we're not the same as roosevelt, but a great model. these are a mess. a bigger mess then what people know. realize the anguish of voters. the great thing about america is our optimism -- that is dying. once that dies, -- other recessions were shorter. i know it will be better 10 years from now. they don't say that anymore. the bottom line is if we are able to reverse that in convince people that we can, we will be a majority party for a generation. we will have to look at the 2015-2016 time and play it by ear. if our colleagues --

my remarks are aimed at a broader -- broadly creating the next generation. cementing democratic majority for the next generation. i don't think the republicans can do that unless they abandon their belief to let the private sector do more. >> back row. >> thank you. cnn. how much will be aimed at winning in 2016? i know you endorsed secretary clinton, but is she the right person for this? >> we will have to play it by ear. there are dynamics within his party and caucus.

they know tom donahue said if republicans don't have a good immigration bill, -- he is as hard-core republican as they have. what happens? for us, we have to see. we aren't going to hold back in doing what we have to do as outlined in this speech. i will try to convince my colleagues, but it doesn't mean it certain things, along our way -- i don't believe -- we are the pro-government party. obstruction doesn't serve us as well as it serves them. to them, it is a self-fulfilling prophecy. government cannot work. after ping-pong game, people get tired of it. and on hillary clinton, i think should be a great candidate. i hope she runs.

if she runs, she will win a huge majority. she is just right for the times. >> senator. yahoo! news. can you hear me? >> i can. >> thank you. >> one of your former colleagues said that. >> yesterday it was announced that there would be a vacancy at the top of the pentagon. one of the first things they might have to do is confirm a nominee to be secretary of defense and one of the things we heard from republicans consistently is sequestration has affected defense. i'm wondering if you wonder if they will roll back cuts without talk about cuts to social programs? >> i think the budget deficit while still a problem is in a lot better shape than it was three or four years ago.

they do not have the same velocity to make the same kind of cuts that they had several years ago. second, i think democrats believe in 50-50. i think the president feels strongly about 50-50. if they violate that, they face a president who wouldn't support whatever they pass. >> hi, senator. the technology and globalization think you are talking about isn't static. it will continue to increase and accelerate. i am wondering if there is a sense that the way the fundamentals, the way the economy works is shifting. if so, what is the policy response? as opposed to making tweaks are things is there a fundamental reconstruction? >> great question. yes, it is shifting.

this loss in income, america has never had a loss of medium income for a long period of time. it certainly never had even close to such a period of time. between 2001 and 2014, i guess i would have to figure it out. i think two thirds -- gdp was going up. but middle-class incomes were going down. and in part as i mentioned in my speech because technology allows capital to get the benefits of productivity much more than labor. you caner or later, have labor go down, down. we have to look. someis why you will see as of the things we propose will not just be nibbling at the edges about significant changes not to stop technology. it has all of these benefits and productivity, efficiency. but, for instance, i am not

supposed to get into specifics. i've asked myself is why with all of these new competition would cost not go down more significantly? that might involve restructuring. >> two or three. >> national journal, one of the problems you listed at the top withur speech that dealt the administration, how much responsibility do you think the obama administration -- >> most of the these happened. the world changes and there are difficulty in changing. the administration has adopted well. a classic is ebola. the ebola response if history is going to look back and say it did excellent. that's been very little spread of ebola. at kennedy airport, a large number of people arrive from the west african hotspots and they

are carefully monitored and the cdc helped to instruct new york how to do it. the antidote, you cannot prevent things from happening from changing quickly. no offense to anyone can you prevent the press from folks in all the negative and sensationalistic way. you can look at the ebola a few days after happened. the average american said i will get ebola. i got calls from people that i should not go on a subway. if you have a strong middle class agenda, the number one inc. that polling shows is the average voter says to make my life better. when the middle-class incomes are rising and people have hope in them, these negativities play less of a role. thehat you doing to help minority -- >> working with us, like i said. >> politico. you designed the agenda for this

year, the fair shot agenda. >> an exaggeration. i was very much involved. >> many that you named were in a the agenda. as you look back -- >> i did not name any. >> was there anything that went wrong? was a big success. if you look up polling data and everything else, the great success our candidates had was on the agenda. it has to be bigger and broader and more prominent. >> are you suggesting that an option for democrats might be to oppose some of these trade agreements? >> i am not getting into the specifics. i am saying most people think , nottrade has hurt wages increased wages even if had

increased gdp and productivity and we have to examine that very carefully. nope, that is it. thank you, everybody. >> thank you very much. >> great to be here. >> we are and adjourned. adjourned. >> some of the congressional races this midterm are undecided more than three weeks after the election. and in the louisiana senate race, mary landrieu and bill assidy are headed for december 6 runoff doubled determine the winner. the two candidates are scheduled to face one another in a debate

on monday. a look at somebody asked running in the race. -- as some of the ads running in the race. >> i am am mary landrieu and i approved this message. a speechassidy gave that was nearly incoherent. >> she may get -- mary landrieu -- >> his record is crystal clear, voting to cut social security benefits to pay for millionaires like himself. we would lose her clout. >> a senate -- a senate -- >> for this? >> before the end of the year we are going to take whatever lawful actions that i can take. >> that is obama promising executive amnesty for millions here illegally. we must stop obama. as your senator i will fight his amnesty plan. your tax dollars should benefit you. not to those here illegally.

mary landrieu, barack obama, 97%. i will stand up to obama. i am bill cassidy and i approve this message. >> every morning, i say a prayer for my kids. i want them to be happy and do their best. bill cassidy is a doctor. he voted to cut $86 million from louisiana schools to pay for a tax break for millionaires. i don't know a kind of doctor would do that to my kids. i mary landrieu. am i approve this message. louisiana's children should never pay the price. >> i'm bill cassidy. i approve this message. >> a few words from mary landrieu on obamacare. >> if i had to vote for the bill again i would vote for it tomorrow. >> voting with obama 90% of the time. >> i am happy to see the president defend what is an extraordinary record.

>> if you did or disagree with her? >> i'm up for reelection right now. >> not know what to do on election day. >> you can watch the final debate between senator landrieu and congressman cassidy on c-span. members oflso when congress are scheduled to return from your thanksgiving recess. both chambers gavel in at 2:00 eastern. funding the government which is when current funding expires. here's more on that and what else to expect in the week ahead. >> congress returns on monday for a ten-day sprint to the finish to finish the congress. niels lesniewski joins us from capitol hill. let's talk about the deadline to get in budget bill done, the spending bill. what -- where do we stand on

that? >> as we headed through the thanksgiving weekend negotiations are ongoing between house and senate subcommittee chairman and raking members on getting the various bills completed. the last i heard was that there is a meeting scheduled for december 1 of the top level negotiators on both the house and senate side. i'm trying to get the final details ironed out. the potential problem is that even if the work the committee gets completed, there is the political considerations that need to be had as to whether or not that bill actually makes it to the floors of both the house and the senate. that may be complicated, particularly in the house. by what they decide to do about president obama's executive actions on immigration. the committee is trying to

create a product separate from the political situation in hopes that it makes it to the floor. >> the house minority leader has said that she is not going to -- republicans and should not count on democrat support getting a spending measure passed, especially if it deals with something regarding immigration. >> the so-called cromnibus approach. it would carve out funding for homeland security or immigration programs to try to avoid funding the implementation of the president's executive action. doing that as an appropriation bill is difficult to do because, while you can -- there was some

talk of this circulated by the office in alabama -- it is difficult to do through the normal course. there are ways you can put restrictions on the funding or restrictions on the program itself. you can't do it through the normal run-of-the-mill appropriations process. that is what would need to be worked out. >> you have introduced this new term. continuing resolution and omnibus spending measure. let's see what he is tweeting about. he says -- he is saying it should not be included in any sort of appropriations measure. >> right. the argument from chairman

rogers and most lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, that is a separate debate for a legislative debate from something that should be tied to this appropriations bill. it is true that it is difficult to do it through the regular process. there is this reality that if the government were to shut down, if there is no deal by the 11th of december, it would still be going on when it comes to president obama's immigration action because there are user fees that people have when they apply with immigration status that would be funding this program. even that gets a bit complicated and it's a difficult question to see how you go about doing it. the more persistent lawmakers would like to do.

>> the so-called tax package come extending these tax breaks. there is a package developing in the house and the senate coming next week. the president will veto that. what do you know of it? >> the package that was circulating around early in the week ahead of the holiday was that deals coming together between harry reid and house republicans -- there would be the intention of becoming -- vetoing it. it has gone back to the drawing board. everybody is trying to figure out where things will stand. that is an item that would be very quickly making it to the floors of the house and senate because it should be done before the end of the year and it is the kind of measure that when it lingers around for a long time,

people tend to get more opposed. >> you are writing about a couple of potentially contentious nominations headed for the senate floor. is the senate likely to spend a great deal of time on nominations? >> that is probably true. other than this government funding bill and the tax extenders package and possibly a defense authorization bill, most of the senate's schedule is going to be dedicated to getting as many nominees through the confirmation as possible before the process is reset with the new congress. with the republicans coming into power and becoming the majority and controlling the gavels. that would be a taller order and every one knows that. the democrats are trying to get as many done as they can. >> follow niels lesniewski on

twitter and read more at rollcall.com. thanks for the look ahead. >> thank you. we continue our four-day book tv and american tv programming. tv, the history of the birth control pill at sunday night, bill nye the science guy know why he thinks the teaching of evolution and science is not only wrong but dangerous. , tonightan history tv before 9:00, george washington and benedict arnold. on sunday, a glimpse at america life between 1914 and 1930. find our complete television schedule and www.c-span.org let us know what you think by calling -- e-mail us at -- or send us a tweet at --

conversation, like us on facebook, and follow us on twitter. >> in their weekly addresses, president obama and tom cotton of arkansas delivered thanksgiving messages to the nation. >> on behalf of the obama family -- michelle, malia, sasha, bo, and sunny -- i want to wish you a very happy thanksgiving. like many of you, we'll spend the day with family and friends, catching up, eating some good food and watching a little football. before we lift a fork, we lend a hand by going out in the community to serve some of our neighbors in need. and we give thanks for each other, and for all of god's blessings. thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because, more than any other, it is uniquely american. each of us brings our own traditions and cultures and recipes to the table -- but we all share this day, united by the gratitude for the bounty of this nation. and we welcome the contributions

of all people -- no matter their origin or color or beliefs -- who call america home, and who enrich the life of our nation. it is a creed as old as our founding, "e pluribus unum," that out of many, we are one. we are reminded that this creed, and america itself, was never an inevitability, but the result of ordinary people in every generation doing their part to uphold our founding ideals -- by taking the blessings of freedom, and multiplying them for those who would follow. as president kennedy once wrote, even as we give thanks for all that we've inherited from those who came before us -- "the decency of purpose, steadfastness of resolve and strength of will, for the courage and the humility, which they posessed," we must also remember that "the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them." today, we are grateful to all americans who do their part to live by those ideals, including our brave men and women in uniform overseas and their families, who sacrifice so much

to keep america safe. to our service members who are away from home, we say an extra prayer for you and your loved ones, and we renew our commitment to take care of you as well as you've taken care of us. we are grateful to the countless americans who serve their communities in soup kitchens and shelters, looking out for those who are less fortunate, and lifting up those who have fallen on hard times. this generosity, this compassion, this belief that we are each other's keepers, is essential to who we are, not just on this day, but every day. it's easy to focus on what separates us. but as we gather with loved ones on this thanksgiving, let's remember and be grateful for what binds us together. our love of country. our commitment to justice and equality. our belief that america's best days are ahead, and that her destiny is ours to shape -- and that our inherited ideals must be the birthright of all of our children. that's what today is all about