we heard this from jessica yellin.t was going to again present the same offer that he had in the past week. if republicans didn't like that and didn't have a counter proposal, he was going to offer an up or down vote. what's interesting, candy, it didn't get to that point. instead of the president pushing for that up or down vote which sounds like a do or die last tactic, it didn't get there. instead, these five -- these four men and one woman decided that they had one last chance, that they talked over various ideas, various proposals. in the end because it seemed the fate of this fiscal cliff deal rests with the senate acting first. we know that from the house speaker and also because of procedure, they decided that the two lead senators should in fact meet and figure out that deal first. this is the actual progress that we've had in weeks but we don't know what will come of it. senators reid and mcconnell have about a day to come up with a deal. it sounds like the senate may not come in tomorrow, which makes a lot o

jessica yellin has the >> reporter: in washington, there is still hope a deal can be cut in time to avert the fiscal cliff. on saturday the president was at work here at the white house, but all eyes were up on the senate where negotiators were trading deal points and revenue figures, to try to reach an agreement all sides can stomach. the base line for the president - any bipartisan bill would have to extend unemployment insurance benefits that would affect some two million americans. and it would have to increase taxes on the highest income earners. but negotiators could still work out exactly where those tax increases would hit and whether they would halt an increase in the estate tax. now in case that deal breaks down, the president has asked democratic leader harry reid to prepare a separate bill to put on the senate floor. that bill would increase taxes for households that earn 250- thousand dollars or more. now that's a democratic proposal, and you can expect republicans would block it. so rather than thinking of that as a stop-gap measure, think of it as a political move to try to

thank you, jessica yellin. appreciate it. to new york now, joining us rick neuman, chief business correspondent for "u.s. news & world report." i want to ask you about the tax increase if there is no deal and tax rates rise, when would workers begin to see that reflekr reflected in their paychecks? when does the pain start? >> this is not one tax hike. this is about nine different sets of taxes. and the one that would go up right away is the payroll tax. that was cut temporarily in 2 009, cut by two percentage points and will go back up by two percentage points and that would come out of workers' paychecks right off the bat. it would add up to something like $60, $70 a month for the typical worker. we hear about all the tax rates that are going up, that actually wouldn't involve money that is in people's pockets until they actually pay their taxes or do their tax returns the following year. because that's when they would have to calculate the amount they owe and whether they paid enough taxes in 2013. so the good and bad news

dana bash and jessica yellin are covering all angles of the story. let's start with dana on capitol hill who has heard word of a setback in the talks. dana, what do you know? >> setback from the perspective of democrats. we should underscore that. this is any information that is coming out. is coming out for a purpose. this is certainly significant. when it comes to the democrats' perspective. and that is, they are very unhappy and they call a quote poison pill. what they say is an offer from the republicans to include in this deal, which has been from the democrats perspective, mostly focused on taxes to include in it, a change in a technical way that social security is done. what it effectively would mean is that social security recipients would get smaller checks each month. something that the president himself did offer as part of a larger deal when he was in those talks with the house speaker. and ha democrats would say is we're past that. we're not in the larger negotiations any more. this is a scaled-back negotiation and they do not want anyth

jessica yellin >> still ahead on kron 4 news at eight. a multi-million dollar lawsuit. on behalf of a six year old who survived the newtown school shooting. we meet the lawyer who is taking up the case. then. police put up sobriety check points just in time for the new year celebrations. we'll tell you where. plus. >> coming up the best and the worst in the next edition of people behaving badly. >>> police are cracking down on people drinking and getting behind the wheel this holiday weekend. to do so. several departments have set up d-u- i chekpoints throughout the bay area including checkpoints in san rafael, pacifica, san francisco, mountain view and the san jose area. remember to celebrate that start of 20-13 safely and if stories... if you drink, do not drive. also, we will celebrate one year anniversary of eight gay couple celebrating their first anniversary. of a gay couple -- ♪ [ female announcer ] no more paper coupons. no more paper lists. [ dog barking ] ♪ no more paper anything. safeway presents just for u. ♪ save more. save easier. saving more, starts now.

let's head back to washington and check in with jessica yellin.congressional correspondent, she will talk a little bit about this, too. let's head to you first, jessica. john mccain pushed for john kerry, so the president finally has an idea that everybody seems to like. >> reporter: this should be be a easy confirmation for the president and that will be a relief on both sides of pennsylvania avenue because the city could use something easy right now, i'll tell you that. and so could the nation. but, carol, this is also a person the president has come to know and trust over time. senator john kerry not someone the president was necessarily close to heading into his administration, but for the reasons kate pointed out in that piece, he has sent kerry overseas to meet with world leaders during crisis points, especially after the afghanistan elections when it was a very tricky situation. he had to convince president karzai to agree to runoff elections and in a delicate situation senator kerry did it. after the osama bin laden raid, senator kerry was

i want to get directly now to our chief white house correspondent, jessica yellin.sica, nearing the end of her tenure. >> she is ending her tenure. it has been an exceptional tenure in that she has hit a record for the amount of travel she's done. president obama called her tireless and extraordinary recently. she did 400 travel days, nearly 1 million miles, and it's sort of surprising to everybody that at the very tail end she's had this very rough bout with this last two weeks where she suffered the concussion and has been out of the spotlight, don. this is somebody who has been almost perpetually in the public eye and national consciousness since she broke on to the scene during the clinton presidency. you know, the one thing that's so ironic about this is there were so many doubters who challenged the claim that she was even sick and said the reason she was ill and out of the public eye was because she was trying to remember duck those benghazi hearings, you remember that a few weeks ago, and there were critics who insisted she was hiding from trying to have to

jessica yellin is cnn's chief white house correspondent. peer into the crystal ball for us, jessica. which of these scenarios is most likely? >> well, ali, i think that after yesterday it's slightly more likely that there will be some sort of agreement. that doesn't mean that there are a whole bunch of optimists running around d.c. saying it's going to get resolved. but what you describe sod well as a moment of spiritual clarity yesterday really did lead some to think that senators reid and mcconnell have done this before. they are two experts at getting together and crafting something that resolves things at the 11th hour. and if any two men with can do it, it is these two men. right now their staffs are working on negotiating that agreement. and so there's some hope that that could get done. i'd say more today than there was when we woke up yesterday morning, ali. >> all right, jessica. you called it jujitsu yesterday. >> yes. >> this is a tough position. the president has taken a tough line. he says i've got a proposal. you don't appear

jessica yellin is our chief white house correspondent. you were in the briefing room when the president delivered the powerful, very emotional statement. we saw him repeatedly pausing, trying to control himself, wiping away tears as he spoke to the american people. >> wolf, i've simply never seen the president that emotional. publicly he's never cried like that in my presence. he was consistently wiping away tears as you say. beautiful little kids, he called them, and pointed out, again, as he always does, during these instances, but it seemed to really hit home for him here, the white house, and for so many of his aides that we saw actually holding hands and crying by the side, that he is a parent who can now go home and hug his children tonight, but these families cannot. obviously this is not a story about the white house. but when he speaks as the consolar in chief, it is sort of representative of what so many people around the country are experiencing tonight and this is, in a way, one of those stories that wrenches everybody out of

jessica yellin is our chief white house correspondent. lisa day jar dayne is on capitol hill. the president used his bully pulpit to reinforce the idea that senators need to get busy. so let's listen. >> the american people are watching what we do here. obviously, their patience is already thin. this is deja vu all over again. america wonders why it is that in this town for some reason, you can't get stuff done in an organized timetable, why everything always has to wait till the last minute. we're now at the last minute. and the american people are not going to have any patience for a politically self-inflicted wound to our economy. not right now. >> so jessica, you were in the room for the president's remarks. on a scale of 1 to 10, let's measure the anger perhaps that was emanating from the president right now with congress waiting until this last-minute deal. how angry is he? >> well, he definitely was using the bully pulpit to pressure congress to get something done this weekend. i'd say he seemed frustrated, but i definitely have seen him more frustrated, and today he wa

jessica yellin, thank you very much. democrats appeared to have accomplished one thing in their first day back from a shortened holiday recess. they shamed the republican leaders into calling their members back on sunday. radio correspondent lisa joins me from capitol hill, which is generally deserted this time of year. great to see you apart from their vast disagreements, we now have procedural hangups? what's going on with that? >> absolutely. as you know, the senate operates and lives and breathes procedure. this is one of the problems that faces the fiscal cliff deal. a filibuster could arise. you and jessica were talking about that. the hope for any deal before january 1st is that somehow minority leader mitch mcconnell could convince his troops, convince the republicans not to block it with a filibuster. each individual senator makes up their own mind, each senator has the right to stage a filibuster. so that's not something he can control entirely. a bigger issue, though, i have to edadmit, when you look at senato

it looks like a couple sources telling our chief white house correspondent jessica yel yellin that alay of the sequester is a possibility. what are you hearing is happening right now? >> the big news and this is going to break your rule of what it talks about getting into the politics is what we saw with tom harkin on the senate floor. right now liberals and some prominent democrats are rebelling against what's being reported as the outlines of this it deal. the outlines of some reports are the threshold goes to $450,000, that's taxes would go up for income over $450,000. that's $200,000 higher than obama's campaign promise. there's a short-term extension of unemployment insurance, which would be a win for the white house. and then some kind of compromise on the estate tax. but a lot of democrats, especially a lot of liberals, do not think this is a great deal. that's why you saw tom harkin railing against it. we don't know what the final number is, but right now it looks like if the deal as it's being reported it would be a big victory for the republicans. >> so this is still a work

first off, wolf blitzer is here, jessica yellin is at the white house, dana bash on capitol hill, and jeffrey toobin is in new york for us. as we wait, wolf, let's start with you. is this, in fact, a turning point for guns in america? do you think we'll hear anything like that in this press conference? >> i know a lot of attitudes have hardened as a result of what has happened over the past week in newtown, connecticut. you were there, i was there, and people all over the country and all over the world are outraged by the horrible nature of that massacre that occurred at the elementary school. >> here he is, wolf. sorry to cut you off. here he is. let's listen. >> good morning. i'm dave keene, president of the national rifle association of america, and i'd like to welcome you here this morning for the purposes of beginning our discussion of the topic that's been on the minds of american parents across this country, and that is what do we do about the tragedies of the sort that struck in newtown, connecticut, to avoid such events in the future. like most americans, we were shocked by w

jessica yellin has more on what needs to happen in order to make a deal. >> alison, christy, hi. well, the good news is, things could have been worse. it does seem those of us watching the sidelines as though time is running out. congress does some of its best, at least the speediest work when the nation's back is against the wall. >> reporter: after a rare oval office meeting, the president said he's modestly optimistic a deal can come together, emphasis on modestly. >> the american people are watching what we do here. obviously their patience is already thin. this is deja vu all over again. >> reporter: all sides left in agreement, at least over their next step. >> we'll be working hard to try to see if we can get there in the next 24 hours. >> whatever we come up with is going to be imperfect and some people aren't going to like it. some people will like it less, but that's where we are. >> so on saturday, the senate leaders will try to agree on legislation extending some income tax cuts, preventing pay cuts to medicare providers and fixing the alternative minimum tax. the pre

. >> "outfront" tonight, chief white house correspondent jessica yellin and dana bash.ice to see both of you. jessica, we'll start with you. the president's message was short and sweet and kind of basic. what do you think is different this time around in what he is saying? >> well, what's different is it is less than two weeks until the new year and the president is about to leave for hawaii, and congress is going to be gone for christmas, too, and you know there is no more effective motivator for capitol hill than pressure, and they have it right now. what the president has done today is he has laid out a scaled down version of a fiscal cliff deal, you know, keeping tax cuts in place for 98% of americans, extending unemployment insurance, and laying out a plan, a down payment on a promise to do entitlement reform and also made a pitch to the american people to only blame republicans if there is no deal. so it is a two-pronged attack that he makes right before taking off on vacation. so right now, you know, the plan is basically to keep the pressure on, and we know both

. >> just 31 days until the deadline and our chief white house correspondent jessica yellin has moreere each side stands. >> randi, victor, democrats say tax rates have to raise on the wealthiest or there's no deal. but negotiations have to start with spending xuts. this is a case of who budges first. just when you thought campaign season was over -- >> if congress does nothing, every family in america will see their income taxes automatically go up on january 1st. >> president obama is back on the stump pressing republicans to cut a deal averting the fiscal cliff. >> that's sort of like the lump of coal you get for christmas. that's a scrooge christmas. >> reporter: republicans say they want their christmas, too, and blame the president for the deadlock. >> there's a stalemate. let's not kid ourselves. i'm not trying to make this more difficult. >> reporter: things got tense after treasury secretary geithner visited capitol hill thursday to present what republicans are calling an unreasonable proposal. it includes $1.6 trillion in new taxes. in part through raising rates on the top

i want to bring in jessica yellin, our chief white house correspondent. jessica, we talked about chain cpi, this cake up a week ago and the president signaled he might think it's fair. in fact he said it again this morning on one of the sunday shows. that he might be okay with chained cpi. why has this become a point of contention over which the talks may be breaking down? >> because that was in the context of a much larger deal, ali, in which they were making much broader concessions, where democrats were getting more of what they wanted. republicans were conceding other points. that was in the context of a big deal with speaker boehner. now we're talking about the mini deal. the patch to get us through the new year. so democrats argue that this doesn't even have the votes to pass the house and the senate as dana says, it's a quote poison pill in the eyes of the democrats. we can continue to discuss that. i just want to bring awe little bit of news, if i may. while this all is as you put it, i think in very clearly, quote, disgusting and everything is mo

. >> let's get straight to our chief white house correspondent jessi jessica yellin. she's over at the white house with the very latest. the president seems pretty optimistic that it's within a few hours we could have a deal, right? >> reporter: wolf, the people i just spoke to here say they are no more or less optimistic than they were this morning. which is to say they are not cueing the confetti just yet. senator mitch mcconnell, the republican leader on the hill, is still talking to the white house. the white house is in constant contact with the democratic leader harry reid. and they're working towards some kind of an agreement. but the white house has all along had -- during these past few days, been somewhat hopeful that they could reach some kind of agreement in the senate. all along, they have been far less optimistic that there would be an agreement that can get through the house. only because from the white house's perspective, from democrats' perspective broadly, they've been let down time and again by speaker boehner. they've never been able to reach a de

thank you. >> so the kind of optimal policy path that vice chairman yellin showed is indicative of the kinds of analysis we've done. we've run it for a variety of different scenarios and differed models and so on, but the general character of that interest rate path, ie, that it stays low until unemployment is in the vicinity of 6.5 or a little lower and then rises relatively slowly, which goes back to the question that was asked earlier that it doesn't involve a rapid removal of accomodation after that point is reached, that is consistent with that kind of analysis, and that's the type of analysis that was not the only thing we looked at but was informative in our discussion. you'll note also in that kind of policy path of the type that she discussed that inflation stays essentially at 2 or very close to 2. in terms of inflation forecasts, what the committee will do on a regular basis is include in its statement its views of where inflation is likely to be a year from now. for example, currently we already say, you know, we expect inflation to run at or below the committee's objective

our jessica yellin, our chief white house correspondent is also here with me. do we know what the president is going to be saying tonight? >> i'm told that he'll talk about the nation's obligations to our children. they're not getting more specific than that, but i think that that means both as families, as parents, and, you know, personally to connect with your loved ones, and probably maybe a broad reference to our obligations to take action. again, we don't know what the president really means by that. is it some sort of political action. but, you know, in these speeches, the president is very good, anderson, about finding moments of heroism to talk about resilience and the american spirit and moments that sort of connect us to what's good about our spirit. and so that we find something positive in all of this. >> and there are certainly many moments that we know of already from what happened in that school on that day, teachers like victoria soto who essentially seemed to have sacrificed her life in order to protect her students, telling the gunman that the

just two days, those massive tax hikes and spending cuts will kick n so, let's go now to jessica yellington. jessica has been monitoring events at the white house. you first reported to thanks minority leader mitch mcconnell, vice president bind have been in talks and i'm wondering, with no disrespect to the vice president what can he do? what does he bring? >> reporter: hi, martin. well, he bring morse than 350 years of experience on capitol hill and an ability to make deals. and you know, mick mcconnell, the senate minority leader said he was looking for a dance partner. i guess sort of -- you can think when you get bored dancing with one person, you switch over for a little while and try someone else. i have just been told that at this stage, it is senators mcconnell and biden and senator reid who are now again in the talks, sort of collectively so they are all in discussions broadly. and you know, i don't know, this thing has been dead and alive and dead and alive so many times it is hard to sense where the pulse really is but the vibe i'm picking up from the e-mails i'm getting now

i want to talk to jessica yellin.hat the nomination will pass and get through. his nomination process, and we have massachusetts. massachusetts politics and potentially an opening for republicans to take that seat. tell us a little bit about the jockeying that's going there. >> suzanne, there will be an open senate seat. so first, the governor of massachusetts will have an opportunity to appoint a caretaker to fill the seat for a temporary period of time and it it could potably be ted kennedy's widow, vicky kennedy, but she would be interested in doing it only for a short time and she would not run for the seat and the question is will it be scott brown who lost reelection to elizabeth warren? would he be the gop contender facing off against a various slate of potential democrats who include a number of current members of the house of representatives and then the, you know, unknown glitzy name thrown out there is ben of a wellec and we joked about that earlier. who knows? it's a list of unknown contenders and the date

jessica yellin. deb? president is sounding confident, almost defiant, but some republicans are saying the president's statements are putting the talks happening today possibly in jeopardy. here's senator bob corker from tennessee. >> madam president, i just listened to the president. and my heart's still pounding. it is very disappointing to hear what the president just had to say in front of a pep rally. something very unbecoming of where we are at this moment. i just heard the president say that the way we're going to deal with this sequester is in a balanced way through revenues and through reduced spending. and i just want to go on record, here on the senate floor, i know there are negotiations taking place, but the sequester was to be dealt with, substituted with other spending reductions, not through revenues. and i just hope that all those who are involved in bringing this together understand that even on the democratic side, that that was the understanding. i know the president has fun heckling co

our chief white house correspondent jessica yellin joins me now, jessica, the president spoke out, sat down in an interview with bloomberg tv, and in listening to the interview, did you hear any clues toward a possible compromise here? >> reporter: not new clues, brooke. the president laid down the marker that we heard from the white house consistently, which is they aren't moving until they hear the republicans agree to raise tax rates on the wealthiest. listen to what the president had to say. >> i think that, you know, we have the potential of getting a deal done, but it is going to require what i talked about during the campaign, which is a balanced responsible approach to deficit reduction that can help give businesses certainty and make sure the country grows. and unfortunately the speaker's proposal right now is still out of balance. he talks, for example, about $800 billion worth of revenues, but he says he's going to do that by lowering rates. when you look at math, it doesn't work. >> reporter: so unbalanced approach is the white house's nice way of saying you got to be kiddi

hey who you yellin at. you! i sorry dear. okay. you'll be late. i got lots of time.of course but you're due at the auditorium to deliver your speech. come again. your speech dear it's getting late. i do all my speechin with my rod. i want you to make the speech eddie i'll be behind you. whispering in your ear it's all part of the plan. hey i think your doing a little too much plannin. on second thought dear maybe it would be best if we postponed it. what do you mean best, if i got to make a speech i'll make it. uh, it'll smell but it's okay. perhaps you better take a few days rest. i'll call the campaign committee and explain. what's the matter what's the matter think i can't do it. i know you can only. only nothin, i can do anything i put my mind on. of course. where do we go? the auditorium. come on we'll give it to them good. come on nick. just who is nick. a con-man i tied in with. (9 judge parker collapsed on bench now ain't that just too bad. [laughter.] and listen to this editorial, dare we leave the helm of our ship. in the hands of a man whose physical condi

jessica yellin, thanks. >>> and january 1st is the deadline to make a deal on the fiscal cliff. some states, it's a day that a series of new laws are going to take effect. let me get you clued in here. in california, talking more than 800 new laws, including one requiring apartments and condos to install carbon monoxide detectors. separately, employers will no longer be able to ask job applicants for log ins to social media accounts, such as facebook and twitter. and the increase between 28 cents and 37 cents per hour affects more than 1 million low-income earners. thanks to laws that have lower minimum wage to keep price. and the price of stamps is set to go up? e, again, by a penny, on january 27th, which brings the price of sending first-class mail to 46 cents. >>> well, the senate has also approved a five-year extension of the foreign intelligence surveillance act allowinging the government to eavesdrop on overseas phone calls and e-mails from potential terrorists. they say it's protected us from more attacks like 9/11. others argue the bill could be abused. the bill is bein

. >> jessica yellin is there.ublican leader in the senate, jessica, mitch mcconnell, made it clear that it's up to the president now to come up with a new plan. listen to this. >> this isn't john boehner's problem to solve. he's done his part. he's bent over backwards. i've said it many times before, we simply cannot solve the problems we face unless and until the president of the united states either finds the will or develops the ability, the ability to leave. this is a moment that calls for presidential leadership. that's the way out of this. it's that simple. >> a lot of people have made the point, jessica, that if there is a collapse of these negotiations, taxes go up for everyone. maybe they will blame republicans in the short term but term he needs to show what mcconnell says is more leadership to get everyone together. what did they say at the white house about that argument? >> there is a human dynamic to all of this, wolf, as you point out. the republicans when i talked to them not just in public but beh

jessica yellin is joining us.the last week who believes that they are actually going to get a deal before january 1st. what is the temperature at the white house at this point? >> reporter: negotiations, candy. what do you mean by negotiations? i can actually report right now, thanks to our own ted baron and dana bash that harry reid, the senate majority leader, and minority leader mitch mcconnell are meeting right now as we speak. perhaps there could be incremental progress. but as you well know, time is running out and the president today spent his day behind closed doors. he did cut his vacation short after he came home from hawaii to at least be here and try to put on some kind of an agreement and as we go over the fiscal cliff, both sides seem to be working hard to do that. the president spoke with congressional leaders from hawaii last night and tried to get a sense of where we are and now it's sort of sits in the hands of the senate and the house comes back into session on sunday before they could get it th

let's go back to our chief white house correspondent, jessica yellin.mation for us. jessica, we heard white house's blistering public response to speaker boehner's counterproposal. but will they sit down to actually negotiate where things stand now? >> reporter: well, wolf, in response to this offer, they are not going to sit down and negotiate. they will be open to talking. they will be open to receiving phone calls. but, you know, the white house has said that if speaker boehner presents a counteroffer in response to what secretary geithner presented last week, they will begin negotiations, they think this is not a serious offer and so they say this will not be the start of those negotiations. >> what is the one thing the white house hates the most about this republican counterproposal? >> reporter: the fact that it does not raise rates on the wealthy. they say that it actually would reduce rates on the wealthy. they argue that it also doesn't do enough on entitlement. it doesn't have enough specifics in general. but it does not meet that one fundamen

jessica yellin. happy holidays. come to new york.>> your top stories, heated political differences are common, but a dispute in albuquerque? that one nearly ended in gun violence. >> drop the gun! >> drop the gun now! >> one man was arrested after pulling a gun on another during an argument over the anti-obama sticker. both the victim and the gunman were military veterans. the victim an older man in his 60s during offense over a bumper sticker on the younger vet's vehicle. a fight escalated and when police arrived shs the older man was on his knees at the back of his head. police got there just in time. >>> and it is not looking good for this 60-foot whale discovered on a new york beach. firefighters yesterday were dousing it with water in an effort to keep it breathing. they haven't been able to get to the beach because of a storm. the whale is emaciated and will likely die soon. the whale was first spotted by a person walking along the beach at breezy point yesterday. >>> starbucks has two words for policymakers in washington. toda

we are frying to get more details, we're trying to get our white house chief correspondent jessica yellin on the phone and when she gets more details we'll bring it to you. >>> do you really know how much the extra taxes are going to cost you? lisa sylvester does the math. >> reporter: at the whit low's on wilson restaurant in arlington, sa virginia there,'s plenty of food and drink, but there's something else cooking up. co-owner jonathan williams worrying about the government's fiscal cliff. >> there's a real correlation, people have jobs they spend money, if people are worried about losing their jobs, or don't have a job, they're not going to go out that much, they're going to cook at home or stay home. >> reporter: just a couple miles in the pentagon, many of the people here work directly for the defense department and it's contractors. the defense industry is facing $125 billion of direct -- in addition several key tax ben fis are scheduled to expire at the end of the year that will have a direct impact on the pocket books of many americans. take a couple with one child in new york e

jessica yellin to you in washington. and, first things first, you think here michigan, you think the birth place of unions and you think about all these people who are very frustrated with this, everything i read, it seems to be pretty much a done deal, this right to work legislation, that the governor has indicated he would sign. these are the folks who helped elect the president not too long ago. should the president step in and go to bat for them? >> well, you know, the unions have been enormously supportive of the president as you point out. not only during this campaign, not only as foot stole jer sold helping get out the vote, but also financially with their dollars. the white house already expressed its support for the unions opposing right to work legislation. one of a white house official put out a statement today, matt lairic, saying in part, let me find the statement, president obama has long opposed so-called right to work laws and he continues to oppose them now. the president believes our economy is stronge

>> the kind of optimal policy path that vice chairman yellin showed is indicative of the kind of scenario is we have run. the general character of the interest rate path, that it stays below until unemployment is in the vicinity of 6.5% or lower and then rises relatively slowly which goes back to the question asked earlier that it does not involve a rapid removal of accommodation after that is reached. that is consistent with that kind of analysis and that is the type of analysis that is not the only thing we looked at but was informative and our discussion. in that kind of policy path of the type she discussed, you notice that inflation stays close to 2%. in terms of the inflation forecast, what the committee will do on a regular basis is include in its statement, its views of where inflation is likely to be one year from now. for example, currently, we expect inflation to run at or below the kid many's objections and the longer term. -- the committee's objections in the longer term. if we maintain low rates along the lines suggested by this policy, would we expect inflation to cross the

jessica yellin, was any progress made today? was there any movement at all besides this being dropped in the senate's lap? >> randy, by washington standards, that is progress. and i know it's hard to believe but the fact that all these leaders left this meeting in agreement about the next step is a hopeful sign. the good news is that this could have been much worse. they could have come out of the meeting saying it's impossible to reach an agreement, we cannot even begin negotiation, there will be no deal. that did not happen. so the fact that they have a game plan for the weekend and for the next steps, it's better than a lot of people hoped for. so now everyone's holding their breath. >> i guess we have to be thankful for the little things. but how did we get here? we heard the president say today he's mildly optimistic. why? >> that optimism has to do with the fact that it could have been worse, that all the parties in there did want to get to a deal, that they would rather find a way out of this instead of going over the cli

our chief white house correspondent jessica yellin now with the look at a chance for a deal and what's on the table. >> alison, here in washington, there is still hope a deal can be cut in time to avert the fiscal cliff. on saturday, the president was at work here in the white house but all eyes were on the senate where negotiators were trading deal points and revenue figures to try to reach an agreement all sides can stomach. the baseline for the president, any bipartisan bill would have to extend unemployment insurance that would affect some 2 million americans and increase taxes for the highest income earners. but negotiators can still work out exactly where that tax increase would hit and whether they would halt an increase in the estate tax. in case those discussions break down, the president asked harry reid to prepare a separate bill to put on the floor of the senate that would raise taxes on households that earn $250,000 or more. now, that's really a democratic proposal and you could expect republicans to block it, so, rather than thinking of that as a stop gap measure, probabl

jessica yellin is there. jess, what do we know about the president's plan to get everybody in the same room? do we think there's going to be something that comes out of this? >> reporter: well, this is one of those cases where we really are going to have to wait and see, and all the parties involved are also going in with a big question mark. the idea is the expectation by many of the participants in the meeting is that they hope that they will be able to discuss more details about a scaled-down fiscal cliff plan. and maybe that could lead to some sort of agreement ideally for all parties in which all the senators say that they will not filibuster it, and it can go to a vote. and then speaker boehner could, in theory, agree to bring it to a vote on the house floor after the house comes back on sunday. and then we would get all of this behind us before new year's eve. how likely does that sound? not so likely. >> you and i are both kind of laughing about that one. so the stumbling block, of course, over raisin

jessica yellin for us at the white house.et past all this politics here, to just really how this affects you. we'll start with one of the most popular parts of the tax code that helps so many home owners. christine romans has that. >> reporter: the middle class's most cherished tax break could be in the cross hairs of the fiscal cliff negotiations. the mortgage interest deduction. government spending on this will reach $100 million by 2014, making it the third largest tax break on the books. who does it help? 41 million people. the most recent irs data showed that 41 million people claimed this deduction on their 2010 tax returns. the tax policy center says it tends to benefit upper middle class families the most. these bars show income in the circles the average savings. for those with incomes of less than $40,000 a year, their savings is $91, look at the people who make $250,000 and more. their average savings is about $5500. this benefits people most on both coasts and cities like chicago, with higher property prices, and

let's check with jessica yellin. >> hey, anderson. tonight the two met for 50 minutes in the oval office as they struggled to find a way out of this stalemate, and so far, no word of breakthrough. aides to both men describe the conversation as frank, and we're told that lines of communication remain open. now, that is political speak, and i will translate it for you. frank, that generally means that the conversation was somewhat tense. lines of communication remains open, that means that the two men's staff will continue talking. and in fact, i've confirmed that there is no current plan for the two men, the president and speaker boehner, to have a follow-up meeting as of yet, and speaker boehner does plan to return home to ohio tomorrow. now, that's a challenge for a deal to come together because they are running out of time. they are all but out of time to get a deal done before the christmas deadline and next to out of time to get one done before the new year, anderson. >> jessica, thanks very much. let us know what you thin think,

jessica yellin, thank you. keep us posted on the president's tweeting today as well. and i don't know if you caught this, let me just show you the reaction here from house speaker john boehner because this was his reaction to the plan that jessica just ran us through, the white house's plan here speaker boehner got the plan thursday from treasury secretary tim geithner. here he was. >> flabbergasted. you can't be serious. i've just never seen anything like it. >> flabbergasted, he says. 29 days until this automatic tax increase, until the federal spending cuts that, you know, kick into place that can plunge the economy back into recession. and you have the house speaker saying this white house proposal, the one he received just a matter of days ago, isn't even serious. gloria borger, our chief political analyst, let me bring you in here. one of the questions is does it seem to you that the president feels as though he has some leverage here? he won the election, right? >> he did. >> maybe that accounts for what's in his proposal. >> yeah. this is clearly a different p

chief white house correspondent, jessica yellin, and senior congressional correspondent, dana bash.ca, first, to you, the president's back in washington, wheels down. he left his christmas vacation early. but was this just a bit of showmanship, or has he been working on something specific? >> reporter: hey, john. well, today has been a bit of a quiet day here at the white house. publicly, the president has been scarce, no sign of him. behind closed doors, i'm told a few meetings internally, but mostly, relatively quiet. i expect we will see more from the president, perhaps we could even see him publicly tomorrow. perhaps he could even meet with or talk to some of the congressional leaders. the president's role in all of this, he can get each of the leaders to come closer on what the white house believes is already, pretty clearly, the framework for a final deal, and he can also go out and lobby the american people to pressure congress to get something done. again, the democrats are insistent that they have been clear on the outlines of what a deal would look like, to raise taxes on

joining me now live is senior white house correspondent dana bash, jessica yellin and david gergen. what's the latest? what are you hearing? >> reporter: they are a long way from a deal. but late today speaker boehner and president obama did speak to one another on the phone. now, this is an important development because it's the first time they've talked in a week about the fiscal cliff. i am told, though, that there was no real progress in negotiations. in this sense there was no breakthrough on that central point of tax rates. as you know, president obama insists there is no deal unless the gop agrees to raise rates on the top 2% of earners. the gop says that's a nonstarter. and the two men have not moved from that basic position. now, all of this comes at the same time treasury secretary geithner also said for the first time the administration would be willing to go over the fiscal cliff if the gop does not agree to raise those rates. this was treasury secretary geithner earlier today on cnbc. >> is the administration prepared to go over the fiscal cliff? >> oh, absolutely. ther

cnn's chief white house correspondent is jessica yellin. she is following the negotiations, working very hard on this saturday. so jess, democrats and republicans are supposedly working on a plan, even as we speak. what do we know about it? >> reporter: well, we know, don, that it's the senate leaders that are hashing this out. and what they're looking to negotiate is a deal that would extend current low tax rates for middle income americans. we don't know the exact threshold levels. so would it be people who make $400,000 and less, would it be $250,000 and less. but something that would extend low rates and then increase them above. extend probably unemployment benefits and some kind of patch for the alternative minimum tax, probably. probably a fix for the doctor to receive medicare payments. and then some other components. this is just based on prior discussions and what we know each side wanted going in. we don't know about the estate tax and some other elements. and we also don't know if this will all really come together in time. but

where every second and every maneuver counts, let's get chief to white house correspondent jessica yellin. jessica, the president says he's modestly optimist being but each also presented a backup plan. does the president really think it will come to that? >> at this point, no, they don't, john, because the white house is hopeful that the agreement that the senators are working on can actually move forward after the meeting here. there is a modest uptick in enthusiasm about that possibility. but as forts backup plan, there's no real likelihood that would ever come to a vote because republicans would likely block it in both the senate and might -- it would likely not come to a vote in the house. so that's really more rhetoric than it is reality and we have to hope for option a, getting an agreement in the senate if we're going to avoid going over the cliff. >> rhetoric versus reality. that's always a tricky place to be in washington. listen, this is some serious high stakes political poker here. what can you tell us about the meeting at the white house today? >> well, we've heard different