president obama because he had come out and given this very strong statement about, you know, i want this thing clean. i don t want any of your republican junk on it. and some republican junk got on it about this keystone pipeline which he specifically said, you couldn t put on it. they put something on there about the pipeline. and he went along with that. but then, that s when the house of representatives went to work to save him from the perception of having lost that ground because, you know, he lost that inning but then they spent a week where it looked like the president comes out the winner in the media account of winner and loser. sure. it s interesting, keystone was the word on all of our lips last week and it virtually disappeared from the national discourse. right. anyway, we will be back with more on this and what 40 bucks means and also president obama making a statement on the payroll tax cut deal, after the break.
kyra? but in the next half an hour, we should see the senate come into session and this deal could pass within maybe one or two minutes. it could be that short as both the senate and the house are expected to pass this legislation. this payroll tax extension deal using a procedural move that basically allows them to pass legislation without having to call all of the members back into town. so, according to both democratic and republican leadership aides on the senate side, they do expect that things are moving towards a passage on the senate side and then, of course, all eyes turn to the house where the house expected to follow up with a vote and at the top of the next hour and, according to a house republican leadership aide, leaders do expect that this bill will go through, which means that both the house and senate both chambers of congress will have passed this two-month exteng, but, again, we caution with this procedure it only requires one member to stand up in the cham
keep your taxes from going up on january 1st. the president also made a point of thanking voters for telling congressional republicans to block the payroll tax cut extension. you reminded people in this town what our debates and all of our debates should be about. it s about you, it s about your lives. it s about your families. jessica yellin was right there when the president said aloha and walked out of the briefing room is few hours ago. the president won this fight. the question is, how much of it carries over to the reelection year and the reelection campaign? reporter: it carries over, john. i ll tell you why because first of all this wasn t just a short-term victory over what he likes to call a dysfunctional congress, in this case, house republicans. but this also gave him a chance to act out the role he wants to play during the campaign. and that is champion of working americans. there s not just the sound you played of the president but you also heard him say t
clinton is just wrapping up a meeting with the japanese foreign minister at the department of state. a joint statement is expected to follow shortly. earlier president obama called south korea s president to re-affirm his commitment to korea s security and stability. when it comes to the payroll tax cut, it s one step forward and two steps back in congress. the house is expected to reject the senate s two-month extension of the payroll tax cut. house speaker john boehner says the house will be pushing a one-year extension. the idea the tax policy can be done two months at a time is a kind of activity that we see here in washington that really put our economy off its tracks. payroll tax cut along with emergency men fits will expire if congress does not act. the supreme court will set aside three days next spring to hear oral arguments on the federal health care law. proceedings will start march 26th with jurisdictional argument. on march 27th they ll discuss the indivi
place rick: busy. arthel: in the next few days. go to the west coast now and fingers crosse crossed in southn california. a tanker truck explodes damaging a major freeway and shutting down traffic. officials are hopeful that the worst may be over. new information straight ahead. rick: plus, president obama reacting to major legislation passed by the senate today. ed henry has a preview for us. hi, ed. reporter: good to see you, rick. president feeling good about payroll tax cut deal. is at it done deal? maybe, maybe not. we have full details from the white house in a minute. the droid razr by motorola. the newest droid armed with motocast. granting you wireless access to files on your home computer from almost anywhere. 4g lte equipped to pull pictures, music, and movies. all at mind-melting speeds. powered by verizon,