what it is on the first day of congress, we thought it would be january 3rd, the day they were sworn in. then we were told they were extending the day until today, the first day. now we're told it will be stretched further even, because nothing happened today. apparently no final decision has been made on whether the democrats are going to change the rules, or how, if they do. the latest report indicates that democrats may be able to pass a more aggressive form of the filibuster if they just allow a deal on the floor. senator reid has reportedly now issued a 36-hour deadline to come up with a deal before the democrats just go ahead and do it on their own. >> i hope within the next 24 to 36 hours we can get something we agree on. if not, we're going to move forward on what i think needs to be done. >> a threat, neat. but bottom line, as yet, no action.

if you have been wondering whether this big change in our government was going to be allowed to stand or whether it might be fixed by filibuster reform on day one of the senate, the news today is that it is apparently still day one of the new senate. it has been weeks now, democrats could still do it, but they have not yet. tick tock now it is time for o fixed by filibuster reform on day one of the senate, the news today is that it's still day one of the new senate. it's been weeks now. democrats could still do it, but they have not yet. tick tock. "first look" is up next. good wednesday morning. right now on "first look," baby it's cold outside. from the single digits and below to snow and dangerous roads. details in seconds. secretary of state hillary clinton's health is back in order as she prepares for tough questioning. and serena williams loses the match and her cool. another school shooting, this one in texas. and wait until you hear what senator john mccain said about

waterboarding and john kerry. good morning, i'm mara schiavocampo. a bitterly cold arctic blast is gripping half the nation this morning. exposure is suspected in at least four deaths, dangerously low temperatures is shutting down schools and causing water main breaks. on tuesday, one person was killed in this massive pile up of 20 vehicles caused by icy conditions in michigan. nbc meteorologist bill karins has more on this dangerous cold snap. where is it headed? >> it's settled in, just sitting there now. for many of us, especially on the eastern seaboard, this is the coldest morning in a couple years, especially when you factor in the windchills. here's the set up. it's not everyone. we're very mild today, great lakes, oklahoma, texas, through the gulf states, if you're on the other side of the jet stream

from the northern plains, the great lakes and northeast, it's just like yesterday if not worse. the windchills this morning, right now the worst of it is in northern new england. this is just the temperatures by itself. single digits from albany to new york city at 11. boston at 11. caribou at minus 17. that's the actual temperature. we're at minus 6 in duluth. when we factor in the wind. this makes it biting and much worse. caribou at minus 30 win chills. that's dangerous territory. all of maine, new hampshire, vermont, burlington at minus 24. the adirondacks of new york back to buffalo, minus 10. this is cold stuff. i mentioned even new york city has a negative 2 windchill. from new york down the i-95 corridor, much colder than what we've seen in a long time. how long will it last? this is a seven-day cold snap. the blue shading shows you where it's still cold on saturday. once the blue leaves, that's the

mild air. on monday and tuesday, everyone that is now frigid sees rapid improvement. >> minus 30, it's hard to imagine what it feels like. >> i lived in maine, i know what it feels like, don't want do it again. thanks, bill. today house republicans are trying to draw up support for a budget, but it has some conditions. still the president will sign it if it is passed. tracy potts has more. >> reporter: if lawmakers can't pass a budget by tax time, they could end up having time paying their own bills. today's vote would raise the debt ceiling allowing more borrowing through spring to pay america's bills, and it cuts pay for lawmakers if they can't pass a budget by tax time, april 15th. >> most americans believe you don't do your job, you shouldn't get paid. >> i'm tired of government

governing by gimmicks. >> reporter: the senate has not passed a budget in almost four years. >> the last time they passed a budget, the ipad had not been introduced. >> reporter: paul ryan will draft the republican budget, likely with deeper cuts than the one he offered last year. that's a carrot to get conservatives to go along, some still want to see cuts first. >> i will not vote to raise the debt ceiling unless significant efforts are made to fix the underlying problem. >> reporter: senate democrats hint they will pass a budget, but not necessarily soon. >> we'll approach that when we need to. >> reporter: the white house says even though it's short-term, the president will sign it. >> the debt ceiling ought not to be a political football. >> reporter: this republican retreat with one last stand. if they can't compromise, lawmakers paychecks could take a hit. here's what we still don't know, even if they do pass that temporary extension, what about the budget? could america's credit still see

a downgrade? mara? >> something tells me having their paychecks on the line might motivate them. on capitol hill, secretary of state hillary clinton will appear before congress later this morning to testify about the september 11th terrorist attack in bengahzi, libya. clinton will answer questions from the senate and house foreign relations committees about the handling of the attack on a u.s. consulate that killed four americans. clinton had been unable to testify previously because she was recovering from the stomach flu and concussion. clinton will go into the hearings debt free. she has finally paid off the outstanding $12 million debt from her 2008 presidential campaign. jill kelly is speaking out for the first time since her name was mentioned in the scandal that forced general david petraeus to resign. kelly and her husband wrote an opinion piece inial "washington post." in part it reads our story

stands as a cautionary tale. we have experienced how careless handling of our information by law enforcement and news headlines endanger citizens privacy. the pentagon says general john allen was cleared of sending potentially inappropriate e-mails to joe kelly. senate majority leader harry reid appears to be reversing course and pushing ahead with possible gun legislation. after meeting with fellow senate democrats on tuesday, he told reporters he expects to have a free amendment process on gun legislation. while it's unclear if an assault weapons ban would be included, reid said he has agreed to take up measures called for by president obama. reid previously said he opposes a ban on assault weapons. and now here's your "first look" at your dish of scrambled politics. president obama's half brother

malik has decided to run for governor of a rural county in kenya. the white house released video of president obama and first lady michelle surprising visitors on the white house tour. they shook hands with the shocked tourists as they walked through. >> here's a tweet of the stage at last night's white house staffers inaugural ball, including lady gaga's piano. lady gaga herself performed for the president and the first lady, as did tony bennett who said on a date with my lady tonight. there are hints that vice president joe biden may run for president in 2016. his son beau says his father will take a hard look at it, i hope did he. and new jersey's 89-year-old frank lautenberg doesn't seem happy with suggestions he might not run for reelection in 2014. new york mayor cory booker said he will run for the senate. last night on the daily

show, jon stewart looked back at the inauguration. >> yesterday's events had everything, large crowds, the swearing ins, the walking, the waving, a fairy tale style ball and the grandest of american traditions, the peaceful transfer of spouses. it's what separates us from the animals. >> and that's your morning dish of scrambled politics. companies mining for metal, water and more on asteroids. and what is the real deal behind drinking alcohol and how well you'll sleep? the latest details from a texas school shooting coming up on "first look." [ male announcer ] in blind taste tests, even ragu users chose prego.

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welcome back. here's some stories making news this morning. houston place say that a shooting at lone star college campus in texas started with an argument that led to three men being wounded. one of the he is being charged in that shooting. in israel, benjamin netanyahu won a third term as prime minister. he'll likely be forced to form a new coalition government that require new concessions to restart long-stalled peace talks with the palestinians. arizona governor john mccain

is getting ready for two important senate hearings. first he met with former senator chuck hagel the defense secretary nominee and said they are old friends and had a frank and candid exchange, but mccain fell short of saying whether or not he would support hagel. second, the senator joked late tuesday that he will intensely question secretary of state nominee john kerry. >> and we will look forward to interrogating him at his hearing next week, mercilessly. we will bring back for the only time waterboarding to get the truth out of him. less than a month after a drunk driving accident that killed a teammate, dallas cowboys nose tackle jay ratliff was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated after his pickup truck sideswiped a tractor trailer truck. according to a new study, alcohol may help you fall asleep but it leads to an overall restless night. researchers find regardless of how much you drink, drinking can increase tiredness by interrupting the later stages of sleep.

and a company is investing in exploring what they can get out of asteroids. deep space industries says they hope to be able to mine asteroids for metals and other valuable resources by 2020. sounds cool. now here's your "first look" at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 13,712 after climbing 62 points yesterday. s&p and nasdaq saw gains. the nikkei shot down 222 while the hang seng fell 23. now on to wall street, where apple's earnings will be front and center today. after losing its shine in recent week, traders will be looking for any good news to offset any talks of dwindling iphone demand which could help the tech-heavy nasdaq, one index that hasn't joined the january rally. elsewhere on the earnings front, google was up after a better than expected fourth quarter report. also after hours, ibm beat earnings estimates thanks mostly to growth in emerging markets.

microsoft has reportedly entered talks to help the finance of buyout of pc maker dell. more fuel for the housing recovery, the national association of realtors said sales of existing homes hit a five-year high thanks to record low mortgage rates. and car dealers say record low interest rates are boosting their business with financing under 4% for used cars, and rates less than 2% for new vehicles. in the wake of recent tarmac troubles, the u.s. senate said it will review the plans for use highly lithium batteries in the new 787 dreamliners. a surprising report shows over the past two years the struggling u.s. postal service has maced out on some $34 million in government revenue to rivals fedex and ups in part because it lacks guaranteed two and three-day shipping. bad news for your super bowl party. last year a drought led to fewer chickens and therefore fewer chicken wings which means your

spicy buffalo dish will cost you 12% more. you can recoup that cash by inviting your valentine to dinner at white castle. for the sixth year in a row, the fast food chain will roll out the tablecloths and waiters on february 14th. your sports headlines are straight ahead including serena williams losing her cool and then some at the australian open. plus, fighting a brutal five-alarm fire in freezing temperatures. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. [ female announcer ] going to sleep may be easy, but when you wake up

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welcome back. here's a look at some stories that caught our eye this morning. we start in chicago where 170 firefighters battled a five-alarm warehouse fire under freezing working conditions. fire crews were hampered by single digit temperatures, frozen hydrants and icy streets. the blaze jumped to another building before firefighters were abe to gain control. next, to a massive explosion in utah that forced homeowners to flee the area. a natural gas rig caught fire after an unknown substance sparked leaking fumes. the flames were contained but the evacuation order is still in effect. in the nation's capital both sides of the abortion debate held rallies to mark the 40th anniversary of roe v. wade. dueling demonstrations sprouted up in washington, d.c. and across the nation as protesters displayed their support and opposition to the supreme court ruling on abortion rights. now to a georgia firearms class where a group of seniors are taking aim. [ gunfire ] >> ooh, came out fast.

did i hit anything? >> the chatham county sheriff's department offers a civilian course to gun-toting seniors to help enhance their confidence and safety measures. and finally, nebraska utility cruise sprang into action to save a partially deaf and blind dog. the pooch's plunge into a sewer drain set off a two-hour rescue mission but it ended happily. turning to sports. starting with college basketball. kansas against kansas state. a tough battle between the jayhawks and the wildcats. kansas had the lead in the second half but had to hold off kansas state down the stretch for a 59-54 victory. the jayhawks have won 16 in a row. unranked villanova staged a strong second half rally against fifth ranked louisville and pulled off a stunning upset. 73-64. ankle injuries and back spasm caused 15-time grand slam champion serena williams to lose her cool.

she destroyed a racquet out of frustration as she was upset by 19-year-old sloane stephens at the australian open. nfl commissioner roger goodell has reinstated sean payton following a year-long suspension in the bounty gate scandal. new york jets head coach rex ryan ran a red-light causing a three-car accident in pennsylvania a few days ago. no one was injured but the police report says ryan was travel agent a high rate of speed and not given a ticket. >> the harbaugh brothers who are coaching against each other in the super bowl said they will not talk before the game, instead they will just exchange text messages. in the nba, blocked shot hit referee derrick richardson right in the head knocking him to the floor during the clippers/thunders game. he was not injured and immediately made the possession call before he got up to return to the action. oklahoma city went on to beat los angeles 109-97. you're laughing at an injury.

>> you said he wasn't injured. he just got knocked down. >> i'd like to see you get knocked down. >> like a feather hit him. >> here is bill karins with the weather. >> the cold is the story. if you're driving this morning, the same areas that had problems yesterday, new york state thruway down south, there's a band of heavy know. and cleveland up to ashtabula getting nailed this morning. that's probably one of the worse drives out there. temperatures, this is as cold as it gets. this is about as cold as we've seen for a high temperature in a long time. new york city, 19 today. hartford, 19. d.c., 27. a few snow showers d.c. late tonight. for the areas frigid this morning, you have until about monday of next week, then we start to see rapid improvement. >> just hold on a little while longer. just ahead, the beyonce lip-syncing controversy from the president's inauguration.

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did she or didn't she? questions are swirling about whether or not beyonce sang the national anthem live at the inauguration or if she faked it singing to a prerecorded version. joining me is patrick riley. good morning. >> good morning. >> so, break it down for me, was it live or not live? >> well, i'm not sure. there's no comment from camp beyonce, where there's not a statement you can always count on an instagram from beyonce, she did post her recording the song before the inaugural performance. there have been statements from the u.s. marine band that a performance track was prepared

by the band. that's pretty much protocol in terms of big events like inaugurations and super bowls. you mentioned that's protocol. have there been other cases where celebrities have chosen not to perform live but to the prerecorded version? >> either perform live or perform in lieu or perform as a mix. the much-praised whitney houston performance, the super bowl performance of the national anthem in '91, two months after that, whitney did a concert returning from the gulf war and did an acappella performance of it. the performance was recorded before, half lip-synced, happen performed but brilliant no less. >> kelly clarkson said she performed live. don't know if that was a jab. access hollywood posed a question, what do you think of the lip-syncing. 72% said it's a big deal.

are we making too much of this? >> yeah. it's much to do about nothing. diana ross sang live for her super bowl half time show in '96, so she might want to take a page from her and have a moment for the super bowl. >> something told me you would sneak diana ross in. >> you knew i would. >> thank you very much, patrick riley. moving to other entertainment news. bradley cooper may want to start training now. the oscar-nominated actor has said he's very interested in playing lance armstrong in the film adapt take of the upcoming book "cycle of lies." cooper thinks armstrong is fascinating character. colombian shakira and fc barcelona soccer player gerard pique welcomed their son, milan, into the world tuesday. the singer won't be relaxing that much as she is preparing to appear "the voice" in march as a new coach. congratulations to her.

arnold schwarzenegger confirms he will return to the franchise that made him a mega star when "terminator 5" comes out in the non-apocalyptic future. shia labeouf said he dropped acid to get into character. snl's own bill hader is in talks to star in an upcoming "baywatch" film saying he will play the david hasselhoff character. bill may need to bulk up for that part. and it turns out that a little skin may have helped justin bieber, he is the most followed person on twitter after he gave people a peek at his backside. both have 33,000 followers. and lindsay lohan has reportedly turned down an offer to appear on "dancing with the stars," that would have been a good one. maybe she's holding out for "the bachelorette." >> she's above the reality shows, she said. much above. >> but not "b" movies. she's a starlet or