>> that's right, brian. like you guys were talking about, senate majority leader harry reid says today is the day at 11:00 a.m. here in washington. his chamber is going to debate that tax bill and vote on possible amendments and then his senate is set to vote on final passage of the bill. we think it's going to happen sometime around 1:00 and this bill is expected to pass the vote in the senate. it did get 83 yea votes in a test the other day after all. if it does pass, this $858 billion bill extends that bush tax cuts for people of all income levels. it will go over to the house side for a vote but some congressmen in there want changes. they are unhappy still. >> well, clearly, it is taking the middle class hostage in saying that not a word can be changed by the house of congress that the constitution says is supposed to write the whole bill shows such a disregard for middle-class families and such a disregard for the u.s. constitution. >> so a lot of democrats on the house side like representative sherman

brian? >> thanks for that report tonight from london. >>> back in this country, we still haven't finished the first full week in december and the winter weather is coming as a bit of a shock. a huge stretch of the american south is dealing with some real cold. florida dealing with an ice cold blast of canadian air. our own kerry sanders is with us from plant city, florida, where a lot of valuable crops and products are at risk tonight. kerry, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. florida farmers are watching these freeze warnings very closely tonight. here in central florida, the strawberry growers say if the temperature hits about 28 degrees, it will make the strawberries sweeter. but any lower than that, it could ruin the crop. florida's winter strawberry crop began to ripen just a week ago. now there's a race to pick every ripe strawberry before the freeze. the plan, to sprinkle the field with water, creating a blanket of ice. that will keep the unpicked berries at a constant 32

>> hey, brian.hearing in fact that julian assange is sitting in the dock in the courtroom, in the british high court as we speak. he's behind bars in the dock but he might be outside of prison by the end of the day if all goes well for him. now, assange is wanted by sweden for extradition regarding those sex crime allegations that you alluded to, brian. after being initially denied bail on tuesday, he was granted bail but it's now being fought by british authorities on behalf, we believe, of the swedish prosecutors. the claim has been that assange is a flight risk. the terms of the bail is restrictions on his movement and his folks have to come up with $300,000 plus in bail money. and asurety. now assange's lawyer today is claiming that money is now available. again, the extradition is about the sex charges. not about what assange has been doing through his wikileaks site leaking thousands of classified u.s. documents. but what is interesting, too, brian is today, it is reported that the justice dep

>> good morning, brian. you heard it just before the final vote was 277-148 and even though it got a majority of both democrats and republicans, the breakdown was really close. 139 democrats, 138 republicans but with that, the house passed this tax rate compromise bill and now just needs to make its way down to the other end of pennsylvania avenue to get president obama's signature before it becomes law and when it does, it's cost of $858 billion will be added to the deficit but families at every income level will see their tax rates remain the same for two years. the long term unemployed can look for their benefits to be renewed and there will be a one year cut in social security taxs that affects almost every american worker. you'll remember this is the bill that the president noshegotiate with the republicans in senate. a lot of democrats were sore about that. after making a lot of noise, it made its way through both houses. >> we saw the president of the united states strike a deal with senate republican

i'm brian williams. we hope to see you right back i'm brian williams.ht back here tomorrow evening. good night.-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com it was up to me to support our family. [ male announcer ] karri danner went back to school, to become a nurse. my education made all the difference... [ male announcer ] but now some in washington want regulations restricting accs to career colleges and universities,

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with brian williams. >>> good evening. tonight millions of americans are in the grip of some downright dangerous weather, and not all of it makes sense. for example, for a good part of this day, it was colder in northern maine than it was in southern florida. this cold weather stretch is way down to the south, and way out to the east. records were set today for cold temperatures in the eastern half of the country. tomorrow, it could get worse in some areas, shall even far to the south. tonight we're concentrating on a genuine drama with families in the middle of it. traffic headed into the united states from canada, caught and cut off by a snowstorm. and now rescues are under way. nbc's john yang leads off our coverage tonight in michigan city, indiana. john, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. here in northwestern indiana along lake michigan, it snowed for the third straight day. folks here are digging out from under 2 feet of snow, and drifts as high as 4 feet. but as you say, the most dramatic conditions wer

brian? >> ann curry in haiti for us tonight. thanks for your reporting. >>> now we turn to the battle over taxes. taxes at bush era rates that president obama wants to extend as part of a deal which has riled some fellow democrats. kelly o'donnell following this all day, with us tonight from the capitol. kelly, good evening. >> reporter: hi, brian. and democrats are really in turmoil over this and the white house is turning up the pressure. the vice president was back here today to face angry house democrats who say they will not vote for it, because they believe it gives away too much to high earners and wealthy families planning for estate taxes. the white house says if this doesn't pass, the country could slip into double digit recession. that is a big worry. the white house is using a new pr offensive, using its e-mail list to send out notices today from mayors and governors, people across the country who favor this as a way to turn up the pressure on democrats here who do get to vote. brian? >> kelly o'donnell on the hill t

brian. >> brian: thanks so much.epublicans in congress plan to hold out and force democrats to keep the bush tax cuts for every single american. will that work? father and son team, congressman ron paul, senator-elect rand paul here live. first let's check in with the co-host elect, bill hemmer, for what's on your show at the top of the hour. >> co-host designate. good to have fun with you on the radio yesterday. brian has a radio see. did you tell them? >> brian: i'm keeping it a secret. >> what a day this will be. there will be a vote on tax cuts in the house. there will be a vote on charlie rangel's censure. dana perino makes sense of this issue. bobby jindal has a plan to get states out of their financial hole, they'll explain that. breaking news on the wikileaks matter. nasa says it has a huge announcement today from deep in space and we'll explain all that. we'll see you in ten minutes here on "america's newsroom." >> steve: welcome back. the deadline looms extending all of the bush era tax cuts still up in the

. >> brian: i got nine more questions about him. do we have time? i'm kidding. you jumped on the phone with us and i was intrigued by your take, instant analysis on the north korea and south korea situation. south korea quickly said, oh, my goodness, for the first time in 60 years, we're under attack. two people died, dozens wounded, when north korea decides to open up on some island. your reaction? >> i have two reactions. first of all, south korea isn't even signing a trade pact with us. they make hundreds of billions of dollars of let's call it profit on the united states. the president goes over there recently and they embarrass him by saying we want more. you wouldn't believe me. this deal that we're making is so bad and they won't even sign it. then they get bomb and we send -- i say two things. why aren't they paying us? they make a fortune. why aren't they paying us for security? why are we doing this for nothing? we are the dumbest people. i see that they embarrass us by not signing the trade pact, then i see the boats sailing, these magnificent destroy

let's go over to steve and brian. >> steve: thanks so much. >> brian: the man inside this suv you're life until a nine-year-old boy took notice and saved his life. it's the story you've got to hear. >> steve: we're about to hear the nominees for this year's golden globe awards, right there as you can see, the podium at the beverly hills hotel. we've got details straight ahead. >> brian: she's made you laugh for years on "saturday night live." molly shannon standing by live to join us on the curvy couch. >> steve: she's a superstar! >> white house press secretary robert gibbs was asked if president obama is still smoking and you know, they always try to get around. here is brian williams with the story. you be the judge. >> a reporter asked the press secretary at the white house if the president has, in fact, been able to fully quit. >> i have not seen or witnessed evidence of him smoking in probably nine months. >> steve: jay guy is good. >> brian: 28 minutes before the top of the hour. much more show to go. >> steve: speaking of the white house, the white house is keeping a close wa

brian? >> good night for you to get inside and watch some football. kevin tibbles in minneapolis, the twin cities for us tonight. kevin, thanks. >>> in the pacific northwest tonight, the problem is rain. there was mudslides, houses swamped, raging rivers there. all the flooding has led to several rescues around the region, including this one. a woman backed her pond into a swollen pond. rescuers had to smash the windows to get her out in the end. thankfully, she was unhurt. >>> now to politics. a pointed remind they are the battle over health care is far from over. the sweeping reform act that some have called obama care hit a serious legal roadblock today. almost nine months after it was signed into law by the president. a federal court declared a key part of it unconstitutional. we get more tonight on what all of this means from our justice correspondent pete williams with us tonight from our washington newsroom. pete, good evening. >> reporter: brian, this is the first time that any feder

brian? >> a wild day in london today. stephanie gosk covering it all. stephanie, thanks for your reporting tonight. >>> in this country, news tonight about health. first, the big headlines about the state of women's health in america. it is dismal in a word. that's what a new report says tonight. more women than just a few years ago are too heavy, have bad blood pressure numbers that are too high and are throwing back too much alcohol. our chief medical editor dr. nancy snyderman has our details. >> reporter: in a ten-year look at women's health in this country, the national women's law center reports that when it comes to meeting government goals to keep woim healthy, the united states is failing. >> it's disconcerting that we have seen so little change over the last ten years. and i think we really need to pay more attention and do more in the coming decade. >> reporter: while no state is given an overall satisfactory grade, 37 states are found to be unsatisfactory, 12 considered outright

. >> reporter: brian, good evening. new york took the hardest hit from this, about 20 inches in the area i'm standing. up to 2 1/2 feet in other parts of the metropolitan area. keep in mind, all of this in the back of some pierce and howling winds. therefore, a city that usually prides itself on jumping back from these sorts of things rather quickly finds itself still struggling to recover tonight. the big apple woke up this morning frozen in time. the storm dropped up to three inches of snow an hour at times. too much for plows to keep up with. it even lit up the skies with lightning and sent claps of thunder booming over manhattan. it was a one-two punch that turned the storm into a blinding blizzard. a lot of snow, but have we seen winds like this before? >> it was the combination of the two. maybe you go back in history a hundred years or so, but it's been a long time since we 'seen a storm of with winds of 60 to miles an hour and 20 inches of snow. that's a catastrophe. >> reporter: states of emergency were declare

he put this team together, brian sabean. [applause] >> i do not know about politics but our outgoing men know how to throw a party. it is an emotional time for all of us, especially me. my knees are we, my heart is racing, a lump in my throat, but without overstating the obvious, we deserve this. northern california deserve this. san francisco deserved this. the organization, the fans. it is the most interesting life experience that anyone could ever have. i can only think of another word, and it is closure. this team, for our was, friends, family, they understand what we go through, they understand why we go through this. we are so blessed to have experienced but we have with this group of people. there is a reason they won the world series. they won it because they were respectful, because they showed great humility throughout the whole ride. they were like a junkyard dogs on a bone. they would not let go. to use a texas term, we pulled on the same rope. it took a village mentality to raise this team, whether it was the fr

is brian italian?k so. >> yeah, no, a bit, but no, i don't -- i don't remember, but i made up for it tonight. >> jimmy: i said to my girlfriend, i said, brian austin green, he just kissed me right on the lips. she's like, really? yeah, he kissed me right on the lips. it was friendly -- >> i didn't kiss him on the lips. i didn't. but i did tonight. >> jimmy: yeah, i swear to god you kissed me on the lips. >> no, i did not. >> jimmy: maybe it was an accident. how could you mistake that? >> jimmy: how could i not know that you kissed me on the lips? my uncle frank will do that every now and then. >> he's family. >> i would kiss uncle frank on the lips. >> jimmy: you're a serial lip kisser. >> maybe he's part of our family. >> jimmy: maybe that is. >> yeah. >> jimmy: that's possibly what it is. >> man, i was drunk. >> jimmy: i could have been that, too. did dan aykroyd bring you any of the vodka? >> no, he didn't. i was drinking red wine backstage. >> jimmy: congratulations on your marriage. >> thank you.

brian? >> amazing pictures there. john yang in chicago to start us off. john, thanks. >>> now to a story that started to break late yesterday. it was a perfectly routine school board meeting in a florida community. on the agenda, what parents talk about in schools, head lice and new computers. then a man rose to speak and nothing about him looked right. he was armed with a can of spray paint and an automatic handgun. but it's what happened next that was an extraordinary reaction by some people at this otherwise ordinary meeting. we should warn you, this videotape will be tough to watch for some, especially for young ones in the room. our report tonight from nbc's park potter in panama city, florida. >> reporter: when an ordinary school board meeting suddenly became terrifying with a gunman threatening to kill -- >> you may leave, you may leave. the women can leave. six men stay. >> reporter: ordinary public officials suddenly became heroes. most dramatic was ginger littleton who attacked the

. >> reporter: good evening, brian. look, for most of the day today, the tax debate had been dominated by verdict's independent self-described socialist senator bernie sanders, who had been speaking on the floor of the united states senate by himself continuously since about 10:30 this morning. about 4:00 today, clearly the white house had had enough. so instead of briefing reporters about president obama's private meeting with president clinton, president obama decided to trot out president clib himself to brief reporters. it turned into a de facto ex-president conference. >> the agreement taken as a whole is, i believe, the best bipartisan agreement we can reach to help the largest number of americans and to maximize the chances that the economic recovery will accelerate and create more jobs, and to minimize the chances that it will slip back. there's never a perfect bipartisan bill in the eyes of a partisan. i also think that in general, a lot of people are giving a sigh of relief that's been some agreement on someth

brian austin green is here.be right back with dan aykroyd, so stay there. ♪ smq's(in unison): presents! christopher: i must have been good this year! kimmy: i must have been better. michelle(to walt): gifts for 5 bucks,how's that for a merry christmas? kimmy: a thermal! christopher: sweet- graphic tees! wesley: gonna get buff with these workout clothes! christopher: it's cousin cliff! cliff: thank goodness for all these gifts! michelle: maybe you should try the chimney next time? anncr: amazing gifts for just 5 dollars! we need to help. these people are under-indulgers, not enjoying the holidays! together we can end under-indulgence. and if you over do it, pepto-bismol's got you covered. ♪ >> jimmy: well, hello there. we're back. as you probably figured. from "desperate housewives" tonight, brian austin green is here. you know, i want to ask brian about something because i saw brian a couple of months ago at an event and he said hello, he kissed me right on the lips when he said hello and -- i felt in a way like

good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. the cold has settled in like a bad holiday house guest. it's made itself right at home and shows no signs of leaving any time soon. a major trucking route into michigan from canada reopened today as crews cleared abandoned cars and trucks stopped by whiteout conditions and buried by drifting snow. stranded travelers resumed their trips, leaving schools and churches where they had found shelter. >> this was where i was sleeping every night. so it was a home away from home i guess. >> reporter: brandon justin spent 24 hours in his truck, shivering as his vehicle shook with the high winds. >> i ran out of fuel close to midnight. it got so fold, like by 1:00 a.m., it was starting to hurt. >> reporter: in alabama today, icy conditions proved deadly as weather related crashes killed at least three people. in kentucky, crews raced to restore power to nearly 11,000 customers. produce farmers in florida are fighting a losing battle against freezing temperatures, even using helicopters to send

kelly, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. after eight republicans helped democrats repeal don't ask, don't tell over the weekend, now republican leaders are battling democrats and the white house over a new nuclear arms reduction treaty with russia. and the president's been working the phones, the pentagon weighed in trying to get senators to ratify this before the christmas break. republicans opposed say it's flawed, giving up too much to the russians on nonnuclear missile defense. and it appears there is new momentum on a different issue. democrats want to get health care coverage for those 9/11 responders whose serious illnesses are tied to their work at ground zero. under the senate rules there might not be enough time to get that done. brian? >> kelly o'donnell with an update from the hill tonight. kelly, thanks. >>> in other news tonight, overseas, despite its threats, north korea has not retaliated and says it will not for the latest live fire military exercises by south korea. they took place overnight. the drills wer

it's the timing. >> right. >> the line. >> and i can say this, brian? >> yeah. >> i think the little ones and this will be, maybe an inch. they're harder to deal with than the six-inch snows. >> it's not enough? >> not enough to plow and we know this is going to stick and coat the streets. there are going to be issues. the trend i'm noticing is this slows down to miss the morning rush hour and complicates it more and a live look outside where skies are clear and the best news in the forecast, oh, it's nice to ditch the big winds, isn't it? it's still breezy and not as badly blustering as it has been and that feels like a knife going through you, that's for sure. tomorrow won't be a windy day either and this is a small storm that will be a fast mover that mainly passes to our south and it does not start tonight. here is your forecast for tonight. we cloud up a little bit, still cold enough for mid-teens in the suburbs and 21 degrees downtown and we stay cold tomorrow, only 29 degrees. a winter weather advisory has been posted for southern suburbs and thi

kerry, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. florida's governor has established a state of emergency to help farmers. we haven't seen a hard freeze like the one that's forecast here for florida tonight since 1989. florida's often referred to as the winter salad bowl this time of year, because so much of the fresh food that we get at the grocery store across the nation comes from florida. tonight's strawberry farmers plan to sprinkle their fields with water to create an ice blanket around the berries, keeping them at 32 degrees. citrus growers are watching closely. if the temperatures hit 28 degrees or lower for more than four hours, there could be severe damage. orange juice futures today hit three-year highs. lettuce and spinach growers picking as much as they can. that's the case here. the plan, leave it covered tonight. the idea, the heat radiated out may be reflected back down. but the reality down is, temperatures will hit into the 20s. brian? >> kerry sanders in florida. and in the pacific northwest tonight, the problem is

brian moynihan took over as c.e.o. a year ago. bank of america, based in charlotte has $89 billion in revenues, 53 million consumer customers, and it's the number two mortgage lender. earlier today, i sat down with moynihan in new york and began by asking, how's the economy doing? >> i think we're in recovery, and we continue to make progress for it. consumers are spending a little bit more. and t market companies are borrowing a little more than they did in the summer. so i think we're moving forward. >> susie: but, you know, brian, with unemployment close to 10%, most americans don't feel like we're in a recovery. >> right. and that's the issue we have. we have sort of an issue of the idea with society you have a group of people who's jobs are heavily impacted by this recession, crosswalk, home construction, auto, and things like that. and a group of people who aren't so heavily impacted. and they've been able to maintain earning money and things. i think policy-makers, the business community, and everybody has to get together a

brian? >> savannah guthrie at the white house tonight. savannah, thanks for your reporting. >>> a dramatic moment in washington tonight. you don't see this often, even over the course of a lifetime. the censure of a member of the house of representatives. >> will the gentleman from new york, mr. rangel, kindly appear in the well. >> democrat charles rangel tonight standing in the well of the house, accepting the punishment as read by speaker pelosi. he has represented his harlem congressional district for 40 years. he today became the first house member since 1983 to be formally censured by his peers. the worst punishment short of expulsion. he said the censure was painful to accept. he was convicted of 11 ethics violations, including failure to pay taxes. the vote to convict tonight was 333-79. >>> if you have spent time on the east, you night know what they call lake-effect snow. it's when weather whips across the moisture of the great lakes and then dumps it on or near buffalo, new york. and a whole lot of other places. well, it has st