chuck hagel is qualified to be secretary of defense. you want to have these other things available as well. he wants someone to not be controversial. if they are controversial, they will be distracted from what they ordinarily should be doing. you want to have a non- controversial nominee. >> i wanted to press you a little bit on this. your colleague shelley berkley has said that chuck hagel is unacceptable for secretary of defense. do you support or oppose that potential nomination? >> i have trouble with it. i think there are warning bells and red signals. i would hope that the president would look at -- >> he is not an unknown quantity. >> i do not do the appointing. the president does. i would not appoint chuck hagel. i think the president knows what to do. i did not necessarily want to tell him what he should do. i think he knows and others know that the hagel nomination potentially is a problem. >> one alternative that has been suggested for chuck hagel if he was not to be nominated is michÈle flournoy. it is been suggested that s

. >> kelly, chuck hagel. we see for a second time a trial balloon, chuck hagel, floated for the pentagon. all of this and commercial being bought and aired, admittedly only in the d.c. area and on cable, but they're spending real money, and are you seeing the conservative line-up against chuck hagel even before he has been nominated for the pentagon. you covered him on the hill. let's talk about why some of his fellow republicans are going after him so hard. >> that's the important point. he is a republican, and that would give the president an opportunity to look more bipartisan in his cabinet, so that's an important reason why his name is being floated. there's been a lot of concern among republicans that he was not as loyal to his party as they would have liked to have seen. some comments with respect to iran that they disagreed with. some of the challenges during chuck hagel's time here, there are long memories here, and when you talk about the delay of making any announcements about cabinet positions, it

let's look at chuck hagel's credentials. nam war veteran, two purple hearts, a former member of the senate foreign relations committee. that's more military experience than most secretaries of defense. hagel himself has argued that that position should be filled with someone who's been a grunt, on the ground, and knows those concerns. how can you argue that he's not qualified for the job? >> there are a lot of folks who are saying that he doesn't have the military experience. if you look at ashton carter, they have been in the defense department, they're solid, reliable democrats, they know it in and out, and might be better choices for the government. but there are a lot of conservatives who are attacking hagel on policy grounds, and one argument we haven't heard a lot of, when you look at zoe baird, tom daschle, a lot of other nominees in the past who have been attacked, they've been attacked for personal reasons, who they've hired to be their babysitter, and here we're having an open argument about chuck hagel's ideologica

option. >> well, "the new yorker" magazine's ryan lizza tweeted this week, the coming attacks on chuck hagelill make the susan rice episode seem quaint. those attacks have already started. one senior republican aide told "the weekly standard," that's the neocon magazine i happen to read every week, quote, send us hagel and we will make every american knows he's an anti-semite. it stems there comments he made in 2008 in an interview about the power of aipac. hagel said he was a strong supporter of israel but said the jewish lobby intimidates a lot of people up here. i'm a united states senator, not an israeli senator. many people have defended his potential nomination. his views on foreign policy are far from being outside the mainstream. what is really motivating his critics? jack reed is a democratic senator from rhode island, and dana milbank is a columnist for "the washington post." senator reed, you know, one of our producers who is pretty sharp said that chuck hagel is barack obama with a war record. >> they think very much alike, except one guy's got a purple heart. your thoughts, how

look at this new ad from a pro-israeli group. >> secretary of defense chuck hagel? e supports sanctions on iran. hagel voted against them. hagel voted against labeling iran's revolutionary guard a terrorist group. and while president obama says all options are on the table for preventing a nuclear iran, hagel says military action is not a viable, fisible, responsibility option. president obama for secretary of defense, chalk hagel is not a responsibility option. >> well, the new yorker magazine's ryan lizza tweeted this week, the coming attacks on chuck hagel will make the susan rice episode seem quaint. those attacks have already started. one senior republican aide told the weekly standard, that's the neocon magazine i happen to read every week, quote, send us hagel and we will make every american knows he's an anti-semite. it stems there comments he made in 2008 in an interview about the you a power of aipac. hagel said he was a strong supporter of israel but said the jewish lobby intimidates a lot people up here. i'm a united states senator not an israeli senator.

but there is also this one very specific criticism of chuck hagel individually. it's not a general criticism. it's about his record. back when it was mr. hagel who had the power to confirm presidential nominees or deny them, back when he was a united states senator, mr. hagel stood in opposition to president clinton's nominee to be the ambassador to luxembourg, a man named james hormel. senator hagel explained at the time that he was oppose odd to the nomination because mr. hormel was guy. he said to his hometown paper that ambassadors, quote are, representing america. they're representing our lifestyle, our values, our standards. and i think it is an inhibiting factor to be guy openly, aggressively gay like mr. hormel to do an effective job. chuck hagel said that in 1998. today he took it back, releasing a statement to the "washington post" calling his own words back then insensitive, saying they did not reflect the totality of his views or public record. he apologized to mr. hormel and apologized for saying it. he then says he supports, quote, open service, whic

and we are talking about chuck hagel and the attacks against chuck hagel.s here interesting. one is the new norm established, which is going after a nominee before they are a nominee, right? so the name gets floated in the case of susan rice. then you go after and they are in this weird position where they cannot defend themselves because they have not been nominated yet, but the other is ways in which the specific set of interests around the relationship to israel will try to push foreign policy in a certain way. and i think it is interesting they are going after hagel partly because of this moment on the floor in july of 2006. this was during israel and lebanon's war and this is chuck hagel pushing the u.s. to urge a cease-fire. take a look. >> how do we realistically believe that a continuation of this system attic destruction of an american friend, the country and the people of lebanon is going to enhance america's image and give us the trust and sustainability to maintain a peace effort in the middle east? the sickening slaughter on both sides, mr. pre

chuck hagel has had some very outlying votes on that.e's been -- >> he wants to establish communication. >> he's been consistently -- i think in that sense anybody who tries to communicate with iran has run into a brick wall, and chuck hagel has consistently been against economic sanctions to try to change the behavior of the islamic regime, the radical regime in tehran, which is the only way to do it short of war. so, in fact, as i look at chuck hagel's positions on iran, they seem to me to be quite different than president obama. now, president obama obviously has earned the right to naum night whoever he wants. i think this is a very tough confirmation process. i don't know how it would end, but there are reasonable questions to ask and that chuck hagel has to answer. >> finally in our last minute i need you to solve the fiscal cliff problem. specifically we all know that the speaker left. he couldn't get his caucus to join him on his backup plan, and he said hey, mr. president and senator reid the majority leader in the senate, it's

he apparently wants chuck hagel in this job very much.uld look very weak to be put it bluntly -- it would look weak to bail on this because of some coalessing opposition. >> and one thing has been cleaned up in the last few minutes, in fact. there was also opposition developing from the lgbt community because susan, of what chuck hagel had said 14 years ago in opposition to the nomination of james hormel, openly gay, as an ambassador to luxembourg. it would have been the first openly gay ambassador. he eventually was named by a recess appointment because the senate came out against him. chick hagel calm out against him in offensive terms. he has apologiesed for that today putting out a statement saying that that was 14 years ago. he has completely supportive of the lgbt community and chad griffin's group has said that that is a lesson as to how far people have come and is basically blessing this as well. >> there are a lot of people in politics and in american life who have changed their views on gay rights and the appropriate roles and r

i have serbed with chuck hagel. he know him. is he somebody who served this country is w veil valor. >> he ran into stubborn resistance over the weekend from senate republicans like lynndie graham and tomko burn. >> there would be little republican support. there will be very few votes at the end of the day. >> i cannot vote for chuck hagel. >> why? >> simply because of the positions that he has taken and some of the statements that he has taken. >> meanwhile, epa administer lisa jackson's decision to step down also has many doubting whether the president will be able to get her replacement confirmed by congress. seems like there's not much love in congress now, period. we're going to go all the way to the left this time. this is insane at this point, right? every time the president not even nominates someone, but even mentions their name in connection with the connection of nomination to any cabinet post, can you reflexively expect republicans to say, no, no, no, that person is no good. >> republicans wanted to win with susan r

certainly if chuck hagel is not the nominee, she is someone who should be looked at. she has good credentials. i am not advocating her portion for anyone in particular. i am not comfortable with pushing the president and prodding him. i think he knows what he needs to do. i think it is important for members of congress and groups who feel strongly one way or another to voice their opinion, and the present hopefully takes that into consideration before he makes his pick for a nomination. that is what i am saying. >> to the national security posts in the cabinet require more diversity into wrote that i think diversity is always a good thing. -- diversity? >> i think diversity is always a good thing. i want the most qualified person in there. i think you have to be sensitive to diversity and try to reach out and be inclusive, but i do not think that diversity in itself is the most important thing. the most important thing is to get qualified people who could do the best job. >> like to move on to the issue bigger committee tackled yesterday, which is the september 11 tax

will it be chuck hagel at the pentagon? which opens up all kinds of possibilities politically echo minister of massachusetts. i want to talk about chuck hagel. this is a man that came back from the number two purple hearts. talk about him going to the pentagon but there are some republicans who are not happy with his former republican senator from nebraska. why? >> chuck hagel was not to go to vietnam. he had orders to go to germany. he was at fort dix, new jersey and said i wanted to go to vietnam. in may and talk to the chaplain and psychologist and after two weeks, went to vietnam. he has fought for his country, unlike his critics. he has but pours countries, unlike his critics. he understands war, unlike his critics. he does not have other priorities, as richard cheney did at the same time in vietnam. he never said it was going to be a cakewalk. he is prepared, ready, and bill, and put it best. he has fought for his country and but for his country. he knows the subject matter. ask jim jones and other national security a

and the other thing that's weird here is i'm fine with chuck hagel. huge fan of his, but because i feel he's the president' top choice, that makes me feel defensive about him. whereas if you were just giving me the two names michelle and chuck, i would be inclined to want to see the great accomplishment who has been there for democrats through thick and thin. and i also have to say i'm not crazy about this trend of democrats consistently nominating republican secretaries of defense as if we have no one on our own side who can handle the job. but the politics get muddled when the name gets floated. you feel like you want to defend them even though maybe they're not the top choice. >> at a time when democrats are leading on defense why we feel like we have to go republican, curious to me. because i'm a conspiracy theorist. so let's play out your conspiracy theory. what i find interesting and ryan i want to get you in on this. what she is saying is chuck hagel is now the decoy. you see some people being behind michelle. and one of those luminaries bill k

chuck hagel is like a man, who was like susan rice, not nominated for anything. susan rice took a pelting for a job she was not officially nominated for. chuck hagel is someone who hasn't been nominated for secretary of defense but is someone who is rumored to be that person. i think we saw an indication of what the administration was doing to, in a way to protect hagel, and i'm thinking of specifically the criticisms of hagel and what he had said during the whole "don't ask, don't tell" fight and things that -- i'm sorry, about the nomination of jim hormel to be ambassador to luxembourg back in the '90s. he said the ambassador was openly aggressively homosexual. hagel took a pummelling for a few hours, few days, then miraculously, there was an apology from chuck hagel. there were phone calls from the white house to gay groups. >> seems to me it shows you the toughest place to be in washington right now is a moderate independent, especially if you're moving forward into the public light. both sides have at you. >> right, both sides. again, as we talk about all th

people just don't understand it unless they've been through it. >> and, you know, chuck hagel and hisom actually served together in vietnam on the battlefield and saved each other's lives under combat fire. to this day, senator hagel carries shrapnel from vietnam in his chest. this is a man who was a very tough warrior on the battlefield and many will tell you very tough on the battlefields of washington. wolf? >> barbara, thanks for that report. let's see what the president of the united states decides whether or not to go forward and nominate chuck hagel to be the next secretary of defense succeeding leon panetta. >>> a showdown over the fiscal cliff is only a few days away and millions of tax returns are potentially on the line. cnn's tom foreman is joining us with a little more explanation. explain, tom. >> wolf, as you know, as these negotiations go on, everyone says, here comes the cliff. here comes the cliff. it's not a sudden effect because it doesn't happen at once but it does happen and some people will feel it absolutely more than others. there are mandatory cuts that will

chuck hagel needs to look back at what happened with shirley sherrod and hagel. get to the defense post yet, if i am chuck. the thing is, is there a -- the president is trying to fashion a cabinet for the second term. is there a point which he will fight for people he really wants in those positions? we don't know that yet. we haven't seen that. >> do we have things that he's willing to fight for him? when the james hormel issue came out, initially, hormel did not accept that apology. then all of a sudden, he had a change of heart on facebook. he said i'm fine with it. the timing is suspect. something tells me he got a phone call from someone. >> maybe, maybe not. hagel's friends had been meeting together to get a strategy together. the choice is befudling to me. it's a choice hens and democrats are not going to like. >> it's the obama way. it's what barack obama does. >> that's the thing. his version of bipartisanship is to displease everyone. if you want to displease everyone, chuck hagel is your man. >> he doesn't displease everyone. he was my favorite republic

>> chuck hagel represents the republican party.herefore there is plenty of tradition for a president to choose from the other party. franklin de franklin roosevelt did it very successful. the question here is does chuck hagel have anything that could trouble the nomination process? i'm told there is, larry. he's been in private business for some. and participating with deutsche bank could be a problem because of deutsche bank's under suspicion relationship with iran and with money laundering. nothing hard yet, larry, but just those questions came up in the last hours. >> i am also reading that when senator hagel was senator hagel, that he -- let's just say never really supported israel very much. >> i have not been told that today, larry. i think it's significant given who my sources are that that did not come up. let's put it this way. the way i was presented with chuck hagel is it's not certain. that's very strong language for the people i'm talking to. it's not certain. >> and he had a chance to sign letters of protest to the eu

. >>> plus the chuck hagel for secretary of defense bubble has been popped. by floating other names. did obama's miss like bork even getting nominated? i don't like this process. >>> and new reports the tea party process was imploding, imploding well before election day. including an attempt with dick armey getting aimed. >>> plus we'll have the top viral videos of 2012 including this one. >> we're all on our own if romney has his way. and he's against safety nets. if you fall, tough luck. so i strongly suggest that you wake the [ bleep ] up. >> actually, that's samuel l. jackson, he's a nice fella personally. this is "hardball," the place for politics. he really is a nice guy. >>> former president george h.w. bush took a turn for the over and he's against safety nets. if you fall, tough luck. so i strongly suggest that you wake the [ bleep ] up. >> actually, that's samuel l. jackson, he's a nice fella personally. this is "hardball," the place for politics. he really is a nice guy. >>> former president george h.w. bush took a turn for the worse over christmas

. >>> plus the chuck hagel for secretary of defense bubble has been popped.y floating other names. did obama's miss like bork even getting nominated? i don't like this process. >>> and new reports the tea party process was imploding, imploding well before election day. including an attempt with dick armey getting aimed. >>> plus we'll have the top viral videos of 2012 including this one. >> we're all on our own if romney has his way. and he's against safety nets. if you fall, tough luck. so i strongly suggest that you wake the [ bleep ] up. >> actually, that's samuel l. jackson, he's a nice fella personally. this is "hardball," the place for politics. he really is a nice guy. i met him. lf? c'mon, michael! get in the game! [ male announcer ] don't have the hops for hoops with your buddies? lost your appetite for romance? and your mood is on its way down. you might not just be getting older. you might have a treatable condition called low testosterone or low t. millions of men, forty-five or older, may have low t. so talk to your doctor about low t. hey, micha

. >>> plus the chuck hagel for secretary of defense bubble has been popped.y floating other names. did obama's miss like bork even getting nominated? i don't like this process. >>> and new reports the tea party process was imploding, imploding well before election day. including an attempt with dick armey getting aimed. >>> plus we'll have the top viral videos of 2012 including this one. >> we're all on our own if romney has his way. and he's against safety nets. if you fall, tough luck. so i strongly suggest that you wake the [ bleep ] up. >> actually, that's samuel l. jackson, he's a nice fella personally. this is "hardball," the place for politics. he really is a nice guy. i met him. we were so blessed when we had triplets if by blessed you mean freaked out about money well we suddenly noticed that everything was getting more expensive so we switched to the bargain detergent but i found myself using three times more than you're supposed to and the clothes still weren't as clean as with tide. so we're back to tide. they're cuter in clean clothes. thanks hon

chuck hagel is getting hammered for statements about guy and jewish statements. he too liberal on foreign policy for republicans or just too close to obama? well, we're going to tell you why the hagel fight matters, even if he becomes another causality of washington's angry nomination process. [ male announcer ] this december, remember -- what starts with adding a friend... ♪ ...could end with adding a close friend. the lexus december to remember sales event is on. this is the pursuit of perfection. >>> i think all 100 senators ought to be on the line on this. what do you believe? what are you willing to support? what do you think? why are you elected, because you wanted a safe job? go sell shoes. this is a tough business. but is it any tougher, us having to take a tough vote, express ourselves, and have the courage to step up than what we're asking our young men and women to do? i don't think so. >> by opposing george w. bush's iraq surge in 2007, chuck hagel endeared himself to anti-war democrats but lost a lot of republican support. now while president obama's

former senator chuck hagel facing cry sim. and doubt from both sides of the aisle. >> i'd have to study his report. i'm not going to comment until the president make a nomination. >>> plus we're following breaking news. two firefighters shot to death, as they respond to a fire. the latest of that, coming up. when you have diabetes... your doctor will say get smart about your weight. that's why there's glucerna hunger smart shakes. they have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes. [ male announcer ] glucerna hunger smart. a smart way to help manage hunger and diabetes. >>> i don't think he's going to get many republican votes. i like chuck, but his positions -- i didn't quite frankly know all of them -- are really out of the mainstream. >> i would have to study his report. i'm not going to comment until the president makes a nomination. >>> commenting on the possible nomination of senator hagel as the next secretary of defense. leon panetta has not announced a departure date. off and o fa

>> i think any time that you are getting criticism both from the left when it comes to chuck hagel'somments on homo sexuality in which he said that that was -- and wanted don't ask don't tell to stand. i think there are concerns, obviously, from people who call themselves supporters of israel, it's unfortunate, though, that now obama makes it look like every time, you know -- every time john mccain holds a press conference, every time apex sends out a press release, he won't stand behind his nominees. that's why we have so few judicial nominees. >> they're not nominees. that's the problem. you put them out there, and their names get floated, and if a lot of them come out for, in this instance for chuck hagel, is t would look like he is picking him for defense. who knows? >> that's such an important part of the policy that you mentioned, sam. bill cohen, who is a former secretary of defense, republican who served under president bill clinton, said something to this effect. he said, look, you leave someone hanging in the wind out there, and people can make allegations and marshall oppo

so is chuck hagel. i think a lot of people were surprised by this news. what happened? >> well, you know, in the classic washington case, people are asking the question, was hagel a trial balloon being floated that's already getting holes poked in it. not nominated yet, but all the chatter had been he was the front runner to be president obama's choice as secretary of defense. no announcement. the silence is deafening from the white house. but the opposition already mounting. a lot of criticism coming from both republicans and democrats about some of hagel's positions while he served in the senate. i have to tell you over the last several years he's been known as somewhat of an independent maverick. concerns about his position on iran, was he strong enough about iran being a terrorist state, about voting for sanctions against iran. but a lot of it folksing on his his position with israel. a remark he made back in 2007 about the "jewish lobby in washington." a lot of pro-israeli groups voting their concerns. i want to play you just now a bit of a commercial already runnin

. >> real quickly i want to shift gears here and talk about chuck hagel and the potential of him being put up to the cabinet level position of secretary of defense. and getting criticism from the left and the right, chuck schumer declining to endorse him yesterday on meet the press. i want to play for everybody what andrea mitchell also said on "meet the press." >> this white house cannot continue to float trial balloons and then not have them shot down. the president can't perceived to being rolled by opponents. the problem of chuck hagel with support in the foreign policy community is shot at from the left and the right. >> i want to put it to you, both. is this the pattern where the trial balloons are getting defeated? first we have susan rice and that was arduous. until she took her name out of contention whatsoever. and now we see chuck hagel kind of going through the same thing on the onset. >> i agree with andrea's analysis. obama now is in a bad position if he does put forth hagel's name and a fight on the hands and then ask why bother? find someone else. >> bob, is that the sa

and that it would be chuck hagel. the fact that they didn't do that could mean that they are taking more time to line things up politically. or it could mean they are having second thoughts. policically there are really two issues. one there is criticism, i think largely unjust find of to the being supportive of israel. the one that you see less of has to do with the fact that if kerry is secretary of state and hagel is secretary of defense, is there a job for a senior woman at the top levels of the foreign policy team. >> brown: david ignatius, what do you see going on? >> well, i think president obama is not yet made up his mind. i think they got out ahead of themselves in a sense. they were fating hagel as if it was a done deal when it really wasn't. s there's been intense criticism. i think for obama to pullback on hagel after appearing to have done that on susan rice would present at the beginning of the second term an image of weakness domestically and also naturale: -- internationally. >> brown: and hagel, a fo

he would look so weak. >> there's no political backing for chuck hagel any where. the congress has the right to assign and consent. it is not fun sometimes but that's how it works. >> what strikes me about hagel is no anticipation that this would happen. >> he said comments about gays and lesbians. he said some thing that is are out of the mainstream and now cleaning it up after the fact. well, one would think someone would have done his homework before he was nominated. >> support by tom freedman and others. real quickly, around the table for shameless plugs. >> happy new year, everybody. >> your shameless plug is 2013. anna? >> let's not forget about syria amid the fiscal cliff crazinesc. there's a great report today in "the washington post." >> i'll make a local plug for food and friends, food to shut-ins all year around and everybody in the audience, charities need help, not just at the holidays. >> absolutely. 110% behind you, especially that. hunger still a big, big issue in the d.c. region. we'll see you right back here tomorrow morning. i'll be back with you

. >> senator graham, final question, can chuck hagel become secretary of defense if he's the president's nominee? >> a lot of republicans asking hard questions, i don't think he's going to get many republican votes. i like chuck, but his positions, i didn't know all of them. are out of the mainstream and well to the left of the president. i think it will be a challenging nomination, the hearings will matter. >> if i were in the senate on the armed services committee, and he was nominated i would have some serious questions to ask him. >> i think senator engle will not be nominated or not be confirmed. the concede in the obama white house was these are republicans. on foreign policy, he's been way to the left of president obama. >>> former nebraska senator chuck hagel has been leaked not nominated leaked as a potential nominee for secretary of defense, and there was already a massive counter offensive against him. it does have more substance to it, than the attacks against susan rice. a fair amount of that substance consists of insinuations. the sides are forming, there's the chuck hagel

i know this segment is about chuck hagel, but i want to just ask you, doug, about the atf.h all the shootings and all the questions about these assault rifles in the hands of people that shouldn't have them, how critical is it to have somebody that's running that area, that department, the atf? >> jamie, it couldn't be more critical, bottom line. we have huge policy issues there that we've talked about, we have the fast and furious scandal which is still playing itself out, and we have whole questions now about whether there will be new regulations on guns and automatic weapons. bottom line, it's a symptom of the dysfunctionalty in washington that we haven't been able to get anybody to head the atf. jamie: all right. gentlemen, thank you very much. matt schlapp, doug schoen, always good to have you here. >> thank you. >> thank you. jamie: kelly? kelly: chances are if you look out your window right now, you're going to see rough weather. we are tracking a dangerous storm moving across the nation. it's already responsible for several deaths and hundreds of canceled flights. t

he also touts chuck hagel. as defense secretary. saying there's nothing disqualifying but saying he hasn't made a defense choice yet. he says failure to reach a fiscal deal would hurt the markets. and as we've been talking about, the president wants gun violence measures passed in 2013, something he said in the course of our interview. we'll take another break here. be back in just a moment. ] we'. we fall down. we gain weight. and we get back up. strength and determination are human too. so are dinner dates and birthday cake. introducing the new weight watchers 360 program. built for human nature so you can expect amazing. ♪ on top of the world right now ♪ join for free and expect amazing. because it works. every signature is unique, and every fingerprint unrepeatable. at sleep number, we've always recognized the incredible diversity of human beings, and know that up there with your social security number and your phone number is another important number. your sleep number. so we created the extraordinarily comfortable sleep number

talk of chuck hagel might be nominated.l, he has a lot of critics over in the senate too particularly among the republicans and they appear to have shot down his nomination. now it's considered unlikely. so he got preemptive nomination fights. and i think that's relatively new. >> let's stick with hagel. where did word of his potential nomination come from? where did it leak from? and -- >> host: guest: that's a good question. president obama said they don't like to talk about personnel. for one thing they don't want to embarrass people. when it comes out at some point the administration has to let people on capitol hill and people around town know that certain people are thinking about the jobs, run the flag up the flag poll and see who salutes it. and hagel's name popped up and that's what start it had dam pain. basically the -- campaign. the administration tells people and that's how it gets out. host: what were the objections to chuck hagel? here's an ad in the "new york times" from the log cabin republicans. chuck hage

. >> wilill former republican senator chuck hagel makee it to the pentntagon? >> the house did not take up the tax measure today because it t did not have suffificient support from our mberto pass. house speaker john boehner's statement on thursday evening as he stood in front of the house republican conference on thursday night, he recited the serenity prayer. don, grarant me the serenity to accept the things that i cannot change, and close the house for business until after christmasas. there is place like an empty house for the holidays. his plan be died. >> let me be clear speaker boehner's plans are nonstarters in the senate. >> boehner appeared on friday morning and said, if this thing were easy, it would d have been done decades ago. >> i am interested in solving the major problemsms that face our country. that means house leaders, senate leaders, and the president, are going to continue to he to work together to address s those concerns. >> the president has liftedis number to 400,000 no tax hikes for anyone the knicks st that in the year. boehner wants

senator graham, are republicans going to block chuck hagel if he's the nominee for defense secretary.think a lot of republicans and democrats are very concerned about chuck hagel's position on iran sanctions. his views toward israel, hamas and hezbollah and there is wide and deep concern about his policies. all of us like him as a person. it will be up to the president to make the selection. the hearings will matter. they will matter a lot to me. and if he sends chuck hagel up it will be a confirmation hearing of consequence. >> chris: so, at this point you are not prepared to say the republicans would put a hold on the nomination, or filibuster it? >> i can tell you there would be very little republican support for his nomination, at the end of the day, very few votes. >> chris: senator feinstein, you will introduce legislation this week on the first day of the new congress on thursday, to ban assault weapons, and magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition. why is that more effective than the nra proposal to put armed guards in every school? >> well in the first place, 1/3

. >>> plus, is there new hope for chuck hagel? the president defends his possible defense secretary pick. >>> good morning from washington. it's the last day of the year, december 31st, 2012, and this is "the daily rundown." i'm chris cillizza in for chuck todd. with sweeping tax increases and across-the-board spending cuts set to take effect at midnight, even lawmakers are now publicly pessimistic about the ability of congress to, well, get anything done. at best, democrats and republicans will patch together a limited, short-term deal to avoid the most immediate economic impacts of the fiscal cliff. with 15 hours to go and counting, members of congress are disgusted and embarrassed. >> when the future of the country, you know, rests in the hands of 70 and 80-year-olds who have jet lag, it's probably not the best thing. >> something has done terribly wrong when the biggest threat to our american economy is our american congress. >> the senate will reconvene at 11:00 this morning, but after a day of public gamesmanship and little o

. >> can chuck hagel become secretary of defense if he's the president's nominee? lot of republicans have asked hard questions. i don't think he's going to get many republicans votes. i like chuck but his positions are really out of the mainstream and well to the left of the president. i think it would be a challenging nominations but the hearings will matter. chuck will have a chance to defend himself. >> will you support him? >> i'm going to wait and see what happens in the hearings. i've got questions with chuck and iran, hamas and hezbollah, his position toward israel, just afghanistan. i want to hear what he has to say. but very troubling comments by a future secretary of defense. >> senator schumer, should the president make that nomination? >> well, that's his choice. i think once he makes it his record will be studied carefully, but until that point i think we're not going to know what's going to happen. >> can you support him? >> i'd have to study his record. i'm not going to comment until the president makes a nomination. >> we're going to leave it there.