they've answered one cliff hanger with another cliff hanger, which is the single most annoying thing that's ever happened, and that's what's happened in washington. a series of new cliff hangers coming up. >> absolutely. really quickly, my winners, definitely joe biden, somebody nobody picked, marco rubio, who set himself up with the tea party in case he wants to flout jeb bush and run in 2016. i think the losers definitely the tea party, who set up this fight in 2013 over taxes and spending and all they got were tax increases in this deal. john boehner is the biggest loser, i think, in all of this. his leadership has been flouted. his own deputies voted against him, and then he told somebody to go and do something horrible. >> that fight begins in two months. >> i don't believe it. >> politics is the art of turning defeat into victory. >> i want to thank chairman steele, kurt, as well as hugo. that is all for "now." i will see you back here tomorrow at noon eastern, 9:00 a.m. pacific when i'm joined by jonathan capehart, karen finney, nick confisori and lee gallagher. until then, fa

. >>> a fiscal cliff hanger. now a done deal. there's another big threat that's only two months a i way. good evening. >> the house approved a fiscal cliff compromise. 257-167. president obama thanked congress and then hopped on a plane to hawaii. >> reporter: president obama will sign the bill. today's pressure was intense. there there was no agreement, negotiations would have had to start all over. after closed door meetings, house republican leaders finally put to a vote the fiscal cliff compromise. a bipartisan senate packed last night. >> we had listened to the american people. we have heeded their call to work together in a pi partisan way. >> reporter: president obama spoke minutes after the vote. >> the one thing i think we'll focus on in the new year is put ago package like this together with a little bit less drama. not scare the heck out of folks quite as much. >> reporter: house majority leader voted no on the compromise. he dropped efforts to amend the bill to add more spending cuts after failing to get enough fellow

a cliff hanger when the show was over. he got the job to run the studio. tempted between the job and his marriage. >> i liked "sex and the city" movie one and two. >> and two? >> that's right. >> we'll debate that after the show. >>> a bride in maryland is looking forward to the wedding in new orleans. can you tell 44-year-old laura is perhaps a ravens fan. >> her fiance asked for her hand two years ago. she said she would not get married until she won the lottery or her ravens made the super bowl. >> now she has her purposed gown she's going the wear in their wedding ceremony in new orleans on sunday. she'll keep it on attending the game with her man who will then be her husband. >> there are fans and then there are super fans. >> she's a super fan. >>> and finally, working out is always a really good idea. or is it? we offer a video called the people versus fitness. >> it's easy to get the gist. normal folks trying to get fit and having real problems doing it. despite the evidence, doctors say exercise is good for you. ouch. is the that one was a whole t

and that's >>> a fiscal cliff hanger. now a done deal. but there's another big thet that's only two months -- threat that's only two months away. >>> hookers and drugs, only the beginning. the secret life of a millionaire murdered in his mansion. >>> the four-year-old who got his father back. good evening. >> and we begin with breaking news out of washington tonight. where less than two hours ago the house approved a fiscal cliff deal, 257-167. sharon chin is in the newsroom with more on what's next. sharon. >> reporter: next president obama will sign the bill. this was a lot of pressure today. if there was no agreement before a new congress takes office thursday negotiations would have had to start all over. after closed door meetings this was a vote on the fiscal cliff compromise a by partisan senate overwhelmingly passed last night. >> we have listened to the american people, we have heeded their call once again to work together in a by partisan way. >> reporter: president obama spoke minutes after the vote. one thing i think hopefully

plus it is a fiscal cliff hanger a last minute deal looks set to fend off the new year tax hike in america for the time being at least. and ireland takes over as the head of the european union but its massive debt leaves it in a weak position just as the blob calls out for strong leadership. hello and happy new year you are watching live from moscow with make. now it's a new year continues to roll out across the world let's take a quick look at some of the most spectacular celebrations that have happened so far new zealand was among the first to usher in twenty thirty crowds packed the harbor in oakland to enjoy the display at the city's sky tower while almost two million people turned out at the celebration in a strange city skyline erupting with the now standard jaw dropping fireworks at midnight from harbor bridge there midnight later moved on to asia and this is hong kong which really built up the tension with a countdown then later the sky from both than land sea. europe has also welcomed in the new year with a major fireworks display at the brandenburg gate in berlin becoming one of

all right my colleague bill daughter is here in half an hour's time but up next a fiscal cliff hangers and jacked up job numbers break in the abby martin and a couple of minutes. ron paul has rejected the national rifle association safety plan and by safety plan the n.r.a. proposes basically turning every school in america into a prison camp so on this one ron paul i'm with you in the wake of the tragic events at sandy hook elementary enery vice president wayne la pierre called on congress to immediately appropriate whatever is necessary to put armed police officers in every school so yeah what is the solution to isolated incidents of extreme violence make every child live their entire school life at gun point before putting armed guards in schools maybe we should take a look at the fact that more than twenty five percent of american kids are on medication and that's just the kids altering their mental state legally mom is working two jobs so she isn't around dad is a wall and the t.v. who's the new parent shows kids nothing but images glorify violence revenge and torture when someone

. >> reporter: just like the yodeler in that cliff hangers game on the price is right, we did fall offetaphor cliff. >> fiscal cliff. >> the fiscal cliff. >> over the cliff. >> so-called fiscal cliff. >> or maybe not. ♪ the hills are alive >> reporter: cue julie andrews in "the sound of muse i can." >> it's more of a slope. >> it's not a cliff, it's a slope. >> it's kind of a slope. >> reporter: hill, cliff, slope, be honest, it felt more like this. >> this place is starting to have the feel of the movie "groundhog's day." >> reporter: at least the movie made you laugh. this was more like "the hurt locker." >> congress set this time bomb. now they're scrambling to defuse it. >> reporter: in the end the cliff, slope, bomb, groundhawing day, call it what you will, it became a bill and a new metaphor. >> kick the can down the road. >> kicking the can down the road. >> kicking that can. >> kicking the can. >> we are done with kicking this

. >> sort of a fiscal cliff hanger, so to speak, pardon the pun. let me ask you this, if they can't -- it's the new year, i've got to get out a few zingers while i've got the chance -- if they can't come to any kind of decision to make a vote today, are there serious repercussions? we're already over the cliff. we're on the first of the year now. if they can't do any vote today, what are implications? >> reporter: the most obvious repercussion would be if it -- if it's delayed until tomorrow, that's when the markets open, you can see market effects. the market effects we would anticipate would b

. >> during the fiscal cliff hanger as it were, i'm here, i'm the guy, doing nightly news and specialeports with brian williams, hear the music, the chime, stand up, talk to brian, president walks in, sit down, and six feet away from the president of the united states. >> okay, does anything go through your mind like i cannot screw this up, i'm a little nervous, have to say that exactly right. >> i was not a little. a lot nervous to the point i was shaking a little bit, like shivering. not that i was speaking to the president, but this is big stuff you are dealing with here. so this is my cheat sheet as it were. okay? this is what white house correspondents have done for years. >> helps block out. >> one earpiece, double fisting, double ear-ing as it were. that way you only hear brian williams and your producer, don't hear these guys. i have not had it, just arrived it. if it sounds better, have you this to credit. >> talk about your wife. a newlywed you are. just married less than a year ago. technically a newly wed. >> can i show you a puicture? that's my wife allison, we parallel p

as well as director attention to other issues that have fallen by the wayside during the fiscal cliff hanger>> today's agreement enshrines the principle into law i think will remain in place as long as i'm president. the deficit needs to be reduced in a way that is balanced. everyone pays their fair share. everyone does their part. that is our our economy works best. we can settle this debate, or the very least, not allowed to be so all consuming all the time that it stops us from meeting up host of other challenges we face like reading jobs, boosting incomes, fixing our infrastructure, fixing our immigration system, protecting our planet from harmful effects of climate change, boosting domestic energy production, protecting our kids from the horrors of gun violence. >> the new year's day a vote to approve the fiscal cliff deal was a reversal for house republicans who had opposed it for not cutting deeply enough into social programs. house speaker john boehner backed the deal, but many of his top lieutenants voted against it, including majority leader eric cantor. some democrats oppose the d

but richard, all the turmoil, all the questions, all of the cliff-hanger nature of this over the courseafternoon when it appeared in the morning that house republicans were going to be in revolt they were not going to accept the verdict from the senate in that deal that had been negotiated. and of course from the frantic days of last weekend, mitch mcconnell and joe biden, after talks had collapsed between the democratic, harry reid, and -- what is it getting to be? 21 hours or so ago? 89 to 8, an extraordinary vote with only five republicans and democrats in the senate voting against that. we thought that the bill -- really, just enormous margin almost unheard of margin coming into the house. john boehner would be able to point at that and say look we'll be able to fight another day. the writing on the wall. let's put it on the floor, in two month's time there will be opportunities for us to really push for the spending cuts that many of his rank and file thought were lacking in this bill. obviously, they will still look for that. it didn't come easy we had a lot of drama over the cour

>> reporter: i think you have to consider that fiscal cliff hanger as an anomaly. people view it as such because the consequences so great. john boehner allowed a vote on that. he doesn't have to do that necessarily going forward so the strategy for the white house on those other issues, speaking specifically to gun control as we noted, vice president is going to meet this week with the nra that made news just being noted a matter of hours ago. it's to try to create more of that pressure. the president has made it very clear that not only did he win this election but said that the republicans obviously have a struggling brand, this wlous is communicated so perhaps more campaign-style events where the president was in michigan, he was in pennsylvania, he was just across the river in virginia, here as well. perhaps gabby giffords by his side or some of the survivors from newtown. i think that's some of the ways they believe to add pressure to bring across the republicans to not be an obstruction to him being able to accomplish some of those policies specifically on g

handled other recent challenges from his republican opposition when you consider just the fiscal cliff hanger as it were with campaign stops in various parts of the country. consider a statistic that i think a lot of americans are going to refocus on is the immigration conversation returns to the fore. it's the fact that the president won 70% of the hispanic vote in this past election. a dramatic -- dramatic element in his success and obviously the republican party recognizes it's harsh language, some rhetoric used by mitt romney and other republicans around the country didn't help its chance of gaining support within that community. john boehner, the speaker of the house, has said that they need to have a more practical, a more pragmatic approach to this issue, so i think in many ways the white house feels confidently that -- that it has the lead on this issue right now and that it has the public on its side as well. >> all right. nbc's peter alexander with that latest development. thank you so much, peter. i want to bring in the political reporter for slate and msnbc contributor. dave, what

. >> a "fiscal cliff" hanger now a done deal but more money battles lie ahead. >> i'm unwilling to gagthey sent over here that's not acceptable. >> i will not have another debate with this congress over whether or not they should pay the bills that they have already racked up. >> freezing temperatures outside right now. out the door temperatures really plummetting. >> a man is swept out to sea trying to rescue his dog. >> a park ranger says this time of year the water is in the low 50s and hypothermia can set in within minutes. >> none of them want to start the year that way. >> fleeing from police a crash kills two innocent bystanders. >> i heard the boom and then the cars. >> credit card hacked at a bay area bar. >> i got these charges on my account which was saying i recently charged money in mexico. >> dubai and england. >> from across the bay to around the world, the stories that matter on "eyewitness news this morning." >> your realtime captioner: linda marie macdonald captions by: caption colorado comments@captioncolorado.com >>> good morning, it is wednesday, january 2. i'm eli

the president spoke in the briefing room a pair of times as the fiscal cliff-hanger was coming throughe the end of the year. i was there on the front row during those remarks. but there was no opportunity to pose questions to him, to direct questions to him. i think they feel very confidently about what his answers are going to be with the questions anticipating them right now and i think a lot of them have already been, as i noted earlier, telegraphed by jay carney t in the recent remarks that he's shared. >> peter alexander outside the white house for us. peter, we're going to ask you to stand by and get a quick break here as we wait for the president to walk out those doors you see in the background up to that podium for his 37th solo news conference. [ male announcer ] where do you turn for legal matters? at legalzoom, we've created a better place to handle your legal needs. maybe you have questions about incorporating a business you'd like to start. or questions about protecting your family with a will or living trust. and you'd like to find the right attorney to help guide you al

and that may be another fiscal cliff, cliff hanger as we approach that magical date.the market's going to do when we run up for that date, that time line. nonetheless, the market is opening up now, this wednesday morning and again we're expecting a small gain and the opening trend will be slightly higher for the dow industrials, there you have it slightly higher. first, we heard it. the first that we heard was that a phone for the chinese markets, we reported that yesterday. it will be a new iphone, a cheaper iphone, give to the chinese market. we opened up the show with that news and our partners at the wall street journal reporting the very same story that apple is working on a lens expensive iphone. nicole, is this having any impact on the stock at all. i'm not sure which way-- >> slightly to the down side. no big lose yet. a lot of this news a lot of times comes out and it's all about the dollars and cents. what will be their margin, how many will they sell. that's when we see the stock move, the astronomical sales or if it's going to cost them an astronomical amo

. >> and during the fiscal cliff-hanger, as it were, i'm here, i'm the guys, i'm doing "nightly news"al reports with brian williams. you hear the music, you hear the chime, you stand up, you talk to brian. the president walks in. you sit down. and you're six feet away from the president of the united states. >> does anything go through your mind like i cannot screw this up or i'm a little nervous, i'm i've got to say this exactly right? >> i was not a little. i was a lot nervous. literally to the point that i was shaking a little, shivering. not that it was -- speaking of the president. but just like this is big stuff you're dealing with here. >> leader of the free world. >> so this is any cheat sheet, as it were. i just got one of these. apparently, this is what white house correspondents have done for years. >> oh so, that will help -- >> i usually wear one ifb earpiece. this is double fisting. double earring if you were. you put it behind you. but in both ears. that way you won't hear -- you only hear brian williams in here and your producer, don't hear these guys. i have not had i

. >> three cliff-hangers in a row at the end.et booth and the phone ringing back in hollywood and police cars on the tarmac. i think all three of those are fabricated. once they got to the airport they had a pretty easy time. that was it. >> bill: but it's hollywood. big story there was that ben affleck, who not only directed but acted in the movie was snubbed by the academy awards, did not get a nomination for best director. he was awarded best director last night by the critics. >> a lot of big snubs in the directors category in the oscars this year. big surprises. ben affleck, katherine biggingel low, the director of "zero dark thirty" was a bigger snub. tom hooper who directed les mis. quentin tarantino would have been a slightly more unusual choice but given some of the people who were nominated for director, some big names were definitely left off there. >> bill: at the same time, i heard someone make the point last night which i thought sounded valuetoid me, when you have ten pictures nominated now for best -- nine -- up t

happening now, a fiscal cliff hanger. the senate bipartisan bill faces a very uncertain future in the republican-led house. >> our speaker has said, when senate acts, we will have a vote in the house. that is what he said. that is what we he can be pekt. that is what the american people deserve. >> but is a sudden rift in the republican leadership putting it all in jeopardy? >> also, we're breaking down the deal on the table right now. we're going to show you how it impacts view your bottom line. >>> and what about the secretary of state? her dangerous blood clot. what could that mean for hillary clinton and her political future? i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." right now we're following breaking news. all eyes are in the house of representatives where lawmakers are weighing the future of a bill that's now effectively a fiscal cliff fix. no vote has been scheduled on the bill that the senate passed in the middle of the night after steep tax cuts and spending cuts kicked in. speaker john boehner has been t

cliff deal that prevents a steep tax hike for most americans. the measure goes to the president, who thanked congress for making an agreement. >>> but house leaders scrapped the vote for aid for hurricane sandy, prompting hanger>>> and family members at sandy hook elementary getting a chance to see the new school before classes begin. the middle school has been renovated to accommodate the young students. >>> thunderstorms from houston to north carolina and the carolinas. there will be bitter cold this morning here, in the northeast. >>> and finally, this wednesday morning, a quick fix for when you had one or two or three or a whole lot too many. way too many. >> whether it was celebrating the new year, or an occasional, you go out with your friends, it's familiar the aftermath. the hangover. you know what i'm talking about? >> we're working. we don't know what you're talking about. >> abc's linsey davis tells us how we might be able to beat the hangover. >> reporter: waking up to a nasty bout of nausea. battling a blinding headache. hopefully, nothing like what the guys in "the hangover" experienced. >> what the [ bleep ] happened am i missing a tooth? >> reporter: while no one argues excessive drinking can