hamburg, germany, to the chaos communications congress. we will hear from julian assange and jacob appelbaum. stay with us. ♪ [music break] >> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. as we turn now to the cows communication congress in hamburg, germany, one of the speakers at the conference was wikileaks sarah harrison who accompanied edward snowden to russia and spent four months with him. harrison addressed the audience after receiving a long standing ovation. >> together with the constitutional rights, we filed against u.s. military can see secrecy applied to chelsea manning's trial. rudy's attacks we with continued our publishing work. in april we launch the public library of u.s. diplomacy, though most conference of database of u.s. diplomatic cables in the world. this coincided with our release of 1.7 million u.s. cables from the kissinger period. we launched our first files, 249 documents, from 92 intelligence contractors, exposing their technology, methods, and contracts. we completed releasing the global intelligence files as

washington. congress letting tax breaks expire at the end of the year without renewal. molly henneberg tells us that makes things tough on people outside of d.c. >> reporter: what the government giveth, the government can take away. including 55 popular tax breaks. almost every year congress allows them to expire and then reinstates them retroactively. but businesses and taxpayers cannot count on that because there is no guarantee. >> it affects your business planning, it affects your profitabili profitability, your bottom line and your competitiveness, not only domestically but globally. >> reporter: some of the tax breaks set to expire, a tax credit for research and development by drug and high-tech businesses. a tax break allowing companies to write off large capital expenditures right away. a tax credit for businesses that produce renewable energy. tax deductions for companies that donate food to the needy or computers to public libraries and a tax credit for those who buy electric powered cars. congress can decide to renew them for a year or two, or permanently or not at

availability of resources is a huge factor. if i am a moderate member of congress, i'm looking at the possibility of not just an opponent, now i'm looking at some kind of super pac coming in. in terms of their staying power, and their ability to move forward and to stay prominent, resources seem to be a factor. please comment on that. i don't know if anyone studied that i'm interested in that point. >> if you are a pragmatic republican, you had better watch what you say during the campaign or the lead up to the campaign where you could be calling by accident on a challenge that you do not expect. you can look around the landscape and see there is no candidate they can get the funding who has connections with the threat of a super pac coming in. someone can come in from nowhere. else?one i think john is going to want us to wrap up. do we have time for one more question? we have one more question from the audience. rooks? -- steve brooks? about six weeks ago, -- was here promoting his research that he spent doing on the younger generation. in response to a question about politics, he sa

stunting in the tension of growth going forward. now there are other reasons, one of them being congress, and we can talk about that as well, but in terms of what the policy was supposed to do, housing just wasn't the transition mechanism that it had been in the past. >> when we come back, i want to hear from you, pedro of what the continuing of the taper is going to mean to the economy. stay with us. you're watching inside story. >> al jazeera america is the only news channel that brings you live news at the top of every hour. >> here are the headlines at this hour. >> only on al jazeera america. many worry that the gains made in education will not stick in the future. aljazeera's jane ferguson takes us to a school in kandahar city that was long considered a success and is now facing closure. >> it's a place offering more than these girls know, a quality education in real tangible skills, a path away from positivity and early marriage and towards university and a career. since 2002, the modern stud has been teaching women languages, like management and computer skills. that they are ski

n.s.a. broke privacy rules thousands of times every year in congress there was a revolt against the spy agency we're here to answer one question for the people we represent do we oppose the suspicion this collection of every american's phone records in the summer the house of representatives comes within just a few votes of defunding the n.s.a.'s bulk records collection program despite the defeat n.s.a. reformers are emboldened a flurry of legislation drops to rein in the n.s.a.'s powers the courts get slammed with lawsuits from groups like the a.c.l.u. and the electronic frontier foundation one federal judge calls the program likely unconstitutional but less than two weeks later another federal judge upholds the program the supreme court looms in the white house admits the president orders an independent review panel which later comes out with forty six specific recommendations to reform the n.s.a. if you had asked me six months ago as we were about to launch into this enterprise whether after half a year there would still be an intense global conversation that was picking up momen

: and pushing an immigration overhaul through a divided congress. >> we still have the task of finishing the fix on our broken immigration system. >> reporter: at home, a raging debate about privacy and a stalled effort on gun control. on the international front, issues like the war in syria and negotiations over iran's nuclear program will continue to consume the president's time. but just how much can get done in 2014 will depend a great deal on congress. >> it's probably too early to declare an outbreak of bipartisanship, but it's also fair to say that we're not condemned to endless gridlock. there are areas where we can work together. >> reporter: the first item the president wants congress to tackle in the new year, extending unemployment benefits to the more than one million people who have lost them. he will lay out the rest of his 2014 agenda on january 28th in the state of the union address. dana? >> athena jones, thank you very much. joining me now from the white house is white house senior advisor, phil shalero. the big news today is the two million number, signed up

>> happy new year. jakarta and indonesia. welcome to a special edition of "lunch money. congress and action. what you should not look or were two in 2014. 2013 the best of aykroyd, buffett, and why you should not take on the selfie. in switzerland, the kind of security you get with a swiss bank account, not just tax-free money. five nfl coaches joined the nation's unemployed. another new year in new york. the ball will drop in times square. >> people always say go out with a bang on the but i do not think this is what they meant. two trains collided in eastern north dakota yesterday. no one was injured but the massive fireball was the resort result. first, a grain train he railed, hitting another train carrying crude oil going the opposite way on an adjacent track. police have advised residents to evacuate their homes because of fumes. there are a lot of trains carrying crude oil in north dakota these days. it is one of the nation's new and plentiful sources of oil. the train that cause the explosion was carrying it from boston to minnesota. the fourth major do braille meant in s

anyone. particularly the institution of congress or the presidency for that matter. the bill represents the conclusion of a difficult period from which i hope many can draw important lessons. i hope that this sad episode will help congress to make difficult decisions. we must keep the government functioning and address the out- of-control debt and the many challenges presented by the health care law, obamacare. for many months, and particularly the last two weeks i have worked tirelessly with , colleagues to find an agreement. i particularly want to thank are presented to ron kind, senators susan collins and joe manchin, and the many other members who participated in many discussions. this lays down a foundation to reach an agreement on issues that need to be addressed. i urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this legislation and to join with those of us who share an obligation to govern and seek bipartisan solutions. i yield back. >> the gentleman from kentucky reserves. the gentleman from new york is that gentlewoman from new york is recognized. >> i'm very pleased to yiel

show to the american people said they would turn up the heat on congress and i think maybe that is a breakout in the tradition that we have enough americans to decide this is the right direction that will eventually get the political will to follow. the leadership is not functioning opposed to actually leading it. so let me start notice from the elephant is a time turning who isn't a republican. he is a florida 8-year-old and we were at a kosko signing books and if you had seen these kids running that you would have understood exactly why she invented this character. but her goal has been first to talk about all of american history and then to talk about the colonial period and now the yankee doodle dandy to talk about the american revolution and she's already beginning to work on a book for next year which will be called from sea to shining sea and which it helps lewis and clark to go into the pacific and her goal -- by the way "breakout" is my 27th dhaka and i can tell you that watching her right of the series when you have to take the facts and we want our history books to be fact

may have been the least productive year for congress in history, at least in terms of passing laws. fewer than 60 of which made it through the house and the senate and were signed by president obama. but across the country, state lawmakers were busy, getting more than 40,000 bills passed, ones that tackle everything from drones to food stamp benefits. in illinois, for example, teenagers will no longer get to use tanning beds without a doctor's note. if you live in delaware, you might want to hit up the shark fin buffet while you can. a new law will make it illegal to own, sale or distribute the controversial delicacy. in california, new laws take effect that lets students take part in school sports or use bathrooms based on their gender identity regardless of what their birth certificates say. joining us to talk about some of the other fascinating new laws of 2014 is legendary attorney and harvard law professor, alan dershowitz. we are catching him in miami. professor, thanks for joining us. it's clear we're in a whole new world when laws about drones are making it into the books.

much as $4,000 from their income, giving them a lower tax bill. >> we are hoping that congress does something to make some of these incentives more permanent provide some certainty. when you are trying to decide whether you can afford to go to school, you need to know that after tax experience. >> struggling homeowners are going to face what many experts are calling a financial disaster with the ex-her ration of the mort forgiveness relief. consider than more than $640,000 received relief from the national mortgage settlement reached in 2012, effective linders reduced the size of disstressed mortgages by an average of $180,000 so monthly payments were affordable. if congress doesn't act, mortgage reductions will be taxed as income. >> it is going to hit these people who were the vs. most vulnerable, people who are already struggling with their payments. people who have been hurt by a declining home price market, and that just hurts the housing market, it hurts the economy. small businesses in the united states create more than 60% of private sector jobs. and then the economists say

need to let your representatives in congress know that you are disappointed and if they don't act you will remember, election time. you need to let your leadership in washington know that they did not represent your views on this. >> what this means is this issue is not going away. people behind me have been hurt physically and emotionally by violence and they will continue working with us. i pledge to everyone that i will try to do everything that i can to fight for meaningful background check legislation. the fight has just a gun. it's not going away. -- the fight has just begun. i want to call a little out of order and call on joe manchin from west virginia who courageously crafted the legislation, great legislation, dealing with background checks. >> looking ahead to 2014, you mentioned some of the executive actions the administration has taken. what else are they doing? is there any other legislative effort plan for 2014? >> a lot of lawmakers on the hill think that the issue is dead. in september, we have the navy yard shooting and it reinvigorated the debate for dick durbin

fourteen they might see something get through congress and change of subject kevin again fracking all anti fracking campaign is going to one hundred percent progress is what has been a big can set in america as they could said a lot of countries around the world american crude oil production is expected to break the country's old time record in three is partially because of fracking is controversial way they get it out of the ground the gas and oil one of the main concerns we've been talking about it at length but just sum up for us one of the main concerns of the people who up in arms about it your country. well the main concerns are basically that it's poisoning everyone around fracking wells fracking involves injecting enormous quantities of liquid chemicals into the ground . break into natural gas reserves and those chemicals can leach in the groundwater you've probably seen videos of people who live around for acting wells lighting their tap water and fire there's been documented research showing the animal suffering around fracking areas people suffering from all sorts of illnes

congress. to make a real and lasting difference, congress, too, must act. i'm calling on congress to pass some very specific proposals right away. it's time to require universal background check for anyone trying to buy a gun. [applause] it already requires licensed gun dealers to run background checks. these gun sales are not safe, not smart, not fair to responsible gun buyers or sellers. if you want to buy a gun, whether it's from a licensed dealer or private seller, you should at least have to show you are not a felon or someone legally prohibited from buying one. this is common sense. an overwhelming majority agree with us on the need for universal background checks. congress should restore a ban on military style assault weapons and 810 -- a 10 round limit for magazines. [applause] the type of assault rifle used in or roar of when paired with high-capacity magazines has one purpose -- to pump out as many bullets as possible as quickly as possible, to do as much damage using bullets often designed to inflict maximum damage and that's what allowed the gunmen and a roar wrote to shoot 7

of year. that is money that congress is having a hard time finding. find 54 point $2 billion, i'm not sure how this moves. a lot to play out. some analysts i have talked to have said you how have to wait until the end of 2014 for this to be addressed. , philnk you very much mattingly from washington on what we can expect or not next year. >> one of the things that has been a theme, a lot of see sweet shakeups we have seen, also company turnarounds as well. john mcardle became the latest to join a list of executives that plan to hit the road. matt was so inspired by his coverage of this story that he went out and got some. long overdue. >> is a very interesting story. >> by the way, i got the little geo-bits. it was a huge fad for a while and i think that kids are still going to always be wearing crocs. they are so simple and clean. i did not like them then. then they became widely hated across social media and obviously they are a total fashion faux pas and now i am a fan and i went out and bought my first pair because of the story and they are super comfy. >> they make a lot of s

aliens of assets. brian jacobson coming up in just a moment. and congress letting more than 50 tax breaks expire, millions affected. we will tell you what, if anything, lawmakers can do about it when they come back from their holiday recess, which they have gone on forever. maybe it could just stay a holiday. welcome back. how ieverything? there's nothing like being your own boss! and my customers are really liking your flat rate shipping. fedex one rate. really makes my life easier. maybe a promotion is in order. good news. i got a new title. and a raise? management couldn't make that happen. [ male announcer ] introducing fedex one rate. simple, flat rate shipping with the reliability of fedex. cheryl: the power mover of the hour, you can argue this is a power mover of the year. this is netflix. it was substantially higher earlier this session, it took a turn to the downside to don't let that upset you because this company announced the ceo will get a big pay raise for 2014. getting a 50% bump in pay. receiving 2 million celery and 2 million in stock options in 2013. now he will

in congress. he clearly knows how politics work. but being the mayor is different or should be. in washington people are often tabbed as political allies were adversaries fair game for manipulation or intimidation. in congress, he represented his constituents that the daily grind had a lot more to do with the machinations and maneuvers. running the city that you are directly effected to serve people and listen to them is supposed to be a different story. but he was treating chicago as if it were washington and perhaps that is why even in his brief tenure as mayor he seemed to find it so easy to ignore the parents, teachers, students, patients and others who carried out multiple protests outside of his fifth floor office in city hall. the citizens frequently noted that he hadn't been sympathetic toward space and his approach. but the least he would meet with people and acknowledge them and make efforts to listen to their proposals and act on their concerns. he can't seem to find the time for many members of the public even as he says he wants their input on issues like school closin

house direct military action we saw the u.s. congress threaten default to blackmail the president it's been a roller coaster but very few enjoyed it and here's a quick look back at some of the twists and turns. team obama prepared to hit syria the u.n. bulked while others worry that u.s. strikes could benefit extremists never. hurt the american people wouldn't buy it either so president obama finally took up the russian proposal to cut a deal and we will work together in consultation with russia and china to put forward a resolution at the u.n. security council requiring assad to give up his chemical weapons and to ultimately destroy them under international control the zest for war in syria left many americans wondering why their representatives weren't as well boston helping them so paul and to me that in this circumstance in these times we spent two or three or more weeks deciding whether we should conduct what is laughingly referred to as a humanitarian war in congress the republicans used the debt limit to blackmail president obama and starve funds for a medical insurance scheme f

across china. here in the u.s. congress didn't do much in 2013, but the states were busy. here is a look at what you can expect coming up. >> if you are 21 you can buy and smoke marijuana in colorado as the state becomes the first in the nation to legalize recreational pot. oregon has a law about cigarettes and bans for lighting up if children are in your car. gun owners lined up to register assault rifles and ammunition magazines that can hold more than ten rounds in connecticut. cigarettes are getting a lot of attention in the new year, near in new york city there is a new ban on smoking e-cigarettes in in public and workplaces. the big apple joins four other states on imposing this type of law. if you got or gave a pet for the holidays the new pet lemon law in illinois may interest you. and school districts can install bus cameras. and drinking laws have not been forgotten for the new year, in wisconsin you can now drink while riding in a pedal tavern. it's clear 2014 will bring more changes than just the calendar year itself. >> taking a look at business news, wall street lookin

congress that resulted in a partial government shutdown i was definitely there too when the secrets of the secret service is still being secret said although we're far from clandestine by the time. remember how we started the year where you were we were all good we've done this every year we started the year phoning emailing texting our friends to wish them happy new year believing that those messages were securely only going to be sent to the intended recipient it didn't quite work out that that is how things have changed this year we all found out just how closely big brother could be watching us edward snowden's name became synonymous with the steady stream of revelations about how america's national security agency might literally be keeping an eye on everyone the former n.s.a. contractor rist his life and freedom by downloading nearly two million secret files before fleeing the u.s. and then going up in russia here's how that amazing journey unfolded well the first snowden disclosure was published by britain's guardian newspaper on june the fifth it revealed that the n.s.a. collec

hearings held and some of the floor debate. what in general has been congress' reaction to the revelations? >> there have been episodic attempts by congress over the course of this year to restrict some of these activities. but nothing has really in the end happened of any significance. in part because congress itself is very torn about what they think about these things, and the democratic leadership of the senate, the senate intelligence committee, dianne feinstein has broadly supported this activity. and so you have for the most part a congress that has blessed these activities of the n.s.a. so that is why any kind of real change is difficult. >> get back to the information with mark mazzetti in a moment. we wanted to show the floor debate on the amendment and other hearings this year on the n.s.a. surveillance program. >> in recent years, the information gathered from these programs provided the u.s. government with critical leads to help prevent over 50 potential terrorist events in more than 20 countries around the world. f.a.a. 702 contributed in over 90% of the cases. a

the floor of congress and congratulated the winning united states team. she's apparently a huge sailing fan. >> understandably so. well, we appreciate it. ellie hall, who's from buzzfeed.com. thanks very much. really wonderful to share those moments. >> thanks for having me. >> happy new year. >> thank you. >>> actor leonardo dicaprio is responding to critics who say that his new movie "wolf of wall street" glorifies the lifestyle of a con man. in an interview with "variety," dicaprio says he and the film makers don't condone the wild and self-obsessed behavior of rich guys who con folks out of their money but wanted to show the dark side of greed. cnn takes a look at the real life stockbroker portrayed in the film who says the movie is not far off from what actually happened. >> my name is jordan bellford. the year i turned 26, i made $49 million, which really pissed me off because it was three shy of a million a week. ♪ >> i said he would reach new levels of productivity. we will look back and say the numbers four or five months ago were nothing. i make one more guarantee. s

capital. and it is a us has long been lost. scientists lying to congress the us. i know curse. the truth. the it promises to keep the leaks coming through twenty fourteen. together we can find a better house. and mass surveillance. why the government really wants to know how we feel. asking is always cheaper than spine i was government surrendered and whale shot down. he came to a standstill for over two weeks in what's becoming an annual tradition. oh and of america took a beating here lawmakers couldn't agree on raising the debt ceiling and came very close to defaulting on some seventeen trillion dollars into it. the market's going to say we don't play this game even more when i can only give money at any price. the imf and world bank warned of dire consequences of china called for the world's de america nine's nation. given that that was in time and time again these political crisis appear in the us. i think they would be more calls for episode of trying to reduce dependence in america. eventually a deal and thousands of federal employees can go back to work parks and war memorials re

officials, visiting members of congress, even senator obama. no one under our care was ever injured. so diplomatic security does matter. a u.s. ambassador, other than that in benghazi, no one had been killed since 1979. so it's not good for america when a personal representative of the united states gets killed. and i'm sad to say i'm confident if we'd been on the job in benghazi, ambassador stevens would still be alive. >> speaking of losses and protection, blackwater itself experienced some enormous losses when it comes to human life starting with fallujah, as you -- >> yep. >> -- pointed out just a moment ago. >> we, 41 of our men were killed doing the job, and these are, you know, just the kind of people we had hired. these were veterans that had already served america in the military on law enforcement. they were, obviously, hired for that experience, and they went back to work again, they volunteered again to go and serve. we as truly a volunteer organization, we can't stop loss, we can't make them go out on a mission. they volunteer every day. so they have to be, make sure th

congress reinstate the r&d exemptions, financial firms that their business overseas, will we see those reinstituted? >> probably. this is an instant replay of what happens over the year. what is really scandalous, look at the provisions in that. you talk about some of the big ones that are important, something for the windmill, by motorcycles, racehorses. we don't really need these. we would not extend any of these special interest tax breaks quite frankly. i want to get rid of all of them. adam: allowing them to reap big rewards? we don't have time to talk about those rights now, but i wish you a happy, healthy new year and cheryl casone has an new year filled with red wine. >> youtube. lori: i think we will be talking about the hangover this afternoon. this stock alert for you. hertz global shares are soaring. adopting a one-year poison pill to gain sizable control the car rental company. unusual and substantial trading activity. the plan was not adopted in response to any specific bid. adam: also watching the stock of phillips 66 jumping to a 52-week high. berkshire hathaway is buyi

away. that's the case with popular tax breaks. every year congress allows them to expire and reinstates them retroactively. and businesses cannot wait on that. there is research and development by drug and high-tech companies. and a tax break writing off large capitol expenditures. and plans that preduce renewable energy. and tax donations for the needy and those who buy electric- powered cars. when law makers return, it could take months to renew for 1 or 2 year or not at all. and in the meantime businesses and individuals wait to try to plan the budgets accordingly. >> it affects your business planning and profitablity and your bottom line and competitiveness. not only domestically but globally. it could affect the economy. >> part of the calculations for law makers each of the 55 tax breaks means less money coming to washington and less money to pay for the government spending. mole, live in washington, thanks. >> the slap on the wrist for a key in the drunk driving deaths of four people making our year end legal roundup. >> the death penalty phase in the murder trial that

successful fundraisers in congress, for that reason. >> but at a certain point, it's sort of is throwing good money after bad, right? >> ultimately, and the presidential election, they cancel each other out. when you are both spending millions of dollars. iowa is a swing state. both parties are spending tens of millions of dollars and saturating the airwaves. they are canceling each other out, it is not doing anything. >> ok. great for television stations. >> before we think the panel for that discussion, i have a couple announcements to make. break -- we will take a for a few minutes. those of you who are signed up for lunch will have lunch next door. right in the room through the wall, don't go through the wall, go through the door. [laughter] some students that are interested in the masters in applied politics program here at the university of akron. they are preserved tables at the front where we can provide you with information. finally, as you may have noticed in your toe bags, -- tote bags. i have been told on pain of death to ask you to fill out your a violation form. --

nuclear option yesterday, i think, was sort of analogous, but how can congress claw back some of the authority or the powers we've delegated over the past few years to the administration? >> you know, i think one of the -- and, unfortunately, this is one not a republican or democrat rob. even in the bush administration we had signing statements and executive orders, and each administration somehow seems to ratchet that up further. so it's not just a problem with a lahr president or administration -- particular president or administration. i would give a couple of hopeful signs. one is probably the only institution that you hear willing to roll the clock back a bit, if you will, is the u.s. supreme court. we have two or three justices on the u.s. supreme court who openly say now that we are not so -- so much slaves to every court decision that's been decided ahead of us to say, no be, i'm sorry, we were wrong when we made that decision and go back to a time before the most recent supreme court decision. so that actually gives me some hope that if some of this is challenged, say, in a

more. hi, elizabeth? >> very popular. this will affect millions of people. congress drops the ball typically every year allowing a bundle of tax breaks to expire. credits do vary. some are for large corporations like energy or research related. some are smaller scale and will hit individual businesses and individuals. taxes will go up for 57 millions for those with no income tax. spokesman from h panned r block release ad statement. billions of dollars of tax breaks will expire impacting teachers, students, homeowners and investors and others if there is no action to extend them in the new year. there is no guaranty with tax breaks which have been extended up four times over the next seven years will exist after december. a group of lawmakers have been pushing to simplify the entire tax code, agreement on two sides continues to end in a stalemate making a very un predictable future for millions of people. >> there is a lot of uncertainty with people. they don't know whether to move forward or not, take the fine or not. there is a lot of up decision. lack of regulatory tax and incen

with the debt congress and the president's gets together, conspiring to reduce spending and investments that grow the economy and that cooked in for the next couple years, a terrible mistake by congress and the president. cheryl: at the same time the thing that helped the stock market again, dow up 26% year to date as we go into in the the close. the markets are doing well. the fed has been working in that fixing of money and they're pulling back 10 billion we should say. >> short-term and medium-term it has absolutely worked. i worry about the long-term. if you go to the printing of money, it never ended up well, this is the first time going forward. a couple points on the market. two best examples i can think of in the dow, boeing is up 100%, earnings growth only 10%, 3 m up 45%, earnings growth of 3%, valuations getting stretched but i got to debate a little bit here about this spending by government. my friend, government is spending more money on a yearly basis than they have never in history. let me finish. there was a fly on an elephant's but, this little sequester. they're spend

. off. civil war deepens in syria. the 113th congress was sworn in and then didn't get that much done. 2013 is about to enter the history books the first draft looking back at the year that was is the inside story. >> hello, i'm ray suarez. we didn't look ahead to 2013 on this program a year ago. because this network wasn't on the air and i was working somewhere else.

power to congress. we'll have a look ahead when we come back. we're aig. and we're here. to help secure retirements and protect financial futures. to help communities recover and rebuild. for companies going from garage to global. on the ground, in the air, even into space. we repaid every dollar america lent us. and gave america back a profit. we're here to keep our promises. to help you realize a better tomorrow. from the families of aig, happy holidays. thanks so much for your insights >>> 2014 just hours away now. and for washington, there's a ton at stake. we're talking mid term elections, state races with national i remember indications. and en, of course, there's the race for 2016 which could very well start in 2014. will hillary clinton or chris christie give away their plans? >>> i want to start with the current president. president obama in the center of conversation in the year ahead. the big question a lot of people are asking is what kind of president will we see, especially at the beginning? will he be confrontational or accommodating? what are you predicting? >> president

country. many lawmakers vow to roll back the cut when congress returns to work next week. >>> "the new york times" says an official who supervised the troubled rollout of obamacare is retiring. michelle snyder is the second administration official to leave in the wake of the problems at healthcare.gov. she was actively involved in efforts to repair the site. >>> the "los angeles times" said the state of california is running out of money to map earthquake faults. the maps are crucial for enforcing building regulations and new construction. the funding is expected to dry up early next year. >>> our new york station wcbs says horse-drawn carriages may ride off in the sunset. new york mayor elect bill de blasio plans to get rid of the carriages saying they're not humane and not appropriate. he wants to replace them with antique electric cars. this is the last full day in office for his predecessor, mayor michael bloomberg, who served for 20 years. >>> and the "usa today" says the census bureau predicts the population will grow by 3 million to more than 317 million. it's the slowest growth

less by the new library of congress. the corps, which had wrenched the project from its architect designers and claimed it for its own, had completed the library, dazzled everyone and was set to move from that work to redoing the rest of the city. they wished to begin as soon as possible, but they were abruptly unseated by nongovernmental architects, members of the american institute of architects. through the patronage of senator james mcmillan of michigan whom the corps had insulted by not be including in their plans, he was head of the d.c. committee, a whole new set of beautiful plans were made for washington by professional architects who were working in private practice. at the time of the presentation of what came to be known as the mcmillan plan, other changes had come. president mckinley was dead, assassinated in buffalo. theodore roosevelt was his then very unlikely successor, so it was roosevelt who toured the great presentation in 1901 at the corcoran and heard the spiel about how the plan was approved by washington but substantially approved further from the chicago w

would to find out now that congress has allowed benefits for the long-term unemployed run out. ♪ >> as the ball drops tonight on the east coast, more than 50 federal tax breaks will expire as congress failed to extend them into 2014. has been looking over the list and has the details. i know that my daily train ticket commute is on their. >> the subsidy, the break for employers offered benefits on travel and transit will drop as of midnight tonight. it is about $240. it will gone down to about $130. or do you curse -- for new yorkers, this is a huge deal. it is not just an individual thing. it has a big impact on big business, which is why their lobbyists care so much about this. start to look at some of the brakes. -- breaks. you have energy efficient buildings, the r&d tax credit. have from the retail and services industry side, provisions about hiring veterans. not just individuals but businesses, too. big change is starting tonight. >> you have a basket of 55 tax breaks. through somewent pretty ordinary. which are the ones that stick out? >> you always have lawmakers that get their

that in congress. and pretty soon i hope that there will be a way for these businesses to legally bank. as for kids, they certainly already know about marijuana from all kinds of sources in the -- television, their friends. i'm hoping that if we normalize this, and it's something people can do, it's not going to be something you can do to rebel with. when it's not allowed, sometimes it becomes more appealing to the youngster that wants to rebel. and i think parents are going to do a good job of teaching their children, just as they do with cigarettes and alcohol, that they need to be adults to make those kind of decisions whether they're going to use that. and to let them know what the affects are of those substances. >> i'm going to play devil's advocate for a moment. if this completely blows up and bad outweighs the good, have you and members of of the city council discusses what you would do? what the plan of action would be? >> you know, if it does outweigh the -- if the bad does outweigh the good, that's an excellent question. we have the ability through our -- because of the

time. there's an election coming up in congress in 2014. so there's plenty of stuff to workry about. on balance, though, the economic structure of what's going on throughout the world, the u.s., europe is doing better, china seems to have stabilized. all leads to pretty positive outlook. of course, there's always going to be something that upsets the apple cart. and when there is, we expect some type of correction to take place during the year. we would use that as an opportunity to buy, not necessarily chase things right now. >> all right. jordan, you've talked about cisco. is this because it had a terrible quarter last quarter? is it a value pick, or is it something beyond that idea of picking that stock for 2014? >> we are value investors, and so, there certainly is a value take. they did have a difficult october quarter when they reported it. and subsequent to that, they had a large investor day in new york. and they reiterated a couple of themes. one is they are becoming much more shareholder aware in terms of returning capital to shareholders by way of dividend and in terms of sha

. appreciate your time, evan. rebecca. have a great new year's. >> thanks. >> thank you. >>> congress gets back to work on monday. topping the agenda, renewing unemployment benefits for millions of americans. can lawmakers get the job done? i'll talk with democratic senator bob casy. and protect financial futures. to help communities recover and rebuild. for companies going from garage to global. on the ground, in the air, even into space. we repaid every dollar america lent us. and gave america back a profit. we're here to keep our promises. to help you realize a better tomorrow. from the families of aig, happy holidays. >>> the safety net for more than a million unemployed americans has disappeared. but prospects for new jobs is dim. it affects 1.3 million unemployed for six months or longer. the obama administration estimates if nothing is done a total of 5 million americans could lose their benefits by the end of 2014. the cost to put long-term unemployment benefits back in place here about $19 billion a year. republicans say that's too much and without finding cults to balance it out

is a chance congress will restore the brakes retroactively in january, but there is no guarantee. bell andined by steve phil mattingly. ail mattingly, how big of deal are these breaks for u.s. companies? >> sometimes they are overlooked because everyone assumes the taxs will reenact breaks retroactively, but they inter, and you will see it how companies lobby. look at what is on the table. the research and development tax credit, something intel, bristol-myers squibb -- they really care about this. it matters immensely. corning cares about infrastructure. you have tax credits for hiring veterans. these are things companies lobby hard for. what is also interesting, bottom-line perspective, companies cannot assume tax breaks that have not happened, so while we can assume they have not been enacted, it matters to earnings because companies can bookook of this, so you -- this, so you will not see a bottom-line impact. >> which are the oddballs that stick out? >> there is a depreciation break for racing horses. you could tip your cap to seven minority leader mitch mcconnell -- senate

restaurant companies in america. as the head of the nra herman cain struck a deal with congress >> as long as the minimum wage for tipped workers stayed frozen forever. and so it has been stuck at the federal level at $2.13 an hour for the last 22 years. now, it's a little bit better here in maryland at $3.63, but it is nothing the live on anywhere. and it is because of the power of this industry that has, essentially, struck a deal that says we should not have to pay our workers' wages. you, customers, you should pay our workers' wages for us. something i didn't know. i few something about health and safety in restaurants. i grew up in l.a., and in l.a. they actually put letter grades in restaurant windows to tell you about the sanitation of the restaurant. i thought i knew something about san -- san station. i had no idea that 90% of restaurant workers in america don't have paid sick days, which means two-thirds report cooking, preparing and serving our meals when they are sick with true stories from my book, h1n1, better known as swine flu or pink eye or hepatitis a or typhoid feve

are low and then you look at congress. a 9% approval rating. that just ain't right. there something wrong with that. >> that's a family cat. >> i talk about it in the book. her mic is not on, exactly. we set it up that way. >> like the show. [laughter] i read about in the book there are two republican parties right now. there is the republican party and wishing to d.c.. it is such, especially if you go -- it's such an ideologically driven party that does not allow a variety of views. i'm not talking about liberal views and conservative views. i'm talking about the variety of views we had for instance when the heritage foundation -- heritage was about education reform and getting a lot of different conservatives together. they would fight like heck about the best way forward on education reform, the best way forward on tax reform. jack kempe would have horrible fights with phil gramm and others and then they would come together and come up with a tax reform plan. there were to be constant battles on the budget. there were a lot of different ways forward in the conservatives we believ

of congress the attack was fueled in large part by anger at an american made video. that's consistent with what susan rice, then u.s. ambassador to the united nations said on cbs "face the nation." >> it began spontaneously in benghazi as a reaction to what occurred hours earlier in cairo, which, of course, you know there was a violent protest outside our embassy sparked by this hateful video. >> first of all, it's absolutely inaccurate. >> reporter: mike rogers, the chairman of the house intelligence committee, has led an extensive investigation of the benghazi attack. >> we found absolutely no evidence that that video was involved in this whatsoever. as a matter of fact, most of the information about the video didn't even start surfacing in social media, we found, until after the event had happened. >> reporter: he agrees that militia leader khattala was involved. >> we do think that he had a role, if not a leading role, in the event. but to say that there was no al qaeda affiliate organizing, helping and participating would be completely inaccurate. >> reporter: this pas

my life. you know, regardless of what congress does, ultimately i am the president of the united states and expect me to do something about it. so in terms of how i intend to going to keep'm on working as hard as i can around the priorities that the american people care about. and i think it is legitimate for them to expect me to have to win back some credibility on this health care law in particular and on a whole range of these issues in general. that is on me. we fumbled the rollout on this health care law. int: president obama back november accepting blame for healthcare.gov. is that your top news story of the year? that is our question for all of you this morning on this december 31st, but he 13. -- december 31, 2013. tweet from house speaker john boehner and what he had to say about the affordable care act. the speaker saying you can see the different tweets and the new debates that will be happening in 2014 as we close out onto 13 here on the "washington journal." susan in sarasota florida, an independent caller. susan, what do you think? what is the top story of the year?

best year for republicans in congress. most will remember 2013 for being one of the least productive congresses in history. but while d.c. was mired in gridlock at the state level gop governors were getting it done. this year we interviewed governors chris christie, scott walker and bobby jindal who offered fresh new ideas for the republican party. >> what's happening in the states we're getting right because 60% of the governors in america republican. majority of state senators in america republican. huge landslide since 2010. what are republicans not doing in washington, d.c. that republicans at the state and local level are doing. >> three big things. governors and state leaders were more optimistic than our friends in washington. we're not just against something. we're laying out a plan. we're laying out a vision. people gravitate. >> you got to. >> that's how you lead. you don't sit back and nick the other side. you have to lay out a plan. we talk in terms that's more relevant. sequester, goes right over their head. debt ceiling, fiscal cliffs. we talk about making ou

? >> you're really optimistic. >> i don't remember congress doing something since i'm a i don't know, lincoln. >> 55 tax breaks are set to expire, raising everything from airline travel to my daily train commute today tuition checks. these are just the tip of the iceberg. there are a lot of tax breaks set to expire. >> there are. you have the individual issues. you have the commuter tax breaks. $240 right now, that will drop to about $130 as of tonight. coulds schumer said this affect over 700 thousand new yorkers. a huge deal from the individual side of things. it is a massive thing for businesses as well. the research and development tax credit, something intel, personal myers, companies like that, rely on. about $7 billion a year. that expires tonight. you have tax credits for hiring veterans, energy-efficient tax breaks are gone as well. you have private mortgage insurance write-offs that is gone. those commuter benefits. that is something that will have an impact i think we'll stop all of that gone tonight. when congress is actually going to come back to this issue? that is anyb

, congress passed a law requiring the f.a.a. to provide military, commercial and privately owned drones with expanded access to sufficient air space by the end of september, 2015. that expansion could also mean thousands of new jobs. states including new york, nevada, texas, and even alaska will now work with the f.a.a. to help develop safety and operational rules. the sites include governmental agencies, an international airport and universities, working on technical areas for risks for drones. >> the research we do here is for the betterment of man kind, not to spy in people's backwards. >> but it's exactly those concerns that has the american civil liberties union keeping a close eye on the privacy standards these sites are required to establish for the testing. >> ultimately drones are going to be common place across the country, and that's why we think it's important the that congress itself should pass legislation putting some privacy guidelines in place. if drones are going to be throughout the united states, it's important there be a strong national uniform standard put i

. let's lean forward. okay. >> that's a great idea. >> this year's session of congress will -- >> i'm sorry, go ahead. >> this year's session of congress will go down as one of the least liked, least effective in history sending the government into shut down and getting practically nothing done. >> it was fun. two good things. one it was fun. and two, they got 14% approval rating. >> it was not fun. >> 13 points it could be lower than that. >> here's the question, guys. will 2014 be any better? this morning we'll look at what's possible in the next year. >> john, let's start with you. if we go back over the last year we see a lot of promises at the inauguration that the president was not able to fulfill. we saw a real push after newtown for background checks and a couple of other things. immigration reform. a lot of things just didn't get done this year. why would things change any in 2014? >> i don't think things will change very much in 2014. as we all know, congressional mid-term elections come up and we'll be dominated by politics than policy. it's unclear to me how the incentives