capitol hill, trying to get the new s.t.a.r.t. treaty ratified. >> for anyone to think we c postpone it or we can avoid it, is, i'm afraid, vastly underestimating the continuing threat that is posed to our country. >> is the door closing on s.t.a.r.t.? plus, the new time line for ending combat operations in afghanistan. just back from the war zone, senator kirsten gillibrand. and what our brand new poll reveals about america's changing attitudes about gays serving in the new military. the faces of the new congress. anyone look familiar? didn't america vote for change? we'll talk to elijah cummings. will she or won't she? sarah palin revealing all, or almost all to "the new york

times." i'm andrea mitchell live in washington. we'll begin with the president's big meeting with congressional leaders scheduled for tomorrow. now delayed. how about that for setting a new tone of bipartisanship in washington? >> when we return from the thanksgiving break, republican and democratic leaders will have the opportunity to discuss these priorities with the president in a meeting at the white house. i'm looking forward to the meeting. and to the opportunity to share with the president, again, the areas where we agree. >> wyoming republican senator john barrasso was just re-elected as chairmvice chairm. >> i'm not sure what's up with the details of the scheduling, andrea. the president talked about earmarks, the republican caucus just yesterday, our conference got together and said, you know, no earmarks for the next two years. the democrats harry reid said we still love those earmarks. apparently the democrats haven't

heard the message of cut the spending, cut this growth in government, get the deficit and the dead under control. it's fascinating to listen to what the tenure is of the folks who haven't heard the message from the voters. >> talking about the message from the voters, people want to see things done. we've got the deficit. we've got two wars going on, the s.t.a.r.t. treaty road block. there's certainly enough to talk about. when the president invites a bipartisan group from congress to come to the white house, why would republicans say, we're too busy, let's reschedule it later after thanksgiving? >> i don't know what happened on the house side with speaker-elect boehner. you may want to check with him on that. i'm looking forward to working with the president on things like control of earmarks which, as we know subwith one of the gateway problems of the big spending problems in this country. we need to go towards a balanced budget. that's what the republicans voted for yesterday, cutting the size of government, getting spending down to 2008 levels.

those are all important things. when the president wanted to work on clean coal technology, i'm for that. nuclear energy, i'm for that. increased trade, i'm for working with him on all those things. >> what about s.t.a.r.t.? i know you voted against it. you were one of the opponents. now senator kyle has thrown a road block up. let me read you something from the former wyoming republican senator, alan simpson. he wrote the modest reductions in russian and u.s. nuclear stockpiles will leave the u.s. with a significant and flexible nuclear force. nothing in the treaty constrains our ability to develop and deploy a robust missile defense system as our military planners see fit. i think your vote was predicated on the fact that you shout it was weakening our ability on missile defense. what would you say to senator sim on on that? >> 'and i did talk about it

personal. when you read the preamble to the s.t.a.r.t. treaty, i think it does limit our missile defense. i'm concerned about north korea, iran, different rogue state which is may be developing nuclear weapons. we need a robust nuclear defense and make sure we do the upgrades to our own capabilities and we have to be concerned about rogue nations that come up with their own nuclear attack weapons. so my concerns for our country and for our own security go way beyond just the u.s./russia relationship, which is brought up in this treaty. it has to deal with our global defense, andrea. >> the argument, the counterargument from the white house is that not voting for the s.t.a.r.t. treaty is going to weaken the president's hand, the u.s. hand with the russians. it's going to strengthen putin against medvedev who's been much easier to deal with. in fact, the russians are key players in helping us with iran and with afghanistan. how do you respond to that? >> well, i've been to russia

earlier this year, been to moscow as well as st st. petersburg. met with people there, looked at some of the areas where nuclear arms are being disarmed there. i believe in ronald reagan's approach of trust but verify. >> that's exactly the point, senator. with all due respect, that's what the state department says, if you believe in trust and verify, this enables us to put people back on the ground there and verify what the russians are doing. whereas right now we can't. >> i agree with that component of it but not with the component that weakens our own missile defense against all enemies, not just the soviet union. >> senator, i wanted to ask you about michael steel. while he hasn't said he's running, he certainly is rung the ground work for running for re-election. now his top deputy issued a blitzering critique of the rnc financing. do you think he should be re-elektd going into 2012. >> the republican national

committee will make that decision. that's not a role for the senate or the house. we just won 61 house seats, 6 senate seats, had dinner with the 13 new senate members. it's a very optimistic time for our country because we've heard the message of the american voters, which is cut the spending. try to lower the debt, which is awful, which is crippling us in future generations. get us back to work. that's what people want. that's what we talked about. jobs, the economy, the debt and the spending. that's where all of our efforts ought to be. >> thank you very much, senator john barrasso from capitol hill. thanks, senator. >> thanks, andrea. >> >and a tougher plan was unveiled yesterday to slash the definite. i'm not sure it will get all that much bipartisan support. the policy center would cut $2 trillion more than even the plan from the leaders of the president's deficit commission. how would they do it? by creating a one huff year social security payroll tax holiday. by replacing popular deductions

for home mortgages and charitable contributions with tax credits. by reducing some medicare benefits. with me now is alice, co-chair of the bipartisan task force. well, dr. rivland, how do you sell this to the public and your own colleagues on the deficit commission? >> well, the president's deficit commission was created to solve this problem. and the bipartisan policy center that reported today was created to look ahead and try to figure out a plan that will contain the deficits as we look ahead and also not choke off the recovery. we need to stimulate the economy in the short run and face up to the debt tsunami, which is going to hit us in the future.

so our plan does both. and it has aggressive spending cuts and revenue increases in it. but it isn't all painful medicine. we think this is a very attractive plan to people who want the government to work better and taxes to be more efficient. it is a drastic reform of the tax code. broaden the base and bring the rates down. and we also add a broad-based consumption tax. the details are quite impressive and we think this would be a much fairer pro-growth tax system. but you have to operate on the spending sides s as well. we would freeze domestic and defense spending for several years, a dollar freeze so they couldn't grow. and priorities would have to be addressed within fixed totals. and we also propose a reform of

medicare in the long run that would enable us to control the growth of medicare. because that's really important as you look ahead at the budget deficits. >> now, you saw the reaction already to the simpson-bowles statement. as a member of that commission, do you think their decision to put out a leader statement like that was a mission that they will not get 14 votes for anything that will substantively address the problem? >> absolutely not. the commission had not really begun to discussion substance. we had a lot of meetings about options and alternatives and we suspended operations for the elections, which was necessary. we came back after the election and simpson and bowles said we have to have a starting point. we'll put a strong man on the table, something people can discuss and decide.

whether they would like to do this or do something different. the reaction was, i thought, quite positive. certainly in the room it was. everybody was thanking the co-chairs for giving us a starting point. now, not everybody agreed with all parts of it. in fact, most people had said, well, it would be better if you did this. would be better if you did that. but that's what the essence of these kinds of negotiations are. >> and i just wanted to share with you, in case you haven't seen it, i know you're used to this kind of hammering whenever tough things are discussed, richa richard has come out with a statement saying this would threaten the economic recovery and destroy american jobs by calling for job-killing fiscal austerity before our jobs deficit is closed. one of your points is the payroll holiday would stimulate

the creation of joshs. >> i think, with all derespect, he's wrong. we have in our plan, this is the bipartisan policy plan, a payroll tax holiday for a year. that would be a big stimulus to the economy. it would put money in the paychecks of every wage earner in america. for most people, the payroll tax is a bigger tax than the income tax. and you see it right in your paycheck. we would have a holiday on that tax for both the employer and the employee for a year. but we see that as a package with the deficit reduction proposals that we have. those would be fazed in slowly but they'd have to be put in place at the same time. so everybody could see, we aren't just add together deficit. we have a firm plan that will bring deficits down in the future. we think it's a double challenge and this is a double response. >> okay.

former clinton white house budget director, alice rivlin. thank you very much. we should point out senator simpson and erskine bowles will both be on "morning joe" on friday. a big joint interview. and coming up next, can democrats save the arms control treaty? send me your thoughts. you can find men twitter at mitchell reports. at e-trade it's harnessing some of the most powerful yet easy to use trading tools on the planet to help diversify, identify opportunities, take action. it's using professional grade research and your brain to seek maximum returns to reach your goals. it's investing with intelligence and cold hard conviction. you made the money. you should have everything you need to invest it. e-trade. investing unleashed.

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we intend to do everything we can during the lame duck session to get a vote to radfy this treaty. and i think it's -- it is, to

me, essential. this is not an issue that can afford to be postponed. >> secretary of state hillary clinton, she means business. she's working over her former senate colleagues today. on the hill to try to save the s.t.a.r.t. nuclear arms treaty with russia. jon kyl through a big monkey wrench into the administration's plans just yesterday saying he would block a vote in the lame duck session. last week, president obama assured president medvedev that ratification was a stop priority for the u.s. and would be done by the end of this year. kirsten gillibrand joins me now. how does this make us look with the russians, especially going into a nato meeting where the russians have been invited to come on saturday. >> i think we can get a ratification vote this year. i'm going to do everything in my power to make sure we do. this is a treaty that has bipartisan support. we've had over 12 hear innings the foreign relations committee on this treaty.

we've had plenty of time for discussion, debate and analysis. this is something that has significant bipartisan support, the resolution in fact is senator lugar's resolution. >> of course, you need 67 votes and right now the -- you have a better advantage now. after the first of the year you'll have fewer democratic senators, less support arguably and it could were for all intents and purposes, be dead. >> this is not a partisan issue. this is an issue of fundamental national security. when the 9/11 commission did their report, one of the recommendations was lock down loose nukes in the former soviet union. this will provide a better way to reduce the number of nuclear weapons and a better way to have inspections. that's the tool we'll have to make sure that loose nuclear material does not get in the hand of terrorists. it's the number one security risk america faces. this should not be part of partisan politics. we should come together and pass

this resolution. we need to ratify this treaty. the bottom line is, andrea, if we look at what these elections were about, they were about people wanting senators and house members to come to the table and get the people's business done. there is nothing more urgent or more important than our national security. >> you just got back from afghanistan, from the war zone. what the president is meeting with his national security team today on this very thing. we're told that there's going to be a four-year time plan for a complete turning over of combat operations to the afghans. do you really think that hamid karzai is up to this and that he is a reliable partner? i think you have grave doubts about that. >> i have many concerns about president karzai. what i can say from my trip, andr andrea, the men and women serving in our military are extraordinary individuals. they are brave and courageous and sacrifice everything for our country and our values and what we believe in. they do so without complaint.

they are working to hard in afghanistan today. i was lucky enough to go to the south and visit with the 10th mountain division, which are stationed out of ft. drum in new york state. the work they're doing is extraordinary. they're giving opportunity to the afghan people. i was able to visit successes that we had in the south, in particular where open markets were now in business for selling produce and other products. i was able to visit a school. we are creating a possibility for peace and stability in that country. to your question, i have grave concerns about president karzai, because of his record. and because of the sometimes apparent unwillingness to crack down on corruption. we cannot sustain the successes that we've had if we can't have rule of law in afghanistan. there are instances where we have evidence of corrupt government officials, the drug trade going on, all of these elements of corruption. we need a judicial system that con prosecute these criminals and then give them sentences without fear of reprimand or

fear of death or violence against the prosecutors and the judges. so that's the partnership that we need with karzai. we need him to take corruption seriously. we need him to enforce a rule of law. because without it, all of the gains we've made will be lost eventually, because the country needs stability and they need to know that crime will be punished. >> i wanted to ask you about a vote that just took place or a vote that didn't take place with the republicans blocking a vote on the pay equity measure, the fairness act. to create -- to eliminate wage disparities between men and women. now it looks -- they had 58 votes, 58-41 to take it up and now it fell short. obviously of the 60 votes. your reaction to that and the future of this measure? >> i think it's outrageous. i mean, really, the american people should look at this vote and ask, how could these senators vote against fair pay in the bottom line is, for every dollar that a man earns, a woman earns 78 cents. if you're a woman of color, it's

62 cents. if you're a latino, it's 53 cents. it's outrageous. the bottom line is, when women earn less money, their children suffer. all the studies show it. they have less opportunities for health care and education and a future. if we care about our country's future and care about our children, we will support fair pay. i think it was a partisan vote. i think it was egregious. it's a sorry state of some people in washington who put politics first and people last. >> kirsten gillibrand, great to see you. >> thank you. coming up next, sarah palin in 2012. and haiti cholera crisis hitting florida. the first cases founded there. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc.

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there's no longer very much doubt that sarah palin is gearing up for a presidential run. she made it perfectly clear to the "new york times" of all people. the sunday magazine for their upcoming cover story. almost 8,000 words on the former

governor. palin tells "the new york times" sunday magazine that "i am considering it. i'm engaged in the internal deliberations candidly and having that discussion with my family, because my family is the most important consideration here." ken vogel, politico senior political reporter joins us. this is a remarkable piece. she's much more specific, explicit about 2012. this isn't the coy hints. this is a deeply reported piece now. >> yeah, that's right, andrea. what's interesting is not just what she said but she chose to say it to "the new york times." ba and reporter robert draper who wrote a critical piece about the mccain/palin campaign. this is how the game is played, a game she's often disparaged, she is very much participating in it and doing so in a way that

helps her presidential prospects. >> you can't get much more lame stream media as she would put it than "the new york times" and all of rest of us, of course. palin is drawing so much attention, she's a media sensation. she's made an art form out of using social media. in this piece, gibbs says to the "new york times" open up a facebook account or a twitter account, make some posts and have the entire white house press corps focused on your quote of the day. that's sarah palin. he seems envious. >> her response was, i just tweet, that's just the way i roll. it opens up all sorts of questions about the way we cover these campaigns. >> she's been effective in using this technique, this social media in a way that minimizes her risk and her exposure to potentially tricky questions like those that caused her to stumble during her 2008 vice presidential campaign rollout. the other thing this piece shows

and that i think other media outlets have pecked away at to some extent is that in addition to this unconventional, fly by the seat of the pants interaction she has with her fans and press, she's bulling a serious organization that could help her launch a real campaign. >> that's always been the big problem. she's had organizational challenges, relying on some of the people around her there. they weren't staffed up for what happened to them. the extraordinary attention that she was getting. and she talks about this to "the new york times." she says i'd have to bring in more people, more people who are trustworthy. i know a hurdle i would have to cross that some other potential candidates wounl have to cross out of the chute is proving my record. that's the most frustrating to me. she's confronting at least the criticisms head on in this magazine piece. >> i think the interesting key word there is trustworthy. she's has a reputation of shedding staff and frankly

throwing people under the bus, staffers, allies, folks who had worked for her in the mayor's office in wasilla where she canned almost the entire city professional staff when she came in after her gubernatorial campaign. she ended up having an unsayre moani i -- unceremonious issue. she'll have to learn to trust them and learn to rely on them like presidential candidates do. >> you betcha. thanks so much, ken vogel. coming up, the time line for getting out of afghanistan. plus, mitch mcconnell asks the white house for a rain check. what does that say about bipartisanship here in washington? this is "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. i couldn't conceive this as a heart attack.

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case of cholera linked to the outbreak in haiti has been discovered. the case apparently involved a woman who visited her family in haiti last month. the epidemic has now killed more than 1,000 haitians. other suspected cases in florida are under investigation. on capitol hill today, senators grilled the head of the tsa, tom pistole on the latest screening measures. he made it clear he's not budging. this was an exchange with nebraska senator mike johanns. >> i get the expression that you're expressing your understanding. i'm thinking nothing's going to change. >> well, so if your question is do i understand the sensitivities of people? yes. if you're asking am i going to change the policies? no, because i think that is what being informed by the latest intelligence, the latest efforts by terrorists to kill our people in the air, no, i'm not going to change those policies. >> you don't see that very often. general motors is expected to price its public stock

offering later today in what could be the largest ipo in history. analysts think the company may be looking at around $32 a share which could raise around $18 billion. shares start trading tomorrow. the company that makes the controversial caffeinated alcohol beverage four loko says it will remove the caffeine from all of its products. the move comes in the wake of safety concerns raised by a number of states and a probe by the food and drug administration. there have been several incidents in which college students were hospitalized after apparently drinking the beverage. we have an exclusive first look now at tonight's new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll. it shows growing support for gays in the military over the past decade. chief white house correspondent is co-host of "the daily rundown." and joins us from the white house lawn where they are blowing the leaves or mowing the lawn again as they seem to do everyday at this time. >> reporter: lots of action. >> interesting numbers.

now 50% of people favor permitting gays to serve openly in the military and removing the don't ask don't tell policy. >> reporter: that's right. we're seeing it's a cultural shift. it's from the last ten years, it was 40%, in january of 2000. it's now up ten points. look at the other number there, being folks who are opposing anybody gay serving in the military under the don't ask don't tell policy or openly. that's down to just 10%. when you look inside the numbers, andrea, it's across ethnic groups. it's really actually hispanics have the lowest support among those three groups. among age groups it's actually not much different between 18 to 34 on this and the baby boom generation, only seniors, only those 65 and over are the most hesitant about being in favor of allowing gays to serve openly in the military.

this is one of those cases where it looks like public opinion is moving faster in many ways than the public policy in washington. many times, particularly on cultural issues, you know this well, andrea, washington sometimes moves faster than the general public. in this case you're seeing a reverse. >> in fact, i'm confused by the 38%. the 38% would be okay with people serving openly, rather servinging under the existing policy but would not permit them to serve openly. they would still want people to be kicked out of the military if they declare themselves? >> well, see, that's -- you know, we didn't do that -- >> it seems ambiguous. >> that's right. it's ambiguous. we didn't do that follow-up question. you can read this poll a couple different ways. you could say 50% fully support gays serving openly in the military. another 38% support gays serving in the military but under the don't ask don't tell policy. but when you do that follow-up question and you know we've done it when you do that and you have

conversation with these folks, you realize, you know, you probably would push those folks. some of them would end up in the let them serve openly category and some of them would end up in the other category that says, you know what, none of that right now. so that's why that 50% when you also add in the don't ask don't tell, i think it tells you how in favor the general public is. >> very interesting results. thanks so much, chuck. of course, chuck will have all of the full results of our new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll revealed for the first time tonight on "nbc nightly news" with brian williams. >> you got it. >> join chuck and savannah at 9:00 eastern for the daily rundown. for more years or more? hillary clinton and her british counterpart says 2014 will be the date set to end allied combat operations in afghanistan. a top nato official seems to be

moving the goalpost even further. he's president of the council of foreign raelgs relations and is author of "war of necessity, war of choice." a memoir of two iraq wars. nato official was talking about the fluidity of the 2014 date. hillary clinton leading with, of course, her british counterpart, william hague said she and he believes that 2014 is a realistic goal and that they could end combat operations. where do you come down on that? >> well, whether it's realistic goal or not, i don't think it's a desirable goal. that suggests to me we're going to be inning iffing in in large numbers at a large level of operational activity, which is going to be expensive, both in lives as well as financial cost. i don't think it's worth it. we can make progress while we're there. where i disagree and part company with the u.s. officials

is i don't believe that whatever progress we make over the next couple of years would last or endure once we began to wind down. >> richard, how should the president handle this? he's in the middle of a review. he's caught between the military john mccain, general petraeus arguably and the, of course, the people in his own party and elsewhere who believe as you do, that there's nothing that we can really gain and hold and that we're just wasting american lives and american treasure. so what is the exit strategy? >> well, i would suggest he take something of a middle course, between staying the course, which is what a lot of people are advocating and simply leaving. i would suggest we begin a fairly decisive drawing down, not withdrawal but drawing down. we're at 100,000. i would like us, say, to go down to 50,000 rather quickly and down to 25,000. we would use the forces to train

the afghans. we'd use them as special forces to go after terrorists if we actually could find them, but i would essentially recalculakaca the mission. it's much more pakistan or places like yemen and somalia. we're simply investing too much in this one theater. >> speaking of having investing a lot, what's at risk if the republicans in the senate persist and do not permit a vote during this lame duck session? >> well, delay is not that expensive a result. the real question is, if and when it is brought up by the senate, do the republicans attach amendments that would require renegotiation? if they were to do so, my sense is the russians might well bulk. if that were to happen you have all sorts of issues. it would lead, i think, to a significant worsening of u.s./russian relations which has been something of a bright spot.

it would mean we would not put a ceiling on the nuclear situation, cut problems for getting cooperation in iran and would raise real questions about american predictability and reliability. i see a potential big loss in all this. >> and let's get to two issues, because there will be fewer supporters arguably in the next senate. so that's why this getting it done now while they still have more democrats in the senate is so important to the administration. but you also have a lot of people like senator kyl and senator barrasso was on the program earlier arguing that it would weaken us, it weakens our hand on missile defense. you've studied this for many years. what is your judgment? >> i respectfully disagree. the language on missile defense doesn't weaken anything. the united states can do what it wants. at some point we may have to make some decisions on missile defense, realizing it would have consequences for how the russians size and scale their arsenal. we also have to see what missile

defense can actually do for us. again, we need predictability. i'm not saying this agreement's perfect but with it, we have a greater degree of predictability. we're less likely to have arms racing and less likely to have accidents, less likely spend money that we can't afford to spend than if we don't have the agreement. you have to look at what you have, not necessarily what it is you think is perfect but can't negotiate. >> richard oz, thank you very much. coming up next, what message does supporting nancy pelosi for minority leader send to the voters? elijah cummings joining us next. let's support the small business owners getting our economy booming with the first ever small business saturday.

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midterm voters said they wanted change but you probably won't see it on either side of the aisle in congress. house democrats are expected to re-elect the same leadership team. critics failed to postpone today's vote.

with me now, elithia coupledings, maryland democratic congressman. thanks and welcome. >> good to be with you. >> why support nancy pelosi, just to play devil's advocate here. critics say it's more of the same. same old, same soold. >> i think what we have here is a lady who's been vilified by our opponents. they've spent over $65 million in ads featuring and against nancy pelosi. but she is the one person who has constantly stood up, been able to bring blue dogs, members of the black caucus, liberals, progressi progressives, moderates together to accomplish major things. i don't think many of us in the caucus feel this woman who has done a great job should then be pushed out of office, mainly because she's done a great job. keep in mind, a lot of people

say you lost all those seats, cummings, under nancy pelosi. the thing we have to keep in mind, andrea, is that 49 of those seats were basically mccain districts, where he had won before. so you know, we had -- we've got one of the toughest economic times in the history of our country. so i think that clearly nancy pelosi is a great leader. i support her a million percent. we're in the midst of the vote right now. and she'll win. >> i'm sure she's got the votes. the key measure was that there were 68 votes, only 68, to prevent her from resuming the leadership. but you've got someone like bill pescrall saying i think we missed an opportunity to send a signal to america that we understand what happened this past election. there is a thing here where you're sending a signal that it's just a continuation, that

you haven't listened to the voters. >> there's another side to that. you have democrats all over the country and we get calls after this interview, i'll get calls in my office where democrats will be saying, we want you to continue to fight for the things that we believe in. we don't want you to just give the richest of the rich continued tax cut. we want you to stand up for things like health care and so, clearly, nancy pelosi has been a champion with regard to those things. our leadership team, jim clyburn and steny hoyer from maryland, all of them have done a great job. i think what the elections did say, however, andrea, is that the american people want us to work together. they want us to sit down and not have motion, commotion and emotion and no results. they want results. because they are suffering. and so, hopefully, and i hope that the sign of the republicans postponing their meeting with

the president is not any kind of indication that they are unwilling to sit down and work out any kind of differences so we can do things for the american people. >> i was going to ask you about that. there was some suggestion when i asked senator barrasso about it. he said ask the house side. is it because john boehner and mitch mcconnell can't agree on a united strategy? what are you hearing from the house? >> i'm hearing that they cannot agree and they've got tea partiers who are trying to take them too far to the right and they're trying to figure out how to put a strategy together that makes sense. well, the key is, i've been saying this all the time, andrea, that the republicans have been campaigning for the last three years. we've been governing. we're saying to republicans today, welcome to the club of governing. they can't stand around and say no. they have to do something. they are now realizing how difficult this problem is that we were left with back beginning two years ago.

>> and a really sad day for the democratic caucus some would say. a 40-year veteran, charlie rangel was found to have violated house rules on all but one count. what should the punishment be? >> i think the punishment -- i leave that up to the committee and i know that they will do what is fair. i don't know whether you talked to charlie but charlie has said that the thing he is pleased about is they found no corruption and no effort to have personal gain. and he feel goods about that. he feels a bit bitter, i think, that there may have been unfairness in his mind. again, i think the system has worked. he has been given an opportunity to defend himself and i know that he wanted a postponement. again, i think we have fair-minded people on that committee and they made a judgment. i think we'll have to live with that judgment, whatever it might be. i don't know what the sentencing should be. >> okay. thank you very much, elithia

cummings. >> thank you. be sure to follow the show online and on twitter. this is "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. ♪ trouble been doggin' my soul ♪ since the day i was born ♪ worry ♪ oh, worry, worry worry, worry ♪ [ announcer ] when it comes to things you care about, leave nothing to chance. travelers. take the scary out of life. ♪ ♪ ♪

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so what political story will be making headlines in the next 24 hours? chris joins me now. how about talking about first something that isn't happening in the next 24, like the white house meeting with the senate republicans and democrats and house members. >> sometimes what doesn't happen can be newsworthy, more than what does happen. this was a meeting, a bipartisan meeting. president obama announced it right after the election. they were going to huddle with republican leaders from the hill to talk about the way forward in the lame duck. turns out, all the ts weren't crossed or the is dotted. president obama said, well, senate leader mcconnell,

soon-to-be house keep espeaker boehner couldn't work it out on their schedules. the republicans said we never agreed to this. >> what do you mean? first of all, he scheduled -- i'm not -- i'm just saying, just saying, he scheduled his departure for the nato meeting and delayed it just so that he could meet with them. >> well, the other thing i would say, andrea, for people who think that the lame duck or the 112th congress that will come up in january has a prospect for bipartisanship, if you can't agree on a meeting to talk about bipartisanship, i'm not sure that the legislative future is all that strong. so, you know, this -- this cannot be read as a good omen for people who believe in bipartisanship. >> and speaking of bipartisanship, the republicans are going to have to deal with another member who did not get support from her own party. it looks like we'll see a victory claim from alaska. >> yeah. lisa murcowsy, wkowski is now a.

they've been -- she ran as a write-in candidate. they've been counting votes for the last week or so. she's ahead by more votes than joe miller, the republican nomin nominee, has challenged. it looks very likely like she's going to win. she's not announcing victory until the overseas ballots are counted. she's going to make history. first candidate in 50-plus years to be elected to the senate as a write-in. >> okay. chris, thanks very much. >> thank you. >> that does it for us for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." tomorrow on the show, the complete new poll with david gregory from "meet the press." and luis gutierrez. and, remember, you can follow the show online and on twitter. my colleague, tamron hall, has a look at what's next on "news nation." hi, tamron. >> hi there, andrea. next hoyeur, we'll talk about president's first big meeting with republicans since the midterm elections.

it was canceled. one report says the republicans felt they would be ambushed by the president. we'll go live to the white house for more on that. plus, an update on the democratic leadership battle happening in the house. and also developing right now, the fda tells the makers of a controversial alcoholic energy drink to stop production after reports of college students being hospitalized from drinking this beverage. and we're expecting a former reality tv show producer to appear in court. he is accused of murdering his wife. seven months ago at a mexican resort. the "news nation" is moments away. ♪ ♪ yes! ♪ look, they fit!

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