>> anne thompson, newtown, connecticut tonight. anne, thanks. now to the other piece of this in washington. >> president obama said today he's reviewing a series of proposals from vice president biden about how to curb gun violence in this country. the president was asked about that fight today at his final news conference of his first term. he was also pressed about this looming fight over the debt ceiling. our chief white house correspondent, chuck todd, was part of the questioning. he joins us from there tonight. chuck, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. as you mentioned, vice president biden formally gave the president the gun violence task force recommendation that he was charged with getting. and while the president said he's formally going to unveil what his proposals are going to be, he did say today that if congress doesn't act at this news conference, he's willing to do it himself. during the hour-long press conference, president obama said he wants stronger background checks and limits on assault weapons and ammunition. b

nbc's anne thompson has been covering the lance armstrong saga for years. she's here with us in the studio tonight. anne, good evening. >> good evening, brian. you know, the decision to talk actually split the tight circle of advisers around lance armstrong, but those close to the former cyclist say over and over that this was armstrong's decision alone and not part of some big public relations plan. over the christmas holiday, they say, armstrong decided it was finally time to come clean. once a hero, lance armstrong is now by his own admission a liar. the cancer survivor built his mythic image on seven consecutive victories in the tour de france and vehement denials that his success was helped by performance-enhancing drugs. >> have you ever, ever, in the history of this race, used performance-enhancing drugs? >> absolutely not. never. not once. >> how many times do i have to say it? >> we have nothing to hide. >> i have never doped. >> nobody believes in doping controls more than me. >> reporter: when he sat down with oprah winfrey yesterday, armstrong ad

anne thompson, nbc news, new york. >>> here in washington more history will be made tomorrow as president obama is officially sworn in for his second term ahead of the ceremonial swearing in on inauguration day monday. the expectations are high and nbc's kristen welker is at the white house to tell us more, kristen? >> reporter: lester, good evening. president obama has knocked out an ambitious second-term agenda, including gun reform and immigration, but if he wants to accomplish those goals he'll have to act quickly. president obama kicking off his inauguration weekend by lending a hand to the nationwide day of service. >> this inauguration we're going to be, it's a symbol of how our democracy works and how we peacefully transfer power, but it should also be an affirmation that we're all in this together. >> reporter: but there are still deep divides, including an upcoming deadline over the debt ceiling which is the nation's borrowing limit. this week's top republicans offered a new plan that would increase the limit for three months and require congress to pass the budget within that t

here with it tonight, nbc's anne thompson. >> reporter: today baseball hall of fame voters pitched a shutout. >> for only the eighth time since voting began in 1936, the voting membership did not elect anyone to cooperstown. >> reporter: three stars of baseball's era denied. barry bonds who went from this to this as he became baseball's career home run king. sammy sosa, who hit 609 round-trippers. and roger clemens, seven-time cy young award winner, all fell short of the 75% of the vote by sports writers needed to be enshrined in cooperstown. boswell, sports column inconsistent for "the washington post" says it's appropriate that they are in what he called a public relations prison. >> they don't have to give the money back, they just don't get to be in the hall of fame. >> reporter: none of the three have ever admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs. confession has not helped slugger mark mcgwire. he finally admitted using performance-enhancing drugs in 2010. but for the third straight year was not elected with a shrinking number of votes. next week, cyclist lance armstrong wi

it's more effective. >> anne thompson has covered this issue and this man for years. thanks. >>> ray nagin, who as mayor of new orleans gained notoriety for his erratic behavior during hurricane katrina, has been indicted by a federal grand jury on 21 counts of conspiracy, bribery, money laundering, tax fraud and filing false tax returns. it's alleged nagin took flat-out cash kickbacks from city contractors. he ran as a reformer, even in the long history of corrupt government officials in new orleans, this federal indictment is a first. some time ago, ray nagin left new orleans and moved to dallas, texas. >>> more bad news for boeing after the faa grounded all their 787 dreamliners while they investigate some onboard problems. boeing has now suspended deliveries of the aircraft to customers. this has been a huge blow to the big seattle manufacturer, because of what the 787 means in their fight for market share with airbus of europe. boeing has nearly 800 orders for new dreamliners in these coming few years. >>> in washington tonight, with our latest polling showing th

anne thompson, thank you as always. >>> now we turn to gun control and our post newtown era. the white house is gearing up for a fight on this issue, announcing today they will meet with representatives of the nra later this week. nba's ron mott covering this story for us. >> reporter: two years ago today 9-year-old christina-taylor green was the youngest shot in a grocery store. in a new campaign her mother is pleading for stricter gun laws. >> i have one question for our leaders, when will you find the courage to stand up to the gun lobby? >> reporter: her questions are part of a growing chorus around the country for gun prevention. today, calls for action were joined by a new voice, former congresswoman gabrielle giffords who was shot in the head in the arizona spree, launching an effort to curb gun violence. >> gabby and i are both gun owners. we are strong supporters of the second amendment but we've got to do something from getting the guns into the wrong hands. >> reporter: it's a sentiment that seems to be spreading. a gallup poll taken after newtown says 58% are toug

nbc's anne thompson reports from new york's hard-hit long beach. >> reporter: where the reminders of sandy are still all too vivid, today frustration turned to fury. >> we need funds, and we need help. >> reporter: stephanie and elliot zuckerman are fed up. they learned today their once meticulous home in long beach, new york is crawling with mold left by sandy. >> this is mold. >> that's mold. >> reporter: facing a $75,000 expense and what they say is the run-around from fema and insurers, the house of representatives' failure to vote is just one more body blow. >> no matter how together you try to keep it, it's an emotional thing. and then to know that you're not backed by the country that you live in. >> the pace of congressional aid is glacial compared to other disasters. when katrina tore through the gulf coast in 2005, congress responded with more than $61 billion of aid in just ten days. hurricane ike took 12 days. new jersey governor chris christie says sandy's victims can't wait any longer. >> talk to the people down in union beach. talk to the folks at toms river. talk to t

and so is their faith in their government. >> that was nbc news ann thompson reporting. >>> president obama who spoke yesterday with governor christie and governor andrew cuomo of new york released a statement urging the house to pass the aid measures quickly. >>> in other news, secretary of state hillary clinton is back at home after a blood clot in her vein kept her hospitalized for days. secretary clinton left the new york city hospital last night where she's been recovering since sunday. her blood clot stemmed from a concussion she suffered last month after she fainted from dehydration. she is making progress on all fronts and expect her to make a full recovery as she continues to rest and work from home. we wish secretary clinton and her family all the best. >>> today students of sandy hook elementary are set to return to the classroom in a new location. hundreds of students are going to make the transition to a refurbished school that is six miles away in the town of monroe. desks and furniture were moved into the building and classrooms are re-created to make the transition as

anne thompson, nbc news, new york. >> still ahead, as we continue on a thursday evening, a big warning tonight for women. it's about ambien and other brands of sleeping pills, and what can happen for some. and later, it will be one for the ages at the oscars. a race for best actress, far starters, like we've never seen before. makers of ambien need to lower their dosage because of what can happen the next morning. the story here, the effect is especially risky for women. our report tonight from nbc's tom costello. >> looks like the south 5 is miserable still. >> reporter: it's the morning rush hour, but is that driver in the lane next to you fully awake? the fda says it's received more than 700 reports of driving-related mishaps and terrible accidents related to common sleeping aids like ambien. drivers too drowsy to concentrate the morning after taking a sleeping pill. in carey kennedy's case, she claims to have taken ambien in the morning and crashed into a truck. >> i remember getting on the highway, and then i have no memory. >> reporter: now, with research showing sleeping medicat

anne thompson, nbc news, new york. >> still ahead, as we continue on a thursday evening, a big warning tonight for women. it's about ambien and other brands of sleeping pills, and what can happen for some. and later, it will be one for the ages at the oscars. a race for best actress, far starters, like we've never seen before. copd makes it hard to breathe, but with advair, i'm breathing better. so now i can be in the scene. advair is clinically proven to help significantly improve lung function. unlike most copd medications, advair contains both an anti-inflammatory and a long-acting bronchodilator working together to help improve your lung function all day. advair won't replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. people with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia. advair may increase your risk of osteoporosis and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking advair. if you're still having difficulty breathing, ask your doctor if including advair could help imp

. >> nbc's chief environmental correspondent ann thompson joins me now.e enjoy it now in january, but it's a serious problem and indicator of how alarming this climate change s. >> it is, andrea. what is significant about this record is we beat it by a full degree. now, that doesn't sound like much, but it's like breaking the 100-meter dash by a full second. usually in the weather world when they break records, it's by a tenth of a degree or hundredth of a degree, this was a full degree. it should be a wakeup about climate change, because climate change played a role in this, according to the noaa scientists. yes, there are natural variations in our weather. we're going to see heat waves, droughts, and hurricanes, but what climate change does, the greenhouse gases that we burn, they act like steroids in our environment, and they amplify everything, and they make heat waves more intense, they make the drought that still grips 61% of this country, makes it more intense. that drought that we saw last year, we're dealing with this year, the low levels in the

ann thompson has the latest from there. >> reporter: good evening, larry.here's a new organization called sandy hook promise. it is a group of residents including some parents and family members of victims who want commonsense solutions to prevent school shootings from happening again. this is a group that says it is nonpolitical. it is nonpartisan. and it doesn't have an agenda. other than to have a national discussion about what to do to keep these tragedies from happening again. they want to look at mental health issues. they want to look at the issue of violence. and they want to look at the issue of guns. in fact, they're not talking -- calling it gun control here. they call it gun responsibility. they want gun owners at the table. in fact, i talked to one of the founders tonight who said that he thinks the gun owners may be the key to solving this problem because they have the knowledge as to how to keep guns in responsible people's hands. there is a lot of pain here as you can imagine. today is the one-month anniversary of those shootings that killed

our own anne thompson is at the game, but as a noter game grad herself and a board member, she is totally in the tank for the irish, and on just this topic, has no impartiality. finally, the image that deserves a second look. the kids from newtown, the surviving kids from sandy hook elementary, on the bus, headed to the first day at their new school. this photo captures them just being kids, which after so much tragedy, fills us with so much hope. and so let's end on that hopeful note as this new year gets under way for all of us. and please allow me to thank my friends for sitting in for me here while i was one of those off with my family. and it's good to be back here with you. and so as our new week gets off to a start, that's our broadcast on a monday night. thank you for being here with us, as always. i'm brian williams and we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night. >>> right now at 6:00, not again. a new investigation getting under way tonight after a tanker got very close and sideswiped the bay bridge. >> reporter: there's been a major development in the case

anne thompson has more on what he had to say. ann, go anne, good morning. >> good morning, savannah. lance armstrong said he had the perfect story for so long, overcoming cancer, winning the tour de france, and it wasn't true. lance armstrong was emotional, but not tearful, apologetic, but not contrite. in an exclusive sbrou on own, armstrong admitted to oprah winfrey what had long been suspected. >> in all seven of your tour de france victories, did you ever take banned substances or blood dope? >> yes. >> armstrong said he started doping in the mid '90s, before he had cancer. his cocktail was the blood booster epo, transfusions and testosterone, all banned. and all denied by him for years until this interview. >> it's too late for probably most people and that's my fault. i've used this situation as one big lie that i repeated a lot of times. >> a lie that, over the 90-minute program, he made clear was contrary to his own view of doping. >> did it feel wrong? >> at the time, no. >> it did not even feel wrong? >> no. scary. >> di

anne thompson with more. hi, anne. >> hi.nd years and years wheel he was an active cyclist he denied doping. he denied it in any number of interviews, he denied it in a deposition in 2005, and now i'm told by people close to the situation that he will admit to oprah winfrey in that interview that was taped yesterday that he did use performance-enhancing drugs to win those seven tour de france titles. you know, the taped interview was part of what i have called lapse armstrong's he didn't counsel out and admit it. heal boy jazzed for the stress he had caused them. it was a very emotional meeting. armstrong got choked up. several people there cried and he left there and went on to the oprah winfrey interview and it lasted 2 1/2 hours and today winfrey says she has so much material she's going to air it over two nights. she described the interview as difficult. she said that armstrong did not come clean in the way that she expect and she did admit that he got emotional at times. she said she and her staff were mesmerized at time

>> anne thompson, thank you. dr. nancy snyderman is nbc's chief medical director. >> good morning, erica. >> you said it's important to clarify this is not on her brain. >> it's the drainage route for the blood that goes into the brain and has to get back in the heart. it's not right in the brain, on the skull but in the canvasy area called the dura, that in-between area. >> when we hear that there was a concussion prior to this, does that tell you anything about the type of fall? >> viral gastroenteritis. she got dehydrated, fainted, clunked her head. that caused a tiny tear in a blood vessel that frankly then started to slowly leak into this area that acts like a pool of blood. that pool is constantly sending blood away from the brain. in this case, it became stagnant, it clotted. if you don't get that out or it doesn't start moving on its own, then because the skull is so rigid, pressure builds up, you get headaches and that can lead to a series of events if, untreated, can be very serious. >> still typically this

nbc's anne thompson has more on clinton's condition. >> reporter: in her four years as secretary of state, hillary clinton never seemed to stop until now. she's been out of the public eye since this appearance in belfast, ireland, december 7th. >> it's a great pleasure to be here again. >> reporter: suffering a stomach virus, a concussion and then this past sunday, an mri revealed the blood clot. >> patients with a mild concussion, that risk is extremely low. it would be very rare to have this type ofal allcomplication e concussion. >> reporter: this carries blood to the heart and lungs and the fear is that if it grows larger blood could back up in the brain causing a stroke. using blood thinners, doctors hope to slowly dissolve the clot. >> if we look at the prognosis for this type of problem, typically, if it's isolated to one small area the prognosis is very good. >> reporter: superlatives mark hillary clinton's career. the most admired woman in america for the 11st consecutive year in the gallup poll. logging almost 1 million miles and visiting 112 countries and one of the most contro

ann thompson brings us more of what he said. >> reporter: lance armstrong was emotional but not tearful not contrite. in an exclusive interview on own, armstrong admitted to oprah winfrey what had long been been suspected. >> in all seven of your tour de france victories did you ever take banned substances or blood dope? >> yes. >> reporter: he said he started doping in the mid-'90s before he had cancer. the cocktail was the blood buster epo, transfusions and testosterone all banned and denied by him for years until this interview. >> it's too late for probably most people. and that's my fault. you know, i view this situation as one big lie. that i repeated a lot of times. >> reporter: a lie that over the 90-minute program he made clear was contrary to his real attitude about doping. >> did it feel wrong? >> at the time? >> uh-huh. >> no. >> it did not even feel wrong? >> no. scary. >> did you feel bad about it? >> no. even scarier. >> did you feel in any way that you were cheating? >> no. the scariest. >> reporter: performance-enhancing drugs, he said, were part of the sport like air i

nbc's ann thompson has been following the story, and nbc's justice correspondent pete williams joins me now as well here. ann, you followed this, and you know the pain of those at livestrong and other cancer survivors who really believed in this man. talk to me about that as well. >> well, i think that's very, very difficult. there are a lot of cancer survivors who looked up to lance armstrong as a hero. here was a guy who had testicular cancer that moved to his stomach, his lungs, and his brain, and survived, and then won seven tour de frances ---ure tours defrance, which is one of the most difficult athletic events in the world. i mean, it is both a race of physical and mental endurance. he always said he did it cleanly, even when everybody else was doping, and he said it again and again and again. not just in that deposition, but in literally hundreds of interviews, and to now find out that all of that was a lie is very disappointing. i think for cancer survivors. you know, andrea, i have been talking to people who were close to lance armstrong, and he said he made this decision ov

nbc's ann thompson is here with the latest fallout on this story. good morning to you. >> good morning, matt. the anti-doping agency says if armstrong wants to return to elite competitive sports, he has to tell the truth under oath before that process can even start. and that is what one of his fiercest critics wants as well, the absolute truth. she went from friend to foe. the effect betsy andreas says that performance-enhancing drugs had on her relationship with lance armstrong. >> my husband, his teammate, rode the 2000 tour clean. what was his reward from lance? not getting his tour bonus and getting fired off the team. >> reporter: relentless on the bike, andreas says armstrong was just as relentless off the bike, going after her, her husband and anyone who claimed they knew armstrong doped. >> for the past decade, i have been a public target along with my husband. to the point where it seemed i was defending myself on a daily basis from smears and attacks. that would happen. >> armstrong confessed to doping in his interview with oprah winfrey.

anne thompson has the story. good morning, anne. >> good morning, matt. the decision was made on his own, motivated by many things, the need he felt to address the doping allegations, the concern for his foundation and his desire to compete. lance armstrong's apology tour started at live strong headquarters, the cancer foundation built on his stunning seven tour de france wins, symbolized by yellow wrist bands worn around the world, then image tainted as he was painted as a doper and the mastermind behind the scandal. live strong officials said it was heartfelt and sincere. the initial step in coming clean about performance-enhancing drug use that armstrong denied for years. >> absolutely not. never. >> not once? >> not once. >> reporter: denials made in a multitude of interviews and a deposition. >> how many times do i have to say it? >> i just want to make sure your testimony is clear. >> it can't be any clearer that i've never taken drugs, then incidents like that could never have happened. how clear is that? >> reporter: in a recent conversation, nbc

for "today," anne thompson, nbc news, new york. >>> scott mercier is lance armstrong's former teammatesrickland is "bicycling" editor at large. his magazine published a cover story accusing armstrong of using performance enhancing drugs. good morning to both of you. thanks for coming on. >> good morning. >> bill, you spoke to lance armstrong earlier in the week, why did he ultimately decide come forward in your opinion? >> i -- it's always complex with him. he always has multiple motives. i really believe that he's kind of hit rock bottom. that he's cracked. five or six weeks ago, we had a short conversation, he didn't go into details, but he was talking about how hard it was with his kids. and i think that was a turning point for him. >> this is a story of a guy who wanted to win at all costs. it tells us about his sense of wanting to compete. that's what it's all about. he believes, you think that he can compete again? >> he -- he does. i mean, like a shark needs to swim and he needs to compete. it's just part of who he is. >> scott, you were teammates in 1992 and 1994, the world cham

lara thompson and maureen gaffny at the san francisco bay trail. [applause] and anne buell at the coastal conservancy and those that work with the port of san francisco. thank you. [applause] >> thank you. i mean as we have said there are a number of partners that were necessary to get together to make this happen. the bi-directional bike way as part of the blue green project as we mentioned and it's an important connection from the bay view community to the heron's head park, and to 3rd street and to the gateway park that we will be building next. hopefully we will start that in about a year or so. a key player in making that by way happen was mta. they were involved in every step of the process from design to funding to construction, and i want to introduce damon curtis a senior manager with mta who is representing them. [applause] >> thank you and good morning. i think i just got a promotion but that's great. on behalf of my colleague at the mta. in particular our director ed risin and those in the street division and my boss on liveable streets and thank you for c

ann shows us why gun shows are more popular now. >> i am not in to gangster style. >> hunting that interests barbara thompson that came to the cal show at the palace for ammunition. >> i live on a ranch and i have critters that i have to protect and a family. >> and ammo is hard to come by. several types sold out on day one of the show. >> all the way down here and stood in line for an hour. that's how bad it is. >> the demand for all thing gup related has hit unpress dented levels since lawmakers talked about harbor gun laws since sandy hook last month. >> i want to get whatever i can before anything changes. >> we were expecting a large crowd. we had no anticipation that we would have a crowd like this. >> they wouldn't let the media inside the building but with a crowd of 18,000, it was packed inside. >> and pretty much knew we weren't going to get ammo. the lines are like incredibly long. >> and some lawmakers want to make it harder to get ammo with stricter rules. >> right now it is so easy for anyone to bullets. >> gun enthusiastics tightening the law where people are stocking up. >> i have three or four guns but i can't get am

anne makovec finds out why gun shows are more popular now than ever. >> i'm not into gangster style. >> reporter: it's hunting that interests barbara thompson, who came to the cross roads of the west gun show at the cow palace for ammunition. >> i live on a ranch. i have critters that i have to protect. i have a family i have to protect. >> reporter: and she says ammo is hard to come by these days. several types sold out on day one of this show. >> drove all the way down here, stood in line for an hour. that's how bad it is. >> reporter: demand for all things gun related has hit unprecedented levels, since lawmakers started talking about harsher gun laws in the wake of several mass shootings, like the one at sandy hook elementary last month. >> i want to see -- get whatever i can before anything changes. >> we were expecting a large crowd, but we had no anticipation that we would have a crowd like this. >> reporter: they wouldn't let the media inside the building, but with an estimated crowd of 18,000 by the time the weekend's over, it was packed inside. >> pretty much knew we weren't going to be able to get any ammo. the lines are long inside. >> re