jen psaki, good morning, good to see you. >> good morning, how are you guys?> we're well and i think you're well as well with the white house and this thing going through. >> i am. >> let me ask you, we were asking on the house side taking behind the closed doors, the question to you is what happened in the white house? last night they're hearing the vote was going to happen one hour, another hour, might they amend it, might they pitch it. what was happening? >> well, i think there's no question that everyone in the white house, the president included is happy to have this vote in the rear view mirror. as you've mentioned this morning, there are a number of other obstacles they have that they also want to get behind them because avoiding the fiscal cliff, making sure that the country votes, that congress votes to increase the debt limit is not the president and the white house's idea of a second term agenda. i think they were watching closely, they were optimistic, they've been very careful in how they've handled this because they want the will of the american

rolling stones" eric bates, heather mcgee, former traveling press secretary for the obama campaign jen psaki, and the effortlessly elegant msnbc contributor jonathan capehart of "the washington post." at a time of great fiscal uncertainty and belt tightening, president obama is poised to nominate as the next treasury secretary a man who brings his lunch to work every day, a cheese sandwich and apple to be precise, president obama will reportedly tap jack lew tomorrow to replace timothy geithner. lew would take over on the eve of another debt ceiling battle. in round one during the summer of 2011, boehner's top staffer called lew's debt ceiling negotiations disrespectful and dismissive. according to david plouffe, that is because jack knows the numbers and republicans couldn't pull a fast one. two names are being floated to replace lew, dennis mcdonagh, currently his deputy national security adviser and ron klain. but the latest cabinet nomination is, surprise, creating consternation among who else, congressional republicans. after calling chuck hagen an in-your-face nomination outside of the

. >>> we'll speak with ron johnson, jen psaki, dan shaughnes shaughnessy, and jenn sterger. actress and model who had her own moment with brent musburger. and model cameron russell, who will tell us why she doesn't think girls should be models. "starting point" begins right now. >>> welcome, everybody. starting point this morning, the nra and the white house, 24 hours from a face-to-face gun control conversation. national rifle association confirming it will meet with vice president biden's gun violence panel tomorrow. they don't sown so thrilled about it. we're sending a rep to hear what they have to say. president spokesman jay carney responded with this. >> we look forward to hearing from a variety of organizations and civic groups and others. who have insights into this problem. >> the nra is here to here what the white house has to say. >> the process is designed to get input. >> sounds kind of circular doesn't it? dan lothian in washington, d.c. for thus morning. dan, sounds like it could be a little bit chilly. a different conversation with the victims of gun violence

we'll look with jen psaki, jonathan capehart, and hans nichols, who first broke the treasury news. >>us, christie's big state of the state media tour raises new questions about the state of the gop. we will talk party problems and hell no politics. >>> and aig looks into the mouth of a gift horse. ezra klein on bailouts, lawsuits, and the future on financial regulations. all that when "now" starts in a mere 190 seconds. roadside assistance is there 24/7. oh dear, i got a flat tire. hmmm. uh... yeah, can you find a take where it's a bit more dramatic on that last line, yeah? yeah i got it right here. someone help me!!! i have a flat tire!!! well it's good... good for me. what do you think? geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.

jen psaki. and what about the money hinted this? diane swonk, we'll talk with her as well and after a national outcry, an attorney has stopped a lawsuit over the shooting at newtown elementary school. why he filed the suit in the first place and where it stands now. >>> amazing video. a rescue attempt goes awry. a sledder fell into an icy lake this is ma helm. one man able to use a rope, get everyone out. amazing video. we'll talk about the whole thing and that man helped get the man out of the water, he'll be here live. >> great. >> i was watching that. i thought it was a joke at first. run weave the other after the other. >>> in los angeles, a photographer killed last night trying to get a shot of justin bieber. the man snapped pictures of a sports car he thought the popstar was in and then struck and killed while crossing a freeway to get back to his own car. in a statement, justin bieber said he wasn't in the car. >>> city officials in montreal, canada, said half of the city streets are clear. record snowfall made for a pictures

and jen psaki, the traveling press secretary for president obama's re-election campaign. >>> and a sharkning to stay off a florida beach, thanks to gps. a scientist who tracks great white sharks and how you can follow them as well in real time. >>> plus, she's beautiful and smart. the model cameron russell will join us to tell us she thinks young ladies should not following in her career path. she gave a talk all about that. looking forward to that. >> speech so interesting. >> interesting, right? don't want to be this. and yet at the same time, she has a great message for young women. they can be anything they want. >> 42 minutes after the hour. 2012, a year for the record books. weatherwise, not necessarily a good way. alexandra steele with the numbers. >> 2012, warmest year on record, besting 1998 by 1 degrees, usually 1/10 a degree is the records, not a full degree. warmest march on record and july 2012, hottest month ever recorded in the lower 48. going down in the record books as one of the driest. the drought worst since the '50s, really exacerbating that dry, hot conditions, that

. >> jen psaki, thank you for coming in and sharing with us your thoughts. >> my pleasure. >>> earth for a close encounter, get this, with an asteroid. up next, will there be any threat to the united states when we're closer to the asteroid than we are to the moon. and at the top of the hour, it's the first day of a new session of congress. the house speaker, john boehner, already facing some push bam from his own party. b blp. >>> an asteroid is on track to make a relatively close car with earth. key words, relatively close. in fact, so close that it will come between us and the moon and even closer than major communication satellites. cnn meteorologist chad myers is tracking this asteroid for us. chad, we're talking pretty short distance, relatively speaking, when it comes to space. >> yeah, only 14,000 miles. and that's just a little more than the old cars had for a warranty, a 12,000 mile warranty. so it's going to be very close. it's not going to hit the earth. we already know that. but what it's going to do, wolf, it's actually going to come between where our satellites are, ev

psaki. take us inside the president's challenge. jen, let's start with you.ank you. >> after the 2008 election, the entire country had this history before us. there was this hopeful moment. we're in a very polarized town right now. what's the challenge for the president? >> well, one advantage, let me start with that, is coming out of election night or actually on election night, the president was really reflective on the fact that it felt sweeter. you know, he had to work harder for it. it was -- you know, nobody knew what was going to happen the day before even though we felt good. that gave him some real confidence going into his second term. but definitely, we're not facing an economic crisis, so that's an advantage. however, the country is divided. he knows he has to be creative about his path forward and if he wants to get things like immigration and gun control legislation reform done, he's got to figure out how to find coalitions and how to do it in a creative way. >> you know, bill, i'm curious, people have talked a lot about president obama as a gif