for all of us in congress to take a step back and applaud bipartisanship in a bipartisan conference in a bipartisan government and recognize that's how we have to accomplish things today. >> hitting the reset button. a new nbc news wall street journal poll shows health care has the single biggest issue driving down the president's popularity. will his new hires help him reboot from the health care rollout? >> down the line that cost -- >> we're just going to agree to disagree. it's like talking to the republic of korea or something. >> the long good-bye. thousands of mourners today lining the streets in pretoria to pay tribute to nelson mandela to celebrate his legacy. >> he's done so much, not only for me, but for my family, for the country, and even for the world. so today is just a special occasion for me. and person of the year. the pope beats out a tea partier, an nsa leaker and a

dictator. virtue does triumph. good day. i'm andrea mitchell in washington, where president obama has returned home to less than welcoming poll numbers. in our new nbc news wall street journal poll, the president's disapproval has risen to a new high high, 54%. joining me now, chuck todd, nbc news political director, chief white house correspondent and host of ""the daily rundown,"" and robert gibbs. first to you, chuck and to the poll numbers. these numbers, not good for the white house. as you point out in our new poll, health care was the big driver. >> it is. it is the singular driver. it is amazing how everything

about the president is being judged through the prism of health care. for instance, his job approval numbers in the economy went down, yet the public's perception of where the economy is headed went up. so just that alone tells you how health care and this rollout and the botched rollout of the website is contributing to everything. of course, you know, andrea, i'm stacking this on top of the focus group we did last week, which also -- that was mostly with obama voters who were reacting so much through due to health care. when you look at everything, you know, the president's leadership qualities, everything has gone down having to do with sort of the criteria that people believe presidents should have when it comes to just simply doing the job. you can see that it is all being funneled through the issue of health care. >> at the same time, congress so unpopular, overwhelmingly unpopular.

51% think it's the worst congress ever. >> that's a dog bites man story a little bit. >> robert, when you look at these numbers, the other piece of that is who should control congress, the generic number has gone to the republicans for the first time in three years, and there was a big switch in just the last two months. so obviously two months ago the shutdown was driving numbers down for republicans, but now health care has rebalanced that and it's hurting democrats. >> i think there's several important points. obviously, these numbers are almost completely flipped from what we saw at the beginning of the year, confirming just how tough and how dismal a political year it's been for the white house and for this administration. driven, as chuck said, primarily by health care. i think chuck's point is really important on the notion that even though economic perceptions are becoming more optimistic for the american people, when you look at democrats versus republicans on the economy, republicans now the pretty distinct advantage in terms of numbers. you mentioned, what will determine the outcome of the

last two years of this administration might well be whether the senate is controlled by republicans. and if these numbers hold up, it's going to be very, very tough to get around that and see somehow that democrats retain the senate or have a reasonable chance of winning the house. >> so now what does the bhous do to reboot? we see, you know, john podesta coming in. is that going to make enough of a difference? >> well t all depends. it could. it all really depends on health care. i think the idea here is this isn't about, oh, the president needs to do more events about the minimum wage or he needs to do more events about the economy. the fact of the matter is the public is going to tune him out on everything else until he fixes health care, until he fixes the implementation and rollout. now, you look just today, they have some new enrollment numbers. if you're in the white house, very encouraging sign that

clearly the website is working a heck of a lot better today than it has in a long time. and you see that. if enrollment startings improving -- and there's a couple important numbers on health care in our poll. while the 50% number, first time, bad idea. that's obviously a bad top-line number. you dig in underneath and you realize this, andrea. 80% of folks say they're satisfied with their own health care coverage. that level of satisfaction has gone up since implementation, not down. number two, 58% of folks admit that the health care law has had no impact on them. now, add that 58% with the 12% that say the health care law has had a positive impact and suddenly you have 70% of the country saying positive or no impact at all. if that continues to be the case, it is very possible if the rollout works, you could see hostility toward the law recede. is it going to be politically divisive still? sure. but if the hostility recedes, then suddenly the president can get traction.

i'm talking about minimum wage, talking about education, talking about investments. it sort of clears the decks. but it all hinges on finishing the implementation. >> and you've got 50% of the people in the poll disappointed with the obama presidency. robert, that has got to, you know, be a cause of concern at the white house. and in other numbers in the polls, we see that young people are very disappointed or sort of tuning out on this president. he has to figure out a way to re-engage them, and it's not going to be done by a speech. >> no, absolutely. this has to be a longer term project. if the implementation of health care continues to improve, if economic optimism continues to improve, you'll see the president likely in a better position in a few months than he currently enjoys. i do think it will probably be imperative that next year's agenda be somewhat focused and slimmed down on what is possible and what is probable because a lot of it, quite frankly, just isn't possible or isn't probable. a lot of this stuff is not going

to get through the republican congress. you know, i think they've got to have a real understanding of what they want to drive because you know, these are -- look, administrations are -- i assume it's like sailing. sometimes you have head winds. sometimes you have the winds behind you. all the time you have to manage the winds that come across the boat. i think this is what the project is going to be for the next many months, trying to get this back on track. >> and chuck, they may end up doing things like school uniforms as sort of classic bill clinton second-term agenda items that are small, self-contained, and might be popular. >> this is what john podesta is, his experience is at. working in the executive branch, running a white house. when he ran the white house for clinton, you had a congress that wasn't going to do anything with you. they were done. they had basically -- that said,

the minimum wage, if you're looking for -- and you can call it scaled down. the minimum wage is a big thing i think you're going to see the president grab hold of, trump it because, you know what, half of republicans are in favor of raising the minimum wage to $10. >> tea partiers included. >> that's one of those of what robert just described, scaled down, you could get through congress. >> 10%, though, not 12 or 15. >> that's right, but it's a point or two on the scoreboard. that's a scaled-down thing that's doable, i think, with this congress. >> well, and i think unlike, say, an infrastructure investment or early childhood education, which might also be popular things, you do not have to get both an authorization and an appropriation from congress to do it. you change the law, you raise the minimum wage. >> done. >> i think the minimum wage will be the center piece of the state of union. i think it should be the center piece of the state of the union. and it should be very focused on that because, as you said,

republicans in the rest of the country are for it. you know, you'll get a chance for republicans in washington to see why they're opposed to what a majority of the country wants. >> and it deals with a big issue also, income inequality. >> you hear the school uniform analogy. raising the minimum wage is most definitely something far bigger and far greater, and it goes essentially to this question of income inequality. >> we're going to have to leave it there. robert gibbs, thank you. chuck, great poll. look for more of your reporting all day. the other big news, of course, in washington, the budget senate committee chair patty murray found common ground with her partner paul ryan from the house side, who did heed plenty of praise on the washington senator. >> senator murray deserves credit for passing a budget through the senate. that got the ball rolling so that the two of us started talking. she's a tough and honest negotiator. she's fought hard for her principles every step of the way. and i want to commend her for her hard work.

>> just a few moments ago, i spoke exclusively with senator murray about chairman ryan, about prospects for the budget deal and other big topics in washington and his praise for her. >> senator patty murray, thank you so much for joining us today. there has been such a fuse of praise from paul ryan, your house republican counterpart. is that causing you problems as you come forward with this bipartisan deal? >> well, i think there's surprise on both sides that two people who are as diverse as we are can come together. but i think what allowed us to get to where we are is our joint feeling that our country felt broken, that people didn't trust the government, that we are responsible not just for writing a budget but re-establishing the trust of this country in a democracy. and that drove us every day in the toughest times and helped us get to where we are. >> now, at the same time, what you have accomplished, some say, including democratic supporters of the president, does not do

enough. does not do enough on budget relief, does not do enough on sequester relief. >> that's right. i think it's very clear that both of us would say we didn't get what we wanted. we didn't accomplish huge, giant steps, but i think we set a path forward for all of us in congress to take a step back and applaud bipartisanship in a bipartisan conference in a bipartisan government and recognize that's how we have to accomplish things today. >> in our new nbc news "wall street journal" poll, 51%, and that's the highest number since we've been asking this question since 1990, 51% are calling this the worst, one of the worst congresses ever. do you disagree? >> i think everybody feels just like i did. looking at a dysfunctional congress that shut the government down, threatened economic downturn, that was governing by crisis wasn't how our country wanted to look. we want to look to ourselves and to the world as a adults who can have disagreements but find

solutions. that's what really drove us to put together this bipartisan budget agreement. >> and there's an eight-point shift in our poll from just two months ago. republicans were being blamed. now the generic number is favoring republicans for the first time in three years. that's that shift in two movants. that really reflects the overwhelming issue in this poll n all of our polling, which is the screwed up health care rollout. you really let the republicans off the hook politically for the blame for the shutdown. >> well, i think we're all frustrated with the rollout of the health care exchange. certainly the technical issues of that. you know, no one is happy with. they're getting fixed, they're getting righted, but we have a lot of work to go. honestly, all the challenges we have, whether it's immigration reform or economic inequity or the budget battles of the future or the farm bill or how we manage our country really depend on all of us acting like adults and working together.

that's really, again, what we try to do. congressman ryan, chairman ryan and myself and this budget agreement take a small step forward, take the hot political issues off and manage in a way that gets us out of this crisis management mode that we have been in for far too long. >> do you have any doubt that there will be the votes for this, that democrats in the house, for instance, have to bail the republicans out and put it over the top because there's already a lot of criticism in both parties from republican tea party members. >> we both agree, chairman ryan and i, that there would be people on both sides, the right and left, who would not vote for this. our job was to find an agreement that would get enough votes of democrats and republicans. i believe we will be able to do that in the house and in the senate. >> there's also been cease fire, i guess. nobody got what they wanted between senators gillebrand and mccaskill on assaults, prosecuting assaults in the military. this is sort of a standstill

agreement for this defense bill. what would you like to see going forward? >> well, for one thing, i do want to recognize that within the defense bill itself, there are a number of steps that we have taken despite the disagreement between the process in terms of the military, but i think that everybody's on the watch now. we're sort of giving the military a lot they have to do today. if they don't improve their act in the next year, this battle is going to be one on the side of senator gillebrand. >> and finally, we know john podesta is coming back to the white house. john mcdonough, who was your chief counterpart in these negotiations, has almost been home alone in terms of people in the white house who know how things are done in washington who can get the president rebooted. is this going to work? is this enough bringing back podesta? >> i think it's welcome news. obviously for the president to be able to accomplish anything

for the american public, he needs a congress that he understands, that his staff understands, and then we can work well together. i think chairman ryan and i working together to bring the small budget agreement forward allows a process to help solve a lot of problems and we're going to need the white house's help and support in doing that. >> well, senator murray, thank you very much. i think everyone is happy there's not going to be another shutdown, potentially for two years, for at least getting us past this crisis points. thanks for everything you did. >> thank you. >> and the 41st president has now officially joined the twitter verse. george herbert walker bush already has 60,000 followers. president bush 41 first used his 140 characters to pay tribute to nelson mandela with this tweet posted yesterday. barbara and i wish we could have joined the u.s. delegation. bush 41 is now the third u.s. president to join twitter, beating his son president george w. bush to the punch. mr. president, feel free to

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so now that patty murray and paul ryan have reached that budget deal, can they sell it to the rank and file? they're already hearing protests from tea party republicans and some disappointed democrats. chris van holland played a key role. you've got the deal. is goiit going to pass? >> well, our mens are still looking over the details. if you weren't immersed in these negotiations, there's a lot to look over. i think most people will probably conclude this agreement, no matter how small, has across the board cuts and no

threat of government shutdown. this is obviously not a perfect agreement. i would not have written it this way. one of the issues many of us democrats believe we absolutely have to deal with before congress packs up its bags and goes home this year is the issue of extending unemployment compensation. so there are a number of things we're looking at to try and at least get a vote, force a vote on that issue and hopefully prevail. >> and what about the minimum wage? >> well, i'm a strong supporter of boosting the minimum wage. that will be at the top of our agenda when we come back in the new year. the president has said that's a big part of his agenda. to make sure that working people in this country can get at least closer to a livable wage. it's scandalous you can work full-time in this country, 40 hours a week, and at the current minimum wage, still be below the federal poverty level. we need to address that issue among many others. >> in our news nbc news "wall

street journal" poll, 51% say this is the worst congress ever. that's the worst rating congress has, quote, enjoyed, if you can call it that. >> well, i would happen to agree with that. this is absolutely one of the worst congresses. i think one of the reasons is pretty clear, which is that you've got all these pieces of legislation that have passed the senate on a bipartisan basis. very important comprehensive immigration reform, an important bipartisan farm bill, important legislation to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation in the workplace. all passed the senate. we have not even had a chance to vote on them in the house, andrea. the speaker has refused to allow democracy to work its will. so if we want to move forward as a country in a bipartisan basis, for goodness sakes, let the people's house have a vote on these issues. let us have a vote right now on extending unemployment compensation. you know, if republicans want to vote no, that's fine. but again, allow us to have a

vote. the refusal to allow democracy to work its will is one of the reasons people are so disappointed. >> and just to remind our viewers, when is the house going off for the christmas holidays through the end of the year? >> well, the house is currently scheduled to adjourn this friday. >> that's my point. >> many of us are going to be opposing -- we will vote against the adjournment resolution to stay here, to finish the work on a lot of these issues, including the most pressing one right now, the fact that unemployment compensation will expire two days after christmas for over 1 million americans who lost their jobs through no fault of their own, are looking for jobs as we speak, and it would just be unconscionable to pack our bags, leave here, and not address that issue. not even allow a vote on that issue. today congressman sandy levin and i will go to it the rules committee in the house and ask the rules committee to let us all have a vote to allow an

extension of unemployment compensation to help those families. i think everyone should be tuned in to see whether or not the rules committee in the house allows the full house to work its will or whether they use their close to ddik todaytorial. >> got it. we're on it. >> thank you. >> and there has been a lot of misplaced outrage over that selfie the president took yesterday at the mandela memorial, blowing up on front pages here and abroad. some are criticizing the leaders for indulging in a lighter moment. others focusing on mrs. obama's disapproval. both u.k. prime minister david cameron and the danish prime minister spoke out today defending the photo op. the photographer says the snapshot doesn't show the complete picture. the first lady was not upset, making this want-to-be soap opera much to do about nothing.

and how about the outrage of a simple handshake at the memorial? for a man whose whole life was devoted to reconciliation, prompting this reaction from john stewart. >> why should you shake hands with somebody who's keeping americans in prison? i mean, what's the point? chamberlain shook hands with hitler. >> do i need to once again from the hill tops? ♪ raul castro is not adolph hitler ♪ [ applause ] raul castro isn't even fidel castro. he's like cuba's jim belushi. he's good, but he ain't john. if i can impart one lesson to a

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our concern is this 364,000 number is fraudulent because it's not those who have purchased plans yet. i would ask that when you return that you give us actually who has purchased plans. do you understand our frustration with that? >> sir, as you well know, we did not take over the private insurance market. people will purchase -- >> but you are telling -- >> from insurance companies. >> but you're telling us those who have shopped are enrolled. >> i have told you, sir, who is enrolled and who -- >> that's why we're frustrated because we don't get the truth. >> this is medicare. >> let me go to my next question. >> the definition of a no-win situation, that heated battle on capitol hill today. health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius taking more fire from republicans over the health care rollout. the biggest single problem burning the obama white house,

according to our polls. joining me now, susan page. 58% identified health care as their biggest objection and biggest concern. >> it's not only clear that it's their biggest concern when they look at the president, it's clear it's really hurting president obama's standing on issues like is he trustworthy, is he a strong leader, can he get things done. it has cost the president a lot. this last fall has been hard on kathleen sebelius, hard on barack obama as well. >> even though people are more positive now about the economy and the economy improving, they're not giving obama any credit, the president any credit for the economy. it seems to be sort of the backlash from the health care rollout. >> here's the hope the white house has. as the health care rollout goes a little better, and it is going better, if that continues, then people will notice more that the economy is working and be more willing to give president obama some of the credit for it. you know, historically, the

economy is the most powerful issue a president can have. we saw that with bill clinton when he got in trouble in his second term. a good economy really helped him survive impeachment. >> meanwhile, republicans have their own issues. we have a number of republican senators now, tea party challenges. john cornyn, if you told me he was going to have to defend himself, like bob bennett having to defend himself for not being conservative enough. thad cochran, one of the first races are i covered in mississippi. he's now having a challenge in mississippi. are these really big threats, ddo you think? >> there are 12 incumbent senators up for re-election next year. some of them have tea party challengers in their primaries. this is really bad news. you mentioned bob bennett. he lost his senate seat. richard luger, last time around,

faced a tea party challenger. the tea party challenger lost in the general election. a lot of concern among establishment republican that this war between the establishment and tea party forces is going to cost them their best chance for some time to come to win back the senate next year. >> if not for this, they would be pretty well set to win back the senate, given the red state challenges and the increased numbers of democratic open seats. >> well, some republican strategists say there are five democrats in the senate now who wouldn't be there if it had not been for tea party challengers who either won the nomination or beat up the republican candidate so much that the republicans -- those democrats were able to win in red states, and they're very concerned about not letting that happen again. >> susan page, thank you. and see you later. and today, thousands of mourners lining the streets in south aafrica, paying their respects to nelson mandela. crowds gather along the

procession route. this is vice president joe biden eulogizing mandela at a service at washington's national cathedral today. >> the people of the united states of america mourn today with the people of south africa for the loss of a truly, truly extraordinary man. the most impressive man or woman i've ever met in my life. >> yesterday's public memorial in johannesburg did not go off without a hitch. that sign language interpreter who appeared on stage alongside all the speakers, including president obama, well, he was a fake. the associated press reports he wasn't signing in any known language. and there is this sad note. retired archbishop desmond tutu's home was robbed while he was attending the memorial service. police are investigating. it's the third time that thieves have targeted the archbishop's home in the past three years. ic, which rewards her for responsibly managing

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it's a tradition that goes back to 1927 with charles lindbergh "time's" person of the year. this year's winner announced today is the head of the catholic church, pope francis. he beat out edward snowden to senator ted cruz. nancy gibbs, great to see you. thanks so much. why the pope? >> the pope because, really, in a year where we had a lot of interesting candidates, he changed the tone and the focus and the perception of one of the world's largest institutions and refocus the its energies on addressing the world's deepest needs. the fact that he was able to capture so many imaginations so quickly, not only within the church but all around the world, was really unlike anything i think we've seen in a very long time. >> now, the vatican issued a statement saying that the pope does not seek fame and success since he carries out his service for the prola mags of the gospel

and the love of god for all. if this attracts men and women and gives them hope, the pope is content. if this nomination means many have understood this message, he will certainly be glad. >> that's exactly what i would expect him to say because so much of what he has done in addition to the institutional changes, the organizational changes he's making are symbolic ones having to do with humility. it's wearing very simple clothing, not livinged in the palace but in a hostile near the vatican. paying his own hotel bill the day after he was chosen to be pope. then, you know, washing the feet of female prisoners and kissing the face of the disfigured man in st. peter's square. we live in a time where those images travel around the world instantly. i think that is one of the reasons why a message that in some ways is as old as the gospel is taking on a new life now in his hands. >> it's also his sense of humor and his accessibility.

when he put on a clown nose to play and show his sense of fun with people. >> i think so. you know, i was standing with him last week in rome as he's take selfies with other, you know, people who had come to his general audience. he's very accessible. he talks differently than we're accustomed to hearing popes talk. he's really emphasizing that the healing message of the church is the one he wants to focus on as opposed to the theological police work that seemed to have become more of the focus in recent years. >> now, you had other contenders, including edward snowden, ted cruz, bashir al asa assad, edith windsor. what went against the other contenders? >> we had long conversations,

particularly about edward snowden. we interviewed him by e-mail. we really tried to understand what motivated him to do what he did. obviously, snowden's a fascinating and important and divisive figure. some people view him as a patriot, as a hero for those who are champions of the need for greater online privacy. and to others, he is a traitor, he's being charged with espionage by the u.s. government. and so he really captures, i think, one of the most important debates that we are having, you know, nationally and globally about the balance between privacy and security. it's not a new debate, but he has certainly pushed it center stage. >> nancy gibbs, can't wait to read the magazine when it's delivered. thank you very much. >> nice to see you, andrea. >> good to see you. and a few people that "time" has called person of the year in the past were all on board air force one this week. president george w. bush, laura bush, former secretary of state hillary clinton joining the obamas for that trip to and from south africa for the mandela

memorial. these behind the scenes pictures from white house photographer pete sousza show some of the moments from this rare reunion. oh, to have been a fly on the wall. our favorite, this one of bush 43 apparently showing off pictures of some of his latest artwork, his paintings. still running in the morning? yeah. getting your vegetables every day? when i can. [ bop ] [ male announcer ] could've had a v8. two full servings of vegetables for only 50 delicious calories. of their type 2 diabetes with non-insulin victoza®. for a while, i took a pill to lower my blood sugar, but it didn't get me to my goal. so i asked my doctor about victoza®. he said victoza® is different than pills.

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that helps me, and my guys, make better decisions. i don't like guesses with my business, and definitely not with our health. innovations that work for you. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. and continuing the conversation about pope francis, the new "time" person of the year. he's been much the focus of attention since his inauguration in march of this year. being named "time's" person of the year shines a brighter light on the vatican. what does his leadership mean? joining me now, nbc's ann thompson. it's quite an extraordinary moment in the church. this man, who has taken over, and the change is profound. what do you think is the most important change? you cover him so closely. >> i think, andrea, it is that he has shifted the focus. he's broadened the message of

the catholic church. if you think just back a year ago, every time you said the words "catholic church," you also said sex abuse. that scandal had not only dominated the church here in the u.s. but the church in europe as well. that has now taken a backseat, the emphasis on that scandal has taken a backseat as pope francis has said, we are a church of mercy, we are a church that is going to promote social justice, we are going to help the poor, we are going to welcome all, and we are all sinners. he includes himself in that. and i think that is what has made him so attractive, not just to catholics in this country and around the world, but to people in general. because he has shown that you can be good, it is possible to be good, and he's doing that. he's showing us all how to do that. >> one of the things i love the most is, well, the fact that he is driving a used car around the vatican. tell me about that.

>> somebody gave it to him. i think it's 1984. he drives that around. he also has a ford fusion at his disposal as well, but there's no more papal limousine. on the night he was elected, instead of getting into the payal lipay -- papal limousine, he got on to the bus with all the other cardinals as he left the sistine chapel. right from the start, he paid his own hotel bill. remember that famous picture? he's picking up his own bags. he got on the bus, paid his own hotel bill. when he got on the plane to go to rio, he carried his own briefcase. all these little symbols, all these little things that he does just because he does them, there isn't a big pr firm behind this. i can tell you, people at the vatican who i've spoken to ever since he's been inaugurated are just amazed. they cannot get over how the

world has taken to pope francis, and there's no public relations strategy here. he's just being who he is, and i think that's what makes him so likable and that is a big reason why he's "time's" person of the year. >> i think giving up the red patent leather slippers had something to do with it. something inappropriate about that. and look at the polling. our nbc news "wall street journal" poll, 57% approval, only 5% disapproval here in the u.s. >> boy, wouldn't president obama kill for those numbers, huh? >> wouldn't any politician kill for those numbers? it gets to the point, less emphasis, as you have pointed out in all of your reporting, less emphasis on some of the really difficult cultural divides. it's not that he's liberal or conservative. he is a conservative theologan. he's the pontiff. but he doesn't evmphasize those issues. he's not focused on dividing society or penalizing or

marginalizing people. >> as "time" wrote eloquently in its person of the year essay today, it said -- the words haven't changed but the music has changed in the catholic church. i think that's a very apt metaphor. what he has done is instead of saying, look, we're just going to focus on the issues of abortion, contraception, gay marriage. no, he's said, we've been too obsessed with that. what we need to do is look at our message from the beginning of life to the end of life, and that is a message of mercy. and it doesn't do you any good if you espouse a pro-life position for the beginning of life but then you turn your back on the poor in the middle of life and you forget the elderly who become so isolated at the end of life. what he's preaching is that we do this in the context of our faith, that we're not just a three-issue church, that it is a church that reaches out to all. and that's essentially -- that's

the biggest difference he has made. the doctrine isn't changing. i mean, he's come out and said, look, the theology is pretty settled on women priests. that's not going away. i think you aren't going to see -- he's given no indication, while he says who am i to judge about gay priests, we're getting no indication there's going to be some movement on the issue of gay marriage. but what we are seeing is this message of inclusion. i think that's what's really made him remarkable. >> ann thompson, thank you so much. and we want to wish a very happy 70th birthday to secretary of state john kerry today. state department staff celebrated with cookies and chocolate covered cranberries, both from the boston bakery that kerry opened and later sold back in the '80s. stealing the show at today's celebration, the kerry's new puppy, ben. he's named after ben franklin, the father of the foreign service, and he is a yellow lab. [ male announcer ] at his current pace,

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which political story will make headlines in the next 24

hours. first, you've got john kerry on the hill and still arguing against new sanctions on iran and before he goes back to the middle east, he's heading back there tonight, rather tomorrow night -- tonight -- is today wednesday? heading back there tonight. he just came back on friday night and heading back there tonight. but he's going to try again to persuade senators in a classified briefing that they should not impose new sanctions on iran and give this short-term agreement a chance to live or die on its own merits. >> the iranian prime minister warned if they pass these sanctions the deal is dead. i think that strengthened kerry's hand in arguing that maybe you impose sanctions down the road but don't impose them yet until we see if we can get a more permanent deal. >> the banking committee under tim johnson has said, we get it and we won't impose new sanctions xz --

>> there could be an extension then, gives them more time to negotiate. we talk about the death of bipartisanship. there's powerful democrats with powerful republicans in favor of taking a tougher line against iran. >> it also is complicating the overall relationship with israel and a lot of israelis in town and national security team and intelligence experts and others and middle east negotiators here met with kerry yesterday and -- rather on monday and with the negotiator who is already headed back to israel. these negotiations are intensifying. they are hoping for some sort of go or no go signal in this interim period by the end of the year. >> of course, this is why a deal with iran, dealing with a

nuclear program is so difficult because to make a deal you've got to compromise and got a lot of forces against compromising with iran in any way. so i think john kerry did not sound like he was ready to guarantee there was going to be a more permanent deal. his argument and his argument this afternoon, let's give it a chance before we pass new sanctions. >> his argument is also he has persuaded israel to be less vocal about it, that doesn't mean they are not behind the scenes arguing with their supporters but to be less vocal and give this a chance because the alternative is a military option that isn't good from anybody's perspective. >> that's right. no basis in trust in dealing with iran after decades of failed negotiations. so what do we do about it? that is the dilemma the administration is facing. >> speaking of trust, also an issue of trust between the israeli prime minister and this white house but that's another whole subject complicating these

issues as well. susan page, thanks for being here. that does it for us for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports reports." tamron hall has a look at what's going on at qu"news nation." >> at least one of you were dressed. >> she decided to wear her pjs and wanted me to feel at home. we're going to talk about that and i'll call you and give you behind the scenes mariah scoop. we'll play more of that interview, it was unforgettable. the chief of staffer lamar alexander under investigation for child pornography. his home rad ralded by investigator and new comments from the senator. as health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius answers more tough questions on

capitol hill over healthcare.gov, encouraging new numbers on the number of people that have been able to enroll for coverage. will this help the president's low approval numbers in our latest nbc news poll? so many of you have gone on to twitter and instagram to talk about my interview with mariah carey. i got a chance to speak with her inside her home, a rare opportunity as it was decorated for the holidays and her husband nick canon. [ male announcer ] this is jim,

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tell your doctors you are taking xarelto® before any planned medical or dental procedures. before starting xarelto®, tell your doctor about any conditions such as kidney, liver, or bleeding problems. xarelto® is not for patients with artificial heart valves. jim changed his routine. ask your doctor about xarelto®. once a day xarelto® means no regular blood monitoring -- no known dietary restrictions. for more information and savings options, call 1-888-xarelto or visit goxarelto.com. hi, everyone, i'm tamron hall. we're following a bipartisan budget compromise and it's looking like more democrats are on board with the deal than republicans. already rand paul and marco rubio have said they will not support the deal. senator paul released a

statement saying in part i'm doing tens of billions of this modest spending restraint, it's shameful and must be opposed. i cannot support a budget that raises taxes and never balances nor can i support a deal that does nothing to reduce our nation's $17.3 trillion debt. senator cornyn had this to say on "morning joe". >> it's not anything i can support. if you think we ought to be doing or job, we ought to be doing the hard work. >> there's been opposition from conservative groups, the ceo wrote an op-ed calling the deal a step backward. that forced john boehner and paul ryan to push back. >> using our members and using the american people for their own goals. this is ridiculous. listen, if you're for more deficit reduction, you'r