the funds for the federal aid program, created during the recession, run out tomorrow for roughly 1.3 million americans. another 1.9 million will lose their benefits by mid-2014, when their 26 weeks of state checks run out. right now, the campaign's on to find a quick fix with senators expected to vote at beginning of the year on a bill that would extend benefits for three more months. a lot of republicans are already vowing to oppose it. >> we're going to vote no later than january 6th or 7th. this bill is the right thing to do for hard-working americans who are looking for a job. >> not only will families lose benefits, but the nonpartisan congressional budget office has said that our economy will lose over 200,000 jobs, if we do not extend these benefits. >> two years of unemployment insurance, come forward and say we want to raise the taxes and the contributions of employees and employers.

>> group americans united for change is out with an ad attacking republicans who refuse to support extending benefits as part of the budget deal reached this month. >> you know who had a merry christmas? the richest 1%, that's who. republicans in congress made sure of that, protecting billions in taxpayer giveaways. for those facing tough times, republicans stripped 1.3 million americans of jobless benefits, folks who want to work, but cannot find a job. kicking them to the curb during christmas. >> joining me to break it down two of my favorites, casey hunt and cnbc contributor ron insana. happy holidays. >> i'm honored, brien. i know when casey gets a haircut, too. i want to start with you, casey, senators proposing a bipartisan deal, $6 billion proposal restore benefits retroactively, while buying legislators time to work out a longer extension.

january 6th probably when this will happen. from your reporting, it seems that this is going to be a tough sell. what are the chances here? >> well, this is a walk back from what democrats wanted to do. this is just three months, though it would, as you say, be retroactive, anybody that keeps filing for benefits during this period of time would receive them if congress does authorize this. democrats wanted to do there is for a whole year. that would have cost more like $25 billion. and that was something republicans balked at. i will say, this is a fight that democrats are eager to have. that ad that you showed from americans united for change sort of sets up the message that they're looking to push in the 2014 elections. eager to see republicans stand in the way of something like this. and remember, this is also sort of historically uncontroversial except when it stripped out and put by itself. congress often does this, as part of a broader deal, like broader budget deal, and that's why there was so much concern when the budget deal went through in december without this attached, so you're go seeing it

this setup fight. >> there's been 225 billion spend on this since it started, it's 300 a week per person in some ways a stimulus, if you will, into the economy. but at the same time, we're growing at 4%, general unemployment is getting better. would there be an economic hit in terms of recovery from the new recession? >> some economy ifs estimate you can see a half percentage point pulled off gdp over the course of a year if those who, you know, needed basic necessities and using unemployment insurance benefits to buy them can no longer afford to do so. if you've been unemployed for 99 weeks or so, you're kind of skating on the edge. you're buying food, buying stuff for your kids just to get by. it has an economic impact but a disproportionate social impact because those people living unemployment check to unemployment check would be disproportionately hit and it would have an economic impact because it would affect discount retailers, gasoline sales,

affect food sales, so it would show up in numbers. >> talk about the politically, as we head to the midterms, getting local news coverage, advocates ratcheting up pressure, trying to cashize republicans who oppose this as scrooges with a tv ad called bad santas. the latest polls, this interesting, majority of americans in favor of extending benefits. could this be a net negative for republicans, as we head into the midterms? >> that's certainly the way democrats are going try to cast it the way one prominent democrat put it to me, medicare versus millionaires. >> do you think they'll get traction on that end? do you think that's a strategy that will work? >> that's setting up to be kind of the dichotomy going forward. there's a lot more. national conversation has shifted much farther in the direction of discussing income inequality and its effects in society in the way it sort of

corroding social fabric, in a way we haven't seen previously. you saw senator schumer mack this argument at the same conference where harry reid would push ahead with the extension. i think you're going to have to see republicans giving a little bit of ground. you have already seen them trying to change the conversation. >> ron, talk about it from the other perspective. 2009, we were 10% unemployment. we're around 7 now. there a good argument to let benefits expire and not bring them back? >> i think, as we move closer to full employment, we're not there yet, some estimate between 5.5%, 6%, given current circumstances, that it might be appropriate then. remember also, the unemployment rate has dropped for two reasons. obviously, we have picked up quite a number of jobs since the depths of the recession. but we've seen a lot of workers leave the workforce because they cannot find gainful employment. unemployment rate has come down partially, because people have left the workforce. so, it's not just the

unemployment rate falling in a very, very productive way. granted, the economy, i think, in the private sector's, doing considerably better than most people think. but there's a large group disenfranchised in the recession and it's a different kind of recession we've seen in our adult lifetime. i think the unemployment benefits may be necessary for a swath of individuals. >> a lot of debate about how some of the people ever going to find jobs and regain the lifestyle they had before the great recession. both of you, have a great new year. casey hunt and ron insana. let's expand the conversation, at least politically, joining me from l.a., democratic congressman karen bass. happy holidays. >> thank you. >> listen, these million plus people, all across the country, but we know how big the economy's in california, 215,000 in your state will be affected here. you listen to that interview, i'm sure, you know you're talking to a constituency and colleagues what do you think the

odds are of getting this extension brought back? >> i certainly hope that we can. i mean we have several of the republican leaders that are from the state of california, and i'm hoping they heard from that's constituents because they have plenty of unemployed people in their districts, and actually, it's the reason why i wasn't able to vote for the budget deal. i just thought that it was so mean-spirited, three days after christmas, to cut over 200,000 people off of their unemployment. >> there's political ramifications, it's just incredible how quickly you have to run for re-election. i want to change gears a bit and talk about the poll numbers. there's a bit of a reversal of fortune for democrats nationally. political points out, republicans hole 49-44% lead over democrats now. two months ago, democratic party had an eight-point lead over the gop. in terms of the swing, not only for yourself, but also for your caucus, how concerning is this? >> well, you know, not really, because you have to remember, we have several more months before

the election, and anything can happen. but what i really think that we have to focus on is, in addition to extending unemployment, we have to bring back jobs. so we know the economy is getting a little better. but i happen to believe the economy would be roaring if we didn't have self-enflicked wounds. we could have passed american jobs ability. we could have put investment into infrastructure. so many things that we could do that we wouldn't need to extend unemployment because there would be jobs. and i do think that should be o focus. >> americans for prosperity, doing these ads and hammering the other side for what you might imagine, that would be obamaca obamacare. i want to play a quick clip. >> millions of people have lost their health insurance. millions of people can't see their own doctors. and millions are paying more and getting less. obamacare doesn't work. it just doesn't work. >> tell congresswoman kuster to

stop thinking about congress and start thinking about people. >> january 1st, the coverage begins. so it's difficult for some people to swallow that it's not working when it hasn't had a chance to start working. how do you respond to that kind of attack? >> a few things. number one, we do have to remember that there's a lot of the features of health karen finney -- reform that are work well. you are right, in terms of people coming on board. but, what it's my job and other democrat jobs to do is to educate people that this is the koch brothers. talk about 1%, talking about the wealthiest individuals in our nation funding these ads. why is it that they don't think people should have health care? i think it's really shameful on their part. but i think it's my responsibility to let people know who fund these ads. it's the koch brothers, they're at it again. >> karen bass, have a good happy new year. appreciate you coming on msnbc

today. u.p.s. and fedex still scrambling to deliver packages ordered for christmas. apologizing and drivers are saying they've been working their tails off to try to get it right. gabe, u.p.s. and fedex, are they make progress? we understand even your wife was one of those personally affected by this. >> reporter: yeah, that's right. she was affected by this. the christmas gift my father-in-law, her dad, did not arrive until yesterday. we heard that many times from customers across the country. we spoke with the family near dallas. last night they got their package before 9:00. it's clear fedex, u.p.s. drivers working very hard to clear the backlog. we do understand u.p.s. saying they expect a clear backlog of delayed christmas gifts by today. now, as for fedex, downplaying number of delays they had in the

first place, saying all of those were isolated din e incident an. bearing the brunt of criticism on social media. a question, refunds. one u.s. senator is demanding that u.p.s. refund all of its customers that had no -- didn't get gifts in time for christmas. u.p.s. saying that it is refunding some customers, those that use the international services, as well as air services but not ground. the company says several years ago it decided not to guarantee ground shipments in busy weeks before christmas. >> read the fine print. i believe senator blumenthal from connecticut is pursuing that. he was an attorney general. you might see some lawsuits. live for us in atlanta. ice breakers rushing to rescue a ship trapped in thick, antarctic ice since christmas leave. one of the rescuers is close but he's still worried. >> bad news, it's 20 kilometers

out from where we are now. a long way from where we first got locked in the sea ice. >> up-to-the minute details on the rescue operation. flying from boston to hawaii for 68 bucks. one trip to hawaii first class for less than 100. how delta customers scored supercheap tickets, some as low as 12 bucks. new hope for marriage equality? four utah count is it refusing to issue licenses for same-sex couples say they will allow it. but the state still plans on taking it to the supreme court. we'll have that story next. [ male announcer ] more than a security system, adt can help you turn on a few lights. ♪ access cameras from anywhere

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welcome back to msnbc. last four utah counties holding out on issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples reversed course.

clerks have little choice after a judge refused to stop same-sex couples from getting married in the state. salt lake city tribune says number of weddings skyrocketed, shattering state records, as couples line up to tie the knot. >> just to have this opportunity in utah, in our home state, we could have gone to california, we could have gone to another state. but we're utahans and that is huge! that's huge! s. >> numbers don't lie. 75% of the 1,225 marriage licenses issued since friday went to same-sex couples. joining me, mark solomon, national campaign director for freedom to marry, coalition to winning and keeping right for same-sex couples to get married. thanks for coming on the show. >> absolutely. >> this happening in utah, give us the perspective of how significant that is for the national debate. >> it's very significant. utah's the first red state where there's the freedom to marry.

when you think about all of these families who have been living in utah, getting this amazing holiday gift to be able to go, loving couples to be able to get married before the holidays, it's tremendous for them. >> you have hawaii, illinois, new mexico, they recently went, in terms of legalizing, that direction. monday a federal judge ruled ohio must recognize same-sex marriages on death certificates. >> yeah. >> we talked offcamera about this. up to 18 states. what are you expecting for 2014? can you sustain that progress in the next year? >> well, it's -- we had a remarkably successful year this year. and we're going to continue to make the case in states across the country. we're going to the ballot in oregon. more than 30 lawsuits now pending, so some of those, we should prevail in some of those. getting ready to go to the ballot in 2016, in states like arizona, colorado, ohio, michigan, so we're just -- >> a little bit of a year or two

lull, right? so unprecedented move in 2013, you know, you said one state coming and we have to wait until 2016. we might get a pause? >> running out of states where we can win in the legislature. we need to go back to ballot, undue the retrograde amendments. >> talk about the odds of the supreme court taking it, what you might see, are you nervous about that? >> well we know eventually we're going to win at the u.s. supreme court. the u.s. supreme court is going to rule, eventually, that marriage is the law of the land. >> why are you so confident about that? >> history tells us that eventually, once we won enough states, built enough public support, they're going to say the patchwork, when you go from illinois to missouri, you lose your -- you're no longer married, that's not sustainable for the country. eventually we're going to win. the question is when.

we don't know when. we're winning more states, growigro growing public support to show the country's ready. >> appreciate the time. good luck to you. mark solomon, from freedom to marry. something out of a bad movie. a school of flesh-eating fish attacked hundreds of people trying to cooling off in a river in argentina. it was like piranha nato or something. to be a fly on the wall during this conversation. johni kerry and snoop dogg. a chat, fist bump. wait until you see tweets afterward. seriously. all we do is go out to dinner. that's it? i mean, he picks up the tab every time, which is great... he's using you. he probably has a citi thankyou card and gets 2x the points at restaurants huh the citi thankyou preferred card. now earn 2x the points on entertainment, with no annual fee. go to citi.com/thankyoucards

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egyptian security forces fired tear gas today at dozens of morsi supporters, one person was killed, 148 people arrested, including 8 women. all of this comes days after egypt's interim government declared the muslim brotherhood a terrorist group. also following developments in beirut where a powerful car bomb killed the former lebanese ambassador to the u.s. and five other people. more than 70 people were injured in the blast. the car bomb targeting the former ambassador, a senior aide to the country's former pro-western prime minister. bombings in lebanon escalated as sunni and shiite factions have taken sides in syria's civil war. stories that are topping the news now. two recently freed members of a controversial russian punk band still want to topple president putin. in the first news conference since released from prison, the band members plan to form a human rights organization focusing on the protection of prisoners.

the band members also blasted russia's anti-gay propaganda law. over 70 people in south mercury covering from an attack of flesh-eating fish. the school of piranha-like fish attacked hundreds of swimmers in a river in argentina trying to cool off from 100-degree heat christmas day. incident happened 200 miles northwest of buenos airess. a man from houston area arrested thursday and charged with a federal hate crime. shot a video of himself sucker punching a 79-year-old black man in a knockout game assault. in another video, the suspect suggests the attack was racially motivated. the victim lost three teeth and underwent surgery to repair his jaw. sky harbor international airport, a man climb a fence, could be seen running on to a tarmac after a plane landed. he was take noon custody after

hitting the edge of the plane with his hand. how about a flight from new york to vegas? runs 700 bucks. you get it for 81 bucks. incredible. you save 650. this girl snagged a ticket from indianapolis to honolulu for 70 bucks. the first class ticket was $88. that's a sievings of $3,396. thanks all of this to a computer glitch on delta.com. the airline says, they will honor those prices. awesome. still no power. >> all of the other things really don't matter that we were together, we still had a great christmas. >> one family spent christmas in their coats at home after the ice storms. thousands of customers in the dark today and for some, it's about to get worse. new numbers show, if hillary clinton and chris christie ran

for president, it could be a knock-down, drag them out fight. and ah, so you can see like right here i can just... you know, check my policy here, add a car, ah speak to customer service, check on a claim...you know, all with the ah, tap of my geico app. oh, that's so cool. well, i would disagree with you but, ah, that would make me a liar. no dude, you're on the jumbotron! whoa. ah...yeah, pretty much walked into that one. geico anywhere anytime. just a tap away on the geico app.

now to the freezing temperatures and power problems that are plaguing parts the united states right now. another round of heavy snow and ice holding back efforts to restore electricity and heat to 65,000 people still in the dark. unfortunately, 27 people in the u.s. and canada have died due to weather in the past week. many in the dark for days and may not see lights come on until new year's day. >> christmas, we spent our anniversary here yesterday, 23 years. we got to spend it in a motel. very romantic. >> nothing you can do, really. you're just waiting it out. keep a sense of humor about it because it, too, shall pass. >> nbc's kevin tibbles has more on the power problems from lansing, michigan. kevin?

>> reporter: brian, it's warmed up to a balmy 30 degrees here in east lansing, michigan. as the sun comes up today, you can see a lot of the damage, trees that came down during the ice storm. if you can believe it, a lot of people here have been without power for about a week now. and in michigan alone, there are some 60,000 people still without power after this pre-christmas ice storm brought a lot of things down. you can see the folks in this house, beside me here, had to spend christmas elsewhere, after a big tree came down, knocking out power into their home. folks here are still waiting for electricians to come by to get power hooked up. and of course, it has to be inspected, and the power company has to come. there's a lot of rigmarole to get the lights back on. of course, this time of year, get the heat back on. the unfortunate thing is, they are calling for warmer weather here. that could also be causing problems because, as trees and ice melts, they're going to

start popping back up, and that could be causing these work crews who have been working tirelessly throughout holiday, a few more headaches. as for those in the maine area on the east coast, there's another cold snap headed in their direction. back to you, brian. >> nbc's kevin tibbles in lansing, michigan. politics now. hillary clinton and governor chris christie running neck and neck in a new poll on the 2016 presidential race. new twist in the battle for the heart and soul of the gop. those are today's topics for our agenda panel. political analyster thegrio.com, and president and ceo of voto latina. a new poll has christie with a two-point lead over clinton. i mean, it's almost silly, yeah, it's early. >> it's a lot early. >> it's a lot early, but general

thoughts, and is this totally predictable in what you would think? >> no, i'm not surprised they're polling close. national polls, particularly this early, in the -- not even the cycle, because we're not through midterms, but it really doesn't tell us much of how he would do, first, in a gop primary, because that's the question, can he get out of the prim primary? can he battle her in battleground states? national polling oversamples areas where republicans are stronger, and in the south, where i think that he's going to have a bit of trouble because he's too far to the left for republicans in the south. >> you know what's interesting? susie, hillary crushes every other republican, i want to share numbers with people out there because, in this poll, potentials, she beats jeb bush by 21, marco rubio and rick santorum by 19, ted cruz 18. rick perry by 17, huckabee, 15, rand paul, 13. paul ryan does the best.

she beats him by eight. what's your takeaway from all of that? there's a ton of people that we talk about in the republican party. >> i think there are two things. first of all, i think definitely hillary benefits from name recognition. the knack people kind of familiar with her, whether they like her or not versus someone whose name they might not be familiar with. chris christie hasn't been through the rigmarole of what it's like to run for national stage, national office. there are issue when he was attorneys general, newer scandals like this -- >> we have seen him lose his temper. >> losing temper on the national stage. he doesn't have any of the baggage. right now he's the fresh face, new hope for the gop. that's why he's pulling for strongly than other contenders. >> back in '08, hillary and

giuliani duking it out and that did not happen. when you hear all of the names i bandied about, anyone jump out out at you beyond chris christie and hillary. >> paulrien, if you see what paul ryan's been doing in last three months, his key negotiations when it came to the budget deal, he's a sweetheart on capitol hill but he's still a tea party favorite. he's toning down rhetoric, that's more divisive among the republican party right now. and i think what is going to happen you're going to see paul ryan come out stronger because he's well-like on capitol hill, respected but very much a tea party candidate what happen that means the tea party candidate is going to get a lot of money not just the koch brothers but grassroots organizing. when it comes to chris christie, his challenge, he's a household name but he's a bully. he doesn't attract a lot of the new majority that brought barack obama into power, that's young

millennialses, diverse communities and women. this is a base that hillary, through a lot of the obama administration's policies now is cultivating and that's one of the reasons you see her so much in the news associated with obama. >> obama, i think, got a lot of the female vote away from hillary when push came to shove. very good point. i want to throw this out to everybody. is there anything, and i'll start with you since you're here with me, maria teresa, chime in afterward, anything stand in way of chris christie and hillary clinton running? do you think it's 100% sure? >> i think they're definitely running. i think hillary, i'm looking to see what she's going to do in the 2014 midterms because if she can -- >> who she supports? >> right. who she campaigns for, who she stumps for, and whether or not she can energize women early in 2014, leaving up -- leading up into 2016. we have wendy dave this in texas. is hillary going to jump into that? is she going to stump in texas? texas is turning more and more

purple. could hillary flip that in 2016? i'm liking to see where she's going to go the next year or so so we can see if she's a contender for 2016. >> in terms of christie, i mean, remember what happened the last election cycle during the gop primary. you had almost every single candidate herman cain, rick perry, leading polls for a couple of weeks at most. it was in flux. the party is still in this internal battle to figure out its identity. i think it would be too early to make any bets as to anything that's assuredly going to happen in 2016. >> is christie conservative enough to get some of the base in the areas where people aren't sure how well they'll do? >> that's part of the problem. he's moderate. in jersey, face it it's more of a progressive state. so he's been able to play safely on the republican line. but in terms offiersy politics. when you go deep into the battleground states, it's more

difficult to pull because he's not conservative enough. his fate might be decided during the republican primarieprimarie know that soon enough. >> it's interesting, you brought up, susie, battle in the gop. i want to read something from the "wall street journal." gop house leaders taking steps to impose discipline on wavering committee chairman and tea party factions. major donors and advocacy groups suches u.s. chamber of congress preparing an aggressive effort to support more centrist republicans for congress in 2016 elections. ever since the budget deal, i keep saying that there's a chance for moderate republican to make headway or maybe this is a bit of a movement here where you have a budget deal, boehner smacking back the tea party, and everybody tells me i'm silly because no moderate republican can win a primary. where do we stand in terms of what's going to win out in might we see something along the middle that will win out. >> the budget deal and there's a hope there's a new era of

cooperation and so forth, i mean on the one hand you do have the fact that we have a budget, and it will be a budget for in the next two years, things are going, maybe ahead of schedule on the one hand. on the other hand, you have paul ryan who has been portraying himself, speaking in moderated tones saying that we're going to demand something on the debt ceiling. >> he's found a way to do it without alienating himself from the tea party somehow. >> well, i still think, if we're still talking about fighting over the debt ceiling, there is no chance for a moderate republican, because that is extremist talk. it's become part of our narrative and national dialogue for the past few years, but it was a routine vote, and is not anymore, and that is extreme. so we're already, you know, at the far right of the conversation. i really doesn't think that there's a chance for a moderate republican. >> i do think that if we look at what happened in the current midterm elections where there was alabama congressman, tea party congressman, run against a

business establishment, an establishment from mitch mcconnell, mcconnell's guy, business poured in money, if we run a moderate republican against a conservative tea party, we have a shot to win. i think that was their dog whistle to the rest of the tea party saying you better get in line otherwise we'll make sure the deep pocketses you need to win in your elections might not be there. >> joe scarborough says if your goal is to win, you've got to win. it's not like i'm giving an opinion here, they've tried and they've lost. so they need to change somehow. it seems like there's grassroots of some change here. appreciate it. you'll come in next time, right? so we can all be together. >> absolutely. >> thanks so much. >> find more from our panel on thomas roberts' website page. ice breaker onnite way to

rescue the ship trapped in antarctica, plotted into a problem of its en, causing more delays in getting to the stranded ship. an update coming up. plus, new details being released about first lady michelle obama's upcoming 50th birthday bash. did you get your invite? e vit? >> no, they lost my. >> they lost mine, too. guests are being told to wear comfortable shoes. ♪ i want to spread a little love this year ♪ [ male announcer ] this december, experience the gift of unsurpassed craftsmanship and some of the best offers of the year at the lexus december to remember sales event. this is the pursuit of perfection. to share with family. [ woman 2 ] to carry on traditions. [ woman 3 ] to come together even when we're apart. [ male announcer ] in stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy and more, swanson makes holiday dishes delicious.

help is on the way, and within sight of the russian ship stuck in ant arcty ice since christmas eve. the chinese ice breaker snow dragon delayed by several hours thanks to sea ice six feet thick. the 74 people on board are safe with plenty of supplies. a video, after the passengers and crews got the first view of the snow dragon approaching on the horizon. >> we've seen snow dragon on the

horizon, turned up about an hour ago, making steady progress, getting through. it's nine nautical miles from the vessel. a huge sense of relief at moment. it not quite here. at least we can see it, which is a huge improvement, prospect, from a few hours ago. >> a big tease now. martin fletcher following the story all day from london. was the latest? >> anyone who thinks that ice moves slowly should think again. when the ship got stuck two days ago, it was two miles from the ocean. the ice has built up so quickly, without moving, the ship is now 13 miles from the open sea. strong winds are packing the ice. but help is in sight, barely. >> reporter: the best christmas present the research ship could be free soon, as long as wind doesn't pick up. this is the windiest place on earth. you can't see it on camera but the dot across the packed ice, that's the snow dragon, client niece ice breaker, cutting a channel at the rate of two knots

an hour. >> a lot of happy faces. >> reporter: a rough couple of days for the 52 scientists and volunteers and 20 crew. the professor, chris tourney, reporting on youtube. >> in a blizzard at the moment. the vessel hasn't moved for the last two days. >> reporter: probing 400 meters to the seabed. all went well until ice trapped them. christmas eve the captain sent a distress signal. a french one couldn't get through. an australian one is two days away. and with a strong west wind forcing more ice against the ship, turney couldn't help think of shabckleton, ship crushed 10 years ago, leading to the grape escape. the long trek by crew across the antarctic. it's lonely out there, but there's company. and the chinese rescue ship is hours away.

>> what's that on the horizon, cliff. >> that's the ice breaker coming to rescue us, alec. >> brilliant! >> they're cheerful now. the ice breaker's finding it tough, too. ice growing 9 to 12 feet thick. progress is slow. instead of freeing the ship in an hour or two, scientists on the stuck ship say it may not happen until morning, if then. >> martin fletcher in london with the update. the joints might be jumping off shore shelves in one american city. the city of denver began issuing marijuana licenses to businesses a few hours ago, more than 40 businesses in the city lab howed to open new year's day. colorado voters approved pot for recreational use last year. former congressman and new york city mayoral candidate anthony weiner might not be done with politics. he posted a long message yesterday on his facebook page apologizing again for what he called his personal mistakes.

he went tonight say, quote, i look forward to a better 2014, whatne whatness's next? i'll keep you posted on the plans but hope we keep the band together. nikki haley is proud of one of her gifts this year. i must have been good, santa gave me a baretta px4 storm. a picture of that gun right there. she said she wants to focus on mental health and not gun control. she thinks that would reduce gun violence. secretary of state john kerry partied with an unlikely guest at white house, snoop dogg. snoop posted the video from when he met at the a party this month. it went viral. snoop tweeted, secretary of state writing, i can't do my impression, boss life, me and john kerry at d white house. i tried. secretary kerry responded from state department's twitter account, between us, we sold 30 million.

sense of humor. how will michelle obama celebrate her 50th birthday party. doing more of that, dancing. a dance party. the white house report lid sending save the date e-mails for snacks and sips and dancing and dessert party. guests being told to practice their dance moves. [ sneezes, coughs ] i've got a big date, but my sinuses are acting up. it's time for advil cold and sinus. [ male announcer ] truth is that won't relieve all your symptoms. new alka seltzer plus-d relieves more symptoms

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s. sn snoo. snoo we're following some breaking news right now in houston. what appears to be a kids prank forced the bomb squad to rush to a local church this morning. police are saying they got a call a short time agoing about a loud noise, a pop heard at an intersection at the north side of town. they were investigating a possible bomb threat. but they now say they believe the kids were playing with soda and candy, which caused the loud noise. let's transition to an uplifting kids' story. it is friday, time for "go and do," our spotlight on those who try to improve the lives of

others. brooklyn wright is no ordinary 12-year-old. she's made it her mission to rid the planet of trash and pollution. she's even created a superhero. >> she is a superhero i created to help me educate kids and other people about the environment. the whole process was really fun. writing the book, working on the costume. we made it green and blue. here's the earth and recycle sign. >> five years ago when she was 7 she wrote a book called "the adventures of earth saver girl." earth saver girl brooklyn wright joins me from atlanta. good morning. >> good morning. >> it's great to have you. i'm just going to tell you you're awesome. >> thank you. >> what made you get involved with this particular issue when had you were 7? tell us the story. >> i was in a club called the earth savers, and all they wanted to talk about was reduce, reuse and recycle. it's important. but i wanted to focus on other things like what led to

prevention. it's important because it's ugly in our community, costs billions to pick up, and most of all it's illegal. so i wrote a book and had aherol and thought it woo get their attention and it did. >> tell me about this. you go to a lot of schools and events. you've won awards. tell us about the experience of going in front of these groups and pushing this issue forward. >> it's wonderful seeing the kids' expressions. at first, they're like, ooh, gross, i don't want to touch litter. but at the end, they're all fighting to use my litter getter. now i feel like my mission has been accomplished. >> what's next for you? >> i plan on having my very first environmental overnight summer camp.

we're going to do things like hike, canoe, and explore nature. also, i'm going to donate ten learning gardens to ten different schools. >> tell me abothis. when you grow up, what do you want to be? >> i want to be a talk show host. i'll never stop fighting for our earth. and i also want to be a fashion designer. have an eco-friendly clothing line. >> that sounds pretty cool. if people want to get involved, tell us where they need to go to learn more about it. >> go to my web site, earth saver girl.com. >> tell me this, you are so well rehearsed and polished. do you practice your presentations? do you have it down to a science? tell me about when you're not on tv talking? is this the same way you talk to your friends? >> yes, sir, i talk to my friends aaabobout it a lot.

>> brooklyn, good luck to you. the book and the character, such a great idea. i love it. >> thank you. >> and if you know someone with a "go and do," you've got to get on board, folks tweet us using hash tag go and do. that wraps things up for me. have a great weekend. thomas robterts will be back monday. "now with alex wagner" is next. [ male announcer ] when mr. clean realized the way to handle

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million out-of-work americans will lose their long-term unemployment assistance. this despite the fact the long-term unemployment rate is as high as it's been at any time after world war ii. despite the fact that more than one-third unemployed workers have been out of work for more than six months or the fact that on average it takes a job seeker eight months to find work. as baltimore resident katherine told "the washington post," i'm trying to find a job that will pay my bills. there's just nothing out there. the reason? congress. since the financial crisis hit in 2008, congress has provided job seekers up to 99 weeks of unemployment and extend a lifeline to workers. in fact, it was president george b. bush who signed the first extension in june 2008. speaking to nbc's casey hunt on monday, kentucky senator rand paul summed up the gop's

opposition. >> does it make sense for a country to borrow money from china to give it to the unemployed in america? >> i don't know. yes? aren't these programs exactly why we spend and borrow money, in order to help these very same americans? failing to extend unemployment insurance was just the icing on the cake for the worst congress ever. after just 58 laws passed, two-thirds of americans now think congress is the worst in their lifetime and 73% p say congress has done nothing to address the country's problems. joining me today, washington bureau chief at the huffington post ryan grim, michael eric dyson host of "disrupt," karen finney and ari. karen, this is the thing that really puzzles me. republicans are the ones who are facing a challenge in the midterms. they would like to take over the senate, for instance, hold on to the house. why is it thereee