them in a better position in order to succeed over the long term. short term, folks are still hurting. you can see barbara walters full interview with the president and mrs. obama on a 20/20 holiday special. december 23. another barbara walters exclusive. you go, ms. walters. well, there is an agreement to keep the government running through next september. democrats and republicans put aside much of their partisan bickering to reach the funding agreement. without it government agencies would have had to shut down friday night. there is also progress on the payroll tax cut extension, a major issue as always remains on exactly how to pay for it. also, congress has broken its deadlock on defense spending. it passed $662 billion spending bill. the holdup was over how to handle captured terrorist suspects. the bill is less than the pentagon is funding this year which reflects the end of the war in iraq. two former penn state
talk more about it in our crime and consequences segment in 20 minutes. the clock is still ticking toward a midnight deadline to avert a partial government shutdown but the pressure s gone down just a little bit. that s john boehner s way of saying both parties in both houses have agreed on a trillion dollar spending package. now they just have to vote on it. the house will vote first. then start its holiday recess. the senate will vote after that. and will try to agree on extending a payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits. if it does, the house will come back to vote on that. stay tuned. ballistics and fingerprint analysis now links oscar ortega hernandez to the rifle used to fire bullets at the white house last month according to new court filings. the 21-year-old from idaho is being charged with attempting to assassinate the president. ortega is in washington today for a hearing on whether he should undergo more missile testing to determine if he is competent to s
they shouldn t mess with the deal. take a listen. if we have a reasonable agreement with the republics on funding the government, we should seize that opportunity and do it and not hold it up for what may be more political considerations. now, the democratic leadership would like to tie that government funding bill with the payroll tax holiday, unemployment benefits and that is where things kind of get stuck, shep. shepard: mike, some breaking news happening as we are going through all of this. the time something good. the house of representatives has just voted to passion a big defense bill. mike, give us the details of that if you would, please. it s a 662 billion-dollar package to fund a lot of what our military does. a critical bill to pass. passed the house tonight by a wide margin. it will come up for a vote in the senate tomorrow. there was some controversy about the way you would handle terrorist suspects. initially said it would go to military custody instantly. the la
piece, iraqi security forces are not fully trained or trusted. i think that says it all on a lot of levels. are they ready to protect themselves? it is going to be tough. think about that, 8 years, 7 months, 14 days ago, president bush flew on to the aircraft carrier and proclaimed mission accomplished. well that, obviously, was criticized in hindsight for being premature. here we are finally wrapping up. the question will linger in the history books should we have ever been there in the first place? so many lost lives, so many lost lives, young people. can t get the lives back. ones coming back, welcome back. job well done. welcome back. all right, keeping with that theme, the servicemen and women leaving iraq today, house lawmakers have approved a defense bill to keep the military pretty much in business. the $662 billion covers military personnel, expenses, as well as some weapons systems. the senate is expected to approve it and send it to the president. but the house
greta: more from rush limbaugh in 60 seconds. first, go to the new york new newsroom where ainsley earnhardt has the headlines. house passes $662 billion defense bill. the vote finishing 283-136. after last minute changes even sureed president obama would be able to prosecute terror suspects in the civilian justice system. the bill also includes a freeze on aid to pakistan and pay raise for all members of the uniform services. the senate is expected to vote on thursday. new concerns over china. this is a picture that shows they now have a an aircraft carrier. beijing reportedly bought the soviet ship in 1998 and spent years refurbishing it. i m ainsley earnhardt.