Here It Comes: The first blast of winter is hitting the northern part of the country from Idaho all the way to the Michigan peninsula. Over the next several days, cold air is expected to plunge down as far as Texas and move east. Temperatures could be 20 to 40 degrees below normal. It’s 12 degrees in Billings, Mt. this morning.

Politics: President Obama said yesterday in an interview with CBS news that his midterm electoral disaster was a failure of politics. “We’ve got to sell it, we’ve got to reach out to the other side and where possible persuade,” Obama said. “I think we have not been successful in going out there and letting people know what it is that we are trying to do and why this is the right direction.”

Speaking to Bob Schieffer on Face the Nation, Obama was clear about immigration reform and what he said to House Speaker John Boehner. He said he told Boehner, “I prefer and still prefer to see it done through Congress, but every day that I wait we’re misallocating resources. We’re deporting people that shouldn’t be deported. We’re not deporting folks that are dangerous and need to be deported. So, John, I’m going to give you some time, but if you can’t get it done before the end of the year, I’m going to have to take the steps that I can to improve the system.”

Permawar: Iraqi officials say that Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was wounded in Friday’s airstrike in western Anbar province. They gave no further information and the US Central Command said it had no confirmation that al-Baghdadi had been hit. Al-Baghdadi is essentially the new Osama bin Laden.

Ukraine: Heavy fighting has resumed between the Ukraine army and rebel forces around the Donetsk airport in eastern Ukraine. After months of fighting the airport is no longer useable as an airport, but it’s become a strategic prize for both sides. Ukraine claims Russia has reinforced the rebels with heavy weapons in recent days after the rebels held elections and declared independence.

Dim Sum Diplomacy: President Obama is in Beijing for three days trying to execute a “strategic pivot” to Asia. Seeing an opening through President Xi Jinping’s desire to reform and improve the Chinese economy, Obama is trying to establish a new trade and investment deal between the two countries. To get it done, Obama and Xi will have to overcome tensions about controlling industrial pollution and the Chinese army’s computer attacks on American defense and industrial networks. The Washington Post reports just today that Chinese hackers are suspected of breaking into the system of the US Postal Service.

Nigeria: A suicide bomber dressed in a school uniform killed 48 high school students in northeastern Nigeria. Boko Haram militants are suspected. A bomb killed 30 people in the same city last week.

Next Stop: The train station known as the Fulton Center, the hub for nine New York subway lines under the revived World Trade Center, opens today to the life of the city. The station crushed in the rubble of the 9/11 attacks now features a crystal dome that allows daylight to shine two stories below ground. The Trade Center is beginning to fill with tenants and up to 300,000 people a day are expected to pass through the Fulton Center station.

One in 176,000,000: Comedian John Oliver pointed out the other night that Americans spent $68 billion on state lottery tickets last year, which is more than they spent on movie tickets, music, porn, professional football and baseball and video games combined. Oliver said, “Americans basically spent more on the lottery than they did on America.”

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