are too high in nebraska. high taxes impede economic growth. high taxes aren't attractive for entrepreneurial growth and high paying jobs. the small business and entrepreneurship council states in their 2012 u.s. business policy index that "a high personal income tax rate raises the costs of working, saving, investing, and risk taking. the personal income tax influences businesses far more than generally assumed because more than 92% of businesses file taxes as individuals and therefore pay personal income taxes rather than corporate income taxes." this same report states that nebraska's top personal income tax rate is the 35th highest in america and higher than every one of our neighboring states. additionally, 23 states exempt a portion of or all retired military pay, but nebraska does not. forty-three states exempt a portion of or all social security income from taxation, but nebraska does not. forty-two states don't have an inheritance tax, but nebraska does. according to the tax foundation, nebraska's bus

i'm honored to serve the people of nebraska. i stand ready to work with the president and my colleagues from both sides of the aisle to tighten watching tod's belt and cut spending. our economy and -- tighetning our nation's belt and cut spending. together we can do this. thank you and god bless the united states of america. >> our guests on "washington journal" is steve clemens and gary schmitt. ruchir sharma will discuss his book "breakout nations." "washington journal" live on c- span. >> this weekend on "

(narrador) sólo a 40 kilómetros al suroeste de lincoln, nebraska, el enorme tornado genera vientos de más de 320 kilómetros por hora. (jim bishop) nos está cortando el paso. nos está cortando el paso, vayamos al sur. (hombre) sí, es mejor ir al sur. (jim bishop) es una buena vía de escape. (hombre) no se asusten. (jim bishop) esa vía de escape no iba a funcionar, tuvimos que elegir otra, que era peligrosa, pero... ja, fue más segura que quedarse en el camino del tornado. (hombre) no puede ser, maldición! (jim bishop) rápido, rápido. (hombre) sigamos, vamos, adelante. el vidrio trasero derecho se salió, se rompió, lo golpeó algo que andaba volando. (narrador) con el enorme tornado f4 pisándole los talones, jim y sus amigos desesperadamente buscan refugio en la ciudad de wilber, nebraska. (jim bishop) salgan, salgan rápido, maldición. (narrador) se refugian en un edificio vacío, pero ni siquiera eso puede protegerlos de los fuertes vientos del tornado. (jim bishop) sostuve la cámara lo más firme que pude y mientras tanto pensaba: "si esto nos alcanza, estamos perdido

of nebraska has now approved a route. the governor signed off on it after an extensive work to make sure that they have covered all the bases and governor heineman sent a letter to the president saying we've got the route. so we're ready to go. we addressed the administration's concerns, and today senator baucus and myself, in one day, pulled together 53 senators on a letter saying to the president, let's go. let's get this important project done for the people of this country. melissa: we know what you want to do. what is your gut though on what you think the president is going to do? >> hard to say. i think he will approve it because this is what the american people want. this is energy. this is jobs. this is economic activity. it will create revenue to help with the deficit and debt. this is about energy security, energy independence. so we don't have to get oil from the middle east. melissa: you know environmentalists don't like it even though we've taken care of a lot of problems and hurdles we put up in the first pl

host: news out of nebraska. the governor back their route for the pipeline, the keystone xl pipeline. here is what "the new york times" says -- what does this mean for your stay? guest: it is good news for our state because it brings jobs and economic development in new property taxes. but it is more important to the nation as a whole that we access the third largest pool of oil in the world, so we did not have to buy imports from opec. so, it is a win-win for my state and a win for the country. host: why the new route? we are looking at a map from "the new york times." you can see the initial group and this is the revision. guest: the new route -- the sand hills is really a beloved area of our state where it is dry and sandy. it is. eco-environment and people were concerned about the environmental impact. our governor asked transcanada to move off of the sand hills and the agreed and it is the new route. host: environmental issues still are coming up. environmentalists raised concern on everything from oil and

we've been able to get a lot done in nebraska. i hope i can bring that here to washington as well. >> woodruff: you obviously have not been a part of the senate that has been voting the last few days, but if you were sitting in the senate right now, would you have voted for the version of the fiscal cliff deal that the senate voted on last night? >> i haven't been part of those discussions. like most americans, i find it very, very frustrating to watch it. it's not what we expected. i can tell you that. the spending is a problem. when i campaigned last year-and- a-half all across the state of nebraska, what i heard from people was their concern about spending. that's not addressed in this bill. i thank the leader. i thank the vice president for coming together and putting forth part of the solution. in helping with tax relief for many americans. but that didn't go far enough. we have to address spending if we're really going to talk about the problem. >> woodruff: spending was a part of the discussion but the republicans were not

we've been able to get a lot done in nebraska. i hope i can bring that here to washington as well. >> woodru: you viously haou nobeen a part of the senate that has been voting the last few days, but if you were sitting in the senate right now, would you have voted for the version of the fiscal cliff deal that the senate voted on last night? >> i haven't been part of those discussions. like most americans, i find it very, very frustrating to watch it. it's not what we expected. i can tell you that. the spending is a problem. when i campaigned last year-and- a-half all across the state of nebraska, what i heard from people was their concern about spending. that's not addressed in this bill. i thank the leader. i thank the vice president for coming together and putting forth part of the solution. in helping with tax relief for many americans. but that didn't go far enough. we have to address spending if we're really going to talk about the problem. >> woodruff: spending was a part of the discussion but the republicans were not able t

the former senator from nebraska is a vietnam war hero and served on capitol hill for more than a decade but his confirmation process isn't expected to be smooth. athena jones is at the white house and hagel, athena, has angered some lawmakers, many because of the positions he has taken up on middle east issues. what has he done that could cause challenges, say, for him here? >> reporter: well, that's right. even though this is a republican who served as nebraska senator for two terms, it sounds like a bipartisan choice but really, it's just going to be shaping had up to be another fight. one of the issues here that has angered the lgbt community is comments he made back in 1998 questioning a nominee for ambassadorship because that nominee was in his words, openly, aggressively gay p he has recently apologized for those remarks but these just a sampling. the big issues are -- more big issues on the foreign policy side. let's listen to what south carolina senator lindsey graham had to say about his concerns about hagel on "state of the union" this morning. >> chuck hagel, if confirmed to

we've been able to get a lot done in nebraska. i hope i can bring that here to washington as well. >> woodruff: you obviously have not been a part of the senate that has been voting the last few days but if you were sitting in the senate right now would you have voted for the version of the fiscal cliff deal that the senate voted on last night? >> i haven't been part of those discussions. like most americans i find it very, very frustrating to watch it. it's not what we expected. i can tell you that. the spending is a problem. when i campaigned last year-and-a-half all across the state of nebraska what i heard from people was their concern about spending. that's not addressed in this bill. i thank the leader. i thank the vice president for coming together and putting forth part of the solution. in helping with tax relief for many americans. but that didn't go far enough. we have to address spending if we're really going to talk about the problem. >> woodruff: spending was a part of the discussion but the republicans were not able

joining us now to explain why is nebraska governor. your business rate is 7.8% is that true? >> that's true and iesd too high. >> all right. it's true and it's too high. certainly higher than your neighbors. let me ask you a question. i mean, i'm an advocate of flat tax rates as you probably know. your sales tax is 5.5%. which i think is the case. so my question to you is how do you make the numbers work? if you eliminate 7% and 8% tax rates on businesses and individuals, you've got a 5.5% sales tax. doesn't that sales tax have to go up quite a bit? >> no, it doesn't. let me tell you what we're trying to do. we want to eliminate the individual income tax and the way to pay for it over the years we have granted way too many sal sales tax exemptions. we're going to get rid of the exemptions, don't favor one industry over another. by doing that we can take our corporate rate to zero. we can take the individual income tax rate to zero. again, we'll be more attractive for investment. >> so you're basically saying you could figure it out so the sales tax will not have to be raised,

nebraska is the latest to consider ditching them for good. but unlike other recent proposals nebraska governor dave heineman says he is not going to raise other taxes to make up for it. hmmm. he will join us to explain just how that could possibly work coming up. >>> plus, an offer from the islamic militants holding two americans hostage in algeria. they will release them in exchange for two convicted terrorists currently in u.s. prisons. could attacks like this against oil and gas facilities become a new tactic in the war against terror? we'll hear from today's power panel. >>> we're shelling out big bucks for purell, flu shots, respiratory masks, tamiflu like there is no tomorrow and people are still getting sick in record numbers. drug companies may be profiting. are we just wasting our money? we'll get to the bottom line. even when they say it's not it is always about money. melissa: all right. first today's market moment. a slate of strong corporate earnings fav a modest boost to stocks. the s&p 500 and the dow climbed to five-year highs

lincoln, nebraska 34, wichita 50, in texas in the 50s. we were warmer than albuquerque, amarillo and denver. so we're doing good. it really looks like the next several days the east coast is the place to be because we'll experience some unusual warmth coming our way, tomorrow not so much. it's going to be chilly even with sunshine, 43 degrees, breezy, too. so tomorrow even though we're in the lower 40s it's only going to feel like the 30s because that wind will be blowing 10, 15, gusting up around 20. warmer tuesday, 51 degrees, mixture of clouds and sun but not too bad. we're stuck in clouds now. that's one of the reasons why temperatures are fairly mild in the city at least. there's a little snow in the northwest indicative of colder air coming down from the north and west. that will get here overnight. that will start to take temperatures down. we're headed down to 36 degrees in washington. it's going to take pretty much all night to get there, 32 gaithersburg, 36 dulles. don't let these temperatures fool you tomorrow because it will b

the nebraska capital one bowl. the scc title game. martinez. huskers up, 5-1. connecting, inside the 10. toed the game. 2-point conversion. long run. nobody to pull him down as no. 7 wins on new year's day over nebraska. michigan and north carolina. michigan 123 teens this year. they did not fare any better. south carolina -- ace sanders. you know you have skills if you are playing college football and your first name and is ace. south carolina -- first quarter. devon gardner. cut to the chase. 16 seconds left. ellington in for the touchdown. south carolina comes back to beat michigan, 33-28. of course, this year it is the bowl game down in south carolina. there was a time when it was the day in football. now it is now a the. >> we will be back with the seven-day forecast. stay with us. >> here is a look at what we're working in -- working on for 11 news tonight's. a party gets out of hand. what sparked several calls to the police. plus, couples took the plunge on new year's day. those stories, plus the latest on the fiscal cliff and how it on the fiscal cliff

i am proud to represent the state and nebraska in the united states senate. for the past 1.5 years, i've traveled thousands of miles across nebraska visiting with command to leaders to learn about their views and share my position on issues. i have heard a single consistent message over and over. washington must cut out of control spending. i agree. the american people are right to expect more accountability for their government. i recently saw a poll in three out of four american support spending cuts across the board. of thetaxpayers are tired battles and the lack of progress. in 2009, the president pledged to cut the deficit in half. we have seen four straight years of trillion dollar deficit and a national debt exceeding $16 trillion. the federal government added $4 billion each day to our gross national debt. this is not sustainable. i support a more limited government that focuses on the court duties and responsibilities. only then can we identify the national priorities were the of taxpayer funding. the constitution states that the top priority for con

and he went on to represent a native nebraska in the u.s. senate and now he co-chairs the president's intelligence advisory board. that sounds like a pretty good cv, they say. what's not to like? >> well, if you're in the white house, you say that's the reason his confirmation should be smooth sailing. but, you know, he was a two-term senator and when you're a two-term senator you have a record and you have a history. and chuck hagel's history at least according to some republicans and some democrats is not what they would call pro-israel enough. and there are some questionable comments made a while back about the so-called jewish lobby as he called it. he has to answer questions about that, about some votes on sanctions against iran soy think that's going to be question number one out there. there are some in the lesbian and gay community who question the comments he made about an ambassador who was gay and questioned his credentials as a result of that a while back. hagel took back the comments but also clearly something to be raised but i

he's from nebraska. at the same time, they're against him because he endorsed his former senate colleague, bob kerrey, a long shot in nebraska but a medal of honor winner and a fellow vietnam wounded veteran who lost his leg in vietnam. so that's one of the cardinal sins against him. and he is opposed not by all of the mainstream lgbt groups but by some, by a few of them. the human rights campaign, chad griffin, very close to this white house, has said that he appreciates the fact that hagel has apologized for what he said 14 years ago about ambassador harman. >> so let's see, head of the uso. fought for the updated g.i. bill after 9/11. as andrea mentioned, wounded in war and would be the first soldier to become secretary of defense. but yet bill kristol, editor of the conservative "weekly standard," said this. "his backers can cite no significant legislation for which hagel was responsible in his two terms in the senate. they can quote no memorable speeches that hagel delivered and can cite no profound

nebraska's governor approved a new route for the controversial keystone oil pipeline to put the ball scarily in the president's court. chief white house correspondent ed henry tells us that is one issue getting a second look tonight. >> attending a prayer service after a long night of celebrating the start of his second term. ♪ ♪ >> president obama woke up to a flood of cheerleading headlines about how he offered an aggressive liberal vision to act on major issues. >> we will respond to the threat of climate change. knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations. >> today at the white house the back pedaling began. >> i don't have any, you know, announcements to make about next steps on that issue. >> the president is facing pressure whether he will keep that declaration on reducing green house gases or the campaign promise to pursue all of the above energy strategy that could create jobs. after nebraska for dave heineman revealed he approved revived route for the keystone xl oil and gas pipeline to avoid environmentally sensitive areas of his

i've known him before he went for senate no omaha, nebraska in 1986. he was interested before he ran for the senate to learn more from me. i grew up in israel, was born there. it was an amazing relationship, it started and developed in the last 20 years. and i think that i support him wholeheartedly. >>> coming up at the half hour, more on the man president obama is expected to nominate as his next secretary of defense, from serving in vietnam to a career on capitol hill. a look at the life and career of chuck hagel. >>> president obama has more spots to fill in his cabinet, treasury secretary tim geithner is expected to leave sometime around the nomination. the front-runner to replace geithner is reportedly chief of staff, jacob lew. there's a vacancy at the cia since general david petraeus stepped down. a source tells cnn a short list includes counterterrorism and homeland security adviser john brennan as well as acting cia drkter, michael morel, the man wearing the red tie in the video. >>> the attorney for one of the two ohio teenagers charged with

he started in nebraska? what's he went to nebraska because he was in the air force. he was in the air force for over 20 years. he opened a general practice there and never imagined he would become an abortion provider. he was introduced to abortion but a nurse friend of his who brought him into the clinic one day to hear the women's stories. >> but he had to lead nebraska? >> yes. he is now doing third trimester abortions in a clinic in maryland to. >> let's go to a clip from this remarkable film, "after tiller." this is dr. leroy carhart who has a clinic in germantown, maryland. their anti-was activists targeted his landlord, todd stayed, protesting outside the middle school of his landlord's daughter. this is dr. carhart commenting on what took place. >> the thing with the school, and aggravated the owner enough he got very, very -- he took it personally. if they tell me to move tomorrow, i would have to move. if we don't fight back, it will go away, abortion will not be available. >> dr. carhart. martha, talk about -- there were protesting the landlord's daughters

-- chuck hagel, the former senator of nebraska. we will be back in a moment. ♪ [music break] >> this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. as we turn now to look at chuck hagel, president of them is expected to nominate a former republican senator to become the next defense secretary. he is a vietnam veteran who represented nebraska in the senate from 1997-2009. he may face an uphill battle due to opposition from fellow republicans. after initially supporting the iraq invasion, he later joined democrats criticizing the war. he also supported cuts to the military budget. several prominent republican lawmakers and commentators have criticized his past comments about israel. in 2008, he was quoted as saying -- on sunday, south carolina republican senator lindsey gramm criticized a go on cnn. >> chuck hagel is out of the means to my thinking, i think, on most issues regarding foreign policy. i expect the president to nominate people different. i'm going to vote for senator kerrey. i don't a

there are about 6,100 jews in the state of nebraska. i can imagine many lobbies that might have intimidated hagel when he was in the senate. the ethanol lobby, for example, the farm lobby, various other kinds of lobbies. the nra, the pro-life lobby and so on. it's hard to see how he levels a charge that this lobby intimidates people. now, are there pro-israel groups that are lobbying on behalf of israel? absolutely. are there dozens, if not hundreds of lobbies in washington operating in the same way all the time. so, this peculiar charge that this particular jewish lobby intimidates senators was something i found very disturbing and, obviously, not alone in this view. >> but you have writing in the "times" essentially about your column. it is bullying and name calling to denounce people as antisemitic because they won't embrace the policies of a far right israeli government that regularly shoots itself in the foot. in a world in which anti-semitism actually does persist this is devaluing the term so that it becomes simply a glib right w

charles: that was nebraska governor on his proposal to eliminate state income tax. nebraska is one of five states that is part of this new so-called tax revolt that we're seeing going on. time now for a check on the market. let's take a look at the big board. dow jones industrial average up 65 points. but not everybody is winning today. back to nicole on the new york stock exchange with william sonoma. nicole: here's the thing, when you look at it, you can see it down almost 5% today. that's not good if you are a shareholder and you see your stock plunging down 5.3%. it's a couple of factors, they had been cutting prices. they also gave a little wary outlook at one point. now when they lowered their outlook, now they were able to do well. so they did well on a lowered expectation. the other thing is that and we always talk about this in our control room in our group, are you willing to pay 30 bucks for a spatula? 40 bucks for a spatula? they have those sort of items that are quite pricey. their outlook seems like it's right in line. but right now we have the analyst

nebraska's governor joins us tonight. nice to see you, sir. >> good to see you, greta. >> greta: fworn, i imagine that many of your citizens, at least some of them were happy to see you want to get rid of your state income tax and your corporate tax. where do you intend to get revenue to run your state? >> well, greta, the way we're going to do it, again, we're proposing elimination of the individual income tax and corporate income tax and the income is going to come by repealing some of the sales tax exemptions that we've granted to businesses over the years and i've had many conversations with them. they're looking for a simpler and fairer tax code and again, people in my state are pretty excited about the idea that we could eliminate the individual income tax. >> greta: i imagine though if you're taking advantage of that sales exemption tax you're not going to be particularly fond of this idea. how are you going to convince those people it's a good idea? >> well, that's the challenge we have, but again, many of these w

nebraska built a 31-23 lead. the bulldogs erin murray is good. throws deep to chris conley. the two point conversion ties the game at 31. first play of the 4th quarter, murray gets a little pressure. escapes the pocket. on the run makes the throw. great catch by keith marshal. 24 yard touchdown. throws five tds. a school bowl record . 427 yards. >>> the old ball coach in south carolina facing michigan in the out back bowl from tampa florida. defb into gym gee. 17 yard touchdown. the two point conversions fails. michigan leads by 1. dillon thompson. hits as he throw s and caught by bruce ellington with 11 seconds to go. south carolina defeats michigan 33-28. also the gator bowl. 34-20 win first bowl game since 1939. and college hoops, maryland defeats 81-63 for 12th straight win. highlights later on tonight as the wizards look for their second win in three games. >> all right. one last look at the forecast. >> up next couple days pretty chilly. temperatures only in the upper 30s. some clouds on friday. temperature of 40 degrees as we warmup on saturday. lots of sunshine for t

by will compton who returns it 24 yards for the touchdown 14-9 nebraska 1st play of the 4th quarter/ 31-31 tie murray flushed out of the pocket and throws it to keith marshall who makes a great adjustment on the ball 24-yard touchdown 38- 31georgia murray dumps it to chris conley there are no defenders in the middle of the field. so he takes it 87 yards for the touchdown 45- 31 georgia final: 45-31 georgia steve spurrier leading the game-cocks in the outback bowl.taking on the wolverines. outback bowl - michigan vs south carolina steve spurrier the 'ole ball coach 1st quarter/ 7-3 south carolina ace sanders returns the punt 66 yards for a tochdown 14-3 south carolina 4th quarter/ 22-21 michigan jadeveon clowney with the big hit forces the fumble then recovers the ball with his free hand under 4 minutes left/ 27-22 south carolina devin gardner hit jeremy gallon for the 17-yard touchdown pass 28-27 michigan 17 seconds left dylan thompson who was in for the injured starter puts it up for bruce ellington who makes the catch. cuts left and scores the winning touchdown final: 33-28 south n

wendy's workers in nebraska are being cut back to part time because franchisees say they cannot afford insurance required. kfc parent yum brands dipped after hours on weaker than expected earnings. taco bell chain is getting buzz for playing ball with one avid fan. a high school swimmer asked for a speedo with slogan, think outside the buns. to his surprise, the company replied, asking for his size. first came chicken nuggets, then mcbites and now mcdonald's is spreading its wings. mighty wings will be on menu in chicagos after successful test run in atlanta. the biggest consumer technology trade show kicks number of vegas today. among the highlights, a coffee table sized computer that works like a very large tablet. >>> just ahead, alabama bashes notre dame for yet another bcs title. what a game that was. >>> plus, all sorts of unexpected things can happen on live television. we got the video to prove it. >>> and "early today" in america -- a malfunctioning escalator set off panic and terror at a new jersey rail station. commuters began screaming and jumping off the descending stairca

but nebraska, you got to remember, is part of that populace built. the first presidential convention was held in omaha in 1896. that populism that spread down from the north, that still woven into the fabric of nebraskans. that's important, i think, because it allows nebraskans to challenge and to probe and to question. we're unique in nebraska in that we have a one house legislature and it's nonpartisan. so the 49 state senators don't run as democrats or republicans, they just run. >> do people know who they are. >> they are registered but they don't campaign on that or form or govern with any party structure. the chairman of the committees are elected by the committee members. it doesn't make any difference what you are. there's a tradition for that. you look at nebraska's history, o oh one going strongly for the presidential republican candidate. in 197676 i was the first republican elected to the senate in 23 years. the democrats dominated the governor's races, lieutenant governor's races, for many, many years out there. so it's an interesting ph

he will nominate the former senator from nebraska, chuck hagel, as secretary of defense. and john brennan to be the next director of the central intelligence agency. john kerry of massachusetts has already been picked as his nominee to become the next secretary of state. joining us now to discuss what's going on with all these nomination nominations, our white house correspondent brianna keilar, at the east room of the white house, and jim acosta at capitol hill and chief national correspondent john king and chief political analyst gloria borger. let's going to to the white house first. brianna, set the scene for us, and walk us through what we're about to see. >> reporter: we're here in the east room, wolf. we're expecting president obama will come out and say, obviously, a few words about former senator chuck hagel. we're also expecting in attendance the acting director of the cia and that we will be seeing john brennan here. obviously, as you know, wolf, some of the major issues that we expect critics already talking about having, for instance, with chuck hagel, that t

to orlando georgia and nebraska square off in the capital one bowl. nebraska up by five. adam murray steps up and throws this bomb to young. 75 yards for the touchdown. now back to the fourth quarter. bulldogs lead by seven. murray dumps a short pass across the middle. chris connelly off to the races. 87 yards for the touchdown. that was murray's fifth touchdown pass of the day. he set a georgia bowl game record. georgia wins the shootout 45-31. love that bulldog. now to south carolina and michigan in the outback bowl. fourth quarter, michigan tries handing off, but clowney is there, he knocks the runner's helmet off and forces the fumble. south carolina recovers and would eventually score the touchdown on the next drive. end of the game, 16 seconds left, dillon thompson finds bruce ellington, 32-yard score. south carolina wins it the at end 33-28. coming up at the top of the hour on "morning joe," more on speaker boehner. he becomes public enemy number one for some conservatives after he sends the fiscal cliff bill to the house floor for an up or down vote where it passe

and a revised route through nebraska this week, the final hurdle to the project at the state level and 53 senators, including 9 democrats sent a letter to the white house on wednesday urging president obama to expedite its approval. and joining the panel this week, wall street journal assistant page editor, james freeman and senior economics writer steve moore and washington columnist kim strassel. kim, where did that come from? i don't remember the climate change being something that the president talked a lot about in the campaign if at all. >> surprise. >> paul: and he didn't wait for the state of the union, it's in the inaugural address. so, what's going on here politically? >> well, i think some of us did think it was coming. remember, this was a high priority of his back in 2008 when he campaigned. but they got beat up on it, they lost that fight in 2009 so he they decided to put it aside and not talk about it in the election and here we are, back with his promise and what was more interesting, too, not only did he make that promise, but you had somebody like barbara boxer, whose

in the capital one bowl, georgia takes on corn huskers from nebraska. to the rose bowl. wisconsin against number six stanford. in the orange bowl, this one has my interest. because northern illinois is paying 12th ranked florida state. >>> in the nfl, not a good day to be a head coach. all the following fired. the eagles' andy reid, chargers '94 of turner, bears' lovie smith, that's after a winning record but a bad year. the browns' pat shurmur. also cut loose, chiefs' romeo cornell, bills' chan galery. jets' rex ryan survived the day. >>> at the annual car jumping championship in england, drivers used a ramp to try to fly over ten wrecked dars and land on the other side. most of the fearless competitors weren't even close. not like they're really trying. >>> just ahead, keeping up with the kardashians is about to get a ratings bump. wish i wrote that but i didn't. >>> while we don't condone wasting food, check out this fruitcake toss. details next. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. r myself. with so much noise about health care... i tuned it all out. with unitedhea

governor proposed a revised route for the pipeline through nebraska this week. the final hurdle to the project at the state level. and 53 senators, including nine democrats sent a letter to the white house on wednesday s urging president obama to expedite its approval. joining the panel this week "wall street journal" assistantan editorial page editor james freeman, senior economics writer steve moore, and washington columnist kim strousel. kim, where did it that come from? i don't remember climate change being something a president talked about a lot in the campaign if at all. >> surprise. >> he didn't wait for the state of the union, it's in the inauguralof address. what's going on here politically? >> look, i think some of us did think this was coming. ler, this>> was a high priority of his backk in 2008 when he campaigned. but they got beat up on it. they lost that fight in 2009. so they decided to put te'o side and not talk about it in the election. here we are back with his promise. and what was more interesting, too, is not only did he make that promise,

>>> battle brewing on capitol hill now that president obama named former senator chuck hagel out of nebraska for his pick for secretary of defense. the announcement marking one of two potential controversial nominations by the president this afternoon. danielle leigh is in washington and has the latest. >> reporter: president obama officially launched a fight with his pick for secretary of defense, former nebraska senator, chuck hagel. >> willingness to speak his mind, even if it wasn't popular, even if it defied the conventional wisdom. that's exactly the spirit i want on my national security teen. >> reporter: the republican is known as an independent thinker. >> certainly a thorn in the side of political opponents of the president. >> reporter: now haigle is facing criticism from his former republican colleague norse criticizing you the war in iraq, opposing unilateral sanctions against iran and making comments seen by some as anti-israel. gay rights advocates are also critical. 14 years ago, hagel called the u.s. ambassador nominee openly aggressively game he has since apologized. >> dan

in the capital one bowl, georgia takes on corn huskers from nebraska. to the rose bowl. usually the granddaddy of them all. wisconsin against number six stanford. in the orange bowl, this one has my interest. because northern illinois is playing 12th ranked florida state. >>> in the nfl, not a good day to be a head coach. all the following fired. the eagles' andy reid, chargers norv turner, the bears' lovie smith, that's after a winning record but a bad finish to the year. the browns' pat shurmur. and i'm not done. also cut loose, chiefs' romeo cornell, bills' chan gailey. the cardinals' ken whisenhunt. worth noting -- the jets' rex ryan survived the day. >>> at the annual car jumping championship in england, drivers used a ramp to try to fly over ten wrecked cars and land on the other side. most of the fearless competitors weren't even close. not like they're really trying. >>> just ahead, keeping up with the kardashians is about to get a ratings bump. wish i wrote that but i didn't. >>> while we don't condone wasting food, check out this fruitcake toss. details next. y

. >>> the governor of nebraska has given the okay for the pipeline to run through the cornhusker state. that green lights the project to the obama administration. the new route would minimize the impact on the environment and stimulate the economy. the state department has to approve the project since it crosses the international border with canada. the pipeline's future is still in doubt. john boehner in a statement said nebraska's approval of the new keystone xl pipeline route means there's no bureaucratic excuse, hurdle or catch president obama can use to delay the project any further. he and he alone stands in the way of tens of thousands of new jobs and energy security. the obama administration pushed back a decision on the project until after march. >>> according to some commit polling, benjamin netanyahu and his political allies have won election in tuesday's israeli elections. he will get a third term as president but his power is diminished after his party lost about 11 seats. >>> also overseas this morning, british prime minister david cameron made a critical speech on the uk

the governor of the great state of nebraska. the key here is that everything is making this the seventh consecutive game for the s&p 500. the longest streak in the last five years. the nasdaq is down. apple stocks, that down $63.51. just above exxon mobil and microsoft reporting earnings after the close starbucks moving higher, like arbucks moving higher, like electronic trading today are higher. a bipartisan group of 53 senators sent a letter to president obama, urging him to approve the keystone xl pipeline the pipeline has gone for the most exhaustive environmental scrutiny. there is no reason to deny or further delay as long study project. that letter is from senator john hogan, and that follows the approval of dave heineman's state. the bill is now on the president's desk. it is expected to create 418 million and benefits related to a two-year construction project. 16.5 million, roughly 4000 jobs. joining us now is the governor of the state of nebraska. governor, good to have you with us and congratulations. you have to go

. >>> georgia and nebraska in the capital one bowl in orlando. first play of the game -- first play of the 4th 4th quarter, tied at 31, george bulldogs aaron murray escapes from the pocket. great catch by marshall. 24 yards for the touchdown. murray throws for five touchdowns in a school bowl record of 427 yards passing. georgia over nebraska 45-31. >>> you remember this guy. >> yeah. >> remember when he said not very good. former skins coach steve sperrier facing the out -- spurrier facing the outback bowl. three minutes left. the wolfines down 5. 17-yard touchdown, two-point conversion failed. final seconds, south carolina at the michigan 32, dillon thompson, caught by bruce ellington for the game-winning touchdown with 11 seconds left. south carolina defeats michigan 33-28 for its second consecutive 11th season win. very good. >>> coming up next on fox 5 morning news. >> history for sale, a personal piece once belonging to jackie o. before her days in the white house hits the auction block. and that's not the only treasure up for grabs. we'll

go around and offered that supplies water to the state of nebraska and other folks. is this going to be enough to satisfy the greenies out there? will the environmentalist be happy? >> it won't satisfy the environmentalists because there have always been to arguments. the first is the potential impact on the offer. that has been addressed somewhat by this change in the pipelines course. not enough for the environmentalists. the second issue has not been addressed here, which is the impact on climate change. the argument in criminalists offer is reducing the crude oil shipping into the gulf coast means more greenhouse gases in the hemisphere. tar sands are very carbon intensive forms of energy. they are believing that if we don't build the pipeline we won't produce so much crude oil from those tarzan's and will help protect the environment. what they're missing is the fact that without a pipeline it is not as if that oil will get produced. it is commanded is being shipped. this is being shipped by rail as opposed the pipeline. gerri: i want to get you to respond to so

go around and offered that supplies water to the state of nebraska and other folks. is this going to be enough to satisfy the greenies out there? will the environmentalist be happy? >> it won't satisfy the environmentalists because there have always been to arguments. the first is the potential impact on the offer. that has been addressed somewhat by this change in the pipelines course. not enough for the environmentalists. the second issue has not been addressed here, which is the impact on climate change. the argument in criminalists offer is reducing the crude oil shipping into the gulf coast means more greenhouse gases in the hemisphere. tar sands are very carbon intensive forms of energy. they are believing that if we don't build the pipeline we won't produce so much crude oil from those tarzan's and will help protect the environment. what they're missing is the fact that without a piline it is not as if that oil will get produced. it is commanded is being shipped. this is being shipped by rail as opposed the pipeline. gerri: i want to get you to respond to some

the first we mall senator ever from nebraska, deb fischer. the first asian american woman elected to the senate, mazie hirono. and the first openly gay senator, tammy baldwin, of wisconsin, who was in college when she was inspired by geraldine ferraro. >> i said to myself, i can do anything. the sky's the limit. >> how many of you absolutely know america is ready to elect a female president? >> absolutely. >> easy. how many of you think there will be a nominee, a female nominee in 2016? >> hope so. hope so. >> we hope so. >> is there a president in this room? >> maybe. >> maybe not in -- >> 20 of them. >> a succession of them. >> i think the thing is, every man wakes up in the morning, looks in the mirror and says, i can be president. every woman looks in the mirror and says, what can i get done for the country today? >> not one of you in this room looks in the mirror and says, i can be president. >> well, you may think it from time to time. >> snorkelly abeyond tells a story of her 8-year-old daughter. >> she said, mom, i don't want you to r

the first female senator ever from nebraska, deb fischer. the first asian-american woman elected to the senate, mazie hirono. and the first openly gay senator, tammy baldwin, of wisconsin, who was in college when she was inspired by geraldine ferraro. >> i said to myself, i can do anything. the sky's the limit. >> how many of you absolutely know america is ready to elect a female president? >> absolutely. >> oh, i do. >> in my life. >> easy. >> how many of you think there will be a nominee, a female nominee in 2016? >> hope so. hope so. >> we hope so. >> is there a president in this room? >> maybe. >> oh, yes. >> maybe not in -- >> 20 of them. >> a succession of them. >> you know, i think the thing is, every man wakes up in the morning, looks in the mirror and says, i can be president. every woman looks in the mirror and says, what can i get done for my country today? >> wait a minute. not one of you in this room looks in the mirror and says, i can be president. >> well, you may think it from time to time. >> senator kelly ayotte tells a sto

today, nebraska governor dave heineman approved the new route. in a letter to the president, secretary of state --, and the secretary of state, he confirmed that he supports a proposed rule around environmentally sensitive areas in nebraska. the controversial project is now in the hands of the state department which says it will not complete the keystone review in the first quarter of this year. >>> the fight over exporting natural gas is heating up. the chemic company, huntsman corp, joined a coalition campaigning against more foreign sales of fossil fuel. the energy department is currently reviewing applications for more than a dozen companies to sell up to 22.6 billion cubic feet of natural gas a day. >>> u.s. taxes on chinese solar products are making an impact. government statistics show impacts of chinese solar cells and panels fell to the lowest level in two years. that was in november. the imports valued $50.5 million which was less than 1/5 of the $278 million total from october of 2011. >>> up next on "money", want to save almost $200 a

there are about 6,100 jews in the state of nebraska. i can imagine many lobbies that intimidated hagel when he was in the senate. the ethanol lobby, for example, the farm lobby, various other kinds of lobbies. the nra, the pro-life lobby and so on. it's hard to see how he levels a charge that this lobby intimidates people. now, are there pro-israel groups that are lobbying on behalf of israel? absolutely. are there dozens, if not hundreds of lobbies in washington operating in the same way all the time. so, this peculiar charge that this intimidates senators was something i found very disturbing and, obviously, not alone in this view. >> but you have writing in the "times" essentially about your column. it is bullying and name calling to denounce people as antisemitic a far right gump that regularly shoots itself in the foot. in a world in which anti-semitism actually does persist, this is a devaluing the term so that it becomes simply a glib right wing insult. >> to be pro-israel is to be this far right, netanyahu and people even furthe