." >>> today, the president hosted a screening of nbc's white house comedy "1600 penn" which centers on a goofy guy who keeps embarrassing the white house. or as joe biden put it, why's everybody looking at him? [ laughter ] >>> here's a look at other stories making news in "early today" in america. passengers were tossed around when a new york ferry slammed into a new york pier. the crash let over 70 people blooded and battered. the national transportation safety board has launched a team to investigate the accident. >>> and new york firefighters were investigating a cable snap. >>> a drug deal bust turned baltimore streets into a drag strip. a female suspect led police on a hair-raising chase for 30 minutes before they pinned her in and made their arrest. >>> a washington woman decided an uninvited guest under her home. she learned of her intruder when her heating system began working improperly. repairman discovered bottles in a drawl space that the stranger may have been living in for over a year. >>> and finally, passengers spotsed pooch running around. emergency operators were

. >>> today the president hosted a screening of nbc's white house comedy 1600 penn which centers on ambarrassing the white house. or as joe biden said, why is everyone looking at me. they're promising special perks for donors who give at least $1 million. which is cool. you know what else could give you a lot of perks, keeping that $1 million. >>> hunger games was the big winner last night at the people's choice awards. adam sandler won favorite comedic actor. >>> beyonce is leaving little to the imagination on the cover of this month's "gq" magazine. the singer wearing a football jersey will be performing at the super bowl halftime show next month. >>> jimmy kimmel's move to 11:35 proved half-successful. david letterman was knocked down to third place. >>> little league is being accused of stealing a bracelet that belonged to liz taylor. the bracelet now belongs to taylor's longtime nurse. short time later it disappeared from the nurse's house. >>> jennifer lopez said her mental age is 18. she's currently dating a 25-year-old. i feel like i'm 19. so i understand that. it makes sense

." >>> today the president hosted a screening of nbc's white house comedy "1600 penn" that centers on a groove fi guy that keeps embarrassing the white house. or as joe biden put it, high is everyone looking at me? >>> all right. here's a look at other stories making news "early today america" for you. a suspect led police on a hair-raising chase before they pinned her in and made the arrest there. a washington woman discovered an uninvited guest living under her home. she learned of this intruder when her heating system began working improperly. the heating repairman discovered a ripped heating duct along with beer cans and liquor bottles in a crawl space. the stranger may have been residing there for nearly one year. >>> and then finally, a virginia dog triggered panic when passing drivers spotted the lion or pooch or lion running near the f norfold zoo. >> i'm driving down granby street and there's a lion that ran across the street, a baby lion. >> emergency operators were flooded with calls about the animal who was deliberately groomed to resemble old dominion's mascot, big blue.

nbc white house correspondent peter alexander joins us from washington now with more. hello, peter. >> reporter: lester, good evening to you. with the fiscal cliff crisis barely in our rearview mirror, the white house's decision to pick chuck hagel as secretary of defense is likely to ignite a contentious confirmation battle. congress is out of session this week, but already, talk of the pick is generating stiff opposition. fresh off his hawaiian vacation, president obama is already facing heated debate over his expected pick of former nebraska senator chuck hagel for secretary of defense. >> a person who has a resume that includes service on the foreign relations committee as well as the intelligence committee. yes, he is a serious candidate. >> i think it's an incredibly controversial choice and it looks like the second term of barack obama is going to be an in-your-face term. >> reporter: if nominated and confirmed, hagel would be the first enlisted soldier, the first purple heart-decorated vietnam veteran to serve as defense secretary. the independent-minded member

but we started with a behind-the-scenes look at nbc's white house press office such as it is. >> it'sd here. you know, people think about working at the white house as being one of the most glamorous, ultimate jobs, which it is. but maybe the glamorous part you can correct. >> i think this is what people would be most surprised, perhaps disappointed to see, is that it's not like we have some giant wing of ow own. we have like a teeny nook in the corner. but it's not terrible. nobody's complaining. four people going at once. you'll have chuck todd, kristen welker, myself, a producer will be here, and we'll be side by side by side. not to mention abc, cbs, fox, we're all slammed in the back corner next to one another. so every so often you can hear the other network under deadline screaming something out -- >> and pick up something. you never know. >> usually on sents because they're -- one of the biggest things is when you do these special reports you stand up and here's all the correspondents from the network standing side by side by side all speaking at the same time when they give y

but we started with a behind-the-scenes look at the nbc white house press office, such as it is. 's so crowded in here. you know, people think about working at the white house as being one of the most glamorous, ultimate jobs, which it is, but maybe the glamorous part you can correct. >> this is what people would be most surprised perhaps disappointed to see, not like we have some giant wing in our own. it's a nook in the corner. nobody is complaining, chuck todd, kristen welker, a producer, and myself. side by side by side. not to mention, abc, cbs, fox, all slammed in the back corner. and sometimes you can hear the other networks screaming out due to a deadline sometimes. usually an obscenity. all of the correspondents, side by side by side, speaking at the same time, the 2:00 warning before the president comes out. are you standing side sbid, the entire press corps is staring at you, the president is about to walk through that door, and are you all trying to communicate literally three feet away from each other, when are you blasting your broadcast out. >> you hear them. you he

forward, who better to sort of represent the white house when they try to downsize the pentagon in some form than perhaps a republican senator? thomas. >> nbc'ser alexander live at the white house for us. peter, thanks so much. >>> in talking more about the background of senator chuck hagel and whether or not he's going to be able to make it through the confirmation hearings, there have been certain people on all sides talking about his past. and there are lgbt rights groups who are not so fast to back off their criticism of senator chuck hagel. the group log cabin republicans recently took out a full page ad or ads, that is, the latest one appearing in today's "washington post." the other first appears "new york times" in the saying hagel is wrong on lgbt rights, israel and iran. gregory angelo is the interim executive director of the log cabin republicans and joining me here in studio. great to have you here. congratulations on your new post as you just took over. >> thanks for having me this morning. >> absolutely. one of the first things you guys have been able to do under your watch so far is having to deal with chuck hagel and talking a

joining me for this live coverage is peter alexander, nbc white house correspondent who is joining us now live. i don't think i've ever seen them look quite so relaxed. it looks like they're having a good time. >> yeah, it felt a lot like november 6th. that was election night where the obamas came out and the bidens, did, as well. but recognize, this is as days go, a pretty relaxing one for the president. of course, earlier today, he officially ended his first term but formally began his second with the official swearing in sceremony that took place earlir today. there are many obstacles on the plate of the president from guns to immigration to the still recovering economy. but generally, for the next 24 hours, it's an opportunity for the president to enjoy this moment again. to rally americans together. this is how he will conclude the first night of his second term. but it begins, again, early tomorrow morning. melissa, the president and his family will be crossing the street from where we are at the residence over to st. john's churng, the church of presidents, it's often called wh

those are policies that will hurt our country long term. >> reporter: and tonight, a top white house adviser tells nbc news that the president has finished writing his remarks for his inaugural address tomorrow that he will deliver shortly after completing the ceremonial oath of office. and then, tomorrow night, the obamas, lester, will celebrate with two inaugural balls, compared to ten four years ago. >> all right, peter, thank you. >>> and washington is getting ready for the spectacle that brings at least a sense of unity to this city once every four years. nbc's kelly o'donnell is outside the capitol with that story. kelly, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, lester. this is where it all happens for what is the grandest photo op in american politics. tomorrow, we will see the president walk through that red drape behind me and he will take the ceremonial oath and deliver his inaugural address at the front of that stage. just final touches to go. and counting down to that moment, there was actually plenty to see today. save all the pageantry for tomorrow. ♪ this day before the big show is a st

white house earlier today. so this was a pretty unique experience for some guys who it's hard to imagine could be star struck themselves. >> absolutely. nbchouse correspondent peter alexander. pete, thank you. >>> next, paging dr. ryan. the would-be veep laments what might have been. stay with us. [ coughs ] [ angry gibberish ] i took something for my sinuses, but i still have this cough. [ male announcer ] a lot of sinus products don't treat cough. they don't? [ male announcer ] nope, but alka seltzer plus severe sinus does it treats your worst sinus symptoms, plus that annoying cough. [ breathes deeply ] ♪ oh, what a relief it is! [ angry gibberish ] >>> hurricane sandy smashed into the new jersey coastline on october the 29th. today, the 28th of january, the senate is finally expected to pass a $50 billion emergency aid bill to provide desperately needed relief. but we can only assume that this will upset paul ryan and the 179 house republicans who voted against the bill. their reason? well, vague claims of unnecessary spending, the usual republican approach to most budget battles. but whatever you do, don't you dare call that austerit

kristen welker is nbc's white house correspondent. kristen, good morning and happy new year to you. 's the white house expecting today? >> reporter: good morning and happy new year to you, chris. well, i think they are feeling optimistic about their chances of their legislation making its way through the house. of course, you had mitch mcconnell and vice president biden as the lead negotiators, but they were in close contact with leaders in the house as well, with minority leader nancy pelosi, with speaker boehner. and there's one source who's familiar with these negotiations who said mitch mcconnell is a savvy politician. he would not have signed off on this deal if he didn't think it had a very strong chance of making its way through the house. and remember also, chris, this passed with broad bipartisan support, 89 votes. so, that is going to make it easier for speaker boehner to say to his conference, look, this passed with broad bipartisan support in the senate. this is not a perfect deal, but we should pass this deal. there's also a careful political calculation going on here, c

. >> for more on all of this, i want to bring in nbc white house correspondent, kristin welker, whatesident looking at when he heads back east? >> reporter: well, a lot of budget battles, despite that the fight over the fiscal cliff was resolve happen. they will face three big budget battles coming up on the horizon and analysts say that could sideline part of his second determine agenda which he will map out once he leaves hawaii. president obama soaking up on the final hours of vacation before he and congress engage in their next fiscal fight. at the top of the list, the debt ceiling, which is like the nation's credit card and it's about to

play in your day. >> president obama had a working lunch with hamid karzai after a meeting -- nbc white houseorrespondent kristen welker joins us now with the details of the meeting. kristen, tell us the latest. >> good afternoon, alex. the key topic of conversation here this afternoon at the white house is that timeline for troop withdraw. i can tell you that we don't expect president obama to announce actual numbers when he addresses the nation during a joint news conference a little bit later on this afternoon along with afghan president hamid karzai, but the question is how many troops will remain after 2014? for the very first time this week the white house signalled that the president was open to having a zero troop presence in afghanistan after 2014. a lot of people wondering if they're just saying that as a bargaining chip or if the president is actually considering that. some commanders have suggested that the troops remain at a level of 6,000 to 15,000. right now there are 66,000 troops in afghanistan. either way, alex, it appears as though the white house is leaning toward a more s

speaking of obama, today, the president hosted a screening of nbc's white house comedy, "1600 penn," oofy guy who keeps embarrassing the white house. or as joe biden put it, "why's everyone looking at me?" [ laughter ] here's a big story. lance armstrong will sit down for a 90-minute interview with oprah that will air next week. [ audience oohs ] 90 minutes -- so, it'll be a little suspicious when he finishes in just 60 minutes. [ laughter ] what happened? i don't believe it. >> steve: that's nuts. >> jimmy: what did you say? >> steve: what's that? >> jimmy: what did you say? >> steve: i said it's nuts. [ laughter ] [ cheers and applause ] sorry. i'm sorry. >> jimmy: it actually isn't -- >> steve: it's nuts. >> jimmy: -- it actually isn't nuts. >> steve: it's nuts. >> jimmy: it is, yeah. [ laughter ] >> steve: nuts. >> jimmy: this isn't good, you guys. [ laughter ] you guys, i read that iran is behind some recent cyber attacks against american banks. yeah. people could tell something was going on when they started seeing a convenience of three goats. [ laughter ] i gotta do it. [ in f

nbc white house correspondent kristen welker tells you about the grueling life out on the campaign traillus the moment she knew the president was headed to victory. >>> first, a big money mistake in canada. putting one of its symbols, a maple leaf, on its new $20. however, it's the wrong kind of maple leaf. known for its north american sugar maples instead put the norway maple on its currency. no word if there will be a reprinting. hi, i'm phil mickelson. i've been fortunate to win on golf's biggest stages. but when joint pain and stiffness from psoriatic arthritis hit, even the smallest things became difficult. i finally understood what serious joint pain is like. i talked to my rheumatologist and he prescribed enbrel. enbrel can help relieve pain, stiffness, and stop joint damage. enbrel may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, nervous system and blood disorders, and allergic reactions have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis and discuss whether you

. >> we're youned by nbc news white house correspondent kristin welker live at the white house.ining me. >> reporter: thanks for having me. >> the so the hearing is going on, mixed reviews. how concerned or is the white house concerned about hagel's performance today? >> reporter: i think the white house was prepared for this to be a tough confirmation hearing. i have been speaking to my sources here who say that there have been tough confirmation hearings in the past. they cite the confirmation hearing of treasury secretary timothy geithner. but they still feel confident that he has a very good chance of getting confirmed in large part because you do have these senators who have come out and expressed their support for him in recent days, including chuck schumer as well as republican thad cochran. they're feeling confident he will get confirmed. there's no doubt that today's hearing was at some moments tough for chuck hagel. he got a lot of tough questions. white house press secretary jay carney in addition to that sound bite you just played, karen, was also on the defense at a

nbc white house correspondent peter alexander joins us now., this is certainly a big week for the president. his presidential campaign is also getting into the act here, particularly when it comes to gun control. they are firing up all the contacts they have. >> yeah, thomas, that's exactly right. of course, we're barely a week into the president's second term. we're really getting a pretty good sense of how seriously he takes some of his second term agenda priorities. being immigration reform and, of course, as you know, gun control. you're referring specifically to those -- that stash of contacts. all the personal details of supporters of the president who was initially called organizing -- excuse me. obama for america. they have renamed that effectively organizing for action. it's been changed as sort of a political group attached to the president. loosely run by his campaign chair, jim mesina. just on friday they put out talking points even giving individuals a sample script if they wanted to call their congress members to tell them they w

when i first came to the "today" show i had been the nbc white house correspondent which is a very serious job. when i came to the "today" show, i was so happy to be there, and i thought, wow, so these hosts hoda and kathie lee call it, like, thirsty thursday or something. that's nice. then i realized it was every day. there's, like, monday fun day, tuesday booze day, wednesday wines day. i'm, like, this is my kind of place, you know? >> she fits in just fine. anyway -- >> we'll have to share some secrets about savannah with you once in a while too. >> we've also got some secrets about our big willie, don't we? >> it's our collective big willy. >> willy geist has joined the show, of course, and we have called him -- >> big willie since day one. >> then we realized there is another big willy out there. >> apparently he has some competition in the big willy arena. >> you know what prince william's nickname is? yep. it's on the cup. you can look at it. big willie. >> yep. >> uh-huh. >> st. james palace. that's -- i guess it was on the website before they found out. >> i'm sure. >> you know wh

nbc white house correspondent peter alexander joining me live now.eter, secretary clinton leaves the administration. what can we expect from the relationship between these two over the next few years? >> well, craig, given the amount of money that goes into a presidential campaign, i think you could say that's probably the $1 billion question right now. a lot of people want to see exactly how this relationship between clinton and barack obama does exist and grow together over the course of the next four years. this interview as hillary clinton notes tonight on "60 minutes," she said just four years ago it would have been improbable to imagine the two of them sitting side by side. this, of course, is their first joint interview, but complicating the issues as they go forward, despite the real warmth that they have shown between one another, unclear whether that's really a personal friendship or more of a shared -- a shared belief in similar issues and passion for different -- or similar ideologies. the question complicating sthings what happens the ne

andrea mitchell, al sharpton joining me, plus nbc white house correspondent peter alexander and capitolill correspondent kelly o'donnell. keep it locked in right here for live coverage coming your way at the top of the hour.typic al fam0 in "wall street" fees on their 401(k)s? go to e-trade. and roll over your old 401(k)s to a new e-trade retirement account. none of them charge annual fees, and all of them offer low cost investments. e-trade. less for us. more for you. to help protect your eye health as you age... would you take it? well, there is. [ male announcer ] it's called ocuvite. a vitamin totally dedicated to your eyes, from the eye care experts at bausch + lomb. as you age, eyes can lose vital nutrients. ocuvite helps replenish key eye nutrients. ocuvite has a unique formula not found in your multivitamin to help protect your eye health. now that's a pill worth taking. [ male announcer ] ocuvite. help protect your eye health. fiber one. uh, forgot jack's cereal. [ jack ] what's for breakfast? um... try the number one! yeah, this is pretty good. [ male announcer ] over a third

nbc news white house correspondent kristen welker joins us now with more. kristen? >> reporter: lester, good evening. today's rally was organized by advocacy groups, one million moms for gun control. it was a day filled with emotion but also reality. the nation is still sharply divided when it comes to guns. a ground swell of support for stiffer gun laws and thousands rallied in washington to call for change in the wake of the newtown shooting, holding signs bearing the names of those lost and speaking their minds. >> no more. it's time to do something about it. >> we can and must free our nation of this scourge of gun violence. >> reporter: among the crowds mothers who have lost children to guns, elected officials, and parents from the newtown community. >> we're grieving but hopeful that something so atrocious can bring about some change. >> reporter: smaller gun control rallies across the nation today including this one in new jersey. >> i think newtown has been a real turning point for me. the real turning point was having to tell my son. >> reporter: gun buybac

let's go right to the white house, where the first family arrived less than an hour ago now, like 30 minutes ago. and the president has at least three big things waiting for him. nbcspondent peter alexander is joining me live. peter, good sunday to you. let's first hear more about his reported pick for defense

. >> reporter: chuck todd, nbc news, the white house. >>> this is john yang in chicago where residents deal with gun violence virtually every day. last year, there were more than 510 murders, more than the number of u.s. troops killed in afghanistan. 86% of the homicides involved a gun. in one chicago interview, nothing president obama did would change that. >> i believe chicago already has very strict gun laws and we have, like, one of the highest crime rates in the country. so how is this going to solve anything? >> reporter: the national gun debate was reignited last month by adam lanza's shooting rampage in newtown, connecticut where the mother of 6-year-old victim noah pozner wants a balanced approach on guns. >> people who want to own firearms responsibly have nothing to fear. they should welcome it. because that way guns won't be given a bad name. they'll -- they may have a place in society. but they have a place in the right hands, not in the wrong hands. >> thank you. >> reporter: after mr. obama spoke, there were other voices. in las vegas. >> i think as citizens we should be

and from the white house, nbc news white house correspondent, peter alexander. cold out there. peter, just real quickly, the reporting about this potential plan to withdraw completely by the end of 2014, what do you know? >> reporter: well, we know obviously that the white house is considering what they refer to as the zero option, where they would take out all the u.s. troops in afghanistan. i think it's about 15,000 there, that was the number that had been offered by general allen and another military commanders at the 2014 deadline. the white house now saying it could go down to zero completely as you look at that headline in "the washington post" today. of course, this comes against the backdrop of the afghan president, hamid karzai, being here in washington. he's scheduled to meet with the president on friday. so the question is whether or not this is just sort of the white house setting its strategy up to try to negotiate with karzai about what its plans will be going forward or not. and also against the backdrop of chuck hagel, you know, his name, he will

. >> reporter: kristen welker, nbc news, the white house. >>> for now i'm joined by david gregory, mott raider of "meet the press." the honeymoon doesn't happen in the second term but is there a reset point? >> the president was popular in the re-election, he was in a difficult fiscal cliff negotiation where he got the tax increases he wanted. the democrats arenited but he faces such quick battles particularly over the debt and over gun legislation that he'd like to pursue, there isn't much of a reset, not much of a honeymoon because there's a carryover of toxic atmosphere in washington when it comes to getting big things done. >> you covered the white house about two terms of the bush administration. what does the president, what is the hard reality of his second term in. >> well he builds up a lot of political capital with re-election and that's very freeing for a second term president but the calendar is short. you have a limited amount of time to really drive the agenda and the president would like to get big things done from immigration to energy, but he's going to be facing trench

on news4, what happened when our own aaron gilchrist vipped with president gilchrist from nbc news white house comedy. >>> and (woman) 3 days of walking to give a break cancer survivor a lifetime-- that's definitely a fair trade. whoo! you walk with friends, you meet new friends, and you keep those friendships. it was such a beautiful experience. (jessica lee) ♪ and it's beautiful ♪ undeniable (woman) why walk 60 miles in the boldest breast cancer event in history? because everyone deserves a lifetime. visit the3day.org to register or to request more information and receive a free 3-day bracelet today. ♪ building up from deep inside it was 3 days of pure joy. susan g. komen's investments in early detection and treatment have helped reduce breast cancer mortality in the u.s. by 33% since 1990. help us continue serving the millions of women and men with breast cancer who still need us every day. register for the 3-day now. (woman) it's just been an amazing, amazing journey. i love these people. ♪ and it's beautiful into the news4 news dulles, alexandria detectives have charged two men with the.

according to nbc news, the white house is aware hagel's nomination could set up a confirmation fight,vatives and pro-israel

first, nbc's white house correspondent kristin welker has the latest. >> reporter: vice president biden will meet with representatives of the video game industry later on today. a source close to the talk says the vice president believes there is strong support for stiffer gun legislation but a meeting here at the white house thursday with the nation's most powerful gun lobby underscored the deep divisions that remain. as vice president biden prepares to unveil his gun safety recommendations next week, today he wraps up a series of meetings, which thursday included a clash with the national rifle association at the white house. >> it was two sides stating their positions and then leaving. >> reporter: white house officials would not comment on the meeting, part of biden's gun safety task force. the president of the nra is speaking out, accusing the obama administration of attacking the second amendment. >> they made it very clear that the president's position on firearms and the so-called assault weapons ban and the like had been the same position that he has taken for many years and th

nbc's white house correspondent kristen welker has more on that. >> reporter: president obama will give new details to the policies he first map ped out to years ago and will call on congress to pass an immigration reform bill quickly. president obama, putting the spotlight on immigration reform today. a campaign promise echoed in his inaugural address. >> our journey is not complete until we find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see america as a land of opportunity. >> reporter: the president turning up the heat on congress, by taking his case to nevada, where latinos make up 27% of the population. luis baraljas will be in the audience, working to gain citizenship. >> we need to feel free in this country. freedom is what this country presumes to be. >> reporter: remarks today will mirror the speech he gave two years ago in el paso, texas, calling for stronger border security and a path to citizenship. >> being a nation of laws goes hand in hand with being a nation of immigrants. >> reporter: white house officials are praising the proposals of a biparti

chuck todd is nbc's white house correspondent and political director. hi, chuck. >> reporter: good morning. this morning the president will unveil his gun proposals he would like to see passed. the realities of the tough politics of getting it through congress continue to hang in the air with even the president himself expressing some frustration that he realizes he won't get everything he wants. >> if there's a step we can take that will save even one child from what happened in newtown, we should take that step. >> reporter: one month after the newtown school shooting, president obama is set to unveil new gun policy proposals this week based on the work of vice president joe biden's task force. at a news conference monday, the president offered a preview. >> we have to have stronger background checks that we can do a much better job in terms of keeping these magazine clips with high capacity out of the hands of folks who shouldn't have them, an assault weapons ban that is meaningful. >> reporter: but mr. obama was quick to acknowledge the political ch

let's go to nbc's kristen welker who's joining me live from the white house with more on this. kristen, as we look at you and the president with his painting job, i know the white house is getting ready for this big weekend. but it is in the middle of this very important -- it's personally oriented, this day, for the president and his wife, isn't it? >> reporter: it really is not only because they were dedicated to doing something of this nature, but this inauguration will fall on martin luther king day. there's a lot of symbolism in that. president obama will be sworn in using one of martin luther king's bibles. this day is not expected to spark the huge, unprecedented crowds we saw in 2009. but it's not going to be small. hundreds of thousands are expected to turn out to kick off this historic weekend. as washington gears up for the nation's biggest party, people from all around the country are arriving, ready to celebrate. >> it's just one of those things i think you should do. and it's one of the things -- it's on my -- on the bucket list. >> we believe that he does hold th

meanwhile white house officials tell nbc news that mr. obama will also nominate his counterterrorism adviser, john brennan as the next cia chief. we're just learning that. tracie potts has more from washington on both nominations for us this morning. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, everyone. the brennan announcement we just got early this morning. he's a 25 year vet at the cia and went through his own bit of controversy when he was first considered for that job back in 2008. as for chuck hagel, he is expected to face criticism from his own party, both of those nominations being announced later today. today president obama is expected to nominate his former senate colleague, 66-year-old chuck hagel to head the pentagon. >> i think it will be a lot of tough questions of senator hagel. >> reporter: a purple heart veteran wounded in vietnam is a moderate republican who criticized the iraq troop surge, opposed unilateral sanctions against in and once said being gay inhibits effectiveness. >> he apologized for it. >> reporter: r

tomorrow our inauguration coverage continues. >> and i'll see you back here on nbc nightly news. >>> a live look at the white houseesident will be officially sworn into office at 8:55 this morning. nbc bay area's own political analyst larry gerston is there and will join us live with more on the atmosphere and what we can expect from the president during his second term. >>> and thousands of people are heading to half moon bay right now for the maverick's surf contest. but they may be a little disappointed. we'll tell you why. >>> plus, it is game day for the san francisco 49ers. the question now, will the recent sexual assault allegation against wide receiver michael crabtree be a distraction. we have the latest on the investigation. >>> "today in the bay" starts right now. >> announcer: from nbc bay area, this is "today in the bay." >>> and we are looking live at half moon bay this morning as one of the boats comes back in. surfers, of course, will be going out and hitting monster waves for the maverick's

nbc's white house correspondent kristen welker has more. kristen, good morning. >> reporter: erica, good morning to you. president obama doesn't have any events on his schedule today, but next week he will undoubtedly revisit the issue of gun safety as well as continue to fill out key posts in his administration. this after a week that ended with a focus on foreign policy. with america's longest war ongoing -- >> mr. president, welcome. >> reporter: -- president obama and afghan president hamid karzai met at the white house on friday and announced an agreement to speed up the handover of combat forces from u.s. to afghan troops, a deadline initially set for this summer, now moved to the spring. >> starting this spring, our troops will have a different mission, training, advising, assisting afghan forces. it will be an historic moment. >> reporter: but the larger question was unanswered, how many of the remaining 66,000 american forces will stay in afghanistan after 2014? the official end of combat operations. >> i can't give you arecise num

david gregory, moderator of "meet the press," nbc news white house correspondent kristen welker and justiceorrespondent pete williams. a loot going on all fronts. denis mcdonough, and news out of the white house on the secret service skrefgs in cart hana. >> that's right. andrea, well, i'll first start with the breaking news. according to a source from the hill and also law enforcement source the inspector general has finished its report on the secret service scandal and specifically the secret service's own investigation into that scandal. we are told that that report will be sent to the hill a little later on today. it includes the agency did implement proper reforms. that is what we are being told at this point in time, but, again, andrea, this is developing. there are a lot of moving parts. we will undoubtedly learn more as the day goes on. in terms of denis mcdonough, president obama did announce today that denis mcdonough will become his new chief of staff. he is one of the president's most trusted aides, most recently serving as the deputy national security advisor, but he has advise