er ] get the spark business card from capital one and earn unlimited rewards. choose double miles or 2% cash back on every purchase every day. what's in your wallet? [ crows ] now where's the snooze button? blood pressure.... .... [ female announcer ] what does the anti-aging power of olay total effects

plus the perfecting color of a bb cream equal? introducing the newest beauty trend. total effects cc cream c for color. c for correction. [ female announcer ] fight 7 signs of aging flawlessly. cc what's possible. good morning. i'm chris jansing. five minutes from now, all of the congressional leaders are going to walk into the white house oval office. although, every indication is that it's too late.

most members of congress have moved out, heading home, and are resigned to let the sequester go through. so $85 billion across the board cuts will be a reality by midnight. >> i think the public has fiscal crisis fatigue. >> ronald reagan should be rolling over in his grave. >> this is a self-inflicted wound. >> the house did its job. >> fell, if you're the average american, you should be getting freaked out simply because this new normal is not good. >> if we cannot find 2, 2.5% ways to cut our budget without talking about armageddon -- >> there are real families and lives on the line. >> i want to bring in david nakamura. good morning. >> good morning. >> happy sequester. already we got a statement from mitch mcconnell before he walked into the oval office.

here's the last line. but there will be no last-minute back-room deal and absolutely no agreement to increase taxes. so david, what's the point of this meeting? >> the president invited everybody there. i think they are trying to show that they are still trying to work together, that even as we approach the final hours they are going to try to come up with something. >> today? >> not today but we're going to keep talking about it. but i think going in to march we're looking at another fight over how they continue government funding by late march. i think the republicans are basically saying we're going to lock in a sequester and will the president go to the wall and keep fighting this? that would be a risky move because they will face a point where they will have no progress. republicans are not going to raise taxes and the president won't sign a bill that won't include tax increases. new tax revenues. i think we're at a wall here. i think we're going to go past

the sequester deadline. >> here's the thing. this is going to happen very slowly. let me give you some examples. treasury computers are going to be reprogrammed for payments for school construction and h.u.d., the department of housing and urban development are going to say this is how much we're going to reduce your grants. furlough notices going out on monday and they get 30 days' notice so we won't see it for air traffic controllers and meat inspectors until april. so there's this cushion built in, liz. >> i think that neither side really wants to budge on this at all and they also -- you know, they are kind of in a game to see who is going to be blamed the least by the public. like the public is looking at this and only a small segment of the public is paying attention to what is going on. and frankly, because it is going to be a gradual impact, i think

the only significant impact we may see today may be markets. and maybe even that, so far we're not seeing much of the shift there either. so, look, both sides are -- it's a standoff. they are stuck in their ideological extreme positions. one wants to raise taxes. the other one is saying bigger spending cuts and frankly this is not what the majority of the american people want. they want compromise. they want washington work. what is going on is the epitome of how washington is not working. >> we're seeing the dow down 45 points. to see who gets blamed, charles writes, he cannot win if nothing bad really happens. indeed, he would look both foolish and cynical for having cried wolf. obama's incentive to deliberately make the most socially disruptive cuts

possible is enormous and alarming. hail armageddon. ronald reagan would be rolling over in his grave. is it a blame game now? >> it is a blame game. decrease in border security and that is a question whether if we don't see that happening right away, whether the public will sort of shrug and i think one of the questions is -- >> not just shrug but my question is, do you agree with charles when he says it makes the president look bad? >> it might in the short term. i'm not sure in the long term. if they don't see a lot of immediate or even longer -- medium term impacts on their daily lives, they might not look back and say, who do i blame for that? they are going to be happy with that. this is the first round. this is ten years of these cuts and if this does not sink in, the president may have a weaker hand going forward saying what about next year and the year

after as those to who try to rein in spending. there's a lot of fat in the budget and let's keep doing this going forward. >> liz, you made the point there isn't a movement, if any, on either side and there certainly are a lot of republicans out there who don't think this is a terrible thing. it's not the worst idea in the world. steve told "the new york times," i think friday will be an important day that shows we're finally ready to force washington to live within its means and that will be a big victory. >> look, this is just continuing standoff between the pragmatist in washington and the republicans that took control in the house, this is our fiscal battle standoff and what's happening here is that there is 80 to 90 real conservative members of the republican house who are dug in on this. and we saw boehner has

capitulated to them since 2007. boehner has been wanting grand bargains and it's fascinating because there is this segment of staunch idealogs who may not be looking at the larger picture who are driving these standoffs. the president bears some of this in terms of -- some of the blame here andticipate wanting -- thi is a reality that he has to maneuver and perhaps we haven't seen enough from him in terms of leadership on this issue either. >> let me bring in congressman peter welch. to liz's point, have we not seen enough leadership from the president? >> well, it's a mess, the whole situation. and i actually think that boehner would be wanting to make a pragmatic decision if he could get his caucus to do it. i think the president has been very clear and he won the election on a balanced approach where there would be some revenues. mr. boehner is practically

saying -- >> the president got his revenues and so now it's time -- >> i understand it. but let's step back a minute. the president gave $1.5 trillion in cuts when we had the debt ceiling debacle. so the president gave his cuts. mr. boehner did give revenues on the fiscal cliff and did the right thing and put that bill on the floor so he could pass it with the majority of democrats and a third of the republicans. so the bottom line here is on revenues mr. boehner has acknowledged that the tax code is an absolute mess and there's a lot of room in the tax code to clean it up and get revenues without raising rates. democrats and republicans both have said that. that's where we can get some additional revenues. and the thing that's pretty stupid about this is that it's across the board. so you have republicans who are now backing in to these across-the-board military cuts.

not because defense can't handle the cuts but because it's a dumb way to make cuts and then domestic discretionary spending has been cut and it's now going to be below eisenhower levels after all of these cuts go in place and that was before medicaid and medicare. and i actually think john boehner and a growing number of republicans are open to doing this -- is to have some revenues through tax code cleanup and we do, democrats, have to deal with health care. that's true. so i think we're going to get through this. the big issue is going to be march 27. we've got a month here to negotiate this and to try to avoid having this a roll out and actually get really damaging. >> let me tell you, let me ask you about the two plans that failed in the senate yesterday. democrats basically wanted a buffett rule and keep the budget and neither of those had a

chance so based on what you've been saying, what realistically do you think could be part of a compromise? >> actually, everybody knows what has to be part of a compromise that would work. it would have to be revenues through tax code cleanup. there's a lot of bipartisan agreement. given discretion it could make some cuts. the secretary has acknowledged that. and then where it's going to be real tough on the democratic side that the president has indicated a willingness to work here is try to bring health care costs down. i'm not just talking about medicare. we can make reforms there. but the health care system in our country is too expensive. it's tough on private employers. so you put all of those together where we are all making some give, then we can have a real dent in our deficit. the irony here is that -- and this is where i take issue with steve scalise. if this whole sequester was

rolled out, 1.2 trillion over ten years, it would barely move the needle on our gross domestic ratio. so what we are following blindly and stupidly won't have an impact in solving the problem that is there. >> let me ask you a big picture problem. a question really quickly. the violence against women act, something that actually passed congress yesterday, it was the third piece of legislation that passed without a republican majority. what does that say to you? >> well, it says to me that john boehner is doing the right thing. my view is that when there is an important issue for america, like violence against women or the fiscal cliff, then that legislation should be put on the floor for an up or down vote and then all our constituents can hold me accountable on how i voted. the one thing none of us can defend is not voting at all.

one thing we do on the farm bill. so i give speaker boehner an enormous amount of credit for working so that his caucus, even despite violating the rule, said mr. boehner, we appreciate you've got to put this on the floor and then let the housework its will. i think that's a very good development. >> congressman peter welch, thank you so much for coming on the program. >> thank you. so he mentioned the rule and if you are the speaker of the house, right, david, you only bring bills to the floor that most of your members support. republicans didn't approve sandy relieve yesterday, violence against women. what's going on here, from your perspective? >> well, it's interesting. when john boehner made the decision to go ahead and move the bill on the fiscal cliff debate, it passed because democrats did a smaller fraction of republicans. some of them rebelled and tried to block the speaker from retaining his position and that was sort of a signal that part

of the house was very unhappy with the speaker's leadership. i think they are right that like in yesterday's vote on the violence against women's vote, john boehner and others said, we've got to get past this. the bigger question for the white house is whether boehner will take that approach during -- on some other issues, such as gun control and immigration where there's going to be a much louder and more vocal pushback. and so the question going forward is, to keep an eye on those two and some other legislation. >> yeah. and we've seen in many of these cases, for example, eric cantor and paul ryan, two of the more visible members split on how they approach all of this. so john boehner, letting these bills come to the floor, is this a total change in the way the house operates? what does it say to you about how we're going to go forward? >> well, you know, the center of the electorate can hope how both the senate operate.

it's a recipe for gridlock and it's a significant part of the reason why we haven't seen, you know, much progress out of washington and why the center of the electorate looks at washington and says it's broken. because in the hastert rule, it's total power on behalf of the party and that's not what our government is supposed to be. so i actually think this is an interesting development. i agree that we need to wait and see what boehner's going to do going forward but i think the white house could look at this and see, well maybe, yeah, maybe the white house will be able to get something done. >> maybe an opening there. liz, david, have a great weekend. thank you. >> thank you, chris. mitt romney in his first interview since the presidential election comparing his campaign to a roller coaster ride. >> we were on ups and downs and the ride ends and then you get off and it's not like, oh, can't we be on a roller coaster the

rest of our life? no, that ride is over. >> and an romney thinks they've adjusted well keeping a low profile though they will attend the political action conference. u exactly where it is, what it's carrying, while using less fuel. delivering whatever the world needs, when it needs it. ♪ after all, what's the point of talking if you don't have something important to say? ♪ (announcer) scottrade knows our and invest their own way.? with scottrade's smart text, i can quickly understand my charts, and spend more time trading. their quick trade bar lets my account follow me online so i can react in real-time. plus, my local scottrade office is there to help. because they know i don't trade like everybody.

i trade like me. i'm with scottrade. (announcer) scottrade. voted "best investment services company." you name it...i've hooked it. but there's one... one that's always eluded me. thought i had it in the blizzard of '93. ha! never even came close. sometimes, i actually think it's mocking me. [ engine revs ] what?! quattro!!!!!

♪

we've just learned this morning that the college of cardinals will meet at the vatican at 9:30 local time, 3:30 a.m. in new york and they are expected to decide when the conclave will elect the next pope. we don't know, truth be told, nobody does, who that's likely to be. but the buzz around rome is growing louder after pope benedict left the seat empty.

joining me is father robert. good to see both of you. good morning. >> hi, chris. >> it's great to be here. >> so we're starting really today to give people a lay of the land, get them familiar with some of the people who are being talked about as possibly the next pope. so let me start with you, father. you have talked about a 65-year-old cardinal from sri lanka, malcolm ranjith. >> yes. it's a tremendous group of people with tremendous talent looking forward to be pope and it's impressive to speak of these men and malcolm ranjith in sri lanka is one of these interesting men who speaks ten languages, he has experience and he's really known for his love of god, for his papacy, his devotion. >> george, one that i'm familiar

with is archbishop of millan, angelo scola. why are they talking about him? >> because he's along the line of joseph ratzinger. he thinks much like the president pope does. he's not as a lucid writer and speaker as the present pope, as benedict xvi was. he's been the head of two major italian diocese in venice and milan. >> just to be clear, again, i asked both george and father to give us the names of the people not necessarily who they think are front-runners but who they are hearing buzz about and i was surprised, father gahl, you put

cardinal timothy dolan. i'm not surprised he's buzzed about here in the states but is there talk about him in the vatican? >> there's definitely talk about him in the vatican. historically also profound while at the same time being filled with cheerfulness, optimism about the faith. this is a part of the legacy of pope benedict, that he's left this legacy of the joy that all of us as christians could have. and i think cardinal dolan fills every room that he entered with joy. >> born in argentina to italian parents, i guess he pushes two geographic buttons. what else? >> i once asked cardinal sandri, do you think of yourself as an argentine? and he said, yes, i do during tt

world cup. he was the chief of staff of john paul ii and he was the man who announced to the world john paul ii's death. i think the whole experience of being in daily contact with a dying saint had a profound impact on him. >> another name from father gahl -- and i was very happy as a proud hungarian american -- is peter erdo. >> that's right, chris. he is, of course, hungarian, which is your ethnic background, too. he's currently the head of the european bishop's conference and he's one of the youngest cardinals going into the conclave. he's in his early 60s and he's

also very involved in politics, civil affairs by leading the hungarian church. he's a man who's reserved and very highly regarded academic but he's also a man of good humor and very affable. >> and george, if we are going to consider a possibility of a north american cardinal, the talk of cardinal dolan notwithstanding, maybe more likely that it would be the cardinal from quebec? >> marc ouellet has wide experience in latin america and canada. he served here in rome on two occasions. he was a vigorous defender of the right to life and freedom during the years as archbishop of quebec and he's a member of

the circle that formed around joseph ratzinger some 30 years ago. >> let me ask you finally, george, over the next couple of days before they go into the meeting, the general congregation, that will be monday morning, what is going to be happening with these cardinals and how much are they talking about what will be discussed in the conclave? >> there is certainly a lot of lunches and dinners going on, chris. >> yes, but there always are in italy, george. come on. >> well, these are perhaps slightly more substantive than we occasionally experience here. there are a lot of informal meetings, national and linguistic groups are gathering. you've got to remember that a lot of these men don't really know each other. there are 25 or so new cardinals over the past, what, 15 months? they do not meet on a regular basis. there's a lot of getting to know you going on here and that's, i

think, helpful in making a prudent decision. >> so father, can you go to the local restaurants on the borbo po and eavesdrop on the conversations or are they at north american college having dinner? >> well, actually, they choose their restaurants from a variety. some close to the coliseum. it would be a little tricky to eavesdrop on them. >> chris, if we keep this up -- >> yeah? >> if we keep this up, we're going to have to have the msnbc approved list of rome and eavesdropping restaurants. >> i will look for that when i arrive, george. get your pencil ready. >> it's cold. >> very good to know. yes, father? >> you mentioned the north american college as a place where quite a few of cardinals are hanging out and meeting with media but there are others in

rc rome, including the hungarian college. >> a great location. the things you learn on "jansing & co." father and george, i'll see you both next week. thank you. >> thank you, chris. chrysler says its sales are up 4% from a year ago. another big sign that the once bankrupt company is on the comeback. chrysler plans to hire 300 new workers in indiana. we expect more through the day and industry analysts expect an increase despite the slow economy. ♪ alright, let's go. ♪ shimmy, shimmy chocolate. ♪ shimmy, shimmy chocolate. ♪ we, we chocolate cross over. ♪ yeah, we chocolate cross over. ♪ [ male announcer ] introducing fiber one 80 calorie chocolate cereal. ♪ chocolate.

80 calorie chocolate cereal. exciting and would always come max and pto my rescue. bookstore but as time passed, i started to notice max just wasn't himself. and i knew he'd feel better if he lost a little weight. so i switched to purina cat chow healthy weight formula. i just fed the recommended amount... and they both loved the taste. after a few months max's "special powers" returned... and i got my hero back. purina cat chow healthy weight. ah. 4g, huh? verizon 4g lte. 700 megahertz spectrum, end-to-end, pure lte build. the most consistent speeds indoors or out. and, obviously, astonishing throughput. obviously... you know how fast our home wifi is? yeah. this is basically just as fast. oh. and verizon's got more fast lte coverage than all other networks combined. so it's better. yes. oh, why didn't you just say that? huh-- what is he doing?

at tyco integrated security, we consider ourselves business optihow?rs. by building custom security solutions that integrate video, access control, fire and intrusion protection. all backed up with world-class monitoring centers, thousands of qualified technicians, and a personal passion to help protect your business. when your business is optimized like that, there's no stopping you. we are tyco integrated security. and we are sharper. to politics now where michelle obama is expanding her

let's move campaign, showing off some of her own moves at the starstudded kickoff. i talked with her and nike's ceo about the importance of kids getting to exercise. >> i was a kid just when video games came out and it was really popular and loved to play it but at the same time, it was my parents that got me out there. it was them that said, get out, get outside, go outside and have fun, play and be active and i think the parents definitely have to take a big role and i probably wouldn't have been active if it wasn't for our parents. for me it starts in the home. >> and it is about being able to relate to the kid. these are not programs that are just for adults. this is to make sure that we are communicating in ways that really motivate kids, relevant to kids. having fun is a huge part of that. >> you are moving today along with the first lady.

there was a big kickoff for this. who is the better dancer, do you think? >> i'm definitely going to go with the first lady. she did some moves that i wasn't aware of. >> we'll post more of our conversation on our website at jansing.msnbc.com. and i have to ask your input on today's must read but here's the story briefly. a woman goes into a restaurant to use the bathroom. there's a sign that says, customers only. later she gets a bill in the mail for $5. check it out. let me know what you think. it's on our facebook page. for the things you can't wash, freshen them with febreze. ♪ because febreze doesn't just cover up odors... it penetrates deep into fabrics to eliminate odors and leaves a light, fresh scent.

just another way febreze helps you breathe happy. stay top of mind with customers? from deals that bring them in with an offer... to social media promotions that turn fans into customers... to events that engage and create buzz... to e-mails that keep loyal customers coming back, our easy-to-use tools will keep you in front of your customers. see what's right for you at constantcontact.com/try.

( ♪ ) for those nights when it's more than a bad dream, be ready. for the days when you get a sudden call from the school, be ready. for the times you need to double-check the temperature on the thermometer, be ready. when you have children's motrin on hand, you're ready. for high fever, nothing works faster or lasts longer than children's motrin. be ready with children's motrin. believe it or not. >> president obama and clint eastwood have something in common. they are both asking the supreme court to strike down california's ban on same-sex marriage. in a brief submitted yesterday, the obama administration took its boldest step yet in favor of gay marriage.

while it doesn't call for marriage equality across the country, it does point the country in that direction. eastwood in that bizarre convention last year joined about 130 other high-profile republicans in signing a brief also arguing against california's proposition 8. i'm joined now by former new york congressman rick lazio and former governor of pennsylvania ed rendell. how significant is it that the administration submitted this brief? >> i think it's a significant change and a step by the administration but i think it's a fairly easy case, chris, because the equal protection clause of our constitution says you can differentiate between classes but there has to be a harm that's committed. i would ask anybody opposed to this, what's the harm? a couple with a heterosexual marriage, how are they harmed by

extending marriage to a gay couple? >> rick, there's a number of former governors part of this. jon huntsman, christine whitman -- there you see the pictures. seven of them. is this a shift in republican thinking? >> it's a shift in thinking. they took the position that states ought to decide, not just last year. >> arguably it's a tougher shift on the republican side and you're seeing a pretty big shift. >> it is. i think the whole country is shifting. if you look at the states that have had votes on same-sex marriage, according to the wo polling right now, there's a significant shift towards accepting this. the fact that there is same-sex marriage. i remember when i was in the house we had a vote to bar washington, d.c., from allowing civil unions, which at that time

was the issue. >> yep. >> and i was one of only four republicans who oppose the ban and i think if that came up from the house, you would see a significant shift among republicans and overall in the vote. and i think again that reflects the public opinion. >> we've had this shift, governor, and supporters of same-sex marriage were asking the court to ban all marriage of same-sex. >> i think if the california law gets struck down, i think that's the end of all of the bans. i think it's just a practical matter. look, the change has been -- i think the change has been remarkable. i remember when i was mayor of philadelphia in the middle of the decade of the '90s, i issued an order extending domestic partnership benefits to our gay employees in a committed relationship and had been in one for longer than a year and i got

44,000 presigned postcards from catholic parishioners that the catholic church distributed on a sunday, 44,000 asking me to repeal the executive order and that was probably -- that was probably less than 15 years ago. if you think of where we are today, it's remarkable. >> the obama administration argued that states violate the constitution if they offer gay unions but don't allow them to marry. seven other states offer civil unions but not same-sex marriage. so you're a lawyer. that makes you an expert on the supreme court. where do you think they are going to come down? >> it's hard to say. they could rest the case, as governor rendell said, on the equal protection clause which would have sweeping implications for the states that have bans on same-sex marriage and they are

arguing in their brief, the obama brief, the administration's brief that heightened scrutiny applies to this because you have sort of a discriminatory impact on a class. but the supreme court could also rule much more narrowly. they could look at it in california and there's two cases, by the way. the defense of marriage act which there is an even narrower issue which is whether or not the federal government, once someone gets married in a state that allows same-sex marriage can disallow federal benefits and about a thousand rules are implicated by that. they could say that california allowed for a while same-sex marriage and there were some 18,000 people that got married during that time before the ban was in place and that was the grounds for which they are going to strike down the california ban. if that's the case, it's a much

more narrow interpretation. >> always good to see you. thank you. >> thanks, chris. checking the news feed this morning, after a week-long man hunt, police finally caught up with the suspect wanted in the firery crash on the las vegas strip. omar harris is accused of killing three people and surrendered yesterday. firefighters in california are starting to get a hand on a wildfire in riverside county. flames came very close to some homes. this fire is now 30% contained. so far it's burned at least 300 acres. voluntary evacuation orders have been lifted. hugo chavez is still battling for his life. he's been breathing with the heb help of a tube after a recent respiratory invention. he was getting treatment in cuba for cancer.

former nba player dennis rodman is in north korea reportedly telling kim jong-un he has a friend for life. rodman and globetrotters are there for a film documentary on hbo. kim jong-un, apparently a die-hard basketball fan. and just moments ago, the latest rocket blasted off for a run to the international space station. the dragon capsule is full of supplies. it's the company's third delivery mission to the space station. those pictures are always cool. three years ago the u.s. took home 30 olympic medals in canada. nine of them gold. who is that person with the long hair? i'll take you back there on this week's flashback friday. get a haircut. more restaurants are offering cheap eats since the 2% tax hike took effect in january.

cnbc's seema mody is here. >> that's right. a pullback from consumers in response, restaurants, chris, as you were pointing out, are stepping up their value offering subway will now include a $3 6-inch suband olive garden with a $6.95 lasagna primavera and restaurants are noticing the change and taking action. >> and my favorite story of the day, i think, the groupon ceo and co-founder is out of a job. his resignation letter, fantastic. >> fantastic doesn't even sum it up. groupon has ousted the 32-year-old who co-founded the

company. they posted an unexpected quarterly loss. groupon shares down more than 75% since it ipo says its co-founder and board member will serve as co-ceos until a replacement is found. he said, after 4 1/2 intense and wonderful years as ceo of groupon, i've decided that i would like to spend more time with my family. just kidding. i was fired today. if you are wondering why, you haven't been paying attention. i will miss you terribly. love andrew. some say it's somewhat unprofessional. others saying that it's good that he has a sense of humor. >> what are you going to do? >> good to be a good sport. >> seema, thank you so much. i'm sure he's not wondering where his next meal is going to come from. so here's a fun game. rearrange the letters in the word sequestration and turns out

there's 15,000 plus anagrams. number five, a queasiest torn and number three, tears question, number two, treason. c. for access to one of the top wealth management firms in the country. for a team of financial professionals who provide customized solutions. for all of your wealth management and retirement goals, discover how pnc wealth management can help you achieve. visit pnc.com/wealthsolutions to find out more. because every flake is double-toasted... splashed with sweet honey... and covered in rich double-roasted peanuts. mmm. [ hero ] yummy. [ male announcer ] kellogg's crunchy nut.

it's super delicious!

otherworldly things. but there are some things i've never seen before. this ge jet engine can understand 5,000 data samples per second. which is good for business. because planes use less fuel, spend less time on the ground and more time in the air. suddenly, faraway places don't seem so...far away. ♪ ya. alright, another one just like that. right in the old bucket. good toss! see that's much better! that was good. you had your shoulder pointed, you kept your eyes on your target. let's do it again -- watch me. just like that one... [ male announcer ] the durability of the volkswagen passat. pass down something he will be grateful for. good arm. that's the power of german engineering. ♪

back to you. right now in the oval office, president obama is hosting a bipartisan leadership meeting as the sequester looms. with most of congress gone from d.c., the budget cuts will take effect at midnight. we see the microphones there for when they come out. joining me now, republican congressman nick mulvaney who served on the budget committee. >> thanks for having me. >> i spoke to peter welch and

here's what he told me. >> there's a sensible way to proceed and i think john boehner and others are open to doing this. have the pentagon make a contribution and we do, democrats, have to deal with health care. >> does that sound like a reasonable approach to you? >> it's the first i've heard of it. pete and i have worked together before so it doesn't surprise me that he's at least using reasonable language. i have not heard anything along those lines. it's the first democrat i've heard that's willing to put health care spending on the table. i hope it bodes well for a bigger discussion. i think it goes without saying, at least it bears saying again, republicans are interested in closing loopholes but not so we can spend more money. we are interesting in closing loopholes so we can reform the debt and tax code. so maybe that's a move in the

right direction. >> the president is meeting with congressional leaders right now at the oval office. lindsey graham has talked about supporting a sequestration bill replacement, for example. >> right. there's a couple of proposals over in the senate. one of them was to try and raise the money to get rid of sequestration through attrition. the difficulty with that is it takes ten years of savings for one year worth of spending. to answer your original question, i think there are circumstances under which we can see -- let me put it to you this way. what are we trying to get to? real structural long-term savings which in our world means reform to entitlement spending. democrats are willing to have that discussion, again, it's the first i've heard of it today and maybe that's a reason to be optimistic. >> there are people who think frankly nothing is going to get done on this until the american people feel the pain and putting the pressure on all of you in congress. i know you had a town hall in

rockhill a rockhill and had a lot of questions from the audience. what did you learn? >> that folks pay a lot of attention to it but they are also willing to have an intelligent conversation about it but don't buy the president's rhetoric that the world is going to end today. in fact, here we are. the sun has come up this morning. they recognize that while the sequester cuts are important and worth the discussion, they don't believe airplanes are going to crash in to each other because we've cut 2 1/2 dollars ought of it. they want to know if we have better ideas but at the end of the idea i don't think they are afraid of what is going to happen. >> do you think they are afraid of what would happen if the rich paid more in taxes? >> i think they are afraid of what happens if we don't solve the debt crisis. they really do. they understand that their taxes went up. again, the folks last night, not a single person in that room made $450,000 a year but every

single one of their taxes went up and i think they are starting to understand that if we try and tax our way out of this, that maybe the republicans have been telling the truth for the last two years, which is if you tax your way out of it, everybody is going to pay more taxes and they are not interested in that. they want to know how to responsibly reduce spending. so i'm glad to hear that folks across the political spectrum back home at least are willing to talk about reasonable spending deductions. >> thank you so much for coming on the program. >> thanks, chris. today's tweet of the day comes from andrew who tweeted this photo with the caption, the sequester, it's worse than i ever imagined. ♪ i'd like to thank eating right,

whole grain, multigrain cheerios! mom, are those my jeans? [ female announcer ] people who choose more whole grain tend to weigh less than those who don't. multigrain cheerios tend to weigh less than those who don't. do you guys ride? well... no. sometimes, yeah. yes. well, if you know anybody else who also rides, send them here -- we got great coverage. it's not like bikers love their bikes more than life itself. i doubt anyone will even notice. leading the pack in motorcycle insurance. now, that's progressive. call or click today. aarrggh!

this week's flashback friday is taking us back to the 2010 olympic games in vancouver. it was this week three years ago we cheered on apollo ono and

lindsey vonn. >> i had to stay up for that. it was terrific. history making. >> it was really worth it, isn't it? it was a really tough race. he did take the bronze to south korea's gold and silver and that put him in the history book. he's the most decorated olympian in history. chris? >> hot for sure because there are so many huge american stars out on the snow today. lindsey vo nn has been trying t nurse her bruised shin. it is a bit of a bumpy course and that could really hurt her. >> chris, you are in the arena last night watching this upset

in the making. i hear it was electric. describe it. >> it was like being in a super bowl. i'm telling you, this is one of the great sporting events i've ever been to, certainly one of the great olympic skating finals in the entire history of the olympics. and in the end without that -- >> chris jansing, you can do it all. thanks so much. >> check out all of our flashback fridays. that's going to wrap up this hour of "jansing & co." i'm chris jansing. thomas roberts is up next. >> you no he what is coming. i'm biting my tongue. i can say it, right? >> go ahead. >> look, you look like an american go doll. that first clip with that hair? look at this. chris jansing, the american girl doll. >> they call it flashback

history but it's really the history of bad haircuts. >> i love flashback friday. keep it coming. >> i bet you do. >> they make my week. thank you so much. the agenda next hour, march madness. the sequester debate rages on. straight ahead, the realistic outcome of this meeting. and why she was april tending the conservative and then decided not to go. we'll bring you the real reason and it may surprise you. and then don't ask, don't tell for our nfl draft picks about their sexuality? the co-host on why certain players are being asked if they are gay before the draft. e lookr to live a more natural life. in a convenient two bar pack. this is nature valley. nature at its most delicious.