newshour congressional correspondent kwame holman begins our coverage. >> holman: the vote had been in the works for many months, since the crisis that shook the financial industry last fall, and rapidly engulfed the rest of the economy. lawmakers labored into the night thursday, before finishing a bill that ran nearly 1,300 pages. this afternoon, it passed 223 to 202, with every republican voting "no", and all but 27 democrats voting "yes". >> all of us recognize there are shortcomings in our financial regulatory system but i do believe that the overreach by my democrat colleagues on this bill is really beyond imagination. >> the american people, we're told, have said no more expansion of government, not in the area certainly of financial regulations, their view that the american people want no more restraints on wall street is wrong. >> holman: for the first time, hundreds of trillions of dollars in derivatives would be regulated including stock futures and credit default swaps. but a number of businesses were exempted from the restrictions. the bill also sets up a new process to let

congressional correspondent kwame holman begins our coverage. >> holman: hours before the hearings began in washington, secretary of defense robert gates got the red carpet treatment in kabul. he was the first u.s. cabinet member to visit since president obama announced his new war strategy. but afghan president hamid karzai quickly warned it might be five years before afghanistan can handle its own security, and even then, only with outside funding. >> for a number of years, maybe for another 15 to 20 years afghanistan will not be able to sustain a force of that nature and capability with its own resources. >> holman: gates did not dispute karzai. but he expressed a desire to see the u.s. timetable play out at least as well as planned. >> the reality is as the president has made clear it is our expectation that on a gradual conditions based premise, that we will reduce our forces after july 2011. >> holman: the u.s. role in afghanistan continued to be debated in washington, as well. here at the capitol, the top american commander and the u.s. ambassador to afghanistan said they now are

newshour correspondent kwame holman begins our coverage. >> holman: the face-to-face at the white house lasted well over an hour, longer than expected. nine major bank executives attended, with three others conferenced in. >> i've just finished a candid and productive meeting with the ceos of 12 of our nation's largest financial institutions. >> holman: the president pointed out, many of the banks faced bleak prospects just a year ago and might not have survived without government help. >> when many of these institutions were on the verge of collapse, a predicament largely of their own making, oftentimes because they failed to manage risk properly, we took difficult and, frankly, unpopular steps to pull them back from the brink, my main message in today's meeting was very simple, that america's banks received extraordinary assistance from america's taxpayers to rebuild their industry and now that they're back on their feet, we expect an extraordinary commitment from them to help rebuild our economy. >> holman: specifically, mr. obama said he urged more lending to small businesses in an

newshour correspondent kwame holman begins with more about the meeting in denmark. . >> reporter: diplomats from 192 nation its gathered in copenhagen today for the largest and potentially most important u.n. climate change conference ever. their goal to shift away from fossil fuels and get rich countries to send billions of dollars to poorer ones to help them adapt. organizers warned this could be the critical last chance to curb global warming. >> the science has never been clearer. the solutions have never been more abundant. political will has never been stronger. and let me warn you, political will will never be

newshour correspondent kwame holman has more. >> holman: after days of blizzard conditions in the midwestemperatures plunged into single digits with wind chills down to 25 below zero. >> it's so freezing cold out here, it's unbelievable! >> holman: and the northeast prepared for more snow amid bone-chilling winds gusts in buffalo were clocked at 60 miles an hour. the massive storm system dropped more than a foot of snow on a dozen states this week. in northern arizona, it left some 30 elk hunters still stranded today. and nationwide, there were more school closures, airport delays, power outages, and traffic accidents some deadly. >> when it comes right down to it, people gotta understand that on a day like today, if you don't need to go out, stay home. >> holman: as the bulk of the storm pushed into canada, parts of northern new york braced for a total of three feet of snow by week's end. and southwest michigan was under a blizzard warning of its own. regions spared snowfall had their own struggles with wind and rain. in ohio, a trampoline was blown onto this man's roof. >> how did it ev

newshour correondent kwame holman has our report. >> reporter: millionof pele from the mid atlantic to new england snt this first ofcial day of winter struggling to dig ou the onslght began friday night and coinued in some ples for 24 hours non-stop. the shington d.c. region was buried under nearly two feet of snow, fcing federal agencies to cle today. and everywhere commuters had to brave icy roads a slick sidewalks this morng. those who opted for blic transportati ran into delays in bus, commuter rail and subway service in several majocities. eay holiday travelers were left struggling to salvage flight plans after thousands of flights werdelayed or canced. >> on a flight from boston yesterday at:00 and got here at 5:00 p.m. and have been here sincerying to get to pittsburgh. rit over there behind the christmas tree. >> we called up e airline last nht. evything was totally fine. we arrived this morning. the flight was canceled. a lot of people confused not knowing what's goi on. >> reporter: as the day we on, runways began to rpen and flightchedules slowly began returning to normal. b

"newshour" corresponnt kwame holman begs with this port. >> reporte the federal reserve keptnterest ratest historic lows today--ear zero-- and in a statement, it reported t fragile economy continueto pick up, and job lses are owing. to the m at the helm-- chairman ben bnanke-- it may be furer evidence the fed's licies are working, as he to a senate hearing ts month. >> we played a ctral role in effos to quell the financial turmoil. for exampl through our joint efforts th other ancies and foign authorities to avert a collapse of the glal banking system last fall. >> reporter: a today, bernanke reived a boost of his own. the fed chairm was named "time"agazine's "person of the year," for hping-- in the magazine'sords-- to "ensure that 2009 was a period of we covery rather than catastroic depression." in an intervie bernanke countered criticisms that hi actions haveelped wall street athe expense of main street. "i come from main streetfrom a small to that's really depressed. th is all very real to me." he said adding, "i'mot happy with where we e, but it's a lot better than where could ." the

newshour correspondent kwame holman begins with more about the meeting in denmark. . >> reporter: diplomats from 192 nation its gathered in copenhagen today for the largest and potentially most important u.n. climate change conference ever. their goal to shift away from fossil fuels and get rich countries to send billions of dollars to poorer ones to help them adapt. organizers warned this could be the critical last chance to curb global warming. >> the science has never been clearer. the solutions have never been more abundant. political will has never been stronger. and let me warn you, political will will never be stronger. this is our chance. if we miss this one, it could take years before we get a new and better one, if we ever did. >> reporter: u.n. climate leaders are seeking a global pledge to cut emissions worldwide 25 to 40% by 2020. they called on the conferees not to be put off. >> the time for formal statements is over. the time for restating well-known positions is past. >> reporter: president obama has called for a 17% reduction in u.s. emissions by 2020, from 2005 levels. an

kwame holman has our report. >> reporter: a winter wonderland it was not. as the pre-winter storm stretched eastward today, snow fell at the rate of an inch an hour in parts of new england. >> it was definitely a lot worse than i expected. >> reporter: and that was just the latest. the season's first system unloaded three feet of snow in parts of northern california, earlier this week. by tuesday, much of the midwest was blinded with white-out, blizzard conditions. across state after state, roads were iced over, leaving drivers skidding out of control. >> it's treacherous conditions a lot of slide-offs, a lot of accidents. >> reporter: overnight, plow trucks tried to clear more than a foot of snow in places like madison, wisconsin, where at least one plow got stuck itself. and a second round of snow slammed the upper midwest and great lakes today. >> i just do a little at a time because i'm getting too old to do it fast. >> reporter: snow driven by 50- mile-an-hour winds piled up drifts in much of the midwest and brought airports to a standstill, with hundr

"newshour" correspondent kwame holman begins with this report. >> reporter: the federal reserve keptnterest rates at historic lows today-- near zero-- and in a statement, it reported the fragile economy continues to pick up, and job losses are slowing. to the man at the helm-- chairman ben bernanke-- it may be further evidence the fed's policies are working, as he told a senate hearing this month. >> we played a central role in efforts to quell the financial turmoil. for example, through our joint efforts with other agencies and foreign authorities to avert a collapse of the global banking system last fall. >> reporter: and today, bernanke received a boost of his own. the fed chairman was named "time" magazine's "person of the year," for helping-- in the magazine's words-- to "ensure that 2009 was a period of weak recovery rather than catastrophic depression." in an interview, bernanke countered criticisms that his actions have helped wall street at the expense of main street. "i come from main street, from a small town that's really depressed. this is all very real to me." he said a