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a.b. stoddard.w york times" reporting these changes, noting that while, quote, financing arrangements like these are typical for presidential inaugurals, mr. obama's decision has drawn criticism from good-government. is that a fair criticism? >> absolutely. he didn't take public financing in the '08 campaign. he didn't do it again in the 2012 campaign. now he's going to take corporate donations. part of the reason, yes, his democratic donors have been tapped out. the other reason is frankly i don't think the presidential inaugural committee wants to spend time in the next month trying to raise money for multiple people. if they can get one or two big donations, it helps cover it and they can focus on a more modest affair compared to four years ago. whether it's money, transparency, freedom of information, this president vowed to do a lot of those things four years ago. just about none of them have happened. >> none of them? >> well, there have been minimal progress. you talk to good government group

a.b. stoddard, associate editor of the hill. sindcated columnist charles krauthammer. , the res tent numbers-cruncher. what do you make of the back and forth today? >> today was about the drama on both sides and blame game and showing they were going to come and call e want to get down to business before december 31, which is monday. we're not, there are no plans. no paperwork. there are conflicting reports about the meeting. it's all kind of depressing. when you poke arp you find out that the house is returning on sunday. but beyond that, nobody knows anything. >> doug: steve? >> yeah. today, nothing happened other than people using warn-out talking points and a lot of misinformation. harry reid is still blaming grover norquist. send him a memo that norquist took himself out of the discussion a week ago when he backed the house republican plan "b." it's like the old stale talking points. for me, the big picture if you take a step back from this, the big picture story here is one of misplaced outrage. media folks with the commentators on all sides complaining there is a

a.b. stoddard and syndicated columnist, charles krauthammer.u make of syria and russia getting cold feet. >> there is not mutual left for writing on the wall. they have gaintory and most importantly the military facilities they capture weapo weaponry. for assad he is looking at the high level defection today. this is extremely high level. head of the military police. what he said is interesting. there are others high in the government to affect it but they can't. that could apply to assad himself. it is possible he will give asylum, probably in iran. maybe russia will change its mind. if he escapes. if he tries to escape it's possible his own people will kill him on the way to the airport. if he stays when the regime collapses, it probably will within the next few weeks or months. the others will kill him. opposition. he will get as much of a trial as gaddafi did. the last option is one i mentioned last night. he could try to re-establish himself in tartus, in canton protected by points on the east. he might be able to exist in a while in iran,

a.b. stoddard from the hill for one kick qystion or maybe two. a.b., the party is trying to set itself up to be more are.ealing to hispanics. there should be a lot of things in the republican platform, i guess, that hispanics and immigrants like, but so far they have not been able to sell those items. how do they do that? how do they succeed in the future? >> well the political pressure on conservatives is tremendous to not provide a path for illegapal that can be perceived as amnesty. it's much like the grover norquist pledge on taxes, anything that sounds like they will be rewarded for breaking the law and they will get an easy past is considered amnesty. jon: ronald reagan did it, didn't he? >> yes. republicans are a natural homss, they believe, for latinos. they are the party of opportunity, and hard work, of entrepreneurs and they are pro family. they have to start to speak about these issues where it doesn't sound like they are breaking up families. the republicans are trying to promote for science, technology and engineering and math, wheth

a.b. stoddard and syndicated, charles krauthammer.ke of syria and russia getting cold feet. >> there is not mutual left for writing on the wall. they have gaintory and most importantly the military facilities they capture weapo weaponry. for assad he is looking at the high level defection today. this is extremely high level. head of the military police. what he said is interesting. there are others high in the government to affect it but they can't. that could apply to assad himself. it is possible he will give asylum, probably in iran. maybe russia will change its mind. if he escapes. if he tries to escape it's possible his own people will kill him on the way to the airport. if he stays when the regime collapses, it probably will within the next few weeks or months. the others will kill him. opposition. he will get as much of a trial as gaddafi did. the last option is one i mentioned last night. he could try to re-establish himself in tartus, in canton protected by points on the east. he might be able to exist in a while in iran, sem

a.b. stoddard associate editor of the hill.indcated columnist charles krauthammer. 14 days from tonight. by the way. >> start of the day i was feeling optimistic in a way i have not. it surprised me but it seems that things are moving quickly. things are moving on both sides. the white house saying this is not the final offer. but by the end of the today it's clear that the republicans-meeting with the leadership this morning after getting back in town, really want what they are calling verifiable spending cuts. they want more on the spending side. they know what boehner offers in revenue, a lot. shocking amount. to anyone either side. if you thought about this a couple of months ago. but they want real entitlement reform. they want not provider cuts, which are never followed through by congress. they want verifiable cuts. what you hear from republicans is we heard this before. we promise spending cuts that don't come through. they don't want an amount to replace the sequester. they want amount on top of the sequester and new c

a.b. stoddard associate editor of the hill. syndicated columnnist charles krauthammer.your lightning round topic but we are moving it up so you start us off. are we going to get a deal before the 2nd of january or go tumbling off the cliff? >> it looks more and more likely that we will go off the cliff. president obama will make an evident at a band aid. disappointing deal. won't get debt reduction, or affect the entitlement liability. it's very disappointing the situation we're in. no one tried harder than boehner to get a deal but it's beyond his criminal at thi cont. president obama plan "a" was nev enough. they don't like raising taxes and to get debt ceiling increase put off for a year or two they are looking for deep spending cuts. they don't want to waive the sequester or pause sequester. they want in addition to the sequester another $1 trillion in cuts. so the two sides are so far apart. if president obama wanted toresd by offering much cheaper cuts. moving the marginal rate threshold up to $500,000 or $600,000. unchaining the cpi protection as he is trying to

a.b. stoddard associate editor of the hill and syndicated columnist charles krauthammer. charls? >> look. this is an adjustment to reality. the fact is that, you know, in the glory days the 40s, 50s, 60's. the uaw was able to give its workers the hayest wages benefits in the world. that was because of an anomaly that we were only industrial country that came out of second world war intact. europe was on its knees. germany and japan were rubble so we thought that was the natural order of things. it wasn't. and when the other industrial countries recovered we got world competition as we have. we ran into bankruptcies. chrysler now twice. we see that in the southern states where the transplants are without the unions. they weren't the ones who went bankrupt last -- in 2008 and 2009. so it really is a choice. it's a tough choice. and i sympathize with the unions but the fact is that in the global economy where you have to compete on wages and other elements, of the units of production, can you either have, you know, high wages with low employment or you can, as obama would say, sprea

a.b. stoddard and jessica yellen. >> it's great if the two can come to an agreement and the white house loves it, but it's always been the house that's been the sticking point. what do you think the scenario is there, a.b.? >> that's going to be tough for the house speaker. he said on friday in meeting with all the leaders and the president that he wanted to bring something up. might be amended and sent back to the senate. he doesn't know what's in there. how much money the democrats are going to push for to cover the medicare doc fix. the uninsurance -- excuse me, unemployment insurance that is going to lapse at the end of the year and put 2 million people out of reach of a check. and there's other issues. the alternative minimum tax. a lot of money that they're scrambling to find as they also deal with the tax issues. so it's really going to depend on what those numbers look like and boehner doesn't entirely have a sense until he has a senate proposal to try to sell to his house side. >> i just want to remind our viewers, we will join fareed zakaria, "gps" in progress as we watch the senate

a.b. stoddard. >> we know we have issues with nonwhite america. >> yes. >> can tim scott help? >> no. and i feel -- i felt pained when i heard her have to keep saying "he earned it, he earned you h? that republicans have been good about putting people of color on stage and they deserve some credit for that. but when you look at their po policies, that's what turns off people of color. >> that has been the issue. as daniela points out, the people on stage look like america. president bush's cabinet looked like america. but it is not translating. >> well, also, the democrats heavily target the black republicans in congress. allen white has had one of the hardest re-election fights. mia love, they spent a lot of money knocking her down as a challenger in utah. he's a conservative. >> i was just going to say, who's going to have the hardest time, nikki haley or tim scott? >> i don't know, lindsey graham probably the most. as somebody who has covered the republicans since 1984, i think it's great that there's an african-american. >> christmas is a week from today, and i'm really hoping tha

a.b. stoddard from "the hill," thank you. >> thanks.enna: an extreme weather alert, a severe storm system triggering tornado sirens in alabama today. also in mississippi as well. you're seeing some video we just received from alabama earlier. winds already are damaging rooftops and overturning trucks and knocking down trees. authorities say the storm cut power to some 18,000 customers. so far no reports of any serious injuries. we'll take that as a good sign for now. jon: that same storm system is causing deadly blizzard conditions across the midwest. it could disrupt travel plans for millions of americans heading out for the holidays. states from kansas to wisconsin are getting hit with heavy snow and dangerous winds. but the travel nightmare could ripple all across the country. all of this comes after several midwestern cities set records for the most consecutive days without any snow. the travel nightmare could get worse as this weather system heads east. jenna: we're going to head to jon's home state of colorado right now. denver is

. >> now, ab stoddard, erin mcpike and keith boykin. a.b. let's start with you. let's read what senator demint and senator paul had to say about the proposal of boehner and the republicans. the $800 billion tax hike will destroy american jobs. if neither party leadership puts forward a serious plan, we should end this charade. ran paul says, one party proposes $800 billion in tax increases to counter them and continue to be the low tax small government party. the other party leadership proposes, wait for it, $800 billion in tax increases. it's noted that the democrats have celebrated the proposal put out by president obama. meanwhile, you have a number of republicans slamming speaker boehner. how would you describe his position right now? >> well, he really didn't win for losing. he's trying to say to president obama if i wanted topaz your proposal i can't do it. he's really truly between a deal and promise and getting the fight over with and a conference that won't allow it. i think what senator demint is saying and house republicans are saying to john boehner i