[Johns:] Checking "Top Stories" now, lawmakers in the House return to work in about two hours from now. Their challenge: debating the fiscal cliff compromise measure that overwhelmingly passed the Senate overnight. The Republican-controlled House could approve, reject or amend the measure which keeps tax rates pretty much unchanged for most Americans. The family of Venezuela's cancer-stricken President is asking supporters to ignore rumors that his health is failing. The Reuters News agency, quote "Hugo Chavez's son-in-law is saying the 58-year-old is in stable condition". Chavez has not been seen in weeks and the government has reportedly described his condition as delicate. 2012 saw gas prices hit their highest average ever, according to AAA. The average price last year was $3.60, that's nine cents higher than 2011. Hurricanes, refinery outages, and tensions in the Middle East all contributed to those rising prices. This is a great excuse to watch bowl games today. A storm system moving east bringing rain from Texas through the southeast into the Mid-Atlantic states. There could also be a rainsnow mix from northern Virginia to southern Ohio. And how about this for a New Year's resolution, an Australian couple in their 60s plans to run, get this, a marathon a day for every day of 2013, that works out to more than 9,300 miles. The couple plans to raise money for various charities and promote a healthy lifestyle. They'll be living on raw fruits and vegetables. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is spending New Year's Day in the hospital. The news broke late yesterday. The blood clot she's being treated for is located between her brain and the skull, right behind the right ear. Clinton was hospitalized Sunday for a blood clot that formed after she fell and suffered a concussion a few weeks ago. Chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is joining us from New York. Sanjay, Happy New Year to you.
[Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Cnn Chief Medical Correspondent:] You as well.
[Johns:] Now that we know the details can you walk us through what it means to have a blood clot between her brain and her skull?
[Gupta:] Yes, absolutely, Joe. You know one of the first things you want to ask if someone has a blood clot is where is it located, is it inside a blood vessel or outside a blood vessel and as you point out, Joe, we found out that in fact this blood clot is inside a blood vessel, one of the veins that drains blood away from the brain. Joe I got a model here, let me just show you. This might make it a little bit easier to understand. We know it's on the right side of her head but I'm going to show you the left side for the purpose of this model. Take a look as I remove this part over here of the brain you see this area over here, Joe, in blue, that area these are the veins that are called sinuses, and they drain blood away from the brain. In the Secretary's case there's a clot in one of those veins that sits right around here and that's what they're trying to address, Joe, with these blood thinning medications, these anti-coagulants as they're called. Joe, one thing I should point out if you think about blood going to the brain, blood also has to leave the brain. If it has a hard time leaving the brain because of this clot, the pressure can start to build up inside the brain and that's what they're trying to avoid, Joe.
[Johns:] And so how serious is this medically and how long would it take to recover from something like this in.
[Gupta:] Yes you know it's a good question. I should point out this is a pretty rare occurrence. This isn't something that's common so there's not a lot of, you know, data on these sorts of things but it's one of those things where if it's treated, someone could do very, very well, but if this had not been caught and not been treated, the concern is that pressure inside the brain, because the blood again can't leave the brain could eventually lead to swelling in the brain, could lead to stroke, could lead to some sort of neurological impact. The doctors have said very clearly, Joe, that there's no evidence that any of that has happened, there has been no evidence of stroke, there's been no evidence of neurological complication and they say that they're treating this. They're giving her the blood thinner medications and the reason that she's in the hospital, they've got to sort of tinker with that dose to make sure they get it absolutely right.
[Johns:] So what do you think a week or two for her to recover from something like this? Months?
[Gupta:] Well you know being in the hospital takes, you know, probably a few days or a couple of days, but in terms of how long she's going to be on the medication that is usually months. In terms of how she's doing overall, she may have had headaches you know as a result of the the concussion and now this this blood clot in the brain as well. It's a little bit harder to say how how long that would last but you know I think that put that more in the realm of weeks as opposed of days.
[Johns:] And blood thinners is there anything they can do for something like this?
[Gupta:] Well you know blood thinners is sort of the the first treatment of choice for for a clot like this if it doesn't work, then sometimes there's other things that you know doctors have to think about. Do they actually do something to go and try and fish that clot out directly again to try and open up the blood flow in that vessel? That's more aggressive procedure. And again you try these blood thinners first because that's safer and just a medication.
[Johns:] Sanjay Gupta good to see you. Thanks for that.
[Gupta:] You got it Joe. Happy New Year.
[Johns:] The NFL's Black Monday takes a heavy toll. Seven head coaches are sacked. We'll tell you who is out.