kristen welker and kelly o'donnell there for us. we're going to continue our breaking coverage and the last-minute breakthrough when we come back. you're watching msnbc, the place for politics. it's not for colds. it's not for pain. it's just for sleep. because sleep is a beautiful thing™. ♪ zzzquil™. the non-habit forming sleep-aid from the makers of nyquil®. by showing you the apartment building where the fire was. when things like this happen, i think you find a new perspective on life. red cross put us in a hotel so we were able to stay together. we're strong and if we overcame that or if we can overcome that... we can overcome anything. [ sniffles ] ♪ big time taste should fit in a little time cup. new single serve cafe collections from maxwell house now available for use in the keurig k-cup brewer. always good to the last drop. to come home for the holidays. that's double miles you can actually use... sadly, their brother's white christmas just got "blacked out." [ brother ] but it's the family party! really jingles y

nbc's kelly o'donnell has more. >> reporter: her gift of speech is a distant memory said husband mark kelly, yet gabby giffords' halting words. >> too many children. >> reporter: here as a survivor of the tucson assassination attempt that left her partially blind and partially paralyzed. >> you must act. be bold. be courageous. >> reporter: giffords and kelly, both gun owners, want congress to expand background checks to gun shows and private sales to make it harder for criminals and the mentally ill to get weapons. >> my wife would not be sitting in this seat, she would not have been sitting here today, if we had stronger background checks. >> reporter: of all the gun-related ideas on the table, democrats believe universal background checks has the best chance politically. >> we'll stop them from the original purchase. you missed that point completely. i think it's basic. >> senator, i think you missed it. >> let there be order. >> reporter: the nra said adding new laws would hit ordinary citizens not criminals. >> nbc's kelly o'donnell. >>> this is the year for immigration reform. t

>> kelly o'donnell on the hill covering it all for us tonight. kelly, thanks. let's bring in our political director, chief white house correspondent, chuck todd. and chuck, some people look at the presidency as a checkbook, and certainly this will amount to one of the first checks the president writes, drawing down that political balance. >> reporter: well, that's right. and tomorrow he's going to nevada to create public pressure, the white house says. it was supposed to be the place where he was going to launch this push for immigration, but the white house is very supportive of what this bipartisan group of senators are not ready to fully endorse the deal, but they endorse it in principle. and that's exactly right. and it goes to what kelly said at the beginning, brian. both parties -- big deals happen in washington when the political self interests align. and john mccain has been very straightforward about the self interests of the republican party. they have got to fix their problems with hispanics, and that's why they're at the table. >> all right, chuck t

kelly o'donnell has more. >> reporter: per gift of speech is a distance memory said her husband mark kelly, yet, gabby giffords halting words. >> too many children. >> reporter: here as a survivor of the tucson assassination attempt which left her partially blind and partially paralyzed. >> you must act, be bold, be courageous. >> reporter: they are both gun owners and they want positive expand sales to make it harder for criminals and the mentally im to get weapons. >> my wife would not be sitting in this seat. she would not have been sitting here today if we had stronger background checks. >>> of all the gun related ideas on the table, democrats believe universal background checks has the best chance politically. >> stop them from the original purchase. you missed that point completely. and i think it's basic. >> senator, i think you missed -- >> reporter: the nra says adding new laws would hit ordinary citizens, not criminals. >> that was kelly o'donnell. >>> this is the year for immigration reform that, is president obama's hope. he laid out his platform and timetable. >>> we kno

>> kelly o'donnell, after a big day on the hill. kelly, thanks. >>> there are fewer places in this country with tougher gun laws than the city of chicago. there are no gun stores in the city, and yet nowhere in this country is the problem of gun violence more dramatic than in the president's hometown. there were a staggering 506 murders in chicago last year. most of them due to gun violence. this year is off to an awful start. 42 murders already, behind every one of those stats is a human tragedy, including the shooting death yesterday of a teenage girl. our report tonight from nbc's john yang. >> reporter: today family and friends mourned 15-year-old hadiya pendleton, killed yesterday in a quiet south side neighborhood less than a mile from president obama's chicago home. just last week, she was in washington for the inauguration as a member of her high school drill team. >> hurts to know that another good one is gone. >> she was shot once in the back as she huddled with a group of teens under a canopy, escaping the rain. >> she wa

kelly o'donnell on capitol hill. our chief white house correspondent and political director chuck todd joins us now. chuck, there are some voices out there saying, good for the house republicans, they're standing on their principles. but there are also a lot of voices saying, how much longer is this going to take? >> reporter: it may be a new year but old habits are dying hard with this congress. we're in the last throes of the typical theatrics that have become the norm in washington over the last couple of years. there's going to be a few more shenanigans before the night is over. but they're probably going to end up voting on this bill. if they don't approve it, do realize, if they don't approve it, the senate is not going to take up any bill. and that means this entire fiscal cliff mess will not be solved at all. they'll have to start all over with the new congress which gets sworn in in two days. and by starting all over, it could take weeks and everybody's taxes go up. it doesn't -- not just $250,000. everybody

nbc's kelly o'donnell is at her post on capitol hill once again tonight. kelly, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, kate. so the house had not taken any kind of vote on a new year's day in nearly 60 years. and when they did so, they got that tax deal done, but only minutes later, a new controversy popped up, over government spending. and it spread through here furiously, and with real impact. new york and new jersey got angry and got action over emergency funding that was being delayed. it was a midnight surprise. >> the ayes have it. accordingly, the house stands adjourned. >> reporter: boos and jeers erupted when help for hurricane sandy victims was abruptly put on hold. >> absurd! absolutely absurd! >> reporter: two months after heart-wrenching devastation plowed across the northeast, thousands of homes and businesses wiped out. >> don't turn your back on the victims of sandy. >> we have americans out there that cannot provide for themselves. that have been devastated, that need a helping hand. >> reporter: a promised vote on a $60 billion federal

kelly o'donnell, nbc news, washington. >>> big bad news for apple today. their stock is taking a beating after a disappointing earnings report. much-loved stock lost more than 12% of its value today alone. put another way, apple lost $52 billion in value today, more than target, nike, starbucks and costco are worth individually. even that didn't stop the dow jones industrial average, s&p 500, as they continue their steady climb toward breaking their all-time highs. the dow today closed at 13825, 339 points from its all-time high reached in october of '07 right before the meltdown. s&p is closing in on its high. nasdaq was down because of the apple stock. >>> now to the stubbornly brutal cold that has so much of this country in its grip. coldest place in the country today was embarrass, minnesota where the temperature was 42 below. near boise, idaho, the weiser river is frozen over for the first time in two decades. in bryant park here in new york, the famous fountain actually froze. and now think about the victims of hurricane sandy. many people left with

>> kelly o'donnell on the hill for us tonight. kelly, thanks. >>> the senate also gave final approval today to a measure that would at least put off the debate over raising the debt ceiling. this measure expense the government's borrowing limit to may 19th. the national debt will be pushing the $17 trillion. in other words, it's really washington's version of kicking the can down the road. the president is expected to sign this bill immediately. >>> now to the economy and the financial markets. stocks fell a bit today with all three major indexes modestly lower. but for the month, the dow was up almost 6%, the best since january in '94. nasdaq gabd 4%, s&p just over 6. its best january since '97. what is the market surge trying to tell us when mixed in with some bad news out there, as well? and on the eve of another big jobs report? our report from nbc's tom costello. >> reporter: 25-year-old kory wilson can tell you, it's not easy looking for a job. she has applied for 200 since earning a masters degree in public relations last m

nbc's kelly o'donnell is at her post on capitol hill once again tonight. kelly, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, kate. so the house had not taken any kind of vote on a new year's day in nearly 60 years. and when they did so, they got that tax deal done, but only minutes later, a new controversy popped up, over government spending. and it spread through here furiously, and with real impact. new york and new jersey got angry and got action over emergency funding that was being delayed. it was a midnight surprise. >> the ayes have it, accordingly, the house stands ayoured. >> reporter: boos and jeres erupted. when help for hurricane sandy victims was abruptly put on hold. >> absurd! absolutely absurd! >> two months after heart-wrenching devastation plowed across the northeast, thousands of homes and businesses wiped out. >> don't turn your back on the victims of sandy. >> we have americans out there that cannot provide for themselves. that have been devastated, that need a helping hand. >> a promised vote on a $60 billion federal relief package was po

nbc's kelly o'donnell and the "national journal," chris frates. first up, hillary clinton gave as good as she got when peppered by challenging questions on benghazi this week. the reviews were she showed the graph tass and confidence, confidence a potential presidential candidate could. not hard to see the outlines. democrats outdid each other in ladding secretary clinton's remarkable four years but republicans seemed eager to rough up the woman some clearly want to keep out of the white house. and this was the exchange. that drew the most attention. between senator clinton, secretary clinton now and senator ron johnson of wisconsin. >> we were misled that there was supposedly protests and something sprang out of that and assaults sprang out of that. >> we had four dead americans because of a protest or was it because of guys out for a walk one night and decided they would kill some americans? what difference at this point does it make? chris: remarkably calm and i would say charming performance by the secretary. but there were moments like that w

>> kelly o'donnell on the hill covering it all for us tonight. kelly, thanks. let's bring in our political director, chief white house correspondent, chuck todd. and chuck, some people look at the presidency as a checkbook, and certainly this will amount to one of the first checks the president writes, drawing down that political balance. >> reporter: well, that's right. and tomorrow he's going to nevada to create public pressure, the white house says. it was supposed to be the place where he was going to launch this push for immigration, but the white house is very supportive of what this bipartisan group of senators are not ready to fully endorse the deal, but they endorse it in principle. and that's exactly right. and it goes to what kelly said at the beginning, brian. both parties -- big deals happen in washington when the political self interests align. and john mccain has been very straight forward about the self interests of the republican party. they have got to fix their problems with hispanics, and that's why they're at the table. >> all right, chuck

>> kelly o'donnell, after a big day on the hill. kelly, thanks. >>> there are fewer places in this country with tougher gun laws than the city of chicago. there are no gun stores in the city, and yet nowhere in this country is the problem of gun violence more dramatic than in the president's hometown. there were a staggering 506 murders in chicago last year. most of them due to gun violence. this year is off to an awful start. 42 murders already, behind every one of those stats is a human tragedy, including the shooting death yesterday of a teenage girl. our report tonight from nbc's john yang. >> reporter: today family and friends mourned 15-year-old huh dea pentelton, kilgd yesterday in a quiet south side neighborhood less than a mile from president obama's chicago home. just last week, she was in washington for the inauguration as a member of her high school drill team. >> another good one is gone. >> reporter: she was shot once in the back as she was huddled under a canopy escaping the rain. >> she was with her crowd, the kids d

kelly o'donnell on capitol hill. our chief white house correspondent and political director chuck todd joins us now. chuck, there are some voices out there saying, good for the house republicans, they're standing on their principles. but a lot of voices are also saying, how much longer is this going to take? >> reporter: it may be a new year but old habits are dying hard with this congress. we're in the last throes of the typical theatrics that have been the norm in washington over the last couple of years. there's going to be a few more shenanigans before the night is over. but they're probably going to end up voting on this bill. if they don't approve it, do realize, if they don't approve it, the senate is not going to take up any bill. and that means this entire fiscal cliff miss will not be solved at all. they'll have to start all over with the new congress which gets sworn in in two days. and it could take weeks and everybody's taxes go up. it doesn't -- not just $250,000. everybody's taxes go up. so it could be

>> kelly o'donnell on capitol hill where i suspect she'll be for a while. tonight our political director and chief white house correspondent chuck todd also on hand tonight. he joins me now. chuck, there are a lot of people, i'm sure, out there rolling their eyes, wondering how did we get to this point on new year's eve? how did they let it go this far? >> reporter: well, the biggest problem is our political system does not reward compromise. the way these deals have happened in the past, with previous presidents and previous speakers and previous leaders is a compromise is rewarded by the public. and right now, whether it's president obama, whether it was speaker boehner, the two of them couldn't find a way to get to a deal because they didn't want to look like they were ever caving. and when you get to a point where it looks like you're caving on something, then there is negative political effects. now, that's why they've brought in vice president biden, mitch mcconnell, the senate republican leader, to try to close this thing. and they may close a deal,

kelly o'donnell, nbc news, washington. >>> big bad news for apple today. their stock is taking a beating after a disappointing earnings report. much-loved stock lost more than 12% of its value today alone. put another way, apple lost $52 billion in value today, more than target, nike, starbucks and costco are worth individually. even that didn't stop the dow jones industrial average, s&p 500, as they continue their steady climb toward breaking their all-time highs. the dow today closed at 13825, 339 points from its all-time high reached in october of '07 right before the meltdown. s&p is closing in on its high. nasdaq was down because of the apple stock. >>> now to the stubbornly brutal cold that has so much of this country in its grip. coldest place in the country today was embarrass, minnesota where the temperature was 42 below. near boise, idaho, the weezer river is frozen over for the first time in two decades. in bryant park here in new york, the famous fountain actually froze. and now think about the victims of hurricane sandy. many people left with

thanks to all of you, david sanger and kelly o'donnell, of course, and chris cillizza, see you later. thanks very much. >>> clinton today put a lot of blame on congress for withholding aid. >> we have to get our act together between the administration and congress. if this is a priority and if we are serious about trying it help this government stand up security and deal with what is a very dangerous environment, from east to west, then we have to work together. i also hope we're looking forward, because right now, libya is still dangerous, it is still in a very unstable status, and whatever we can do for them, we at least ought to agree we need to do and get out there and start delivering. >> one of the members of the senate foreign relations committee, who is asking questions, is the new hampshire senator jean chacin, former governor, democratic member of the committee, who was in the hearing room. you're joining us right now from the russell building. senator shaheen? and as we wait for senator shaheen to get all hooked up there and get the audio straightened out, we've been talkin

let's go back to kelly o'donnell on capitol hill. kelly, kristen was just mentioning joe biden, the vice president playing a pivotal role in these negotiations. how pivotal a role do you think he and mitch mcconnell have really had together to this point? >> well, so far sources who are watching these negotiations sometimes in the room say it has made a very significant difference. now majority leader harry reid who had been the main democratic of voice until biden came in. and we're just talking about when this moved to the senate over the last couple of days. reid is still a part of it. but what you bring with joe biden is those decades of experience, and understanding the mind said of lawmakers. he has been on both sides of deal-making over the years when he had the leverage or didn't have the leverage, and knows what it's like to be in a tight spot and willing to try to work things out and to get creative about finding solutions. what happens in these deals is that you have staffers who are experts in various areas when it comes

it's stupidity. >> kelly o'donnell, you were on capitol hill yesterday. do you think what we saw in that room over the course of a long day will have impact now legislatively, on the outcome of this whole gun debate? >> well, i think one of the things that's so important about watching that is when you distill it down, you see the theater and extreme points of view, but it's what congress has to work through because these issues are not easy. you can come up with a scenario to give an argument for why an individual -- and i notice that they tended to only speak of women who needed to defend themselves, which, you know, is perhaps an effective argument -- you can find those scenarios. you can do the survivalist thing like after katrina or after the riots in l.a. where there are pockets of anarchy that might exist for a period of a few days in the united states where people might say, i've got to have a weapon. then you've got the heartfelt, emotional testimony of gabrielle giffords and her husband. it's so important to remember, gabrielle giffords is parti

and joining me right now you nbc news capitol hill correspondent kelly o'donnell. kelly with a welcome to you. you know, it's part of what people find endearing about john boehner. you have also got to wonder if it's partly the exhaustion of what he has recently gone through and perhaps the hope that the next two years will go a little bit better for this new congress. >> well, good afternoon, alex. it is true that people often note the emotion that seems to come very easily for speaker john boehner. he will say that he is sort of embarrassed by it and that he can't really control it. the emotion just brings near the surface, and it does come out, because he says he takes all of these things very seriously, the responsibility you can the historic moment, what it means to be, as he says, a regular guy with a big job. so he knows that people make fun of him for that as well. so i think essencetive to it. but getting to know him day to day i it seems to be a very genuine emotion and i think because he has been speaker now for a couple of years, people are more accusto

nbc's kelly o'donnell has more. >> reporter: it's a distant memory said husband mark kelly, yet gabby giffords halting words. >> too many children. >> reporter: here as a survivor of the tucson assassination attempt that left her partially blind and partially paralyzed. >> you must act. be bold. be courageous. >> reporter: giffords and kelly, both gun owners, want congress to expand background checks to gun shows and private sales to make it harder for criminals and the mentally ill to get weapons. >> my wife would not be sitting in this seat, she would not have been sitting here today, if we have stronger background checks. >> reporter: of all the gun-related ideas on the table, democrats believe universal background checks have the best chance politically. >> we'll stop them from the original purchase. you missed that point completely. i think it's basic. >> senator, i think you missed it. >> in order. >> reporter: the nra said adding new laws would hit ordinary stricken citizens not criminals. >>> this is the year for immigration reform. that's president obama's hope he laid out hi

to kickoff the coverage, we bring in nbc's kelly o'donnell with developments on guns. we heard a portion of gabby giffords's statement at the top of the show. i want to play the rest right now. >> violence is a big problem. too many children are dying. too many children. we must do something. it will be hard, but the time is now. you must act. be bold, be courageous. americans are counting on you. thank you. >> kelly, obviously that was a gripping way to start the hearing. where do we go from there? >> it is rare you have something so emotionally and politically charged and have a witness like gabby gifford that is the panel can relate to so personally. that made today more compelling. key issues, democrats and many of them are supporting the idea of universal background checks to expand how they would know the background mental history and that sort of thing. also what to do about ammunition and should there be restrictions related to the number of bullets and the number of high capacity clips and that kind of thing. those are very difficult issues and many democrats

joining us now is kelly o'donnell what have you learned with the vice president's meeting with senate democrats? >> we were able to talk to some within the meeting, they are in a bit of waiting game, in part because of the legislation, being turned into an actual test that will have the lengtext tha language. and the budget office will give it a score what it will cost the government to do this. at this very late hour, many people at work here at the capitol hill and going over that now. the vice president was able during his meeting with democrats to walk through the process, at how he and minority leader mitch mcconnell were able to reach this agreement and what benefit he sees for this. this is significant for the president's second term for achievement that will begin -- will mark the second term and for democrats to go along in support of the president, one of the political arguments that joe biden can make. in support of the president. what we know on the house side, both nancy pelosi, in charge of the democrats in the house and house speaker john boehner have been kept in the l

. >> joining me now from washington is nbc news capitol hill correspondent kelly o'donnell. kelly, as we look at this, this has been a big morning. everybody has been waiting for this. "the washington post" out with the headline, hagel has waged a charm offensive. he's been in meetings with senators for weeks now. was there a sense of anticipation this morning because hagel is now on record defending himself publicly for the first time. >> reporter: these hearings really do play a very important part in the process, thomas, because while they have had meetings, and you'll find that other cabinet nominees are doing the same thing, we don't talk about it a whole lot, they go around and have private conversations with senators because senators ultimately cast the vote on whether they get those cabinet positions but a hearing like this is important because it does put the nominee on the hot seat. it does give the committee an opportunity to challenge any nominee. what's interesting today is that chuck hagel was one of them. he served two terms for nebraska as a republican and, s

. >> nbc's kelly o'donnell is live on capitol hill. and nbc's mike viqueira joins us from the white house. kelly, let's start with you. you look remarkably well for what i can only mablg has been a rough last couple of days. >> oh, you're kind, chris, thank you. >> we rolled out kind of a basic nuts and bolts of the deal. give me a sense on what the mood is, how people are feeling? do people feel republicans won, democrats won? is there a winner in something like this? who got what they wanted and who didn't? >> reporter: well, if you can look past the exhaustion and the over-caffeinated atmosphere that everyone has hear, i think you do see that most people will say that the president gets a victory on this and that democrats have plenty that they are happy about in the package, and that republicans are, in fact, sort of reorganizing for what they believe will be greater leverage in the weeks to come. a signal from the president in that late-night appearance with the vice president is something that republicans are grabbing on to, wher

. >> let's bring in nbc's capitol hill correspondent kelly o'donnell for insight in to what congress could do with biden's report. what do we know? >> reporter: that was an important acknowledgment from the president. and you certainly get that sense around here. there are efforts under way, certainly a number of democrats trying to fashion legislation and push it through. focused on some of the things you have heard about this in discussion, things like the high-capacity clips, the gun show loophole, background checks on people that buy guns privately or at gun shows. and not under the same rules that apply for a gun at the store. there are ideas floated and resistance, of course. you have many republicans who will say new laws will not necessarily fix the problem. today the vice president did invite a number of democrats to the white house and the white house took a photo and just released that to show us a bit of that meeting and you had in that room some democrats who have had very personal dealings with the whole gun issue. if you look at john barber of arizona, wounded in the s

>> kelly o'donnell, thank you. well, all eyes do now turn to the republican-controlled house and speaker john boehner. about two hours before the senate voted, the house leadership said it would take a wait-and-see approach. "decisions about whether the house will seek to accept or promptly amend the measure will not be made until house members and the american people have been able to review the legislation." with me now, "the washington post's" david machimura and steve toma, chief political correspondent for "mclatchy" newspapers. good morning. >> good morning. >> happy new year. >> happy new year. david, let's talk about what we're going to see in the house. obviously, if it passes, a lot of people will probably be voting yes while they're holding their nose, but could there also be a revolt from conservative members that could threaten this bill? >> i think, chris, you can never predict completely smooth passage, especially in the house, but i think the senate wouldn't feel this confident about the bill had th

nbc's kelly o'donnell has more. >> no parent should hold this memory of their child. >> the liberty of my person to own a military-style rifle and keep them in their home is second to the right of my son to his life. >> husbands. >> these are not partisan issues. resist distraction from special interests. >> and mothers of sandy hook elementary. >> you do not use a gun against someone else unless you are angry or a victim. >> reporter: together wednesday might in newtown, with connecticut officials from both parties, grappling with the complex balance of guns and gun rights. reinforced with applause. many there demanded new gun restrictions like bans on assault weapons and high-capacity clips. the same kind of pain and frustration drove gabby giffords and mark kelly back to capitol hill wednesday. would years after the tucson mass shooting that nearly took her life and did take much of her eyesight and ability to speak. >> we must do something. >> reporter: working from her speech therapist's handin notes, she delivered her message. >> you must act. be bold, be courageous. >> reporter:

nbc's kelly o'donnell joins us tonight from capitol hill with more on that. kelly? >> reporter: good evening, lester. when you look at the people who are in the ravaged areas hit so hard by sandy, they are saying this is a bit of a breakthrough, but it's only a start. many complain the delays and politics have compounded their misery. for hurricane sandy victims, a down payment on health is on the way. jack lanceman has lost his coney island home, and his patience. >> well, it's about time that we get some help we really need here. it's really necessary. times are real tough. and i'm not getting any younger. >> reporter: today congress gave the okay after delays and politics slowed down emergency aid. >> they've been suffering! they have suffered long enough. they need to hear from their government. >> reporter: approved today, $9.7 billion for the financially strapped national flood insurance program, already drained by 140,000 flood damage claims. federal emergency management officials say most, 115,000, are still pending. and the money to pay them was expected to

kelly o'donnell is at the capitol tonight. kelly, the politics of this thing? >> good evening, chris. this has been slow and ugly. and it brought out a lot of feelings of regional in-fighting as well as party in-fighting. overwhelmingly the noes were republicans. mostly the argument has gone like this. there's an agreement to provide relief for sandy victims but republicans particularly the more conservative were looking for ways to strike some spending elsewhere in the budget. democrats really reacted strongly to that saying in past disasters that kind of a spending cut standard had not been applied. so when they voted for a southern tornado, for example, no one raised the question of spending cuts. but now in the northeast, when the aid was needed there, this issue of fiscal conservatism and trying to trim the budget in one place to help others elsewhere became so heated. so what you've got now is it was a process but they have passed more than $50 billion in aid. it covers a range of things including money for fema to rebuilding transportation and so forth.

well, nbc's kelly o'donnell is live on capitol hill. kelly, this is going to be one dramatic day up there. >> reporter: there has been so much buildup towards this. and because of not only the scope and the tragedy of what happened in benghazi, but the magnitude of who the prime witness is. hillary clinton, in one of her final acts as secretary of state, one of the things members have told me they really wanted to be certain about, was that she would testify while still secretary of state. as we all know, she suffered an illness, first there was a virus, a fall that led to a concussion, then a blood clot. had a really tough go. so there were questions about when she would be able to testify and even for a brief time, there were questions about whether or not her illness was serious enough. that's all been put to rest. what i hear from members is that the tone today will be a lot about looking to what can be done in the future, about protecting some of the sensitive areas that the u.s. has a presence around the world, but also that criti

that's not going away. >> that was kelly o'donnell reporting. and ceremonies are happening right now in the district to welcome the 113th congress. the morning started with a prayer service at st. peter's catholic church in the southeast. a number of lawmakers responded making their way inside the church now under renovation. the service was a bipartisan event shortly after the congressional black caucus hosted a ceremonial swearing-in for its 42 new members inside the congressional auditorium. house democratic leader, nancy pelosi spoke at the event and helped to lay out the agenda. >> fighting to have equal attempts at ballot and end voter suspension to make sure everyone that's eligible to vote can vote and their vote is counted. we're fighting for fairness in the workplace, growth in the economy, opportunity for every family no matter where they live or what their race. >> returning lawmakers and new members elected in november, officially convene at noon with swearing-in ceremonies happening throughout the day. >>> good news for secretary o

thank you, kelly o'donnell. great lie appreciate that report. >>> they may end up rivals in 2016 but congressman paul ryan said he supports the immigration plan of marco rubio when the party is in need of support of the latino community and one of those things we thought you should know. >>> plus, here's the question -- should the justice department sue lance armstrong to get back sponsorship money? we are talking nearly $100 million. [ male announcer ] ahh... retirement. sit back, relax, pull out the paper and...what!!?? an article that says a typical family pays $155,000 in "wall street" fees on their 401(k)s? seriously? seriously. you don't believe it? search it, "401k 155k." then go to e-trade. and roll over your old 401(k)s to a new e-trade retirement account. we have every type of retirement account. none of them charge annual fees, and all of them offer low cost investments. why? because we're not your typical wall street firm, that's why. so you keep more of your money. e-trade. less for us. more for you

nbc's kelly o'donnell is outside the capitol with that story. kelly, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, lester. this is where it all happens for what is the grandest photo op in american politics. tomorrow, we will see the president walk through that red drape behind me and he will take the ceremonial oath and deliver his inaugural address at the front of that stage. just final touches to go. and counting down to that moment, there was actually plenty to see today. save all the pageantry for tomorrow. ♪ this day before the big show is a street fair. ♪ >> it's just awesome to experience just being here. it's just awesome. very historic. >> reporter: a noisy, crowded festival of anticipation. >> celebrating the next four years, celebrating america. >> reporter: washington in gridlock over parking, not politics. today, no tickets were required, so this is as close to the action as many visitors will get. >> it doesn't matter where we are. >> wherever we are, we will be happy. >> just as long as we are here in the area where everyone else

nbc's kelly o'donnell is on capitol hill to fill us in on that tonight. kelly? >> reporter: good evening, lester. the congress the country voted for in november is now on the job. some new faces, but really no new issues. with a showdown over the federal debt already brewing. but on this day, and especially with their families here, they were more focused on fixing the nation's problems than fighting about them. >> majority of the votes cast. is duly elected speaker of the house representatives for the 113th congress. [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: despite this ovation, john boehner's path to a second term as speaker of the house has been rocky. but there was no challenge. only a handful of conservatives voted against him. democratic leader, nancy pelosi, carried out the custom. >> i present the people's gavel to the speaker of the house, john boehner. may god bless you! [ applause ] >> reporter: and an emotional boehner tried to hold back tears. >> we're sent here not to be something, but to do something. >> reporter: at a time when approval for congress

kelly o'donnell. and chris frates. that's the show. thanks for watching. see you back here next week. we are "on the money." i'm maria bartiromo. coming to you this week from davos, switzerland, where the world's economic forum is taking place. the mood of davos, where will the global economy go next and what will it mean to your portfolio as the u.s. stock market sets a new five-year high. >>> i'll have any candid conversation with outspoken jpmorgan chase ceo jamie dimon. we'll talk real estate, banking, his pay cut. >> we had run terrible year. >>> and she's called the oprah of china. remarkable entrepreneur who runs a media empire and reaches more than 200 million people a month. "on the money" begins right now. >>> this is america's number one financial news program, "on the money." now, maria bartiromo. >> this is what's making news as we head into a new week "on the money." washington has a new watchdog for wall street. president obama has nominated mary jo white the head of securities and exchange commission. white is a former prosecutor with a rep

>> that's an idiot. >> kelly o'donnell, you were up on the hill yesterday. aside from all the fireworks, we saw some good pieces of videotape there. did we learn anything new actually about what happened on september 11th in benghazi? is there any new information to come out of that hearing? >> well, there were some threads and details that were interesting, i thought. secretary clinton talked about the fact that they did not have access to the surveillance video that showed what went on for a period of weeks. i think most of us thought that they had been watching this in realtime. and she clarified that when they hear the term "realtime," they had been on the phone with some of their contacts in libya when the attack was unfolding. so there was some granular detail which is interesting, and it's important in understanding what they knew and how they responded. a lot of what goes on here in a hearing like this is, this is a complex issue, and there are things looking forward, and there are things that are important when you understand what decisions were mad