senate's lead. >> i repeat, new members of the house understand that legislation is the art of compromise, consensus building, not trying to push your way through on issues that you don't have the support of the american people. >> we are watching live pictures from the capitol, speaker boehner walking through the halls a moment ago. kelly o'donnell is live there. eyes peeled on that house camera here, kelly. some tea party republicans not so happy. what do you expect to happen scheduled and unscheduled this hour? >> there's been a strong message sent to house republicans that even though they may not like everything that happened in this round of negotiations to hold their fire for a future fight. any member of the house has the opportunity to object when the body tries to pass something unanimously. we don't anticipate that will happen here. there's been some rumblings about discontent making it to the house floor, but it is not expected.

having said that, we'll watch, make sure it goes through. there has been a feeling that house republicans were politically beaten up by the process, even though many of them feel they have a very serious practical argument to make, that going for a long term, one year extension of payroll tax cut, unemployment benefits and so on for the one-year period made more sense than doing two months which they say is harder to implement. as you heard the drama play out, the president and democrats wanted to be certain there would be no lapse, no increase in tax or loss of benefits if they couldn't work out a deal. the mud in the mix was that they couldn't achieve a way to pay for a full year of benefits and tax breaks. that's the hard part they will face again when they come back after the holidays. they have to look for a way to raise taxes, find new ways to bring in revenue, like selling federal buildings as one example, or cutting spending. they want to freeze federal

salaries, all kinds of different things they could do to try to pay for it. this is the moment we have been waiting when john boehner will take to the chair. >> kelly, stand by. speaker boehner coming to the microphone. are we going to listen for a bit? let's do that. >> let us pray. oh god -- >> they are praying now. once they get started, we will get back to kelly o'donnell who is watching that on capitol hill. we will watch the pictures, get back to that story. let's bring in congressman rob andrews, democrat from new jersey, about to see the vote, see if it will happen there. what do you think here? there's a two month extension we have been talking about passed in the senate. are we doomed to see the last minute wrangling play out all over again when it comes to the tax cuts for the rest of the year? >> i hope not. i hope the republican tea party

people learned their lesson, that punishing america's middle class for there ideological agenda doesn't work. i hope they'll come to a quicker agreement so we can extend this tax cut for the middle class, keep money in consumers' pockets and get people back to work. >> do you expect the vote to go through in the house? >> i think that might be what they're praying for. >> many are. >> speaker boehner is probably praying no tea party person shows up to object to the vote. if someone objects, we'll get on the train, the plane, pass it before the end of the year because it is right for the american people. >> the cost could be $4 million if you have to return next week to make the vote. steve israel, chair of the democratic national campaign committee said this will be the defining issue of 2012, the issue of the tax cut. what do you think of that? >> i think that's right. it stands for the proposition that the broad middle class of

the country is not the constituency of the tea party republicans. they lined up with the privileged and the powerful in american society. one point about that is that all the other tax cuts they supported for millionaires, billionaires, they never insisted the tax cuts be offset by additional -- >> congressman, stand by if you could. we're going straight to the floor. >> let's get to that. >> sure. >> is there objection to the bill? >> mr. speaker. >> gentleman from maryland. >> reserving the right to object, and i will not object, i thank the gentleman. i know the american people are pleased that we have come together to agree on this extension to give certainty and peace of mind to the 160 million americans who are concerned about losing their tax cut. the 48 million seniors who are concerned about their medicare,

and the 2.3 million people who are unemployed and seeking work who were fearful of losing their benefits. i thank the speaker and i thank the gentle lady from missouri and i withdraw my objection. >> without objection, the bill is engrossed, read a third time and passed and motion to reconsider is laid on the table. chairman before the house of communication. >> the honorable speaker, house of representatives, sir, pursuant to section 1238 b-3 of the floyd d spence national defense authorization act of fiscal year 2001. 22 usc, 7002, amended by the division p of the consolidated appropriations resolution, 2003, 22 usc 6901, i am pleased to reappoint the following individuals to the united states

china economic and security review commission. carolyn bartholomew of washington, d.c., mr. jeffrey fielder of great falls, virginia. thank you for your attention to these appointments. signed nancy pelosi. >> let's get back to the congressman. we are watching as they go through there on the house floor the speaker beginning that, asking for objections. we saw the minority whip steny hoyer speak. >> the bill just passed. it will go to the white house in a couple of hours. the president i assume will sign it today, and taxes of 160 million people will not go up new year's day. >> in a matter of seconds there it happened. >> what's that? >> in a matter of seconds that happened before? >> that's right. and it should have happened weeks or months ago so we didn't have this uncertainty, but this is what you get when you get a

recalls trant group of people that won't compromise. we had every democratic member of the house in favor of this compromise, and the holdouts were the people in the republican party. i hope we can now get to work right now, get this resolved well before the end of the next 60 days and get a tax cut that will create a half million jobs for the economy. >> thank you and happy holidays. >> happy holidays to you. >> thank you. with that, we were mentioning it has passed. the two month extension to the payroll tax cut after many days of contentious argument, it has now passed. we have seen that as speaker john boehner had the vote. republicans practically handed democrats a victory with this happening. the president did some last

minute browbeating before speaker boehner said uncle. >> has this place become so dysfunctional, even when people agree to things we can't do it? it doesn't make any sense. [ applause ] >> i'm joined by "the washington post" editorial writer ruth marcus and by political reporter dave will he have enthat will. we have seen it pass before our eyes after many days of contentious arguments back and forth, two months, 12 months, how to pay for this. what do you think? >> well, i think that the speaker dodged a bullet. he didn't get any objection. that's good news as these things go for him. the really interesting question it seems to me is is this the next go round a republican caucus that's a little chase

enbecause they saw this wasn't going to be a healthy outcome, or is the speaker weakened the next time around or is it some combination of those. one thing we know, government by brings man ship, it is not the last time we will have seen it. >> dave, the president stood firm on this issue. does this put to rest that perception, fair or not, that democrats fold when things get tough, something that frustrated the progressive base. >> all republicans have been talking about the past week is don't kick the can down the road, don't kick the can down the road. what happened? the can got kicked down the road. this is a victory for obama in that he got what he wanted in the moment. he stood firm, did something he had been criticized widely in his own party for not doing, which is standing his ground. even though this is a temporary measure, it is a political victory. the question remains what's going to happen when they revisit this all over again in a matter of weeks.

>> what about the democrats? does this push off the perception they were not willing to fight and go toe to toe? >> it largely does. they were willing to go toe to toe, they did, and the result was a victory for them, one that's been elusive. republicans have beaten up on democrats largely for the past year, and this is something where the tides of victory turned the other way. >> ruth, i want to read this part to the letter from a leading tea party member, congressman rick crawford, one of the first to call on boehner to allow today's vote. this is what he had written. more often than not, an all or nothing attitude produces nothing. my constituents need a congress that's willing to put all options on the table, even those that are not yearlong plans to avoid higher taxes on more than 160 million americans. ruth, it seemed like the tea party was pushing boehner to reject that two month deal initially, then we read this. crawford appearing to throw boehner under the bus in that letter we read. what's going on? >> well, or help him crawl out

from under the bus. i mean, boehner, let's remember from all the reporting wanted this deal, tacitly signed off when mitch mcconnell and harry reid and the senate democratic leaders agreed to it. some members of the tea party as with the letter writer might be chase ened by the outpouring from conservative critics, "the wall street journal" who were screaming what are you guys doing. we'll see if the others take that politics as the art of the possible attitude that has not been generally the m.o. >> does this hurt boehner in rallying the caucus together? >> it could put him in political peril. he was able to rally the troops and stave off a challenge that a

couple freshmen put forth, hey, we may go grinch, call congress back to session and have to vote in a roll call fashion. that did not happen today. he at least was able to in the here and now get his guys together and go forward. >> ruth marcus, dafr leventhal, happy holidays, thank you both. >> thanks. one of the prog knowsity kay tors takes us beyond the polls and negative ads and tell us who has the political mojo days ahead of iowa and new hampshire. charlie cook joins us in a few minutes. one time presidential hopeful isn't saying what's wrong with him, lawyers filed papers saying he has a medical condition that requires his approaching criminal trial to be delayed. he is supposed to stand trial for using campaign dollars to hide his pregnant mistress in 2008. his trial is already delayed once, so his legal team could

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new jersey's chris christie is leaving the door open to being vice president. christie saying he never specifically talked about it with mitt romney, but it would be presumptuous to turn his back on that possibility. gop ballot in virginia will be pretty slim. michele bachmann, jon huntsman, rick santorum failed to meet the requirements. only newt gingrich, mitt romney, ron paul, rick perry made the cut. gingrich just made it. >> i think we have a good chance to win. you get down to a choice between a massachusetts moderate and southern conservative, in virginia we have a good chance of winning it. >> another endorsement for mitt

romney, president george h.w. bush is backing him for the next president. >> very encouraged by the support of president bush for my campaign. as you could tell, there's growing momentum for this effort here in new hampshire and across the country, and i had the chance to chat with the president this afrp and wish him a merry christmas. he did the same to me. >> live back to the hill. minority whip steny hoyer reacting to passing of the payroll tax cut in the house. >> risk by falling off the rolls and we are very pleased that 48 million seniors will have the confidence that their medicare will continue to compensate their doctors so they will be available for them. this is a good day for the american people. the american people's voice was heard. their concerns were heard, and we have responded. i also want to congratulate president obama who showed great

leadership in this effort and articulated to the american people what was at issue here in the congress of the united states. i am pleased that we have come together to make this agreement. this is a good christmas present, a good kwanzaa present, a good han ka present for america. we will go forward understanding our work is not yet done and we intend to do it in a constructive, bipartisan fashion. i will now yield to the vice chairman of the caucus for comments. >> steny hoyer speaking at this hour. the last couple days, the tone is much different. he was using the word hostages quite often. now that it passed 15 minutes

ago, the payroll tax cut in the house, much more as he was using constructive, bipartisan tone. we will see if that carries forward into 2012. we will be looking for any other reactions this hour from the passing of the bill in the house now as it makes its way to the president for signature. we're also tracking candidates with just over a week until the first caucus in iowa. mitt romney is in new hampshire, newt gingrich in south carolina, and they're virtually tied in national polls. charlie cook is an msnbc political analyst and editor of cook political report. charlie, good to see you. >> good to see you, richard. >> mitt romney and newt gingrich seem to have evened out a little in the last few polls we have been looking at. what's the trend, what are you seeing? >> i think it is going to be a muddle in iowa. i don't expect there to be a decisive winner, but to me this is a marathon, and january 3rd, iowa is the start of it and end of it may not be until june, probably sooner than then, but i

look at money, i look at campaign infrastructure, organization, who has the people on board to get them across the finish line. that's why, you know, maybe ron paul comes in first in iowa, maybe not, this or that, but i think we can tell where the nomination is going. it would be a phenomenal upset if romney didn't because none of the other candidates simply have the apparatus, money, infrastructure, the talent in their campaigns to get them across the finish line. i think we know where this thing is going to go. >> you think ron paul could win iowa here is what you're saying? >> he could, yeah. i'm not sure whether he is that far ahead. but i think he probably does have the best organization there. >> he has taken a lead in the polls, iowa state university showing him ahead. >> the thing is, iowa is the first place, then goes to new hampshire. ron paul doesn't have much going on in new hampshire, then it moves on. the thing is, when you have people, candidates having a hard

time getting on ballots in places, when you have campaigns that are severely underfunded and don't have the infrastructure, you know, there's a limit to how far they can go with this thing. >> mitt romney and his infrastructure and his organization good on the funding side as well, so that must pore tend well for him. is it south carolina that will be the telling point here? >> you know, to me, there are 50 states out there. i mean, i don't know which is going to be. to me, i'm kind of bored with the nomination. i don't see a lot of doubt in the outcome. to me, it is let's get onto the general election. i think to me that's a heck of a lot more interesting. >> charlie cook, thanks again. >> thank you. polsters this week are not taking the pulse of potential voters, they have a read on santa's approval rating, too. his numbers are up. ap poll found 57% of you say that saint nick is still an

important part of holiday celebrations. 84% say they believed in santa as a child. when it comes to angels an even stronger reaction, 77% of adults polled believed in the existence of angels. do you believe in angels? tweet us. in america, we believe in a future that is better than today. since 1894, ameriprise financial has been working hard for their clients' futures. never taking a bailout.

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i want to say merry christmas to my husband and daughters. i love you and miss you. i hope to be home before your birthday, trinity. i'm so proud of everything you have done and i can't wait to get home to see you. by train, by plane, by curve of the road. an estimated 92 million of you are expected to travel somewhere during the holiday weekend. no matter where you're headed, bring your wallet, and more spare change than you may have

expected. travel costs are up. tom costello is on i-270 in maryland with more for us. >> richard, good day to you. aaa is saying nearly a third of the population will be hitting the roads or hitting the skies at some point over the holiday stretch, going at least 50 miles or more from home. that could be going cross state or cross-country. yet again, you're in good company if you plan to be on the move over the holiday stretch. of 92 million people traveling 50 miles or more, nearly 84 million of us are driving. and only about 5.5 million leisure travelers are flying, a big drop of nearly 10% from last year. you can blame all the extra flying fees and a rough economy, but none of that matters to this family headed to florida. >> you know, the decision to go is based on the fact we have family there, so we have a free place to stay. >> or the curry family headed to

north dakota. >> we try to make it work. family is important to us. we wanted to make sure we got home for christmas. >> so how much are we paying compared to last year? the lowest round trip air fare this year is $210, up from $175 a year ago, and you still have to pay for your bags. rental cars are actually about $10 cheaper this year, $40 a day on average. the lowest in five years. gasoline, though, averaging $3.23 for regular. last year, $3.02. $126 gets a room at a three star hotel, about the same as a year ago, movie tickets haven't changed, 10.60. groceries are up, making a holiday get together that much more expensivexpensive. >> the typical family is living in an environment where their wages haven't gone up in the past few years, salaries have not gone up the past few years,

and yet inflation has been ticking away. >> especially for food and gas. if you plan to drive over the holidays, folks at aaa hope you don't mind a friendly year end reminder in the name of safety. >> stay away from driving while distracted. it is very important that you focus on the task at hand, which is driving. >> and says aaa, keep the keys away from friends or family members that may have had too much to drink this time of year. some good advice from aaa. they also point out teenagers are the ones that so often are going to their first party that may unfortunately involve alcohol over the holidays, so keep a close eye on teenagers this time of year as well. richard, back to you. >> thanks, tom. newt gingrich trying to stay on the nice list, but the political ads are running all over iowa are naughty. will they work? next. tossing and turning have given way to sleeping. where sleepless nights yield to restful sleep. and lunesta can help you get there,

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♪ it is beginning to look a lot like christmas everywhere you go ♪ quite a snowstorm in new mexico. 300 miles of i-40 closed across the state, and i-25 closed late last night. an inch of snow in albuquerque, but as much as 10" and more coming there today. welcome to jansing and co. i'm meteorologist carl parker. a quiet day across most of the country. storm and clouds causing problems in the east, moving northeast, a little lingering rain and snow there. some snow in southern parts of new mexico. here is a look at the forecast today. talking some showers east of 95. a lot of sunshine in the east. a breezy day. a little snow in the northern tier of the country, and western lakes. quiet in texas, and then some snow into new mexico as mentioned. also, going to be a windy day in southern california. santa anas kicking in.

that will calm down later today. there's the snowstorm in new mexico, in roswell, wet weather in areas that need it. that rain stretches to the southeast christmas day. richard, that's going to be just about the only weather across the country on christmas day. back to you. >> have some great holidays, my friend. >> you, too. here are other stories we are following. massive five alarm fire tore through a california neighborhood, left three injured, dozens homeless. 150 firefighters battled the fire that started in a house. high winds quickly spread that blaze and torched three apartment buildings. arson crews are trying to determine what caused this fire. walmart and health officials are awaiting tests on a batch of powdered infant formula after a missouri newborn that drank it died from a rare infection. enfamiliar i will has been

removed from 3,000 stores but hasn't been recalled by the manufacturer. a series of strong earthquakes hit new zealand sending residents running for safety. this video showing when the first 5.8 quake struck the city of christchurch, rattling buildings, sending items off store shelves. minutes later, another quake of almost the same magnitude hit. thousands were left without power, no serious injuries have been reported there. earthquake damage to the washington monument may be worse than previously thought. according to a new report, extensive cracking and chipped stones throughout the entire length of the monument could make it vulnerable to rain. the report doesn't estimate how much repairs will cost for that. what was supposed to be a trip to grandmother's house turned into a frightening ordeal for a tennessee girl. her southwest flight was headed to laguardia when it was detoured. she was left stranded for the wrong state for hours and the

airline failed to notify her family. >> flight attendant said people going to laguardia have to get off at baltimore, go to customer service to get another ticket. i was like well, what do i do? the flight attendant said you'll be coming with me. i said but i am not supposed to get off the airplane. >> she's safely as grandmas. southwest apologized and refunded her ticket. we are kicking off the holiday weekend with joe and mika in their pajamas. we explain when we go down to the wire in 20. two days before christmas, newt gingrich trying to stay on the nice list, refusing to go negative, even thoughesque cut by attack ads. karen hunter, msnbc contributor, two friends of the program, good to see you. >> good morning. >> give us your crystal ball

predictions. newt wants to stay nice. will he do that in 2012. >> probably not. but i don't think the rest of the field is going to be nice to him as well. he will have to mount some defense against the attacks coming against him. i think he is going to be a little scroogy. >> a little naughty as well. robert, your prediction? >> i agree with karen, i don't know if scroogy is a word. but i agree. all americans hate negative politics. when you go negative, it works. newt gingrich will have to contradict his pledge about not going negative and go negative. >> robert, stay with you, romney has been taking the brunt of this anti-romney sentiment. will he get the nomination in 2012? >> that's my prediction. i believe he will get the nomination. it will be a long, hard slog, late spring, april or may, he will be the nominee. >> you have an agreer, karen? >> yes, actually he is right on this.

mitt romney will win. this is a classic case of tore toss and the hair. even though he hasn't cracked that 30% mark, people raced ahead, he treaded water, kept afloat while people raced ahead and fell, raced ahead and fell. he will sustain this in 2012. with all of the endorsements from places like south carolina and from president bush. >> he is notching the belt with those endorsements. robert, one of those running ahead as karen was saying and falling back, rick perry. is he going to make a come back? >> no, i think rick perry's opportunity failed in the debates. he simply hasn't caught fire. a lot of tea partiers liked him and want him to succeed, obviously a current governor, conservative, bona fide conservative, but he doesn't have the horse power in the debates and has proven it time and again. i don't see a future for him in presidential politics.

>> karen, he has money. >> it is not horse power, it is brain power. the american people are like jeannie is out of the bottle. man doesn't impress as being too bright. i don't feel he can run the country. i don't think he has what it takes between the ears. >> ron paul, he is doing well in iowa. >> he is, but he is very extreme, and i think, you know, what i predict with ron paul is that he may mount a third party candidacy. that's what i am throwing out there as the wild card for 2012, with the voters falling away from the democratic party and republican party, i think about 1.8 million voters have fallen from each party, there's a strong, strong contingency to mount a third party candidacy. ron paul seems to fit the profile. >> who may make that entry on the third party move? >> it may be ron paul. i don't know if he is an extreme, he is very quirky. i believe he will win iowa caucuses, his ground game is

unbelievable. the other third party, gary johnson, former governor in the midwest, said he would run on the third party. i wouldn't be surprised if he runs a campaign. >> obviously have the grass roots presence there, again, if it is ron paul, i think michele bachmann may come in third or fourth. >> we have to go. karen, thumbs up or down for johnson. >> my thumbs are up. he is going down. >> karen hunter, robert train a.m., have great holidays. great to see you. program note, politics nation first annual revvie awards, featuring best and worst of politics in 2011, hosted by reverend al sharpton, tonight at 6:00 p.m. eastern on msnbc. it is the last minute dash. two shopping days until christmas. retailers roll out deep

discounts to seal the deal, trying to put a nice shiny bow on what's been a better than expected holiday season. cnbc mandy drury is here. what kind of discounts are we looking at. numbers are big. >> big discounts. kind of discounts we in australia would only see in january. half off the store at ann taylor, 60% at gap, almost everything at abercrombie & fitch, aggressive last minute deals. richard, it is great for people like me who haven't finished their shopping, but does this ring an alarm bell for the retail industry. that's the question. analysts say the discounts are more widespread than last year at this time, and also suggests merchants are maybe stuck with too much merchandise. perhaps part of the problem is that sales over thanksgiving weekend, remember, they were surprisingly strong, and maybe that stalled some of the decision sales. after christmas, richard, inventory is worth a whole lot less, which means the retailers have to get rid of it, even at a

lower margin. we have to wait and see whether or not this is a good or bad sign. >> or no margin, speaking of which, let's talk about best buy. they had so much popularity for sales, they're having trouble now. >> they cancelled a lot of their orders. how annoyed would you be. they alerted some customers they can't fill online orders days before christmas. they said overwhelming demand for some products from bestbuy.com led to a problem redeeming online orders made in november and this month. we don't know how many orders are effected, which products specifically are out of stock, but this isn't great for best buy. it recently beefed up the online campaign to fight off some of the intense competition from online retailers like amazon. and this is a crucial holiday season. it can makeup to 40% of annual sales for companies like best buy, so it is a real glitch at the wrong time. >> you done shopping? >> oh, no, god no.

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dying of breast cancer in half. studying records of nearly 800 breast cancer patients that died from the disease, researchers found over one-third of them never had a mammogram. good morning, i'm thomas roberts. in the next hour of msnbc, a payroll tax extension is a done deal in washington. minute by minute we get reaction from the left and right. is this a holiday gift or holiday bandaid? then my interview with newt gingrich's daughter jackie, how she feels her daughter is doing on the campaign trail and whether his personal baggage is a true obstacle to winning the gop nomination. and 2011 was a banner year for lgbt rights. for my final side, we look at the advancement for gay americans. that and more coming your way in the next hour. ugly bickering on capitol hill. violent protests overseas. we bring you a lot of stories each day on msnbc. it is time for a story like this

one. an update about a family we told you about months ago, parents down on their luck, their kids stressed and worried. one of our viewers saw that piece and was moved to make a difference. chris jansing has been following this every step of the way. >> reporter: to the unknowing eye, this family is doing something ordinary, decorating their christmas tree. >> the color is beautiful. >> reporter: the extraordinary thing about it is this will be their first real christmas in three years. >> they were waiting for the moment where we can finally have something that we really wanted for christmas, like every kid. >> reporter: when we first met them, angel and anna had lost their jobs. their florida home was in foreclosure, and the strain was showing. >> it's just really hard. >> ranks of the u.s. poor are growing. >> reporter: in texas, another family saw their story and was deeply moved by gavi's tears. >> we wanted to help a family that seemed so nice and kind and

who were in circumstances that were beyond their control. through luck or fate, his financial services company had an office near them. he arranged for his employees to help them with the job hunt. six weeks ago, angel started work as a property manager. >> i feel that i came back to life. >> reporter: while the home is still in foreclosure, with financial and legal help from john van, they're working with the bank to keep it. anna called it a miracle. and back in texas, john van got something wonderful of his own, an emotional letter from gavi. >> i want to thank your family for seeing something in ours, showing there are still people in the world that care about others. you inspired me there's hope to be able to do what you want. it brought tears to my eyes.

it was completely unexpected. >> reporter: two families with a bond for the american dream. >> people like them get involved in these situations, they're like little angels. >> reporter: a connection across the miles that may just be the best gift of all. chris jansing, msnbc. >> great story. this christmas eve eve, worst christmas gift ever trending on twitter. today's tweet of the day comes from you. my cousin gave me $5 in dimes in a bankroll with a bow on it. and another tweeted a life size justin beiber doll. american humor writes unused kardashian, humphreys christmas cards, probably lots of those. and another one, said it best, nothing, it isn't about the gifts you get, it is the gesture and love they put into it.

want to wish merry christmas and happy new year to my mom and dad and all the people in pennsylvania sending me lots of love and support. i'd never ride without one now. and since my doctor prescribed lipitor, i won't go without it for my high cholesterol and my risk of heart attack. why kid myself? diet and exercise weren't lowering my cholesterol enough. now i'm eating healthier, exercising more, taking lipitor. numbers don't lie. my cholesterol's stayed down. lipitor is fda approved to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients who have heart disease or risk factors for heart disease. it's backed by over 19 years of research. [ female announcer ] lipitor is not for everyone, including people with liver problems and women who are nursing, pregnant or may become pregnant. you need simple blood tests to check for liver problems. tell your doctor if you are taking other medications, or if you have any muscle pain or weakness. this may be a sign of a rare but serious side effect. [ man ] still love that wind in my face! talk to your doctor. don't kid yourself about the risk of heart attack and stroke. if lipitor's been working for you, stay with it.

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hosts in pjs, and a jackson tour. you can tell it is almost christmas at msnbc. the hosts are showing up in their pajamas. they anchored way too early this morning in front of a fireplace, curled up with a blanket and slippers having fun. holiday party with the late show with david letterman got a little rowdy apparently. >> i left the party early. this is what we do. and guess who was here? tom hanks. you know who that is? that's tom hanks. had too many drinks. >> famous parties suck!

>> he knows ron howard. >> tom hanks. santa coming in all shapes, sizes, locations this year as well. i guess even people underwater get presents. saint nick put on scuba gear in mal asia. i wonder what the fish asked for, food! in tie land, he will fanlts playing santa, dressed in red and delivering toys to kids. it has special meaning this year because disastrous floods devastated the area this summer. and things at one mall in indiana got crazy to get the air jordan 11. they wanted to get their hands on it. one website dubbed them the crown jewel of an incredible year for kicks. sticking to retro theme, jackson 3 announced an international tour. catch them with all their hits. tmz saying they're doing 18 shows across europe, right on time almost. that wraps up this hour of

"jansing & company." i am richard lui. on behalf of chris and the team, happy holidays to you and your families. thanks for making "jansing & company" a part of your morning every day. see you over the weekend. thomas roberts is up next. we're kind of a quiet couple. yes. but lately we've been using k-y® intense™. it stimulates arousal so the big moment is... (announcer) k-y® brand intense™ - intensifies female satisfaction. well, this necklace is awesome. honey, you're getting a necklace! see what i mean? i'll surprise you. please. [ male announcer ] the only place to go for last-minute christmas gifts. walmart.

without objection, the bill is engrossed, read a third time and passed and motion to reconsider is laid on the table. >> and with that, the payroll tax cut bill passes the house. now what happens to speaker boehner's leadership in standing? newt gingrich opponents say he has too much baggage to win the gop nomination. we're going to ask his daughter jackie if she thinks the former house speaker can win over the evangelicals. and new study finds 2.5 million voters dropped out and

left their political parties. what is it going to mean in 2012 as they fight for the independent vote. we're going to explore that question this morning. hi, everybody, great to have you with me. i am thomas roberts. we get straight to it. two month tax cut extension for 160 million americans in the books, making it through congress this morning, after speaker boehner and house republicans bent to a president who refused to give ground on this political fight. president obama thanked the american people through the web, tweeting thanks to all who shared $40 stories. today's victory is nurse. keep making your voices heard, it makes all the difference. this morning, the senate majority leader talked about what it was like working together. >> most everything we do around here is based on trust. that's how we get things done. if there were a message received from the last thing we have been through, i would hope especially, i repeat, new members of the house, will understand that legislation is the art of