Is nbc nightly news with brian williams. Good evening, im lester holt in tonight for brian. In newtown, connecticut, this was a day filled with trepidation and deep emotions as the pupils and staff of sandy hook elementary returned to class for the First Time Since the mass murder there. Tomorrow will mark three weeks since the rampage that left 20 children and 6 adults dead. The building where it happened remains off limits tonight, still an active crime scene. And so for the time being, sandy hook has a new home. It also has a community of supporters and wellwishers that now extends across the country. All anxious to help the young survivors feel safe, loved and protected. Nbcs rehema ellis is in monroe, connecticut tonight. Reporter good evening, lester. Reporters and camera crews were asked to give the school some space today so that teachers, parents and police could get the students back to a normal routine. There was some anxiety as Newtown School buses rode through the community, but their new route was lined with signs of support, as they made their way to the newly renamed sandy hook elementary school. Students were bussed to a reoutfitted former middle school in a neighboring town seven miles away from their old school. The windows were decorated with snowflakes, some made by other students around the country. Security was heavy. We dont want them to think this is a police state. We want them to know that this is a school, and a school first. And that its a place they are to come to learn, enjoy their friends and grow up. Reporter the kids also found lots of things that were familiar. All their old desks, chairs, backpacks and jackets. Watching them get off the bus, most of the kids were excited. They had seen friends they hadnt seen in a while. They were anxious to get into the hallways and meet up with the other kids. And you could see the teachers had the same response. Reporter an emotional time, too, for parents like andrew paley, the father of 9yearold twin boys, he spent the morning with them at school. When i was saying goodbye to them, you could kind of tell they knew i had to leave, but they didnt want me to, necessarily. Reporter the family has been nearly inseparable for the three weeks since the tragic shooting. Paley says without school and the boys routine, its been hard, especially at night. They used to be able to sleep without the light on. And now they need that light on, at least for now. Reporter but today the kids got what theyve been asking for. A return to school. They also got to see some furry friends. Seven therapy dogs from chicago that had comforted the Community Early on spent time at the school today. They pet them and hug them and kiss them and all of that kind of stuff. And the dogs just love that. Reporter the families were also reminded that theres a whole Community Embracing them. I think we still have a long way to go, and its a road im not sure any of us know how to walk. But we will. Well walk it. And were strong. Reporter today the governor of connecticut announced the states gun control measures, Mental Health programs and School Safety procedures are all under review. Lester . Rehema ellis in connecticut tonight, thank you. Another first day on capitol hill for members of the new congress, the 113th. They come in with a lot of Unfinished Business left by the 112th, and who knows if theyll get more done than their predecessors. But this group is already making history. Nbcs Kelly Odonnell is on capitol hill to fill us in on that tonight. Kelly . Reporter good evening, lester. The congress the country voted for in november is now on the job. Some new faces, but really no new issues. With a showdown over the federal debt already brewing. But on this day, and especially with their families here, they were more focused on fixing the nations problems than fighting about them. Majority of the votes cast. Is duly elected speaker of the house representatives for the 113th congress. [ cheers and applause ] reporter despite this ovation, John Boehners path to a second term as speaker of the house has been rocky. But there was no challenge. Only a handful of conservatives voted against him. Democratic leader, nancy pelosi, carried out the custom. I present the peoples gavel to the speaker of the house, john boehner. May god bless you [ applause ] reporter and an emotional boehner tried to hold back tears. Were sent here not to be something, but to do something. Reporter at a time when approval for congress is at record lows, voters narrowed the balance of party power slightly. House republicans now hold 233 seats to democrats 200. Taking the oath today, the most Diverse Congress in history. More africanamericans, latinos and women than ever. 81 in the house and a record 20 women in the senate, including massachusetts elizabeth warren. And wisconsins tammy baldwin, the first openly gay senator. Twelve new senators, and huge applause for south carolinas tim scott. The only africanamerican in the senate today. And the first black republican from the south in more than 100 years. A moment worthy of the look on his mothers face. Outside the capitol, an emotional achievement for senator mark kirks slow and careful steps on his first day back after intense physical rehabilitation. The 53yearold Illinois Republican suffered a massive stroke one year ago. Ive been dreaming about this day for months. Reporter a different kind of return to congress for the kennedy family. Bobby and ethels grandson, joe kennedy iii, was sworn in. This was day for many families to celebrate. But not everything went as planned. And Vice President biden. There he is. Reporter riding high after closing the fiscal cliff deal with congress, seemed to enjoy every minute today administering the oaths of office. And the high stakes, high profile work begins for the house tomorrow where theyll be voting on emergency relief for sandy victims, billions of dollars worth. And then over the next few weeks, both sides of congress will begin to work on things like raising the countrys borrowing limit, the debt ceiling, and dealing with spending cuts that could include negotiations over programs like medicare. Lester . All right, kelly, thanks. One new member of congress, the junior senator from the state of maine, is already making a name for himself. Tom brokaw is here tonight with more on a man who says he wants to do the peoples business in a better way than weve seen lately. Hi, tom. Lester, we dont often think of maine and royalty in the same sentence. But tonight i am reporting on the king of maine. That would be angus king, near republican or democrat, officially independent. A former twoterm governor, he promised a new approach. And it paid off. I do. My favorite line from the campaign is a guy up north who said all my life ive wanted a chance to vote for none of the above and youre it. Its been difficult to envision this day when i would be saying farewell reporter king is replacing olympia snow, a respected republican senator who quit in frustration over washingtons deadlocked ways. She said, i cant make it work. My thinking was, well, we have to try something different. And my Second Thought was, oh, my lord, thats me. Reporter as governor angus king became very popular because he could bridge the divide between republicans and democrats in this state. And he hopes to take those same skills to washington, d. C. Its not easy, leaving the good life in brunswick. But as a young man, king worked on capitol hill, and he remembers the difference. I actually saw with my own eyes senators in different parties arguing, agreeing, disagreeing, compromising, finding consensus, and moving forth with legislation. Im going to figure it out reporter king and his wife mary ann intend to spend time in washington, getting to know the other senators. The pattern is, the senate meets three days a week, tuesday, wednesday, thursday, everybody goes home. And so the relationships dont develop. Reporter when he left the governors office, king took his family on a yearlong trip around america. And what he learned is that from coast to coast, the country has common concerns. Red state and blue state. We got the feeling that everybody is dealing with those problems, and that we ought to be able to find some common solutions. Reporter one of kings political heroes is joshua chamberlain, fourterm governor of maine, and a hero for the north at gettysburg. Chamberlain, i think is the greatest citizen maine ever produced. Reporter chamberlains accomplishments remind him about what others have done against far greater odds. But he has no illusions about what hes up against now. Im not arrogant enough that Mitch Mcconnell is going to say heres how were going to do this, but if i can nudge it a bit toward some rules that make sense, i think that will be an accomplishment in itself. Lester, senator king will be a member of the rules committee, which fits perfectly with his big goal of changing the Senate Filibuster rules, which are now very easy for a minority to hold the majority hostage. Some changes are under way, but not yet enough for the independently minded king, and we will be hearing more from him. Tom, thank you. There is news tonight about what happens next for secretary of state Hillary Clinton who was released last night from a New York Hospital after being treated from a blood clot. Nbcs chief Foreign Affairs correspondent, andrea mitchell, has been following the story. She joins us with the latest from washington. Reporter good evening, lester. Hillary clinton is raring to go, already working from home, coming to the office next week. The secretary of state left the New York Hospital yesterday, handinhand with her daughter, chelsea, and a beaming bill clinton. She is supposed to be resting at home, but she was on the phone with her staff today who called in a scheduled meeting of the Foreign Affairs policy board. People on that panel, which was discussing secondterm Foreign Policy priorities, and hearing a briefing on syria from u. S. Ambassador to syria, robert ford, told me later that clinton sounded vigorous and healthy. Clintons designated successor, senator john kerry, was in the capitol today, accompanying elizabeth warren. But he is starting his transition. He was working at the state Department Yesterday and is expected there again tomorrow. Hillary clinton, while back at the Department Next week, will not be flying again as secretary, but from all reports, her recovery is going exceedingly well. Lester . Andrea, thank you. The family of an american journalist kidnapped in syria went public today with an appeal for his release. James foley, a freelancer, was who has covered a number of conflicts in recent years, was captured on thanksgiving day in northern syria, where he was working for the news organization, global post. Today in rochester, new hampshire, his father spoke about his 39yearold son. We miss him terribly. Hes in our thoughts and in our prayers every day. And were committed to do everything within our ability to secure his safe release. And this is our only priority. Nbc news did not initially report news of foleys kidnapping at the request of global post until his family made it public. To the American Economy now, and news that american car dealers have had a great year. Sales for the big three, gm, chrysler and ford, all up in 2012. There were strong sales for imports, as well. But on wall street today, the market snapped their twoday winning streak. The dow and nasdaq and the s p 500 all ended the day lower. Im joined now by cnbcs sue herrera. Sue, the dust has settled from the fiscal cliff crisis, the economy sending some promising signals. But there is still a lot of americans out of work. What do we expect when decembers job numbers come out tomorrow . Reporter well, theres some decisions on wall street that are being made right now in terms of the trading day tomorrow. Because that report tomorrow morning is expected to show pretty much what we saw in november, about 151,000 new jobs created. But remember, last month there was a lot of controversy over the jobs report because of revisions. Were going to get that same kind of data skew in tomorrows report. And thats one of the reasons why people sold wall street today. Nobody wants to be aggressively long stocks ahead of that report tomorrow morning. Theres still a lot of nervousness, lester, in the market. Sue herrera at cnbc headquarters, thanks. One other news item about big money. Former Vice President al gore is a much richer man tonight, about 100 million richer after selling his littlewatched cable channel, current tv, to the arab news channel, al jazeera, which is looking for a way into more american homes. But just hours after word of the sale, time warner, the nations second largest cable company, said it was pulling the plug on current tv. Still ahead, as nbc nightly news continues, Womens Health news. Theres a real Science Behind that foggy brain feeling many women experience during menopause. But does it ever end . And later, the dating game. Where a growing number of older singles are finding love later in life. [ male announcer ] this is sheldon, whose long dy setting up the news starts with arthritis pain and a choice. Take tylenol or take aleve, the 1 recommended pain reliever by orthopedic doctors. Just two aleve can keep pain away all day. Back to the news. Just begin with americas favorite soups. Bring out chicken broccoli alfredo. Or bestever meatloaf. Go to campbellskitchen. Com for recipes, plus a valuable coupon. Campbells. Its amazing what soup can do. I honestly loved smoking, and i honestly didnt think i would ever quit. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix is proven to help people quit smoking. It reduces the urge to smoke. It put me at ease that you could smoke on the first week. [ male announcer ] some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. If you notice any of these stop taking chantix and call your doctor right away. Tell your doctor about any history of depression or other Mental Health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix. Dont take chantix if youve had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. If you develop these stop taking chantix and see your doctor right away as some can be lifethreatening. If you have a history of heart or blood vessel problems, tell your doctor if you have new or worse symptoms. Get medical help right away if you have symptoms of a heart attack. Use caution when driving or operating machinery. Common side effects include nausea, trouble sleeping and unusual dreams. With chantix and with the support system it worked. It worked for me. [ male announcer ] ask your doctor if chantix is right for you. Were back with health news. Tonight its about menopause and new research that may help explain a symptom many women experience during menopause. Its memory loss. And our chief medical editor, dr. Nancy snyderman, is here to tell us more about it. There probably isnt a woman who has gone through menopause who hasnt talked about the fogginess of the brain and could there be Something Else behind it. Now a new study in the journal of menopause, which studied 117 women in the early stages of post menopause, which means they have gone a year without having a menstrual period, and thought there was good evidence that this is for real. Things like attention, verbal learning, things you need to know on the job. Verbal memory. A laundry list. Even fine motor skills. Those are real issues for women who are postmenopausal. It does not mean youre at risk or alzheimers or other dementia, but for the first time were putting extra Science Behind. This. Is this something women have to acknowledge and live with . Or can they do something about it . We have made a big disease of minnow pause. Im a big believer you dont smoke, diet, exercise is important. Im not a big believer of hormones, people know that. There is no correlation between this and the hot flashes and the insomnia a lot of women complain. If you do go on hormones, make sure its a shortlived problem. And as we know, many women who are postmenopausal can grow up to be secretaries of state and head of the imf. There is a future after this. It really is not an illness, just a transition. You get your brain back. Thank you very much. There is a wakeup call from the centers for disease control. An Alarming Number of drivers are falling asleep at the wheel. A cdc survey found that 1 in 24 drivers said ty had nodded off while driving recently. Men more likely to report Drowsy Driving than women. And the problem gets worse with age. The recommended solution, well, its simple, but apparently not easy for many people. At least seven hours of sleep a night. When we come back, what people who live together bicker about more than anything else. Dont touch that dial. At a dry cleaner, we replaced people with a machine. What . 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