but here is the state of play as of today. tom villsack, the member of the cabinet most likely to be mistaken for a wrestler, will stay on as secretary of agriculture. we mentioned it today, and as we mentioned earlier, janet napolitano will stay on. and the environmental protection agency administrator, lisa jackson, and the labor secretary, hilda solis will be leaving, but we don't know who will replace them. so this is the second announcement for the cabinet, the president's term starts after he is sworn in. when he was asked if there was enough diversity, he said people should stop rushing to judgment, he is not even done appointing people yet, which is true, which is exciting, especially if you have strong feelings about the secretary of agriculture, and you can name who he is off the top of your head, some like nfl drafts, some like nominees.

thank you for joining us, it is time for "the last word." nominees. but deep down we are all the same. "first look" is up next. good tuesday morning. right now on "first look," confessions to oprah. sources say cycling legend lance armstrong has fessed up to cheating. now legions of sponsors want armstrong to pay them back millions. president obama and 19 gun-control executive orders that would bypass congress and playing hardball over the budget and spending limits. >> what i will not do is to have that negotiation with a gun at the head of the american people. all that plus a major announcement today from walmart. good news for homeowners. and the odds of will and kate's baby being born on grandma princess diana's birthday. good morning, i'm marra

schiavocampo. for the first time in years, lance armstrong may be waking up with a clear conscience. the former seven-time tour de france champion has reportedly admitted to using performance enhancing drugs. nbc's curt gregory has more. >> reporter: according to the associated press, seven-time tour de france winner lance armstrong has admitted to using performance enhancing drugs during his famed cycling career. armstrong reportedly made the admission during a taped interview with oprah winfrey in his hometown of austin, texas. following the interview, winfrey tweeted, "just wrapped with lance armstrong, more than 2 1/2 hours. he came ready." last year armstrong was stripped of his seven tour titles and banned for life from the sport following a report by the u.s. anti-doping agency. a report that labeled armstrong as the mastermind of a, quote, systemic, sustained and highly

professionalized team-run doping conspiracy. nbc news has learned that in a conversation, the 41-year-old armstrong said, quote, it was just the way the game was played at the time, and so it was a level playing field. before the interview with oprah, armstrong visited the headquarters of the cancer foundation he founded. there he told the livestrong staff, quote, i'm sorry, and apologized for letting them down. but did not give them a full admission. >> people at livestrong have been pressuring him for a little while now to minimize this damage. >> reporter: damage years of lying and cheating has done to an organization and to the legacy of a sports icon. curt gregory, nbc news. so what about the potential legal and financial fallout ahead for the athlete worth an estimated $100 million? well, "the new york times" is reporting armstrong is in talks with the justice department to possibly federal in a federal whistleblower case against several powerful cycling

insiders who allegedly knew about his doping and possibly even facilitated it. part of that deal would include paying back several million dollars to his longtime sponsor, the u.s. postal service. just this morning the australian government says it wants armstrong to pay back several million dollars in appearance fees. turning now to the gun-control debate. late monday night, one month to the day since the shooting massacre in newtown, connecticut, new york's republican-controlled state senate pushed to move quickly by democratic governor andrew cuomo voted to expand the state's ban on assault weapons and approved new measures to keep guns away from the mentally ill. the assembly votes later today. this week president obama is expected to make an announcement about a comprehensive plan including a push for major legislation to expand background checks and limit assault weapons and ammunition. at a news conference monday, mr. obama promised to act alone, if necessary. >> and i'm confident that there are some steps that we can take that don't require legislation and that are within my authority

as president. >> the president could use executive powers on 19 separate actions to bypass congress. in newtown, connecticut, monday grieving family members of 11 victim of the sandy hook elementary school shooting announced plans for an anti-violence campaign. the nonprofit group sandy hook promise will focus on mental health, school safety and gun responsibility. >> the middle ground and the answers i actually think are going to come from gun owners themselves. those are the people that understand where the limits are, what's reasonable, what's responsible and what isn't. >> last night on "the rachel maddow show," rachel asked the parents of 6-year-old shooting victim ben wheeler about a comment they made at the news conference about having responsibility to their son. >> our job for him is to continue to do, to be, the greatest parents we can be. as i said, we're never going to stop being ben's parents. and that's complemented and made more difficult by being the best

parents we can be for nate who has his own journey. >> yeah. nate said right after ben died, he said -- this is tough -- but he said you promised you would protect us. >> yeah. >> and i did promise him that. >> sure. >> you know? >> yeah. >> so what do i say to him? i can't change what happened. i know it wasn't our fault. we just sent him to school. but i'll do whatever i can to help protect nate. >> yeah. >> and protect ben's spirit. >> "the rachel maddow show" airs weeknights at 9:00 eastern here on msnbc. the aid bill for superstorm sandy could be voted on today in the house. it would send almost $51 million to victims in new york, new jersey and connecticut, but it faces a tough fight from conservatives who want to lower

the cost and require offsetting spending cuts to pay for recovery efforts. lawmakers in the northeast from both parties are pushing the bill to help the recovery from one of the worst storms ever to strike the region. in just over a week, secretary of state hillary clinton will testify before congress about the 9/11 attack on the u.s. mission in benghazi, libya. clinton will talk to a house committee on january 23rd. earlier plans for her to testify were canceled when clinton got sick, suffered a concussion and was hospitalized for treatment of a blood clot in her head. the attack on the american compound in benghazi claimed the lives of ambassador christopher stevens, sean smith, tyrone woods and glen doherty. in philadelphia, an am bettamber alert has been issued. surveillance video shows robinson being escorted from the elementary school by a woman dressed in traditional muslim clothing and believed to be pregnant. it was six hours before anyone noticed that she had been taken. >> don't hurt my baby.

please don't hurt my baby. >> contact philadelphia police with any information on her whereabouts. a $10,000 reward is being offered. and now here's your first look at this morning's dish of "scrambled politics." president obama is being warned about issuing executive orders on gun control. republican congressman steve stockman from texas says he'll take action to stop presidential directives including filing articles of impeachment against president obama. the national rifle association has released a target shooting app on itunes approved for preschoolers ages 4 and up. nra practice range includes a shooting practice feature, safety tips and state-by-state gun laws. the white house has rejected a petition calling for texas to secede from the u.s. the response from the white house said that free and open debate is what makes this country work, but we don't let that debate tear us apart. jenny sanford says she will not run for congress from south

carolina against her ex-husband, mark sanford. she says, quote, i think my job as mom right now is much more important. ann romney, wife of the republican presidential candidate, said during the 2012 campaign that she was a big fan of "dancing with the stars," but it's reported that romney said no to an invitation for her to appear as a contestant on that show. former president bill clinton was a big hit at "the golden globes" and also popular backstage after his appearance on the broadcast. actress clare danes says she was invited to meet clinton in a private room. actress jessica alba was already in the room and so was actress rosario dawson. and that's your morning dish of "scrambled politics." and now for a look at the weather, here's nbc meteorologist dylan dreyer. good morning. >> good morning to you. it has been really nice across the east coast. above average. it hasn't been exceptionally warm. we've been missing the sunshine, that's for sure. we are going to see most of our rain today just south of new york city, stretching through the mid-atlantic region right

down into the new orleans area, right down into the gulf of mexico. it is heavy at times, but you can see it's just this strip of rain. and it is going to continue to push out of southern new england. so it's not going to be raining all day across portions of connecticut and massachusetts. even new york city, we started off with some light rain. earlier this morning. that will continue to move to the south and east. this is a stalled front. so unfortunately, it's not going to move out of the southeast any time soon. we do have this light rain still across martha's vineyard, heavier rain across nantucket. the outer portions of long island, but you can see it is already clearing out of philadelphia, new york city starting to clear out. southern new jersey seeing some of that rain, and then it does stretch back across virginia, back into eastern tennessee, western north carolina and then extends all the way down into the gulf coast region from lafayette, louisiana, right over to biloxi, mississippi. so we are still going to see those showers basically affect the southeast. and it's in this area, eastern kentucky into west virginia,

into western virginia, also down into mississippi and northeastern louisiana where we could end up with another two to three inches of rainfall on top of several inches of rain that has already been falling in that region. but the northeast not looking at a whole lot of rain. and this is the last bit of warm air that we are going to see down across the southeast. and that cold air that's been sitting in the midwest is eventually going to work back in. it's not going to get real cold but be more seasonal. good news on the job front for u.s. veterans. coca-cola's controversial take on obesity and nike's new $100 million golfer. they lift a car and save a life. you've got to see this. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. ♪

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welcome back. here are some stories making news this morning. in a monday afternoon press conference, president obama said that he would not negotiate on the debt ceiling, although he said he is open to more spending cuts. but he insisted that the u.s. is, quote, not a deadbeat

nation. walmart, the nation's largest retailer, will announce a plan today to hire every veteran honorably discharged in the last 12 months who wants a job which could mean 100,000 new jobs. former president george h.w. bush was released from a houston hospital after more than seven weeks of treatment for bronchitis and related problems. rand paul faces charges of assaulting a flight attendant on a january 5th flight in addition to underage drinking and other charges. the chicago transportation authority is suing united airlines. they claim the airline is buying its jet fuel 70 miles away to avoid paying close to $300 million in sales taxes. the airline says the suit's claims are untrue. students at the university of vermont should not bring bottled water had they return to campus because the school has banned its sale for environmental reasons. vermont is the largest public university to prohibit bottled water sales on campus. they've even converted water fountains to bottle-filling stations. over to wall street this

tuesday morning. the dow opens the day at 13,507 after adding 18 points yesterday. the s&p and nasdaq were both down. overseas the nikkei gained 77 points but the hang seng fell 31. the nasdaq and the s&p slipped monday thanks to worries that apple has gone sour. shares of the tech titan dipped below 500 for the first time in nearly a year after reports the company has cut orders for iphone parts due to weak demand. meanwhile, pc maker dell surged 13% on fresh takeover talk. after the bell, fed chief ben bernanke praised washington's recent fiscal cliff deal which he said probably would have caused a recession this year. but he cautioned, quote, we are not out of the woods yet, calling ongoing battles over spending cuts and the debt ceiling critical watersheds. elsewhere, a troubling new report finds more than one in four workers are dipping into retirement funds to keep up with their current bills. apparently folks in their 40s are most likely to do that. some good news, though, on the housing front. new numbers show home prices

rose 7.5% in 2012, the most in six years thanks to improving demand and fewer foreclosures. swiss group swatch is adding some sparkle to the brand, scooping up harry winston's luxury line of jewelry and watches for about $1 billion. toyota has once again dethroned general motors as the world's top-selling automaker, selling just under 10 million vehicles last year. coca-cola is taking some heat for its new ad campaign encouraging people to come together to fight obesity. critics say coke is just doing damage control to combat its own contribution to the country's growing obesity problem. we'll find out what facebook's big mystery is in a much-hyped media event today. rumors range from a new search feature to a possible facebook smartphone. and nike pulled out all the stops in abu dahabi welcoming roar we macilroy to the company with a lavish new ceremony. he officially made the switch to the swoosh on monday signing a

deal that's estimated between $100 million and $250 million. not a bad deal. an amazing rescue. sheriff joe arpaio's freezing inmaltds and serena's big comeback. plus a final flyover for one of the famed tuskegee airmen. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. not their short-term agenda. [ woman ] if you have the nerve to believe that cookie cutters should be for cookies, not your investment strategy. if you believe in the sheer brilliance of a simple explanation. [ male announcer ] join the nearly 7 million investors who think like you do: face time and think time make a difference. join us. [ male announcer ] at edward jones, it's how we make sense of investing.

in the middle of the night it can be frustrating. it's hard to turn off and go back to sleep. intermezzo is the first and only prescription sleep aid approved for use as needed in the middle of the night when you can't get back to sleep. it's an effective sleep medicine you don't take before bedtime. take it in bed only when you need it and have at least four hours left for sleep. do not take intermezzo if you have had an allergic reaction to drugs containing zolpidem, such as ambien. allergic reactions such as shortness of breath or swelling of your tongue or throat may occur and may be fatal. intermezzo should not be taken if you have taken another sleep medicine at bedtime or in the middle of the night or drank alcohol that day. do not drive or operate machinery until at least 4 hours after taking intermezzo and you're fully awake. driving, eating, or engaging in other activities while not fully awake without remembering the event the next day have been reported. abnormal behaviors may include aggressiveness, agitation, hallucinations, or confusion.

alcohol or taking other medicines that make you sleepy may increase these risks. in depressed patients, worsening of depression, including risk of suicide, may occur. intermezzo, like most sleep medicines, has some risk of dependency. common side effects are headache, nausea, and fatigue. so if you suffer from middle-of-the-night insomnia, ask your doctor about intermezzo and return to sleep again. ♪ i'd like to thank eating right, whole grain, multigrain cheerios! mom, are those my jeans? [ female announcer ] people who choose more whole grain tend to weigh less than those who don't. multigrain cheerios here's your first look at some of the other news going on around america. in new york city, police officers flexed their muscles to free a man trapped under a taxicab. they lifted the vehicle off the

19-year-old who was stuck after running into the street. the victim is now hospitalized in critical condition. next we go to utah where an overturned semi exploded into a fiery wreck. the big rig caught fire when flames erupted from one of the two gasoline tankers it was hauling. fast-acting firefighters were able to contain the inferno. a tractor trailer also rolled over in texas causing 6,000 gallons of hot asphalt to spill onto a highway. officials believe high-speed driving was the cause. cleanup crews spent about eight hours removing the truck and restoring that roadway. freezing temperatures in arizona are forcing inmates to bundle up. they're wrapping themselves in trash bags and blankets to stay warm in the 20-degree weather. they travel to denver to pay their final respects. newsom was one of the original tuskegee airmen, credited with breaking down racial barriers

and executing several successful missions during world war ii. he was 94. in sports we begin with autopsy results on kansas chiefs linebacker jovan boettcher. tests show he was legally drunk in december when he shot and killed his girlfriend cassandra perkins and then took his own life. he had a blood-alcohol content of more than double the legal limit in missouri. next to college basketball, louisville, the new number one ranked team had a convincing win on the road in connecticut. the cardinals won their 11th straight game 73-58 against unranked uconn. and number four kansas got 17 points from ben mclemore as they demolished unranked baylor and the jayhawks won, 61-44. at the australian tennis open, serena williams injured her right ankle but she got it wrapped and went on to win in straight sets in less than an hour. after the broncos' playoff loss, tim tebow's brother, peter, tweeted, i am the only

one who's happy right now? peter tebow later apologized for that tweet. and now for another look at the weather, here's nbc meteorologist dylan dreyer. good to see you again. >> you, too. yesterday we had 72 record high temperatures posted across the country, mostly in the southeast. and we did have one across northern illinois, but we are going to see an end to that really extreme above-average weather we have been seeing down across the southeast lately. even in the mid-atlantic region, it will be above average, but it never really felt all that warm the past couple of days because it's just been foggy and pretty cloudy. today we're starting off the day about 36 degrees in new york city. but we're already up to 68 in miami. here's where the cold air is, and it's only getting colder. denver has now dropped down to one below, and then the windchill on top of that makes it feel even colder. only in the 20s from minneapolis to chicago. 40s up and down the northeast into the mid-atlantic. but 60s down through the southeast. we do have some rain. it's that slow-moving cold front that's going to bring rain to the southeast today.

and even into tomorrow. we're looking for a high of 58 degrees in atlanta tomorrow. so that cold front that's been slow to move eastward but it's going to knock back temperatures to average for the rest of the week. >> we're enjoying the warm weather while we have it. just ahead, oddsmakers are already betting on whether will and kate's baby will be born on grandma princess diana's birthday. how well did tina fey and amy poehler do at this year's "golden globes"? you'll find out. using cloud computing and mobile technology, verizon innovators have developed a projective display for firefighters. allowing them to see through anything. because the world's biggest challenges deserve even bigger solutions. powerful answers. verizon. and one wedding,

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the ravens beat the broncos 38-35. after two overtimes. i'm not saying it went too long, but even jodie foster was, like,

you should wrap it up. everyone was talking about how cold it was on the "golden globes" red carpet. temperatures in the low 50s. in fact, it was so cold ryan seacrest had to get his hair defrosted. well, it looks like tina fey and amy poehler may have a new annual gig. the hosting duo scored the highest ratings for nbc and the golden globes since 2007. now the pressure's on first-time oscar host seth mcfarlane who said it doesn't matter how i do. oscar hosts always threat thrashed. everyone in the room was surprised wh e surprised. spielberg pitched the idea to his presidential buddy last week. clinton was later seen chatting up jennifer lopez and connie britain at the after-parties. damian lewis was seen dancing gangnam style after the awards show. while the cia probably would frown on that may have, we're going to let it slide for that one night. a new report from the l.a.

county coroner's office says actress natalie wood sustained bruising prior to entry in the water on the night she drowned in 1981, but the medical examiner said since there is little information as to the manner of death, it should be left undetermined. bookmakers in the uk are putting the odds at 40-1. the best odds are july 17th. you know, it would be a nice full-circle moment. people still have so much love for princess diana and now for kate. >> people would eat it up. that would be such an ironic thing and everybody would love it. >> yeah. we have to tell you about an update now on that missing philadelphia girl that we reported on earlier. the 6-year-old robinson has been found safe at a train terminal. an amber alert was issued yesterday after she was taken from her kindergarten class. there's no word on whether the suspect has been apprehended, but we're very happy that the little girl is okay. i'm