russia may be cut to junk status as s&p says it s considering downgra downgrade. and the upsides to russia s ruble collapse in the paper note, the weak ruble helped boost demand for domestic-sourced goods. that is, of course, only limited positive as russia makes relatively few consumer products. and even where it does a big portion of the parts are imported. russia s heavily energy-dependent economy has been hurt by the drop in oil price prices at his year end news conference, vladimir putin said this, in russia s current economic problems were the result of actions in crimea. if he would sit quiet instead of hunting animals maybe they
9:00 am on the east coast, 6:00 am out west. marathon talks lead to a new debt deal. at least in theory. the president backs it. so do leaders of both parties. still, no reason to celebrate just yet. in syria, a violent crackdown on anti-government protests. more than 7 0 people killed and counting. and new this morning, a big change to health coverage. the federal government will require insurers who provide birth control without co-payments. now, in just a few hours, we could see the beginning of the end of the debt crisis. it s been the issue in washington for weeks. and you re probably tired of the finger pointing and doomsday predictions. today, that could all come to an end if the house and senate approve a compromised plan. the deal identifies about $1 trillion in spending cuts over ten years and raises the debt ceiling by about the same amount. bipartisan committee must find ways to trim another trillion a, a so-called deficit posse. the president and house spea