you put them out sooner rather than later. and from bain to the tax issue, is team romney falling flat when it comes to mitt's money? and leave it to newt gingrich to toss this idea at his gop rival. >> my goal is not to raise mitt romney's taxes, it's to let everybody pay his rate. >> the plus, members of president obama's team say he is flat out opposed to the super pac and the influence of big money in politics. given how romney's super pac effectively beat back gingrich, can the president ignore the threat that seems to be looming around the corner from rivals? plus rough seas are now preventing certainliers from locating passengers still missing in that awful cruise ship disaster. new amazing is images of what that massive vessel looks like from space. and fallout from paula deen's admission she has type ii diabetes. now another chef who went after dean in the past is offering is very little sympathy today.

>> i'm tamron hall. the news nation is starting off with breaking news. in about an hour, the obama administration is expected to reject the construction of the keystone pipeline. while we wait for the official announcement, two sources say the administration is going to reject the keystone pipeline on the basis that it does not have enough time to make a decision. the pipeline would stretch from alberta, canada, to texas and congressman dated the administration make a decision by february 21st. as no real surprise, house speaker john boehner says the president squandered an opportunity to the create 100,000 new jobs. >> this is not good for our country. the president wants to put this off until it's convenient for him to make a decision. that means after the next election. the fact is, the american people are asking the question right now, where are the jobs. >> nbc's kelly o'donnell joins me from capitol hill. we've got the white house briefing, the daily briefing going on right now. carney will not answer whether

there's been a decision made. he's obviously anticipated a number of questions on the subject as he noted. but no answers coming out at least yet. >> reporter: he's been talking all around the issue of whether a decision has been made saying maybe something this afternoon. staple for the state department. both top spokesmen don't want to get ahead of the president or the secretary of state. it is secretary clinton whose administration over the state department was reviewing this. the bigger picture is this, tamron. the clip you played from john boehner was earlier today. he is expected to come to the cameras again this afternoon talking about this expectation that the president will say that he does not want ot go forward. republicans have been hammering this for quite awhile. this keystone oil pipeline is a project if it were to take place connecting it down to the gulf of mexico, there could be thousands of jobs made available. but there have been environmental concerns. so the president had started off saying, this needed longer review, especially about environmental impact and that he would make a decision after the

next election. that's what put republicans into high gear trying to push the president's hand. so they created this 60-day fwoirn him to make a decision. it was a part of that payroll tax cut extension that was a totally different matter but they attached this to put pressure on the white house. the 60 days has not yet elapsed but that's what we expect the president to say, he does not want to make a decision 0 go forward at this time. the white house does call this arbitrary and say it's politically motivated. certainly republicans counter that it's politically motivated for the president to not want to have this happen when the important base for his potential re-election comes from the environmental wing of the democratic party, not wanting to alienate those voters. there's a lot of politics here, along with the real potential for jobs and some issues that need to be sorted out about where this oil pipeline woman actually track through the states. and what environmental impact it would have. this will be a big political story with a lot of pushback on either side. >> and kelly, another story

we're following. i know you are following for us, debt ceiling conversation resumes. what's the latest there? >> well, the house of representatives will make another political statement today. republicans will vote to the disapprove the president's request to increase the country's ability to borrow money and it's the debt ceiling we talked about so much last summer. it's really a symbolic action saying they can allow themselves to go on record saying the president has allowed too much borrowing. the president has the authority to ask for this increase and he has done so. it's another one of those ways you see the two parties positioning over an issue that is critically important and that is the country's debt and how to manage the country's good faith and credit in the world markets. >> thank you very much, kelly o'donnell. two big stories, we'll wait to hear what the white house. and now to what has become a major issue for mitt romney. just three days before the south carolina primary, his revelation that he pays a tax rate of just 15% and his intention to wait

till april to release his tax returns continues to whoever over his head. romney, by the way, did not address the issue at his only campaign appearance so far today. in spartanburg, south carolina. while he is under fire from his gop challengers, one of his top supporters, new jersey governor chris christie had have advice just this morning concerning romney's tax returns. >> what i would say to governor romney is, if you have tax returns to put out, you know, should put them out sooner rather than later because it's always better in my view to have complete disclosure, especially when you're the front-runner. >> joining me now garrett haik is following romney around. thanks for your time. >> my pleasure. you heard chris christie say if you have the returns. we know he has the returns. what is romney saying, if anything today? he pointed out he had this one rally. he didn't mention it there. >> no, tamron, this is not a subject they want to spend

timing about. they're not talking about president obama and not talking about job creation. ultimately he commented on this yesterday after sort of dodging the question for a long time about when he would release these returns. if you remember back in december, he told chuck todd there were no plans to do it. then it was maybe we'll do it, then it was we'll consider doing it before utley coming out yesterday and giving that april date, which gives had imtime to maybe put more primaries behind him and release these things after tax season has concluded. >> garrett, i'm curious. is team romney caught off guard by this fact that people are pushing him and even again, i have to point out, it's not just rivals. is his own supporter, chris christie whose name has been tossed around as a possible pick for vice president if romney gets the nomination is saying, you've got the records. put them out there sooner rather than later. are they caught flat footed here? >> well, tamron, we're slamming

the brakes on the bus here for a second. no, it's a little bit of mixed signals here. it's not surprise that mitt romney's rich and no surprise people want to see his tax returns at some point sooner rather than later. he's been getting asked about them for a long time. they will do seem to have fumbled the rollout of this with not necessarily being prepared to release them earlier rather than later and let them continue to be part of the conversation supposed to getting it out of the way. >> nationally syndicated radio talk show host michael smerconish. you heard the report from garrett. he's following around the romney campaign and discussing how they seem to be giving off mixed signals here. what do you make of this? >> nothing good happens for mitt romney politically speaking when he rees his tax returns. i mean, there's not like a revelation we're going to look at the returns and say this is terrific news for him. there will be questions answered about his contributions, about the extent to which he's gone to

shield income. i think there are potential negatives. that's obviously why they want to push this off till april because by april at this current pace if not sooner, he will have secured the nomination. i think the voters are being let down. i recognize it's not a legal requirement but in the same way, tamron, that all this money is being spent on super pacs who by and large don't have to disclose till january 31, i feel that the voters are being short shifted by casting ballots without knowing who's spending money on all the super pacs and what are the financial dynamics of the candidates. it's the sort of thing they should know before they go to vote, not after. >> gingrich said today he pays a tax rate of 31. the president's tax returns shows he pays a tax rate of 26, as well. sarah palin now, michael, rearing her head in all of this, not endorsing anyone like her husband todd palin. but she did indicate if she were in fact to vote in south carolina's primary, she would support newt gingrich.

let me play her latest comments. >> if i had to vote in south carolina in order to keep this thing going, i'd vote for newt. and i would want this to continue more debates, more vetting of candidates. >> more vetting of candidates. i read that as, it has to be about more vetting of mitt romney here because he is the front-runner. what more vetting does she want? especially when she want to be vetted herself. the reason she's not in this race. nevertheless, michael, what do we make of this piling on or can we even call it that? is it the right thing to do pile on romney if he doesn't want to turn this over? >> i think it's more evidence of the dissatisfaction that exists on the far right within the gop. they haven't been able to coalesce around one particular candidate. i think that had they done so or if they were to do so now, romney would really be given a run for his money. but i can't see santorum getting out, rick perry who knows newt gingrich looks like he's in for

the long hall. your question what tax rate romney pays, i don't blame him if he's paying a 15% rate. i think that's too low. i blame the system for that. my expectation is that romney's a straight arrow who pays whatever his proper share is, but he's probably paying only on capital gains at a 15% rate while the rest of us are paying a much higher rate than that. >> thank you very much, michael. we'll talk with you tomorrow. romney debates releasing his tax records. newt gingrich is seizing the opportunity to hit him. >> the 21st century contract with america at newt.org has an optional 15% flat rate for every american. so my goal is not to. >> not just mitt romney. >> my goal is to let everybody pay romney's rate. >> newt gingrich is now saying his flat tax should be called the mitt romney tax. meantime, several reports indicate romney's team is worried gingrich may be picking up steam since the last debate. former new hampshire governor

john sununu is reportedly headed to south carolina with the chief assignment of taking on newt. nbc's ron mott joins us live from columbia, south carolina. that's one of the big developments, including this back and forth over job creation between romney and newt gingrich. they have no love lost here. >> absolutely. for all of our wrestling fans, this is starting to look like one of those old battle royals. everybody is swinging at one another, no safe corners. everybody is punching. and especially purging at mitt romney. this tax issue, gingrich is expected to release his tax returns tomorrow. so the pressure may mount further on the former governor from massachusetts to accelerator the timetable for releasing his. in addition to fighting against mitt romney, you've got newt gingrich now punching at risk santorum and vice versa. rick santorum today said it was arrogant of the former speaker to suggest he is the only one in this race who can go toe to toe with president obama in a

general election. newt gingrich is saying rick santorum an does not have the credentials to go toe to toe with the president and the billion dollar machine as he likes to describe it. we're trying to duck to stay out of the way in the media. it's going to be very interesting over the next four days. newt gingrich said he expects the romney campaign to ramp up its, what he calls unending dirty and deceitful advertising against him over the next four days like he claims they did in iowa. >> ron mott live for us in columbia south carolina. in other news, the search operation at the site of that wrecked cruise liner is suspended for the day. the number of people still accounted for now up to 21 after a german woman thought to be missing was found alive and well in germany. meantime a bizarre explanation coming from the captain accused of abandoning the ship. a report now says he told the italian courts he accidentally

tripped and fell into a lifeboat as passengers were the still on board. nbc's duncan go golisagni. this was because of rough seas that the certainliers could not get back in there again. >> yes, that's right. i think it's been a frustrating day for the rescued workers on the island. there are many of them. today they had wanted to blow four holes into the costa concordia so they could search places that up till now have been blocked. but that changed overnight when the ship moved ever so slightly meaning it was unsafe for divers to be on. so largely, there hasn't been much activity today. towards the end of the afternoon, a few helicopters went over and started dropping equipment on there. we understand that's going to be used in the coming days to start getting liquids off there. so really what we're seeing is a change of strategy away from a rescue mission and more salvage operation. so hope fading for the 20 plus

people that are still missing. >> duncan, we saw an incredible image earlier of what this wreckage at this point looks like from space. you see the vessel there on its side. i'm curious as to the status of this captain. we know he was under house arrest. and so many people still want to hear more of what he has to say. what is his status now? >> reporter: yes. as you say, he's under house arrest about a few hours south of here in naples. yesterday he appeared before prosecutors. it's been coming out in the last hour in italian media, reporting that he told prosecutors that he turned too late. he apparently said he was trying to salute a former captain who lives on the island of giglio and by absolute, we mean a sail past blowing the horns. apparently that's what he told prosecutors but he said he turned too late and ended up in waters that are too shallow. we haven't had that confirmed

but those are the latest reports coming out here. >> duncan, thank you so much for your live report. up next, a rare look inside syria. nbc's a man mole yell din is now inside syria with arab league monitors. i'll talk about the assad's deadly crack down on protesters and what he is seeing there. plus, the president has called out the supreme court on the citizens united decision which gave great power to the super pacs. but will is the president need the super rich donors to avoid what newt gingrich called being romney boated. and a rival chef now slamming paula deen on twitter after she announced her diabetes diagnosis. you can find our twitter pain nyquil: you know i relieve coughs, sneezing, fevers? tylenol: me, too. and nasal congestion. nyquil:what? tissue box (whispering): he said nasal congestion...

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welcome back to news nation. today, russia says it will block any attempt by the west to use military force against syria where thousands of civilians have been killed in a violent anti-government uprising. russia's foreign minister says it is part of an effort by his country to help prevent a "vet big war." the associated press says there are "strong signs that iran is giving syria weapons to help remove president bashar al assad from power." russia says encouraging his removal could lead to suffering in countries across the region as well as states spts far beyond sits boundaries." a man mo yell din is one of just a very few western reporters allowed into syria. ayman, what at least can you tell us you're seeing on the ground there? i know there are arab league

monitors there as well with you. what are you observing? >> well, tamron, we spent the better part of the morning with those arab league monitors here in the hotel in damascus. when you go about in damascus, the city is very much a normal city in some regards and in some regards you can tell it has changed a lot, even in the words of syrians that have lived here. security checkpoints are much more visible in var paints. we were stopped at a checkpoint in and around the city. at nighttime, there are reports of gunfiren an explosions heard frequently. and more importantly it, the sanctions, the economic sanctions that have been imposed on the country are taking a toll on the people here. you see that in markets. you see that in the long fuel lines at the gas stations and certainly the economy is deteriorating. it is a city very much on edge. >> ayman, as i understand it, can you give us a better account of the atmosphere with the people you've at least seen and

just the overall tone and climate that you've been exposed to? >> absolutely. you know, we were here at the request the or at least by invitation from the syrian government that granted us a visa after several months. certainly our access to var parts of the country are very much restricted in terms of where we can see. we are in contact with people across the country. here in damascus itself, when you speak to people on the street, there's no doubt the president still retains a great deal of popularity. many people believe there are foreign hands, foreign countries that are trying to intervene to work.against syria to divide syria. but there is no doubt there are also in private areas when you're speaking to people away from government minders in a more intimate setting, they're speaking more freely against the government and expressing their viewpoints for what they want. the city itself in damascus during the day and night remains somewhat normal. outside of the country from the arab league monitors we've been

speaking to, describe very troubling scenes, scenes of violence. some describe it as a war zone in cities outside of damascus. so it's still very much a country that is in turmoil and still one that is very tense all throughout. >> a man mo yell din live for us in damascus, one of a few western journalists allowed in that country. for the first time, wisconsin is live streaming. these are government workers. they're actually reviewing more than 1 million signatures to recall governor scott walker. i'm going to talk with the communications director for the state's democratic party on how things are going. you see they're hard at work there. plus, bizarre comments from actor mark wahlberg about what he says he could have done to prevent the hijackings on 9/11. wait until you hear what he has said. but first in today's money minute, here's a look at the markets.

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ask if nexium is right for you. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. well, if you have a long flight in your future, it will probably cost you more. flyers are now paying $20 more for trips over 1500 miles. united american, southwest airways confirm the increases. southwest cites rising jet fuel prices as a reason for its price hike. some of the charges for peak travel days are as much as 10% of the travel price. coming up, the feds bust a record setting insider trading scheme. we have the very latest on this investigation. and jill biden has taught english to college and high school students for years and now she's written a book of her own. plus, tim tebow passes on an offer from cbs to be a game day analyst. why did he make the decision to pass? details in the scoop. brad, where we going?

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here's what the news nation is following right now. super pac problem? president obama blasted the supreme court's decision on citizens united which gave great power to these super pacs but will he need the super rich doe knowners to prevent what newt gingrich is calling being romney voted. a big winter storm hits the northwest causing accidents, school closures. we'll show you some of the video. and he said what? mark wahlberg's strange comments about how he says he could have prevented one of the hijackings on 9/11. plus, disconnecting several web sites go dark in protest of anti-pirate sit bills. and now some of the lawmakers who sponsored the legislation withdrawing their support. why now? plus, developing news. the obama administration is denying a report from an iranian lawmaker who claimed that president obama sent a secret

letter to iran's supreme leader calling for direct talks with iran and warning tehran against closing a strategic waterway. the obama administration says communications of the united states' views are being delivered through other diplomatic messages. again the obama administration denying this report out of iran. and president obama may be at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to his super pac. listen to this. politico is reporting the president's super pac priorities raised just $5 million in the first half of last year, that is less than half of the $12 million raised by romney's super pac restore our future. deputy political director park murray joins us live. this article points out the president has mot wanted to smooze with some of these super rich people who can swoop and give millen coz the super pacs. but his advise advisers are looking at the effectiveness when romney needed help bringing

down gingrich. >> the fact that you end up having donor who's could write a 2 or $3 million check to one of she is super pacs is antithetical to how he built his entire fund-raising structure where people donate $5, $10, $15 every month. they feel like they have a stake in the president instead of having just wealthy people cutting these checks. so for a very long time president obama and his team have really not liked these super pacs at all. but seeing what occurred in iowa when newt gingrich getting blasted by that pro-romney super pac did open some democratic eyes. i would point out, tamron, that the one reason gingrich got hurt so badly, he didn't have money to respond. president obama will have a tremendous amount of money with a highly financed super pac or not. >> that is an excellent point, but even still as the article notes, some of his own team, they are concerned. they too know what you've just stated that the president will have an incredible amount of

money to respond to any attacks whomever gets the nomination on the gop side. there is concern with how fast these super pacs can bring the ads on and the effectiveness that they've had. >> they don't want to unilaterally disarm. the organizers of these super pacs want to be able to have money. they might not have as much money as karl rove's crossroads or pro-romney super pac restore our future but want to have enough. i can tell you bill burton who organize priorities usa and usa action think they will be able to raise $100 million for this entire 2012 cycle. and we will get a good understanding of how much money they've raised come january 31st, tamron, when the super pacs have to release their once every six-month finances. >> real quick, mark, we've got some information on a significant tv ad buy in 14 key battleground states that the re-election team is looking at. >> right, this goes to the point that president obama is going to have a tremendous amount of

money just from his campaign site. they are currently in the process of trying to see to possibly buy tv time. it's not a for sure thing. but the battleground states that you just showed there, the ones that everyone's familiar with, the oldies but goodies, ohios and floridas but the new battlegrounds of virginia, colorado, north carolina, the obama campaign wants to keep those same battlegrounds that they saw in 2008. >> oldie but goodies from mark murray. on ktel for $9.99. you made my day with that. take a look at this. this might make the day of democrats in wisconsin. state workers are processing the petition signatures to rerecall wisconsin republican governor scott walker. the government accountability board is live streaming. this is live stream video of the review process. the video webcam petitions with more than a million signatures were delivered before the deadline yesterday to force a recall election for governor walker. joining me now is graeme

zielinski, communicates director up on skype for us. thanks for your time. >> thanks for having me. >> how is it going? it seems they are very busy, at least most of the day. >> i think they'll be busy for a little bit but they'll get through it quickly and hopefully we'll have an election soon. >> what is the process now? >> the process should go smoothly but we know that scott walker and the republican party are going to try to game the process and try to file lawsuit after lawsuit because right now he's raising unlimited amounts of corporate cash. say hi to our governor he's over there right now shaking down big wigs. >> yesterday we reported he would be in new york while the petitions were being reported in wisconsin. nonetheless here, you have the governor in one place while this is happening with the petitions. are you anticipating any controversy regarding the signatures or should at least that part of this run smoothly?

>> no, that question is over. it's statistically impossible to challenge the election. the election will happen. for months we've had to listen to republicans whine and cry about the potential for fraud and what not. they can put up or shut up now. there's an opportunity to look at what we've submitted. he's demeaning and belittling to the million which is consonites to sign this had petition to portray them as that. this is all noise. there should be an election. scott walker should stand before the people of wisconsin and see if they support his vision. >> thank you very much, graeme zielinski. we'll see what happens next in your state. it's very key two controversial internet piracy bills are losing support on capitol hill. that tops our look at stories around the news nation. three republicans are no longer supporting the legislation aimed at stopping illegal downloading and streaming. dozens of popular sites like wikipedia went dark this morning. voluntarily to protest these bills. they fear the legislation wos interfere with free speech.

our parent company comcast supports both bills. investigators are scouring the trails near the famous hollywood sign in california. they're searching for clues in a disturbing murder. yesterday, twos dog walkers discovered a severed human head inside a plastic bag. detectives are looking for more remains. the victim appears to be a man in his 40s. officials are now seeing the roundup of suspects in a record-setting insider trading scheme. the group accused of earning more than $61 million from trading a single stock. authorities say employees at tech companies would leak confidential information to prominent money managers. pictures from seattle, washington, right now show a major winter storm blasting the northwest. seattle spared the worst for the most part, but it was not enough to cause disruptions. classes have been canceled. hotels are booked and grocery stores, well, their shelves are

pretty much empty. jim cantore is live in seattle with, again, a nice snowy view. give us an idea how bad this is behind you. >> reporter: tamron, there's 132 school districts in western washington. 131 of them canceled classes today. if you were the kids in the other district that had to go to school, do you think you would skip? >> yes. i'm sorry. my mick's on. i'm kidding. >> waiting a half hour to go through that list and then you don't hear your school. what i bummer. we usually get about six inches here in seattle on a year. we're getting that today all in one day. when you go from sea level up about 500 feet in a very few blocks, that creates quite a few steeps hills. they've closed off a lot of the hills in and around seattle. they're the too slippery to maneuver through here. now they've become sledding and skiing and skating hill. we've renamed this mount queen anne where people are taking

about everything they can, cardboard, saucers, you name it, you can see these guys are going up for another run. they really haven't plowed this hill yet. right now the big deal is the main thoroughfare. interstate 5, 90, the 405 all these areas, that's what they'll get clear first. what we're left with on the roads is what i call cookie dough and that's what's creating slippery conditions. once you get over -- about 25 miles hour, in all honesty, when you think about a city that gets about six inches, they've done a pretty good job keeping up with this. they got on it at 3:00 this morning when it started. sea-tac hasn't canceled. you would think this would shut down an airport. it has not. they've done really well with this particular storm. you know what? winter in the northwest. we get to cover storms in the east all the time. now it's all about the northwest

in through here. salt lake city, boise, and seattle with snow. >> some cities really know how to know ha the snow. i lived in chicago. after the mayor was booted out, they learned how to tackle the situation. and others like new york city get hit hard and you've got more problems than are probably necessary. what is that behind you, mount, what did they nickname this hill behind you? >> this is actually queen anne hill but i called it mount queen anne. just fyi, there is a citation that they give out if you are caught sledding through here. i haven't seen one given out here called smc 11-40-250. so you're really not allowed to do what people are doing back here. obviously the masses are ruling here. the masses are ruling. >> i hope they have fun. i'm enviouenvious. thank you very much, jim cantore. coming up -- >> 90% of the time, we go knock on a door and there's no answer or the person that we're looking

for does not live there. >> it is a startling fact. listen to this. deadbeat parents collectively owe more than $100 billion in child support. and it is not easy tracking them down. up next, nbc's tom costello joins the hunt for parents who won't pay up to take care of their children. first, here are things we thought you should know. kareem abdul-jabbar was named a global cultural ambassador to engage the world's young people to help diplomacy. he spoke moments ago to our own andrea mitchell. >> i'd just like to see that my country is portrayed in an accurate fashion, and i think the best way to do that is for ordinary americans to go out and meet people in the world and let them know what america is all about for real. a homeless teenager's inspiring story of overcoming hardship, samantha garvey hopes to be a marine biologist.

she's a high school senior from long island, new york. and dr. jill biden is sharing her family's struggle with military deployment in a children's book titled "don't forget nana, god bless troops," outlining her granddaughter's experience while her father was serving in iraq. she will give all proceeds to charities that support military families. those are the things we just thought you should know.

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you can adjust it to whatever your needs are. so whatever you feel like, the sleep number bed's going to provide it for you. and now, the company that redefined sleep is redefining memory foam. save $400 on our all-new memory foam bed. and at our white sale, stock up and save on our exclusive bedding collection. only at the sleep number store, where queen mattresses start at just $699. i'm martin bashir. coming up at the top of the hour, breaking news as the obama administration is expected to reject the keystone xl pipeline and republicans in congress are in a fury. having some 2011 deja vu. plus, hear that rat tat tat. the circular firing squad for the republican nomination turns nattiyer still. now back to tamron. >> parents behind on their child support payments and on the run, the feds are going after

deadbeat parents who collectively owe more than $100 billion in child support. while many have fallen on hard times, they say, others ran off and left leaving their family and responsibilities behind. tom costello explains federal officials are now on their trail. >> 7:00 a.m. in arlington, virginia. >> sheriff's office. >> reporter: and with a stack of warrants, sheriff's deputies are hunting for deadbeat parents. >> he doesn't live here. >> had you. >> you it's a weekly even daily game of cat and mouse where dads and moms who are behind in child support by hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands of dollars have become very good at slipping away. >> how often do you knock on a door like this and nobody's home? >> probably about 90% of the time. >> 90% of the time. >> we knock on a door and there's no answer or the person that we're looking for does not live there. >> reporter: but because it's a civil warrant, if a parent moves across state lines, local police can't go after them. but if they owe more than $5,000

and cross state lines, it becomes a felony. that's where the feds get involved. gerald roy is the hhs deputy inspector general. >> you're talking about a willful intent to avoid paying for your children for their livelihood, for providing the basics that they so deserve. >> now, federal investigators are naming names with a new fugitive website aimed at tracking down the most an green jus cases. at the top of the list, robert sand who owes more than $1 million in child support. >> where do you believe mr. sand is right now? >> we believe robert is hiding out in thailand. >> and he knows he's wanted? >> he knows he's wanted. >> some of the biggest cases involve pro athletes including former nba player tyronne nesby who pleaded guilty to failure to pay child support and now paying nearly 1 million. >> in des moines, arlene

shepherd and her seven kids are on their own. again shepherd oh owes more than $160,000 in child support where arlene and the kids get by on minimum wage. >> i would hope he could look at hem and apologize. i don't think that anything could take it away, the pain, anger, the hurt, sadness. i would hope he would be able to apologize to them. >> just after christmas, police caught up with him in arizona. he's declined to talk to us. since 2006, the feds have found more than 500 deadbeat parents recovering more than $33 million in child support. in this county alone in northern virginia, they have 175 outstanding child support warrants some of them dating back to 1997. >> whether you can't stand your ex, you should care about the children that you brought into this world and make sure that they're protected and that they're okay. >> and, of course, that was tom

costello reporting for us. some pretty unbelievable comments from actor mark wahlberg about how he would have prevented 9/11. it is round two of paula deen versus anthony bourdain and tim tebow says no thank you, cbs. courtney hazlett is off on maternity leave. brian balthazar is the editor of pop goes the week. come. people have been tweeting us and sending their thoughts on mark wahlberg. we haven't even told you what he said yet. >> he's got a film out right now and just gave an interview with a men's journal where he talks how he was originally booked on one of the flights that was had i can jaed on 9/11. it was later rescheduled. he wasn't on the flights. we have to read the quote he gave to this magazine. it reads if i was on that plane with my kids, it won't have went down like it did. there would have been a lot of blood in that first class cabin and me saying okay we're going to land somewhere safely. don't worry. >> he would have fought off. >> he would have essentially stopped this from happening. which is obviously a really outrageous remark.

i reached out to his agents at william morris endeavor and his management. they have not responded yet. william morris doesn't give out statements about this nature. i haven't been able to confirm this or refute it any way. it's your standard hollywood interview. it's taking for men's journal. this is an outrageous thing to say. he's got a movie out where he's defending his family in the movie. that's probably how this kind of came up. again, twitter is kind of exploding with how ridiculous this is truthfully. >> topic two, yesterday. >> the foodies facing off. >> paula deen admitted she has type 2 diabetes and kept it from fans for three years. she is now the spokesperson for a diabetes drug. anthony bourdain who doesn't have any love for her. >> it's been a long history of him attacking her for heavy cooking. >> he says her kind of cooking is dangerous. >> she's basically said you know, like ---ing. >> going fly a kite. >> thank you. >> get lost.

so he tweeted a thinly veiled tweet in regard to her saying thinking of getting into the leg breaking business so i can profitly sell crutches later. obviously a reference to her kind of capitalizing perhaps on her diabetes. you know, interestingly enough. >> saying she produces all this fatty food and appropriates it and now she's promoting a drug. >> her son now as a cooking show caused "not my mama's meals" where he makes healthier versions of hers. these twos have no love lost between the two of them. >> last but not least on your list, tim tebow, it was reported cbs wanted him as an analyst. >> he said no. i do have a theory why he may have said no. obviously he's a polarizing figure. espn is reporting he had extreme injuries he was playing through at the last game. they're reporting he suffered torn cartilage in his ribs, a bruised lung and had fluid buildup in his chest and playing with that. he might want to stay home and rest right now. it may just be don't be too

polarizing. >> thank you very much. i know we're going to be talking about them on twitter with the news nation. next up in today's news nation gut check, we want to hear your thoughts on the breaking news at the top of the hour. the keystone pipeline. do you agree with the obama administration to reject the pipeline? that is what sources indicate will happen at the top of the next hour. we're going to tell you how to weigh in. hey, it's me -- water. when i think about how lucky i am that i've had a pur water filter remove 99% of lead and microbial cysts... [ sniffs ] and then i think about the water that hasn't.

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welcome back. time now for the news nation gut check. at the top of the hour we told but the obama administration's impending rejection of the controversial keystone xl pipeline. the state department is expected to make a formal announcement minutes from now. it is the subject of course, of intense political fight. republican senator john cornyn says "a decision to rejek the keystone pipeline will do nothing but extend the job crisis and send thousands of u.s. jobs and valuable oil overseas but environmentalists are praising the administration. one activist is yoeted on the hill.com as saying here in the

face of a naked political threat from big oil to exact huge political consequences, he's stood up strong. referring there to the president standing up strong. so what is your gut tell you about this? do you agree with the obama administration's decision as expected to reject the pipeline? go to facebook.com/news nation to cast your vote. we should mention the white house has not confirmed this, but we're expecting the news in a few minutes. that does it for this edition of "news nation." i'm tamron hall. you can see news nation every weekday 2:00 p.m. each weekday. this saturday we'll be live for a special primary edition. we'll be live our entire team. martin bashir is up next. cut. cut! [ monica ] i thought we'd be on location for 3 days -- it's been 3 weeks. so i had to pick up some more things. good thing i've got the citi simplicity card. i don't get hit with a fee if i'm late with a payment... which is good because on this job,

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and makes tooth enamel two times stronger. get dual-action listerine® whitening rinse. building whiter, stronger teeth. good afternoon. it's wednesday, january 18th. we have breaking news on the controversial keystone pipeline. president obama to make a bold move and republicans led by speaker boehner crying foul.