john podesta, a former clinton chief of staff. they're going to advise him to be selective, to think about the time he has in 2014 and use it judiciously as oppose told being all over the map on issues he keeps saying we have more work to do that's left over. so try to manage what he's already done. try to massage what you've already accomplished, whether it's the affordable care act or climate change, for instance. john: rights so some of the action that he can undertake are things within his control. john podesta wants to focus on that. >> and restoring trust. edward snowden and the n.s.a. has dogged hum. his numbers went down 11 points for a reason and the n.s.a. surveillance is a big reason why. the president is defending it. we'll see more of it in the courts in twourlt. and then if the president wants to shore up his legacy, 2014 is when you want to make sure you're holding your senate seats, what you're helping democrats, whether you are overtly standing next to them or far, far away from them. democrats are looking to see

you make the comparison with john podesta who came in as head of the transition and when he did bill clinton there was a huge long list. >> a lot of people needed jobs. >> it felt like their friendship was unique and they deserved a job! >> podesta came in and he was handling the transition and he called president obama and said who needs to be taken care of and the list was short. and podesta said to somebody he really travels light. >> rose: and he's maintained a kind of lightness in the white house in terms of friends. i mean, i think you get the impression -- >> real friends. >> rose: well, yes. >> chicago friends. >> rose: that's right. he's basically said we've made our friends before they got to the white house. >> real friends. like human being friends as opposed to transactional friends. >> rose: but i think it's possible to make new friends, myself, they don't have to be -- >> men are not particularly great at this after a certain age and i think a president knows he's in a highly -- the most highly political transactional atmosphere possible so he's wary of people's motive

i see podesta taking charge of the way they spin this. and i think listen the president's approval rating is going to be largely dependent on his signature piece of legislation, so signature it has got his name on it. election year is at least a good way to get it bashed or sell it. >> on that signature piece of legislation the numbers are even worse. only 34% approve of the way he handles it, 62% disprove. the numbers are clearly very low. the republican party is going okeep pressing the president on this. how do you see this pressing over the next few months? >> this is the gift that keeps on giving. the obama white house should not have are thrown that magic 7 million number on it. it's the ratio between healthy and sick enrollees. if that's out of proportion that will keep driving costs. rates shouldn't go up for a period of time, because it's the reinsurance of the insurance industry, based on obamacare. but they have put such numbers on themselves they're going to find it hard themselves. >> the political liability, a time bomb, rat

it's pretty easy to see podesta's fingerprint trying to retain senate in 2015. >> he's big about income equality. he's talked about that a lot, talked about using presidential executive actions. he did that in the clinton administration in the second term of president clinton's administration and thought that was a good way to leave president clinton's mark on history. i think he might be trying to do the same thing in this administration and trying to fire up the base specifically with environmental actions, climate actions that may be coming from this white house and the epa specifically. also this income inequality. we'll likely see a lot of that, gretchen, in the state of the union address. >> it's interesting. democrats rely a lot on the government, a bigger government. if you take a look at this gallup poll that just came out, overwhelmingly two-third of the american people now, they are dissatisfied with u.s. government. so how do you overcome that if you're president obama? >> that's the challenge. he has to tiptoe through the tulips here. there are many people who after the nsa

in a center for american progress founded by the president's own adviser, john podesta, so far the white house isn't biting, but is this proof to private market and not uncle sam should be in charge of health care in america. we have charlie gasparino here along with dana. >> it would be amazing if someone could manage the complicated process and hold someone accountable when they screw up and never make mistakes. it wouldn't happen because it would tip the hat of the white house and admit failure, but would it help fix this problem? ablutely. >> charlie, what do you think? >> it may help fix the problem. one of the things about fixing the problem that this gets put into wk and doesn't work. that is one of the problems that i think even if you -- >> but a similar -- the ceo -- the lousy system works better. the problem is, obamacare doesn't pay for itself. it's this rude gold brick sort of thing that makes no sense, and if you get someone to put it in place, get people to sign up, i think that's when it starts falling apart. >> ben stein, there's a whole lot of nonsense, company that is

in a center for american progress founded by the president's own adviser, john podesta, so far the whitee isn't biting, but is this proof to private market and not uncle sam should be in charge of health care in america. we have charlie gasparino here along with dana. >> it would be

i've also asked john podesta to lead a comprehensive review of big data and privacy. government officials along with the president's council of advisoadvisors of science and technology, look at how the challenges inherent in big data are being confronted in both the public and private sectors. whether we can forge international norms on how to manage this data and how we can continue to promote the free flow of information in ways that are consistent with both privacy and security. for ultimately, what's at stake in this debate goes far beyond a few months of headlines, or passing tensions in our foreign policy. when you cut through the noise, is what's really at stake is how we remain true to who we are, in a world that is re-making itself at dizzying speed. whether it's the ability of individuals to communicate ideas, to access information, that would have once filled every great library in every country in the world, or to forge bonds with people on the other sides of the globe, technology is remaking what is possible for individuals and for institutions and for th

secretary of state john kerry and john podesta -- people who understand the gravity of the climate crisis. they're ready to take action. members will stand with them as they put into place measures that the executive can take without waiting for congress. i would just note that there is also ways that people can get involved that don't just include contacting your congressman. we just launched a program where hundreds of people around the country are fighting in their own backyard against energy companies. once you dig into their backyard, you are polluting their groundwater. i don't think any of us wants to wake up in the morning and find they can light their tap water on fire. we have to be reaching for clean energy sources. like wind and solar to power our whole economy. this is the year where we can make meaningful strides. on a personal note, as the color -- caller spoke to catastrophe, i have two young daughters. they are two years old. i think about the world that they will inherit. i do not want them to grow up in a world that is full of routine climate disasters. you see in austr

addressed and i think we would you know he's saying that we'll have review panels we'll have john podesta his friend you know look at the big data programs well that's that's basically punting and if it's internal if it's the d.n.i. actually he gave power to the d.n.i. which is clapper who lied to congress already by having this all done internally is just stayed a full solution to the rest of the world to ordinary citizens around the world to foreign heads of state and to the american public that he's doing something. all right colin rowley former f.b.i. agent was simpler yourself just last line she there but thanks for getting very much the bulk of what you had to say was clearly very good bright let's talk to claire moodie no she gets more comment on it technology writer from london hi there glenn you're live on r.t. international there you are my name is kevin owen thanks take the time to be with us you can hear me. your initial thoughts i guess you were listening across to war i had to say over the last hour or so there in washington damage limitation could more have been done. much

john podesta is joining the white house today or yesterday.fective leader, miles, who is one of the leaders in democratic politics. he is brilliant and inspirational. he knows how to raise money. he knows how to run organizations. gloomy that. he found one of the size and the scope. that is how they are born and how they grow. policy, impact public there are basically three models .or a think tank to have impact one is impacting the debate itself when people are talking. one is focusing on the executive branch. third is trying to entice congress. -- impact congress. i'm focusing on federal think tanks. there are many that work on state and local politics. that is beyond the scope of today. how do they impact the debate? ambiguous. all say they do it. i'll want to do it. for the most part, that means focusing on an elite audience. the media, the people who talk to the media, academics, and other think tanks. spent a lot of time trying to get other people at think tanks to agree with us or to pick a fight with them or what have you. focus onvery

the firm read by -- run by .eather podesta this comes after they faced a security breach where the useres and phone numbers of 4.6 million members were posted online. t-mobile is striking back, striking a deal with verizon to swap a lot of money for a lot of catch-up. $2.4 billion in cash. is of their biggest problems their network capacity, they are making a lot of strong moves to get subscribers to come over. this in part after at&t has been trying to beat t-mobile at its own game, last week offering customers $450 in credit to jump over from t-mobile. i want to bring in our editor at large, cory johnson. not surprisingly, the t-mobile ceo has been tweeting furiously about all of this. calling out the ceo of at&t directly. why would verizon do something to help t-mobile? >> i have been covering telecom and technology for along time and i find spectrum deals hard to understand, which is why i am lucky that christina is helping me now. helping t-mobile right now? >> they are helping themselves. this is spectrum that they were not using anyway and they are trying to unload it. they have

make the comparison with john podesta. with bill clinton, there was a large list. >> a lot of people needed jobs. >> and they deserve the job. wax when he was handling the transition and he called president obama and said who needs to be taking care of, and the list was short, he said he travels light. >> and he has maintained a lightness in the white house in terms of friends. you get the impression --he has basically said we are friends, friends who got me into the white house. i think it is possible to make new friends myself. >> men in a particularly great at this after a certain age. a president knows he is a highly political transaction possible. he is wary of people's motives. >> some of the quotes, i found i knew much more because i read this piece. one of the things i have learned to appreciate more is you are essentially a relay swimmer in a river of rapids, and that river is history. i like the language. >> you get a brief shot at it. he said something interesting. i was interviewing ben rhodes, an important par

out of same time he is announcing with john podesta and others that this president has warmed up to thea of executive action and speaker john boehner says a constitutional law is awaiting his front teeth if he persists in not approach. >> it is amazing that the president has every done immigration changes by executive order and the courts have reversed him on the recess appointment and other challenges. but i think the important thing for america to understand is that this president campaign and one on hope and change and tonight america really hopes for change in this administration and i am not sure that they are going to get it. lou: also your thoughts. is there any way in the world that you can see this administration turning, if you will, in a direction that would be beneficial to the middle class and to working men and women in this country? because that has to be the focus of not only this president of the republican party itself. which is often embraced rather than working men and women. >> it is really for everyone. what we do is we increase that economic growth and it will fil

things you haven't talked about is the president's promise to have a high-level group led by john podesta looking at big data. i'm curious what two or three questions would you hope that group would try to answer? and do you think within the year we'll have another obama speech on the broader question of big data and privacy and will we have a brookings panel on that speech? >> on second thought -- >> we have had many panels on that subject, and i'm sure we will have more. does anybody have thoughts -- cam -- on this? >> well, i'm very interested in that inquiry. it is frankly not clear either from the d.b.d. or from the speech exactly what the scope of that inquiry is going to be. it is apparently a short timeline to address those issues. this is important to have on the government side and the private ide. we are at a stage in this world where we can't focus on the issue of collection. it is going to take place in ways that are beyond all of our conception today. and as you know, it is expanding at an enormous rate. i think on both the government side and the private side, we can't just

going to nom nature a couple of people, one in the state department, one who's going to work with podesta in the white house but doesn't tell us whether these people will interact with the public, whether the public debate will be richer and more transparent than it was. that's the issue. he is absolutely right. the problem is the president said we all know you can't trust government with private information and other the other hand he's not really saying anything else but trust me, i'll get it right. the reason why we care is that we want the system to work even when a president we don't trust is in office. >> i think that's a good spot to leave it with you guys. we'll pick up our coverage of the president's proposed changes with congressman rush hold, an outspoken opponent of a lot of this stuff on the other side of this break. >> i was confident in the integrity of those who lead our intelligence community, it was clear to me in observing our intelligence communications on a regular basis, that changes in our tech no logical capabilities were raising new questions about the privacy saf

once a living constitution, as john podesta who is back in the white house now set a couple of years ago because of republican obstruction in the congress said that u.s. political system and that frustration with checks and balances and all that is very much -- the party of government doesn't like it and curtails it. but there are other areas where you know, i will ask it since you are the author here. why is there so little discussion of how this stuff actually plays out in contemporary life? he set up his argument these precursors for a left versus right and then by the end you are fairly uninterested and really going very far in trying to score these things in the contemporary political debate. >> guest: it's a book about burke and paine and i certainly thought about whether should and with the kind of what would burke do and what would paine do chapter. in the end i decided that would take away from the discussion itself is if u.s. burke paine. >> or themselves and they're not shy in their clear about about what they think i held -- i think it helps liberals and conservatives und

john podesta said today in terms of afghanistan, expect the president to say that the war's ending, whicheaves open the question whether any u.s. troops will remain in afghanistan beyond this year, bret. >> jennifer griffin, thank you. >>> some angry customers tonight for the angry birds app. and many other smartphone devices. it turns out the nsa has been using them to gather information about you. chief intelligence correspondent kathericatherine herridge is he tell us how. >> according to new documents leaked by edward snowden, they're working alongside their british counterpart to harvest information from phone apps, including angry birds. they target so-called leaky apps which transmit user profile data without encryption. this data including age, gender, and marital status can be used to identify your interests. spy agencies also showed an interest in google maps which can pinpoint your location within a few yards. with one nsa spy describing the data collection as having a high degree of precision. for those who routinely use these apps, the new reporting is unsettling. >> our cons

so in that way, very much like the clinton era, etch to the personnel, even to john podesta going back help out there. >> one of the things he is able to do now because of this option is get some people confirmed whom he couldn't before. but it was very clear also from the oral arguments at the supreme court that the so called recess appointment that has been extensively abused, lawyers on the other side would argue, by both parties over these last years, is in jeopardy because of the way that argument was received by the justices, justices from all sides of it. >> it does. as if the practice is in jeopardy. i doubt the supreme court would completely get away with it, do away with it, ralter. but let's face it. the meaning of recess appointment has been stretched by this president and by president bush, by almost every president in the last little while. >> we're also looking at the upcoming decisions on the nsa and other foreign policy challenges. the senate looking at sanctions. there's a bipartisan majority certainly. they've got maybe 59 votes now to reimpose sanctions on iran. thi

once the living constitution as john podesta is back in the white house now said a couple of years ago because republican obstruction -- obstructionist in congress said the u.s. legal system and that frustration is very much -- the party of government doesn't like it. but there are other areas where you know i will ask it sincerely here. why is there so little discussion of how this stuff actually plays out in contemporary life? these are the precursors for left versus right and then by the end, you are fairly uninterested in really going very far in trying to score these things in a contemporary political debate. >> guest: so it's a book about burke and paine and i certainly thought about beginning with a what would burke do, what would paine to chapter and then i decided that would take away from the discussion itself because if you let burke and paine speak for themselves and they are not shy in their quite clear in what they think i can get helps liberals and conservatives understand their own views a little bit better. understand where they differ from people like described as the

woodruff: tomorrow, we'll get the view from the white house from preisdent obama's counselor, john podesta >> ifill: we turn now to russia where the olympic games are just weeks away. we begin with a look at the country's aggressive efforts to secure the games. john ray of independent television news reports. >> the rush arnes are taking no chances with the-- the russians are taking no chances with the torch, tight security, a trouble prey parade today but these olympics are already steeped in blood. here just half a day's drive from sochi, they are waiting-- waging war. special forces-- expected militants, a husband and "the young and the restless" wife at home where they are making a last stand. >> beyond, a friend pleads with the mother to surrender. >> i don't want to come out she replies. i want to die. but she does hand over her son, his name is ravah arc. he's 2 years old and terrified. and soon he will be an orphan. on the des late hillside a world removed from the slopes of sochi, a sabotry reserved for the dead of russian's anti-terror operations have that intensified as the game

wants a living constitution, then, john podesta back in the white house now said a couple years ago that because of republican obstruction in the congress said that the u.s. political system sucks. and that frustration, checks and balances and all that is very much -- the party of government doesn't like it because it curtails government. but there are other areas where, you know, i'll ask essential to the author here, why is there so little discussion how this stuff actually plays out in contemporary life? you set up this argument, precursors to left versus right, and then by the end you are fairly uninterested and really going very far in trying to score these things in the contemporary political debate. >> guest: it's a book about her campaign. i certainly start about whether it should end with the kind of, what would burke do, what would paine dude chapter. in the end i decided that would take away from the discussion itself because if you let burke and paine speak for themselvethemselve s, and they're not shy and quite clear about what they think, i think it helps both liberals and

i've also asked my counsel, john podesta to lead a comprehensive review of privacy. it will consist of government officials along with the president's counsel of science and technology will reach out to privacy experts and techologists and see how they are being confronted by both the private and public sectors. whether we can forge international norms on how to manage this data and how we can continue to promote the free flow of information in ways that are consistent with both privacy and security. for ultimately, what's at stake in this debate goes far beyond a few months of headlines or passing tensions in our foreign policy. when you cut through the noise, what's really at stake is how we remain true to who we are in a world that is remaking itself at dizzying speed. whether it's the ability of individuals to communicate ideas, to access information that would have once filled every great library and every country in the world or to forge bonds with people on the other sides of the globe, technology is remaking what is possible for individuals and for institutio

around congress, he brought back some people to help with congress, not the least of whom is john podesta, who now advising him. is this really still about figuring out the relationship of congress? >> you know, to score this at home with the right kind of score card, there's a guy named phil schiliro at the beginning of the obama administration who has now been brought back, and he's very good at figuring out what's possible on the hill, and john fodesto is good at figuring out orders in a constitutional way. it's important to understand if it was unconstitutional, the courts would slap the president down, so he's not really making a power grab here, he's just trying to use the powers that president already has and john will be very helpful in that, and in the convening power, that's the phone part of the pen and the phone, the president has enormous convening power to bring people together to reach some kind of a consensus outside of congress, and he needs to do more of that. >> well, he's got a new task force to deal with violence against women. heather, he's got together university pr

go around congress to leave an imprint on domestic policy, and all of this is the advisor of john podesta, in fact, in the final years of the clinton administration, he became an expert on the power of the presidency. work-arounds will be needed this time. on tuesday, the senate blocked two proposals to extend emergency benefits. voting against the bill that would have extended benefits through november and paid for it by continuing a pay cut to medicare providers through 2024. and then voted down, 55-45, a three-month extension not paid for at all, at least more than 1.3 million people without jobless benefits until late january when lawmakers could take up the legislation yet again. by the way, this is the senate. there was no progress on what was going to happen in the house, but we digress. the question is, if congress can't pass unemployment benefits, what will it be able to pass? over the last week, white house aides have previewed the state of the union for a lot of the capitol hill democrats, and that's leaking out, setting an ambitious 2014 agenda. the president wants to focus on

the president has brought in somebody who was a former chief of staff to president clinton in john podesta was known for working executive action, executive, in other words, taking steps, doing what i a president can do without going through congress. >> that's right. >> woodruff: what does that say? >> i think that is an interesting question. you sort have to be in president obama's head to know what he thinks that says but as recently as 2010 when republicans took back control of the house, john poddesta was in fact writing, look, you can do more through executive actions than people think. that that is a way to enact democratic policy even when congress is recalcitrant. so we'll see. judy, we get an early test of the atmosphere on this, which is the debt ceiling which could be either a crisis or simply something where both sides compromise at the end of february, early march. will that be a moment of confrontation or a moment in which both sides decide they're going to approach the question in a civilized way. >> woodruff: susan, how much of all this does depend on whether the republica

but, some of the white house changes he has made just in the last couple of weeks, bringing in john podesta out to be a much water chief of staff than i expected a woman named katie this is all inside baseball. >> rose: what does that represent. >> it represents a president not quite as ins sthrar as he was for, insular for much of his first term. >> slightly less insular. >> you know, an expected surprise is a channel but as i say he may have signaled that both of our previous -- both president reagan and president george w. bush this their final two years you could see them withdrawing from the job, i thought and so if obama is signaling he is viewing this last time as where he is going to be more engaged, find better ways to communicate with the abandon -- >> rose: the thing pointed to most often, doris, you take away from this more than anything else he has revitalized with this speech his presidency and found his footing and found if not his theory of the case found the narrative again? >> and if that is true, you know, then one of the reasons i think the democrats love this speech is

i think podesta made some jonestown reference which he apologipolapologized for later.l be all executive action. anything he wants to do now will be executive action. do you foresee that or do you think he will reach across the aisle and try to get along with some of the people that he clearly is not that big a fan of? >> i think the president wants to reach across the aisle and do some things that for years and years have been bipartisan items. infrastructure, education, unemployment insurance, making are issue we don't have a debt limit crisis. those are all things that for years, for generations in fact have been bipartisan items in washington. the president has laid out a set of things in each of those categories that he thinks that would be good for the the country in the near term and important for our economy over the longer haul. and i think he's asked republicans to work with him on those items. immigration, as well. >> but with him and what they see as a weakened state after last year, they're going to be very hesitant to cooperate on anything he wants to do a

not be surprised what came across yesterday from the president because from the day he hired john podesta to come in and help out and kind of help out the chief of staff, you knew that he was going to be consulting the president on executive order. he actually wrote a book about it. he says that clinton and bush did a lot of executive orders, they weren't aougs aougs -- using their full executive powers. this president made it clear he plans on dominating this year. if legislation can't move through congress, he's going to move it through his oval office. >> he's calling 2014 the year of action. all he says that is necessary is a pen and paper. take a listen. >> i've got a pen and i've got a phone. and i can use that pen to sign executive orders and take executive action, administration action that moves the ball forward. and i've got a phone which allows me to reach americans from every walk of life, nonprofits, university to try to bring more and more americans around what i think is a unifying thing, making sure this is a country where if you work hard you can make it. >> here's the un

this is a strength of the new one, john podesta, what can he do to move things forward that don't involvehat we're going do while we try to get past the bipartisanship. >> they really need to do more with the budget deal investigation been cut in november. i think paul ryan is in january going to announce a pretty big republican set of forms that will replace obama care so they can deal with the challenge which you don't have anything to propose in obama care's place and then i think the growth agenda is the challenge for both parties. the republicans have been too obsessed. we kept the spending level for two years buchl that doesn't tell people how -- you know that doesn't improve opportunity and social ability in america. the obama administration has been worried so they've actually lost the focus on that. if you think what's the republican's agenda to help main street middle class, i would suspect most would have trouble on either side. >> and the republican party is also suffering an identity crisis where you see more and more speaker of the house willing to take on conservative group

i've also asked my counselor, john podesta, to lead a comprehensive review of big data and privacy.ll consist of government officials who, along with the president council of advisors on science and tohnology, will reach out privacy experts, technologists, and business leaders, and lookup the challenges inherent in big data are being confronted by both the public and private sectors. whether we can forge international norms on how to manage this data, and how we can continue to promote the free flow of information in ways that are consistent with both privacy and security. for ultimately what is at stake in this debate goes far beyond a few months of headlines or passing tensions in our foreign policy. when you cut through the noise, what is really at stake is how we remain true to who we are in a world that is remaking itself at dizzying speeds. whether it is the ability of individuals to communicate ideas, to access information that had once filled every great library in every great country in the world, or to forge bonds with people on the other side of the globe, technology is r

asked my counselor, ahn podesta, to lead comprehensive review of bigda that and privacy. group will consist of government officials who along with the council on science and technology will reach out to nothingseserts, tech and business leaders and look at how the challenges inhesht in bigda that are being confronted by both the public and private sectors. can forge international norms on how to manage this data. and how we can continue to the free flow of information in ways that are andistent with both privacy security. for ultimately what's at stake debate goes far beyond a few months of headlines or passing tensions in our foreign policy. when you cut through the noise, at stake is how we remain true to who we are in a that is remaking itself as speeds. whether it's the ability of individuals to communicate access information that would have once filled every great library in every or toy in the world, forge bonds with people on the globe,ide of the technology is remaking what is possible for individuals and for institutions and for the international order. reforms th

i've also asked my counselor, john podesta, to lead a comprehensive review of big data and privacy. this group will consist of government officials who along with the president's council of advisors on science and technology will reach out to privacy experts, technologists and business leaders and look how the challenges inherent in big data are being confronted by both the public and private sectors. whether we can forge international norms how to manage this data, and how we can continue to promote the free flow of information in way that is are consistent with both privacy and security. for ultimately what's at stake in this debate goes far beyond a few months of headlines or passing tensions in our foreign policy. when you cut through the noise, what's really at stake is how we remain view to who we are in a world that is remaking itself as dizzying speeds. whether it is the ability of individuals to communicate ideas, to access information that would have once filled every great library in every country in the world, or to forge bonds with people on the other side of the globe.

. >> the recent is announcement john podesta will serve as the head of what we can do on executive actionsmanda just put out there, do you think the threat of more vigorous executive action is enough to jar republicans at all towards a little more cooperation? do you think there's any potential there? >> by the way, there is already cooperation. my column is about transpartisanship. you have a tea party working with john conyers, the most liberal member of congress, to curb the nsa, david vitter working with brown, two banks to fail, and elizabeth warren, the great crusader working with john mccain. but i think this speech needs to be viewed against the back trop of a progressive resurgence this past year and that has built up whether it's a people on the streets, fast food workers, whether it's the progressives in the senate saying, enough. we're not just going to step back and defend programs that have made this country a more civilized one like social security. we're going to expand it. i think the president is being moved by his constituency that has waited too long and is saying we ca

. >> reporter: john podesta, a lot of democratic poobservers say is about time he came in, former chiefcracking the whip, something a lot of people will hope president obama turn some things around. he'll focus on climate change and got a lot of experience when it comes to capitol hill. there is a thought that perhaps that could help but a lot of folks think maybe it's too late that 2013 was an important year and the president's trying for a reset at a difficult time. >> right around the corner on the horizon as you mentioned is that debt ceiling battle. we're hearing already deja vu, the president saying he will not negotiate around the debt ceiling, republicans saying there have to be conditions accompanying it before they agree to raising the debt ceiling. how do you foresee this one playing out? is the dynamic any different? >> reporter: we still don't know exactly but it does have this feeling of regifting, doesn't it? if you give me this in 2013 and now you're giving me a debt ceiling battle in 2014? paul ryan has said that after the holidays, republicans are going to get together

secretary of state john kerry and john podesta -- people who understand the gravity of the climate crisishey're ready to take action. members will stand with them as they put into place measures that the executive can take without waiting for congress. isould just note that there also ways that people can get involved to do not just include contacting your congressman. wheret launched a program hundreds of people around the country are fighting in their own backyard against energy companies. --e you dig into their come backyard, you are polluting their groundwater. no one wants to find that they can lay their tap water on fire. we have to be reaching for quick -- clean energy sources. light wind and solar. power our own economy. this is the year where we can make strides. note, as the color spoke to catastrophe, i have two young daughters. there two years old. i think about the world that they will inherit. i do not want them to grow up in a world that is full of routine climate disasters. you see in australia right now our winter is australia's summer. it is 120 degrees in australia. thi