welcome back, everyone. i m alex witt alongside ayman mohyeldin and louis burgdorf. here are the top stories. at least two dozen people were injured after tornadoes swept through new orleans. the damage is substantial. we ll have more from the gulf coast in a bit. and president trump is set to address a joint chiefs of police meeting today. they claim that the nation s murder rate is the highest it has been in 47 years. while it has risen a bit over the last year, the fbi rate shows it near the lowest point in 50 years. after a bitterly divided confirmation fight, betsy devos begins her first day on the job by delivering a speech to
susan collins and lisa murkowski announced they would vote against devos. democrats last night hosting an all night talk-a-thon hoping to convince at least one more republican senator to vote no which would have swung the vote in their favor. of course they were ultimately unsuccessful. betsy devos is expected to to be sworn in within a matter of hours. leanne cadel swell on capitol hill. leanne, this is certainly the most contentious confirmation fight so far. what s the reaction from the trump administration? reporter: well, today in the white house briefing sean spicer said that democrats are trying to obstruct the process. and in a sense, he s almost right, they do want to block or object to some of these nominees. especially someone like betsy devos who they senators heard from constituents and they re record breaking number of phone cas and e-mails who were opposed to devos, but democrats can t really block or derail a
washington for the last longer than eight years, in all fairness to president obama, a lot longer than eight years but if we end up with that gridlock, i would say if you can, mitch, go nuclear. because that would be a absolute shame, if a man of this quality was caught up in the web. paul: president trump s supreme court nominee, neil gorsuch, made the rounds on capitol hill this week as the white house prepares for a confirmation fight with democrats. president trump urging senate majority leader mitch mcconnell to go nuclear if necessary and abandon the 60-vote threshold for confirmation. i spoke to south carolina senator and judiciary committee member lindsey graham earlier this week and asked him how he thinks finishing orsuch gorsuch will fare in the senate. he s going to get approved. i could not think of a better pick if i were president myself. i think any republican president would put him on top of their list. outstanding choice, well qualified. should be confirmed a
decision. that s it. nancy pelosi not shy about her opposition to nominee neil gorsuch. is this criticism fair? what else is on her list and what kind of confirmation fight is congress in for now? president trump promised the american people if he was elected he would nominate a principled constitutionalist to replace justice scalia and tonight he kept his word and honored that commitment. tonight was a big, big deal. clinically proven to help reduce hunger between meals. from metamucil, the #1 doctor recommended brand. and for just $15.99big festival of shrimp you can pick 2 of 6 new and classic creations on one plate new flavors like sweet bourbon-brown sugar grilled shrimp and bold firecracker red shrimp are too big to last so hurry in.
business people had been rumored to be in the running for. now purdue, possibly poised to join a group of other nominees that may have a really tough confirmation fight if senator chuck schumer gets his way. he says it could last until march. interesting pick. peter doocy live from the streets of new york city. happy new year, welcome back home. happy new year. doing great work. lawmakers arriving on capitol hill today, as leaders in both the house and senate aim to put obamacare on the chopping block tomorrow. what does the republican plan to replace it look like? plus, think your new year s eve was a little rough? oh, boy. how did this suv go tumbling off aer iffy? we can laugh about it when we