london courthouse where assange was just released less than an hour ago. plus live pictures for the house of representatives where democrats delay action on the massive tax cut bill compromise. plus the senate is debating a nuclear arms treaty known as start. live reports for cap top hill as congss wraps up a busy lame duck session. president obama signaling out one area for improvement, pakistan's efforts to root out terrorists. then easy target. find out how you may be making criminals' jobs easier just by posting your pictures online with your smart phone. a security guard is being hailed a hero for his actions when a gunman opened fire at a school board meeting. i'm richard lui filling in for tamron hall. we are following breaking news

on this day. wikileaks founder julian assange has officially paid his bail. he's a free man. he was released about an hour ago by british court officials making only brief comments for the court steps. assange offering thanks to his supporters. he also vowed to continue his fight for freedom of information. >> well, it's great to smell fresh air of london again. first some thank yous. to all who had faith in me. who supported me while i've been away. to my lawyers who put up a brave and ultimately successful fight for people who provided money in the face of great difficulty and

adversion. and to members of the press who are not all taken in. and with that i hope to continue my work and continue to protest my innocence in this matter and to reveal the evidence from these allegations. all right. jenny is outside the courthouse in london at this time. into the evening at the moment. jenny, where is he headed right now? >> reporter: well, he's headed up to where he'll be staying for the next few weeks while he starts to fight his extradition to sweden. he's been the guest of her majesty inside the prison. he's been staying in solitary confineme confinement. next he'll be in a ten-bedroom mansion on a 600-acre country

estate. that's a property that's owned by a high profile journalist who owns an exclusive club in london. he's got his work cut out for him if he's going to get there in time for his curfew. he's got to be there within three hours when it actually begins. it's now started to snow. and so the roads are going to be tricky. >> and, you know the press will be negotiating the roads as we saw from the shower of light as he finally got released on bail. why did it sort of take a bit of time today before he was released? >> you're right. we knew that he was going to be bailed around four or five hours ago. but the reason it's taken so long is partly because of the bureaucracy of the british legal system. so many different papers to be signed. also the judge today chose to make the bail restrictions tougher. there have been a number of high

profile doe nay tnaters. michael moore put up $20,000. judge wanted to go a step further and make some of the high profile names including the nob nob nobel loriat, they wanted to make him directly responsible so they would be responsible if julian assange didn't turn up to court. >> jenny wivell live. his release after posting bail there. we'll follow up with this story as it progresses. also following what i peers to be developing chaos in the house of representatives over the tax cut bill. president obama negotiated with republicans at which the senate overwhelmingly approved yesterday. a lot has happened within the last hour and a half. i was reading your notes here. basically there are nose in the president's own party that says we want to have our protests on record. >> that is correct, richard. a lot of developments going on capitol hill. i would say the word confusion

and chaos could describe what just occurred. a lot of members not clear about what was going on. a half hour ago the rule was pulled off the floor. the house representatives, the majority party holds a vote on the rule that sets up the rule for how a bill will be debated. in this case it was for the president's tax cut compromise. usually this is a slam dunk for the majority party. they all agree the bill should go forward. republicans would always vote no on this, as is the tradition of the house. in this case it did not look like the leadership had enough votes to bring this rule to the floor to allow the debate to go forward. why? a lot of liberal house democrats were upset with a few things. number one, within the rule they were voting on, there was a chance to vote for an estate tax language that would be reminiscent of what they passed in 2009. a state tax language that democrats liked. however, if that language was adopted, the bill would

automatically go back to the senate. there would not be a second vote where house liberal democrats could vote against the compromise bill. so essentially what they're going to do now is possibly go to house rules committee or have some sort of procedural maneuver on the house floor of which liberal house democrats will have a chance to vote for the estate tax compromise language they like, and then vote against the senate bill on the floor. there's also talk possibly about having new amendments added. a lot of liberal house democrats would like to see an amendment to extend unemployment benefits for 24 months, instead of the 13 months they're at now. there's also talk of upset house democrats with something of the social security payroll tax. that's a possibility. but what we're looking at is this going -- being delayed. possibly going into the night. although we're now hearing from a lot of democratic sources they want to accomplish this by tonight. but remember, richard. if anything is changed in this bill at all, it has to go back to the united states senate. the united states senate said they will not most likely alter this bill in any way.

a lot of republicans, especially mitch mcconnell said it's this or bust. it becomes a question, do house democrats let this bill go down because they're so upset with it and see an increase in middle class tax cuts and then see unemployment benefits no way forward and then expiring? who knows. who will pull the trigger here first, richard? >> this is like an 18-car pileup. they're pulling out the tow trucks now to see what they can get out of this. >> nobody expected this. especially pelosi and leader hoyer. they usually have the caucus aligned. this is an act of insubordination if you will. >> get them one of those toe trucks. now to the senate which has been debating the new start treaty with russia all day. ratifying the treaty is among president obama's top priorities, adding to all the other things. kelly o'donnell joins us live on that. kelly, what is at stake with

this start treaty. >> well, just in terms of the tempo of the day, this is a classic example of the difference between the house and the senate. lots of squabbling on the house side. a more serious, quiet, but still rough debate going on between the parties over the russia nuclear arms deal. and what's at stake for the white house is they called it one of the top foreign policy priorities. democrats want to get this done, and they'd like to get it done before this congress expires. republicans have been very frustrated by this because they claim there isn't enough time to do all the debate that should take place, and they have issues with what's in it, and they talk about things that really mean they don't trust the russians, that's sort of their phrasing. so they want to proceed very carefully about this deal. now in terms of procedure, it throws lots of things up in the air. finalizing the other things they hope to get done. like the repeal on don't ask, don't tell. also funding for the government which runs out this saturday.

so it is a debate that is important because of the big implications, but john kerry has been frustrated for today. republicans have better to bring an amendment to the floor. so it's been a talk marathon here. to give you a sense of the mood, it has a lot to do with frustration over the calendar. a lot of people talking about christmas and will they get out of here on time. andrea mitchell talked with the vice president, who was in the senate for decades. he had a message for those worried about the calendar here. get out of the way. there's too much at stake for america's national security. and don't tell me about christmas. i understand christmas. i hope i don't get in the way of your christmas shopping, but

this is the nation's business. this is a national security at stake act. >> and we don't know when they will vote on the start treaty. they would need 67 to ratify it. richard? >> kelly o'donnell. many watching around the world. including russia, iran and other places. thank you for the latest on the start treaty. while we watch the start treaty debate, senator majority leader harry reid warning there may not be time to take up the controversial don't ask, don't tell policy which does ban gays for serving openly. a new repeal measure was in the house yesterday, and it now appears there are enough votes in the senate for we peel. with one week before christmas, the senate also has to tackle a $1.1 trillion bill to fund the federal government through the next fiscal year. lots to do. president obama saying we've made significant progress in afghanistan. the white house releasing a review of the administration's war strategy at the one-year

mark. he said al qaeda is weaker today than at any point since 9/11. >> in short al qaeda is hunkerred down. it will take time to ultimately defeat al qaeda, and it remains a rueless enemy bent on attacking our country. but make no mistake. we are going to remain relentless in disrupting and dismantling that terrorist organization. >> president obama also added that progress has not come fast enough in pakistan where terrorists continued to find safe haven. atia is live in afghanistan. you're there on the ground, and as we watch the progress here in the united states and we see the comments coming in after the review by the president and his te team. what is the feeling about the progress one year ago to today? >> reporter: richard, that's an interesting question. and the answer is going to

change from district to district. kandahar was the primary focus in 2010 by the commanders on the ground, by washington itself. back in the summer of 2010 there were massive bloody fire fights going on day by day in kandahar province. there's still violence there. we're still seeing roadside bombs. last week we saw six american soldiers killed by a suicide attack. but it should be noted that the violence has decreased somewhat. the city of kandahar, a place that i was afraid to go to last year. when i landed there it was probably one of the scariest cities in afghanistan. today the city of kandahar has some sort of security bubble around it by the nato and afghan forces, but when you talk to the people on the ground in kandahar province, they'll tell you security has come bit by bit. but what they're afraid of is when nato forces actually leave. and another interesting aspect is the fact that they were just talking about al qaeda. al qaeda when you talk to the commanders on the ground, when

you talk to the afghans here, they're not the big problem. the big problem is really the insurgency. the insurgency that is flowing back and forth from the border with pakistan. >> atia, as you intimate, the taliban as well. the president was bringing up pakistan. these are all big issues in this very complex calculus as they try to pull out the troops from afghanistan. atia abawi live in afghanistan with the latest. still ahead on "news nation." i'm not a hero, folks. i just done my job and -- >> holding back tears. the security guard who took down a gunman at a school board meeting. he speaks out and shares with you what he's thinking. then a shootout on the border leaves an american agent dead. police arrested four suspects and the search for one more is on. then, surviving a nuclear attack. the government has a surprising new message. nobody in my family ever had a heart attack.

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the fbi and department of homeland security are warning to be cautious of suspicious behavior this holiday season after a rash of attempted terrorist attacks in the past year. particularly the failed bombing of an airplane last christmas. officials are on high alert this time around. the warning does not mention a specific plot, but captured insurgents in iraq are saying al qaeda is planning attacks in the u.s. and europe. he's been described as everything from a gentle giant to committed cop who knew how to protect and serve. for those who served behind the scenes at panama city school board, retirement police mike jones has a different title. jones is the security guard who put himself in the line of fire

when gunman duke took the city by hostage. he ended up taking his own life in the gun battle. jones was hurt in that exchange. and speaking at a press conference a few hours ago, jones was asked to describe what went through his mind during that shooting. >> you know, you think first thing came to mind was, what's this community going to think. i'm known as salvage santa, and now i've taken somebody's life. and you know, my parishioners what they would think. i shot the man in the back the first time. i was thinking i was going to jail. there's just so many things that go through your mind. but it was the instinct and training and i'm just glad they're all here and alive. and i'm not a hero, folks. i just done my job. i think they said the gun battle lasted 13 seconds. but it seemed like it was forever. what a guy. what a guy. he says he spent much of the

previous day with his pastor trying to come to terms with what he had done that day. a man hunt is under way along the arizona/mexico border for the suspect in a fatal shooting of a border patrol agent. four suspects are already in custody after sergeant brian terry was shot and killed tuesday evening. homeland secretary janet napolitano is expected to meet with them after arriving. pete williams is watching this story for us live in washington, d.c. >> secretary napolitano had planned to go to arizona anyway. so she moved her visit up a day, as she's a former governor of arizona, of course, to talk about what happened. this incident took place late tuesday in a remote area about ten miles north of the border. the man in charge of the union of border patrol agents says brian terry was killed in a shootout with bandits. these are people who rob and assault illegal immigrants and smugglers who come across the border, and the killing of a border patrol agent is raising

new concerns about the security of the border. based on what we know so far, this does not seem to be directly related to the drug trade. but the union president for the border patrol says it shows that the border remains out of control if bandits can prey on people ten miles inland. brian terry was 40. he'd been with the border patrol for three years. he served in the marines, grew up in detroit and served as a police officer there. and as you say, the investigation continues trying to find out all the people who were involved and exactly what happened. pete williams, thank you. president obama's prospects for a second term are looking pretty good according to a new poll. we have that plus how you could be helping out criminals by taking a picture with your cell phone and then posting it online. for strong bones, i take calcium.

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one crusader's dream is one step closer to being realized today. the senate foreign relations committee passed the internakt violence against women act. it's a five-year strategy to prevent violence against women and children around the globe. we have with the president and cofounder of women thrive worldwide. she's spent the last three years on the front line to try to get this legislation passed, and it worked. thanks for stopping by today. >> you're welcome. >> give us some context about how large of a problem this is not only in the united states, but worldwide. >> well, it's a bigger epidemic than hiv/aids. one in three women will suffer an act of violence against her in her lifetime. you know, if you've got three friends, you can look at them and say, one of you is going to be a victim of violence at some point.

so it is a major public health threat, and a huge issue for women around the world. >> i want to bring up one example. that's of an an iranian woman. she was sentenced to stoning. she was allegedly beaten and sold for sex by her husband. this happens very frequently in certain parts of the world. >> unfortunately it does. as gruesome and unbelievable as those things are, they are happening, in fact, every single day. and the reason we are so committed to passing the international violence against women act is because our country really could be a leader to stop these kinds of things from happening. >> on that note, so this is a multi-year program coming from the united states to reach out all around the world. what are some of the wheels? what are some of the places where the rubber will hit the road to try to mitigate this problem? >> well, what i can tell you is that whenever i travel around

the world, one of the things that women say to me is there's nowhere for them to go. there's no services. there's no shelters. the police won't believe them. so what this does is fund local services and local organizations who know their culture. so that they can provide services to women who just simply need to take one step to get out of violence. >> ritu, you have roots to places where this is a problem. not only of human trafficking, not only of labor, forced labor. >> i have been fighting for this issue for my whole life. i myself am a survivor from a very young age, and obviously that gives you a fire in your belly. but also just being an american,

i feel like i'm so blessed to be in this country and as a citizen, this is one thing i can really do to help women around the world. that they themselves can't do because they have no voice here. >> ritu, we are truly blessed. and you are, too. thank you so much for fighting for this. again, that passed today. ritu, appreciate it. >> thank you. >> still ahead, why you won't be texting your donations to political campaigns any time soon. you want to hear about this. and today's gut check. a high school football player is told he needs to cut off his braids if he wants to play ball. ♪ [ male announcer ] open up a cadillac during our season's best sales event. and receive the gift of asphalt.

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disaster. how posting a picture online can lead the crooks to your exact location. plus a government crackdown on debit card fees that means banks could lose billions. what does that mean for us? we'll see some new fees maybe at banks. they're still trying to make some profit. now as president obama winds up at this moment, he winds down his second year in office. our new nbc news "wall street journal" poll holds some positive news for him. well, his job approval rating stands at 45%, it is not far from where it was a year ago when it was at 47%. and that's despite all the bad news he has endured in the past year. including unemployment, near 10%. the gulf oil spill, and the midterm election results as well. nbc news deputy political director mark murray gins us live from washington. i was reading your comments on the poll and the results, and you were saying if this is as bad as it gets for the president. he's not necessarily in bad shape. >> exactly, richard. and the reason has to do with

the context. as you mentioned, this has been a really tough year for the president and his political party with that month's long bp spill t unemployment rate near 10%, and also republicans winning back the house. as pollsters put it, you would expect president obama to be battered and bruised. like rocky balboa. in a way he's anything but. particularly when you look at the head-to-head matchups in 2012. two years is a long time in politics. right now according to the poll, obama leads former massachusetts governor mitt romney by seven percentage points. he leeds sarah palin by 22 percentage points. and a more generic republican candidate leads by 20 points. given everything that's happened, the folks of the white house have to be pretty pleased with these numbers. they're not perfect. but they certainly are a good starting point for him. >> you know, mark, it didn't all good news, right? it can't be perfect. we take a look at all these polls week to week.

there is afghanistan. >> yes. and that's where particularly he has to protect himself from the left flank. our polls show a majority of resp respondants believe afghanistan is worth fighting for. the numbers reversed among democrats, which suggests the democratic party may not have patience if things continue to get worse in afghanistan. but it's important to point out that right now there isn't a serious challenger from the left. who might be able to take on president obama, and that's what he and his political team are probably hoping for, but that is a potential to watch for at least the next year. >> breaking down the numbers. our deputy political director mark murray. thank you so much. >> thank you. the battle over the new federal health care law is under way in pensacola, florida. attorneys for 20 states fighting the law say the law will expand the government's power in dangerous and unattended ways. attorneys for the obama administration are asking the judge to rule that 20 states

don't have legal standings to challenge that law. earlier this week a federal judge in virginia rule that had citizens could not be forced to buy health insurance. let's rethink the unthinkable. a surprising new message from the government on how best to survive a nuclear attack on a major city that is to stay inside. you can dramatically increase your chances of survival by holding up inside a secure building away from deadly radiation until you're told it's safe to come out. but how do you educate the public about a doomsday scenario white sending alarm signals. michael smerconish, you have been talking about this. what are your listeners saying about the potential of a nuclear attack, number one. number two, how we may react to one. >> well, this is a step in the right drebs. the fact that we're having this conversation is educating the public. the approach we cannot have, the

jack nicholson movie, a few good men, you can't handle the truth. people can handle the truth. they need to be told this. what i learn from discussing this on the radio today, that prior to hearing this information, many of us thought it's over. there's no survivability. maybe we've seen the footage from hiroshima one two many times. the notion is don't flee, stay put, take shelter, and your odds of survivability increase. staying in an automobile could increase your rate of survival by 50%. it's the sort of thing that needs to be discussed. i thought it was a good move for secretary napolitano to have a walmart message of see something, say something. and perhaps, you know, if handled in the appropriate fashion, this needs to be a part of it. >> you know, i want to bring up this video right now. based on being in a shelter. the higher the number on this chart that they published today meant that you had higher protection.

it goes back to the old shelters they had in the housing in the 50s and '60s. it's very interesting that if you're just inside, you can avoid that particular matter, and your better off. >> right. and this is the god forbid conversation. in urban areases, you would expect people would try to flee, try to dwruz whatever means of transportation. almost like when you see a hurricane warning take effect. and what we're learning is that thes no the approach. healthy to have this conversation. we can handle this conversation and the wrong answer would be not to discuss it. so, mike, let me ask you this, when you have been discussing this with your listeners, have they associated that with the start treaty, which has been held up at the moment, and certainly some folks may let their eyes roll back in their head when they hear the start treaty being ratified? >> i think it's the sort of conversation that most people don't think about. i found it ironic in the same issue of "the new york times" there was an enormous story about the south koreans having yesterday had an exercise that

involved millions of people. i think many of us look at a story like that, and we read the lead, and we say, oh, those poor south koreans. i guess that's what they have to do. when maybe we should be reading it and saying, should we be doing the same thing? >> should we be considering those issues and, of course. nobody wants to talk about this. plummeting temperatures have put the south into a deep freeze, and that's making for some dangerous driving conditions. drivers in atlanta, for instance, are dealing with ice rink on the roads. they're not used to this sort of thing at all. the icy services forcing crews to close hundreds of roads after crashes in the area. right now conditions are overcast. meteorologists say the thermometers are going to dip into the 30s tonight with freezing rain in the forecast. and louisville, kentucky, much of the same stuff. those skies are clear at this hour. both motorists and motor vehicle rescues are taking it slow in the cold snap.

temps have been in the 20s for days now. and they're expected to nose dive more over the next couple of days. it's cold. you know, we all do this. but i don't think you've thought about what could be happening when you take pictures on your cell phone and then uploading them online. it could reveal more about you than you might like. police in new hampshire bust eda burglary ring that used social media to find out when their victims were not home. i've never thought about this. >> most people don't. consumer reports found 52% of social media users post information that could lead to a cyber crime. many times people don't even know they've opened themselves up. for many, their phone is a link to social media. well, any phone created after 2005 has gps technology. it's the law. it was to help first responders, but it can also help criminals. new york bankers patrick chang

so much, two pounds of chinese food and fried rice he posted it on twitter. we saw his photo, found its geo tag and within minutes pinpointed where he was, even though his tweet said nothing about his location. >> i didn't know how accurate it actually is. it's pretty startling to hear. geo tags are gps stamp that smart phones like the blackberry and iphone and photos taken by the device. >> it's usually latitude and longitude coordinates. >> lieutenant runs the crime squad, one of the biggest in the country. he says tracking geo tags can be used for any crime. from stocking to burglary. >> if you, for instance, take pictures of your new flat screen tv and you want to share with your friends, you may have given away your exact street address. then you may mention in another post you're going away on vacation on thursday. the next thing you know, someone knows where you live, that you're not home, and you have expensive property. >> we found out about them

through the websites i can stalk you.com. they let people know when their photos are giving away their locations. >> when you start looking at someone's geo tags over a period of time, you noknow, a couple o weeks or months, you can start telling where people live, where people work. >> information security specialist ben jackson developed the technology. >> i can probably train a grade schooler to do it. we decided to put ben and his website to the test. right nowing on i'm 50th between sixth and seventh avenue. i'm going to take a picture of myself right now. and send it to my twitter page. i want to see if ben can find me, and how long it takes. from the moment i took the photo and it popped up on ben's website. within 15 minutes he was closing in on me. at the 20-minute mark he was right next to me. >> it was leaning towards the other side of the building, but i loop around and started circling outward.

we go to settings, general, location services. then turn location services off. lls remember, if you use social media and keep strict security settings, you're not completely protected. one of those friends could share the information themselves. they could cut and paste it to another application. they could share it with someone else. you really have no control over the information. >> if you would like to find out how to disable your phone from sending photos with geo tags, log onto icanstalkyou.com. they have instructions for the blackberry, droid, iphone and palm devices. we contacted them. thean they say they don't post photos onto their site, so they have no control over geo tags. >> you know, we were looking through your article today, tom, and we're all talking about it. so we turn off the location based services. doesn't mean that 911 can't find us? >> 911 could still locate you. there was a service in your phone, you can find it on your website.

you can disable it just for your photos so you can tweet away. facebook has security, so your photos are secure on facebook. >> interesting stuff. tom llamas. a ban on baby cribs tops our stories. baby cribs with sides that drop down are illegal after they pass the toughest safety rules for cribs in history. most deaths were caused by baby's head or neck being trapped. oh, look at that. what is that? a barrage of hail battered parts of sidney, australia, yesterday. large hailstones are damaging property while blocks gutters and causing waters to flow into the homes the there. ouch. look at the dirt even splashing up. have you noticed something missg from the movie theater lately?

hollywood is sending a message to santa this holiday season. no thanks. we got the scoop. for strong bones, i take calcium. but my doctor told me that most calcium supplements... aren't absorbed properly unless taken with food. he recommended citracal. it's different -- it's calcium citrate, so it can be absorbed with or without food. citracal.

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a programming note for you today on the "the dylan ratigan show," dylan continues his steel on wheels show. the birthplace of our democracy. dylan will be exploring america's quest to fulfill the vision of the founding fathers. that's at 4:00 p.m. eastern here on msnbc. and right now, the federal reserve is ending months of uncertainty over debit card fees and is proposing new rules on how much companies can charge merchants. the announcement is being made in the first ever live web cast of a federal reserve meeting. you're watching the meeting right now if you look at your screen. as of now for every $10, banks are charging merchants about 13.5 cents. it's expected under the new rules that banks could charge merchants 6 3/4 cents.

they're expected to cost banks billions of dollars and they're almost certain to try to make that up in other ways, such as cutting back on free checking and adding other fees to you and me. thought we would let you know that. hollywood saying bah-humbug to hollywood movies. let's get the scoop from courtney hazlett. >> you do a really good bah-humbug. >> if you've been to the movie theater this season, you're not going to see anything specifically holiday themed. it's not like national lampoon's christmas vacation. it's not that hollywood hates santa claus or anything like that. it's more an issue of how much money o you will put in and how much you will get out of something. big films make most of their

money abroad. 259 million here in the u.s. but 521 million abroad. that's where films guest most of their money back. a lot of the world doesn't celebrate christmas. more and more money to market, too. you're losing a ton of audience. they can't identify with the film. also you have to release it in the same day. we had the tourist who has been out here. angelina jolie still running around taking pictures of it. >> based on the logic you just gave me i can't believe that they have any christmas movies. >> we should be thankful for the ones we have. >> we're very thankful. >> more sad news today. >> a guy that made us laugh a lot. film maker blake edwards died in california. he was married to julie andrews. why has he made us laugh? you know him from the pink panther movies.

he was a fantastic director and author. he was surrounded by his family at the time of death. they haven't made any statement. and really good to hear this. aretha franklin out of the hospital. >> some good news. i don't like to be the debbie downer. aretha franklin's publicist confirmed she's home. she's in great spirits. she spent more than a eke in the hospital. a lot of sources are saying she has pancreatic cancer. she hasn't confirmed that yet. but she will reveal her illness soon. a lot of people are curious, hope it's not pancreatic cancer. easy for me to say. i'm very upset about this. she said i've been home for almost three days now. hopefully we hear good news. >> she is home. she can now watch the 24 hours

of a christmas story. that's what she's planning on doing. >> another christmas movie. rally producers, give us some more. log onto scoop.todayshow.com. or be a fan of the scoop on facebook. school officials telling a high school football player he needs to cut his braids if he wants to play ball. that teen saying the school is targeting him because of his race. but first, there's a lot going on today and here's some things we thought you should know about. voters will not be doe nalting to campaigns via text message any time soon. the federal election commission ruled that cell phone companies' business practices do not meet election law guidelines. the industry would have to make serious changes before they're allowed to transfer contributions to congressional campaigns. goldman sachs top executives will get more than a hold onto

your hats, $111 million in stock in a delayed payout from last year and 2007. and within a year after the bonuses were approved, goldman sachs took $10 billion in u.s. bailout funds. you may remember that. then check out this $11 million sign of the season. this extravagant christmas tree is on display inside the palace hotel. they do everything big that way. it's decked out with ornaments made of gold and precious stones. and those tr the things that we thought you should know about. [scraping] [piano keys banging] [scraping] [horns honking] with deposits in your engine, it can feel like something's holding your car back.

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an alabama teen is suing for the right to play basketball and wear braids in his hair while he does it. 14-year-old blaze taylor filed suit against the auburn school system. his coach will not hay low him to play on the junior varsity basketball team unless he

removes the braids from his hair. the lawsuit alleges that his coach is being racially discriminatory because he's targeting a hair style worn by black players. the coach said his ban on braids is part of his long standing grooming policy. school officials are backing him at the moment. now the school board releasing a statement here. it reads, quote, the specific prohibition of wearing braids was explained to the students before, during and after tryouts this season. the coach's rules for participation have been in writing and distributed to team members, and if more years, by the way, we believe that coach tolbert's policies are nondiscriminatory and nonracist. what does your gut tell you about that story? is the coach out of bounds for making one of his players remove the braids from his hair to play? we have an update for you on monday's gut check. the jet's coach -- look at that.

intentionally tripping an opposing player from the miami dolphins. he's been suspended indefinitely. he'd already been suspended for the rest of the season without pay and fined $25,000. let's look at what the "news nation" had to say about the dirty play. 50% of you said she should be fired. 46% of you said he should be fined. 4% of you say the act should go unpunished. that does it for this edition of "news nation." i'm richard lui in for tamron hall. you're watching msnbc. there's a big idea happening in medicare that saves you hundreds of dollars a year. it's called the new humana walmart-preferred prescription plan. ♪ it's a breakthrough in medicare prescription drug plans... hey buddy! hey grandpa! ...with monthly plan premiums less than $15 and copays as low as $2. but for savings this big, visit walmart.com or call 1-800-808-4003.

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food on the table, clothes on their back, heat in their home. why are americans asking santa claus for the basics this year, and why is washington paying such close attention? private time? is anything private anymore? a enif you want it to be, what you need to know when it comes to the popular social n