News Wrap: Obama ordered review of U.S. hostage response

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• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  The U.S. Senate faced a moment of truth this evening, on the Keystone XL pipeline. Supporters needed 60 votes to advance the project. Louisiana Democrat Mary Landrieu pushed the issue. She's in a runoff next month with Republican Congressman Bill Cassidy, whose identical bill passed the House last week.

  Minority Leader Mitch McConnell led all 45 Republicans in backing the Senate version.

• SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, Minority Leader:

  Republicans are committed to getting Keystone approved. We want to see those jobs created as soon as possible. That's what the people want. So, I would urge a yes-vote on the legislation to send Congressman Cassidy's Keystone bill to the president and create more American jobs.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  A dozen or so Democrats joined Landrieu in backing the bill, but most Democrats were opposed. California's Barbara Boxer said the real issue is the potential for pollution.

  SEN. BARBARA BOXER, (D) California: This isn't about the building of a pipeline. It's what's going in it, the filthiest, dirtiest oil. But to stand here and say that this is the absolute job producer is phony. It is phony baloney.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  The White House had issued veiled threats of a presidential veto.

• GWEN IFILL:

  On the House side of the Capitol, Democrats reelected California's Nancy Pelosi as minority leader. And Maryland Congressman Steny Hoyer was reelected as minority whip. Last week, House Republicans voted to keep John Boehner as speaker.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  Japan's leader today called for a snap election next month, putting his own job on the line. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made the move one day after news that Japan has fallen back into recession. Some fault Abe's economic policies. He responded by postponing a planned tax increase. Abe also said that he will resign if his party loses its majority in the election.

• GWEN IFILL:

  President Obama has ordered a review of how to respond to Americans being taken hostage overseas. The White House confirmed the existence of the review, which it said began last summer, after news of the latest beheading of an American by Islamic State militants.

  But spokesman Josh Earnest said the U.S. will not change its policy of refusing to pay ransom.

• JOSH EARNEST, White House Press Secretary:

  The reason for that is simple. We don't want to put other American citizens at even greater risk when they're around the globe, and that knowing that terrorist organizations can extract ransom from the United States if they take a hostage only puts American citizens at a greater risk.

• GWEN IFILL:

  Some relatives of beheading victims have urged the government to do more. The review may consider whether to let the families offer to pay the ransoms themselves.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  The National Football League today suspended Minnesota Vikings star Adrian Peterson for the rest of the season, without pay. He's pleaded no contest to a Texas misdemeanor charge of striking and injuring his son with a wooden switch. The running back has not played in a game in two months, and today's announcement means he can't be reinstated until April, at the earliest. The Players Union plans to appeal.

• GWEN IFILL:

  The Forest Service will permit limited fracking to search for oil and gas in the largest national forest in the Eastern United States. The compromise plan was unveiled today. It allows the process formally known as hydraulic fracturing to be used in the George Washington National Forest, which covers parts of Virginia and West Virginia. The plan also puts most of the forest off limits to oil and gas leases.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  Federal safety regulators called late today for a nationwide auto air bag recall. The target? Air bags made by Takata Corporation that can explode with too much force, spewing metal shards. Takata limited previous recalls to high-humidity areas along the Gulf Coast, but now there's been an incident in North Carolina.

• GWEN IFILL:

  On Wall Street, stocks edged higher, partly due to an improved outlook for homebuilding. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 40 points to close at 17687. The Nasdaq rose 31 points to close at 4702. And the S&P 500 added 10 to finish at 2051.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  The U.S. Capitol dome marked a milestone today in its $60 million face-lift. Workers have completed the task of wrapping the structure in 52 miles of scaffolding. That clears the way to repair 1,300 cracks in the cast-iron surface and remove old paint. They will also replace Civil War-era windows and fix damaged cast-iron ornaments. The restoration is expected to be finished in time for the 2017 presidential inauguration.