also in washington we have mark calabria he is director of financial regulation studies at the capitol institute and in philadelphia we cross to gary which he is assistant professor of finance and statistics at temple university and former moody's managing director are a gentleman this is cross talk that means you can jump in anytime you want and i very much encourage it but first let's have a look at some of the controversy surrounding the rating agencies. last week u.s. rating agency standard and poor's said it was placing fifteen euro zone member states including germany and france on negative watch with the possibility of a downgrade it did so ahead of the european council meeting where engler merkel and nicolas sarkozy were supposed to thrash out a response to the european debt crisis this is that some critics to believe the agency is exerting pressure on the european council and trying to influence the course of the talks the financial crisis will be causing in the eurozone is no longer a crisis of individual countries on the periphery we think it has taken on sort of a more systemic traje

constellation energy group] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> a possible collision course on capitolill tonight as the house is expected to reject the senate type and approve the bill to extend the payroll tax cut to 160 million americans. the house will hold a critical vote dealing with your money become an issue whether to extend the tax cut for workers and unemployment benefits. nikole killion is in our washington bureau with how the vote may play out this evening. >> as you mentioned, the house is likely to reject this tonight because many simply do not support this particular tax measure. they say the extension is too short and want more negotiations. the house is back in session during their holiday break to take up a temporary extension

captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> then the lighting ceremony for the u.s. capitol christmas tree. there will be remarks from u.s. house republican leader john boehner. congressional staff are working throughout the weekend, writing legislative language for a year- and spending package to keep the government funded through next -- next september. also on the house schedule, lawmakers need to work out an agreement to extend payroll tax cuts of long-term unemployment benefits. a couple of state department nominations including the nominations. tomorrow on newsmakers, mark of illinois joins us to talk about congress's remaining work. there was a bill that he offered that put sanctions on financial institutions. the senate unanimously approved the proposal. a similar measure is awaiting approval in the house. newsmakers airs at 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. eastern. >> there is much more to the newly designed c-span.org. more video with 11 video choices. it makes it much easier to watch the day's event. you can quickly scroll through all of the programs on the c- span networ

captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >>> beginning with the latest from capitol another potential government shutdown has been avoided. >> a deal was reached late last night, but one major vote still pending. scott thuman joins us live up from the hill. >> nothing like waiting until the very last moment, right? the house passed their version of the spending bill, and the senate, not yet. it could happen at any time. there is the midnight deadline still at their blooming or we could face a partial shutdown of the federal government. >> there was a palpable sense of relief with only hours left to spare committee spending bill was on it's way to final approval and with some bipartisan compromise. >> certainly, a process we have not seen for a number of years. >> the assessment from the left is not as rosy as they worked with the republican and do nothing

captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> live and in hd, this is abc 7 news, on your side. >>> would begin on capitol hill lawmakers are scrambling keep the government in business. late last night, democrats and republicans reached a deal to government from down at midnight tonight. we have details on the vote that still has not happened. >> kindness has reached a compromise to avoid a government shutdown -- congress has reached compromise to avoid a government shutdown. >> i work at the smithsonian. open 364 days a year. for us to close these millions see oure cannot come to museum. federal workers worried about furloughs breathed a sigh of relief. >> conference agreed on a $1 spending agreement for federal agencies. it covers the entire fiscal year. lostey would all have their jobs by now. >> the national christmas tree dark.have gone travel toricting cuba, the appropriations gave the plan their final approval. theyappreciate the fact millionaires'ir surtax. they did not give anything up it.use they never have >> tech purse tell us they expect things to only get worse. -- taxpayers tell us they exp

and so you realize that some much of the power on capitol hill is the long term staffers, the institutions. not just the individuals. and so where i come back down is , unless we have a literally and supporting the constitution. no, my god. rea not going to allow people with more money. you get to give you ten bucks and that's it. i prefer public financing of campaigns entirely. but you cannot allow corporate -- corporations to buy politics, and that's what's going on. the united decision in 2010, the supreme court says there legalized. the corporations purchasing our system, and i assure you that is not what the founders believed in. and if your kid takes campaign finance reform and slow the lobbyists revolving door we could fix so many problems, a conservative lobbyists that to skin now with this new book. and in it he says let me tell you how high but -- fought capitol hill. don't kid yourself, but capitol hill. he says, the best thing i can ever do is walk into congressman are senators office and find top staffers and say, well, when you get tired doing this stuff comes in the. you kno

the energies were elite corps required huge financial capitol investment and the large banking institutions, and they also require that all of the businesses that flow of that elite energy had to scale in big, giant factory, logistics', transport networks. it all scaled top down, centralized. the third industrial revolution skills laterally and will come. in each city as the begin to lay out the pillars of this infrastructure, there will become a noted and they want to connect to the next and the next in the next , just like wi-fi. until they connect across continents. the third industrial revolution skills laterally and wants to run and have it until it reaches ocean edges. it favors is small and medium-sized enterprises. the small and medium-size enterprises coming together invest now works. a lateral sounds like an oxymoron because we think of power as top-down. but side by side power, now, we're see on the internet has far greater potential, and we have only begun this process with the internet joining with st. energy, this revolution is a thousand times more powerful than what we exper

capitol christmas tree. good night and merry christmas to everyone. [applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] [captioning performed by national captioning institute>> the white house recently opened its doors for a core of the holiday decorations. the theme is shine, give, share. >> enjoy your visit here today. dining room a spectacular, but there are a lot of beautiful rooms. it is all done very very well. >> those are historical cards. >> the senator's office contacted the white house. >> december 11. >> ok, great. ♪ ♪ >> we had a hand in every room. >> the house is made of gingerbread on the inside, that is the foundation, and chocolate on the outside. it is architecturally accurate, but to scale. it weighs about 400 pounds, and it takes about two months to make perry -- to make. we moved it up here monday morning. it since then, we at the forest around it. those trees next to the white house are macaroons with maple, and flour, and the shorter ones are shaped into fruit. everything and the room is a double, except for the electrical parts, yes. -- everything in the room is edible, except for the electrical parts, yes. we set this aside for th

about when you listen to some of what lawmakers say on capitol hill here hill here a very interesting thing a fellow at the independent institute ivan eland thanks so much for thinking of the studio. well now let's turn it to the person that time magazine deems the person of the year there were whispers it may have been steve jobs but no this year time chose the protester kind of an interesting visual for the protester but in many ways the choice makes perfect sense from the arab spring to the crisis in the euro zone to occupy wall street the protester has come to embody what much of two thousand and eleven has been about fighting whether violently or not for change so we want to take a look at a few of this year's protests that we see significant and examine what they've resulted in and talk about what connects them and what sets them apart let's begin with egypt and more specifically the mass protests in tahrir square now the reasons ranged from widespread poverty to anger at the thirty year reign of egyptian president hosni mubarak protesters most of them peaceful came to embody the arab spring positive are to step down the

capitol christmas tree. goodnight to everyone -- a good night and merry christmas to everyone. thank you. [captioning performed by national captioning institutepyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> obama criticizes republicans in congress for blocking the nomination of former ohio attorney general richter -- richard court jury. he renewed his call to republicans to extend the payroll tax to middle-class americans. john maynard -- and boehner talks about part of the gop jobs bill. that will be taken up next week. >> today, america faces a make or break moment for the middle class. it is the worst economic crisis of our lifetimes. some want to return to the same policies that got us into this mess. the same policies that stacked the deck against working americans for too long. the part of the philosophy where everybody is left to fend for themselves and play by their own rules. i believe we are greater to gather that we are on our own. i believe this country succeeds when everybody gets a fair shot, everybody does their fair share, and everybody engages in fair play. last year, we passed the toughest financial reform in generations. f

capitol hill. what it means for millions of working americans. >> we have a crash in carroll county. [captioning made possible by constellation energy group] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> live, local, late-breaking, this is wbal-tv 11 news today. >> good morning. i am mindy basara. thank you for joining us this morning. happy friday. avon has a check of the weather -- ava. >> we have seen a lot of rain. the good news is it is basically ending. still have some rain

capitol hill. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] we are waiting for nancy pelosi to take away to the microphone. >> good evening. we can back to washington on saturday when we heard the senate had passed the bipartisan bill overwhelmingly. an agreement negotiated by reid and mcconnell. we were hopeful that the president could have signed this bill. we acknowledge it as a victory. they had insisted negotiations take place. that is then, this is now. what is it is important -- is important is the facts as they relate to the lives of the american people. what we see is a stall in action. mr. boyer will speak to that. president obama went around the country with the american jobs at which the payroll tax cut was appealing -- part of this was appealing to the american people, they support it. they want the tax cut. they want the jobs it will engender. they want us to work together. they have been very clear. we did. democrats and republicans came together. we support -- not that it is everything we would have written into the

mohammed jamjoom joins me from the egyptian capitol with more on these raids on the national democratic institute. what's going on, mohammed? >> reporter: hall a we just got this confirmed through the official spokesman of the general prosecutor's office. he said that the request to investigate these rights groups have come from judicial authorities here. they requested that the prosecutor's office inspect the offices of 17 local and 2 foreign rights groups for an ongoing investigation, that they may have received illegal foreign funding. we're also told that some of the offices were shut down. some of the computers and documents have been confiscated. he says a report will be prepared and sent to the judicial authorities for further investigations. these groups, as you said, include two u.s. rights groups, the national democratic institute and international republican institute. also the arab institute. this is sending a chill down the spine of activists in cairo some of them suggesting that this seems to be like a mu bar rick era tactic. many saying this is a clear violation of what these right

cable satellite corp. 2011] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> again, another live picture from capitol hill for you, as we continue to wait for house speaker john boehner to come out. you can see the reports gathered around there, everybody waiting to hear what the speaker says about that closed door meeting taking place right now with the house republican caucus. house democrats also meeting and talking. we understand 7:15 is the time scheduled for the house rules committee to start talking about the tax extension, the payroll tax cut extension. we'll have live coverage of the house rules committee on our cam upon-on network spann 2. -- spann -- c-span 2. we're going to bring you a discussion that took place earlier this morning on "washington journal" about surveillance and privacy.it's yr fault." what does that mean? guest: in the overall debate in the country, we have something of a crisis with regard to privacy. this country used to be defined by privacy. we have an innate sense of privacy that you have not been expressed in other countries, even close allies like england really d

political as well as institution building if i'm curious in the in the two minutes we have left here your thoughts on how politicians how how are your ideas being received here on capitol hill or in the various states whether it's the idea of state banks you know more of a micro level or at the macro level you know just changing from the fundamentals of capitalism well it's very interesting because it isn't bipartisan but for instance in the state of indiana the very conservative republican treasurer is putting state money in down in a way as deposits to lower interest rates for worker own companies and over on the other side sherrod brown has been talking with legislation to help to develop worker co-ops so there's kind of kind of an interesting thing i don't think it has been shaken out yet and of course when we get to the larger level when some of these banks and the wall street banks are i'm sure there's going to be a big fight when the next big crisis comes there's going to be demands that take them over and that's going to be a big fight politically but at the local level in some areas there's a lot of kind of coherence that you don't find the same kind of ideolo

institute of economic affairs much appreciated. thank you. still ahead for you this hour on r.t.e. occupy washington strikes at the hearts of the lobbyists up to seventy protested arrested in the u.s. capitol in the latest government attempt to break up the anti corporate movement across america got a report for you coming up. before that nato is refusing to take moscow's security concerns into account and isn't ready for syria's cooperation on a missile shield in europe so says russia's foreign minister after russian nato meeting in brussels after the talks both sides admitted that no progress had been made said nato should understand that russia cannot allow alliance radars and missiles to cover most of its territory and that it needs legal guarantees that the shield isn't directed at it that something nato has refused to do so general of nato anders fogh rasmussen said the alliance did take russia's concerns into account but that's not the impression moscow's getting. that doesn't do it if we are invited to cooperate would like to be able to discuss the terms but we're told that no discussion is needed because everything has been decided already and we don't need to worry and when we sa

capitol police down to arrest him? >> if you had to. or you instruct the justice department to send the u.s. marsh marshal. are judges part of the institution or one of the three branches? >> it has to be the type of talk they love to hear coming from newt gingrich. >> this is classic newt gingrich. he loves to say these explosive things. here's a guy that instead of campaigning two weeks before the iowa caucuses is spending his weekend in washington, d.c. which has no relevance to what's happening in the caucuses. he has no organization there. he just opened up an office a few weeks ago. the guy is not serious about running for president. a lot of people suggest this is a boom campaign or book signing tour. i think it probably is. i don't think he seriously thinks he's going to be the nominee. >> real quickly, who do you think, iowa? >> mitt romney. >> keith? >> i would say romney or ron paul. >> i want to thank both of you. the last american troops left iraq, but that is not the end of the u.s. presence there will. >>> former hero jessica lynch. she joins us to talk about her harrowing rescue. what could have led this man to allegedly set

here i think that the capitol is the most unborn consideration, and here we began moving back in 2009 to push our institutionsto enhance their capital buffers to is the beginning of 2009, 19 largest institutions have raised approximately $300 billion in capital, more than a 40% increase in what was so beforehand. i don't think any of us would discount the possibility for difficulties in the united states if there were severe problems in europe. i do think that at the core which is to say that capital and liquidity positions of our large institutions, we have made a lot of progress since the beginning that it does nine. progress which is enhanced and rounded out. >> chairman. >> thank you. >> if we were confronted with the failure of a systemically significant financial restitution it would only be in that event that the system of resolution authorities of the dodd-frank act would be triggered if that were to occur. we believe today we have the authorities in the capability to carry out the fdic responsibilities under the law. we have been working for the past year since the -- since the enactment of the legis

fairness and the high cost of capitol punishment and scientists are urging to limit the use of chip pan zees. most current use for biomedical research is unnecessary. the institute genetic link to humans makes them valuable to research, but also warrants greater justification. >> that chinese aircraft carrier, that was a 30-year-old russian aircraft carrier. they were going to just put it off the coast where they have all their gambling casinos. i don't think it's a strategic threat to a whole lot of people. it's a old -- >> 1980s. maybe a little bit for show. >> i don't think the defense department planner is a strategic guys are all that worried about one little aircraft carrier. that's just me. thank you. >>> a legal milestone for families of victims of the 9/11 attacks. a judge's rule on responsibility in a long standing lawsuit and it's implicating iran and tonight, a major accusation against dozens of u.s. businesses that they helped fund terrorists. we have details coming up. >>> major legal victory for widows of the 9/11 attacks ten years ago. mary, all of a sudden, iran is at the center of this legal case cht what's going on? >> this is a follow up to a

[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> on capitol hill today, the senate just wrapping up their work of the year. -- is wrapping up their work for the year. they passed a two-month payroll tax cut extension, the unemployment benefit, and a disaster aid bill. you can always watch our live coverage of the house right here on c-span and of the senate on c-span2. sunday, republican conference the vice-chairman on how in 2011 and his party's plans for 2012. >> i always knew there was a risk. i decided to take it because whether it is an illusion or not, i do not think it is. it helped my concentration. it stop me being bored and stop other people from being boring. it would keep me awake. it would allow me to have longer conversations. if i was asked what they do it again, the answer is probably yes. it is easy for me to say of course but not very nice for my children to hear. it sounds irresponsible. the truth is it would be hypocritical for me to say i would never touch the stuff because i did no. i decided that all of life -- all of li

capitol during the war of 1812. again, so mr. merlino took his role in the history books of this great institution. i hope my colleagues and i know the presiding officer, again, by spelling me from the chair this morning to allow me to make this statement will join me in honoring mr. merlino, a fellow virginian, for the excellent work he and the legislative team do each and every day and for their commitment to public service. and nits that sense of mr. merliono's commitment to public service i know the presiding officer joins me in this, we get our work done today so that we can give this team and the literally couple other million federal workers across the country the sense that we're not going to shut down the government, they're going able to go into the holiday season with the recognition that the government will continue operating but more importantly that so many of us recognize the great work they do to keep this country moving forward. so with that, mr. president, i yield the floor and again thank my good friend mr. merlino for his good work. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the

corp. 2011] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> thank you so much for your leadership. >> booking live the the u.s. capitol where the house and senate remain in recess, but were continuing off the floor and to resolve differences over extending the payroll tax cut and other provisions that expire at the end of the year. the list today, house republicans briefed reporters, namely that they want -- earlier today, house republicans briefed reporters, meaning that they want a year-long settlement. the potential -- if the potential peril plan goes forward, the question is when does this hit the house and senate floor? the house will be on c-span, and the senate, of course, on c-span to. senate republican leader mitch mcconnell said he is calling the house colleagues to approve the senate bill said the negotiations could start on a longer extension. also, president obama appealed to house republicans as well. continue to monitor the situation. throughout the day we have been asking your thoughts on what speaker john boehner should do. we have they pull up at facebook. so far, 692 a voting that house speaker john

captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> house speaker boehner and other republican leaders following a long meeting of the republican conference at the capitol. and here on c-span we expect to take you back live when the house gavels back in. the pending business is finishing up work on the 2012 defense authorization bill, the conference report agreed to by negotiators from the house and the senate. the speaker there talking about the payroll tax cut. republicans in the senate blocked the democratic -- democrats -- twice today in the senate to bring forth the bill that was passed to the house yesterday by a vote of 243-193. on the defense authorization bill, congressional quarterly reporting this afternoon the white house has backed off its threat to veto the 2012 authorization bill saying that changes made in conference were enough to satisfy its objections to provisions relating to terrorism detainees, so the president -- the press secretary stating there -- they won't recommend that the president veto the authorization bill. so votes coming up in the u.s. house. while we wait for the house to gavel back in we're going to show you some of

institutions now. no executive leadership. simpson-bowles was a slam dunk for the president and he threw it in the garbage can. if he had put this on capitoloadway forward, we are going to take it, make whatever changes to it, that would have been a win for him and set a template for people to begin working on. this nickle and diming our way forward is a disaster. bill: do you support the house republicans when they fight back now against what the senate did, despite a vote in the senate of 89 to 10. >> i think we are losing the high ground on tax cuts, and i think that is a bad place for the republican party to be. i think they ought to vote for it. i think we ought to get something in return and that something in return we ought to get is comprehensive tax reform. we are not going to solve any of this. bill, until we get our taxes reformed. bill: would you support a two-month extension? >> i think we have to have at least a year. if you're going to get a two month extense what are you going to get for it and how are you going to pay for it? we need at least a year. in the meantime we can't run the risk of losing the high ground to the de

capitol strategies. he's also a former democratic member of congress representing the great state of illinois. good to see you, marty. and also chris saxen, executive director of the virginia leadership institutee served eight years in the virginia house of delegates and was the virginia state cochair of john mccain's 2008 presidential campaign. chris, welcome to the show. >> good morning, good to be with you. >> let's start with john mccain. some articles are calling him the possible kingmaker, expected to make an endorsement for one of these contenders. tell me what you think about that, chris. >> i wouldn't classify senator mccain as the king maker of this campaign. could he make a difference in, say, upstate, downstate south carolina politics in the primary, in new hampshire, absolutely. i think you're going to look at more of a mike huckabee, marco rubio as far as the base coming out, making a more dramatic impact on the election in florida. as far as king maker, is it great to have that john mccain endorsement? absolutely. >> would you think that he would come out for mitt romney as a former rival? >> the rivalry back in '08 wasn't that intense. there was more of a huckabee rivalry with

national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] host: "washington journal's" live coverage continues from des moines. that is the i was state capitol on the screen. -- i was state capitol on the screen. the 1774 caucuses held tuesday. a new study out four of the -- from the center for the study of the american electorate that says voter turnout in the u.s. will drop in 2012. given that the statement, we want to gauge your enthusiasm level for campaign 2012 and the candidates. we divided our phone lines just a little differently for this first segment of "washington journal" this morning. we divided them by age. the numbers are on your screen -- of course, you can always e-mail us or send us a tweet or facebook. for e-mail, you have to put the hyphen in there, and if you could, put your age. for twitter, no hyphen in c-span in that case. facebook, again, no hypehn, and if he could, please include your age group so we can gauge how people are standing as far as they're a boozy ask -- enthusiasm. here is the accuracy in media report. against this backdrop, he goes on -- again, that this an "accuracy in media" report. but here is the s

will be made on capitol hill and at the central work is completed in as close to an on-time fashion as possible. thank you all very much. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> tonight is the final gop candidates debate before the iowa caucuses. earlier today, newt gingrich spoke with the editorial board of the dimon register. we will have that for you at 8:00. on sunday, rick corrine is our guest on "washington journal." that publication will announce their endorsement for the iowa caucus. tonight, newt gingrich before the editorial board of that newspaper. the house republicans have just announced that they are going to be holding tomorrow a 9:00 closed-door conference meeting, 9:00 a.m. eastern, presumably to discuss the way forward on finishing up 2012 spending. we will keep you posted on that and also let you know that the house is coming in tomorrow at 9:00. we will have that live for you on c-span. and 9:30 a.m., coverage of day #two of the house oversight committee on the impact of the european debt crisis. several countries of already expressed reservations about signing on to the compromi

[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> now a look at what is coming up on capitol hill. congressional staff will be working this weekend on a year and spending package to keep the government funded through september. the package is to be presented to congress early next week. temporary spending runs out on december 16. next week, house republicans plan to extend the peril tax cut. the senate will begin with state department nominations before returning to spending and the tax cut extensions. you can follow the house live here on c-span and the senate on c-span 2. >> have no health care. that is the most single element. have no environmental controls and all pollution controls -- no pollution controls. if you care about nothing but making money, there will be a giant sucking sound going south. >> ross perot made two attempts for the presidency, the first time getting over 19 million votes. more popular votes than any third-party candidate in history. he lost, but he had a lasting influence on american politics. he is the last candidate on "the contenders." >> why co

capitol hill on the payroll tax. our guests are republican congressman james lankford and democratic congresswoman allyson schwartz who both served on the budget committee. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] host: in an unexpected turn of events, the house is back in washington today to vote on the senate-passed bill to extend payroll tax holiday for two months. members will not vote on the senate bill itself. this is what they will vote on, a motion to disagree with the senate's language, to go to conference, and also vote to reaffirm their support for the original house payroll tax cut bill. house gop leaders said most of the members are insisting on the one-year payroll tax cut extension passed by the house last week. senate majority leader harry reid said publicly he would not bring the senate back to negotiate again over the bill. we turn to all of you this morning to get your take on the sterile tax holiday. house or senate plans -- what you want washington lawmakers to do? we will get to your phone calls in just a minute, but i want to begin with house speaker john boehner last night after he met with his rank and file for t

institution means to me. let me put it this way. after nearly half a century, i still cannot be in a car headed for the capitol, especially in the eveningwill know it is time to step aside. that building symbolizes to me the benevolent power and the majesty of our government. it is awesome to me, not awesome in the reflexive way that young people use the word, but in its real sense, its older sense as evoking reference. being a senator changes a person, he said. something fundamental and profound happens to you when you arrive there. and it stays with you all the time you are privileged to serve. i have seen the changes in people who have come into the senate. it may take a year, or two years, or three years, but it always happens. it fills you with a heightened sense of purpose. edward m. kennedy, in his own words. what follows are my words, but i am as sure of them as he was of his. and they are worth repeating on this occasion. when history's hand finally writes of the first 250 years of this republic, it will record that no individual legislator from any state, of any political party, at either house of congress, worked harder or lo