jonathan? >> you took my things. there are no limits to fashion faux pas. watch us at 4:00. i'm filling in for dylan. >> fantastic. look. that looks good. >> oh! >> it's way too early. what time is it? >> time for "morning joe." happy holidays. >> holiday season. >> time for the daily run down with savannah guthrie, chuck? no, just savannah and "the daily rundown" right now. the president arrives in hawaii. congress gives him a big melikalikimaka. out west the rainy weather lets up but now it's mud slides causing the worries. plus, see rahm run. the election board weighs in on whether the wannabe mayor of chicago is a residence department of chicago. good morning. it's thursday, december 23. i'm savannah guthrie. chuck todd is off. let's get to the rundown beginning in washington where the 111th congress ended with a bang and the president was anxious to show off his accomplishments at a news conference before getting on a plane for hawaii he said this week proves bipartisanship is not dead. >> if there is any lesson to draw from these past few weeks it's that we are not doomed to endless gridlock. we have shown in the wake of the november elections that we have the capacity to make progress and to make progress together. >> mark murray is nbc news deputy political director. we noticed the same thing yesterday. the president enough used the words "bipartisan, common ground, holding hands" over and over again. they are trying to send a message, no? >> exactly. while yesterday's news conference amounted to a victory lap to celebrate legislative wins over the last few days it really was clear that the president was trying to hug that middle using the words bipartisanship, common ground, common purpose several times. of course it could end up being a preview of what to expect from the white house over the next two years in 2011 and 2012 as we head into the re-election. however, achieving bipartisan accomplishments in the next congress will be easier said than done. one thing that was striking in the news conference the president admitted one of his biggest disappointments during the lame duck. that was getting the senate to pass the dream act. that would be legislation to allow illegal immigrants serving in the military or attending college a pathway to citizenship. listen to what the president said. >> maybe my biggest disappointment was this dream act vote. it is heart-breaking. that can't be who we are. to have kids -- our kids, you know, classmates of our children who are suddenly under this shadow of fear through no fault of their own. they didn't break a law. they're kids. >> as you heard, not only was the president trying to hug that middle, but he was also trying to send a message to liberals, some of whom may be disappointed by some of the activities over the past two years that he'll continue to fight for liberal priorities such as comprehensive immigration reform. back to you. >> our nbc news deputy political director. mark, thank you. we have breaking news out of rome this hour. mail bombs have exploded at two different embassies overseas. the first report came from the swiss embassy where police say a package detonated when opened. the person who opened it apparently suffered significant injuries. a short time later, another package reportedly exploded at the chilean embassy. one person is believed to have been hurt in that blast as well. we'll keep an eye on the situation, bring you the latest information as we get it into the newsroom. moving on here it is of course the season for traveling. more than 92 million people will be heading out to a holiday destination over the next week or so. tom costello covers transportation for nbc news. he's in bethesda, maryland, with more. tom, good morning. >> good morning. the 92 million americans who are traveling over this holiday break, 85 million, the vast majority are going by car. nationwide gas is averaging about $3 a gallon, 40 cents more than a year ago and the most expensive gas in the country will be on the coast aside from hawaii and k alaska. california averaging $3.25 a gallon. new york now averaging $3.26 a gallon. if you're down south, texas is going for $2.83. meanwhile the cheapest gas in the country is colorado at $2.74. if you're flying, about 2.7 million people are, they will pay on average $400 for a round trip ticket. we're just hoping that the weather cooperates both on the air ond up in the sky. savannah, back to you. >> tom costello in maryland this morning. wall street will be closed for christmas eve. today is the last trading day of the week. for a preview of where the market stands i'm joined by nicole lapin. >> futures are flat. we did drift higher on wednesday. the s&p 500 hitting prelevels despite the report. but the bulls are still running the the market. the market continues to rise and now we have concrete evidence that that's actually true. a widely watched gauge of sentiment on wall street show that is the bulls jumped to 60% of market analysts. that's the highest level since october of 2007. so can ton trathe contrarians se the bears left to convert and how much higher can we go? something we'll watch today but it is a short day of work for bond traders and energy traders today. the nimex closes at 1:30. the cme at 2:00 p.m. a lot of data out. at 8:30 in the morning we had jobless claims dropping slightly. then durable goods, fell slightly. personal income and spending rose slightly. at 10:00 a.m. we have a final read on consumer sentiment and new home sales are out, forecast to jump about 6%. that was a lot. it's our favorite word. >> econorama. some up, some down. we'll check in later. thank you. all right. out west they are finally getting a break in the weather but the damage has been done. relentless thunderstorms dropped half a year's rainfall on southern california in just six days triggering widespread flooding and mud slides. miguel almaguer is on duty for us in california. i know there are heart-breaking stories of families who lost everything there. >> reporter: yes, savannah. so many families in the neighborhood were getting ready for christmas. the trees were up, the lights strung and all of the sudden the storm brought mounds of mud. there was a dirt debris that was up this hill. there is a construction site not far from here and yesterday morning at around 4:00 or 5:00 a.m. the rain started to hammer this area and specifically this community. a cell ran right through the neighborhood. the mud took only minutes to start working its way down the hill. it slammed right through the backyard of the home. there is a backyard some 12 feet high and the mud went right over that, through the home and actually came down the hill. the woman who lived here said she was downstairs when it first happened and suddenly heard the house shaking and roaring. she ran upstairs, used this aluminum ladder just to get out of her home. that's how much mud is inside. it's difficult to see, but inside the home the mud is actually chest deep. it ran all the way through the neighborhood. it goes into these garages here, even the cars were ruined here. this was a mud slide triggered not just in this area but all across southern california. in laguna beach there was four feet of mud downtown. they were cleaning up yesterday. so much of the neighborhoods are just now beginning to dig out. it will be a very unfortunate christmas for so many families that live in this neighborhood. >> indeed. miguel, on duty for us in highland, california. thank you. well, coming up, end zone celebration washington-style. when presidents can't spike the ball or do a happy dance what do they do? hold a press conference. we'll have a look at the white house's victory lap up next. plus, maybe the most famous fake crock dill purse in history. you won't believe what happened to the handbag used to whack the gunman in florida. first a look ahead at the president's schedule today. he's in hawaii until january 2, 2011. watch out for white house correspondents in hawaiian shirts. you're watching "the daily rundown" on msnbc. 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>> there is still work to be done here. >> in that vein let's talk about the work congress got done. a lot of people are talking about what a productive lame duck session it was. my question to you is notwithstanding the white house being thrilled with the accomplishments, how much of the credit really belongs to the president on which issues and how much were really a product of circumstance or lobbying by democrats and republicans on the hill? how much of this really belongs to president obama, in your view? >> i think the thing that probably first and foremost belongs to president obama is the nuclear s.t.a.r.t. treaty. he pushed it. that was his top priority and he got a lot of other things along the way. don't ask, don't tell will be remembered as the biggest political achievement for his base but a lot of credit goes to members of congress on the hill. i think the biggest explanation for what happened here is democrats on the hill finally realized that time is running out. the expiration date for the majority was really almost reaching its peak here. they knew now was the time to get things done if things were going to get done. >> ann, you cover the white house as does jeff and i do. we are hearing the same thing from white house aids. they are pleased with themselves today and feel good about what they were able to accomplish coming out of massive defeats in november. what are you hearing? >>le absolutely. i sent a note to a senior administration official saying you must feel good. he wrote back, no, i feel great. that's not somethinghey could have said six months ago, certainly not a year ago when the president's trip to hawaii was delayed because of the delays on health care. this is really the first time in quite some time that they have felt this good. it's remarkable coming after the midterms. that said, i agree with jeff. i do think when republicans on the hill complain that obama is getting too much credit there is a small point there which is that a lot of the members worked hard to especially get don't ask, don't tell passed. s.t.a.r.t., obama did a lot of lobbying but there are reasons to believe many republicans who voted for it might have anyway. and on the taxes he compromised. it was partly the president, partly the democrats realizing time is running out and republicans realizing they wanted to do something. >> we can put up a list of lame duck accomplishments, new s.t.a.r.t., don't ask, don't tell, tax cut extension, the 9/11 health bill. i would circle new start and the tax cut extensions as the item it is president really personally got involved in. we now know what it looks like when the president is personally invested versus just vaguely supportive. so on the 9/11 first responders, i don't know if we ever heard the president talk about it in any setting. certainly there were statements of administrative position that they supported it. it's not something he lobbied for. >> you're right. it's not. that was perhaps one of the most striking differences in the final hours of the congressional session. there were some 168 house members who were not even on the floor to vote for this bill. 9/11 is less than a decade behind us. every bill for the last several years having to do with anything on 9/11 was not controversial and virtually everyone supported it. the president certainly would have been in the forefront. so in some respects it showed how things have moved on. you're right. when the president focuses on something, when he hones in on something there are achievements. he has a lot of things on his plate, but he did prioritize things and the 9/11 bill and other things, the credit goes to a few members of congress, not the people in this building. >> picking up on what we were talking about in terms of the attitude of the white house and where they are, let me read something from dana millbank in the post today. he said, what got obama in trouble in the first place were the high expectations that the nation had for his administration and that obama's campaign had encouraged. the frantic worries of recent weeks of a failed one-term presidency were overstated. but now obama's returns to messianic status risks unlearning the valuable lesson in humility. i don't think there is a question that some of the attitudes have changed within the white house. this was a humbling experience. do you think they risk getting over confident again? >> no matter how great they feel and maybe messianic is the right term around the holidays. come january 3 when the new republican congress takes over and everyone is back they will be right back to reality. i don't think there will be illusions when the white house send as budget to congress around the time of the state of the union when they next figure out how to fund the government which is one of several, we should point out, failures that the white house had during the lame duck session. for all of the successes they had, president obama talked about things he didn't get done. the dream act, the immigration bill and the big spending bill. so i think all of that's going to come back. this might be a reprieve. i think they are entitled to feel good about themselves but i don't think they are under illusions that it will last. >> all right, anne and jeff, great to have you both. have a great holiday. >> you, too. >> thanks, savannah. coming up next, dreaming the impossible dream. a group of people devoting their lives to eradicating poverty and hunger. and a ruling for rahm. will the former white house chief of staff's washington ways keep him from running for mayor of chicago? we'll find out. first our washington-speak for the day. >> we consider to be laid on the table, the motion to be laid on the table. be considered laid upon the table. >> laid on the table. harry reid was in the laying on the table mood yesterday. wanted to get the senate's business done for the holidays. if a simple majority doesn't like an amendment or motion they can lay it on the table which is a nice way of saying kill it without having to vote on the amendment or motion. if you have washington-speak you would like us to clarify send an e-mail to the [email protected]. seven years ago, i had this idea. to make baby food the way moms would. happybaby strives to make the best organic baby food. in a business like ours, personal connections are so important. we use our american express open gold card to further those connections. last year we took dozens of trips using membership rewards points to meet with the farmers that grow our sweet potatoes and merchants that sell our product. we've gone from being in 5 stores to 7,500. booming is using points to make connections that grow your business. you need to do the preventative things that you need to do for your heart health. for me, it means an aspirin regimen. before you begin an aspirin regimen. speak to your doctor. that saves you hundreds of dollars a year. it's called the new humana walmart-preferred prescription plan. ♪ it's a breakthrough in medicare prescription drug plans... hey buddy! hey grandpa! ...with monthly plan premiums less than $15 and copays as low as $2. but for savings this big, visit walmart.com or call 1-800-808-4003. introducing the new humana walmart-preferred prescription plan. a medicare prescription drug plan that's a step forward in health care... and a step forward in affording the things that really matter. but don't forget, you can only save if you enroll by december 31st. ♪ call humana to take advantage of the medicare prescription drug plan with the lowest national premium in the country. go to walmart.com for more details. ♪ rheumatoid arthritis going? 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[ woman ] ask your rheumatologist about simponi®. just one dose, once a month. well, during the holiday season many shift their focus to helping those in need. for bill shore fighting poverty and disease is a year-round disease. the executive director of share our strength, a leading anti-huck hunger, anti-poverty movement. his book is called "imaginations of unreasonable men: inadministration, vision and purpose in the quest to end malaria." thanks for being with us. appreciate it. >> thanks for having me. >> let's talk about hunger. give us a state of the union. where are we and where is the real need now in terms of hunger? >> there is tremendous need in this country. we have 44 million americans who live below the poverty line. 42 million on the snap food stamp program and half of those are kids t. most important thing to remember about hunger in the united states is kids are not hungry because we lack food as a society. we have it in abundance. they are not even hungry because we lack food and nutrition programs. we have school breakfast, summer feeding