eminem. it was soul train's prewhite people -- >> you can see it on november 28, it will be fascinating to see it. thanks for watching, i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." john king usa starts right now. >> thanks, wolf and good evening, everyone, tonight a close look at just what everybody wants from washington and tonight the flash points not only with the democratic president, but also with the republican establishment, banning earmarks and increasing the government's credit line are two big new tasks. and the -- plus the drama and mud slinging escalates in the alaska senate ballot count, write in candidate lisa murkowski calls tea party

candidate joe miller desperate. let's just say, well, making up is hard to do. it begins with a big meeting tonight featuring tea party candidates who will soon join the new congress, they want to cut spending, repeal the obama health care plan and more. the new favorite is warning them not to be co-opted by the gop establishment, at the same time, congressman turned tea party activist dick armey says he doesn't expect major problems. >> there is no conflict, there is no difference of objective or point of view. >> no conflict is a stretch. to say the least. so let's explore the tea party wish list and where it rankles the establishment. cnn constrictor eric erickson, he's a tea party ally from the conservative red state.com, democratic strategist peter fenn and our senior political discussion gloria borger and dana bash. let me start with you, eric.

dick armey says no conflict. well in the house, they're prepared to have a vote on banning earmarks, but as u you well know, they're saying i don't think so, we don't want to do that. here's senator mikely, a tea party guy who knocked off an incumbent republican senator saying they better make that a priority. >> i support a ban on earmarks a moratorium, until such a time as we can get a permanent reform mechanism in place. we need a system that will -- what we need in the meantime is to get congress off the bottle. while it irons out those proposals. >> when dick armey says no conflict, maybe not so much conflict with the house, but with the senate? >> definitely with the senate, with the senate leadership, there's some inrunning around, the demint-coburn earmark moratorium, what they're going

to do. there's a report out that basically next week they're going to flood the zone with several earmarks banning proposals so they can say i supported cutting spending without actually directly answering the question. mike lee is going to be an interesting one, he made some waves today by being hired as a chief of staff of a lobbyist. he said that he's been doing that so he could figure out how the other side's been doing it. >> others might spin that as outsider suddenly becomes insider. >> i offer no comment there. >> we'll give him the benefit of the doubt but we'll also keep an aon him. this is the same for any person coming into washington, you say you're the outsider, you say you do thing differently, i don't care if you're a democrat or a republican, a tea party guy or a union supported guy. once you get here, it's hard. >> it's not taking them too long, if there was a song to be

sung here, there's a whole lot of schmoozing going on. they're trying to figure, wait a minute, what do i do next? this just shows, they are not going to have the kind of knock down drag outfight on earmarks that they wanted to have. even rand paul said, hey, well, i'm against earmarks, i'm campaigning against, but i want that money to come to kentucky. >> one of the interesting arguments earmark supporters are making is if you give up this right, you end up giving too much power to the president. here's jim inhoff, here he's making the argument now to keep them. here's what he wrote in politico today, so a ban onner marks doesn't safe one dime. what it does is trashes the constitution, violates our oath of office, it seizes congress's power to appropriate to the president and it gives cover to big spending. can they win that argument, dana? >> it's unclear, and there is going to be a test of this on tuesday, there's going to be a

vote inside the republican conference, it is going to be a vote of new members like mike lee and members who have been there a while like tim inhoff who don't necessarily agree with that. but it's going to be a secret ballot, though, so we're not going to know who votes which way. >> i tell you the people who are pushing this, a la jim demint, it's his resolution, people close to him are making it clear that they believe this is the first true test of tea party ideals. >> guess who's going to be opposed to earmarks? the democrats. barack obama admits that he made a big mistake by not vetoing a measure that had a bunch of earmarks in it and i think you're going to see a little bit of a turning of the tables here. >> so the democrats, thanks to president obama could come to your rescue here on this one? >> it's interesting, when the president spoke last wednesday acknowledging the election results, he mentioned getting rid of earmarks, this is one of the caveats that the republicans in the senate are saying we want

to get rid of earmarks but not unless the democrats do. >> earmarks are a tiny piece of the spending problem in washington, d.c. and we have been discussing all week this provocative proposal, some say crazy, some say brilliant by the president's debt commission, it includes a lot of spending cuts, some tax increases, it merges some agencies. some people on the left say dead on arifle because it doesn't include the tax increases. here's tom coleman, a conservative, i say amen, tom coburn says i'll do what's best for the country in the long-term. let me read that again, i'll do what's best for the country in the long-term. if all i can get is 90% spending cuts and 10% revenue increases, i'll go for that, the point is that no one's going to get it all their way. eric erickson in a divided

government, a democratic president, a republican house and a narrowly democrat senate, isn't senator coburn actually speaking the truth, saying if we want to do business in washington, we're going to have to give something up? >> he is speaking the truth, but the truth falls on deaf ears on both sides of the aisle. >> what happens on red state.com if republican senators who are up in 2012 come forward and say, i don't like it, but i'll give you some tax increases, as long as you give me those spending cuts in a deficit reduction plan, will you encourage tea party primaries against them? >> there are some acceptable increases. i'm a big fan of getting rid of some of these tax breaks that were lobbied into the tax code to -- look what some companies get in the tax code anyone who can avoid a lobbiest to go to

washington gets one for them and not for the rest of us. >> that's a reasonable counter proposal. >> i kmepd you for it, but the key thing here i think is coming up soon, and that is if the democrats decide that they're going to put that cap at -- or that floor really, at a million dollars and up, lets say, okay, fine, $250,000, $2 million, we'll extend the tax cuts, for the middle class we'll extended them. but if you make a million dollars a year, that's $100,000 you get in a tax cut every year, if we get rid of that, it's $600 billion. >> let me add one more thing to the conversation. i want you to hear mike lee again, this one could come up quite soon. the government keeps increasing the credit line, raising the debt ceiling because we need to keep borrowing money from china and others. a lot of conservatives say we need to stop that. but the question is do you stop it immediately or do you stop nit a grown up conversation so you didn't stop government.

>> what i'm unwilling to do is vote to increase the national debt ceiling. so we have got a little bit of wiggle room there to play with. but once we hit up against that debt ceiling, and we're about a trillion dollars away from that right now, i think that's at a point beyond which there's no ability to compromise. we cannot continue to mortgage the future of unborn generations of americans. >> to not extend the debt ceiling at some point becomes shutting down the government. >> that didn't work too well for gingrich in the mid 90s. but if they get some kind of serious plan to reduce the deficit and they have something they can show we're on a path to reducing the deficit -- >> i got to tell you, listening to mike lee, republican, i remember talking to so many conservative democrats who just got defeated last tuesday, really worried about doing this over the past several months, they said this is against our dna, we hate this, but we have

to do it. >> it will be a huge test of our principles. whether you agree or disagree, they come to washington with their principles on this issue, and it's a huge test if they can look at their principles and look at their responsibilities. >> and another thing is if they have to come up with a budget alternative. >> quit time-out, we'll keep the trains on time. but what lessons are the democrats if any learning from the election. n >> i'll let him make that first move. take care of your engine and it'll go far. one way i can take care of my engine? one a day men's -- a complete multivitamin for my overall health. plus now it supports my heart health and helps maintain healthy blood pressure.

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♪ you make a difference shifting now to the post election challenges facing president obama and his fellow democrats. there are policy fights, tax cuts and the military's don't ask don't tell policy. on an asia trip where he has failed to make agreements on economic issues, president obama today also was confronted with whether he thinks it's best for nancy pelosi to stay on as the house democratic leader or time for a fresh start? >> i think speaker pelosi has been an outstanding partner for

me. i think harry reid has been a terrific partner. in moving some very difficult legislation forward and i'm looking forward to working with the entire leadership team to continue to make progress on issues that are important to the american people. >> that's the president today in seoul, he's moved on since then to japan. let's check in with ed henry, the president also answered no when asked today if the election results had weakened him on the global stage. >> our colleague dan lothian asked him that and he said no, i've still got some clout on the national stage and in fairness to him t fact that the g-20 summit really came up with very little, just a lot of talk about trade and currencies and not really a lot of action, this is what these summits often turn out to be, but i think when you look beyond the headlines at what he wanted to bring home, the fact is he wanted a free trade agreement with south korea, and he's coming home

empty handed, that is a defeat for him and that may suggest he's got some issues with clout. and going forward, when looking at those tax cut negotiations with democrats and republicans next week at the white house, today he insisted at a news conference, he tried to shoot down this huffington post story where david axelrod was saying they're going to have to cave in on extending the tax cuts for the rich in order to get the tax cuts for the middle class. the president if you listen very closely to what he said, he said i'm still against permanent extension of those tax cuts for the rich, that leaves it wide open for a one-year or two-year extension on the tax cuts for the rich. now it's looking like he's going to have to give in on that, that's a pretty good measure of where his clout is right now. >> i mised those trips, take care, ed, see you in a bit. so will democrats agree on a post election strategy or --

speaker pelosi saying essentially don't look at me. >> the reason the election was also what they are is that we had 9.5% unemployment in the country. we didn't lose the election because of me. >> yeah? >> you know what? i mean, look, i'm not here to defend or attack anybody, but i think, look, if things had turned out differently in that the economy had gotten better, he wouldn't have bore the brunt of it. that's just the fact of the matter. you talk to a lot of the conservative democrats who aare perplexed a why she wants to run again, but she bid become the face of what went wrong with the democratic congress, and that's why many of them are so unhappy that she's still there. and pete schuler, a democrat from north carolina is going to be at the state of the union on sunday, and he's going to make

it clear that if nobody challenges her, he's probably going to step up and do it. he may not win, but he's going to do it. >> among drathemocrats when you together and talk about this, 9.5% unemployment, the democrats were going to take a drumming. but 60 seats that's quite a bit. remember early on, it was the president in some of the ads early on and the republicans mostly dumped that. >> and it was reid and pelosi and obama and morphed bill clinton into candidates in 1994. this is the worst loss that we have seen since 1938. so it's been a while. >> i missed that one. >> yeah, me too. i'm old, but i'm not that old. the other thing i think about this, really is that nancy pelosi believes that this is a highly volatile electorate. she thinks this pendulum ain't done swinging so she could find herself as speak never two years. >> she will be the speaker next week t lame duck congress comes

back, all those democrats voted out of office will be here. look at the potential agenda here. we have the united states capitol, that's where they are meet under that dome. there are three senators who will be sworn in because these are terms of other senators. mark kirk will ta-- and they ne to pass some spending bills to keep the government going. they could vote on repealing don't ask, don't tell. i wouldn't hold your breath, but they could. the dream act essentially extends some benefits to illegal immigrants, undocumented workers to get college benefits there, that's very controversial. will they vote on the bush tax cuts? that's a big debate. a new treaty on nuclear weapons is on the tachblt social security recipients did not get a cost of living increase, the democrats and some republicans want to give them a $250

one-time payment and there's also a doctor fix in the medicaid reimbursement program. let's ask the senior congressional correspondent in the room, one of those, two of those, three of those. >> i would say about three or probably pretty likely to go through. i think that as you said the $250 one-time payment for social security recipients is probably going to go through. i would imagine they'll taking care of the doctors and the medicare reimbursement as well. even the tax cuts, even the tax cuts, of course they run out at the end of the year, so it is a urgent, urgent issue. but some republicans are saying we won't be crying hysterically if we don't do it and we wait until republicans take over in january and deal with something retroactively. >> the democrats have an agenda this long, the republicans have an agenda this big and the agenda is perhaps the tax cuts extending them and maybe the continuing resolution, may be just to keep the government going. >> let me ask you a contrarian or a devil's advocate question here.

is there anything that conservatives in quiet or whisper conversation like to get done that you would rather not have happen after january when you're in charge of at least one of these changes, where you think maybe we should cut a deal with the democrats now and then we can blame it on them. >> other than the bush tax cuts, no, i'm not sure that there is. now you got a lot of republicans not necessarily conservatives saying why don't we vote on the debt limit now instead of next year, but by and large, no, the bush tax cuts is going to be a big one for them as the is doctor fix with medicare. >> i want you to listen to this, peter fenton. the president has named a -- one of the guys isser skin bowls, he was bill clinton's chief of staff. he chaired the commission. here's what he told "the wall street journal" when he was trying to seek some input on the recommendations and then trying to sell them. i told the people in the white house i had spent more time listening to people in the opposition party than they had done as a whole group. i a thought this was going to be the post partisan bipartisan

administration. >> erickson speaking his mind. and on this one, i think, look, he's trying to sell this approach and i think -- i'm of the view that, you know, everything should be on the table. i mean folks have come out right away, within 24 hours and say that's dead, that's dead, that's dead, i'm against this, i'm guest that. there are interests and they should voice their opinions, but basically i think the approach which is to say hey, listen, let's step back a little bit, lets figure this thing out there,'s a lot of meat in here, let's digest it here. >> i'm wondering after that quote, erskin is the kind of person that some people believe would do well to be in this white house because that's exactly what maybe they need to hear. >> good relations with the senate. >> keep in mind that back in 1994, we had the social security reform commission and it didn't exactly go anywhere. after january, when the new kids are in town and there's a

different speaker, i'm not confident that this debt commission will go anywhere either, but they certainly need to be reading through this. one of the good things about the debt commission report was that it really showed you the trade off, if you do this, you get this result, if you do that, you get something else. >> it's not the substance, it's the tone and the symbolism that the white house has got to be serious about talking with the republicans. >> they don't have a choice now. enjoy your weekend. when we come back, the u.s. supreme court weighed in today on gays in military. we'll check the latest headlines just ahead. then we go one-on-one with senator lisa murkowski, 90% of the write in ballots are going for her. she says someone in her own party has to make the first move but she wants to make up.

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welcome back. let's check in with joe johns for the latest news you need to know right now. >> the supreme court today let the military keep enforcing the ban on openly gay troops. the justices turned down a request to temporarily suspend it while the don't ask, don't tell policy is argued in the courts. defense secretary robert gates put out a statement today and in it he stayed he's very concerned and very disappointed because unnamed sources selectively leaked results of the military survey of the troops on repealing the ban on gays. senator john mccain threatens to filibuster if the don't ask don't tell the included in the defense spending bill coming up in congress. but his wife cindy criticizes the new ban on gays and criticizes the bullying of gays,

bisexual and transgender teams. >> they have no future. >> they can't get married. >> they can't donate blood. >> they can't serve our country openly. >> you know, john mccain was here to foresupposedly the maverick in american pop si but there's another maverick in the mccain household now. >> spokesmen for both say they have their disagreements and that's okay, but if he has to launch a filibuster, maybe she should stay in washington and not go home. more to come in the program, including they're still counting the write in ballots up in the state of alaska, we'll talk to lisa murkowski, a lot of drama there and when she comes back to washington. and we'll talk to our richard quest because as we talk about the deaf silt in the country, they're already dealing with this across the pond in great britain where they say there's an age of austerity. and we'll close our show with our good friend pete dominic and play a little who said?

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alaska's vote counters are about halfway through the write in ballots in the u.s. senate race. nine out of ten ballots are being sorted for u.s. senator lisa murkowski. she had to run as a write in candidate after he lost the primary to joe miller. mr. miller, as this count goes

underway and as you know from your campaign, people had to fill in the oval and write your name. he says the candidate named murkowski seems to be getting special treatment from state officials, is that true? >> what people have done is they have filled in the oval and they have spelled the name right and miller doesn't know what to do with the fact that people actually did what they were supposed to do. what we're seeing now, i believe quite honestly are acts of desperation, we're seeing lawsuits that are being filed. we're seeing ballots that are perfectly clear, perfectly clear ballots being charged. >> many of the ballots are exactly spelled correctly. there are some that are close but not exact. there are some that say lisa m-o-r-k, or lisa m-e-r-k, they demean you, but they're not spelled exactly like you. he's contesting that he believes

the name isn't spelled exactly right that it's a violation of state law. >> we're going to be the kind of candidate that looks to the law and expects the rule of law to be applied in this case. the people of the state of alaska elected a legislature that enacted a law that controls exactly how these ballots are to be treated. that's what we're going to insist on is that the rule of law is applied. >> his point is exactly as these ballots should be treated meaning everything has to be spelled perfectly and your advocates say there's a 2007 case where the alaska court says we have consistently emphasized the issue of voter intent, so if it's clear it's murkowski, it should count, but mr. miller says it has to be spelled right. >> look at what mr. miller is challenging, an example of a boll lot today, lisa murkowski spelled exactly right. but the l instead of being printed is a cursive l. he's challenging that. i ask you, what would the rule of law be on that?

it's clear what the voter intent is, the voter intent is lisa murkowski. this is the level of challenge that they have resorted to. and again, i would suggest to you that when you make challenges like this, you are working to disenfranchise that voter. >> what is your sense of when this will be resolved, not only the count but the legal challenges, when the new congress believes in january, do you believe there will be, whether it is you or mr. miller, that there will be a senator from alaska who will by that point be certified the winner? >> i absolutely believe so. in fact i think we will know with greater certainty by the end of this weekend, we will be able to move beyond where we are with the count in juneau and mr. miller will realize that any legal challenges that he may choose to advance are effectively going to be mute. >> if you are here as alaska senator in january, one of the questions for the republicans in the new congress will be whether they are willing to ban

earmarks, you in the past have had 57 earmarks totally $27 million in 10. in 2010, 95 earmarks totaling about 257 earmarks. do you want to continue with the earmarks? >> i think that the way that senator jim inhoff has been presenting this argument in saying, look, if you're really serious about reducing spending if you're really serious about making sure that there is openness and transparency in the process, then eliminating earmarks is not going to be the end-all and be all of the spending issues. >> so the tea party's wrong? >> what inhoff's -- well, the tea party needs to and it's not just the tea party, there needs to be a clear understanding of what an earmark really is. i don't think that's the direction we should go, and i think most people, particularly the tea party people who say

states rights, we'll make sure that the states have a say in it. we'll make sure that your state's representatives have a say in it. don't shift it over to the agencies for that decision making to be done there. >> earmarks are just a tiny percentage of the spending in washington. based on this president's commission of deficit and debt reduction in the long-term, people on the left said no way because their proposal touched social security and medicare, many people on the right said no which because in addition to a lot of spending cuts it includes some revenue increases, higher taxes. if there's any higher taxes, no way, or should both parties say let's set ideology aside before we have a conversation and decide we can't cut social security and medicare or can't maybe in the end have higher taxes? >> i think we have got to be willing to put everything out on the table. now, we have already seen the people starting to line up and say this can't be on this, this can't be on.

if we can't get beyond all of the sacred cows that we all have out there, we're never going to get to tackling these very difficult decisions. you know, we shouldn't -- you shouldn't shoot the messenger because they have put that out there as an issue. you shouldn't say, well, we cannot go there before we even had the conversation. i think we all need to take a very critical look, a very critical review at some of the proposals that are being put out there, we need to be in a listening mode right now, rather than automatically jumping to this point where we're not even going to be able to talk about it. because if we get into that point, we will never be able to resolve these very difficult issues that we have in terms of how we meaningfully reduce our spending. >> the last time we spoke, you voiced some displeasure at one

of your senator colleagues, jim demint -- i spoke to senator demint and he said this. >> we have some making up to do, i'm sure if she comes back, but i'm still hope until joe miller will pull off a miracle there in alaska. >> if you come back to the senate, peace with senator demint or will that continue. >> he has suggested that he's got some making up to do. i'll let him make that first move. >> lisa murkowski is the republican senate from alaska, at the moment a write incandidate, awaiting the results from that election. a sometime violent protest in the united kingdom a sign of things to come here in the united states if washington gets serious about deficit reduction. we'll have cnn's richard quest after the break.

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welcome back. joe johns is back with us with more news you need to know right now. >> medical workers in haiti report an alarming increase in cholera cases, 12,000 people have gotten sick. it could explode to 200,000. so far nearly 800 people have died. remember last week when the u.s. stock market was at the highest point in two years? it did not last. today they finished their worst week in three months. louisiana governor bobby jindal's new book "leadership and crisis" comes out next monday. then on tuesday, it's president obama's new children's book,

it's called "of thee i sing" dedicated to his daughters. and a controversial ban on toys in happy meals saying even though we need to fight childhood obesity, parents n not -- talking about the nanny state all over again. >> gavin newsom agreeing with sarah palin. maybe she'll bring him some cookies. >> won't be very good health wise. maybe some broccoli. >> especially on a friday night, no criticizing cookies. when we come back, the age of austerity in great britain as we debate about what to do about our deficit here, are there parallels between the debate in the united states and in the uk? richard quest helps us break it down. [ man ] ♪ trouble

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president obama's deficit commission is stirring a feisty debate about government spending priorities. but across the atlantic, britain's effort to scale back the government is moving at a faster pace and is generating at times angry reactions. the problems are not the same, but are -- here's the u.s. debt and the uk debt. long-term debt more than 9 trillion, as opposed to 1.6 trillion. this is a country of 3.9 million people. the uk 2.3 million. in terms of the per person burden, just shy of 30,000 in the united states, just shy of 27,000 in the uk, the debt carried over, the debt is 62%, our long-term debt about 62% of our gdp, it's about 66% in the uk. here's what they're proposing.

prime minister cameron has put on the table a number of controversial changes. some of them sound familiar. cut government spending by 20%, the prime minister says over five years. eliminate a half million public sector jobs, cut local government funding, stimulus program here, same idea in the uk, by 71% by 2015. raise the retirement age, remember that from the debate here? to 66 in great britain, they want to do it by 2020. cut the defense budget. cut long-term jobless benefits at 12 months, that's going to debate in our congress. cut foreign office spending by 24%. cut the royal family's budget by 14% in 2012 to 2013. increase the value added tax, very controversial, increase the capital gains tax, cut welfare and pension spending by 11 billion also cut police funding by 4% a year. this is the prime minister's case, he began making this case

for the social net proposed changes long before he moved 10 downing street. >> the age of the responsibility is giving way to an age of austerity. labor's debt crisis. the highest borrowing in our peacetime history. the deepest recession since the war. labor are spent, the money has run out. >> joining us now is our london-based correspondent richard quest. you hear prime minister cameron saying the money has run out. but as you see here in the united states and perhaps on the other side of the pond, when a leader makes these proposals, one of the big questions is are his people with him? >> and at the moment, the polls seem to suggest in the uk, yes, they are with the prime minister. everybody knows something must be done. the austerity measures that were introduced by cameron's coalition certainly raised

eyebrows, they were very deep and very severe. and the truth, john, is that we haven't really seen them implemented. it's as we go into the winter months that the child benefit -- it's only the implementation that will really be as you would say, whether the rubber meets the road. if we have had indications from france embarrassed, it's been very, very aggressive opposition and the same indeed of course in greece. >> and is it overall the plan, or are there specific elements, whether it's the pensions or whether it's the tuition, the social welfare, is it one or two things or is it just when you add it all up? >> the truth is that austerity is a fine policy. until it hits you. and that's what's happening in the uk at the moment. everybody believes something must be done, but please, nimby

not in our backyard. and the depth of the cut is so great that everyone will be affected. now cameron and george osborne, his finance minister admitted exactly this in the budget when they said, everybody has to pla the refrain that they hope will ultimately be the clarion call, the war-time spirit, the dunkirk spirit, if you like, that this is a war on the deficit. and only by everybody attacking it can they hope to beat it. now, it is a different situation in the united states. everybody looks at the u.s. and wonders when will the u.s. stop cutting the deficit. luckily for you, you are the world's reserve currency. you have strong economic fundamentals in many parts of the country. and ultimately that is what is supporting your bond market at the moment.

>> we'll get to the u.s. leadership in just a second. when we see the protests on the street in the uk, is it widespread, massive demonstrations or is it a carefully organized but more narrow political opposition? >> it's neither at the moment. in the uk, it was a student demonstration that turned ugly and then turned a bit violent. what i would call argie bargie, nothing to get excited about. however, as we go into winter and child benefit is cut and housing benefit is cut and disability benefit is cutened those who have applied for unemployment ben if i wants are made to work if they're going to get their benefits, then we could be into a repeat of what we saw during the thatcher years with the council tax, the poll tax, if you remember, where the demonstrations weren't just noisy, they were violent and bloody. if that happens, then we're in a very different game.

all bets are off. but the coalition knows that, and for the time being at least everybody in britain is bracing for what frankly is going to be a difficult, uncomfortable, and probably noisy winter. >> nothing to get too excited about. that's what the people in the united states are saying about the president's trip to asia in recent days. the president of the united states has failed to secure agreement on big economic issues with south korea, with the g-20. he had a news conference in seoul, richard, and he says, well, one of the reasons the united states is getting so much heat is, in his view, because it's trying to lead. listen. >> part of the reason that sometimes it seems as if the united states is attracting some dissent is because we're initiating ideas. we're putting them forward. the easiest thing for us to do would be to take a passive role

and let things just drift, which wouldn't cause any conflict. >> no deal with south korea. no agreement with china. a tough meeting with the german chancellor. is that how the president of the united states is viewed around the world as leading these conversations? >> at the moment, the president of the united states is not particularly seen as leading. the fiscal deficit, the inability to get things through congress following the midterm elections. i would never say he is perceived overseas as a lame duck president. that would be far too disrespectful at this point in the proceedings. but in terms of leading an international coalition for growth, i think that would be putting it way too strong. on the other side, john, let me be devil's advocate here. the rest of the world really -- there's a good old-fashioned dose of hypocrisy about the way they're treating the united states. on the one hand, they don't want

quantitative easing. they want some of the policies because it experts unemployment, it exports -- it does all sorts of things, currency devaluations around the world. but they also don't want the u.s. consumer and the u.s. economy to be moribund for a moment longer than necessary because the u.s. is the largest market to sell into. so i do sometimes have a wry smile when i hear these critics of the u.s. because, frankly, at the moment the president's damned if he does, and, yes, damned if he doesn't. >> excellent way to put it. a conversation with richard is always everything but argie bargie. when we come back, a comic says she owes her success to a politician. find out who. aww, not the mall. well, i'll do the shopping... if you do the shipping.

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our offbet reporter is in atlanta tonight. you're a comedian. tina fey is a comedian. good for her, she got the mark twain award this week. that's tough for boston. mark twain award. i got it that time. listen to her giving credit to someone she says has helped her career. >> sure. >> i would be a liar and an idiot the i didn't thank sarah palin for helping get me here tonight. my partial resemblance and her crazy voice are the two luckiest things that have ever happened to me. >> good for her. right? >> well, absolutely. i mean, dana carvey can thank the former george bush. you know, yeah, you've got to give credit. comedians, we latch onto

something, and we're not good people, john king. we find someone to make fun of and we make fun of them. whatever the weakness, the quirk, whatever it is, especially if p it's a politician, it's been hard to make fun of the president because he doesn't have enough quirks. he says "look" a lot, and he's got that interesting cadence, but nobody's really been able to latch on to making fun of the way he speaks. somebody are will crack it soon. >> look straight into the camera because if tina fey owe sarah palin, who does pete dominic owe? daughtry? mr. clean? yule brenner? >> aha. these are good bald jokes. i stand by them. i have been confused for all of them. but mostly i get mr. burns, montgomery burns from the simpsons. homer, where is he? i've also gotten galum from lord of the red winwings, both of whd me to therapy on a weekly basis. >> do we pay