HOT TOPIC'S Ready for a fight? NOW with Alex Wagner

Following a day in which President Obama dominated the news cycle by holding the last news conference of his first term, the headlines this morning are focusing on two major White House agenda points: the debt ceiling and gun control. Yesterday, the president demanded congress raise the country’s $16.4 trillion debt limit, adding that the American people “will not collect a ransom in exchange for not crashing the economy.” He also revived the so-called “McConnell Provision”, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s 2011 idea that would give the president the authority to raise the debt ceiling. The Administration is also preparing for the release of the findings from Vice President Joe Biden’s violence task force. Yesterday, the Vice President gave President Obama his recommendations, but we are learning this morning that Biden reportedly told a group of House Democrats that the White House has identified 19 executive actions for the president to move unilaterally on gun control. The question is, will the White House have to resort to such a measure, or will it be able to work with congress? And if not, are both sides ready for a fight? We’ll examine the coming moves on the debt ceiling and gun reform when we see you at noon ET on msnbc.