. >> let me interrupt and bring in senator corker. senator schumer's right, a growing number much republicans and conservatives, not a majority, but a growing number, are saying we have to cave on tax -- on raising tax rates, not just the idea of closing loopholes. would you accept returning to the clinton rate of 39.6% or would you accept something perhaps a midpoint, 37% or starting with people who made $500,000 rather than 250? >> chris, there's a growing group of folks that are looking at this and realizing we don't have a lot of cards as a relates to the tax issue before year end. we have one house, that's it. the presidency and the senate's in the democrats' hands. i think it has merit, you give the president the 2% increase that he's talking about, the rate increase on the top 2%. and all of a sudden the shift goes back to entitlements. all of a sudden once you give him the rate on the top 2% it's actually lesser tax increases than what he's been talking about. the focus then shifts to entitlements and puts us in a place where

the second thing to say is you look at people like corker, but beyond corker to coburn, sham bliss andator crystal and say it's time to -- republicans don't need this fight. it's not a winning fight for them politically. the third thing, which people don't say, this could be damage to go president obama. he wants to begin his second term forward looking, not loss in a sea of economic fear and people would blame him for taking away unemployment benefits, no dock fix. letting taxes go up on everything. that's not what he wants. >> chris: payroll taxes. >> right. both sides have strong incentives to make a deal. not to mention they want to get out of town for christmas. >> bill, given all of that, and you were one of the early people who said republicans -- i just felt we would remind those who may have missed it, you said republicans don't want to fight over tax increases for millionaires. what's the smart play for republicans at this point and how do they get -- because it's all about taxes. how do they get the deficit debate back to spending and entitlements? >> they can do that next y

and, republican bob corker, of tennessee.tlemen, house speaker boehner said on friday that another week has been wasteded. senator corker, given that president obama won the election, and seems to have most of the political leverage, what is the realistic deal to be made in the next 23 days? >> first of all, i think something will happen. i hope it is large enough for people like me that want to see entitlement reform to vote for. the president has leverage and the republicans have leverage with the debt ceiling and the c.r. which ends in march and hopefully cooler heads will prevail. there are different theories coming forth on how to deal with this and again, chris, it is a unique moment in history, where every developed country in the world, economists on both sides of the aisle, know the greatest threat to our country is fiscal solvency and we have a situation where the minority party is trying to leverage the president into doing something that is great for our nation and it is a very unique time and i hope the president

and then we were joined by bob corker and bob conrad. corker said we need to focus

i will start with my left, which is where bob corker says i always start. tim pawlenty, former governor of minnesota. i wrote that i thought that if he could get the nomination he would have been the strongest republican presidential candidate. i was absolutely right -- we just could not figure out how to get there from here. tim is now the head of the financial services round table, a job he took just about a month or two ago, and will be a huge player in washington in the coming months and years. chris van hollen -- first of all, he was redistricted and he kept 2/3 of his old district, but your margin did not go down at all. maybe a little -- one county he represents, where my son is, let's just say that they think that attila is a liberal. but he did an incredible job. chris, i would say, we are with two senators now, and i am always reminded of when bob dole in 1968 left the house to go to the senate, he said in that single act he enraged the intelligence of both bodies. bob corker is from the state that i think has produced more interesting and importa

the republican from tennessee appearing on fox so-called news sunday yesterday corker acknowledged the democrats have won the debate on raising taxes for the wealthiest two percent of americans republican even admitted he would likely vote for a tax increase great right or wrong corker then echoed the sentiments of many republicans arguing that republicans should hold the debt ceiling a hostage in order to force president obama to make cuts in social security insurance and medicare insurance barely senator corker is unaware of what happened last time the republicans held the debt ceiling hostage our economy tanked the fact that he and his republican colleagues in congress are willing to let that happen again is very very. coming up america's middle class is shrinking more and more each day thanks in part to the collapse of this nation's public education system what can be done to maintain the quality of education at our nation's public schools and to protect their label as america's great social equalizer i'll tell you in tonight's deleted. the worst you're going to think. the white ho

and corker's saying, if we just do the rate, we can hold it to half that. so you could -- we could get a short-term agreement that avoids the cliff but it could mean that the long-term agreement is much smaller than what the president and economists and others really want. >> you have gad sources there. are sources telling you anything about what happened behind closed doors? >> i have not heard anything. this is all broken in the last, you know, hour or two. so i have not heard anything yet. i'm hoping to learn more. but i think the truth is we're going did learn more tomorrow. that's what leaks are likely to start coming out. boehner's going to have to tell troops on the republican side and the president is likely to talk to democrats. >> once they start talking to people and word gets out, people will start talking to you guys. >> we'll begin to get a sense of, are they really that close or not? and i -- there are certainly the makings of a deal here. i think that started when boehner put revenues squarely on the table the day after the election. the pre

eastern, senator ron johnson and bob corker.resident obama issued a warning on "meet the press." >> on midnight, december 31st, if congress doesn't act, then everybody's taxes go up. and for the average family, that could mean a loss of $2,000 in income. for the entire economy, that means consumers have a lot less money to make purchases, which means businesses are going to have a lot less customers, which means that they're less likely to hire and the whole economy could slow down at a time when the economy is starting to pick up. >> but after it was all said and done, leaders on the senate floor couldn't get anything done, at least not yet. >> there's no single issue that remains an impossible sticking point. the sticking point appears to be a willingness and interest or frankly the courage to close the deal. i want everyone to know, i'm willing to get this done, but i need a dance partner. >> this morning, we've been trying to come up with some counteroffice to my friend's proposal. we haven't been able to do that. i've had a

corker said. republican. >> wait a second -- he said no deal here, rick. and this is a bad deal and you're questioning whether he's a republican? >> it's a horrible deal. it's a terrible deal. >> that's what he said. >> no, that's not what he said. >> i walked away thinking that he said, you know what's going to happen. we're going to end up passing something and doing all the details later. which is exactly why both sides play this little game. >> we were just talking off camera, i think there's -- >> rick, he's with ron johnson, who's one of you, he's a tea party guy who wants to go ahead, and have the house pass an extension of the bush tax cuts just for the 98% and then go over the cliff in january, and then use the debt ceiling to extract entitlement and spending. >> i have a better idea. they've already done their compromise. they rose above. you know, playing this little game. millionaire tax cuts really 250. go to a million. let's go to 400. year not going to rename it 400,000 millionaire

bob corker is a republican from tennessee.nk about the fear that we could go over this fiscal cliff, and that the future looks very dark if we are not able to get our hands around the debt that you all were just discussing. now we are learning that eric cantor has told the caucus that there will be a vote likely on a republican fiscal cliff tax plan in the house that could come this week. that doesn't necessarily move the ball along too dramatically in this picture, because everybody knows that the republican side in the house is going to vote on a deal that would have a lot of spending cuts in it and it's something that the president would be unlikely to sign into law. we are waiting for john boehner to come in right now. he'll be with the usual team. kevin mccarthy will be there, kathy mcmorris, people working to hold the fiscal line and get spending cuts, they want a million dollar cut off for the taxes to increase. that seems like something that might be palatable on the republican side. we really don't know in terms of th

senators claire mccaskill and bob corker, coming up next. ts. ts. today, the beaches and gulf are open, and many areas are reporting their best tourism seasons in years. and bp's also committed to america. we support nearly 250,000 jobs and invest more here than anywhere else. we're working to fuel america for generations to come. our commitment has never been stronger. >>> we'll hear more from our roundtable in just a bit. but first, i'm joined by two key voices calling for compromise. tennessee republican bob corker and missouri democrat claire mccaskill. welcome to both of you. senator, what's changed in washington? where is the room for real bipartisan to avert this fiscal cliff? does it exist? >> i think it does. i think we understand that this is about our country first. and it really is a time we need to put politics aside, and it's going to be painful. none of us are going to get the deal that we exactly want. but we have to keep talking to one another. and bob and i have talked this week. i'm talking every day with my republican colleagues.

i think the big one was bob corker, ari, let's play a little bit of sound from corker. >> there is aup of folks that are looking at this and realizing that we don't have a lot of cards as it relates to the tax issue before year end. i mean, we have one house, that's it. the presidency and the senate and the democrats' hands. >>> and kevin mccarthy on "meet the press." he didn't say they weren't going to be for rates. he said raising tax rates isn't enough. >> everybody supports raising taxes. >> everybody is for raising taxes on somebody else. >> it's just whether the rates will go up. they are speaking more openly about going over the cliff and negotiating about getting the automatic rate hikes back down and republicans do not want to see that. >> chris, there was republican infighting among conservative intellectuals, bill kristol versus "the wall street journal" editorial page. essentially saying to bob corker, shut up. and kristol going, what do you want to do, given the democrats more leverage in january? this was his message. >> if we go over the cliff, the republicans have zer

the quote that is catching everybody's attention comes from tennessee senator bob corker. he said republicans know they have the debt court of appealing that is coming up right around the corner, and the leverage is going to shift. hopefully we'll do the same thing we did the last time. and of course he is referring to the summer of 2011. so the question is are they agreeing to rate hikes and then go ahead and take the economy hostage? what is your response to that? >> well, they have part of this right, and they have part of it totally wrong. what they're right about is they see the handwriting on the wall and the fact that they're going to have to join with democrats to extend the middle class tax cuts. because if they don't, the whole country will see that they were willing to tank the entire economy and give everybody a tax increase in order to get this bonus break for folks at the top. so i think you're seeing more republicans recognize that fact. where they're just dead-wrong, ed, is thinking that they're going to gain leverage over this debt ceiling. because the ame

and later, senators bob corker and tom coburn. and congressman tom cole.s an update on the condition of secretary of state hillary clinton who is hospitalized with a blood clot. we'll have a live report. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. >>> the offers that i've made to them have been so fair that a lot of democrats get mad at me. i offered to make some significant changes to our entitlement programs in order to reduce the deficit. they say that their biggest priority is making sure that we deal with the deficit in a serious way. but the way they're behaving is that their only priority is making sure that tax breaks for the wealthiest americans are protected. >> all right. we're taking a look here as the clock counts down as we head over the fiscal cliff. a live look at capitol hill as the sun comes up over washington. they're working, working away there on capitol hill. here with us now from washington, former white house press secretary and former senior adviser to the obama campaign, robert gibbs, who looks like he's on a ski vacation.

you listen to senator corker there. yes, he's a republican.blicans in the senate who seem to be of one mind with him on this. but the issue is you don't have high profile republicans in the house who are saying the same thing. en that is who the president is bargaining with, obviously, at this point since he is talking to speaker boehner. he has to win over some votes there. that's why you look at this going it's great that they're talking, but we don't know that there's really officially any movement. >> yeah. at the end of the day, who's going to jump onboard? brianna keilar live in washington, thank you. >>> 33 minutes after the hour right now. dallas cowboys nose tackle josh brent is out of jail now. investigators believe he was driving drunk when his mercedes flipped and caught fire early saturday morning. brent was released sunday on $500,000 bond. he's now facing charges of intoxicated manslaughter in a dallas suburb of irving, texas. the 25-year-old linebacker jerry brown jr. died in this crash. and just as brent was getting out of jai

i think corker is right. the more we punt, the less likely. there's no indication right now that they're more oppressed to dealing with the grander scale. >> what about the notion that a lot might want to punt on this. that is republicans in congress specifically then can say in january if they pass a new bill that they cut taxes technically speaking. is there such a notion? >> there is. it's true for both sides. it's true for the president as well because he knows he will get to tax the higher earnings. i tlifrmg is something for both sides here. it think it is worse for republicans in the longer term if we don't havinge a deal, but don't think it's great for anybody, i just don't. >> it's the ill lesion of mark ts. >> we're going to open a market next week that's in turmoil, right? we're not going to look at the balance sheet and say it's worse for boehner. >> and not just in the united states but the world is watching this. >> that's right. there are serious, sear lus implications. >> thanks, maggy haverman. >>> this morning he's being call

senator corker over the weekendbe.tioned he does front a vote in the house but he was speaking this weekend -- he does not have a vote in house but he was speaking on "fox news sunday." >> once you give him the rate on the top 2% it's lesser tax increase than what he has been talking about. the focus then shifts to entitlements and maybe that puts us in a place where we actually can do something that really saves this nation. so that is, there is a growing body. it actually am beginning to believe that is the best route for to us take. to again, shift focus where it needs to be. which is on entitlements. >> bret: juan? >> well, there is no leverage. i think what you heard from bob corker is in fact now echoing through the hauls of congress. extending in to the house side. i think that, you know, a week ago we saw a lot of the kind of tea party committee chairs who would have really been at the forefront of the opposition move out by speaker boehner. i think what you see is the democratic congressional folks now having

bob corker serves on the senate foreign relations committee and heard testimony during the closed session with the committee today. there will be open sessions tomorrow. they just briefed at the state department, in fact, that's still in progress. senator, one of the conclusions is that security was -- that there were security failures there, before, during, and after, but particularly before and during, that they were relying on the local militia, which was completely grossly inadequate, the reports said. what are your conclusions following the briefing that you received from the top leaders? >> well, i had seen films, andrea, last week of both the security cameras, but also later from drones. it was later in the evening, but the security personnel we had out front literally jumped on a truck and left as soon as they saw a crowd coming, so -- >> you're talking about the libyans, not the americans who were trying to stay. these were the local hires. >> these were the local hires, absolutely. we have some heros that did incredible things on behalf of our americans who saved other americans

we've heard that from senator corker. but my goodness, we want someone in there who can work with us. shies a the perfect person. i yield the floor. mr. lieberman: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator connecticut. mr. lieberman: thank the chair. mr. president, in a short while the senate will vote on two nominees for service in the executive branch of our government, and i rise today to speak in support of one of those two, which is william b.a.e., -- william baer, who's been nominated to serve as assistant attorney general, managing the antitrust division of the u.s. department of justice. mr. president, i happen to have come to know bill baer personally, because practices flaw a firm with a very good friend and neighbor of mine here in washington. and in that remarks i can certainly testify to the -- and in that regard, i can certainly testify to the fact that he's an honorable, interesting, enjoyable person, but that alone doesn't qualify him to hold this high office. he has extraordinary experience. i wou

bob corker, a member of the senate foreign relations committee was questioned yesterday.o you. >> good morning, bill. bill: what you think? >> we need to have another hearing. secretary clinton said she takes responsibly for what happens and she needs to come to our committee and talk about the flavored things that have happened. causing the security at benghazi to be so lax. bill: they were saying even 99% is not good enough. they talked about needing more money. >> yes, that's the most -- the main part of this. in hearing this the other day in a closed session, everyone is talking about the need for more money. the fact is that they had 16 security officers that were being provided for free as it relates to the state department. they sent home three weeks prior to this happening. this is not about money. unfortunately here in washington, the first answer always is money. that's not the issue here. i think the state department has a culture there that doesn't breed any kind of creative thinking. thinking outside the box, making sure that things are done in a detailed way

corker said it would allow republicans to press for cuts to entitlements.c senator chuck schumer told fox he thinks they will reach a deal. and texas a&m quarterback johnny manzell has won the heisman, the first freshman wotowin. he beat out notre dame linebacker and the kansas state quarterback. that's it. back to you. >> are you going to do the post for us? >> reporter: i enemy a stool, wired up. sorry. >> we will give you near space next time. >> reporter: thanks. >> an update on the developing story we have been following out of southern california. the tolare county sheriffs department has a suspect in custody in a shooting that killed three people and injured two, including two children. the person they identified as the suspect, hector solia was tracked with his cell phone. he refused to stop his car. deputies then opened fire and shot back and he is in the hospital with life-threatening injuries. the shooting victims other than found after someone made a call to 911, starting this case of we will keep you updated. political turmoil in egypt has chri

corker would accept 37% but he speaks for a few senators.e doesn't speak for the house republican majority and john boehner though it seems to be moving that direction. i'm not sure the president would accept 37% because i'm not sure he gets enough money. you need enough money, whether there's some -- yes, partial increase in rates and then some tightening of loopholes, but then again, so much of this talk has been about taxes and what the democrats have refused to talk about at this point is spending cuts and serious entitlement reform. republicans will demand there whether it's part of the deal in the fiscal cliff or to raise the debt limit. >> i'm glad you brought that up. in terms of spending, which clearly has to be cut, the president from the reports this week wants to raise the debt ceiling without asking anybody. did they comment on that? >> what he's saying is give me the unilateral right to raise the debt ceiling, which congress had has had to approve, then congress can disapprove with a two-thirds vote. that would mean i could inc

and then earlier today, senator bob corker was on cnbc kind of pooh-poohing the whole thing. take a listen. >> we're not close to a deal. and i've been trying for three weeks, i've been standing on my head doing cartwheels to try to pivot toward entitlement reform. this is not a deal here. >> so carl, what's going on right now on capitol hill is that speaker boehner is meeting with his republican conference colleagues behind closed doors. we expect that at the top of the next hour, he's going to come out and talk before cameras. we'll get some reaction from his colleagues as well, what they think of this proposal and where they think this negotiation needs to go. but clearly, negotiations are ongoing, and the president and the speaker are coming closer together, whether or not that makes everybody happy or enough people happy to get a deal still remains to be seen, carl. >> eamon, this is a tough one to read. had the biggest movement been in that -- in the line in the sand with regards to how much people need to make to see their rates go up? would you say that was the white

also, senators mark warner and bob corker, a republican from tennessee. this is one hour. >> good morning. i'm the head of bloomberg government. thank you for joining us today, and thank you to deloitte for partnering with us in this event. when we launched bloomberg government just about two years ago, we had the aspiration of creating a one-stop shop, with data, tools, news, and analysis to help government affairs and government sales professionals make better and faster decisions. we went a long way toward achieving that aspiration. a big part of it is conversations on the important issues that face our nation today, particularly at the intersection of business and government. today's discussion on the fiscal cliff clearly meets that. we are honored to have such a thoughtful panel. senator mark warner, senator bob corker, congressman chris van hollen, governor tim pawlenty, who is currently president and ceo of the financial services roundtable. moderating our discussion today is al hunt. we always love having al over here. he really put bloomberg on t

corker is saying this is pretty significant.have a better argument if people are in the mood for this kind of austerity. >> sit tight. quick break. back with the brain trust in a moment. we're going to talk about what's next for, you guessed it, hillary clinton. we'll do some more speculating right after this. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] campbell's green bean casserole. it's amazing what soup can do [ male announcer ] campbell's green bean casserole. is bigger than we think ... sometimelike the flu.fer from with aches, fever and chills- the flu's a really big deal. so why treat it like it's a little cold? there's something that works differently than over-the-counter remedies. prescription tamiflu attacks the flu virus at its source. so don't wait. call your doctor right away. tamiflu is prescription medicine for treating the flu in adults and children one year and older whose flu symptoms started within the last two days. before taking tamiflu tell your doctor if you're pregnant, nursing. have serious health conditions, or take othe

tennessee republican bob corker and missouri democrat claire mccaskill. welcome to both of you.enator, what's changed in washington? where is the room for real bipartisan to avert this fiscal cliff? does it exist? >> i think it does. i think we understand that this is about our country first. and it really is a time we need to put politics aside, and it's going to be painful. none of us are going to get the deal that we exactly want. but we have to keep talking to one another. and bob and i have talked this week. i'm talking every day with my republican colleagues. what has to happen, though, there has to be a realization that if we do nothing, the republicans are going to have to live with the fact that they are willing to stop a deal all over a tax rate for the top 2% of this country. and, frankly, i'm really hopeful that doesn't happen. and i know bob feels the same way. >> senator, lindsey graham has said in this past week, quote, no republican will vote for higher tax rates. will you? >> well, the negotiations are between the president and speaker boehner. and they will get

. >> up next, senator bob corker joins me in studio to respond to the president's assertion that he has a mandate to raise taxes on the richest americans. i need you. i feel so alone. but you're not alone. i knew you'd come. like i could stay away. you know i can't do this without you. you'll never have to. you're always there for me. shh! i'll get you a rental car. i could also use an umbrella. fall in love with progressive's claims service. >>> the u.s. will tumble off the fiscal cliff in less than 48 hours. that's the main reason why president obama's sat down for a lengthy interview that aired on nbc. >> there is a basic fairness that is at stake in this whole thing that the american people understand and they listened to an entire year's debate about it. they made a clear decision about the approach they prefer, which is a balanced, responsible package. they rejected the notion that the economy grows best from the top down. >> joining me now is republican senator bob corker of tennessee. let's start with what the president -- you heard what he said. look, he argues we had an electi

they could give the speaker a hard time if he tries to pass the kind of legislation corker was talkingbout there. >> and how are the democrats reacting to accept the higher tax rates? >> reporter: they are happy to see movement was made toward the president's position but speaker boehner has not embraced the it. it could be what they talked bebeat the white house but we don't know but still, democrats are optimistic. >> i think we'll get an agreement. the reason i think we'll get an agreement, what is standing in the way is revenues, particularly making that top rating up to 39.6, but i think we're seeing real progress in that regard. i think you will see our republican colleagues reluctantly say, okay let's go up to 39.6. >> reporter: i should mention it wasn't just bob corker but tennessee senator tom cole in going along the president's plan of raising the tax rates on wealthy yes, sir americans. >> there are growing calls for action nearly two years since president obama signed a 9/11 compensation act. it set aside $3 billion for people that got sick or injured during the ground zer

you heard senator corker. does that speak to you? you to give on the 2%, and then use the debt ceiling to really extract some entitlement cuts? >> ideally, joe, i think what we'd like to see is a deal right now that includes a restructuring entitlement programs. that's what drives federal spending. we can't solve this on the revenue side. and, you know, we've got colleagues right now that are san diegoing out, making some comments about various positions. the bottom line is they all agree on one thing, that is that in order to get the country's fiscal trajectory back on track, to achieve some sort of fiscal solvency for the future it's got to involve dealing with entitlement programs, and so far that's been the thing that the president has been unwilling to come -- >> you think he would, if he did gave him what he wanted now, do you think he would be willing to do that in good faith after the first of the year? >> well, i would like to think that. but so far, at least, all we've seen is this rhetoric about taxes. he's even gone doubl

senator corker calling for clinton's testimony, meanwhile, the fallout from benghazi and the attacksis report continues yesterday where three state department officials, they resigned because of it, but i do want to play for everybody more of the hearing itself and this sharp exchange between bob corker and state department officials who appeared to secretary clinton's behalf. >> secretary clinton just sent up a notification asking for $1.3 billion, why did she never ask for any notification or change of resources to make sure benghazi was secured? why did that not happen? you all have had 18 arbs in the past and you have never fully implemented one yet. not one. so i don't want to talk about this arb. i want to talk about why. >> three state department people resigning, let go because of this report, basically, having tendered their resignation and three people sent to the hill instead of clinton. is secretary clinton the only one who can put this to rest by appearing and testifying? >> i guess they just want her to have to walk the plank, so to speak, but the problem is not the sec

in 30 minutes, senator bob corker and kent conrad.astern, representative scott garrett and sander levin. remember "squawk on the street." >> that's right. "squawk on the street" we have a lot to come, as well. the two senators we're talking with next, two members of the gang of eight now. we'll talk to them. guys we'll send it back to you right now. >> great. thanks, guys. appreciate that. we are now, though, going to flip it over to phil lebeau who is in new york and he's got breaking news. >> as expected we knew that delta was in negotiations to buy 49% stake in virgin atlantic. the deal has been completed. the price is $360 million for that delta will increase its access to heathrow. that's really the key here. 31 daily nonstop flights. that's all part of what goes between the uk and north america for virgin atlantic. the brand remains, guys. make that clear here. the virgin atlantic brand does not go away. what changes is that delta has a 49% stake in the company. there's going to be a press conference later this morning here in n