two new executive actions affecting background checks for gun buyers today. Both focus on limiting firearm access for people with Mental Health issues. One rule lets hospitals submit Additional Information about a patients Mental Health into the background check system. President obama proposed tough gun control measures in Congress Last year in the wake of the Newtown School shootings, but they got little support the administration also took steps on the National Security agencys Surveillance Program today, amid Conflicting Court decisions about its legality. U. S. Officials were in the process of asking the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to renew the n. S. A. s phone Collection Program for another 90 days. And the department of justice filed its expected appeal to overturn a judges federal ruling that the phone Records Program was likely unconstitutional. The Justice Department also took action in a challenge to the new health care law, calling for an end to a block on its Birth Control mandate. The law requires some religious organizations to provide Health Insurance that includes coverage of contraception. But the Obama Administration said those religious nonprofits can exempt themselves from the requirement. On tuesday, Supreme CourtJustice Sonia sotomayor delayed the mandates implementation hours before it was to go into effect. The u. S. Embassy in south sudan evacuated more of its staff today because of escalating violence. And starting tomorrow Consular Services for american citizens will be suspended. In washington, a state Department Spokeswoman said they were working hard to airlift out americans, and others, amid the ongoing political unrest. Weve evacuated over 440 u. S. Officials and private citizens and more than 750 citizens of at least 27 other countries on eight chartered flights and nine military aircraft. Who remains . The ambassador, a few key personnel and, of course, security at our facility there, both ours and dod. But i think were certainly open to doing more evacuations, if theres a need, depending on security. Woodruff as many as 75,000 people have fled the violence in the city of bor. Most of the displaced families are camping out in the nile river region of awerial without sanitation or clean drinking water. Humanitarian organizations are struggling to quickly deliver aid to that area. In seattle, washington, 30,000 boeing machinsts voted on a critical labor contract today, with billions of dollars and thousands of jobs on the line. If workers agree to concessions on pension and health care benefits, boeing will build its new 777x jetliner and wings in seattle. If they reject the contract, boeing has said it will look to a number of other states interested in hosting a new factory. A final tally is expected late tonight. Well have more on whats at stake later in the program. In economic news, 2013 turned out to be the best single year for the Auto Industry in the past six. Ford led all major automakers with an with an 11 jump in sales, chrysler and nissan trailed behind at 9 , and General Motors ended the year up 7 . The month of december didnt see such a brisk sales pace, attributed in part to bad Winter Weather and a black friday shopping surge in november. Stocks on wall street continued to have a sluggish start on the second day of trading in the new year. The Dow Jones Industrial average gained 28 points to close at nearly 16,470. The nasdaq fell 11 points to close above 4,131. For the week, the dow lost a fraction of a percent. The nasdaq fell more than half a percent. Still to come on the newshour a rise in sectarian violence in iraq; the rift among Union Workers at boeing; a study linking medicaid and increased e. R. Visits; latinos leaning more on longterm care facilities, plus, shields and brooks. Two key iraqi cities have been the scene of intense sectarian fighting for nearly a week. Sunni militants aligned with al qaeda have escalated a battle against shiiteled Government Troops. Its all taking place in the Western Province of anbar, where u. S. Troops suffered their greatest losses during the eight year war. In falluja today, militants blew up several government buildings including the Police Headquarters and mayors office. Violence also picked up in ramadi. The alqaeda linked fighters are seeking to control both cities. The militants fight under the same banner as jihadists in syria evidence that countrys civil war is spilling beyond its borders. But it is not a clean sectarian split. Powerful sunni tribes in anbar have allied with the Government Troops to fight alqaeda, as they did with u. S. Troops in 2007, in a move called the awakening which helped turn the tide of the war. To help us understand this latest bloodshed, we turn to former u. S. Ambassador to iraq ryan crocker. And former marine capt. Bing west, who spent a lot of time in iraq, particularly in anbar, and has written several books about the war. Test gentlemen, we thank both. Bing west to you first, what is going on in Anbar Province . Well, i think judy that al qaeda has made a big mistake. They went into the cities believing the cities would uprise with them, something equivalent to what the votecong did in 1978 in the tet offensive and the people have no intentions of uprise with them and the major tribes have turned against them. And so i think al qaeda actually has overplayed its hand. Woodruff roy an crocker, do you see it the same way, al qaeda moving in, traying to get a foothold, overplaying its hand . Weve seen this before, bing and i, and i think he is exactly right. Al qaeda overplayed its hand in the o 5ee, 06 period that had the population ready to turn to us in at wakening. And were seeing another play of their hand again, raising the black flag of al qaeda on iraqi soul. And the advent of foreign fighters is particularly a of the tribes, these tribes will and are fighting to secure their own cities, and weve seen the government finally do something sensible which is quit antagonizing the sunnies, give them money, give them arms and fight should tore shoulder. Woodruff what is it that al qaeda wants here, bing west, is it they just simply want territory . What is this about . No, i think honestly, judy, they convinced themselves that the tribes would come over to them and that they could split away anbar as an entire province, put it together with the western part of eastern part of syria and begin to have their own state. But as ambassador crocker was just indicating, they did it exactly wrong because these tribes in anbar hate them. They really hate al qaeda because they killed so many of the shakes in 2004 and 2005. And im flabbergasted that al qaeda thought that they could go into these cities. Fallujah is a trap. Fallujah only has five entrances, thats not a smart idea to go in there. You have to ask how youre going to get out. The second city caldia is a small city, ramadi is the can deal it a pers theyre losing in the ramadi to the tribes. Woodruff what is the value of this territory, am was dollar ambassador crocker what is the Strategic Value for al qaeda to gain it and for the sunni tribal leaders to hold on to it . Judy, for al qaeda the aim has always been to gain and hold a significant amount of arab territory. That for them is the base from which they would seek to reestablish the 7th century calafate. So they are trying that in syria, they are trying it in anbar with limited success. The setback there is going to be very important, i think. Not only in in iraq but also in syria. But thats what they seek. They seek the same kind of position they have in afghanistan pre2011, except on arab soil. We need to be very, very careful to dofering we can to see that they do not get it. Woodruff and as both of you are pointing out, bing west, what al qaeda didnt count on was the sunni tribal leaders in effect allying themselves with the shialed government. What is in it for them to keep al qaeda out . Well, i have to say that my source for this now is twitter. I have twits today coming from ramadi saying that abu risha who is the good guy, believes that andu ago mad who is the bad has been killed in the battle. He has been killed three times, this may be the fourth time. But it does indicate that the problem here for al qaeda that the sunni tribes were handled very badly by Prime Minister mall aki have somehow cut some sort of deal with Prime Minister mall agoee, probably for money but definitely for some political power and this is ambassador crockers area but i certainly hope that prime malaki has learned a lesson from this. Woodruff and on that point, ambassador crocker, how does all this affect the ability of did of the Prime Minister to have any sort of stability in this country. Weve been watching increased violence, there have been suicide bombings, virtually. Weve been reporting on it every day, in iraq. How does all this play into his ability to keep his Country Stable . Two key points, judy. First outside of an bar the the suicide bombings were almost exclusively the work of al qaeda attempting to insight sectarian violence among iraqis. They have not succeeded. Its very important that the Prime Minister work with leaders around the country to see that they dont. And in anbar where there have been significant sectarian violence that sparked this whole thing off, less than a week ago, a disaster for the Prime Minister is now a golden opportunity. As bing says, they have forged a temporary alliance at least facing a Common Threat and its the Prime Ministers opportunity working with individuals like risha to make that alliance much more permanent now that they have seen what al qaeda will try to do. Binge west what is in the u. S. Interest here. What leads to the kind of stability we were just talking about with ambassador crocker. Well, it is as the ambassador indicated it would be terrific and our equities in this are definitely to help the sunni tribes and an bar because they helped us. And because they are a stability in that region. If we can get the tribes and Prime Minister mall aki working mall agoee working together then we can seal off that border and prevent al qaeda from expanding its area in eastern in eastern syria, we can seal that off if there can be a relationship between the Prime Minister in baghdad and the anbar tribes out in ramadi. Woodruff well, we thank you both, both bing west and ambassador ryan crock forehelping us understand more about what is going on there. We thank you. Thank you, judy. Thank you. Woodruff its a critical vote for a labor union, an Aircraft Company and possibly an entire region. Jeffrey brown has the story. Brown in november, machinist Union Workers at boeing voted down a new contract extension. Pensions were the most contested issue. After boeing offered several revisions, a new vote is taking place today, with results expected tonight. The stakes are high thousands of jobs and the building of boeings new 777x plane. If the Union Approves the contract, boeing says it will go ahead and build the plane in unionized factories in washington state, the companys historic manufacturing home. If theres another no vote, boeing says it may well go elsewhere. 22 other states responded to a solicitation from the company with proposals to build the new jet in their areas. Joining us now Harley Shaiken, a professor at the university of california berkeley who specializes in labor issues. And Richard Gritta, a professor of finance at the university of portland and expert on the airline industry. Start us off, explain the pension and other issues here and the dilemma for the Union Members voting on this . Well, its a real dilemma. This was a very tough context for the union in that as you mentioned, boeing could have put this new production in many places. The fact that it may go to seattle is an important game long term, possibly very important for unionized workers and for the Machinists Union itself. But to do this the union had to give certain critical concessions. The most con februaricious is the pensions contentious is the pensions. The workers are going to be going from a traditional defined benefit pension plan to a 401 k . Its an older workforce, almost half are over 50 years old. Theyre very worried about the security of that. Also the context in which the vote is taking place, i think, has contributed to some of the tensions, the fact that this was a record year for boeing in terms of profitability. E fact that the c. E. O. Had a 21 million paycheck. The fact that since the first vote there had been 10 billion Share Buyback and a 51 increase in dividends, all have played into the mix. Brown all right and Richard Gritta from the Company Perspective boeing feels itself in a highly competitive situation, right. Tell us about this particular plane and its importance. Well, the 777x is the new generation of the old 777. And it holds anywhere from 3 r50 to 400 passengers 350 so they are going the intermediate route to compete against airbus but its been dog eat dog in this industry for a long time. Airbus taking the lead and kind of acing out boeing and then boeing grabbing it back. So its a very competitive industry. And this pension situation as mentioned is critical. The use of defined Contribution Plans is what boeing wants to push with the union. Define benefit pl