and a former staffer for senator ben nelson you said earlier that centre nelson told you that he hadk for the provision in the bill. a few moments ago, you said he took credit for the provision. which state and do you believe to be correct? >> both. as i recall, and i'm fairly confident that he said he didn't ask for that to be in there. he preferred a similar provision to for all states. he only got it for nebraska. he did not ask for nebraska to be singled out. he was responsible for an address to getting a but he did not ask that nebraska's only get it. do you always say again? >> no, you said earlier that he did not ask for nebraska but he is taking credit for it. >> that's correct. the associated press in california issued a report showing that governor schwarzenegger himself engaged in the exact same activity at the state level that he is complaining about the federal level. are you aware of that? would you file a similar suit against the governor of california if he was doing the same thing? >> oh, a pesky questions. [laughter] our focus is on the state of south carolina and t

and i am a former staffer for senator ben nelson [inaudible] and your comments you said earlier that senator nelson told you had you not ask for the provision in certain the bill and a few moments ago to said that with great fanfare he took credit for the provision so i would like you to tell me which statement do you believe to be correct? >> both. he told me that, as i recall and i am fairly confident this is precisely what he said as he did not ask for that to be in there. but he preferred a similar provision for all states but he only got it from nebraska but he did not ask for nebraska to be singled out. so he was responsible for nebraska getting it but he did not asked nebraska only get. you want me to say it again? >> you changed your statement earlier when you said he didn't ask for it and now you're saying he didn't ask for nebraska only to get it should -- >> that's right. he did ask for nebraska only. sprick after governor schwarzenegger's comments on the press on sunday, the associated press and california issued a report showing governor schwarzenegger himself engaged in

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very broad sense, he wants to help progressive democrats not necessarily centrist democrats like ben nelson and joe lieberman win reelection and so that was part of what he was saying when he said, hey, look, guys, you have big robust majorities, let's get this done. we didn't come here for fun and games, we came here to build this progressive governing agenda and to change the tra skrebgtory of where this country is going. it's just that a lot of folks are uncomfortable with that. >> woodruff: cynthia talker. coming back to this notion john harris put out of the public versus the washington audience. do you see that same divide, two audiences he had to reach? >> i don't think the tune i don't know speech was the place for him to lay out the legislative and political strategy for the job that he is trying to accomplish. the legislation that he wants to get passed. i think his job was to shore up waiverring democrats. i'm not going to run for the hills and you shouldn't, either. in the coming days he'll be out on the trail as he was today getting voter support and he's going to be doing a lo

telephone call from senator graham, saying that he had received a telephone call from senator ben nelson, asking to call the dogs off. and senator graham suggested to senator nelson that he call me. and he called me and asked what he could do to assure us that there were not going to be constitutional problems and i told him that what would satisfy this group, which has now grown to 15, is to take that provision out of the bill and don't let it become law. he explained that either that would happen, or that the same provision would be provided for every state. now, of course, if the same provision is provided for every state, then that does not pose a constitutional problem that the attorney generals would be concerned in, in protecting their states, but would raise other questions of fiscal responsibility and budgetary questions and all of those kinds of questions that are rampant right now in the current budget crisis. and the economic crisis, so that's where we left it. and i was very interested, he said, i knew, i knew, just like ronal reagan, trust but verify, with he was assuring m

critics call it the cornhuskers to kick back, designed to secure the votes of senator ben nelson forthe health-care bill. mr. mcmaster will explain why he and the other state attorneys general believe it is not lawful. today, he weighs into another controversial and potentially dangerous area, health-care reform, so, welcome, henry mcmaster. >> those prosecutions are not controversial. almost everyone is in agreement with locking up the internet traffickers and drug smugglers. this has achieved some conversation run the country, and i will be glad to answer any questions anybody has about it. it is actually a very straightforward thing, and that is that we have now, there are 15 attorneys general, including 13 republicans, who have joined together on this issue, concerning the so-called cornhuskers kick back, and the other challengers and critics and criticisms of the bill itself, both in the house and in the senate, those are not a part of this letter and this effort by this group, although some are all in this group, and some are otherwise not participating in so far, and they may

i hope somehow ben nelson and some of the people in the senate, when this goes back to the senate, i hope it does, will find their conscience again and reject this while there is still time. >> congressman, i'll let you get the final word. you got 20 seconds. >> absolutely. the great things we have is that seniors, or even family members, young men and women no longer have to do co-pays when they go in for health insurance. so they come for preventative care, preventive screenings. >> we are going to lose the satellite. we just lost it, unfortunately. we had a limited window there. we were having technical difficulties. i want to give thanks to both congressmen for joining us on a fair and balanced debate here. thank you. >> president obama directly blaming the christmas bomb scare on al-qaeda for the first time today. now he's promising to step up the effort against members of the terrorist network based out of yemen, the most effective way for the u.s. to take out this group of killers, next. >>> time for top of the news. the search is on for a missing baby from arizona after his m

believe the 60 people will stay in place, tlo though there's increasing pressure on people like ben nelson. he was one of the last people to come to the table for the democrats. he's felt the need to put up an ad defending his decision. he's getting pressure in nebraska. he cut a last minute deal. there's a little pork barrel in the senate bill for nebraska. they don't have to play the increased medicaid costs. a lot of nebraskans are saying, we don't want that. it mikes us look greedy. >> what rush limbaugh was say g i ing was great, except for the 47 million people that don't have health care. the political costs of this hill are obvious. the approval rating of the president. there have been a lot of costs to get to this point. it's further than any president as ever gotten. to be at this point and not get to the finish line would be unimaginable. there's no margin for error. the 60 people voting for the bill will almost certainly be the 60 voting for it next time around. in the house, people could be moving in and out of voting. >> it's not a universal bill. when the began, 87% of the a

will keep their fractious 60 people in place, though there's increasing pressure on people like ben nelson. he was one of the last people to come to the table for the democrats. he's felt the need to put up an ad defending his decision. he's getting pressure in nebraska. he cut a last minute deal. there's a little pork barrel in the senate bill for nebraska. they don't have to play the increased medicaid costs. a lot of nebraskans are saying, we don't want that. it makes us look like we're greedy. i think else in listen stay in place and they'll keep their 60 votes. >> what rush limbaugh was say ing was great, except for the 47 million people that don't have health insurance. >> and are not as wealthy as he is. >> this has been a difficult hill to take. the political costs of this hill are obvious. the approval rating of the president. there have been a lot of costs to get to this point. it's further than any president as ever gotten. no universal coverage bill has ever passed either chamber. to be at this point and not get to the finish line would be unimaginable. in the senate, there's n

now ben nelson, backing off, saying that they should do a fix where every state gets their full medicaidll paid for. that's another $27 billion. they have a problem here and they were counting on governors like ed rendell from pennsylvania going out and trying to drum up support for health care. they are sending bill clinton to the house democratic caucus the end of this week, trying to get him to do what he did in the senate side, vote for this or you will lose next year as we lost in 1994 in the midterms. >> chuck, here the president faces unemployment at 10%, this week more jobs lost, it stays unchanged at over 10%. mark zanldy an economist who with moody's economy.com, the white house consulted with him. he says unemployment will go to 10.8% by october. the president wants to fight the deficit but states like california and others saying we need more stimulus, more federal help even though governor schwarzenegger says it's not a bailout. >> they are working on a second stimulus, the white house is afraid to call it that. it's this about $250 billion, some transportation things, diffe

marry land rue got millions in extra money and ben nelson got millions in extra money for nebraska.mising to stop annoying everyone. on christmas eve mainly because they all wanted to rush home for the holidays, the democrats got the 60 votes they needed to pass the health care bill. but if you think our long national boredom is over, guess again. now we all get to watch the senators fight for this bill, all 2,074 page of it and the house members who have their own lengthy version. more jargon, more maneuvering, more breathless excitement. bring plenty of popcorn but hold the butter. remember, your health is at stake. >> osgood: commentary from howard kurtz. now to bob schieffer in washington for a look at what's ahead on face the nation. good morning, bob. >> schieffer: good morning, charles. well, why did the democratic leader in the senate say what he said about barack obama and race and where are we in the war on terror? we'll talk to democrat dianne feinstein, republican peter hoekstra about both of those things. >> osgood: thank you, bob schieffer. we'll be watching. ahead now

provision that would protect nebraska from the medicare changes that were used to get the support of ben nelson. the democratic leaders are getting ready for a political war, going into the midterm elections. long beach, on the line. good morning to you. caller: happy new year. host: the first and want to talk about, actually, was immigration. people have been complaining about the immigrants. you do not hear anyone complaining about the employers. people would not come if they did not get hired. they exploit them, and use the non-documented workers. they have chemicals and asbestos. that is what they use them for. that is the problem here, not the poor people who come here to make a living. the other thing that we need to look at this -- look at is the middle east. we have to see the level view of the nation. we cannot criticize the nation on c-span. we have to take a look at this. i see people going on and on about muslims. but if you talk about the religion of these people, they will cut you off. we really need more information about where we stand in the united states on the middle east. th

guest: i like what the caller said, this assumption that mary landrieu for ben nelson would get banked for helping their constituents. actually, the opposite has happened. nelson is having trouble, even among his own constituents. this is the idea that brown ran on, that this is the people's seat. democrats campaigned on this idea in 2004, 2006. it is not really changing, and that is the frustration. we cannot pretend that this is just bush's fault. meet them where they are, define yourself on it, and run a campaign. guest: i think the question is whether or not we want to go back and recalibrate on this. also, can scott brown played a role in it? host: thank you to both of our guest this morning. we will take a short break and then we will speak with bill adair. we will talk about president obama's first year in office, marked today. >> president obama signed a directive today aimed at cracking down on tax cheat to get federal contracts. then after meeting with advisers, he delivers remarks on a national mentor month. an update on relief efforts in haiti from robert gates speaking fro

can you expand on this about senator ben nelson? is state that would be used for medicare and he's asking not to take it anymore? guest: this was done essentially to get senator nelson's vote. it was to expand federal funding for medicare in nebraska. some said great, but what about our state? senator nelson took a lot of heat for this. he's a conservative leaning democrat in a strongly republican state. he's gone around the state and done all kinds of ads to explain his position, and finally he said to senator reed, let's take this off the table. he said let's give it to all states or take it out entirely. host: wlats going on in massachusetts -- with what's going on in massachusetts, how long until he could be sworn into the senate? guest: this is a matter of contention. you haveçó democratic-leaning officials in massachusetts saying it may take two weeks to officially process the win. thers÷ tradition in the senate it is not disputed, you get that person in there as quickly as possible. i can bet republicans would be crying foul i

i have tried to contact my senator ben nelson and he never gives me an answer.e says what i want to hear. let's open it up. host: wichita, kan. on the democratic line. caller: i am very angry at this bill that harry reid and answer policy have pushed on us. it is the wrong thing to do. i have already seen evidence of what it has done to mind. i think we should be able to vote on this thing affecting the people. i don't think we should have to take something that these people are not revealing the real thing to us. they don't tell us anything. host: yesterday at the white house press secretary robert gibbs was asked about c-span's requests . >> i can't you answer the c-span question? >> i did. >> why do need to see the letter? >> dan asked me about the letter. i have not read the letter. i answered a dance question and i answered this before we left for the break, keith. the number one priority for the president is getting differences worked out. getting a bill through the house and senate. with the back and forth and details of what is in the bill -- i don't wan

with ben nelson who is now being characterized from the batman movie there are posters of him lookinglike the joker and there are some areas that stock by him that he has helped with federal subsidies a, etc., etc. but he sold out his voters for voting for that bill. and then, there are many, many folks on the hill who are in trouble by the ethics committee's and charlie rangel and his tax problems, maxine waters, sanchez sisters, i could do a whole encyclopedia series of corruption. [laughter] >> host: florida please go ahead. >> caller: hello. happy new year. thank you for being here and answering your questions. like to go back to the first question about which party has done more for the american people? i liked your answer but i wish would go into some examples. it seems that conservatives and republicans have a hard time to articulate but there are so many examples. one gentlemen brought up the union's. everything they are tied to our going out of business. teacher unions commandeered spent billions of dollars to put teachers into rubber rooms because they cannot fire them. the

the mental model of -- take ben nelson as your example.ct or state, and i want to vote for what will be perceived as a liberal bill, how do i do it? the answer is i appear very ambivalent and not a rubber stamp. and this isn't where i needed to be. this doesn't have a lot of things i want to do and reduce the deficit more. and at the end you do two things. you cut a deal to make it a more moderate bill. and you cut a deal to bring something back for your state or your district. and then it turned out those things didn't work because what you did during that whole interim period when you and all of your friends are saying this isn't a very good bill you convinced everyone. your constituents didn't know were you playing for leverage and they don't think it's a very good bill and you cut a deal and they think you're craven. and they don't like the bill and also don't like you. this is a problem a lot of them are in. so i would strongly, strongly suggest that what they stop doing is going on tv and this goes for all the liberals, too, and all

and the mental model of lies and take ben nelson as an example.f i'm a moderate democrat and i want to vote for what would be perceived as a liberal view, how would do i it? i appear am biff lent on it. and i'm not a are rubber stamp for the policy. this is not where i wanted to be and we need to reduce the deficit more. and you wait a long time doing that. and then at the end you do two things. you cut a deal too make it a more moderate bill and you cut a deal to bring something back to your state or district. and then it turned out those things didn't work because what you did occurring that whole with interim period when you and your friends were saying, this is not a good bill. you convinced everyone. the constituents didn't know you were playing for leverage. they don't think it is a good bill. you cut a deal and now they think you're craving and they don't like the bill and don't like you. this is a problem a lot of them are in. but i would strongly suggest, that what they stop doing ising for on tv and this goes for all of the liberals too

you see it with ben nelson, who is now being joked about from the batman movies.here are now posts of him in rural areas of nebraska that has stuck by him, you know, that he had helped immensely with federal subsidy, etc. etc., who were livid at what he did to sell out his voters for voting for the bill. and then there's just -- there are many, many folks on the hill who are in trouble, who are under investigation by the house ethics committee's. you got charlie rangel and his tax problems. maxine waters, the sanchez sisters in california. i could do a whole encyclopedia series on corruption. . . michelle, thanks for being here and answering our questions. i'd like to go back to the very first question that you got about which party has done more for the american people and i liked your answer but i wish you would go into some examples. it seems like the conservatives and republicans have a hard time articulating this. and there's so many examples -- the gentleman brought up unions. unions -- everything that it's tied to are going out of business, airlines, car co

more democrats came in, and i endped up working, putting together a legislative shop for senator ben nelson from nebraska, which was a really interesting experience. he's a very different senator, representing the same state. so it was, you know, it gave me a really good handle on how members' personal differences and the way they approach issues can really, you know, have -- affect the way the office is structured, affect the positions they take and sort of the whole shooting match. and then i went from there to be legislative director for senator tom harper from delaware, and he also was a very active, engaged member, so -- and that was also during the time, i don't know if you all remember this, but when it was -- 2001, when senator jeffords switched parties and at that time the senate had been 50/50, 50 democrats, 50 republicans, and because the administration was a republican administration, and the vice-president is the president of the senate, the republicans technically were in the majority, but then senator jeffords switched parties from republican party to democratic party, and wh

"when senator ben nelson was negotiating with the majority leader over whether he would support the healthare bill, he demanded that the federal government pick up the total costs of our proposed medicaid expansion in nebraska, even though other states would eventually have to share the costs of expanding their medicaid programs. in perhaps the most pointed criticism yet, governor schwarzenegger of california, in his state of the state address on wednesday, said that california's congressional delegation should either vote against this bill that is a disaster for california or get in there and fight for the same sweet deal that senator nelson of nebraska got for the cornhuskers state. he got the corn, we got the husk. mr. nelson says he will fight for california and other states to get the court, to." that is in "the new york times," as is this story. "president obama has apparently embraced the cadillac attacks, an excise tax on high-priced health insurance -- cadillac tax, an excise tax on high- priced help insurance plans. as envisioned in the senate bill, the excise tax of 40% would be

likes this stuff, but i've been places where i've been asked, how come you didn't get -- i mean, ben nelson got this guy got, why didn't you get anything? the gentleman is right, it's a flawed bill but in the senate it's been made worse because now it's not fair because people in nebraska and iowa and north dakota and florida and louisiana are going to be treated better than the constituents in our state. that's not fair. that's not fair. mr. roe: i make the point that's been made twice, the american people are the fairest people on the earth. we fought a revolutionary war and stated that everyone had that right, has a right to be treated equally and fairly under the constitution. this does not do that. it absolutely voids those rights for people in certain states and gives more rights to people in other states. the american people will do a lot of hard things. if you're honest with them and you're fair. they feel like the people in california and the people in ohio and tennessee and michigan and nebraska are all being treated the same. and i might add that the people in nebraska feel the s

. >> ben nelson has written a letter asking that the deal vdot for nebraska be taken out.e not seen that letter. [laughter] >> these are short answers. congressman abercrombie has aspirations to run for governor. as the president spoken to him about delaying his retirement from the house? >> not that i am aware of but i can certainly check. >> i have 17 questions. [laughter] at least you are starting withç -- >> at least you are starting with honesty is the best policy. >> on the anniversary next week of theç inauguration, in the wk ahead you did not indicate -- the president is not doing anything at all publicly to mark the occasion? second, behind the scenes, passed white houses and administrations have often had whether it is cabinet retreat or planning groups to set an agenda for the second year. çis there nothing like that gog on? >> we have had -- we don't lack3 for meetings. obviously there have been a series of meetings that have been, quite frankly, that go back to late last year, to think through planning for the budget, planning for the state of the union, an