in a few minutes, i'll be joined by eugene robinson, richard wolffe, and kent conrad. first, here's the president in the white house after speaking with speaker boehnor. >> this was an extraordinarily fair deal. if it was unbalanced, it was unbalanced in the direction of not enough revenue. but in the interest of being serious about deficit reduction, i was willing to take a lot of heat from my party, and i spoke to democratic leaders yesterday, and although they didn't sign off on a plan, they were willing to engage in serious negotiations, despite a lot of heat from a lot of interest groups around the country in order to make sure that we actually dealt with this problem. it is hard to understand why speaker boehnor would walk away from this kind of deal, and frankly, if you look at the commentary out there, there are a lot of republicans that are puzzled as to why it couldn't get done. we have now run out of time. i've told speaker boehnor, i've told democratic leader, nancy pelosi, i've told harry reid and i've told mitch mcconnell i want them here at 11:00 tomorro

david corn, richard wolffe, and david frum. >>> what had become apparent was that speaker boehnor haddifficulty in his caucus. a group of his caucus that actually think default would be okay. and have said they would not vote for increasing the debt ceiling under any circumstances. >> joining me now, richard wolffe, also david corn, and washington bureau chief and former speech writer for president george w. bush and founder of frumforum.com, david frum. richard wolffe, i've been suggesting for the last couple of weeks there were just too many incentives to get nothing here and that nothing was a very likely outcome under the circumstance, the president has successfully portrayed himself as the reasonable man, willing to make compromises that were very painful for him, and in the end he doesn't have to make any painful compromises at all because john boehner walks out, the deal's blown up, there's the president, the last man standing asking to be perceived as the most reasonable man. i think he's won that perception. how does it look to you? >> very cynical and turns out quite realist

for a 30-tablet free trial offer, go to cialis.com. >>> coming up, howard fineman and richard wolfferess to the nation. ooo. sounds pricey? nah, with the hotels.com summer sale, you can find awesome deals for places nearby. interesting... wow, i'm blown away. you look great. hotels.com summer sale, save up to 30%. and get a free kindle. hotels.com. be smart. book smart. >>> president obama is now minutes away from addressing the nation from the east room of the white house as hopes for keeping the nation nrnm defaulting seem to dim with every passing day. the incredible, political, and financial drama is about to reach a nationwide, primetime, television audience. joining me now, msnbc political analyst howard fineman, editorial effort for the huffington post, richard wolffe, author of "revival 2.0, how the obama white house is making its political comeback." some would say the comeback is to try to portray himself as a centrist, deficit cutting president. has he achieved that, do you think, in his public postures in the debt ceiling negotiations up to this point? >> well, the polls

let me go back to my guest, richard wolff and eugene robinson. ard, i'm living and taking notes. when there was blow back from the house chamber, it seemed extemporaneously, the speaker said i put revenues on the table. there are no revenues in that which is about to get passed by the house. i wonder if he's going to regret having offered that to his colleagues? >> we have multiple personalities than john boehner. talks about jobs, knows he's not actually talking about jobs. that was his opening. secondly, he knows he'll have to take a very different bill to the same house in a matter of days, which will be what comes out of the senate. eamer that or he'll be in real trouble with whatever he thinks it the american people want to hear is completely overtaken by talks of a shutdown, social security checks not paid. and thirdly, where was the john boehner offering revenues and how come now we're talking about a balanced budget amendment? there are multiple characters and maultiple politics played ot right there in that speech. >> gene, his future was

richard wolffe, thanks so much. i want to take everyone back to the senate floor, and what senator reid had to say, take a listen. >> today the speaker and republican leader held a press conference to say the agreement is close. that's not true. i just spent two hours with the president and vice president and leader pelosi, and it's fair for me to say that the engagement there is not going in a meaningful way. the republican leaders still refuse to negotiate in good faith. revenues off the calendar, no way we can talk about revenues. entitleme entitlements, they're after entitlements, medicare, social security. the speaker and republican leader should know that saying we have an agreement in front of television cameras doesn't make it so. republican leader, the president said he's engaged. members of the caucus are more engaged than he is. there are meaningful talks going on with my senators. the republican leader is holding meaningless press conferences, his members are reaching out to me, and other members as i ju

out of this mess, but there's very little time. >> joining me now is msnbc's kristen welker and richard wolffen, what is on the president's agenda today? >> there, richard. no public events on his schedule today, but white house officials say he's quite busy monitoring the situation and in constant contact with lawmakers on the hill. they won't tell us who he's speaking to specifically, but say he's very much in contact with everyone. here's the latest. as you know, leader boehner's plan was voted through the house last night, and then it was tabled in the senate. so now all of the focus is on harry reid, and his plan, which interestingly these two plans just aren't that different. under majority leader reid's plan, you would see the debt limit increase through 2013. under boehner's plan, you would see it increase for about six months. both include spending cuts. the big difference is the timing and boehner's plan comes with a balanced budget amendment. what we're expecting to see ultimately is a compromise bill here between these two plans, and that's what's being worked on behind the scenes

"the washington post" eugene robinson and richard wolff and "usa today" susan paige. to you all. i want to start with the minnesota government shutdown, because it does have potentially an affect on the president's field. a former governor of minnesota by the name of tim pawlenty, yes, still running for president. susan, let me play what he said about the shutdown and why he believes he has a good story to tell on the shutdown. >> both in '05 and now you had democrats demanding that we raise taxes and raise spending, and that's not what the people from this country need, it's not what our government finances need. we have to get government spending under control. the democrats won't do it. i encourage the republicans to keep standing strong. >> well, they had a shortfall on pawlenty's watch. good or bad? >> it do go both ways. not to be worried about it, he a shutdown in 2005 and said he stood up for his principles. >> and got re-elected. >> then he got re-elected. on the other hand, he's like other governors, gimmicks to gets out of dodge before he had to face what m

pretty dire situation joining me from more from our new york studio is economist and radio host richard wolffe. hey there richard you know here in washington there is so much back and forth talk about what's best for the economic health of this country but the bottom line is real americans are going to be affected by whatever the decision is i guess i want to start out by asking you how you interpret by what we're seeing with all this conversation over the debt ceiling and what needs to change there. well i think to be brutally honest that neither side neither the president of democrats nor the republicans are facing the basic issues of this economy we are in serious trouble we have very high and persistent unemployment and what we are doing is arguing over the technicalities of the debt limit ceiling that is going to be changed and raised as it has been every other time this theatrical drama has been rerun and meanwhile our political leaders are not dealing with the underlying problem we have a state minnesota that has already shut down we have other states that are following suit we have cit

also joining us is msnbc political analyst richard wolff. let me start with you, dean. gone through and why you are pla plfa planetive in this lawsuit. >> thank you. i think this shows how the defensive marriage act hurts families. 15 years ago when i sat in the visitor's gallery at the house of representatives and watched the man who is to become my husband speak out against it, it was very theoretical. i don't think gary or i ever expected at that point, that we would ever be able to be legally married anywhere within the united states. it did happen eight year later and we got married a week after marriage was legalized the common wealth of massachusetts. it was a decision that the courts made but obviously the people have also now agreed with it. i am being denied the benefits that any other person who has served this government for 24 years as a federal employee, in gary's instance, a member of congress, spousal benefits and health insurance. the same people are talking about the same issues 15 years ago except now there are real families and real people like mysel

and over you also heard from american economist and radio host richard wolffe he says that the u.s. economy is in a really serious trouble and the political deadlock over the budget could make the situation the balance the american government can't pay its debts for a few days and that's the most that will happen it will do a very bad job on diminishing the credit of the united states in the world economy at a very dangerous time to be brutally honest neither side neither the president the democrats nor the republicans are facing the basic issues of this economy we are in serious trouble we have very high and persistent unemployment and what we are doing is arguing over the technicalities of the debt ceiling that is going to be changed and raised as it has been every other time this theatrical drama has been rerun and meanwhile our political leaders are not dealing with the underlying problems we're facing an economic situation that is more dire than any i have seen in my lifetime of being a specialist on the american economy and i think we're seeing a growing alienation of the amer

richard wolffe, thank you very much for joining me tonight. >> you bet, lawrence. >>> coming up, jon stewart cannot help himself. he cannot control his deep desire to make gay jokes about michele bachmann's husband. so he needs a therapist to help him pray away the gay jokes. that therapist is jerry seinfeld. you'll have that latest in the show. don't miss it. >>> and later, when republican house leader eric cantor says he will never vote for a tax increase of any kind, he is forgetting one little thing about his own record on taxes. luckily for him and the political media has also forgotten it, too. but i'll be reminding him and the political media of the day eric cantor voted to raise income taxes. that's in my "rewrite" tonight. 50 billion network devices will roam the earth. that's seven devices per person. this will change how we work in ways we've never before imagined. what do you need to secure your people, their devices, and your business? a network that can evolve and grow to protect your human network. ♪ [ male announcer ] the davis twins... ...are alike in nearly every wa

federal benefits run out by the end of this year or earlier i spoke to economist and radio host richard wolffewith all of the back and forth going on here in washington and i asked him to give me his take on what's really going on with these that tax thing well i think to be brutally honest that neither side neither the president the democrats nor the republicans are facing the basic issues of this economy we are in serious trouble we have very high and persistent unemployment and what we are doing is arguing over the technicalities of the debt limit ceiling that is going to be changed and raised as it has been every other time this trickle drama has been rerun and meanwhile our political leaders are not dealing with the underlying problem we have a state minnesota that has already shut down we have other states that are following suit we have cities facing collapse we have a serious economic problem the private sector has not provided the jobs so it shows no signs of doing it and either the government is going to step in or we're facing an economic situation that is more dire than any i have

exactly what that is but thankfully my next guest has a more appropriate way of phrasing it upon mr richard wolffe is the author of capitalism hits the fan the global economic meltdown and what to do about it richard thank you so much for taking the time to join us today now before we get to the politics of all this let's start with some economic consequences there's there's a lot of confusing info out there what is the worst case scenario in this debt standoff who's going to feel the pain if we don't get a deal. basically if the government cannot raise the debt ceiling all that it means is that the government cannot borrow the money that it had intended to borrow to do the spending that both parties voted into office last year and so the government will have less money than an end to subpoenaed because it can't borrow and so it'll have to make cutbacks it is very clear that it will not cut back on interest payments to creditors so there's no question of a default the united states cannot to fault and will not what it will do if it's starting to get an agreement by august second is start spending

deal cuts will be made and there will be pain and i'll take my word for it that's according to richard wolffe is an economist and the author of capitalism hits the fan the global economic meltdown and what to do about it and he joined me earlier today i think we have that interview is that we have it. if the government cannot raise the debt ceiling all that it means is that the government cannot borrow the money that it had intended to borrow to do the spending that both parties voted into office last year and so the government will have less money than an anticipated because it can't borrow and so it'll have to make cutbacks it is very clear that it will not cut back on interest payments to creditors so there's not question of a default on the united states cannot afford and will not what it will do if it still doesn't get an agreement by august second is start spending less money and so the pain will be fanned the felt by whoever they spend less on they could cut back on war expenditures that would hurt defense contractors they could back cut back on all kinds of purchases you know the unit

control leader of the pack and it can't do that anymore and that was economist and radio host richard wolffe weighing in. this next story is not one the election you see anywhere else it's a story about justice about race and class citizens in the deep south it's a story about the real face of america's war on drugs so much of the consequences of a no knock flight rate aren't terribly terribly wrong that's a story of a young man who spent nearly a decade of his life on death row a guy who almost lost everything but for justice that's going to start with a name this is his story and artie is killing forty. to mississippi where it all unfolded. i think. it's a day corey made his we did nearly a decade. the day he could wrap his arms around his kid. i will wait a long time just to have a world. we don't have to see behind the walls like the say we're going to take the time room. there should be ready and eat his mother's cooking. it was great could only dream up from his cell on death row. bump the head to the old chair with a roll call for. this but in his character it really took a full a rea

we're going to check in now with nbc's richard wolffe and christina bellatoni and richard is an msnbc political analyst. a great contributor here to the network. richard, i want to start with you. i was watching that and the president has the high ground when it comes to the polls that we've seen here at nbc news. the president's debt plan was heavily favored over the republicans plan but you can see the frustration as he's trying to tell the crowd how dire this is and the severity of what it means for the u.s. to default. the first time in history that we could potentially ever do this. >> right. look, a couple of days ago when he was having that heated meeting with the house majority leader, eric cantor, he said don't push me, i'm going to take this to the american people if i need to. this is him taking it to the american people. remember one of those regrets that he just voiced was that he didn't explain his position enough here in the first couple of years. here he is saying everyone has a responsibility, both parties have a responsibility for increasing the deficit and the feder

. >>> joining me now is richard wolffe, also with me msnbc analyst and former rnc chair michael steele. michael, can speaker boehner get his votes he needs for his plan? >> yeah, i think he can. i think that you're seeing some of the machinations used in that direction despite some of the pronoun pronouncements about this part of the caucus. harry reid had similar responses to the plans he proposed that had no revenue enhancements or tax increases or whatever they want to call them. i think the bottom like, particularly after listens to the president last night and seeing and hearing ms. jaret, that the president will sign the boehner plan when it gets to his desk. >> let me be clear, that what you're saying, so i'm not taking away the wrong message. you're saying that you do think the president will sign it. >> yeah. >> even though there's reports now that he's saying that if it got that far, that some of his senior advisers would advise against it. you're saying he'll sign it. >> yes. >> and ms. jaret says she doesn't think it will get that far. >> i know she said that, and i underst

richard wolffe, thank you very much for joining me tonight. >> you bet, lawrence. >>> coming up, jon stuart cannot help himself. he can't help but make gay jokes about michele bachmann's husband. so he needs a therapist to help him pray away the gay jokes. that therapist is jerry seinfeld. >>> and when eric cantor says he will never vote for a tax increase of any kind, he is forgetting one little thing about his own record on taxes. luckily for him, and the political media has also forgotten it too. but i'll be reminding him and the political media of the day eric cantor voted to raise income taxes. that's in my "rewrite" tonight. in financial transactions... on devices... in social interactions... and applications in the cloud. some companies are worried. some, not so much. thanks to a network that secures it all and knows what to keep in, and what to keep out. outsmart the threats. see how at cisco.com cisco. the 3.6-liter pentastar v6 engine in the jeep grand cherokee has a best in class driving range of more than 500 miles per tank. which means you don't have to worry about findi

chuck todd's and richard wolffe and kelly o'donnell up on the hill. we begin with her. let's hear. kelly, give us a sense of the smell an actions right this moment it trying to get this vote ready for the republicans. snrs well, the place to be outside the speaker's door. because those who are nos, publicly nos are called it see the bosses even trying to get a since if they can be moved to a yes. this came to a lurching halt, chris, within 15 or 20 minutes of when we expected the vote to happen it knit. they switched to naming post offices, which is standard businesses. everyone went scrambling, what is going wrong. we hear it is a single digits. a handful of republicans that speaker boehner and his team need to get this thing through. it feelt like some of the momentum was moving his way. so what have we got? people who come out strongly against this. namely in the tea party wing. then you have someone like jeff flake, republican of arizona who wants it run for senate. he might be someone more movable because of his longer tenure here in congress. things like that. did comes down

. >> i'm joined by richard wolffe and michael gordon and former spokesman for attorney general janet reno during the clinton years. richard, we'll start with you. as you watch what happened this morning, how did prime minister cameron do today? was anything left there that was damaging you thought? >> yes. well, look, he did a pretty good job of sounding contrite and expressing regret as you just heard. but there are two big things. most damaging of all, he was pressed several times on whether he had had any conversations with all of his various contacts and friends at rupert murdoch's company in the u.k. about a $12 billion attempt to buy out the reminder of bskyb, the big broadcaster over there. this was a deal that the british government has quasi-judicial authority to approve or deny. all he could say is he had no inappropriate conversations. he kept using that phrase. frankly, it didn't sound like the members of parliament really bought that line. the second thing, a really explosive claim, that someone in the senior government, a senior government official had been hacked and bu

bring in to nbc news investigative reporter, mike isikoff and msnbc reporter and political analyst richard wolffke, is there an equivalent of a fifth that either one, either the two murdochs or ra bebecca brooks can take? >> the standard ongoing investigation. what struck me about only an hour for this testimony? which striiks me as very short time. >> we're going to start listening and dip in when there's a break. >> -- would come out during the course of questions. if you feel that's not the case then you can make a statement. to the end. >> in that case, submit the statement in writing if it pleases you. >> that would be perfectly acceptable. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> could we please -- >> excuse me. >> all right. after that brief interruption we will begin. good afternoon, everybody. this is a special meeting of the committee. a follow-up to the inquiry which the committee held in 2009 into press standards, privacy and liable during which we took evidence on the extent of phone hacking which had taken place in "the news of the world." in our report last year we stated that we thought it

. >> richard wolffe, you know the president as well as any reporter in this town. of time with him and have written a couple of books on how he thinks. why is it he cut this deal the way he cut it which frankly, when you look at it, they made the decision. i'm going to need more republicans in the house than democrats to get this through so there probably has to be a pinky on the scale for them. >> okay, so i think the thinking boils down to this. he made his red line about moving beyond six months, getting a debt ceiling increase that takes him through the end of the first term so you don't have to go through this all over again. he got that. but on the principle piece of it i think he's playing a longer game which is to say the real debate the progressives care about is the bush tax cuts. you have to believe though, if you think that the president is going to allow all the tax cuts to expire, that's their ultimate revenue card, then he's prepared to take the political hit of raising taxes on the middle class and work is folks in america. so that's quite a big "if