By Tom Ashbrook

In Washington this morning, President Bush holding his first news conference of the new year. The president will address hot issues: Iraq, North Korea, and more.

There appears to be good news on North Korea, with negotiators in Beijing reporting they have hammered out an agreement to supply energy to Pyongyang in return for North Korea, eventually, end its nuclear weapons program.

On Iraq, the president faces a much tougher picture. The House is this week bitterly debating his troop surge in Baghdad and beyond, and a resolution- very likely to pass in the Democratically-controlled chamber — expressing disapproval of the surge. The president’s news conference comes as the administration has stepped up a drumbeat of criticism of neighboring Iran for alleged meddling in the Iraq conflict.

This is President Bush’s first solo news conference since December 20th. The weeks since then have seen mounting opposition to his Iraq policy from the Democrats who now control Congress, and from some fellow Republicans, concerned over the evolving US role in Iraq and the American public’s disenchantment with the war.

Guests:

Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst, senior editor at the Atlantic Monthly

Bennett Roth, Washington correspondent for the Houston Chronicle