you heard mike viqueira. you were the man in riyadh. does it agree with what you saw when you were in place? >> absolutely and the first issue is offering condolence. it's a wonderful tradition. three days after the passing. the fact that you have brought a delegation going back four different presidencies. people that knew king abdullah sending a symbol of respect, and i am sure it was embraced and treasured by people there. there are substantive issues. and by other members of the delegation. they decide the intelligence community, and members of congress. again, they get a say in the relationship as well. it was a powerful signal. >> are the two countries really friends, or given the state of play in the world, do they simply get pushed into each other's arms. >> it is a great friendship between the saudi arabia and the u.s. government. absolutely. they have difficulternalent interest. for the most part saudi arabia has served the united states more than the other way around. if you look at the middle east a country that has a lot of

that's mike viqueira. when we come back, who is king salman? more on the sucks session and succession and leadership. stay with us. it's inside story. >> this is inside story on al jazeera america. i'm ray suarez. as saudis mourn the death of king abdullah. the two corinthians often see eye to--the two countries often see eye to eye but often don't. you heard mike viqueira's overview of the visit. you were our man in riyadh for four years. did that basically scan with what you know of the place and doing business with the two countries? >> absolutely. the first issue is offering condolence. it's a wonderful tradition in that part of the world. three days of condolence after the passing. the fact that you've brought a delegation that goes back four different presidencies, people that knew king abdullah sends a very powerful signal of respect and i'm sure that was embraced and treasured by the people there. there are substantive issues to talk about. not just between the president and king salman, but other members of the delegation be they on th

mike viqueira is in washington, d.c. this morning. mike republicans have been digging into her background what are we expecting them to grill her about? >> well dell you are absolutely right. in the sense that loretta lynch is not expected to face any real opposition to this nomination by president obama. but if you look at what republicans have been saying it is clear they are going to use this as a stage for a referendum on president obama and on her predecessor, should she be confirmed and that is eric holder. they are going to hit her and try to figure out what we are goals, her ideas, and whether she will support the policies put forth by eric holder and president obama. we will see fireworks from the likes of senator ted cruz he is on this panel. his wing man is there as well. you are going to see her attack her on that issue as well as things like voter id laws republicans accuse the administration of lax enforcement on those. but she is an individual who has been endorsed by everybody from the former mayor of new york city. and

mike viqueira is in washington, d.c. this morning. ike republicans have been digging into her background what are we expecting them to grill her about? >> well dell you are absolutely right. in the sense that loretta lynch is not expected to face any

let'slet's go to mike viqueira. what's going on, mike. >> theysecurity was deployed at synagogues trying to protect in the aftermath of violence we've seen in france and belgium. british prime minister david cameron met with president obama. they were in lock step at the white house. agreeing on the means to battle what they called extremism in the attacks that parks sparks worldwide. >> in this poison news death cult of a narrative of islam. >> looking at a way around encryption technology now built in many signs. if they refuse certain sites may be banned in the u.k. >> we're not asking for back doors. we believe in clear front doors through local processes that should help keep our country safe. >> that stance has sparked controversy, but president obama agreed worried that law enforcement may be hampered without access. >> despite knowing that information, despite having a phone number or despite a social media address or e-mail address that we we can't penetrate that. that's a problem. >> but mr. obama said that

. >> al jazeera's mike viqueira at the white house, mike thank you. >>> for how all of this place outitically, we turn to al jazeera's political correspondent mike michael shure. so is this a wise strategy for the president to signal essentially war? >> well you talk about the politics david, and what mike viqueira said is right, there is no chance this is going to passite ever house of congress. but this puts the republicans in a position to defend the wealthy. going into 2016 that's not where they want to be it was a formal that didn't work for them before, and we have talked much much more in the past few years about income and equality and that is going to be in the forefront of the election. >> in the polls the president's approval rating is starting to tick up as more as more americans start to think maybe the middle class haven't seen their wages go up but other areas are getting stronger. >> what the white house, the president and the candidates who will be running for the presidency need to do is to find a way to articulate that. 61%, largely it is even higher than that only

mike viqueira for us at the white house. thank you. >>> the u.s. is preparing to send hundreds of soldiers to the middle east train syrian rebels in their fight against isil. 400 more soldiers will head to the region in the spring. isil executed 17 people in syria in the last two days. now kurdish forces from iran are joining the coalition's fight. we have an exclusive report from erbil. >> reporter: this is northern iraq. a month ago it was in the grip of the islamic state in iraq and the levant. it is now under the control of these men. they have been fighting for autonomy for iran's minority for many years. they are now supporting the kurdish forces known as peshmerga. >> kurdistan is not separate nations. it is rather one nation. it is our motherland. we will do our best to defend it and protect it from any danger. >> reporter: it's a sentiment shared by their kinsmen. >> we consider ourselves as one fighting isil. after all all in this region, syria, turkey, iraq and russian are now fighting the enemy together. >> reporter: all the front lines

mike viqueira joins us from the white house. mike, both sides seem to be digging in their heels. how is the white house responding? >> reporter: they're threatening a veto, and there is no question about it, that this is going to go to the mat these two sides. the president's executive actions allows parents to stay in these parents without fear of prosecution or deportation for up to three years. republicans, you heard it all before calling president obama an emperor. now they're in control of the house and senate they're trying to turn back the president's initiatives. they're trying to do it with a fund that funds the department of homeland security. remember all the immigration security and agencies full under homeland security. they want to defund everything that will allow the department to carry out the president's executives orders. it was a very, very animated debate on the house of representatives, on the floor today. let's listen to a little bit of the back and forth. >> mr. speaker last year i promised my con sit went constituents that in the new year we would bring t

mike viqueira at the white house.both sides seem to be digging in on their positions here. >> right. >> how is the white house responding? >> republicans feel that this was a mandate after the voters and influx of conservativers in the house of representatives. they didn't stop it trying to reverse or defund what the president wants to do in terms of those executive orders allowing the parents of those individuals who are legal citizens or have a green card or citizens of this country to stay as parents in this country. some 4 million. they went further than that. they went to try to defund the president's dreamer's action in 2012. stopping enforcing deportation proceedings against the children themselves. those who were brought to this children not from their own volition, from their parents. it was a heated debate. there were some republicans frankly, 26 of them that voted with the democrats on reversing that dreamer provision. so it wasn't necessarily an unified republican front. let's give a taste of both sides of

mike viqueira joins us live now from the white house. mike did anything productive come out of this meeting? >> tony, this is the equivalent of a boxing match when fighters come to the middle of the ring and touch gloves. and the referee will say when the bell rings come out swinging. the leaders sitting in the west wing talking about what they could get done this year. the house of representatives were trying to defund the president's immigration executive orders. there are a whole host of issues where they're at each other. as a matter of fact, the president has issued some five veto threats congress is barely a week old. on the immigration reform, defunding that, the house is trying to do. the keystone pipeline, as we know trying to turn back, repeal or replace the affordable care act otherwise known as obamacare. all those moving to the congressional republican congressional congress. all of them now at a veto threat. prospects are not all that great that things will get accomplished. >> what is the likelihood that anything gets done

. >> mike viqueira joins us now from washington. how is the obama administration responding to these shootings and also to the continuing manhunt? >> well, good morning to you. from the oval office and throughout the united states, calls for the firm defense of freedom of expression, and for solidarity with the french in the wake of the shootings. president obama condemned the shooting spree in paris calling the killings courtly and evil. >> those who carry out attacks against innocent civilians ultimately they'll be forgotten. >> mr. obama spoke with the french president by phone offering sympathy and support. >> our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those who have been lost in france. >> the president expressed words of solidarity with the people of paris, calling france one of our oldest allies. meanwhile, the f.b.i. is assisting the french with their investigation. >> we are working with them, will do everything we can to help them bring to justice the perpetrators of the atrocity that happened in paris. >> secretary

. >> for more on the view from the white house, we have patricia sagba joining us, mike viqueira the expectation was that there would not be much drama when this took place what's happening. >> if it mr. a year ago there might be more concern about the state of the bilateral relationship because it was about a year ago in march of last year when president obama was forced more or less to go to saudi arabia to go to to to riyadh saudi arabia was upset with the obama administration, and president obama had to mend fences in a very brief visit to riyadh and king abdullah, and his compound in the desert. there were splits over egypt. of course initially the united states had supported the muslim brotherhood. that was an them ma to the saudis and the there. the red line that was crossed and yet president obama did not launch the promised airstrikes, instead deferring to congress. saudi arabia want the president obama to get tougher with bashar al-assad. and of course, iran, the secret talks that led up to the current public on going p5+1 talks those went on behind the backs of the saudi.

question gowe go to mike viqueira. how did it go? >> there were close ties that president obama feels are very important with saudi arabia and the new king salman. president obama and first lady michelle obama being greeted by king salman himself another demonstration of thou important they consider this relationship. national security figures were republican administrations condoleezza rice and others. they had found continuity on a whole host of issues from iran, oil, syria where they have agreement and differences. hitting wave tops key issues is how the white house described it talking about what is going on in the fight against isil where saudi warplanes are flying in an american coalition in airstrikes. and where the saudis are still upset with the obama administration. one of the more forthright stance. they talked about iraqi unity the president was there for four and a half hours. first he had dinner with the king. then an hour long meeting and the president and his entourage reboarded air force one to arrive back here. >> w

mike viqueira packing his bags i think for his trip to cuba. [ laughter ] >> mike 66 pages that outlineules and regulations around the so-called normalization of some relations, what has it got on it? >> the administration put some meat on the bones on the president's announcement from december 17th when he said he wanted to normalize relations with cuba. you mentioned a couple of the provisions, they are traveling now, you don't need a license to go although the administration points outs if you are just a tourist and you want to go hang out on the beach or smoke a cigar in havana you still technically would not be allowed to do that but one gets the impression that some of these restrictions are not going to be that strict. and telecom, trying to enhance communication on the island. remember there are only 11 million people here. what he administration is trying to do is leverage this opening into a political opening in cuba. telecommunications the ability to communicate back and forth between the united states and the rest of the world would enhance that in their view also you can se

mike viqueira has the details. >> the two controlled by republicans is a week and no fewer than five vetos have been issued against republican sponsored legislation. it was as if the begin of the boxing match where the two fighters come out and touch gloves before the rumble begins and in the house of representatives, they were trying to turn back the president's immigration reform initiative. talking about the keystone pipe line a veto threat on that. and moving forward to bypass the administration of the affordable care act. they call it obama care. efforts to tweak or replace portions of that. the president promised a veto. there were areas of agreement in the course of the next few months. chiefly it emerged from the meaning of the military force, in the fight against i.s.i.l. the president after the election said he wanted to renew that relying on the old authorisations from 2001 to 2003. there's some common ground. he can move forward to get a fresh authorisation. there's talk of possible deals on corporate tax reform and on two big trade deals with the asia pacific and europe.

mike viqueira, first of all good to see you. what will we expect to hear from the president tonight. >> this time of year is very special. everybody is in the same room. everybody is listening and there is roadblock coverage across the board. a lot of pageant try and a lot of ceremony. you look beyond that, and these two sides the republicans and president obama are on a collision course. just today we saw the president issue the sixth and seventh veto threat. congress has only been in session for two weeks. the republicans want to demonstrate to their base that they're in control. they're passing legislation to roll back the fordable care act and ease legislation on pipeline construction outside of keystone. that was the subject of one of the veto threats today. meanwhile, the president is touring the country and the with an unconventional roll out giving a glimpse to his speech before hands raising taxes on the rich, and really appealing to the democratic base. >> it is going to be an economic stage tonight. it's going to be t

mike viqueira has more from the white house. >> the fallout continues after a series of missteps and improvements on the part of the -- embarrassments on the part of the secret service in relation to the agency the first family and here at the white house and abroad. four senior directors who oversee the core mission of protection of the first family and the president and investigations have been asked to either resign retire or find positions within the department that oversees the secret session, the department of homeland security. the acting director. secret service, joe clancy releasing a statement announcing the moves saying in part: so the move now comes after these gaffs - chiefly omore gonzalez the man that jumped the white house fence, making it across the lawn into the white house, only to be captured or detained in the east room 10 minutes after the first family left the white house. there was the profit it use scandal -- prostitution scandal involving agents at an international conference. shots fired at the white house striking the south lawn dismissed by the secret ser

and also our thanks to jamie macintyre, and mike viqueira.gain, the headline the president urging congress not to pass a resolution that would force sanctions on iron if negotiations over nuclear weapons failed. the president said that would be unproductive. we'll more on that throughout the day here on al jazeera america. i'm david shuster. thanks for watching. >> monday. the most secretive nation on earth. >> we're heading to the border between north and south korea. >> a rare glimpse inside. >> kim jong un sometimes does strange things, but he is smart. >> as tensions escalate, what will be the fallout? >> we're still at a state of war with north korea. >> we have to be ready to fight tonight. >> "faultlines". al jazeera america's hard-hitting. >> today they will be arrested. >> ground-breaking. >> they're firing canisters of gas at us. >> emmy award-winning, investigative series. new episode. "hidden state: inside north korea. monday 9:00 eastern. only on al jazeera america. >>> israel slams the international criminal court's decision to

mike viqueira is at the white house. i don't know if you're really there or just a replay of the conversation that we had yesterday because i feel like it's all going to be the same conversation. we just sub in immigration and dodd-frank for whatever else. give me--touch usual right ear lobe to prove that it's really you. >> yes, that's right. proof of life. hold up today's newspaper with today's date and headline. groundhog day, here we are. the house of representatives. part of this is republican leadership, they're stuck. they know this does not play well nationally, politically with the presidential election year coming up in 2016. they know that the sooner they get this off the table they sort of let the air out of the balloon and sort of let the conservative and tea party base punch itself out. the sooner they can get on to other things that they want to do, things they want to accomplish, to demonstrate that they can govern to lay the political groundwork . they didn't even stop there. they didn't stop at defundin

senior washington correspondent mike viqueira has more. >> it is an open breach now, not only between president obama, the white house and house speaker john boehner, but between the president and binyamin netanyahu, of course the leader of a key american alley in israel. no secret there's no love lost. it's well documented. it stems from john boehner's defiant invitation to binyamin netanyahu to come to washington and address a joint session of congress. john boehner, nor binyamin netanyahu informed the white house. the white house says he will not be invited to come to the west wing and sit with president barack obama for a bit lateral meeting. a statement was put out reading: house democratic leader pell r took out after binyamin netanyahu directly on the same point. >> i don't think that's appropriate for any country that the head of state would come here within two weeks of his own election in his own country. >> john boehner's invitation comes a day after president obama threatened to veto legislation tight thing sanctions against iran as the talks enter is sensitive stage. thos

mike viqueira is in d.c.h more. >> reporter: john you can look at it as the black cloud inside the silver lining of economic growth with the gdp almost booming, the fastest growth since 1999. the unemployment dropping along with gas prices now, and an extraordinary economic story, but what is that black cloud? job and income growth. incomes have stagnated. they have not seen the benefits of a growing economic. -- so you are going to see the president proposing new ideas to get lower income and middle-income growth rising again, and you are going to see republicans seizing on that over the neck couple of weeks. we have seen the president touring the country, talking about his ideas to share some of the wealth of the country. free two-year community college one proposal guaranteed paid sick leave to some 40 million american workers who lack that. and the way he is going to do that is $320 billion in tax hikes over any next ten years primarily aimed at wealthier americans. the estate tax going up capital gains t

mike viqueira at the white house for us. with all that is going on in the world. the two leaders come back to iran today. >> these were the questions those talks to suspend iran's nuclear program that potentially would have military applications have been extended once. they've been extended another time. now the president said they're less than a 5050 chance of succeeding. given all that what is happening now in the republican-controlled congress is a new sanctions bill moving towards congress to improve economic sanctions on iran and here is prime minister david cameron visiting with the president. a close working relationship. they're calling on lawmakers not to do it. they would be back to square one and military operations and strikes would ensue around the iran nuclear facility. those are how high the stakes are. president obama asking congress, quote, hold your fire on those sanctions. let's see if we can get that deal with iran. if we do, it would be historic. here's a little bit more of what he had to say. >> congress should be aware if this democratic di

mike viqueira has more. >> reporter: to a certain extent, the abduction and the presumed killing of the students has overshadowed this visit. as the two leaders met in the west wing, protests from a very vocal group. protests all over mexico in the past months as the 43 students were presumed abducted by local law enforcement officials in mexico and presumed perhaps with the knowledge of the federal initials and that's the allegation, and it has wracked mexico and it's politics, sending the president's approval ratings to the lowest of a mexican leader in two decades. president obama sat in the oval office with his mexican counter participate, and the president spoke briefly about the controversy surrounding the students. >> our commitment is to be a friendly supporter of mexico in its efforts to eliminate the scourge of violence and the drug cartels that are responsible for so much tragedy inside of mexico, and we want to be a good partner in that process. realizing that ultimately, it will be up to mexico and it's law enforcement to carry out key decisions that need to be made. >> now

mike viqueira is at the white house. >> there's an irony here we heard leaders talk about the need to demonstrate that they can govern that they can do it with minimal drama. and little vitriol. here is the irony of that many of the people that they are trying to clear the field for, so the republican presidential raise can get the attention, many likely to do the fighting and the biggest thorn - those running to live in the building beginning in january 2017. they include ted cruz. already who has been a thorn in the side. leading a filibuster. rand paul and marco rubio, who are fighting the leadership on a host of fronts and on the democratic side elizabeth warren urged to get into the raise, running from the left and bernie sanders considering the same thing. >> you basically described a recipe for gridlock. is there anything republicans can do? >> fix, there's an agreement between the president and the republicans, that's the worst fears that the president will go behind them cutting deals on tax. they want to lower tax on trade deals in the offing and infrastructure spending. we

. >> mike viqueira at the white house and now to detroit where the north american auto show is in full swing. it has been a chance for the rebounding u.s. auto industry to show that it's back on track. but there's one small car the german volkswagen, good news for detroit. but it's still going to be a long road for the motor city. the city is emerging from bankruptcy trying to bounce back from tough times and right now there isn't enough money. here's allen fisher. >> snow is a great leveler. leveler, it makes everything the same. but it hides many things. here in detroit, it's hard to see the warm. a bit like the city itself. there's a feeling, a suggestion that detroit is on its way back after it's controversial bankruptcy. the people and businesses are being attracted to the city center, but there's also a feeling and a suggestion that those in the edge of the city, just a few kilometers away, are already being left behind. north end was once a thriving community. but those are gone. abandoned homes, shelly davis has lived here for 20 years, and she thought about leaving. she feels

on the agenda with the monarch and we have more from senior washington cnt mike viqueira. >> it was aisit heavy on symbolism and substance thrown in. president obama cutting short his visit to india by a day. reading to riyadh by michelle obama, where they were met on the tarmac at the airport by king sulman. president obama there to may respects to the saudi arabia royal family and king abdullah the late king and meet king salman. he brought along a great lot of dignitaries, from his former administration and the new one. including condoleezza rice. they had dipper and hit the wave tops - quote/unquote - and the key issues the fight against i.s.i.l. and saudi planes flying and dropping bombs in iraq and syria. they talked about the bashar al-assad regime a sore point between saudi arabia and the united states. the saudis want to see a forceful military posture by the americans against the bashar al-assad regime. the obama administration is reluctant to do so. they spoke about iraqi military and sectarian divisions, and the situation in yemen, to the south, the situation in iran and t

mike viqueira at the white house, and president obama said that he wants to be a cyber crime fighter and he unveiled his proposal to beef up security after the central chant were hacked. we turn to jamie mcintyre in washington >> reporter: there's not of that president obama and those who control congress agree on these days, but they did find common ground on improving the nation's cyber defenses. hacking of sony pictures, along with the tiber gee hide with the youtube and twitter pains has created a rare consensus between democrats and republicans that new laws are meant to counter cyber attacks. the president cited security that should unite the divided government. >> it goes to show how much work we need to do in the private and the public sector to make sure that family's bank accounts are safe, and the infrastructure are safe. >> the white house has old ideas in the new congress, and among other things, encourage private companies that are hacked to share more data with the government, but only after scrubbing it to remove private information, bot nets, they would be outlawed,

. >> mike viqueira thank you. >>> now to cairo, egypt's interior minister is denying that security forcesvolved in the killing of more than 20 protesters. protesters were observing the third anniversary of the uprising that overthrow former president mubarak. >> john egypt's interior member is blaming the muslim brotherhood for the violence. but activists insist it was security forces. among them include this woman. a warning here some of the images are graphic. this video shows her involved in cairo on saturday protesting with members of an opposition party. they are chanting bread, freedom, and social justice, a slogan of the 2011 uprising. moments later, she is on the ground and two gunmen in black appear. a series of graphic photos shows what happens next. a man runs to help her, embraces her, picks her up and carries her away. she died soon after. members of her party say police shot her. other activists also blame the police. >> translator: it has clearly been proven until now is the killers are the security forces. therefore the special authorities should look for the killer, and t

mike viqueira has more. >> reporter: president obama spent part of his friday in knoxville, tennessee tennessee a state he seldom visits a ruby red state. he was there for one reason only and that is residents of that state pay nothing zero, in two-year community college tuition. that is a program that the president announced he wants to spread nationwide. >> today i'm announcing an ambitious new plan to bring down the cost of community college tuition. i want to bring it down to zero. [ cheering ] >> the catch you must maintain a gpa and halftime work load in college. 9million students would benefit over the course of the year saving an estimated $3,800 on average over a year. another catch as far as washington politics are concerned, republicans are very luke warm to the proposal. they say the white house has not affixed a price tag although it would cost some $60 billion over the next ten years. the federal government would pick up three-quarters of the bills. the states would be expected to pick up the rest. this comes in the face of rising college costs. there is no secret that t

mike viqueira? >> reporter: tony, the president is doing what presidents do, he is is building on the momentum and exposure by taking his case out of washington and into the american people. but even as he tells new proposals there are questions about what he put in the speech and what he left out. president obama the day after. on the road in boise idaho pressing his agenda even as many dismiss it as a pipe dream. >> for six years we've been working to rebuild our economy on a new foundation. what i want people to know thanks to your hard work and resilience, america is coming back. >> president obama seemed self assured and defiant after turning the page on the economy and conflict abroad. he has been downed the robin hood approach in the process the president coined a new page. >> that's what middle class economics is. the idea that this country does best when everyone gets their fair shot. everyone does their fair share. everyone plays by the same set of rules. we don't just want people to chair

mike viqueira joins us from the white house. take us through the changes. >> it's a sweeping set of measures meant to put the meat on the bones to the president's historic announcement in december 17th, his intention to normalize relations with cuba after a 54 year freeze with that country, and the castro regime that runs it. >> some of the provisions have to do with travel first of all. you can go according to the administration releasing a list of 12 reasons to visit cuba where you will not have to get a licence. you had to do so before. those include family visit, centered around education or religious purposes. general tourism as you noted is prohibited, so you can't fly down to cuba rest on the beach or lay on the beach. some will try to do that. >> telecommunications - something that's been much sought after by the industry. export restrictions eased for cellphones and software to be sent to cuba and sending money. if you are a cuban american many rely as a lifeblood, money sent by relatives, previous restrictions. you can

mike viqueira is at the white house. the president is not the only one travelling to saudi arabia since the death of king abdullah. what is happening there? >> that's right. it's a measure of the economic and strategic importance of saudi arabia that there is a stream of foreign dignitaries travelling to iraq paying respects to king abdullah who passed away last week and to the new king. king salman. the prince of japan arrived there. japan is a country dependent on foreign oil and saudi arabia is the largest exporter of crude oil in the world. also the president of venezuela, president nicolas maduro arrived in riyadh a member - leader of an o.p.e.c. nation an oil producer. of vital interest. president obama, as you mentioned, cutting short a visit to the taj mahal in india. that was to be day three. he himself, the white house changing course after saying vice president joe biden would attend. now, president obama making the trip from india to riyadh to pay respects to the saudi arabia royal family to help ensure sa sm

and mike viqueira, your reaction. >> i think that she did what she needed to.and all of the republican points, and referenced her story, humble beginnings, up from the bootstraps, from the bread bags around your feet in the know in this case. a fine performance and well delivered and i don't know if it's going to be remembered to a great extent. >> jeannie, what was your reaction? >> it seems that the republican talking points and that's not what she needed to do. she deliver today fine, but this is such a tough speech to give, and she needed to say something memorable and even two seconds later you're not going to find much of this memorable. she kept saying we're going to do this and that and none of it will stick and resonate. so i think it's a lost opportunity for her and quite frankly, the republicans. this is a constituency that they desperately need to reach out to. it's not enough to have a woman up there but you have to speak to women. >> you have had a women twice. >> it's great to elect women and put them out there but you have to speak to female vot

little early in the year for this, but it is as a matter of fact groundhog day congressional, mike viqueirae republicans have gotten control of both houses of congress, and is there any reason to believe that this won't continue for two years? >> yes, you've seen the movie. obamacare repeal, that's coming down the pipe too. and i heard you tease by saying the prices are dropping and are republicans going to hold onto the cherished dream of forcing the obama administration to build the keystone pipeline. and this is a goal of the republican base, and that's why mitch mcconnell as one, they numbered the bills in the house, the first one put forth a mitch mcconnell today x. his first act as majority leader is approving the keystone pipe line. they won't have to ram it now, they can do pretty much anything they want when it comes to something like this and in the senate, they're going to take it up soon enough, ali. and today, we got, no mistake, the first day of congress, while they're being coy at the white house, the president hemming and hawing whether he's going to veto it or not, he said

senior washington correspondent mike viqueira reports. >> reporter: the administration on jonnaynouncing a sweeping set of measures designed to fill in the blanks. the president's historic and dramatic announcement on december 17th of his intention to normalized relations with cuba after more than a half century freeze in those relations. travel restrictions are going to beized. there are now 12 categories where you can file with the government to the travel to coupe including family visits education visits visits centered around religious enterprise as well. no special license will be needed as happened in the past. but there is no full lifting of the ban on tourism. in other words, you simple can't go to cuba to go to the beach or to go to resort on vacation. that is being restricted. also now the administration is saying credit cards can be used for the first time whether you go to cuba. you can use your credit card while you are there. perhaps most significantly are the easing of limitations on how much money can be sent by cuban americans and others to cuba. of course this is the li

. >> let's bring in senior washington correspondent mike viqueira and jeannie zano. your reaction to what you saw tonight. >> i've been watching the speeches of many americans covering the white house and congress for a while now. it was probably the most at ease i've seen president obama. you ever to go back to the 2004 speech at the boston convention that launched him into the national spotlight. he coined a phrase tonight really unrestrained optimism, i thought about the economy. that's something we're unused to seeing. the people will always throw in but people are hurting we've built thousands of jobs over the past years but have to do better. tonight, you heard that, but not as much of it. the president was throwing caution to the wind. since the election, it's as if a burden has been lifted from him. he is through with trying to play nice with republicans through with the charm offensive. he's just going for it and hoping that republicans come along. you heard him coin the phrase middle class economics, talked about child care tax credits about his initiative

. >> mike viqueira and libby casey is our team in washington. >>> this year one of the defining politicalues is immigration and president obama's executive action to create a path towards citizenship for millions of people living illegally in the u.s. it's a common criticism that undocumented workers take jobs away from u.s. citizens by working for less money, but sometimes illegal i am dprants are the job creators. we have more. duarte, fascinating story youen covered. >> it is. most people don't realize u.s. law doesn't prohibit undocumented iment grants from owning businesses, and by some estimates hundreds of small businesses are owned by undocumented entrepreneurs who ironically employ u.s. citizens. >> it's like a cheese bowl. >> they own a bakery in north philadelphia. they're also undocumented i am the grants and came to the u.s. 11 years ago when tamara was 15. after years of working odd and insecure jobs, they decided to start their own business in 2009. >> it was just making sense for our own security and the economic security for the business even though we didn't know along t

mike viqueira has more on the story from the white house. >> president obama traveled to knoxville, tennesseen friday. that is a state where residents pay zero, no tuition for two year community colleges, a program the president announced he casualty to extend wide. >> i'm announcing an mmm wishes plan to bring down the cost of community college in america. i want to bring it down to zero. >> the white house estimates some 9 million students could ultimately benefit and save an average of $3,800 a year. another problem an estimated cost of some $60 billion a year nationwide over 10 years represents in congress who control both the house and senate have balked at that price tag. college costs continue to skyrocket, now an average of $9,000 a year in tuition approximate you're in state at a public four year affairs. mr. obama was on the last day of a three day swing touting the economy and taking credit for much of the improvement seen over the last couple months. >> you're saving a buck 10 a gallon on a tank of gas over this time last year. >> the president is building momentum for his state o