i'm tamron hall. following two new breaking stories at the white house, vice president joe biden announced he and his gun violence task force members will make the recommendations to president obama by next tuesday. right now, they're holding what could be a showdown meeting with the nra and other gun owner groups. it comes after the nra's president lashed out at president obama in a new internet radio interview. >> i think they're being disingenuous. i think they have seen this as an opportunity to go after the 2nd amendment which they have wanted to do for years. >>> also breaking, the atlantic pastor to deliver the benediction at president obama's second term inauguration is announcing to withdraw from the ceremony amid questions of an anti-gay sermon he gave in the mid-'90s. >> if you look at the counsel of the word of the god, you come quickly to the conclusion that homosexuality is not an alternate lifestyle. it is not just a sexual preference. it is not gay. but homosexuality is sin. >> the pre

>> these are great questions, tamron. the question is, mr. president, what specifically are you planning to propose and when vis-a-vis immigration reform? state of the union is probably going to be as good of a forum as any other, probably the best forum and talked about immigration reform throughout his first term. and quite frankly, it takes more than just talk. now, what "the new york times" doesn't talk to you about and other newspapers and certainly telemundo reporting many, many years now is that there are some bipartisan attempts both in the senate and the house to try and get to some proposal that could be both acceptable to democrats and republicans. we see, for example, "los angeles times" reporting since november of last year, as a matter of fact, there's a group of legislators including two california members of congress and some republicans to try and see if there are some issues that both sides could agree on and the sticking point, tamron, seems to be exactly how you handle these different issues regarding immigration reform. >

tamron. >> all right. thank you. a journalist is on a worldwide chase to find proof that a man on trial for crimes against humanity is actually the cloned son of jesus christ. you got that? that's the premise of a new religious thriller "the sixth station." the author, linda stasi is a critic for the "new york post." >> good morning. >> good to see you, too. >> you're saying i'm a tabloid writer, i don't know how i got on this show. i will read this the rest of the weekend. >> i traveled with an ex-sorist priest at the vatican, studied with monks. >> is this a bar joke? >> the joke is what's a jaded tabloid writer like you doing in a nice place like this? i'm in a monastery with priests. it was just an incredible, incredible amount of research. i think i found something that is absolutely, i believe, has the dna of jesus christ on it and it exists in a monastery in italy. >> you have found, you suspect, the vaeil of veronica. explain to people you know. it is not in the bible. >> it is not in this bible. the sixth st

i'm tamron hall. following president obama's next step in turning the words from his inaugural address in to bold new action for this country. "the new york times" calls his speech evolved and unapologetic. earlier today, the first couple attended a prayer service at washington's national cathedral, a tradition dating back, of course, to the very first president and later today on to the last inaugural event, the staff ball, the reaction to the president's inaugural address that's the headline and the question of how he will make the vision a reality. with the republican party already critical of what they heard yesterday. >> we have always understood that when times change, so must we. the commitments we make to each other through medicare and medicaid and social security, these things do not sap our nation. they strengthen us. they do not make us a nation of takers. they free us to take the risks that make this country great. our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated

i'm tamron hall. three days before inauguration day and the "news nation" following president obama's approval rating, higher than most of his first year. our latest nbc news/"wall street journal" poll shows the approval rating at 52% but despite the number our first read team notes, quote, the president faces an american public that remains in a funk as the president spends a low-key day at the white house, the new official portrait is unveiled. the president is smiling more but there is a lot more gray and inauguration weekend in washington kicks off tonight with pre-inaugural balls. many of those for charity and then tomorrow a national day of service. there will be a service summit on the national mall followed by a children's concert hosted by the first lady and dr. jill biden. sunday, president obama will take part in a private swearing-in at the white house. an the date mandated by the constitution. monday, he'll take the oath of office at the capitol followed his inaugural address and then the

i'm willie geist along with natalie morales, al roker and tamron hall. the man behind the music of michael jackson, celine dion, mariah carey and many others, tommy mottola, he was here in our last hour talking about his new book "hitmaker" and we asked him to stick around for our take three. we want to get your take on this. tiger woods won the delayed farmers insurance open at torrey pines for the seventh time yesterday. came back, won a big tournament, had a big final round monday. it's his 75th career title. looks like now he's starting to come back post injury, post whatever you want to call it. >> scandal. >> we'll call it a scandal. and on the other hand in the music world, chris brown is back in the papers again, singer frank ocean, alleges that he was punched. sent out a tweet saying he was punched by chris brown and a group of people outside a recording studio in west hollywood. so, tommy, recovering from flaws in your private life to go on to success in public. when it happened to tiger woods a lot of people said he's finished, he's done, he w

i'm willie geist alongside tamron hall. matt, al and natalie on their way to join savannah in los angeles. michelle beedle, jason kennedy is joivening us this morning. savannah has been reporting from out there all morning. >> it's getting exciting around here. you're starting to feel the energy build. in a couple of moments we'll see how all of our picks compared to your picks at home when we're talking about the big races. will "lincoln" get the expected big haul or will "silver linings playbook" pull it off? >> just what they wear to the awards show will influence fashion. we all love fashion. offspring influence baby names to the offbeat fashion. celebrity baby names, blu ivy i think is a hit. that's still in style. the big question, what should the royals name their baby? >> frank. >> frank? >> very good ring to it. >> you have to say it like michelle. frank. could you see kate middleton, frank. >> kathy, bill and frank. >> perfect. like it. >>> little later on, the name is the easy part. as they get older, there are o

i'm tamron hall. "the cycle" is up next. i didn't always watch out for myself. with unitedhealthcare, i get personalized information and rewards for addressing my health risks. but she's still going to give me a heart attack. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. i honestly loved smoking, and i honestly didn't think i would ever quit. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix is proven to help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke. it put me at ease that you could smoke on the first week. [ male announcer ] some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these stop taking chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of depression or other mental health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix. don't take chantix if you've had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. if you develop these stop taking chantix and see your doctor right away as some can be life-thr

i'm tamron hall. following developing news right now. confirmation within the past hour, president obama will unveil his plan for curbing gun violence before noon tomorrow. >> i can tell you that tomorrow the president and the vice president will hold an event here at the white house to unveil a package of concrete proposals to reduce gun violence and prevent future tragedies like the one in newtown, connecticut. >> white house press secretary jay carney also said the president will announce comprehensive action including assault weapons ban, a ban on high capacity magazine clips and closing big loopholes in back ground checks. all of as governors of new york, delaware and maryland take action to pass some of the strictest laws on guns in our nation. let me bring in our political panel. former pennsylvania governor ed rendell, a nbc news political analyst and molly ball, reporter for "the atlantic" and chris van hollen will join us here shortly. governor rendell, the announcement is coming down tomorrow. the president promised that he wa

i'm tamron hall. "the news nation" following but developments in the heated debate of gun control legislation. within the last hour, nra confirmed it will attend the meeting at the white house with vice president biden set for tomorrow. and also today, exactly two years after she was critically wounded in a mass shooting, former congresswoman give fords is launching a new campaign for countering the gun lobby's power and money. she and her husband mark kelly write in a "usa today" op-ed, quote, americans for responsible solutions engaging millions of people about ways to reduce gun violence and funding political activity nationwide. legislators will no longer have reason to fear the gun lobby. >>> and the group mayors against illegal guns headed by new york city's mayor michael bloomberg is also out with a new ad featuring the mother of christina taylor green. she is the youngest victim killed in the tucson shooting. >> my 9-year-old daughter was murdered in the tucson shooting. i have one question fo

i'm tamron hall. we're following the kickback 24 hours after president obama's am nishs proposal to curb gun violence. mayors from mayor cities are in d.c. right now meeting with vice president joe biden discussing the president's proposals. meantime, as this huffington post headline states, fury by some on the far right as the nra you might say is sticking to their guns rejecting the president's ideas. the nra's also defending the much-criticized ad that mentions the president's daughters. here's nra president david keene just this morning a couple of hours ago on the "today" show. it is not about the president's daughters. >> the ad mentions the president's daughters. >> keeping children safe, savannah. you get in to a bidding match. we shouldn't have a 30-round magazine or a 20 round. the president says let vees a ten. the governor of new york says, well, i can top that. we'll have a seven-round magazine. this is all sort of makes you feel good but, in fact, it doesn't do much. now, if you are out

from a team of rivals to a team of loyalists. >> that's right, tamron. you look at the first term and it was a team of rivals. you had secretary of state hillary clinton, former primary rival. you had robert gates at the defense department. he was a holdover from the bush administration and leon panetta and general petraeus, hardly obama insiders but now all of a sudden you have people who seem to be much more on the obama team bandwagon, much more loyal to him. john kerry at the state department, he backed president obama early in the 2008 nomination fight. you now have chuck hagel, someone that obama worked closely with in the u.s. senate and he's been an adviser to him now in the white house and then john brennan at cia, someone who's been by his side for four years. >> what is the strategy? first read mentions jack reid and the statement praising chuck hagel. what's the strategy? you have people wondering why not take up the fight for susan rice and how are the dynamics different? >> as chuck todd pointed out, there are as many as ten different democ

i'm tamron hall. following breaking news. >> it's clear to all of us that women are contributing in unprecedented ways to the military's mission of defending the nation. the fact is that they have become an integral part of our ability to perform our mission. >> just minutes ago, defense secretary leon panetta announced the military will no longer ban women from combat. initially women will be assigned to combat communications, logistics and drivers. gradually they'll work closer to battle as medics and corp.men and operate artillery before becoming combat troops. they would to volunteer and meet the same physical standards as men. whole process would take two to three years. but in reality, women have been serving on the front lines in iraq and afghanistan for the past ten years. as of today, look at this number. 152 female service members have lost their lives, they have been killed in iraq and afghanistan. and at least 958 more wounded. in all, 292,000 women deployed to iraq and afghanistan. joinin

face it, tamron. all this rhetoric, whether it's rubio going and pandering to rush limbaugh's audience, eventually, all of these senators and house members are going to have to cast a vote on something. we presume. then we'll see where they are and doesn't matter whether they're using the right terminology or not. >> right on that. john, thank you very much. raul, a pleasure. >>> coming up, a disturbing scene in connecticut when the dad of a child killed in the newtown tragedy is actually heckled. >> now, one person can answer that question. forgive me. >> no, no. >> not be -- >> all right. >> we'll tell you more about that exchange and what was said to that dad. the incident comes ahead of tomorrow's senate hearing on gun violence, the first since the massacre at sandy hook and the senate will start debate of nomination of john kerry of secretary of state. who will governor duval choose as an interim replacement? >> what does that mean? >> anybody but barney? >> no. don't be like that. >> you can joi

i'm tamron hall. following breaking news. president obama and afghan president hamid karzai wrapping up the joint news conference after a series of meetings at the white house. they focused on the u.s. role in afghanistan beyond next year and one of the key announcements we just heard, afghan forces will take the lead of providing security throughout the country this spring and u.s. forces will move to what the president referred to as a support role for training and support. joining me, david sanger for "the new york times" and author of "confront and conceal." also with us, nbc's atiya bowi. thank you both for joiningo us. the president saying that it's time to accelerate the u.s. role, shifting to a support role as a result of achievements and i guess goals reached in afghanistan. >> that's true. they did announce that today but that's something that's been discussed behind the scenes in afghanistan for sometime now with the nato commanders in kabul. they have said for sometime that by mid-2013, it does seem they brought i

i'm willie geist along with natalie morales, al roker and tamron hall. we want to get straight to "today's" take three. from friend to foes. if you were watching "60 minutes" last night you saw the interview of president obama and secretary of state clinton. they talked about the evolution of their relationship from rivals five years ago during the presidential campaign to friends and colleagues now. >> when hillary joined the administration i felt very confident and comfortable in our working relationship. i think what did evolve was a friendship as opposed to just a professional relationship. friendships involve a sense of trust and being in the fox hole together. >> president obama was asked by steve croft, who did the interview, why? why did you request this interview? and he said frachingly i just want to thank her for her service and i am going to miss her. some people wonder if something else is at work, especially followers of vice president biden. >> you could hear him in the back knocking on the door. >> let me in. >> you might think that vice

. >> i'm willie geist along with al, natalie and tamron. we have a very special guest sitting over there, the kid president. before we get to him, let's take a look at super bowl ad teasers and really talk about whether or not this is a good idea. 34 of last year's ads were online before the super bowl. that number is going up this year. the argument is youtube gives you a bigger audience. you get 6-1 more views than you do without it. >> nowadays, the average price of a 30-second ad on network television is about $4 million. >> and that's not counting your cost to produce it. >> you get free and, as you said, six times more viewers. >> and a hipper audience. not that old eer people aren't hip, al. >> why are you looking at al? >> you think you should put the full commercial out there? >> why not? >> or do what some advertisers are doing and just put a teaser out there? >> put the whole thing out. >> just get it out there. >> they did that last year with the volkswagen ad. that sure didn't hurt them. >> there are some companies holding out

oi'm tamron hall. following breaking news. in about 30 minutes a bipartisan group of senators will lay out a framework for what could lead to comprehensive immigration reform by the end of this year. chuck schumer, john mccain, dick durbin, marco rubio and bob menendez will discuss the plan. we'll bring it to you live. our first read team notes this is the first time senator mccain signed on to a priority of president obama. he takes the vision on the road to las vegas. but within the last hour, white house press secretary jay carney confirmed the president would not unveil specific legislation. the plan unveiled today would be the first major immigration overhaul proposal in six years but one border state democrat congressman castro of texas say that is the devil is in the details. >> we've got to make sure that those measurements, when we have determined that we have secured the border, that those measurements are objective. otherwise you will have fights down the road where folks are saying, well, wait a minute. let's not m

tamron? >> all right, dylan, thank you. a journalist is on a worldwide chase to find proof that a man on trial for crimes against humanity is actually the cloned son of jesus christ. you got that? well, that's the premise of a new religious thriller, "the sixth nation" by author linda str stasi. so you were saying in the break, i'm a tabloid writer. meanwhile, you got me hooked to your book last night. >> it took me six years, five countries, three continents. i traveled with an exorcist priest, i studied with monks -- >> is this a bar joke? >> the joke is, what's a jaded tabloid writer like me doing in a nice place like this? i'm in a monastery with priests and, it was just an incredible, incredible amount of research. but i think i found something that is absolutely, i believe, has the dna of jesus christ on it. and it exists and it exists in a monastery in italy. >> and you have found, you expect, the veil of veronica. explain, because it's not in the bible. >> it is the sixth station of the cross. in almost every cathol

tamron? >> okay. thank you very much, john. let's bring in dave zirin for edge of sports.com. he is no longer a student athlete. they say he's a professional athlete. do you buy that? are their hands washed? >> absolutely not. nobody, no matter where you fall on this watching the athletic director press conference last night would say otherwise. jack tied himself to manti te'o last night. left himself no wriggle room. said that notre dame had done their own private internal investigation and that he was satisfied with the theory that manti te'o is just victim of an elaborate hoax. he tied himself to that theory without any space between that and the idea that maybe manti te'o might have been part of the rus. i got to tell you, this raises much larger questions about the culture of complicity and cover-up in notre dame football which i have written about. there have been so horrible thing that is have happened connected to this program. >> let me stop you there with the cover-up. you believe that notre dame -- because it's interesting after te'o says that he learned, a woman ca

tamron? >> thank you very much. up next, president obama add what is some are calling politically charged license plates to his official vehicle. we will tell you what has them all in a tissy. just something we thought you should know. do you think house republicans will support the president's new gun proposals, our new nation gut check. [ male announcer ] this is sheldon, whose long dy setting up the news starts with arthritis pain and a choice. take tylenol or take aleve, the #1 recommended pain reliever by orthopedic doctors. just two aleve can keep pain away all day. back to the news. humans. even when we cross our t's and dot our i's, we still run into problems. namely, other humans. at liberty mutual insurance, we understand. that's why our auto policies come with accident forgiveness if you qualify, where your rates won't go up due to your first accident, and new car replacement, where, if you total your new car, we give you the money for a new one. call... to talk to an insurance expert about everything els

let's focus on -- >> tamron, have you ever had bangs? >> of course, i've had bangs. >> they're going to be cute, christina. i can already tell. >> why is it we're so intrigued by bangs? it becomes the hot topic. what is it about bangs? >> if done right, it actually opens your face. >> really? >> it enhances your eyes. >> you would think the opposite because it's going over your face, that it would close off your face but it opens your face. have you ever had bangs, willie? >> no. >> george clooney caesar? >> right. >> what about if you have curly hair? >> just keep in mind that your hair will shrink and keep it a little bit longer. >> we'll let arson finish the bangs on christina. let's check out whatever is going on here. henry hargraves. i want to call you an artist because of what you're doing here. tell us about these creations here. this is real food, edible food. you've made it more interesting. >> yeah. lo look, basically i read a story about a mother who was having trouble getting her son to eat and so she decided to make all foo

good morning, michael. >> tamron, good morning. when chuck hagel appears before the senate foreign relations committee this morning, sitting behind him is his younger brother tom, a law professor in dayton, ohio. more than 40 years ago, the two were the only accessiblelings to serve in the same army squadron during the war, a real life band of brothers saving others lives and shaping chuck hagel's thinking to this day. >> reporter: 1968, the bloodiest year of the vietnam war, two young brothers from nebraska fighting side by side. they barely survived. >> the concussion was incredible. it knocked us both down. he was flat on his back, blood all over his chest. >> tom hagel that day bandaged up and saved the life of his brother, chuck hagel. >> if you really want to understand chuck and his view on use of force, you have to go back and start at his experiences in vietnam. >> reporter: just a month after the hagel's close call, another explosion and this time it was chuck who carried an unconscious tom to safety. years later, hagel w

you learn something every day. >> yeah. >> the very freaked out tamron hall. that was on msnbc. you are very savvy, tech savvy. but you had no idea you were -- >> i purchased a new iphone. hi the generation before this, whatever, and i bought it, and it was automatically, i guess, loaded with the location services on. i had no idea. >> you thought you blocked it. >> i thought i did, and then when i got this new phone, it was automatically set up, and when i was happy kyle did not show my home, but it showed through my window of my home where i was tweeting from. >> i think what a lot of people do, like, you're at a concert, and you say i'm at a concert, and that's not -- you corrected yourself, and you said i'm not going to do that again, but a lot of people, you're there and shooting pictures. you're excited. is that a no-no? should you not tweet if you are at a public event like that? >> i think you need to balance it. it's a clear balance. you can have a lot of benefits from actually tweeting and checking in. you can get rewards and get discounts. you can benefit from it and

my colleague tamron hall has a look at when's next. hi, tamron. >> hey, andrea. just about 30 minutes ago, in fact, senator graham and former senator chuck hagel went back and forth with graham repeatedly going after the secretary of defense nominee over israel. that's just one of the heated exchanges within the last couple of hours. next, republican senator roger wicker will join me live and grilled hagel earlier and says he will not vote to confirm him. >>> plus, there are reports a secret bipartisan deal of background checks for gun buyers is in the works. we'll tell you which senators are reportedly involved in the dealmaking. >>> anti-gay comments of a san francisco 49er have a lot of people upset. he has not been suspended from the super bowl and some are asking why. it's the "news nation" gut check. ♪ if it wasn't for you ♪ don't know what i'd do ♪ i'd have nothing to prove [ male announcer ] zales is the diamond store. take an extra 10 percent off storewide now through sunday. >>> hi, everyone. i'm tamron hall. following big breaking news. the tense

my colleague tamron hall has a look at when's next. hi, tamron. >> great to see you. a lot going on in the next hour. president obama touches down in nevada to deliver his first public remarks on immigration reform since that bipartisan group of senators announced what they called a blueprint for comprehensive immigration reform. a short time, senator marco rubio part of the group and said to be one of the keys to getting conservatives on board gave an interview to rush limbaugh on rush's radio show. we'll play rubio's remarks and why he slammed the president efrl time several times. >>> plus, florida congressman and congresswoman from texas will join us live with their thoughts on the plan ahead for immigration reform. i know you got to go in a minute but this is a real quick meal, that's perfect for two! campbell's chunky beef with country vegetables, poured over rice! [ male announcer ] campbell's chunky soup. it fills you up right. poured over rice! so if ydead battery,t tire, need a tow or lock your keys in the car, geico's emergency roadside assistance is there

>>> i'm tamron hall. the "news nation" is following breaking news. a shooting at phoenix, arizona in an office complex. at least three people have been shot and there is a massive police presence on the scene. the suspect remains on the loose. canine units are searching the area, including a ga raj attached to the building happening as the showdown over guns on capitol hill takes place. advocates for and against just wrapped up hours of testimony before the senate judiciary committee and the first hearing since the newtown massacre. former arizona congressman gabrielle giffords was the first to speak, delivering an emotional call to action. >> speaking is difficult, but i need to say something important. 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. >> giffords's testimony was followed by an intense day of questioning including patrick leahy and dick durbin taking on the head of nra.

. >> tamron? >> i see that is the balancing act that biden and the white house and leader who is want something to happen have to do. sometimes is something better than nothing do sacrifice the perfect for the good. to show movement, they might not go with the comprehensive approach and just to get something done, every action takes away some objection from somebody. at some point, they will say i'm for an assault weapon ban. that's one of the most powerful thus far. you have a commander from our armed services saying that's the gun i carried. my soldiers carried that in afghanistan and it doesn't belong on our streets. that's what we need and the coalition building i would like to see the administration do. >> we heart police officers say those who are putting their lives on the line on the streets, when they go in to save one of us, they don't know if the person robbing the bank or is shooting at a school is more armed or well armed than they are. we are hearing from all of those people who are

feels like membership. >>> i'm tamron hall. the "news nation" is following breaking news. a shooting at phoenix, arizona in an office complex. at least three people have been shot and there is a massive police presence on the scene. the suspect remains on the loose. canine units are searching the area, including a ga raj attached to the building happening as the showdown over guns on capitol hill takes place.

. >> come on, tamron. wield that sword. >> it's not slow motion. "spartacus" airs friday night at >>> good morning to you. police are involved in a hazing investigation in a high school that led to five students being expelled. police say several freshmen football players at st. patrick's vincent high school admitted they committed hazing rituals at the hands of a varsity player during football season. the coach has fired and five of the alleged offenders have been expelled. >>> let's check the weather with rob. >> starting off with high clouds moving from north to south across the bay area made for that picture perfect sunrise. high pressure moving from the west is going to help pick up the northerly winds. highs today, mostly upper 50s to near 60 in parts of the south bay, low 60s around santa rosa for this afternoon and warming up even more wednesday, thursday, friday. mid-60s around most of the bay area. and the weekend, the big super bowl weekend, partly cloudy sky, cooler. heading into sunday, next chance of rain holding off until monday and

. >> come on, tamron. wield that sword. >> it's not slow motion. "spartacus" airs friday night at 9:00 on >>> 9:57 is your time on this tuesday, january 29, 2013. good morning. i'm eun yang. taking a look at headlines this morning. d.c. mayor gray is preparing to announce the district will have a $400 million budget surplus in the coming year. closing arguments are under way in the trial of anne arundel county executive john leopold who is accused of misconduct. jury deliberations are also going on right now in former culpeper police officer daniel harmon-wright's murder trial. it is a tough commute this morni morning. >> we are seeing heavy delays as you are traveling more 395 around with a wash boulevard. no incidents have been reported that you can see. almost a would-mile backup as you are heading towards the 14th street bridge. driving the -- 395, 24-minute ride from the beltway to the 14th street bridge. tom? >> right now we have sunshine. temperatures are near 50 degrees later today near 60 around the metro area. warmer in parts of virginia

my colleague tamron hall has a look at what's next. hi, tamron. >> hi. great to see you. major developments in the gun control fight. we're learning an nra representative will attend tomorrow's big meeting at the white house with vice president joe biden on gun violence. >>> plus, 24 hours before that meeting, congresswoman give fords launches a new campaign aimed at the gun lobby and gun control advocates have planned a gun appreciation day just before the inauguration. also, coming up, more on graham's call to delay the brennan nomination as cia director before he quote gets new information from the administration on the benghazi attacks. the wing and a fractured beak. surgery was successful, but he will be in a cast until it is fully healed, possibly several months. so, if the duck isn't able to work, how will he pay for his living expenses? aflac. like his rent and car payments? aflac. what about gas and groceries? aflac. cell phone? aflac, but i doubt he'll be using his phone for quite a while cause like i said, he has a fractured beak. [ male announcer ] send the af

i'm tamron hall. three days before inauguration day and the "news nation" following president obama's approval rating, higher than most of his first year. our latest nbc news/"wall street journal" poll shows the approval rating at 52% but despite the number our first read team notes, quote, the president faces an american public that remains in a funk as the president spends a low-key day at the white house, the new official portrait is unveiled. the president is smiling more but there is a lot more gray and inauguration weekend in washington kicks off tonight with pre-inaugural balls. many of those

tamron hall has a look at what's next. hi, tamron. >> great to see you. in about 30 minutes, a bipartisan group of senators will lay out an immigration overhaul. nbc's first read says it's the first senator mccain signed on to a top obama administration priority since the president took office and may be the most serious bipartisan effort to act on immigration since 2007. all the reaction for you. plus, what could be a major policy shift for the boy scouts and the ban on gay scouts and leaders. our "gut check." what do you think was the motive behind this extraordinary joint interview? we'll tell you how you can weigh in. mom? who's mom? i'm the giants mascot. the giants don't have a mascot! ohhh! eat up! new jammin jerk chicken soup has tasty pieces of chicken with rice and beans. hmmm. for giant hunger! thanks mom! see ya! whoaa...oops! mom? i'm ok. grandma? hi sweetie! she operates the head. [ male announcer ] campbell's chunky soup. it fills you up right. i've got a nice long life ahead. big plans. so when i found out medicare doesn't pay all my medic

my colleague tamron hall has a look at when's next. hi, tamron. >> great to see you. coming up in the hour, why critics of the nra ad referring the president's daughters say it's not only vile but it's also misrepresenting the facts. they say it's untrue. we'll point out what critics are saying. >>> manti te'o is at football camp in florida while the firestorm surrounding what he claims was a cruel hoax involving the death of a girlfriend that never existed. so the big question, why is this guy focused on football and not getting the truth out? answering some questions. >>> plus, we're following the developments out of algeria where at least three americans have been taken hostage. secretary of state hillary clinton will be speaking within our hour. we'll listen in. we'll bring you the very latest on what secretary clinton is saying regarding this ongoing situation. need a tow or lock your keys in the car, geico's emergency roadside assistance is there 24/7. oh dear, i got a flat tire. hmmm. uh... yeah, can you find a take where it's a bit more dramatic on that last l

my colleague tamron hall has a look at when's next. hi, tamron. >> hey, andrea. just about 30 minutes ago, in fact, senator graham and former senator chuck hagel went back and forth with graham repeatedly going after the secretary of defense nominee over israel. that's just one of the heated exchanges within the last couple of hours. next, republican senator roger wicker will join me live and grilled hagel earlier and says he will not vote to confirm him. >>> plus, there are reports a secret bipartisan deal of background checks for gun buyers is in the works. we'll tell you which senators are reportedly involved in the dealmaking. >>> anti-gay comments of a san francisco 49er have a lot of people upset. he has not been suspended from the super bowl and some are asking why. it's the "news nation" gut check.

my colleague tamron hall has a look at when's next. hi, tamron. >> great to see you. a lot going on in the next hour. president obama touches down in nevada to deliver his first public remarks on immigration reform since that bipartisan group of senators announced what they called a blueprint for comprehensive immigration reform. a short time, senator marco rubio part of the group and said to be one of the keys to getting conservatives on board gave an interview to rush limbaugh on rush's radio show. we'll play rubio's remarks and why he slammed the president efrl time several times. >>> plus, florida congressman and congresswoman from texas will join us live with their thoughts on the plan ahead for immigration reform. i know you got to go in a minute but this is a real quick meal, that's perfect for two! campbell's chunky beef with country vegetables, poured over rice! [ male announcer ] campbell's chunky soup. it fills you up right.

i'm tamron hall. following big breaking news. the tense back and forth within the last 30 minutes between senator lindsey graham and senate nominee chuck hagel. he was confronted with past remarks the former senator made that leaders on capitol hill are intimidated by the, quote, jewish lobby. >> name one person in your opinion who's intimidated by the israeli lobby in the united states senate. >> well, first -- >> name one. >> i don't know. >> well, why would you say it? >> i didn't have in mind a specific person. >> sir, do you agree it's provocative statement. i can't think of a more provocative thing to say about the relationship between the united states and israel and the senate or the congress than what you said. name one dumb thing we have been goaded in to do because of the pressure of the israeli or jewish lobby. >> i have already stated that i regret the term nlg. >> you said back then it makes us do dumb things. you can't name one senator intimidated. now give me one example of the dumb things we're pressured to do up