in september, we have the navy yard shooting and it reinvigorated the debate for dick durbin, dianne feinstein, the democrats who wanted to bring the debate back to congress after the failed .mendment in april harry reid said he would not seek a vote. right now, the issue is appearing dead. that may allow the white house to introduce my executive if republicans on the hill will not cooperate. >> in terms of the administration, what will we see? >> i'm not quite sure. they did introduce the 100 million dollars for additional mental health services this week but it is too far to tell what they will bring up in the next few months. >> rebecca shabad, thehill.com and on twitter. thanks for being with us on c- span's "year in review." [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> here's more about guns from connecticut senator chris murphy who spoke on the senate floor to mark the one-year anniversary of the newton school shootings and urge congress to act in 2014. >> we are about to hit the one- year mark since the tra

this is dick durbin urging members to vote for it when it comes to the floor this week. >> vote for this, let's move, let's govern. this is an opportunity. with this opportunity, we can have a stronger national defense, stronger country, and we can save taxpayer money. >> that is democratic senator dick durbin. >> stronger national defense -- what? do we not have enough nuclear submarines to kill us all? it is just bizarre that we continue to stick to these means that we are not spending enough on national defense. we are spending over $900 billion a year on national defense. add to that that most of the world consists of our allies who have a big military, and this makes no sense whatsoever. >> you also talk about the u.s. government paying through the nose for contractors. started this movement back around the time the new deal ended and the heir of reagan, which we are still living in, began. it would be more efficient to just get rid of those lazy, no good, overpaid federal bureaucrats and paid contractors. the year, contractors cost government $763,000 each. overall, they cost twice

dick durbin is our whip who takes the roll, so to speak, on votes.ut i believe that we'll get it passed in the senate. i think it will be pretty close, but i think we'll pass it. i think the main reason will be not just that there's a two-year budget in a sense built into this agreement, that you don't have to have these short-term budgets and the kind of partisan acrimony that we've had, at least as it relates to the budget, but there's also relief forsee confe sequestration. some relief from that, not total relief. and i think those two, have budget certainty and relief from sequester will carry the day. >> dick durbin described getting these votes as a struggle. do you think that that's a fair description of how it's going to be to make it through? >> it is, but i think in the end we should have the votes because if you vote against it, what are you voting -- what are you voting for in a sense? you're voting for shorter term budget measure that say make no sense and you're voting for more uncertainty, more acrimony. and we need a lot less of both.

. >> dick durbin and chuck schumer, the second and third ranks democrats live here together. their landlord and third roommate is democratic congressman george miller. the house is so legendary, it inspired a new tv series "alpha house" except the senate roommates in the amazon.com show are republicans. >> we want to say they are nothing like us. don't even begin to think so units when people see this house they'll know, because in the show it's a bit nicer. >> now, wait a minute. >> reporter: miller, the owner, started taking in tenants more than 30 years ago. the house hasn't been updated since. >> we stop buying lps. that's when the music stopped. >> but a report player. >> the same exact records are there now as the day i moved in in 1982. >> the best part about it are the products that are on the ka set player. >> this is my medicine cabinet -- >> i didn't know you were a metro sexual. >> as smooth as could be. >> whose closet is this? >> mine. >> oh, mr. neat's closet. >> hey sclal. >> schumer's stuff is strewn all over the living room. >> reporter: seriously this is wh

senator dick durbin in the other chamber said that perhaps it doesn't have to be a part of this budget deal. have a quick listen to what he has to say. >> i do support unemployment benefits for the 26 weeks that they're paid for. if you extend it beyond that, you do a disservice to these workers. there was a study that came out a few months ago and it said if you have a worker that's been unemployed for four weeks and on unemployment insurance and one that's on 99 weeks, which one would you hire? every employer, nearly 100%, said they will always hire the person who's been out of work four weeks. when you allow people to be on unemployment insurance 99 weeks, you're causing them to become part of this perpetual unemployed group of our economy. >> that was rand paul, not dick durbin, which you can find plenty of fodder on that one too. but the bottom line is he didn't think that would scuttle the deal. just explain to people because there's a chance that unemployment benefits could still be extended even if it's not in the deal and people don't necessarily understand that. >> that's rig

we got insight from dick durbin and he referenced unemployment benefiting is the president wants to see rolled in a big deal. senate wants that, republicans don't. >> what i hear from patty murray, i spoke to her the other night. negotiations are making progress, moving in the right direction. they have not closed a deal but i hope as part of it the negotiators will take to part ht what the president had to say. >> reporter: wrapping unemployment benefits extension that run out in late december into this deal. the republicans are balking at that. they're trying to replace the sequester cuts, where they get the money to pay for those is the big sticking point. they're looking at user fees, that will be unveiled as the week goes on. no big shutdown news just yet. >> and the issue of plastic guns. it sounds like it's something new with 3d printers but this is old. >> reporter: that's right. since 1988 there has been a ban on producing all plastic guns. they had to contain a metal component. but now can people. print gunned with 3d printers. tonight is the deadline to get the basic bill ext

boehner is saying, look, i'm open to an extension as part of a budget deal, on the other side you had dick durbin say we don't necessarily have to have this just our way. so point one s. let's not let this issue upset a budget deal or a debt ceiling deal, which we need to keep the economy moving more broadly. in that is there room for compromise? of course. when it was 99 weeks, it's different from now, say 47 weeks, so now the super turbocharged level, but need mentioned earlier some states didn't extend the benefits. those states were probably mostly red states, frankly, with probably better economies to begin with, perhaps like texas, for example, or kansas, south dakota, north dakota, with other things going on, so it's hard to separate correlation and causation, but if you have somebody in the job market two years, and they say i've been unemployed for two years, newt has been unembroiled for three months, which one will you be looking at more seriously? irmgts i still don't understand. if you don't have 1.3 lazy americans. i do know people in the situation, actively trying to find the jobs.

. >> reporter: dick durbin and chuck schumer, the second and third-ranking senate democrats, live herer. their landlord and third roommate is democratic congressman george miller. the house is so legendary it inspired a new tv series "alpha house." except the senate roommates in the amazon.com show are republicans. >> we want to say they are nothing like us. don't even begin to think so. >> when people see this house they're going to know because in the show it's a little bit nicer. >> wait a minute. >> reporter: miller, the owner, started taking in tenants more than 30 years ago. the house hasn't been updated since. >> well, we stopped buying lps, that was when the music stopped. >> you have a record player here. >> the same exact records are there now as the day i moved in in 1982. >> the best part about it are the products, the cassette player. this an eight-track? >> this is my medicine cabinet right here. >> i didn't know you were an metrosexual. >> who's closet is this? >> mine. >> mr. neat's closet. >> schumer's stuff is strewn all over the living room. >> seriously this is wher

and dick durbin even referenced pope francis in this regard.et's listen. >> he warned that income inequality leads to a global -- globalization of indifference. >> there's no bigger challenge we have than income inequality. we must do something about it. >> the decline of middle class incomes and the difficulty in average people getting good paying jobs has overtaken the deficit as the number one problem facing our political economy today. our republican colleagues should take note. >> you know, the politics of this, i'm now going to get into the ethnic piece of this. bitching, if you will, about people getting food stamps and the stereotypes on this that is ethnic and saying we don't want to give money to people that don't do any work. the bums. then they go to work and they catch the bus at 6:30. then they may have two jobs to do it. but screw them. i'm not going to give them minimum wage. it seems that's harder for republicans. >> it's harder and it makes no sense. you know, we want people to work. >> get them off the welfare role. >> people

last week house mortgage leader nancy pelosi said any deal must include an extension but dick durbinaid that is not the case. >> i don't think we've reached that point where we said this is it take it or leave it. what i hear from patty murray, i spoke to her the other night negotiations are making progress, moving in the right direction. >> congress has scheduled to begin its break this friday and not return until january the 7th. >>> well, a week after that deadly commuter train wreck in new york officials are upgrading signals. the new signals are expected to be up and running this morning. of course, four people were killed last sunday when a metro north train hit a stretch of track at nearly three times the speed limit. metro north now reducing the maximum speeds at 26 locations across the system. an attorney for the engineer operating the train says his client became dazed right before the crash. over the next year every cab outfitted with an alerter system that detects driver inactivity. >>> business and wall street closing on a positive note all three major indices posting ga

we'll also senator dick durbin if the budget passed by the house can pass the senate. and we'll get analysis from a panel headed by tom freedman of the "new york times." it's all ahead on "face the nation." captioning sponsored by cbs from cbs news in washington, "face the nation" with bob schieffer. >> schieffer: good morning again, well after ten days of mourning and ceremony nelson mandela was laid to rest today in his hometown of kunu, south africa. we'll have a full report later in the broadcast and the latest on the school shooting in colorado. but we begin this morning with breaking news from iran. earlier this morning our elizabeth palmer interviewed the iranian foreign minister mohammad javad zarif in tehran, she joins us now from tehran and, liz, he did make some news. tell us about it. >> he did indeed. on friday the u.s. announced that it was freezing the assets and transactions to dozens of companies for evading the sanctions against iran. and just at that time there were iranian diplomats putting the final details to the geneva agreement on iran's nuclear

dick durbin told cbs's "face the nation" that democrats still need the support of their colleagues across the aisle. >> the struggle is still on in the united states senate. we will need eight republicans to come our way. i feel like we will have a good strong showing from the democratic side. we need good bipartisan support to pass it. >> i think it is important we have this agreement. i am particularly sensitive about the military. i've talked to our military leaders. they say we badly need this relief. >> don't expect politicians to actually start playing nice anytime soon. >> i think no one is satisfied with the way our current deficits stands or the current level of spending. certainly part of the budget copper mines looks to both mandatory and discretionary spending. we have to look overall at the economic health of the nation and how we are spending our money on the government side. that is going to be an ongoing continuing debate. >> what are the long-term prospects for this deal? >> the fact that it is not bad for the fiscal situation, it actually does some good from the economic

on "face the nation," dick durbin said passage of that budget is still not a sure thing. >> the struggle is still on in the united states senate. we will need about eight republicans to come our way. i feel we'll have a good, strong showing from the democratic side but we need bipartisan support to pass it. >> jeff: congressional correspondent nancy cordist joins us now from washington. we are used to seeing the house block these deal, not the senate. >> that's right, there are a couple of things going on, jeff, that make this deal less attractive to senate republicans this time around. first of all they were basically cut out of the negotiations. the deal was worked out by the house budget chair republican paul ryan and the senate budget chair, democrat patty murray and so many senate republicans-- particularly those who are up for re-election-- could face a challenge from the right argue this deal trades some of those guaranteed across-the-board sequestration cuts for the mere promise of cuts in the future. they don't think that's a good trade. and so many of those senate republicans h

one of my colleagues talk to dick durbin after that and he said, don't take anything for granted. they have not locked down the votes yet. >> kathleen hunter joining us tonight from washington. thank you. as congress prepares to pass its first partisan budget in four years, a bloomberg national poll finds americans believe that by a margin of 64%, the lawmakers will actually pull it off. that will avoid a government shutdown. the confidence and there. when asked if the white house and congress would reach a larger budget agreement that includes revisions to the tax code, 80% answered "unlikely." 78% of respondents believe that the nation's capital in 2014 will grow. a majority of respondents say that they have faith that the government that was the first to put a man on the moon can still conceive and execute big ideas. another boat in washington today. the fcc voted on a rule that would allow in-flight phone calls full top that means the person next to you on your flight may soon be chatting on the phone. all the way across the country. bloomberg's megan hughes has been following

in september, we have the navy yard shooting and it reinvigorated the debate for dick durbin, dianne feinstein, the democrats who wanted to bring the debate back to congress after the failed .mendment in april harry reid said he would not seek a vote. right now, the issue is appearing dead. that may allow the white house to introduce my executive if republicans on the hill will not cooperate. >> in terms of the administration, what will we see? >> i'm not quite sure. they did introduce the 100 million dollars for additional mental health services this week but it is tofa

dick durbin is filling his role in his absence. >> senator reid called me and he sounded good and we look forward to his speedy recovery. >> reid's spokesman said doctors conducted tests is everything is normal. he is resting and feeling better. check nbcwashington.com for updates. at the live desk, i'm lynn yang. >> a florida congressman is out of the rehab part of the hospital in time to spend the holidays with his family. he said that you will see him on capitol hill when congress returns. the first term republican will not resign. he said he has been in rehab now for a while no >> no one, no one will take away my passion when it comes to serving southwest florida. >> he said he was actually in rehab because of a problem with alcohol and not drugs. the ethics committee is investigating the circumstances surrounding his arrest. >> president obama will hold a news conference and answer questions about 2:00 this afternoon. we will be streaming that on nbcwashington.com. it will be streamed live. the president and the rest of the first family will be heading to hawaii for winter vacat

what looks and feels like the most run down house on cam pus -- >> dick durbin and chuck schumer, theats live here together. their landlord and third roommate is george miller. the house is so legendary it inspired a new tv series, alpha house. except the senate roommates are republicans. >> we want to say they are nothing like us. don't even begin to think so. >> when people see this house, they will no. >> miller, the owner, started taking in ten gnats more than 30 years ago. the house has not been updated sense. >> we stopped bying lps. the same exact records are there now as the day i moved in in 1982. >> the products -- this is a cassette player. >> this is my medicine cabinet here. >> i didn't know you were a metrosexual. >> schumer's stuff is all over the living room. >> this is where you sleep every night? >> every night. >> and you wake up to barack obama starring you in the face? >> exactly. >> senator durbin did out you a little bit, he said this is the most you ever made your bed. >> and the blinds are particularly beautiful. a guy can see the weather. it's a special effec

dick durbin said on one of the sunday talk shows yesterday they still need a handful of republican votes to push this thing over the edge. some of those gop votes started to trickle in. senator john mccain said he is going to vote for this agreement. late yesterday senator ron johnson a tea party backed republican indicated he will vote for this bill. that's an indication of where this is headed, but at the same time democrats and republicans are eager to get this to the president's desk for friday, when he is scheduled for a two-week long vacation in hawaii. one thing we should point out is republicans see this deal as pretty good politics. newt gingrich was on one of the other sunday talk shows over the weekend saying that this is bad policy but good politics because even though he didn't like this budget deal, it does take the focus off the prospect of a government shutdown and keeps it on obama care. that's where republicans want it headed into the mid-term elections t. two archite-- the architects were distilling the virtues saying this is something we haven't seen a long time in wa

utah republican mike lee teamed up with dick durbin to reduce mandatory minimums.e obamaed a penstration showed reform this year. attorney general eric holder announced a new directive aimed as reducing sentences for non-violent crimes. >> it is clear as we come together today tattoo many americans go to too many prisons for far too long and for no truly good law enforcement reason. it's clear [ applause ] >>. >> it's clear that at a very bake level the 20th century criminal justice solutions are not adequate to overcome our 21st century challenges. and again, it is well past time to implement common sense changes that will foster safer communities from coast-to-coast. >> the question is are democrats ready to finally cast off once and for all any worry of being soft on crime, especially in an election year. are there more serious criminal justice overall. i want to bring them back with us. the managing editor who is reporting a prompt investigation into the case. the sentence is commuted by president obama last week. the congressman, a democrat from new york city.

in september, we have the navy yard shooting and it reinvigorated the debate for dick durbin, dianne feinstein, the democrats who wanted to bring the debate back to congress after the failed amendment in april. harry reid said he would not seek a vote. right now, the issue is appearing dead. that may allow the white house to introduce my executive actions if republicans on the hill will not cooperate. >> in terms of the administration, what will we see? >> i'm not quite sure. they did introduce the 100 million dollars for additional mental health services this week but it is too far to tell what they will bring up in the next few months. >> rebecca shabad, thehill.com and on twitter. thanks for being with us on c- span's "year in review." >> on the next "washington journal" market ginsberg looks of foreign-policy challenges in the year ahead. mocker -- gould er discusses political stories of 2014. then international stories on fears in russia as the sochi olympic games draw near. plus your e-mails and tweets. >> it is on fire. it will be extremely fast. this of the five or 10 years.

democratic whip dick durbin predicted on sunday it won't be easy. >> the struggle is still on in the united states senate. we will need about eight republicans to come our way. i feel we'll have a good, strong showing from the democratic side. but we need bipartisan support to pass it. >> several key conservatives including south dakota's john thun and jeff sessions say they cannot support the deal. >> i'm a little uneasy that we're going to say we're going to pay for that extra spending in years 8 and 10 over the next 10 year budget. >> marco rubio came out early against the measure. >> it raises it by $60 billion and it pays it in ten years. over the next years they'll forget it and keep borrowing more. >> warren hatch said he could support it, saying with democrats controlling the white house and the senate, it is the best we can hope for. he is backing it because continuing resolutions are wasteful. >> i can't emphasize enough how moving from one continuing resolution to another, that is a bad way of funding the federal government. it is not good in terms of effective and efficie

think about the situation if harry reid and dick durbin were running for re-election and getting challenges street left, you don't see that going on, what's happening -- very interesting and striking. >> we know mitch mcconnell is sitting on roughly $7 million down there in kentucky and lindsay graham has a sizable money advantage. i would advantage that when guys like john cornyn where they are facing opposition from the right, it probably will have some sort of effect of how they handle themselves legislatively, no? >> absolutely. this has been playing out where john cornyn knew he was up for re-election, even before they got their primary challenges in the most recent steve stockman challenge. the chances for them to be willing to cut deals with democrats on this budget agreement, it makes it very dicey for them because of a sudden it seems they are compromising the democrats and primary opponents say, see, john cornyn or mitch mcconnell isn't a true conservative. it forces those who are maybe outside the leadership and aren't up for re-election to be the deal makers. people like john mc

we'll also senator dick durbin if the budget passed by the house can pass the senate.d we'll get analysis from a panel headed by tom freedman of the "new york times." it's all ahead on "face the nation." captioning sponsored by cbs

and that's something the democrats don't -- even if dick durbin wants to give up on it in the senate, the house democrats don't necessarily want to do the same. >> by the way, you start, howard. what's the chance we'll have a shut down promised by the end of this week that they won't be able to agree on this limited budget agreement? >> we won't have a shutdown. they'll do a cr if they have to. there's not going to be another shutdown now. next spring is another deal. if they have a budget deal, they've got to pass individual bills. that could cause problems. then there's another debt ceiling coming up in february. we'll get through the holiday season, i think, without a shutdown. >> david, you've got a scary scenario. you say they'll get through this because they want to get through christmas. they'll do the nice now. and you're saying that come february next year, the whole thing starts over again. the red hots even cruz himself will lead the charge to go right off that cliff again if they can on the debt ceiling. and default. >> i think possibly. >> i think they're probably more li

democrats will need gop votes to get it through so take a listen to what dick durbin had to say on cbs during "face the nation." >> this is the right thing to do for our country. a bipartisan agreement to get the first real budget in five years and i hope that at least eight or maybe even more republican senators will join us. well, we have a handful but we need more. some are still thinking about it. >> reporter: all right, so here's where it stands, a handful of republicans tellen cnn they will back this measure. that could mean that the 55 senate democrats who were mostly expected to support it are close to the 60 votes that are needed. senator john mccain is among those republicans who says he'll vote yes. here's what he had to say. >> i hope it'll pass the senate. i'll do anything -- not anything but we must not shut down the government again. we can't do that to the people of this country and my state. >> reporter: so it's important to point out mccain says he wishes a certain provision concerning military retirement wasn't in this bill and that he's going to be looking to the ch

senate democratic whip dick durbin predicted they would need eight republicans to join with democrats in this first critical vote on the budget compromise. a few minutes ago at the white house, jay carney praised senator patty murray and congressman paul ryan for cutting this deal. >> they exceeded expectations. by proving that a return to regular order can be good for our economy is good for our economy and good for the middle class. that's why we hope to see the senate follow what the house did by passing the budget agreement. >> reporter: some democrats are unhappy that a $25 billion extension of unemployment benefits was not included in this deal. we will see if that's enough to make some democrats vote no. gretchen? >> this deal, it actually faced more heat from republicans in the senate. what are their concerns? >> reporter: well, some like the actual sequester cuts for putting firm caps on spending here in washington. which has been so difficult to do. others don't like the idea that this cut some benefits going to retired veterans. so there are some trying to see if there's a

and dick durbin even referenced pope francis in this regard.et's listen. >> he warned that income inequality leads to a global nation of indifference. >> there's no bigger challenge we have than income inequality. >> the difficulty in average people getting good paying jobs has overtaken the deficit as the number one problem facing our political economy today. our republican colleagues should take note. >> you know, the politics of this, i'm now in the ethnic piece of this. bitching, if you will, about people with the stereotypes on this that is ethnic and saying we don't want to give money to people that don't do any work. the bums. then they may have two jobs. but screw them. i'm not going to give them minimum wage. it seems that's harder for republicans. >> it's harder and it makes no sense. you know, we have -- >> get them off the welfare role. >> people go to work and yet they don't make enough money to live. then you have a supplement what they make with food stamps or housing assistance. >> or else tell the bosses to kick up the wages a

new jersey senators robert menendez and cory booker and senate majority whip dick durbin.eliseo medina served as the international secretary- treasurer of the service employs international union, or seiu, until october 1. he resigned saying he wanted to work full-time on winning conference of immigration legislation. he helped lead the month-long water-only fast as part of the action by "a fast for families: a call for immigration reform and citizenship." when we come back, we're going to new orleans to a polaroid dimmest who helped lead the movement against apartheid when she, together with her husband, realized that the company the were working for was making pass books for black south africans. stay with us. ♪ [music break] >> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. in the week since the passing of former south african president and anti-apartheid leader nelson mandela, democracy now! has looked back at the movement to win his freedom and bring an end to apartheid. today we bring you a key part of the story

. >> let's get more on that now with the number two democrat in the senate, dick durbin from illinois ohio, senator rob portman. senator portman, will a deal get done this week? and can you guarantee no government shutdown? >> george, i certainly hope so. i think there's an obvious solution here. it was just alluded to. we can shift some of the savings from the part of the budget that congress appropriates ever year to the part of the budget, the two-thirds of the budget that is called mandatory spending. keep the budget caps in place. not raise taxes. which is important in the weak economy. and actually avoid a government shutdown. i'm hopeful by the end of the week we can come together and achieve it. >> one of the sticking points, the extension of the unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed. senator durbin, nancy pelosi saying there is no deal without having those benefits extended. are the democrats united on that? no extension, no deal? >> i don't think we have reached the point where we have said this is it, take it or leaf it. i spoke to patty murray the other night.

here is what democratic senator dick durbin said about getting enough republican votes. >> we have aore. some are still thinking about it. over the weekend i talked to one or two of them in the process. the it is a tough vote for them because of the tea party threat. >> is that tea party threat strong enough to block it in the senate? >> it could. there are 55 democrats and most of them will sign onto the this deal. you need five republicans. you have only john mccain right now. one republican who said he's for the deal. you have a problem where senators like mitch mcconnell are worried about the challenge. you have people like rand paul, marco rubio who are either opposed to the deal and looking forward to running for president. this is the deal that conservatives don't like. if you are appealing to the conservative base of the t party, voting no is a smart thing to do. >> the house passing the budget proposal. was with it 332-94? >> right. >> there are democrats critical of it. what are their concerns? >> the big issue is unemployment benefits for millions of americans are due to e

sands issue for democrats as you look at the priority of budget negotiations, i wanted to play what dick durbin said when asked about minority leader pelosi's remarks that there would be no deal without extending benefits. let me play it. >> i don't think we've reached that point where we've set this is it, take it or leave it. what i hear from patty murray, i spoke to her the other night, negotiations are making progress, moving in the right direction. they haven't closed the deal. >> your response, is this a line in the sand when you look forward to budget negotiations if these benefits are not extended? >> it is a line in the sand. and it doesn't necessarily have to be done through the budget negotiations. but i think what we're saying and i think senator durbin and surely the per believe all of us that it has to be done one way or the other. either through the budget negotiations or through another vehicle. you really don't want the wheels to come off in terms of the basic necessities for 1.3 million people and next year if we don't do it, it would be another 1.9 million people and their ch

. >> have you talked to harry reid or dick durbin or schumer about this? >> you're absolutely right. it is an issue we should deal with. our republican friends are too cowardly in many respects to have fair elections. and the only way they're going to win as they understand it is to deny lower income people, people of color, older people from the right to vote by making it harder and harder for those people to participate in the democratic process. you're absolutely right. this is an issue. we need to get on to the floor, and we need to pass it. >> and i know it's been one that has been important to you for a long time. i appreciate your straight answer on it. we have a republican house member on earlier who wouldn't say whether boehner should supply the vote. it's something we're going to stay on top of. senator bernie sanders of vermont, thank you for your time today. >> thank you. >>> and stay with us. the day's most fascinating top lines are coming up. >> does your husband want you to run? >> he is very respectful. he knows that -- >> he does want you

here is what senator dick durbin said as the senate opened this morning. >> senator reid, the majority leader, is absent today and i will be acting in his place. senator reid called me this morning. he sounded good and we look forward to his speedy recovery. >> and it looks like the senate will be business as usual today, even though senator reid will not be there and of course we'll be following that developing story right here on msnbc. >>> also more changes this morning to the president's health care law. if your policy was cancelled, not only can you keep your old plan, but now you will be eligible for a hardship exemption and you'll be able to buy a cheaper catastrophic plan and be exempt from the penalties if you do not buy insurance next year. this change came in response to a push from six moderate democrats worried about the impact of the cancelled plans on their constituents and their political futures. but insurers not so pleased. quote, this latest rule change could cause significant instability in the marketplace and lead to further confusion and disruption for consumers,

dick durbin said it's not.ut the president did use his weekly radio address to push republicans on the extension. >> for many families it can be the difference between hardship and catastrophe. last year alone it lifted 2.5 million people out of poverty and cushioned the blow for many more. but here's the thing. if members of congress don't act before they leave on their vacations, 1.3 million americans will lose this lifeline. >> and if it's not part of the budget deal, carrie, what happens? >> well, i think what you're going to see now that some of these details are coming out about the budget, potential budget deal, this has been a very close hold on these negotiations and a lot of rank and file don't know exactly what's going on. i think on the democratic side, it's going to be really hard for them to vote for something that cuts government pensions for government workers without getting something more significant -- something significant in return. something like an unemployment benefit extension. i think

with a vote to limit debate on the bill expected tomorrow morning, majority whip dick durbin described the challenges. >> but we need bipartisan support to pass it, and the problems we have are two-fold. a handful of members of the senate are vying for the presidency in years to come and thinking about this vote in that context. and others are frankly afraid of this new force, the tea party force, heritage foundation force, that is threatening 7 out of the 12 republican senators running for re-election. so it's very difficult. >> the force gets strong. and senator durbin didn't even get to the third problem, republicans' listenering anger over changing rules of obstruction. chuck schumer did sound optimistic the budget deal will get the republican votes it needs to pass. >> i think it's a pretty safe bet it's going to pass. after what happened in the house, where so many republicans voted for it, i think mitch mcconnell, the republican leadership, knows they can't let it go down. >> mcconnell is one of those facing a primary, of course. but, of course, also the budget bill's coauthor,

my center is dick durbin -- my senator is dick durbin.ourepresentative bill in -- the representative represents my views. he has maintained a low profile and has not introduced any .egislation he is occupying the seat and not doing anything. really andthat i disconcerted about the whole political atmosphere. true that democrats have grown more intolerant of the other side. it seems that more and more at they have gone to the extreme right. it is like they refuse to listen to anything of any common sense. they are anti-science, anti- reason. another comment about your posting of the budget deal as far as the postal service, i am retired from there. i do not agree with their representation of putting things in the postal service that is part of the budget. they are not paid by taxpayer dollars. i do not think people understand. host: frank wolf's statement on not seeking reelection. jesus, i amer of called to be an advocate for those who cannot speak for themselves. i plan to focus on human rights and religious freedom." indiana, independen

. >> dick durbin and chuck schumer, live here together.e house is so legendary, it inspired a new tv series, alpha house. except the senate roommates and the amazon.com show are republicans. >> we want to say -- they are nothing like us. they don't even begin -- >> when people see this house, they're going to neoknow. in the show it's nicer. >> now, wait a minute. units miller, the owner, started taking in tenants more than 30 years ago. the house hasn't been updated since. >> when we stopped buying lps, that's when the music stopped. >> same exact records are there now as the day i moved in in 1982. >> the best pardon about it are the products. this is my -- >> whose closet is it? >> mine. >> mr. neat's close the. schumer stuff is strewn all over the living room. >> seriously this is where you sleep? the refrigerator, this is a scary sight. >> yeah, that looks a little -- it's a lethal weapon. . the rats may have done that. >> reporter: how many rats did you have? >> don't ask. >> i had a dream literally two nights ago that that -- i didn

here's dick durbin, second ranking senate democrat, over the weekend. >> the struggle is still on in the united states senate. we will need about eight republicans to come our way. i feel we'll have a good strong showing from the democratic side, but we need bipartisan support to pass it. >> but behind that statement, larry, there is a high level of confidence, i think, in both sides that they will get the votes. what's going on right now is some jockeying over who gets the right to vote no, to register their objections since both sides have objections to the deal. you have some 2016 republican candidates for president, you've got senators from both parties up for re-election in 2014. it does appear there are enough republicans including your next guest, ron johnson of wisconsin, who are willing to go along with almost all of the democrats to get over 60 votes and pass this thing. >> john, if the procedural vote passes tomorrow with 60 votes, is that it? lock, stock and barrel? >> yes. i think that's it. they're looking at a vote that would occur on final pass only wednesday evening

assists and martin -- majority leader dick durbin.ain, the rebroadcast of the shows begin at noon eastern with nbc's meet the press. at 2 abc's this week and p.m. fox news sunday. at 3 p.m. state of the union and at four eastern, face the nation. you can listen to them all as c- span radio. on sirius country number 120. >> sergei lavrov was part of austro hungary. it was a very bad day for him to come because it was a big serbian national holiday which they celebrate every year. serbia, was furious that ro-hungary had taken over. it was very sloppy police work. there had been warnings that something was afoot. one of the conspirators shot the archduke and his wife and they died. >> the events leading up to world war i. margaret macmillan on "the war that ended peace." are a middle or high school student, c-span student cam video competition once you do say what is the most important issue for congress. the grand prize is $5,000 and the deadline is january 20. get more information at student cam.org. >> washington journal continues. si

think the thought always was that would be handled separately, so i'm glad to hear my colleague, dick durbin, say that's not necessarily a sticking point in this, because i think there are different ways to look at it. look, the key is we don't have another government shutdown, that we don't raise taxes at a time when the economy is still weak, and i think we can accomplish that over the next couple days. >> host: bob bixby, your take. >> guest: well, what senator portman was talking about there was the extension of unemployment benefits which are scheduled to expire at the end of the year finish not all unemployment benefits, but the extension of sort of an emergency unemployment benefits. and that appears not to be part of the budget deal. that would be another $25 billion or so, and if they wanted to do that without adding to the deficit, they'd have to find another $25 billion of savings. so it's probably not going to be part of the budget deal that we're, that we've been reading about over the weekend. >> host: all right. let's start taking some of your calls. first in chicago, illinois

whip dick durbin talked about education and immigration, and mainly the senate was talking about the14 defense authorization bill. republicans tried to tackle the measure. it is possible we may see both on that bill later in the senate. senate majority leader harry reid said this afternoon that he will push to confirm only the first four of 10 nominees on whom you has filed. one of those is janet yellen to lead the federal reserve. it bipartisan group of senators has offered a bill that would impose additional sanctions on iran. on the issue of iran, as talks continue between the world's major powers, one of the key sticking points has been the except of a level of uranium the richmond -- uranium enrichment. robert einhorn spoke in new york where he was joined by former iranian negotiators. this is about one hour 10 minutes. >> thank you. [applause] easiere made my job because you laid out the questions we need to start. i will we've been questions from the ipad through the our. thatre joking backstage u.s.-iran relations -- this interim agreement appears to be a hick up. secretary k

durbin andader dick a member of the budget and finance committees. at 2 p.m.t is "fox news sunday." just include rand paul, ezekiel manual, former adviser to president obama, and if -- and a former south african prime minister. -- congressman mike mccall and democratic representative adam schiff. he is a member of the intelligence community. "face thestern, it is nation." bob schieffer talks with my angelo.-- with maia talk showsnetwork tv are on c-span radio men are brought to you as a public service by the network and c- span. the showadcast of begins at noon eastern time with nbc's "meet the press." three eastern, cnn's "state of the union," and that for it is "face the nation." listen to them all on c-span the washington dc area, across the country on xm satellite radio channel 120. or can download our free app listen online at c-span radio.org. >> things escalate so quickly. seems so loving can just turn and seems so out of control. this is one of those days. it ended with adam packing to leave and he said -- on top of all the other pressures they had no

. >> so alex, of course there you have republican rob portman, democrat dick durbin. and you heard senator durbin talking about unemployment insurance. that is still the main sticking point. democrats, the president want unemployment insurance extended for 1.3 million americans. that's expected to expire at the end of the year. they say if that's not continued, it would be bad for those workers and also bad for the economy. republicans say look at these latest job figures. they're an indication that we don't need more stimulus spending. but the key there, alex, is that democrats are not demanding that be a part of a budget deal. so that likely won't derail these budget talks. it's possible that we won't have a crisis situation here in washington for the first time in several years. alex? >> okay. listen, you're hopeful, so i'm going to be hopeful. thank you very much, kristen welker. >>> new today, reaction from key lawmakers following reports from state tv in iran that u.n. nuclear inspectors have started their visit to the iraq heavy water plant. inspectors were all