i'm shepard smith. thanks for having us in your place tonight. for a special edition of fox report, an all time prime time coming up, first huckabee, hannity and gretta, from the most powerful name in news. [applaus [applause]. thank you we're coming to you from the studios in new york, as we're waiting on a possib possible, of result on the debt ceiling. we're going to ask will anything convince them to vote for this possible deal? and by the way, we've been making calls to more than a dozen democrats in the house and the senate, we've been calling them all week. and none of them have yet accepted our invitation, i don't know if it was something i said, i just don't know, but we have not gotten them, but i want you to know we have tried. we're going to start tonight

with bret bare, with us from washington. with the very latest, breath, tell us, is there going to be a vote tonight on the latest proposal or not? we're hearing probably not right, as time ticks on here, governor, it doesn't appear that's going to happen. we haven't heard officially from senator reid's office about a potential vote. looks less likely. some staffers at capitol hill it's almost inevitable whatever comes as a part of this big compromise will also include a short-term extension of raising the debt ceiling for a couple of days, so they can get through the legislative language. as hard as it is to believe, they are probably going to need a couple of days to get all of this done to get it done out of the senate, and over to the house. the and we've heard all day about optimism, how things were coming together, how all sides were very, you know, thinking very positively about this deal. but, late in the afternoon, it hit a snag and that snag was the mechanism called a

trigger, and i'll just explain this really quickly. about six months in, before thanksgiving, a joint committee of lawmakers, six on each side, try 0 come up with more cuts to meet the stipulations of this compromise. if they don't get the deeper cuts and entitlements, tax structural reform, if they don't get it done, there are punishments and this is the trigger, as it's written right now. there are a lot of defense cuts, about 50% of them are defense cuts and the other is cuts to medicare on the provider side. so, the republicans found out exactly what was in this trigger, and many of the hawks in the house, and senator lieberman, senator mccain, have real concerns about the defense cuts not only in that trigger, but up front. so that's one of the major sticking points at this hour. >> bret, we've been hearing that vice-president biden has been the person who's really doing a lot of the detail

negotiation on the part of the white house. is that in fact what's taking place, given his legislative experience, his personal relationships, with both democrats and republicans, especially in the senate? >> yes, governor, he's been on the horn quite a bit, from everything we've heard. he's had multiple conversations with senator mitch mcconnell, the minority leader and he has been driving a lot of the negotiations. remember, that he spent a number of months with lawmakers from both sides of the aisle going through the specifics, to try to come to some compromise before all of that fell apart. remember, the house majority leader and senator kyle and others said it's just too vague and walked out of that negotiation. well, vice-president biden is now running point again we're told, multiple conversations today, and we just don't know, at this hour, whether they're going to manage to have a vote in the senate. it doesn't appear so. >> bret, thank you very much for joining us from capitol

hill. i know you've had an excepti exceptionally long day, hosted fox news sunday and about there all day and done about everything there is to do. i hope you can get rest now that they're not going to have a vote tonight. get some sleep. i think you've earned it. >> thank you. >> thank you, bret baier from washington. back to capitol hill we'll talk to a couple of tea party republicans, and congressman tom graves of georgia. both voted against the boehner bell and they join me now from capitol hill. i'm going to call you tim and tom, and i know both of you, rather than being more formal and call you congressman, let me start, tim, with you, you have not voted for even the boehner bill. you said you do not see yourself coming to grips with one of these proposals that are out there. tell me why not. >> well, i don't think it does enough. we have a very deep problem and it's not the problem that we don't borrow enough, but it's that we spent too much. with the outside credit rating agencies indicating we could suffer a down grade unless we make enough cuts and make them

soon, i'm very concerned about the direction we're headed. we could have a possible downgrade easier, if the plans finally passes. >> tom, on your side. is it a fact that you have committed that you would not vote for anything that looks like this deal? or is it just unacceptable to you? is this a commitment to your voters? help me understand why it is, nothing is going to make you say yes to this? >> actually, i mean, we did vote for cut, cap and balance, both tim and i are advocates. and their solution doesn't match the enormity of the problem we face as a nation. if one is inclined to or raise the debt limit, both of those, it will accomplish that goal, but if the goal is to reduce our debt load, and our dependency on china, then these are not proposals for that. we've got to have significant spending cuts today and caps on federal government spending and most importantly, we need a balanced budget amendment

because i can tell you the place is out of control, it's washington run wild and the only way to get spending under control is to balance your books. >> a lot of us agree with you, we'd love to see the balanced budgets and interestingly, democrats opposed to it once were for it, but it's not going to happen this week. so, do you run the risk of, let's say, not only politically injuring yourself, but the other members of your party. your colleagues, and the possibility of a republican president? if republicans get blamed for growing this thing up? >> well, governor, i think there's plenty of blame to go around and it's not about august 2nd in my opinion or the next election, the president would like us to believe. this is really about the next generation, will we defend the ability of our country to meet our obligations and be able to balance our budget. i've supported a balanced budget amendment as do most democrats and we've been pushing to rise that to a vote, in washington, the

system is broken and that's why many with freshmen came up here, and we want to attack spending and not sometimes next year or next decade. we ever got to attack that right now. >> they've probably put their knee in your back and twisted your arm, we need you to come along with us. tell me about the pressure. >> governor, first of all, i didn't come up here to do a group hug. we got elected to offer difficult solutions to the difficult challenges has a nation. when you look at what we face right now. you asked about the balanced budget. if we can't pass it now, we'll neveren able to pass t if we can't pass the cuts with america engaged, eight, nine, ten years, trillions of dollars of cuts, we can't cut billions today i don't know how we'll cut trillions. where we are as a nation, we were elected to make the

decisions and choices, if we don't do it today i think we've miss add great historic opportunity. >> some of your colleagues who aren't tea party people voted for the boehner compromise and they're willing to vote for some other compromise and you're not. what kind of tension is that causing between you and other tea party colleagues? i think there's a difference in strategy and difference in push and look at the numbers and the fact we're 14.3 trillion dollars in debt. none of these plans ever planned on balancing the budget and most of the cuts are eight, nine, ten years from now and my understanding the cuts that will be made in the first year are less than the post office lost last year. you know, that's not enough and that's not what the american people want. they want significant changes, they recognize the enormity of the problem and often times i think my constituents get it better than most of the politicians here in washington. >> that's right, governor i'll add my decisions are made and make decisions based on my philosophy and my conscious and constituents and leadership. i'm not critical of anyone else or their decision or how

they vote. i have three children, 8, 11 and 12 and i think about their future and know the question they'll be asking me in about ten years is dad, what did you do and i am bound and determined to tell them i did everything i can do to get this nation back on track and on a fiscally solvent course. >> and you guys could end up going home in two years, that's acceptable. >> there are great days we could be elsewhere, it's not a job we've did dreamed of having, we stepped up to the the plate i represent 700,000 people, who we respond to and have to answer to. we need to change washington. we have a once in a lifetime opportunity to do that and that's why we're pushing so hard again. if we can't make the cuts now and find a way to balance our budget now, when can we? i think there's a tremendous opportunity and keep pushing as hard as we can. >> governor, there's certainly life after politics, but, but when you think of-- >> yes, there is. (laughter) . >> you've demonstrated that

and my three children and-- i want to be able to look them square in the eye and the american people you know what, washingtons has not been telling you the truth and we are r we're willing to tell the truth now and make difficult decisions today. it's not washington as usual as far as tim and i are concerned or many of our colleagues. whatever the next election holds it holds, but we're going to make the tough decisions today. >> congressman, thank you both. the tea party congressmen who say they're standing put. i think a lot of us, you know, have to respect the stands that they have taken. in many ways, however, you'd like to think, gosh, republicans in essence have won and they've changed the entire nature of the debate. not talking how much more we're going to spend, but how much we're going to cut and where and looking at a time where nobody is talking about tax increase was this particular deal. by the way, that would not have happened had it in the been for the tea party congressmen who held strong throughout this process. a lot more this hour,

including the final portion of my exclusive interview, the prime minister benjamin netanyahu, plus, lou dobbs, how your money could be impacted by the debt talks and paul williams is here with a medley of his greatest hits. up next i'm going to debate the left and right and lou and larry gatlin are going to put me in the hot seat. just one phillips' colon health probiotic cap a day helps defends against occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas and bloating. with the strains of good bacteria to help balance your colon. you had me at "probiotic." [ female announcer ] phillips' colon health. you had me at "probiotic." let's do this. look who's early! [ female announcer ] prepare to ace your dental check-up. fight plaque and gingivitis and invigorate your way to better check-ups. new crest pro-health invigorating clean rinse.

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or sn crab and crab butter shrimp. [ jon i wouldn'tut it my table at home, i wouldn't bring it in. my name's jon forsythe, and i sea fd differently. (applause) >> we're back live on the special edition of huckabee on sunday night and we heard why tea party republicans won't compromise, but we got this quote from emanuel cleaver, he is the chairman of the congressman black caucus, he says that early reports of the new deal appear to be, quote, a sugar-coated satan sandwich. what better time to take the hot seat, with a satan sandwich.

here to challenge me are jemuh green and former fox contributor and larry gatlin, here with his brothers last night. and great to have you guys here. i've got to tell you, jehmu, i love the sugar-coated satan sandwich. is that how you're seeing this. there are folks on the left that are not happy with this compromise and i think that that that we're moving in the right direction, listening to the two tea party congressmen, i had to be reminded of larry gatlin's song. she used to be somebody's baby. they used to be somebody's baby, they're going to get the blame for this. they've gotten so much as grass roots organizers and gotten what they want and two-thirds of the way and we're find with the fault we're not going to compromise, that's not acceptable.

>> one of the arts of governing, sometimes you have to compromise, it's like marriage, you don't get everything you want. like mick jagger and keith richards first presented that. >> you can't-- >> if you start talking about my songs, i'm sit here for the night. well, down the line, first of all, i appreciate their service to our country. in my heart and hearts, i agree with them and thirdly, i appreciate the fact that they are trying to vote with their constituents in what they thought was right. but fourthly, i realize that campaigning and governing are two different things and i'm not one to sell out, but you have to when the rubber meets the road and it really happens in the real world, you have to choose and pick what you're willing to die on and i've been to tea party rallies and i loved it, we sang two or three of them, but if they -- i believe if they decide to die on this particular hill, and i don't mean to sound cliche, but they're going to

take an a lot of good soldiers, they're going to win the battle and lose the war and i have to disagree with the gentleman who said there's never going to be a time we could pass that. yes, there will be. if we can win the white house back and win the senate and win the house, we can do more. right now, we have to take care of this. >> mike: that's it, we don't have enough of the moving parts. the republicans have the house with a squeaky thin majority and don't have the senate and don't have the white house. jehmu who has the most to lose if all of this blows up this week? >> clearly the american people have the most to lose. >> mike: perfect answer. >> that video of the soldier asking about what's going to happen, are we going to get paid, that's just heart breaking and he should be worried about his mission, about staying safe, but instead-- >> i never thought i would so agree with a democrat in my life. >> and those tea party members have been willing to take us to the brink of collapse. we've already not been able to talk about jobs for the last few months. we've already, you know, up to

the point where there's probably going to be a downgrade. they're okay with all of this. it's like trying to get your dad to quit smoking by saying you're going to burn down the entire house and all of that does is create more smoke and bring everyone down with you. >> they feel like there is he' been such a game played. year after year after year. yeah, we're going to cut spending and we really never do. we keep going up. so, you can understand, i certainly can, why they have sort of dug in and said, nope, we're not going to move. >> well i understand that, but the reality of the situation is, like i say, this is such a monumental problem that you can't solve it all at once, it's impossible. there are too many-- are you going to talk about some more of my songs before we quit. all the gold in california. >> all the gold in country and-- >> california, what a perfect-- more broke than the rest of the united states. >> about six weeks ago, a bunch of folks from california came to the great state of texas and talked about my friend and your friend rick perry, what are you doing?

why do you have 47% of the jobs created in the last ten years and rick said, cut taxes do all this so i'm saying there is no simple answer. you talk about whether it will hurt the democrats or republicans most. if i had the money, i would just buy air time and let harry reid talk all he wanted to. i mean, i really would. >> mike: i've got to he let you have the final word after that. >> you know, i mean, with all due respect, with all due respect. >> mike: sounds like a lot of due with-- >> a moment of seriousness, the only place in america more dangerous than in a woman's move is the threat between harry reid and a tv camera, let him get on there and i'll buy the air time. >> those tea party folks the more they talk, independents are hearing them like the parents of charlie brown, wa, wa, wa, that's what they're sounding like right now. >> mike: thank you, larry gatlin and jehmu green. ♪ all the gold in california ♪ >> and we'll be talking to lou dobbs from the fox

business network when we come back. [applaus [applause]. premiering the revolution by lg.

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(applaus (applause) >> well, it's monday morning in asia where the stock market is starting to open already and they're watching the debt negotiations very closely. but how does a stock traded on the other side of the world affect you and your finances? let's get answers from fox business network's lou dobbs who is very comfortably at his farm and you look happier than we are right now. tell us, what does it mean when we hear about the asian markets opening up. why should a family in kansas care what asian markets are doing? >> well, we're an interdependent now global economy and to that degree we

should always share and governor, i'd like to start by saying, there's a lot of hype in the national media, talking about doomsday and a lot of people are ignoring the real facts. let me just share if i may, with you, governor, quickly, a couple of facts. one, last week, these terrible debt instruments of the united states government actually went up in price. our 10-year treasury note yield 2.48%, that's great news. the fact of the matter is the dollar is flat against the euro, it's been weak against the past several years. the world is seeing something apparently a lot of folks in the national liberal media are not seeing, that talking about debt and deficits and talking about reducing both is a positive for america, and this economy. >> you know, you're one of the few people, lou, i've heard expressing optimism, but you base it on things that you're seeing and it's interesting to me that we've heard nothing, but that the apocalypse is coming, we better get down in our shelters and lock the door

and take up food and water the next six months. why is all of that message overblown? >> well, it's overblown because it doesn't comfort to the facts and in business and in economics you have to look at the facts. we hear people their car loans and mortgages. good lord, governor, we've got 25 million people in this country already underemployed, unemployed or given up being employed. 5 million people who have been foreclosed upon and an economy to straighten out, a government to straighten out and somebody should be shouting hallelujah that the process is underway and down talking those folks in the tea party, if they remember, if folks remember anything, the tea party is what gave the republican party its spine going into november of last year. and whether or not those two congressmen who just talked with you, the tea party, maintain their position or not, they're part of the solution. and i think we'll come to

grips with governance and i think that's a great positive for this country. >> let's go back to that question that i started with. the family out there, let's pick one, because we always say this ain't kansas, toto, let's talk about the family in kansas, they hear about the debt ceiling that doesn't get resolved, how does this touch them? >> right. >> mike: what does this do for them? >> this is a continuation of what has been in effect for 30 years, governor. what we're watching right now. no one should lose sight of this. we're talking about the frame work of this deal between reed and boehner and this president, right now, would amount to 1.7 trillion dollars in short-term upfront cuts, 1.4 trillion to follow later by joint committee, if necessary, triggers automatic cuts. the fact is, all of this will affect the national debt and deficits by less than 1/2 of 1% and the real work still lies before us and the ratings agencies, people are worried

about that. look, if moody's and s & p down grades the debt of this country, they're going to look like fools because remember, i just told you, the prices of the 10-year note rose last week and we're going to see considerable optimism if the futures are any indications. folks should talk about how to secure our debt instead of wailing about the fools leading this country for some time. we need a new direction and a bright, positive leadership. [applause] >> lou, put your prophet hat on for a moment. do you see this things resolving-- >> i wish i had a hat. >> mike: do you see it resolving? >> i think you're -- i do, i do. to the degree that it suits moody's or s & p or the left or the right, the tea party or dick durbin and his crowd, i don't care. the fact is it, we're going to start the process, everyone's got to understand, this is the beginning of a process toward taking control of this government and this country's future.

>> mike: lou dobbs, thank you very much for joining us, i see the rain is starting to come down upon your head. you weren't kidding about needing the hat. [applause] >> you know what, lou. >> i'd take it. >> mike: there are a lot of places in the country having a great drought. i hope you get much needed rain there. thank you, lou dobbs for being with us. >> appreciate it, thank you. >> mike: coming up the conclusion of my exclusive interview with israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu and later, you're going to hear why paul williams is one of america's greatest song writers and he'll be singing some of his hits. stay with us. [applause].

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sure. call or click-- we'll send you strips and a meter, free. can't i just have these? freestyle lite test strips. call or click today. >> live from america's news headquarters. i'm greg jarrett. the fate of two americans hang in the balance exactly two years after being arrested in iran. they faced an iranian judge

during what could be their last court appearance. no sentence yet, but their attorney is hopeful his clients could be released within days. the two are charged with espionage after hiking along iran's border. president obama stepping up criticism of syria's violent crackdown on protesters. the president calling, quote, horrifying reports of tanks that rolled into the city of hamad today. killing dozens of people there. president obama says the violence shows that president al-assad is unwilling and incapable of responding to addressing people's me get mat grievances, i'm greg jarrett, for the latest on the debt ceiling debate go to foxnews.com, now, back to huckabee. >> mike: senator harry reid is on the floor of the senate right now speaking, we're going to send it back to washington and bret baier. >> this is senator harry reid, let's take a listen in,

governor. >> more ground than they wanted to and neither side got much hope, but that's the essence of compromise, of consensus building and the american people demanded compromise this week and they got it. >> madam president. >> the republican leader. >> this is an important moment for our country, i appreciate the majority leader's comments and i want to say a few words to our colleagues who have been so patient over the past several days. and whose ideas and encouragement have been so helpful in getting us to this point. first of all, let me he reiterate that before any agreement is reached, republicans will need to discuss the frame work that the white house and congressional leaders in both parties think would meet our stated efforts to cut spending more than the president's requested debt ceiling increase, prevent a national default and protect the economy from tax increases. and to that end i'd like to say to my republican colleagues at that we'll be holding a conference meeting

in the morning, to discuss the frame work and to give everyone a chance to weigh in. but at this point i think i can say with a high degree of confidence that there is now a frame work to review that will ensure significant cuts in washington spending. and we can assure the american people tonight that the united states of america will not for the first time in our history, default on its obligations. >> okay. >> clerk will call the roll. >> (inaudible) they're calling the quorum call right now. just to see who is in the room, basically. what has just happened is senator reid, the majority leader has come to the senate floor to say that they have a frame work of a deal, they're

optimistic about the compromise that is in the works but they need more time. the senate minority leader, mitch mcconnell then stayaid he would urge his republican lawmakers on his side the senate and the house, to be patient and they will have a conference meeting to go over the details of this frame work. we're expecting, we got word that president obama will speak in the white house briefing room in a matter of minutes. white house briefing room is, is ed henry our chief white house correspondent is there, we just got word of this announcement, that the president was going to speak. and ed, let's check with you, ed? >> test, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. >> ed you've got me. >> i hear you, bret. we're getting wired up and president will come out in about five minutes and pretty much all the leaders and parties behind the deal and we can hear the president try to layout how maybe calm the

markets as they get ready to open in asia tonight in a short while and then the american markets opening in the morning. the other thing to watch, obviously, something we've been talking about all night is that just because all of the leaders, including the president have gotten behind this deal now appears, that does not mean it will have smooth passage in the house and senate and talking about liberal progress seive members saying they're very upset that it's all spending cuts and no tax increases upfront. then you have the fact that there are conservative members, specifically large block of house republicans saying there's far too much in terms of defense spending cuts and they're very concerned that that will have a dramatic impact on national security so we sit on a very interesting situation in the house of representatives where nancy pelosi and john boehner who don't usually work well together, as you know, have to all of a sudden deal with the fact that half of of their caucuses are taking walk on the vote in the next day or two and trying to cobble together a thin coalition of

house democrats and house republicans to get it through the chamber, the same situation in the senate as well, bret. >> okay, ed, as we wait on the president. governor, want to weigh in here. >> i'd like to ask both of you. it looks like the president has made comments the past couple of weeks and never really come up with a specific idea or plan that he's put together, but we're expecting another comment and i guess my question to you is, is something happening the rest of us aren't seeing? because it looked like things were beginning to fracture more rather than come together over the last three or four hours. >> i think that's a great question. i'll start and then toss it to ed. i think what is happening behind closed doors, governor, is you're right, behind closed doors and vice-president biden made a number of calls and we don't know if president obama made a number of calls today. but we heard the senate minority leader say we can assure the american people tonight america will not default on its obligations. there is a plan here, whether it can get through in its current form in both chambers of the u.s. congress very

quickly, is not been determined yet, but something tells me there is a plan, as i talked about at the top of your show, to possibly raise the debt ceiling for a few days, and as they work up the big deal. i'm speculating there, just based on talking to staffers on capitol hill. ed, do you have anything else on that front? >> yeah, no, i think you're absolutely right. the president faced criticism from republicans, only at the beginning of this laid out principles that he had not put his own specific written plan on the table. we've been working clearly off of the boehner plan and the house republican side and the reid plan on the democratic side which hasn't come up directly to get a full consideration here, it's not going anywhere in the senate and that's why after the boehner bill passed through the house the last couple of days, that was not going anywhere in the senate and that's why the leaders had intervened and tried to come up with some sort of a compromise plan. they may be able to win a chunk of lawmakers in both parties, but it's going to be hard to win final passage here

and here at the white house, banking on the fears about what kind of market reaction there may be if nothing is done here, even if this is not a perfect piece of legislation, that just enough lawmakers in both parties will support it. >> i should say that both leaders on the senate floor, the senate majority and minority leader, governor were careful to say they need to present the plans, the specifics to their entire caucuses tomorrow morning, so, right you now, the senate is adjourned for the evening and we're under two minutes to president obama speaking at the white house briefing room and interesting to see where he characterizes this deal. as you know, as a former executive, when things are in flux, it's interesting when you choose your words. >> well, it just seems to me, bret, some of the rhetoric, the sugar-coated satan sandwich, for example, has heated up over the last few hours, but i also understand from experience in government that sometimes it gets a lot hotter before it cools off. so we'll wait and see and i know we're seconds away from the president, i'll throw it back to you, bret or to ed to tell us when the president's

coming to the podium. >> yeah, i do want to say a couple of things about the process here. we're going to see the senate, whatever happens in in compromise as we look at the white house briefing room, they're going to have to pass something, to get a coalition, to get it out. ideally, both leaders would like to have a major votes, a 75, 80 senators, signing on with and push this thing, a vehicle to go over to the house and get the votes needed there and that's the question, as ed and i have been talking throughout the day, there are a number of factions inside the house who may have, ed, some problems with in legislation. >> yeah, absolutely. when you've got the progressive caucus and-- here is the president. >> have a seat, have a seat. good evening. there are still some very important votes to be taken by

members of congress, but i want to announce that the leaders of both parties in both chambers have reached an agreement that will reduce the deficit and avoid default. the default that would have had a devastating effect on our economy. the first part of this agreement will cut about 1 trillion dollars in spending over the next ten years, cuts that both parties had agreed to early on in this process. the result would be the lowest level of annual domestic spending since dwight eisenhower was president, but at a level that's still allows us to make job creating investors in things like education and research and we also made sure that these cuts wouldn't happen so abruptly that they'd be a drag on a fragile economy. now, i've said from the beginning that the ultimate solution to our deficit problems must be balanced. despite what some republicans have argued, i believe that we have to ask the wealthiest americans and biggest corporations to pay their fair share by giving up tax breaks

and special deductions, despite what some in my own party have argued, i believe that we need to make modest ajudgments to programs like medicare to ensure that they're around for future generations and that's why the second part of this agreement is so important. it establishes a by the partisan committee to report back by november for a proposal to further reduce the deficit which will then be put before the entire congress for an up or down vote. in this stage, everything will be on the table. to hold us all accountable for making these reforms, tough cuts that both parties would find objectionable would automatically go into effect if we don't act, and over the next few months i'll continue to make a detailed case to these law makers about why i believe a balanced approach is necessary to finish the job. now, is this the deal i would have preferred?

no. i believe that we could have made the tough choices required on entitlement reform and tax reform right now, rather than through a special congressional committee process. but this compromise does make a serious down payment on the deficit reduction we need, and gives each party a strong incentive to get a balanced plan done before the end of the year. most importantly, it will allow us to avoid default, and end the crisis that washington imposed on the rest of america. it ensures, also, that we will not face this same kind of crisis again in six months or eight months or 12 months. and it will begin to lift the cloud of debt and the cloud of uncertainty that hangs over our economy. now, this process has been messy, it's taken far too long. i've been concerned about the impact that it has had on business confidence and consumer confidence and the economy as a whole over the

last month. nevertheless, ultimately, the leaders of both parties have found their way toward compromise. and i want to thank them for that. most of all, i want to thank the american people. it's been your voices, your letters, your e-mails, your tweets, your phone calls, that have compelled washington to act in the final days. and the american people's voice is a very, very powerful thing. we're not done yet. i want to urge members of both parties to do the right thing and support this deal with your votes over the next few days. it will allow us to avoid defaults. it will allow us to pay our bills, allow us to start reducing our deficit in a responsible way. and it will allow us to turn to the very important business of doing everything we can to create jobs, boost wages, and grow this economy faster than it's currently growing. that's what the american people sent us here to do and that's what we should be devoting all of our time to

accomplishing in the month ahead. thank you very much, everybody. >> mr. president-- what's your message to democrats who are worried about the plan? >> president obama with a short statement saying the leaders of both parties, capitol hill, both chambers have agreed to a debt ceiling increase deal that cuts spending, by roughly 1 trillion dollars upfront and then back loads, as we have been talking throughout the day, with this joint committee of lawmakers, that must report before thanksgiving with deeper cuts and they have to be agreed to and then presented to congress for an up or down vote. at that point, there are triggers in there that, that straight jackets to make sure that they continue to get those cuts, if they don't, there are different mechanisms that go in place. the president said it's been a process that's been messy and taken too long, but ultimately the leaders of both parties prevail. however, the tough sledding still remains, because this legislation has to be sold to

the members, both in the senate and in the house before the deadline that the treasury department says that the u.s. will default on tuesday. just in the past few seconds, speaker boehner's office has sent out a power point presentation to lawmakers, i'm just going through it right now, it's very extensive, about all of the details of this proposal. and in an efforts to try to sell his caucus on this proposal to get the votes needed to get it through. the president, obviously, doing a sales job right now. governor huckabee, your reaction to president obama's statement? >> welcome, i think it was short and sweet and it's sort of encapsulated all the things that we've been hearing today, not only about the bipartisan committee, but about the trigger, and the fact that this was in reality, a short-term effect. but bret one question that you or perhaps ed or someone that's been monitoring this today could answer. this bipartisan committee, who appoints it? who is likely to be on it?

did they take the gang of six, a committee or brand new committee and do we have any confidence whatsoever, considering how bitterly divided these bodies have been, that a bipartisan committee could actually craft anything that would be passed by either and especially by both houses of congress? >> going through this power point presentation, which has many details, i'm going through it as we speak, it does not, governor, tell you exactly who, who appointed. it says each chamber would consider the joint committee. so, i guess, each chamber would nominate each party would nominate a certain number of people, lawmakers to that committee. now, one would think that the gang of six would have a head start on all of this and perhaps provide a frame work, because that's exactly what we're talking about. everything on the table. and that's what they've been dealing with for a number of months and ed henry at the white house just, oh, he just unplugged. but i'll tell you that i think

this committee would be lou makers who would be chosen by both parties, by both chambers and they would be essentially empowered to come up with these cuts. chief washington correspondent james rosen has been obviously watching all of this as well and join us in this conversation about the joint committee, james. >> that's correct, bret and governor huckabee. this is going to be a bipartisan, but also by came cameraal committee and will come from the house and the senate and clearly not the gang of six limited just to the senate. a number of interesting aspects from what we've just heard in the last ten to 12 minutes from both president obama and the congressional leaders, the leaders of the senate, senators mcconnell and reid. for example, from the president, he talked about this being a down payment on the deficit reduction we need. and he talked about how everything will be on the table, including modest adjustments to medicare, when this committee meets. it is worth remembering that

the obama administration in the form of treasury secretary timothy geithner at first sought a clean up or down vote on extending the debt ceiling and did not want that question tied to the question of cutting a deficit spending. and it was also interesting to hear senator mcconnell, if i did not mishear it, bret. i believe he made a reference to how the cuts that will be made at least in the early round of deficit cutting will be more than what he called the president's increase to the debt ceiling. and of course, both sides were still in partisan gamesmanship mode and even the statements tonight. president obama talking about despite what some republicans have argued, tax breaks for the wealthy, he said, tax breaks for the wealthy, should be eliminated, bret. >> james, let me tell you about the balanced budget amendment section of this deal. and governor, this is interesting. as you look at the specifics here, a lot of focus on the balanced budget amendment from the house republicans, particularly the tea party conservatives. here is what it says:

same as the house-passed bill, the boehner bill, the frame work of this requires both the house and senate to vote on a balanced budget amendment after october 1st, 2011, but before the end of the year. and similar to the house bill, it authorizes the president to request the second tranche of money, the second wave of -- to the debt limit increase, if this joint committee comes forward with the cuts that are greater than the increase and second, if the balanced budget amendment is sent to the states. that's what it says in this power point presentation by the speaker of the house. now, that's an interesting linkage that i-- we didn't think this morning was made in in deal. according to this, it is. >> well, it's interesting because as everyone mentioned, there's still some tough sledding ahead and that's going to take the form of votes on this. both parties, the democrats and the republicans, are going to be meeting tomorrow morning amongst themselves. the senate democrats at 11

a.m. we didn't get a time from senator mcconnell as to when exactly the republicans are meeting, but he did say tomorrow morning and that's where they're going to determine whether or not they're going to vote for this. the balanced budget amendment is something that the democrats find hard to swallow, there was talk that defense cuts would be one of the triggers that would be in place to ensure spending cuts take place and that was hard for conservatives to swallow. i did talk with one senate democrat i can staffer who told me senator reid is going to lose a bunch of votes on this deal, it's just a question of how many. of course, probably john boehner and mitch mcconnell could say the same for their caucus. >> good morning, your thoughts on this as it's developing kind of by the minutes. >> there's an owed southern saying that a donkey is a race horse designed by a committee and when i hear about the committee that's going to be formed, i really have to wonder, different the atmosphere, the toxic

atmosphere tha we see in washington, do we honestly believe that there can be a committee that isoing to present something that is going to pass in both house? that's an optimistic view, almost to the point of having more faith than most times you'd see in a faith hling meeting under a tent. so, i would be vy amazed to see how this will ever come together, given just how divided and not just divided, but how angry, how hot the tempers have been. it's a big ask i think, of both houses of congress to come to something in november of this year. >> mike: i d't know if it's a sugar-ated satan sandwich, but i'll tell you this, the commissions have not been that successful overall in the history of washington if you look in the bad ectrum. however, this one, if it is tied to lawmakers believe, if it's tied to these triggers, if the punishments are so great that if they don't come forward with something

significant, that you're going to see across the board cuts or in this case the debate was, you're gng to see deep, deep, defense cuts and that's a big problem for republicans, or you're going to see medicare cuts, that's aig problem for democrats. if the punishments are so great that this commission must act, that's what they're banking on? >> i think one of the questions is going to be, who screams the loudest. will it be the democrats or the republicans? obviously, a lot of people hate it which means it's probably pretty close to the best deal we are he' ever going to see. my experience in government is, when everybody really, really dislikes it, it's probably the nature of a genuine compromise. when somebody likes it a lot and others don't like it that's when it's imbalance. i'm seeing that a lot of people don't like it, but on the other hand, bret, i think your point about the triggers, this would be a disaster for either party for republicans to cut defense spending and

for the democrats to have cuts in medicare or social security and that's the one thing that might bring it together because neither party can afford to go into next year's election having greatly offended the very essence of their political bases. >> governor, james has spent a lot of time on the hill and you know the vitriol on that. >> and it's like the word was used by a democratic staffer who told me this afternoon's announcement there wasn't going to be a vote tonight and one of the reasons for that was because they wanted to have the senate democratic conference meet either tonight or tomorrow morning to, quote, have time to let them reduce the vitriol. again, this has been addition functional episode for the united states government. we've seen the parties bickering quite a bit, but there's also quite a bit of internal bickering amongst the parties and one interesting note that crossed here from our indefatiguable program

director, the house g.o.p. conference was meeting or having a telephone conference call i should say at 8:30 eastern time tonight. they did not stop that call when president obama took to the james f brady briefing room to listen to him. there's one further point to be made about this committee and recommendations it's going to produce on further deficit cuts, deficit spending cuts by november. and that is that once it produces those recommendations, the congress is going to vote on it straight up or down vote. they're not going to have the chance to tinker with it. it's interesting in designing that committee they could have made it such that its recommendations would become law unless coping held a vote, but that was seen as perhaps too strong medicine for the united states congress, they wanted a chance to vote it up or down, so it's a clean up or down vote on the committee's recommendations, bret. >> governor, quickly, we're just getting more information by the second from chad, your

producer on the hill from that republican conference meeting. speaker boehner, telling the lawmakers in his caucus, quote, how listen, this isn't the greatest deal in the world, but it shows how much we've changed the terms of the debate in this town. boehner said the deal, quote, does not violate g.o.p. principles, we got 98% of what we wanted. and i think that's a very important point, bret. the republicans are coming away no tax increases, that was something the democrats had said there would be no deal without revenue increases. euphemism for we're going to raise your taxes. and now, it doesn't appear that there are any tax increases. there is a sense, in which i wonder why aren't republicans declaring victory on this and move forward because they have an opportunity rather than to see things shut down. if that happens, they're going to get blamed, whether they think they are or not. they will be. >> so, speaker boehner apparently has made an impassioned speech to his caucus, much like we saw him

on the house floor the other day speaking before that vote on the third iteration of the bill that came to the floor. and in that speech he is trying it sell his caucus on that is he point, governor, to try to say, this is our deal, this is the time to take the chips off the table, this is the one we need to vote to to avoid any default or any situation that is tied to what the treasury says is the borrowing limit deadline. >> bret and james, i'd like your perspectives on the balanced budget. overwhelmingly the american people want it, historically, democrats like dick durbin and harry reid have been strong supporters of a balanced budget amendment and now they're saying the worst thing that could happen. so, how does a balanced budget amendment start moving through this, this congress and is it that this particular type of balanced budget amendment is unacceptable to them? is there a type of balanced

budget amendment that the democrats would accept given their past rhetoric and past support for one? because it was all over the board just a few years ago in favor of it. >> i'll start real quickly and james you can wrap up. the the balanced budget amendment that's tied currently to this piece of legislation was presented by the republicans and it is a balanced budget amendment that requires a two-thirds super majority in order to raise taxes down the road. that's really where the democrats have the biggest prom. they think that that really ties the hands of future administrations, future congresses, republicans say, that's the point. but that is the battle, back and forth and different perhaps balanced budget amendment would be more attractive. james? >> yeah, i also think some democrats, who supported the balanced budget, was a poison pill. it will, as bret mentioned, two third of each house.

and let's take a stem back here from all of this, weedy parliamentary talk and mention one things our viewers care most about, that is their pocket books, how does all of this affect the american citizen and american consumer? the answer is it may be too late, deal or no deal here, and again hasn't passed either house of congress yet this compromise. we'll see if it does tomorrow. it may be too late for the united states to avoid a credit downgrade from the ratings agencies and that could increase the interest rates for all americans. >> and governor, one last thing, we don't have any instruments here in washington, but it's been a pleasure being on your show. >> well, thank you, (laughter) >> the next time you hear, i expect both of you to be able to play musical instruments and by the way, hopefully have the opportunity to get the final interview with benjamin netanyahu and the paul williams segment later on. i want to thank you for watching. i'm mike huckabee we want you to say with fox for the latest on debt deals reached by