Updated at 5:53 p.m. ET – Former Sen. Chuck Hagel, President Barack Obama’s choice to be secretary of defense, finished a day-long marathon confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee Thursday, enduring nearly eight hours of testy and skeptical questions from Republicans.

At the start of Thursday’s hearing, it seemed nearly certain that the Senate would vote to confirm Hagel. But the nominee labored at certain points during the day to clarify and explain his comments. Whether his occasional stumbles were serious enough to jeopardize his confirmation was not clear by the end of the testimony.

There are 55 senators in the Democratic caucus and 45 Senate Republicans, so if there’s no filibuster, Hagel would seem assured of confirmation. The last time the Senate rejected a Cabinet nominee was in 1989 when there was a Republican president and a Democratic-controlled Senate. 

Republican senators confronted Hagel with quotations from statements he had made months or years ago – and sometimes he apologized for them or amended them.

Late in the day Sen. Mike Lee, R- Utah, asked Hagel whether he’d said in 2003 that Israel keeps Palestinians “caged up like animals” and whether he still believes that.

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“Like many things I’ve said, I would like to go back and change the words and the meaning,” Hagel told Lee. “If I had a chance to go back and edit it, I would. I regret that I used those words.”

But he said he’d made his statement “in a larger context … (addressing) the frustration in what’s happening (in Israel) which is not in Israel’s interest” and mentioned the need “to find ways that we can help bring peace and security to Israel.”

Quizzed by both Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and Sen. David Vitter, R- La., on a statement he’d made calling the Iranian government a “legitimate” one, Hagel said, “I should have said ‘recognized’ instead of ‘legitimate.’”

At one point he told Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R- Ga., regarding U.S. policy toward Iran’s efforts to build nuclear weapons: “I’ve just been handed a note that I misspoke and said I supported the president’s position on ‘containment.’ If I said that, I meant to say that obviously – his position on containment – we don’t have a position on containment.”

Hagel then said, “I’ve had more attention paid to my words in the last eight weeks than I ever thought possible.”

This prompted Armed Services Committee chairman Sen. Carl Levin, D- Mich., to intervene, “Just to make sure your correction is clear, we do have a position on containment – which is we do not favor containment.” Hagel quickly concurred with Levin’s statement.

Hagel told the panel in his opening remarks that he is “fully committed to the president's goal of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon,” and that “all options must be on the table to achieve that goal. My policy is one of prevention, and not one of containment and the President has made clear that is the policy of our government.”

At another point, Hagel, explaining his criticism quoted in a 2008 book by Aaron David Miller, of “the Jewish lobby” and his allegation that “it intimidates a lot of people” in Congress – comments for which Hagel has apologized – said he ought to not have used the word “intimidates.”

“I should have used ‘influence,’” he said.

Later, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R- S.C., challenged Hagel to “name one dumb thing we’ve been goaded into doing” by the pro-Israel lobby or to identify one member of Congress whom the pro-Israel lobby had intimidated. Hagel said, “I didn't have in mind a single person," and did not identify any policy the U.S. government had been goaded into.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, played Hagel a recording of an interview Hagel did in 2009 with an al Jazeera program. A listener submitted a question asking about “the image of the United States is that of the world’s bully” and whether the United States needed “to change the perception and the reality” before asking other nations to reduce their arsenals. In that 2009 program Hagel began his reply by saying, “Her observation is a good one … .”

When Cruz asked Hagel to explain this reply, he said Thursday, “I think my comment was it was a relevant and good observation. I don’t think I said that I agree with it.”

Early in the testimony, the Iraq war and President George W. Bush’s 2007 surge of U.S. troops into Iraq became the heated focus of the hearing.

Sen. John McCain, R- Ariz., repeatedly pressed Hagel, a fellow Vietnam War veteran, on whether he had been right or wrong to say that the 2007 surge was “the most dangerous foreign policy blunder since Vietnam.”

When McCain angrily said “Will you please answer the question?” Hagel told McCain “I’m not going to give you a yes or no answer … I’ll defer that judgment to history.”

When McCain shot back that Hagel had been wrong about the surge, Hagel said his “most dangerous blunder” comment had been “not just about the 2007 surge but the overall war of choice going into Iraq” in 2003.

As a senator, Hagel voted for the congressional resolution authorizing Bush to invade Iraq, but later turned critical of Bush’s conduct of the operation.

Other Republicans on the committee repeatedly pressed Hagel on his support for endorsement of Global Zero, the movement calling for abolition of nuclear weapons by 2030.

Hagel served on the Global Zero U.S. Nuclear Policy Commission which issued a report last May calling for an 80 percent reduction in the U.S. nuclear arsenal.

Hagel told ranking Republican committee member Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma that his position “has never been unilateral disarmament.”

Kevin Lamarque / Reuters

Former Senator Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., testifies during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on his nomination to be Defense Secretary, on Capitol Hill, Jan. 31, 2013.

And he said the Global Zero report was discussing “illustrative possibilities” and “scenarios” and wasn’t urging specific policies.

But last May’s Global Zero report, which Hagel signed on to, says that a drastically smaller U.S. arsenal could be negotiated bilaterally with Russia – “or implemented unilaterally.”

In his opening statement Hagel pledged that he would maintain an effective nuclear arsenal. “America's nuclear deterrent over the last 65 years has played a central role in ensuring global security and the avoidance of a World War III. I am committed to modernizing our nuclear arsenal,” he said.

Hagel, who was seriously wounded while serving as an Army infantryman in Vietnam, was a Republican senator from Nebraska from 1997 to 2009 but did not support Republican presidential candidates McCain in 2008 or Mitt Romney last year.

Days after Israel’s air strike on Syria prompted a new round of fiery rhetoric from Hezbollah and objections from Russia, Vice President Biden will meet with key figures in the Syrian conflict while visiting Europe this week, senior White House officials said Thursday.

Biden will attend the 49th Munich Security Conference Saturday, where he will have bilateral meetings with the United Nations envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, as well as the head of the Syrian Opposition Council, Moaz al-Khatib. But White House officials suggested the meeting would not result in any additional U.S. involvement in the conflict beyond the humanitarian assistance it has been providing.
 
“I think the vice president, in his meetings with the leadership of the Syrian opposition as well as other international partners, is going to be discussing how we can continue to provide humanitarian assistance,” said Ben Rhodes, the deputy national security adviser for strategic communications, on a conference call with reporters previewing the visit.

Biden will also talk with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov -- a meeting that will take place just days after Russia rebuked Israel for launching a military strike in Syria.

And in the meeting with Lavrov, Rhodes said Biden will stress that it is “very important for the Russians to put their full weight into political transition in Syria.”

The conversation will also likely touch on Russia’s human-rights record, which came to a head when the U.S. Congress passed the Magnitsky Act, which imposes sanctions and denies visas to Russians accused of human rights abuses and corruption. 

Passage of the act set off a series of retaliatory actions from both the Russian and U.S. governments that could complicate U.S. efforts to “reset” the countries’ relationship.

“We have real differences, and we don't hide them,” said Tony Blinken, Biden’s national security adviser. “But going forward, there is a real potential not only to work through those differences, but to continue the agenda that we set over the past four years.”

In addition to Biden's stop in Germany, where he will meet one-on-one with Chancellor Angela Merkel, the vice president also will be meeting with the heads of France and the United Kingdom. Syria will figure into all of those discussions, said Blinken, who will soon move roles to serve as the president’s deputy national security adviser.

"I'm not going to give you a yes or no answer. I think it's far more complicated than that. … More to the point, our war in Iraq, I think, was the most fundamentally bad, dangerous decision since Vietnam.”  

-- Ex-Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) to John McCain (R-AZ) in a tense exchange with McCain pressing Hagel on whether he was right or wrong about the surge in Iraq. McCain proposed and supported the surge. Hagel opposed it. It’s the issue many believe came between the two previously longtime friends and Vietnam veterans.

These were pretty close runners up that may have summarized a day that saw Hagel on the defensive in rocky testimony, as he tried to defend past comments:

"The bigger point is, what I was saying, I think..."

"I suppose if I had a chance to edit a lot of things in my life, I'd be pretty busy."

"I said what I said, but I'll say this to you..."

"What I meant to say, should have said..."

"That's exactly correct; I guess I didn't say it that way."

Vice President Joe Biden acknowledged that new gun laws would not "fundamentally alter" the likelihood of another mass shooting, though he insisted there has been a "sea change" in American views on guns in the wake of Newtown.

"Nothing we're going to do is going to fundamentally alter or eliminate the possibility of another mass shooting or guarantee that we will bring gun deaths down to 1,000 a year from what it is now," Biden told reporters Thursday afternoon after he spent over an hour lunching with Democratic senators at the Capitol.

"But there are things that we can do, demonstrably can do, that have virtually zero impact on your Second Amendment right to own a weapon for both self defense and recreation that can save some lives," he said.

Biden was on the Hill to help sell a package of changes to the nation's gun laws that President Barack Obama is pushing in the wake of the Newtown, Conn., shootings that killed 20 elementary school children and six adults. The president wants an assault weapons ban, limits on the size of gun magazines, universal background checks and a federal gun trafficking statute.

The 1994 assault-weapons ban was allowed to expire in 2004, and there had been little appetite to reenact it.

Still, that was before Newtown -- and the vice president insisted Thursday that the tragedy there changed the public's attitudes toward gun-safety legislation, a reality that would make new firearms regulations possible.

"I'm not saying there's an absolute consensus on all these things," Biden said, "but there is a sea change, a sea change in the attitudes of the American people. I believe the American people will not understand -- and I know that everyone in that caucus understands -- they won't understand if we don't act.

"The visual image of those 20 innocent children being riddled with bullets has, has absolutely, not only traumatized the nation, but it has caused-- like the straw that broke the camel's back."

As evidence, he pointed to what he said was new support from evangelical Christian groups for some gun regulation. Biden told reporters that support from conservative religious groups that represent largely rural constituencies was different than it's been during past legislative fights over guns.

Biden said he did not watch a gun violence hearing the Senate Judiciary Committee held Thursday; at that hearing, Democrats and gun-violence victims clashed with Republicans and the National Rifle Association over whether universal background checks would reduce gun crimes.

Biden on Wednesday met with former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, Mark Kelly, who both testified at the Senate hearing. 

The Senate approved a three-month suspension of the debt limit on Thursday, sending it to the White House for President Barack Obama’s likely signature.

The upper chamber voted 64 to 34 to add its approval to a plan conceived by House Republicans, which would push the deadline at which the government runs out of authority to borrow money to finance its obligations until May 18. The government would have otherwise run out of money within a matter of weeks.

In exchange for the extension of borrowing authority, both the House and Senate must now draft and approve separate budget resolutions by mid-April. The legislation approved Thursday by the Senate and last week by the House would place lawmakers’ pay into escrow if they were to fail to pass a budget.

The Obama administration has indicated that while the president would have preferred a longer-term extension of the debt ceiling, it did not oppose the short-term extension. Obama is expected to sign the legislation into law.

Attention will now turn to the normal budgeting process that typically dominates the first few months of the calendar year in Congress. Republicans’ gambit in offering this proposal was to highlight how Senate Democrats had failed to pass a formal budget resolution in the last four years. (Democrats argue they were working off of a de-facto budget stipulated by various spending cut agreements passed by Congress.)

Leaders of both chambers have suggested they’ll push ahead with ambitious, and markedly different, budgets.

Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, the chairman of the House Budget Committee, will lead the GOP’s efforts; he’s vowed to produce a budget that would balance the budget in the next 10 years without raising any new taxes.

Senate Democrats, meanwhile, have said they plan to seek additional revenues from taxes in the budget they will produce. Washington Sen. Patty Murray, D, the chairwoman of the Senate Budget Committee, will lead that effort.

Ex-Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) got into a back and forth with freshman Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) over remarks Hagel made during an appearance on a call-in talk show on Al Jazeera.

The clip cited by Cruz has been making its way around conservative blogs over the past few days. In it, Hagel is asked about an emailed question from a viewer (in Georgia in the United States), who notes the perception that the U.S. is viewed as the “world’s bully.”

Here’s the clip and transcript of that:

EMAIL QUESTION: “Can the rest of the world be persuaded to give up their arsenal when the image of the U.S. is that of the world’s bully? Don’t we indeed need to change the perception and the reality before asking folks to lay down their arms (nuclear or otherwise)?

HAGEL: Well, her observation is a good one, and it’s relevant. Yes, to her question, and again I think that’s all part of leadership.

That’s where the clip cuts off. Cruz admonished Hagel during the hearing for not disagreeing with the emailer. In fact, Cruz concluded, Hagel “explicitly” agreed that the United States was the "world’s bully."

But there was more to what Hagel had to say.

The subject of the March 21, 2009 show -- two months after President Obama was sworn in to a first term -- was nuclear proliferation. Hagel believes, as Obama does, that the world, including the United States, should have fewer nuclear weapons.

Here’s a fuller clip from the show and the rest of what Hagel had to say, including the next question about the “perception” of the United States as the “world’s bully.”

Hagel blamed that “perception” on the Bush administration’s foreign policy. They “misplayed a lot of the great goodwill” the U.S. received after 9/11, Hagel said.

HAGEL: “…And again I think that all part of leadership. That’s why this must begin with the United States and Russia. Look, for example, what President Obama has done in the first two months he’s been in office. His Secretary of State, Mrs. Clinton, has met with the Russian Foreign Minister. She’s been in five regions of the world. The president of the United States is out of the United States now. He’ll be in different parts of the world over the next week. I think that is the beginning of, not just symbolism of reaching out, but, in fact, engaging, listening, finding common ground to build common interests based on consensus. We’re going to have differences. We will always have differences. But we should define our relationships based not on those differences but on our common interests.

HOST: “Well, I mean, that brings us to the new administration that is here in Washington. I think that perception of the United States being a bully in the world has come largely from what the previous administration has done.”

HAGEL: “Oh, I think that’s right. We are now in our unfortunately seventh and eighth years in two long wars. That’s not all America’s fault. Of course not. But I think this last administration misplayed a lot of the great goodwill that were [inaudible] to this country after the terrorist attacks on this country on Sept. 11, 2001. The fact is, the past is the past and we now move forward. Let’s try to get to high ground and fix some of these great problems and challenges for mankind. Working together, I believe we can do that.”

Chuck Hagel’s big day… Confirmation hearing begins at 9:30 am ET… Conservatives begin to push back on immigration reform… Obama comments on gun violence in Chicago… GDP news complicates everyone’s talking points… John Kerry and Al Gore -- two different paths after losing the presidency… On Bob Menendez and violating Crisis Management 101… Breaking the glass ceiling in NYC and LA?... And Cuccinelli echoes Romney’s “47%” comment?

*** Chuck Hagel’s big day: Yesterday the theatrics on Capitol Hill were all about guns. Today they’re about Chuck Hagel. As Hagel’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee begins at 9:30 am ET, the former Nebraska senator’s chances to be President Obama’s next defense secretary look better than at any point since his name was first floated. It’s likely that every Senate Democrat -- due to Chuck Schumer’s support -- will back Hagel. And right now, there’s at least one Republican (Thad Cochran) who’s planning to vote for his former GOP colleague. That’s 56 votes, which is enough for majority passage but not enough to prevent a filibuster. But do Republicans really pursue a filibuster against their former colleague? Talk about some story if they do. All that said, Hagel also has little margin for error. A bad performance today could undo all the positive momentum his nomination has had over the past couple of weeks. Bottom line: As long as there are no surprises, Hagel is likely to make it. But it also isn’t going to be easy. The most contentious questioning today is likely to come from GOP Sens. Jim Inhofe, John McCain, Lindsey Graham and Ted Cruz.

*** Conservatives push back on immigration reform: After the bipartisan Senate framework and after Obama’s speech in Las Vegas, some conservatives are beginning to push back. Here is Sen. David Vitter (R-LA): “I love and respect Marco [Rubio]. I think he’s just amazingly naïve on this issue.” And here was the National Review yesterday: “Republican immigration reformers with an eye to political reality should begin by appreciating that Latinos are a Democratic constituency. They did not vote for Mitt Romney. They did not vote for John McCain. They did not vote for George W. Bush, and in the election before that they did not vote for George W. Bush again... Take away the Spanish surname and Latino voters look a great deal like many other Democratic constituencies. Low-income households headed by single mothers and dependent upon some form of welfare are not looking for an excuse to join forces with Paul Ryan and Pat Toomey.” Wow. But National Review is forgetting some recent history. In 2004, W. Bush won 40% of the Latino vote -- up significantly from McCain’s 31% in ’08 and Romney’s 27% in ’12. Folks, getting 40% of the Latino vote (vs. 27% to 31%) could be the difference between winning a close election or losing it. By the way, Rubio today addresses the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors in DC.

*** Rubio’s full-court press: Meanwhile, Marco Rubio’s full-court press to at least neutralize conservative critics continues. Within hours of RedState’s Erick Erickson publishing a diary against Rubio’s immigration compromise, Rubio responded with his own diary. Rubio’s message was similar to the one he had for Rush Limbaugh the day before -- he’s reluctantly come to the conclusion he has no choice but to try and forge a compromise. Trying to make the best of a bad situation is his message to these skeptical conservatives. What we found intriguing is that comments in response to Rubio while universally skeptical of the immigration plan were almost all personally praiseworthy of Rubio. So, so far, this strategy is working for him. By the way, Rubio today addresses the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors in DC. That’ll be a fairly friendly audience as many business groups want action on immigration.

*** Obama comments on gun violence in Chicago: Yesterday’s Senate hearing on guns was everything we thought it would be. It packed emotion (see Gabby Giffords) and conflict (Sen. Dick Durbin vs. Wayne LaPierre), and it suggested just how hard the debate will be. In addition to telling Telemundo’s Jose Diaz-Balart that he’s going to “put everything I’ve got behind” immigration reform, President Obama commented on guns. When Diaz-Balart asked Obama why there’s so much gun violence in Chicago despite its tough guns laws, the president replied: “Well, the problem is that a huge proportion of those guns come in from outside Chicago. I mean, what is absolutely true is that if you are just creating a bunch of pockets of gun laws without having sort of a unified, integrated system, for example of background checks, then you know it's gonna be a lot harder for an individual community, a single community, to protect itself from this kind of gun violence. That's precisely why we think it's important for Congress to act.”

*** GDP news complicates everyone’s talking points: Wall Street didn’t overact to yesterday’s drop in GDP, and it’s quite possible that tomorrow’s government jobs report could be a strong one. Yet what appeared to have slowed down the economy in the last quarter was a decline in government spending -- especially defense spending and this was PRE-sequester. And that has thrown a wrench into everyone’s talking points. Obama and the Democrats want to point to a steadily growing economy, which the GDP news complicated. And Republicans want to say that cutting spending is the path to economic prosperity, which the GDP news also complicated since it’s clear it’s the LACK of government spending that slowed the economy last quarter.

*** John Kerry and Al Gore -- two different paths: In the past week, we’ve seen a confluence of events surrounding the last two defeated Democratic presidential nominees. John Kerry, who lost the 2004 election, overwhelmingly won confirmation to be secretary of state, and he delivered his farewell speech to the Senate as his colleagues (Democrat and Republican) celebrated him on the way out. And then there’s Al Gore, who lost the 2000 election (but won the popular vote), as he’s been giving numerous TV interviews to sell his new book. In her own interview with Gore, NBC’s Andrea Mitchell asked him about his sale of Current TV to Al Jazeera, which made Gore million and millions of dollars. “Well, I think it's important to focus on Al Jazeera itself. I completely understand the criticism and the point of view that you're reporting,” Gore told Mitchell. “But the fact is that Al Jazeera stands all around the world as a highly respected international newsgathering organization.  And its climate reporting has been outstanding far better than what's available now.” As the saying goes, there are always second acts in politics. And it’s interesting to see the two VERY different paths Kerry and Gore have taken. The other aspect of watching these two men who both came so close to the presidency: Kerry appears to be the same guy he was in 2004. Gore, on the other hand, seems quite different.

*** On Bob Menendez… : Per NBC’s Jonathan Dienst, Michael Isikoff, Pete Williams, and Tom Winter, the FBI on Tuesday night searched the offices of a West Palm Beach eye doctor who -- together with his family -- has donated more than $200,000 to Democratic candidates. He also has served as a fundraiser for Sen. Robert Menendez. FBI agents were seen carrying out boxes of materials from the offices of eye doctor Salomon Melgen. Law enforcement officials told NBC News there is an investigation underway, but declined to detail its focus. Last fall, New Jersey Republicans filed a complaint with the U.S. Senate Ethics Committee against Senator Menendez, alleging he accepted free flights to the Dominican Republic on a private jet and stays at Melgen's villa there at the Casa de Campo resort in violation of Senate rules.  The ethics complaint also questions whether some laws might have been broken. Yesterday, Menendez’s office issued this statement: "Dr. Melgen has been a friend and political supporter of Sen. Menendez for many years. Senator Menendez has traveled on Dr. Melgen's plane on three occasions, all of which have been paid for and reported appropriately. Any allegations of engaging with prostitutes are manufactured by a politically-motivated right-wing blog and are false."

*** … And violating Crisis Management 101: But Menendez violated a cardinal rule of Crisis Management 101: In this denial, he repeated the charge against him. It may seem like a small thing, but the fact is no major news organization -- including ours -- has been able to confirm any of the allegations on the prostitution stuff. And the evidence right now is so tenuous on the prostitution allegation that we decided it was irresponsible to even allude to it by saying “there are reports,” etc. However, the senator’s statement about the prostitution allegations has resulted in a lot of bad press on this front -- more than he would have gotten simply for his connection to the donor/friend under investigation.

*** Breaking the glass ceiling in LA and NYC? While this off-year features the gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia, don’t lose sight of the 2013 mayoral races in New York City and Los Angeles. The reason: The glass ceiling in these two most-populated U.S. cities could be shattered. As it turns out, neither has ever had a female mayor before. But with City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D) perhaps the front-runner in New York and with two Democratic women running in LA (City Controller Wendy Greuel and City Council member Jan Perry) that distinction could change this year. Here’s something else to chew on: Unlike in past years, neither mayoral field features a Latino candidate, so that means that Latinos will be the swing vote in these two races. In Los Angeles, the free-for-all primary is on March 7, and the general election is May 21 (if no one receives 50% in the primary). In New York, the dates haven’t been set yet.

*** Cuccinelli echoes Romney’s “47%” comment? Lastly, speaking of that gubernatorial race in Virginia, Democrats are pouncing on Ken Cuccinelli’s new book, arguing that some of the language in it isn’t too far removed from Mitt Romney’s infamous “47%” comments. An excerpt from the book, per the Washington Post: “One of their favorite ways to increase their power is by creating programs that dispense subsidized government benefits, such as Medicare, Social Security, and outright welfare (Medicaid, food stamps, subsidized housing, and the like). These programs make people dependent on government. And once people are dependent, they feel they can’t afford to have the programs taken away, no matter how inefficient, poorly run, or costly to the rest of society.” More: “Citizens will vote for those politicians who promise more benefits each year, rather than the fiscally responsible politicians who try to point out that such programs are unsustainable and will eventually bankrupt the states or the nation.” No one can accuse of Cuccinelli of trying to do an election-year makeover. He is who he is, which is one the messages in his book. The question remains, though: Can Cuccinelli’s brand of conservatism win in swing-state Virginia. Every successful Republican candidate for governor in recent history has moderated to win (McDonnell, Allen, Gilmore etc), Cuccinelli does not appear to be following that same path.

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*** Thursday’s Daily Rundown’s line-up: Live coverage of the Hagel hearing with Wilson Center President and former Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA), the Washington Post's Nia-Malika Henderson, GOP ad maker Brad Todd, and TIME's Michael Scherer.

*** Thursday’s “MSNBC Live with Thomas Roberts” line-up: MSNBC’s Thomas Roberts discusses Chuck Hagel’s confirmation hearing with MSNBC Hosts Ed Schultz, S.E. Cupp and former Senator Bob Kerrey (D-NE).  Today’s Power Panel includes MSNBC Military Analyst Col. Jack Jacobs, Fmr. Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-PA), TheGrio.com Managing Editor Joy-Ann Reid and the Bernard Center for Women’s  Michelle Bernard.

*** Thursday’s “NOW with Alex Wagner” line-up: Alex Wagner’s guests include MSNBC.com’s Richard Wolffe, Kurt Andersen, New York Magazine’s Chris Smith, Politico’s Maggie Haberman former Clinton State Department spokesman Jamie Rubin, and author Dave Barry.

*** Thursday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: NBC’s Andrea Mitchell interviews NBC’s Jim Miklaszewski and Kelly O’Donnell, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, the Atlantic’s Steven Clemons, the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza. The program also will air Andrea’s full interview with Former Vice President Al Gore.

*** Thursday’s “News Nation with Tamron Hall” line-up: MSNBC’s Tamron Hall interviews Sen. Roger Wicker, Washington Post’s Nia Malika Henderson, Col. Jack Jacobs, and Time magazine’s Lev Grossman

“Just as President Barack Obama is pushing new initiatives on gun control and immigration, the gloomy old problem of a sluggish economy is elbowing its way back into prominence,” the AP writes, adding, “The White House, the Federal Reserve and independent economists attributed the shrinkage in gross domestic product and the drop in consumer confidence to one-time events and said underlying economic factors were still showing encouraging signs. But in politics, power resides in the moment. Any immediate economic setback — or the perception of one — could weaken Obama’s clout or at least distract him as he carefully tries to put his imprint on initiatives dealing with immigration and gun violence.”

“President Barack Obama says he’s looking for immigration reform to be completed within six months,” AP writes of Obama’s interviews with Spanish-language networks yesterday. Obama said, “I can guarantee that I will put everything I have behind it.”

And one sticking point for Obama is how quickly people can get a pathway to citizenship: “What we don’t want is to create some vague prospect in the future that somehow comprehensive immigration reform that includes a pathway to citizenship will happen, you know, mañana. We want to make sure that we’re very clear that this legislation provides a real pathway.”

Obama was also asked about his administration’s 184,000 deportations of “non-criminals.” Obama: "I'm not a king. I am the head of the executive branch of government. I'm required to follow the law. And that's what we've done." More: "What we've seen is that the people who are being deported, the vast majority of them now are criminals. That did not used to be the case. But there are still obviously gonna be people who get caught up in the system." He called some deportation stories “heartbreaking” and "that's why we're pushing for comprehensive immigration reform,” per USA Today.

Obama to Telemundo on guns: “Well the problem is is that a huge proportion of those guns come in from outside Chicago. … If you are just creating a bunch of pockets of gun laws without having sort of a unified, integrated system -- for example of background checks, then it's going to be a lot harder for an individual community, a single community, to protect itself from this kind of gun violence.”

The Chicago Tribune picks up on that also in their story about the girl killed who performed in a prep band at Obama’s inauguration. Deaths from gun violence in Chicago are already at 42 this year, the worst since 2002.

Chuck Hagel’s confirmation hearings to become the next Defense Secretary begin Thursday at 9:30 am ET before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

USA Today: “After weeks of hearing from critics that Defense secretary nominee Chuck Hagel is not tough enough on Iran, not tight enough with Israel and too eager to dismantle the nation's nuclear arsenal, Hagel's allies say he will dispel those concerns during his hearing Thursday before the Senate Armed Services Committee.” More: “Hagel, in written comments to the committee, called Israel a "key security partner of the United States." Regarding Iran, he wrote that he backs President Obama's position that military options will be considered to prevent it from acquiring a nuclear weapon.”

Hagel will stress “that he opposes letting Iran acquire nuclear weapons and will focus on developing military options to set back Tehran’s program, according to a U.S. official familiar with his planned testimony,” the L.A. Times writes. Said a U.S. official: “He’s going to be very clear that he fully supports the president’s policy of preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. His job as secretary of Defense is to ensure that the military is prepared for any contingency, and he believes all options should be on the table, including military options.”

The L.A. Times: “Hagel’s willingness to back the use of force against Iran is likely to be the key area of questioning during what is expected to be a daylong hearing with the Senate Armed Services Committee.”

The New York Times says it is “likely to be a combative confirmation hearing focusing on Iran, Israel and the American military’s role in the world.” More: With the help of a transition staff led by Marcel J. Lettre, Mr. Panetta’s deputy chief of staff, Mr. Hagel has received voluminous Pentagon briefings, met with Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and spoken with the deputy defense secretary, Ashton B. Carter, who will remain in the job. Mr. Hagel, 66, a decorated Vietnam veteran and a former Republican senator from Nebraska, has also worked closely with Mr. Obama’s aides on what has become a major White House offensive to counter criticism from Jewish and conservative groups and some Democrats that Mr. Hagel is too hard on Israel and too soft on Iran.”

NPR says it’s “shaping up to be one of the more contentious nomination hearings or one of President Obama's cabinet choices.” The hearing “is expected to be dominated by the issues of Israel, Iran and looming defense budget cuts.”

Politico asks: Is Hagel up to the job? “There’s not much on Chuck Hagel’s résumé that screams secretary of defense. He’s not a former White House chief of staff, like Dick Cheney or Donald Rumsfeld. He never ran the CIA, like Leon Panetta or Robert Gates. He never worked inside the Pentagon. There’s one main job on his résumé — politician — and for Hagel, that’s the problem.”

“As a group of Senate stars tries to sell a new immigration proposal, their House counterparts are secretly toiling under the radar to craft their own plan in the next few weeks,” Politico writes. But it will be no easy task to sell it to their colleagues.” More: According to sources, the House working group includes Democrats Zoe Lofgren and Xavier Becerra of California, Luis Gutierrez of Illinois and John Yarmuth of Kentucky. Negotiating for the Republicans are Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida, Sam Johnson and John Carter of Texas and Raul Labrador of Idaho.”

Speaking of a tough sell, the editors of National Review call “comprehensive” immigration the wrong approach and that it should be done more “piecemeal.” They also conclude: Rubio “is wrong about how to go about repairing our immigration system, and wrong to think that an amnesty-and-enforcement bill at this time will end up being anything other than the unbuttered side of a half-a-loaf deal. And there is no reason to make a bad deal for fear of losing a Latino vote Republicans never had.”

David Vitter: "I love and respect Marco. I think he's just amazingly naïve on this issue." (H/T: Political Wire.)

Dana Milbank: “When he and his colleagues stepped off the elevator in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Wednesday morning and found TV cameras waiting in the hallway, LaPierre’s bodyguards swung into action. One of them, in blatant violation of congressional rules, bumped and body-checked journalists out of the way so they couldn’t film LaPierre or question him as he walked. ‘You don’t have jurisdiction here!’ a cameraman protested as an NRA goon pushed him against a wall. After the melee, congressional officials informed the NRA officials that, in the halls of Congress, they had to follow congressional procedures — which prohibit manhandling. This must have come as a surprise to the gun lobbyists, whose swagger seems to suggest that they are, in fact, in control of Congress.”

“Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey denied Wednesday that he accepted free plane trips and contact with prostitutes from a Florida eye doctor whose offices were raided by federal agents Tuesday night,” USA Today writes. The statement from his office in response to a Miami Herald story: "Dr. Melgen has been a friend and political supporter of Sen. Menendez for many years. Sen. Menendez has traveled on Dr. Melgen's plane on three occasions, all of which have been paid for and reported appropriately. Any allegations of engaging with prostitutes are manufactured by a politically motivated right-wing blog and are false."

“U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez this month wrote a $58,500 check to a company owned by a South Florida eye doctor and political fundraiser to reimburse him for two personal flights to the Dominican Republic that the New Jersey Democrat did not report on his Senate financial disclosure form, his office confirmed to NBC News Wednesday night,” NBC’s Michael Isikoff reported.

The Boston Globe on Mo Cowan: “Cowan said Wednesday that his upbringing in that largely segregated tobacco town was essential to his rise. It was there that his mother, a widowed seamstress, instilled in him the confidence that helped him navigate a town where he saw the Ku Klux Klan, still active in the 1970s, burn a cross, march on his high school, and hand out literature on Main Street. Cowan went on to attend Duke University, land a partnership at a powerful Boston law firm, and become a top adviser to Governor Deval Patrick. On Friday, he moves on to the US Senate, the eighth African-American to serve in the chamber.” More: “After moving to the city 22 years ago to attend Northeastern Law School, Cowan, 43, became a respected mentor to young African-American lawyers and professionals in a city known as a tough place for newcomers and people of color.”

Here’s the text of John Kerry’s emotional farewell speech on the Senate floor yesterday. One portion: “If the Senate favors inaction over courage and gimmicks over common ground, the risk is not that we will fail to move forward. It is that we will fall behind, we will stay behind and we will surrender our promise to those who are more than willing to turn our squandered opportunity into their advantage. The world keeps turning; the Senate cannot afford to forever stand still.”

The DCCC’s end-of-the-year financial report will come out today, and the committee says it will begin the 2014 cycle in better shape than 2012. It starts with $1.49 million cash on hand, $700,000 more than 2010, and it raised $184 million for the 2012 cycle, $20 million more than 2010. The DCCC also says it had more than three million donations and believes it outraised the NRCC. But it also will show $13.45 million in debt, which is $5.5 million less than the $19 million it had in 2010. 

Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' words during a brief opening statement at a Senate hearing on gun violence were careful, slow and deliberate.

But they were firm: "Too many children are dying," she said Wednesday, breaking up the syllables during her testimony to open a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on gun laws.

Slideshow: Ariz. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords

"It will be hard, but the time is NOW," said Giffords, who has embarked on an arduous recovery after being critically wounded at Tucson Safeway while meeting with constituents in early 2011. "You. Must. Act. Be bold. Be cour-ag-eous. Amer-i-cans are count-ing on you."

Giffords has emerged as one of the leading gun safety advocates prompted by the December 2012 shootings in Newtown, Conn., that killed 20 elementary school children and 6 adults.

She walked into Wednesday's hearing, making a surprise appearance at the first gun-related hearing held in Congress since the Newtown shooting. Her husband, Mark Kelly, held her hand and carefully guided her to her seat in front of the Senate panel.

Related: Obama's gun plan begins slow, scrutinized trek through Congress

She spoke for just over a minute. Kelly, who was set to testify at length, helped her back out of the room.

"Gabby's gift for speech is a distant memory," Kelly planned to say later in the hearing. "She struggles to walk, and she is partially blind. Her right arm is completely paralyzed." 

Giffords and Kelly were to testify ahead of the National Rifle Association's Wayne LaPierre, as well as three other witnesses.

Updated 3:17 p.m. - Democrats looking to sustain public pressure for new gun laws in the wake of the Newtown shootings clashed Wednesday with Republicans and the National Rifle Association over universal background checks, a far less dramatic proposed change than an assault weapons ban or limits on high capacity magazines.

"My problem with background checks is you're never going to get criminals to go through universal background checks," Wayne LaPierre, CEO and chief lobbyist for the NRA, said at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on gun violence, the first since President Barack Obama laid out new measures to curb gun crime. "None of it makes any sense in the real world."

Related: Obama's gun plan begins slow, scrutinized trek through Congress

The obvious drama in the packed hearing room lasted over four hours, with passions running well beyond the normal staid congressional panel. The emotion was heightened by the presence of some major iconic figures in the battle over whether – and how – to tighten federal regulation of firearms.

LaPierre sat at the opposite end of the witness table from Mark Kelly, the husband of former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Critically wounded at a shooting in Tucson in 2011, Giffords opened the hearing with a dramatic plea, haltingly asking Congress to "do something to prevent gun violence."

Susan Walsh / AP

Mark Kelly, husband of former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords; David Kopel, law professor at Strum College in Denver; Baltimore Police Chief James Johnson; Gayle Trotter, senior fellow with the Independent Women's Forum; and National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre, are sworn in on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013, prior to testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on gun violence.

"My wife would not have been sitting here today if we had stronger background checks," Kelly told the committee later in the hearing. 

Under current law, people can buy guns through a private seller without getting a background check. It's commonly referred to as the "gun show loophole." The Obama administration's proposal to close this loophole by requiring background checks for all sales of firearms dominated much of Wednesday's hearing.

Related: Giffords 'Too many children are dying … you must act'

The exchanges at the hearing illustrated the sharp political divide over changing the nation's gun laws – and the difficulty in enacting any of the more dramatic new measures included in the package the White House is pushing, which includes an assault weapons ban and limits on high capacity magazines.

"The deaths in Newtown should not be used to put forward every gun control measure that has been floating around for years," said Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, the committee's ranking member.

"Emotion often leads to bad policies," said Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who called the 1994 assault weapons ban a "singularly ineffective piece of legislation."

Even Chairman Patrick Leahy, a Democrat from rural Vermont, did not explicitly endorse the assault weapons ban that Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., introduced last week. But he did call for background checks, sharply challenging LaPierre on the subject.

Slideshow: Ariz. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords

The NRA's position on background checks is a switch from the organization's position 14 years ago. "We think it's reasonable to provide mandatory instant criminal background checks for every sale at every gun show. No loopholes anywhere for anyone," LaPierre told a congressional panel in 1999.

A place where there was some common ground: gun trafficking. 

“We may be able to work together to prevent straw purchasers from trafficking in guns,” Grassley said, a sentiment echoed by others on the panel.

The obvious legislative hurdles -- on display Wednesday -- help explain why Democrats are relying on a campaign-like strategy and a series of public events to try to ratchet up public demand for stricter regulations on firearms. Giffords' story makes her a compelling public advocate.

"Too many children are dying," she said Wednesday, breaking up the syllables during her testimony.

"It will be hard, but the time is now," said Giffords, who has embarked on an arduous recovery since she was shot in the head, affecting her speech. "You. Must. Act. Be bold. Be courageous. Americans are counting on you."

She walked into Wednesday's hearing, her husband holding her hand and carefully guiding her to her seat in front of the Senate panel.

She spoke for just over a minute; her husband helped her back out of the room.

"Gabby's gift for speech is a distant memory," Kelly said later. "She struggles to walk, and she is partially blind. Her right arm is completely paralyzed."

In trying to counter the emotional testimony, Republicans repeatedly praised Giffords’ perseverance and focused on trying to raise doubts about whether the measures Democrats had proposed to combat gun violence would work. They insisted current gun laws aren't being prosecuted effectively.

“This discussion, I sit here and listen to it, and my reaction is how little it has to do with the problem of keeping our kids safe and how much it has to do with the decadelong, two decadelong, gun ban agenda when we don’t even enforce the laws on the books,” LaPierre said.

Wednesday's hearings were the first in a planned series of sessions on gun laws. Leahy said Wednesday that he plans to begin the process of crafting a gun package in his committee next month. With Obama and Vice President Joe Biden publicly making the case for new laws, gun control advocates expect any action to begin in the Senate; the Republican-controlled House of Representatives has shown little appetite for taking up the issue.

In the wake of Newtown, a recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll showed that 56 percent of Americans believe gun laws should be more strict. The survey showed just 7 percent believe gun restrictions should be less strict.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Tuesday that he planned to bring gun legislation to the Senate floor -- though with an open process that could allow senators to make changes. Such a process would likely make it harder to pass the bill.

“It’s very clear that there’s going to be a bill brought out of the committee, brought to the Senate floor, and there will be an amendment process there,” Reid said. He added that senators would be allowed to “bring up whatever amendments they want that deal with this issue.”

Updated, 11:08 am ET, Jan. 30: Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D) appointed his former chief of staff, William "Mo" Cowan, to be the interim U.S. Senator to replace John Kerry. (Kerry was confirmed Tuesday as Secretary of State.)

Cowan will be one of just two African Americans serving in the U.S. Senate -- Republican Tim Scott of South Carolina being the other. But it is the first time the U.S. Senate will have two black senators serving at the same time. Both Cowan and Scott, however, were appointed. The last black senator before that was also appointed -- Roland Burris. The last elected black senator was Barack Obama.

Cowan will also be Massachusetts' second black senator. The first was Republican Ed Brooke, who served from 1967 to 1978.

This now means that newly elected Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D) becomes the senior senator from Massachusetts. That represents a remarkable shift from the seniority Massachusetts had just a short time ago when both Sens. Ted Kennedy (D) and Kerry served at the same time.

"Mo's service on the front lines in our efforts to manage through the worst economy in 80 years and build a better, stronger Commonwealth for the next generation has earned him the respect and admiration of people throughout government," Patrick said in a statement. "The people of the Commonwealth have benefited from his wisdom and good judgment during his time in our office, and will again in the Senate." 

For his part, Cowan said, "I am honored and humbled by this appointment today. I pledge to you and the people of Massachusetts that during this interim period I will work as hard as humanly possible to perform my duties with the needs and aspirations of our state's citizens foremost in mind."

“I am very pleased to welcome Mo Cowan to the Senate," Warren said in a statement. "As former chief of staff to Governor Patrick, Mo brings a deep knowledge of the issues facing the people of our Commonwealth to the Senate. He will be a committed, hardworking interim Senator, and I look forward to working closely with him to protect the interests of Massachusetts families."

Cowan grew up in humble beginnings in a small town in North Carolina. His mother worked for minimum wage and his father died when he was 16, the Boston Globe reported. Cowan graduated from Duke University and then moved to Boston to attend Northeastern Law School. 

Cowan stayed in Boston to practice law and became friends with Patrick while both were attorneys.

Cowan also helped former Republican Gov. Mitt Romney, and 2012 Republican presidential nominee, identify more diverse candidates for his judicial picks.

Patrick was also considering businesswoman Carol Fulp, who is African American, and Margaret Marshall, the first woman state Supreme Court chief justice.

Former Congressman Barney Frank openly campaigned for the post, but his lobbying is said to have rankled Patrick. Frank also criticized Chuck Hagel, President Obama's pick for Defense Secretary. Obama and Patrick are good friends, having gone to law school together. They've even shared speech writing.

Frank walked back his criticism of Hagel, but that may have been too late.

The state set the special election date for June 25th; the primary will be April 30th. 

Former Republican Sen. Scott Brown says he's now "leaning strongly" toward a run for the Senate again.

The top Democrat is seen as Congressman Ed Markey, but a poll out this week showed Brown as the favorite, if he runs, as he held sizable lead over Markey and other Democrats.

NBC's Luke Russert contributed to this report.

The two pressure points to watch on immigration… The gun debate begins on Capitol Hill… Breaking news: Economy contracted in the 4^th quarter… The unrest in Egypt… Hillary on 2016… Teeing up Thursday’s confirmation for Chuck Hagel… All eyes on Deval Patrick, Scott Brown… And updating the Obama cabinet shuffle.

*** Two pressure points to watch on immigration: It’s been quite a revealing past 48 hours in the still-evolving debate over immigration, with Monday’s bipartisan Senate framework and Tuesday’s speech by President Obama. So what have we learned? There are two pressure points that either could create enough force to ensure legislation gets through Congress, or that could scuttle any chance for a deal. One, Marco Rubio and Republicans considering any comprehensive immigration reform want a "trigger" to make sure that border enforcement comes before legalization. “Unless there’s real enforcement triggers, we are not going to have a bill that moves on the opportunity to apply for a green card,” Rubio told Rush Limbaugh yesterday. (The big question here, of course: What would these “triggers” be?) Two, Obama yesterday vowed to bring his own legislation if Congress doesn't quickly act. Translation: He'll blame Republicans for this failure. “If Congress is unable to move forward in a timely fashion, I will send up a bill based on my proposal and insist that they vote on it right away,” the president said in Las Vegas yesterday.

*** What the debate isn’t about: So those are the two big issues moving forward -- GOP pressure on Democrats for an enforcement trigger, and White House/Dem pressure on Republicans not to delay the legislation (a la what happened to health care in 2009). But here’s something this debate IS NOT about: whether Obama wants to use immigration as a way to club Republicans. It’s not even a question. The idea that anyone outside of political partisans -- or those looking for a reason to be against reform (but don’t want to look anti-Hispanic) -- believes that Obama doesn’t want to sign historic immigration legislation to fulfill a campaign promise is a bit naïve. Sure, the president is using campaign tactics to pressure Congress, but he wants the legislative “win”; he already got the political “win” in 2012. Don’t forget what happened during the fiscal-cliff debate just a month ago: The White House is always looking to cut a deal, even if it gets just half a loaf. There’s no political reward for not getting anything done for him in a second term. That’s the “leverage” that GOPers actually have with the president. That said, the president’s leverage is the public’s opinion. And if the WaPo/ABC poll, which shows his favorability rating at 60%, is not an outlier that will change the equation on Capitol Hill -- not just on immigration but other issues. Reason Magazine (which uses Princeton Survey Research, the same folks that conduct the Pew poll) has the president’s job-approval rating at 52%.

Gary Cameron / Reuters

Senator Marco Rubio, R-Fla., questions Senator John Kerry (Not Pictured) during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing on Kerry's nomination to be secretary of state, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 24, 2013.

*** Gun debate begins on Capitol Hill: Today, however, immigration takes a back seat to the debate over guns. At 10:00 am ET, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on gun violence. Testifying: Mark Kelly, the husband of former Rep. Gabby Giffords, and the National Rifle Association’s Wayne LaPierre. (And NBC’s Frank Thorp confirms that Giffords herself will appear at the hearing. She will speak though not testify.) According to his prepared testimony, LaPierre will come out against even universal background checks, per NBC’s Kasie Hunt. “When it comes to the issue of background checks, let’s be honest -- background checks will never be ‘universal’ – because criminals will never submit to them,” he’s expected to say. Does this NRA line in the sand on universal background checks spook someone like Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), who appears to be open to such a measure and might actually co-sponsor Schumer’s bill? Another thing to consider here. It seems like an assault-weapons ban has little chance of passing the Senate. But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid allowing it to come to a vote means that pro-gun Democrats can vote against THAT measure but vote for something else (like background checks).

*** Breaking news: Economy contracted in the 4^th quarter: But both guns and immigration might get eclipsed by this breaking news: The U.S. economy contracted in the 4^th quarter. The AP: “The U.S. economy shrank from October through December for the first time since the recession ended, hurt by the biggest cut in defense spending in 40 years, fewer exports and sluggish growth in company stockpiles. The Commerce Department said Wednesday that the economy contracted at an annual rate of 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter. That's a sharp slowdown from the 3.1 percent growth rate in the July-September quarter.”

*** More unrest in Egypt: What is taking place in Egypt is another big story. The New York Times: “A prominent Egyptian opposition leader called on President Mohamed Morsi on Wednesday to hold a national dialogue, a day after the nation’s top general warned that the state itself was in danger of collapse because of violence verging on anarchy in three Suez Canal cities.” In her exit interview with NBC’s Andrea Mitchell, Clinton commented on Mubarak’s ouster from Egypt, and she stood by what is the one of the most consequential foreign policy decisions the administration made that gets very little re-visiting: “It was an inevitable force of history that when the Egyptian people were rising up in such large numbers -- asking for what we believe in, freedom and opportunity, a chance to, you know, chart their own democratic future -- the United States cannot and should not be on the side of those who deny that.” Clinton added to FOX about the current situation there: “We have to work for, along with the international community, as well as people inside Egypt, is not to see these revolutions hijacked by extremists, not to see the return of dictatorial rule, the absence of the rule of law. And it's hard. It's hard going from decades under one-party or one-man rule, as somebody said, waking up from a political coma and understanding democracy. So we have a lot at stake in trying to keep moving these transformations in the right direction.”

*** Hillary and 2016: Of course, Clinton was also asked about 2016 in these exit interviews. And she used them to all of them to say not much new. Here’s what she told NBC’s Mitchell: “I don't have any decisions made. I have no real plans to make any such decisions. I'm looking forward to some very quiet time catching up on everything from sleep, to reading, to walking, with my family. I think it’s hard to imagine for me what it will be like next week when I wake up and I have nowhere to go. Maybe I'll go back to sleep for a change!” Bottom line: If she had to make her decision today, she’d probably be a “no.” But she’s also not shutting the door, either.

*** Teeing up Hagel’s confirmation hearing: Chuck Hagel’s confirmation hearing to be Obama’s next defense secretary is set for tomorrow. And per NBC’s Kasie Hunt and Mike Viqueira, he’ll be introduced by two former chairmen of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Democrat Sam Nunn and Republican John Warner. White House officials point to comments from Sen. Dick Durbin, the Democratic whip, who hasn't counted any "no" votes on Hagel among Democrats. Hunt and Viq add that the White House also points to friendly words from Republicans, including Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. And now Roll Call is reporting that Republican Thad Cochran of Mississippi says he plans to vote for Hagel’s confirmation. Our take: Barring Hagel somehow melting down during his hearings, he’s on track for confirmation.

*** All eyes on Patrick, Scott Brown: After the Senate easily confirmed John Kerry to be secretary of state, by a 94-3 vote, all eyes are on Deval Patrick – as well as Scott Brown. Patrick’s pick to fill name an interim senator to fill Kerry’s Senate seat could come as early as today. And the AP reports that Brown is “leaning strongly toward” running the special election to replace Kerry.

*** Updating the cabinet shuffle: With Ray LaHood’s announcement that he will be stepping down from his post as Transportation secretary after his successor is confirmed, here are the cabinet members leaving, plus their replacements if applicable:

Hillary Clinton at State (John Kerry confirmed)
Leon Panetta at Defense (Chuck Hagel nominated)
Tim Geithner at Treasury (Jack Lew nominated)
Hilda Solis at Labor
Lisa Jackson at EPA
Ken Salazar at Interior
Ray LaHood at Transportation

And here are the cabinet secretaries who are remaining:

Janet Napolitano (DHS)
Arne Duncan (Education)
Tom Vilsack (Agriculture)
Eric Holder (Justice)
Kathleen Sebelius (HHS)
Eric Shinseki (Veterans Affairs)

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*** Wednesday’s Daily Rundown’s line-up: Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell (D-ME) on guns, immigration and more… NBC’s Ayman Mohyeldin with the latest from Cairo on Egypt’s eruption of violence… Plus former Gov. Bob Ehrlich (R-MD), NBC’s Luke Russert and the Center for American Progress’ Neera Tanden in the Gaggle.

*** Wednesday’s “MSNBC Live with Thomas Roberts” line-up: MSNBC’s Thomas Roberts interviews Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), DNC Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), and Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton (D-AZ).  Today’s Power Panel includes:  The Washington Post’s David Nakamura, former  Obama Campaign Nat’l Press Secy. Ben LaBolt, and The Washington Examiner’s Susan Ferrechio.

*** Wednesday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: The program will air Andrea Mitchell’s full interview with Secretary Hillary Clinton. Mitchell also will interview Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), “The Invisible War” Director Kirby Dick, and the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza and Ruth Marcus.

*** Wednesday’s “News Nation with Tamron Hall” line-up: MSNBC’s Tamron Hall interviews Roll Call’s Shira Toeplitz, Stop handgun violence chair John Rosenthal, Democratic strategist David Goodfriend, The Boston Globe’s Noah Bierman, and the New York Time’s Jim Rutenberg.

NBC’s Andrea Mitchell interviewed outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Here’s one bit of their exchange:

MITCHELL: And when he and you both acknowledged that your staff and your spouses took a little bit longer to heal … what was the breakthrough,  the turning point for President Clinton and President Obama, do you think?

HILLARY CLINTON: Well, I think that-- Bill certainly worked very hard for the president in the '08-- general election.  He also consulted with-- the White House on some of the economic-- issues-- and was very committed to, you know, being as good-- a supporter as he possibly could and-- and they just got to know each other, more than they ever had before.  I don't think that there had been an opportunity for them to do that-- before-- this-- last four years.

Reuters: “John Brennan, President Barack Obama's nominee to head the CIA, had detailed, contemporaneous knowledge of the use of ‘enhanced interrogation techniques’ on captured terrorism suspects during an earlier stint as a top spy agency official, according to multiple sources familiar with official records. Those records, the sources said, show that Brennan was a regular recipient of CIA message traffic about controversial aspects of the agency's counter-terrorism program after September 2001, including the use of ‘waterboarding.’ How deeply involved Brennan was in the program, and whether he vigorously objected to it at the time, as he has said he did, are likely to be central questions lawmakers raise at his Senate Intelligence Committee confirmation hearing, scheduled for February 7.”

Wayne LaPierre, the head of the NRA takes to Capitol Hill for a hearing Wednesday on preventing gun violence. Here’s a preview of what he’ll say from NBC’s Kasie Hunt: “The NRA strategy, at least according to prepared testimony, remains the same as it has since 20 children and six adults were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.: push for armed guards in schools and insist that measures like an assault weapons ban and universal background checks won’t help matters.”

A Senate Democratic aide confirms to First Read that former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords is expected to appear at this morning’s hearing on preventing gun violence before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Senate Judiciary Committee would not confirm Giffords’ appearance. But a spokesperson did tell NBC’s Tony Capra: “Chairman Leahy asked if GOP would have a problem is she spoke for a minute before her husband. They said they didn't know if she would or not, but left it open."

Giffords’ husband, Mark Kelly, has already been announced to testify.

The Washington Post: “Former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) is expected to testify Wednesday at a Senate hearing on gun violence, lending the emotional resonance of her experience with the issue to what had already promised to be a dramatic exchange between lawmakers and advocates for and against stricter gun-control laws.” She’s expected to give opening remarks.”

The Huffington Post reports that she will deliver opening remarks. Reuters reports that she will “make an unannounced appearance.”

Chuck Hagel’s hearings to become Defense Secretary begin Thursday. Roll Call: “While Republican Chuck Hagel appears likely to win confirmation to lead the Pentagon, many senators in both parties are still holding back their formal endorsements or opposition.” But at least one Republican is supporting him: “Thad Cochran of Mississippi, the ranking member on the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, who said Tuesday that he plans to vote for confirmation.”

But, what about Benghazi? That’s Lindsey Graham’s question. Graham threatened yesterday to put a hold on Hagel’s nomination until current Defense Secretary Leon Panetta testifies on Benghazi. Here was Graham on Twitter: “I'm not going to vote on a new Secretary of Defense until the old Sec. of Defense, Leon Panetta, testifies about what happened in Benghazi.” And: “Why were there no military assets available on September the 11th when our consulate in Benghazi was under attack?”

He echoed that on FOX. But, Roll Call notes, “Carl Levin, D.Mich., the chairman of the Senate Armed Services panel, shrugged off the threat, saying Tuesday that a Panetta hearing was in the works.”

A story that’s been bubbling… The Miami Herald: “FBI raids West Palm Beach office of doctor tied to U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez.” From the story: “FBI agents late Tuesday night raided the West Palm Beach business of an eye doctor suspected of providing free trips and even underage Dominican Republic prostitutes to U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J. — who has denied what he calls the ‘fallacious allegations.’ … The investigation is believed to be focusing on Melgen’s finances and the allegations about Menendez’s trips and contact with prostitutes. A spokesman for Menendez could not be reached for comment, nor could Melgen.”

More: “Despite those financial problems, Melgen and his family have contributed at least $357,000 to candidates and committees since 1998, according to Florida and federal campaign records. Of that, the Melgens have contributed about 9 percent to Menendez’s federal campaigns. Melgen also owns a private CL-600 Challenger plane through one of his West Palm Beach-based companies, and frequently flies between South Florida and Casa de Campo in the Dominican Republic, where he is from. Menendez has flown on the plane at least once, his office has said, when he was chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee from 2009 to 2011, when the Melgens contributed about $60,400 to the group. A spokeswoman had previously said that Menendez and Melgen are longtime friends and said the senator did nothing improper.”

The Herald concludes, pointing out that Harry Reid dismissed the story yesterday: “Always consider the source. All anyone here has to look at is the source where this comes from,” the Democratic majority leader said. But: “Tuesday night’s raid, however, shows that there is at least an investigation tied to Menendez’s longtime friend and ally.”

“U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina is wading into the immigration thicket again, less than six years after a titanic battle over the same issue left the Seneca Republican badly bruised and on the losing side,” McClatchy reports. “Like then, Graham is a year away from a re-election campaign. But Graham says the prospect of a serious Senate primary challenge – from state Sen. Tom Davis, R-Beaufort, or a well-known Republican – doesn’t scare him, and he thinks the chances of achieving real immigration reforms are better this time. ‘I am confident – very confident – that if I help solve this problem in a way that we won’t have 20 million illegal immigrants 20 years from now, not only will I get re-elected, I can look back and say I was involved in something that was important,’ Graham said Tuesday.”

“GOP officials close to Scott Brown report that the former Republican senator is ‘leaning strongly toward running’ in the special election to replace Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry,” AP reports. “They report that Brown is likely to enter the race early next week. The officials spoke Tuesday on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to share internal discussions. A Brown spokesman declined to comment.”

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick is expected to announce his temporary replacement for Sen. John Kerry at 11:00 am ET this morning. Patrick’s office and DC sources have been tight lipped about who the replacement will be, though Patrick has hinted he’d like to make “history” with the pick. Former Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) has publicly lobbied for the job, but the Boston Globe reported that has turned off Patrick and he likely won’t pick Frank.

Top contenders per the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald: Businesswoman Carole Fulp and William “Mo” Cowan, Patrick’s former chief of staff, and Vicky Kennedy.

NBC Chicago: “Former Gov. George Ryan was released from prison Wednesday after six years in a federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind. Ryan, a 78-year-old father and grandfather, must report to a halfway house in Chicago at some point in the day. The former governor, convicted in 2006 of federal corruption charges, was given a strict schedule to get from the prison to the West Side facility about four hours away. There was speculation he left the prison early Tuesday morning to arrive in Chicago by 7 a.m.”

AP: “George Ryan on Wednesday will become the latest former Illinois governor to go through a prison door. This time, he's headed out. Ryan is being released from a federal prison in Terre Haute, Ind., after serving five-plus years for corruption. He's expected to spend the first few weeks at a halfway house in Chicago and then return to his home in Kankakee, about 60 miles to the south. Once reacclimated to life on the outside, Ryan will discover an Illinois that has grown less tolerant of the kind of wheeling and dealing that led to the imprisonment of him and his successor, Rod Blagojevich.”

Your crazy stat of the day: Four of Illinois’ last seven governors have ended up going to prison.

And at noon ET, Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley delivers his “State of the State” address. Per excerpts, “When the national recession hit – wiping out jobs and revenues all across our country – other states tried to cut their way to prosperity.  Many found this only made things worse. Laying off police officers, fire fighters and teachers, cutting public education, hiking up college tuition by double digits every single year, continuing down the merry path of cutting taxes for the very wealthy, hoping against cruel experience that somehow it would trickle down to the rest of their citizens. But in Maryland, we made better choices.”

Updated 3:34 p.m. ET - President Barack Obama hailed the Senate's bipartisan immigration framework at a major speech on that topic this afternoon in Nevada, but threatened to send his own alternative legislation to Capitol Hill if Congress fails to act.

The president embraced of a statement of principles offered Monday by four Democratic and four Republican senators, which would strengthen border security and employment verification in exchange for a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants in the United States.

"The good news is that -- for the first time in many years -- Republicans and Democrats seem ready to tackle this problem together," Obama said in his speech in Las Vegas, according to prepared excerpts.

Jason Reed / Reuters

President Barack Obama arrives in Las Vegas, Jan. 29. Obama arrived in Nevada to deliver remarks on immigration reform.

"And yesterday, a bipartisan group of senators announced their principles for comprehensive immigration reform, which are very much in line with the principles I've proposed and campaigned on for the last few years," the president also said. "At this moment, it looks like there's a genuine desire to get this done soon. And that's very encouraging."

But in a speech in Nevada -- a Southwestern state that has experienced a boom in its Hispanic population -- the president said he refused to allow comprehensive immigration reform "to get bogged down in an endless debate."

"It's important for us to realize that the foundation for bipartisan action is already in place," he said. If lawmakers fail to advance their own proposal, Obama said he would send legislation to Congress based on his own principles "and insist that they vote on it right away."

He said at the top of his speech: "I'm here because the time has come for common-sense, comprehensive immigration reform."

The president used Tuesday's speech in Nevada to outline many of those principles, which rest on four pillars: strengthening border security, cracking down on employers who hire undocumented workers, streamlining legal immigration and -- most importantly -- offering undocumented workers an earned path to citizenship. 

Those pillars mostly resemble the bipartisan Senate framework unveiled on Monday by lawmakers, which has prompted hopes that Congress would finally be able to advance a comprehensive immigration reform law, a priority that eluded Obama during his first term, and President George W. Bush before him.

The primary sticking point in those fights has been the pathway to citizenship, which conservatives deride as "amnesty" for those who have broken the law. Already, some prominent conservatives have expressed their skepticism of the Senate framework for exactly that reason.

"Yes, they broke the rules," Obama said of those undocumented immigrants. "They crossed the border illegally. Maybe they overstayed their visas. But these 11 million men and women are now here."

Republicans in particular had been closely watching Obama's actions for cues as to how the administration might handle immigration, and the emerging Senate deal. Republican lawmakers have openly worried that the president might stake out stark positions and oppose some of the enforcement measures included in the Senate framework, namely the trigger that would only allow a pathway to citizenship once the border enforcement mechanisms had been verified. 

"There are a lot of ideas about how best to fix our broken immigration system," said Brendan Buck, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. "Any solution should be a bipartisan one, and we hope the President is careful not to drag the debate to the left and ultimately disrupt the difficult work that is ahead in the House and Senate."

But Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a rock star to conservatives who's seen as eyeing a run for the GOP presidential nomination in 2016, has taken an active lead in selling this proposal to the right. Rubio has appeared in conservative media to both discourage Obama from opposing enforcement provisions, but also talk up the proposal as the best chance at compromise for Republicans.

"If, in fact, this bill does not have real triggers in there -- in essence, if there's not language in this bill that guarantees that nothing else happens unless these enforcement mechanisms are in place -- then I won't support it," Rubio, a member of the bipartisan gang of eight, told conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh on Tuesday. "But the principles clearly call for that."

But the president generally spoke in broad terms, and did not draw any bright lines as it relates to the Senate proposal. 

"I believe we are finally at a moment where comprehensive immigration reform is finally within our grasp," he said.