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The Company Memo: Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Vice President Biden, President Obama' s chosen leader in the fight to reform gun control in the wake of the Newtown, Connecticut shooting, meets with all sides
Vice President Biden listens as President Obama speaks during an announcement on gun reform in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House December 19, 2012 in Washington, DC.  (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Vice President Biden listens as President Obama speaks during an announcement on gun reform in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House December 19,...

Vice President Biden, President Obama' s chosen leader in the fight to reform gun control in the wake of the Newtown, Connecticut shooting, meets with all sides of the debate this week, starting with victims groups and gun safety organizations Wednesday.

On Thursday, he'll meet with gun-rights groups including the NRA. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo plans to introduce a sweeping ban on assault weapons during Wednesday's "State of the State" address.

We'll speak with Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., a "surprisingly pro-gun Democrat" according to Guns and Ammo magazine, who was hand-picked by House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi to lead his own gun violence task force with a dozen vice-chairs.

National Journal political correspondent Beth Reinhard joins us to talk about her article on what's gearing up to be a "lobby busting" second term for President Obama, between his attempts to take on the gun lobby with Vice President Biden's task force as well as pro-Israel groups with Sen. Chuck Hagel's nomination to lead the Department of Defense.

Congress, with approval ratings that hit new lows time and again in 2012, isn't in good company: a new poll by Public Policy Polling shows that Congress is actually less popular than root canals, NFL replacement refs, and head lice.

msnbc's Richard Lui is "drilling down" on the connection between gun homicides and gun ownership per country. According to the Washington Post, "The United States has the highest gun ownership rate in the world and the highest per capita rate of firearm-related murders of all developed countries."

Plus—is everyone around you sneezing? The CDC says the flu has hit especially hard this year—we'll talk with Michael  Jhung, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Influenza Division.