the gop had to retreat and the bridge -- and the president came there. wonder whether the decision to except that invitation was that it wanted to be more than a one- term president, he had to talk to them? >> it was not a last-minute decision on our part. it was on the calendar. the republican caucus was good enough to extend that invitation. it's interesting the way that you ask the question. he did it because he wants to be a more than 01-term president? we don't make calculations based on that. how do we move this country forward, how do we build some security for the middle class who have been facing economic challenges not fruits this recession only but for a decade or more? that is what he is thinking about. it we can get cooperation from the other side to do that we will be a stronger country for it. that is why we will continue to have a dialogue with mr. baker and others. -- mr. boehner and others. >> it was an unusual format. >> i thought it was a very good afternoon. we want to have a dialogue and we're glad that the president accepted. i tho

there was great exchanges between the gop and the president. a complete airing of the differences between the political parties. it was really a terrific example of washington coming together to debate the issues. >>> speaking of political parties, and david i want to get your take on the tea party movement. the tea party convention is getting under way today in nashville. does it think it's a threat to either party when it comes to getting candidates elected? >> well, this convention that is coming together or not coming together actually this week in nashville is a bit of a plop. the only thing that is happening is people that can afford $600 tickets in order to pay sarah palin a $1600 fee will be eating steak and lobster. it's not really the movement. they are putting pressure on republican candidates to be far more conservative than they would like to be and that may threaten them down the road in general elections. i am all for activism. and there is a ron paul, if he is adopting the foreign policy of his father, which is to be against the

that's a pretty big field on the gop side. the democrats already house member paul hose, that's trending toward democrats in recent years. >> you know what's great about politics? inevitably, even in a tsunami year, somebody wins going the other direction whether it's owens and biden back in '72, but also, the unbeatable guy, the unbeatable woman who can't imagine ever losing an election 90also goes down in a tsunami. that happens, too. >> remember 1980. i mean, remember the names? the biggest names of the democratic history in the united states senate. >> mcgovern. >> they were just giant names. >> and culver. >> you're absolutely right, chris. this is such a great senate cycle. kentucky's in play. we didn't even mention that. florida's in play, we didn't mention that. there's a whole bunch of races. we may have 20 senate races in single digits or flipping on election night. i'll be honest, i'm pretty giddy about that. that's a lot of fun. >> a lot of tea party action there on the republican side. >> there is. >> marco rubio,

karl rove is here on that and also on his surprising take on the gop and the tea party. bill: you know, martha, we have seen wild police chases here. [laughter] and we have seen this. >> reporter: it really was simply an accident. the enclosures, you know, are very well fortified, but there was a place as he was running that he was able to separate that gate and, unfortunately, he got through the gate. >> basically, i heard it over the gate, and the animal actually ran by my office. upbeat rock. ♪ singer: hello hello hello can anybody hear me? ♪ ♪ i know i know i know i shoulda gone to ♪ ♪ free credit report dot com! ♪ that's where i shoulda gone! coulda got my knowledge on! ♪ ♪ vo: free credit score and report with enrollment in triple advantage. i had a great time. me too. you know, i just got out of a bad relatio... it's okay. thanks. goodnight. goodnight. (door crashes in, alarm sounds) get out! (phone rings) hello? this is rick with broadview security. is everything all right? no, my ex-boyfriend just kicked in the front door. i'm sending help right now. thank you.

the solution, heing suggested the very next day, was to invite gop leaders to the white house later this month to jump-start a bipartisan health care debate. he said the televised meeting patterned in part after a republican session he attended in baltimore would solicit ideas. gop leaders said they would accept the president's invitation but any debate, they suggested, must begin from scratch. the best way to start on real bipartisan reform would be to scrap those bills, house republican leader john boehner said in a statement. >> thank you dnc. >> reporter: it was a big weekend for political positioning as the president was rallying his troops and challenging republicans in washington, a collection of conservative activists were stirring the political pot in nashville. >> ladies and gentlemen, sarah palin. >> reporter: the star of the inaugural national tea party convention was 2008 vice presidential nominee sarah palin who said democrats have failed to keep promises. >> how is that healthy changey stuff working out for you. >> reporter: palin also told fox news she has not ruled out r

in 1958, the same thing happens in the gop. dwight eisenhower was president, but this is dell basically a democratic new deal nation. and in 1958, the gop had worn out its welcome and house races and senate races in gubernatorial races, eliminating a lot of potential opposition for the nomination for richard nixon in 1960. one fellow's reputation was made in 1958, whose supposed career started was nelson rockefeller. he's bold, brash, energetic, very liberal and he's very wealthy. and he wants to be president in 1960. but the more he campaigns, he finds the less support in the republican party so that by december 1959, he pulled out of the race. and when he does this, what that does is to all the air out of the republican nominated process. it deflects any intention from the republican race because there is no race. it's much like what happened after john mccain secured the nomination in 2008 very early and then everyone focuses on the very hotly contested democratic race. and both john mccain and both richard nixon needed it i

president obama says he plans to move ahead with health care reform with or without the help of the gop. his comment came at the end of a day long bipartisan summit on the issue. >> we cannot have another year- long debate about this. so, the question i'm going to ask myself, and i ask of all of you is, is there enough serious effort that, in a month's time or a few weeks ' time or six weeks ' time we could actually resolve something? >> house and senate leaders plan to conduct a head count in the next few days to see if they have the votes to push a bill through congress with no gop help. >>> still ahead, looks like we will leave the month much like we start it's it with more wintry weather. we will show you where the plows are already out. >>> new details in the death of a trainer attacked by a killer whale. we'll be right back. >>> welcome back. hey, everybody, the wind is blowing and we downed wires in kensington. the parkway is closed between beach drive and connecticut avenue. more tieups to avoid early on. i will have them coming up. >>> in the news now at 4:40 an autopsy shows a

so is the gop becoming the small tent party of movement conservatives only? political analyst and joan walsh is editor -- she's laughing already. editor in chief of salon. she's in chuckle-worthy mood today because we're going to talk about how the republican party has decidedly created a circular firing squad. pat, just a couple -- let's take a look at some of the action. here's senator jim demint, the ineffable one, at cpac -- this is newcastle bringing demint to cpac. here he was last week. >> i would rather have 30 marco rubios in the senate than 60 arlen specters. >> well, that's a pretty easy one. i'm not sure i'd argue with that. but go ahead, your thoughts. >> no, chris, what you're seeing is a very robust party. look, ronald reagan challenged gerald r. ford when he -- >> but he wanted the job. he had a reason to do that. what about this push -- just two weeks ago you guys were leaping up and down orgasmically over scott brown winning the senate seat. and now he's being pushed out of the party. three or four weeks ago or longer you were jumping up and

thanks for joining us. >>> we just heard the white house perspective, what is the gop saying. john cornyn, the republican from texas, when we come right back. the integrity of its design... or how it responds... in extreme situations? the deeper you look, the more you see the real differences. and the more you understand what it means to own a mercedes-benz. the c-class. see your authorized mercedes-benz dealer for special offers through mercedes-benz financial. ♪ ♪ >>> and we're back with the most news in the morning. all this week, the full resources of cnn are looking at washington gridlock in the special series "broken government." today, we're investigating gerrymandering. it's an old political trick, that means dividing up local districts to give one party or another a political edge. the way these lines are drawn can swing entire elections. it's bizarre the way it's done. one example, check out maryland's second congressional district. at its longest point, 50 miles. at its shortest, about 1,700 feet. one possible solution to all of this, bring in independent commission

foes -- scaring off gop foes.d, a member of the tea party in florida. who belongs? caller: all kinds of people along. it's not just democrat or republican. is just people who are fed up and frustrated to be honest with you, i am so tired of hearing people call us racists or bigots or infer that we are related to the klan in some way. it is not what it is about at all. we just fed up. we don't know what else to do. they want to call us mad as hellers? well, we are, we are mad as hell. another thing, where they all say that this is all since obama came out. i am a registered republican, and i was just as upset and angry and disgusted with the george w. bush. it is not a black-white thing or a democrat-republican thing. host: unfortunately, i have to let you go, because we are having a terrible connection there. sorry about that. bill on our line in towson, maryland, the democratic line. caller: good morning. i would like to say it that the teabaggers stayed home the entire time during the no-bid contracts in iraq or

apparently americans don't like it very much. 49% to 42% against the democrats moving ahead without gop support. >> we'll see how this plays out, andrea, thank you for that. >> you bet. >>> a group of christian activists rallied in northeast dc today, demanding that congress not pass any health insurance reform that allows taxpayer funding for abortions. today's rally was scheduled to coincide with the president's health care summit. >>> all right, let's switch gears literally and to find out how the evening rush is going. any trouble spots out there? >> no major accidents to report. but wind is the big issue on the bay bridge. you'll see how traffic out here, no big problems except for you can only go with the two-way traffic suspended right now. expect some delays. no problems heading towards the main bridge. and of course, debris on the roadways, also everything to watch out for as you head out to 395 here. big problem for washington boulevard all the way to duke street and then again on 95 from woodbridge to route 123. nothing blocking the travel lanes. with the winds flipping aroun

john boehner meets for drinks with the boss of jp morgan, says only the gop can protect him from the reform. >>> abdulmutallab singing like a bird. yet mitch mcconnell trashes the american intelligence committee and the justice department and says only the gop can protect you from the horror of terror. >> he was given a 50-minute interrogation. probably larry king has interrogated people longer and better than that. >> political points ahead of intel. hello. the christmas bomber now providing leads about the yemeni cleric tied to detroit, the fort hood shooter, and even 9/11. and oh, by the way, the president can kill you while you're out of the country if you're working with the terrorists. huh? >> if that direct action, we think that direct action will involve killing an american, we get specific permission to do that. >>> limbaugh's use of the "r" word. sister sarah still silent about it. his escape?

the gop pollster and strategist. in a new 17-page guide book obtained by the huffington post, he says they can kill it by portraying that reform as punishment for taxpayers and reward for big banks and credit card companies even though the opposite is true of financial reform. and while luntz fancies himself as the yoda of republican obstructionism, his real motivation is slightly more crass. just look at his client list. it includes merrill lynch, bear stearns, american express, ameriquest mortgages. the proposed consumer financial protection agency would eliminate predatory mortgages. it would police the kind of financial products that nearly brought down the entire economy. it would regulate the credit card industry with rates and fees. don't think for a second that those corporate clients want any of that. as for lies, we know they work, whether created by luntz, or sarah palin or michelle bachmann or insert your name here, betsy mccoy. look at how republicans responded in a poll which we briefly referred last ni

for the conservative political action conference, cpac. >> but now after 37 years cpac isn't just a gopts the grass roots tea party movement is alive and well, and making inroads. >> reporter: bob porto made his first trip to washington, d.c. at age 12. it was a lesson in how government works. this visit is different. this time, he's very frustrated with the establishment. when you look at the building, the capitol building here in washington, that's what you loved, the american flag right there, the freedom it represents. >> yep. >> but it also is a symbol of what you and so many tea partiers are angry about and frustrated with. >> this represents the opportunity of freedom. we don't need mismanaged government trying to take away the freedom for the average man. >> reporter: this time porto came to washington to attend cpac, the premier convention for conservative conservatives. i've got to say i'm surprised to see you here because this is about as establishment as it gets. >> you know, you're right. you're right. >> reporter: porto says he came to listen to the conservatives' message

the big one is the florida senate gop primary.e establishment favorite was looked at as a heavyweight and the little-known state lawmaker got the support as the grass roots to the party candidate. it is a fun one to watch from a political point of view because this is one that may actually define whether or not this move and really has power. host: liz sidoti, with the associated press, thank you for your time this morning. for your phone calls and thoughts, connecticut, on the republican line. good morning. caller: i among the democrats line. host: sorry about that. caller: the tea party people are republicans. they really want the republican party to move for the right. none of those people will ever vote for democrat. when they say they don't know what the party is, you can really believe in that. there was as many reporters there as participants, almost. they gave this woman all this attention and the speech was third grade quality. it was painful to watch host: why do you say that? caller: the amount of generalization in her

. >> uma: coming up, the gop hoping to make a surge. what are leaders doing to get the message across and will it work? a fair and balanced debate minutes away. >>> will the winter weather ever come to an end? who's getting what this time and how long is old man winter going to stick around? for a while, it seems. bill: there are new details on the intelligence we're learning from the christmas day bombing, there are reports they are issuing a new effort to track down english speaking terrorists from overseas, u.s. officials saying these suspects are being trained in the country of yemen, possibly plotting future attacks against the u.s. steve centanni is live on this story. who are these people, steve? >> >> reporter: good morning, they could be americans or westerners who have been radicalized who went to yemen for terror training or went to learn arabic as a lot of students do and fill in with a radical group there. we know that umar farouk abdulmutallab went to yemen himself in the months before the christmas day terror attack, the

which is pretty breath taking with obama versus the house gop.great, in fact there are going to be a bunch of conservative and liberal bloggers and political activist notice next day or two, calling to have those things on a regular basis. nevertheless, i think tomorrow morning, he's going to appear before the democratic senators, and i hope he asks them, hey, what are you doing with health care? and when are you going to pass this? letting this sort of -- letting this get stuck in the muck for too long again. letting the jobs bill go back to max baucus, took forever to mark up a health care bill is not going to be successful i think for the democrats overall. obama is still their star, still the leader of the team, the degree he can take whatever shine he has, and put it on what the senate and the house is doing, it can only help the house democrats and the senate democrats, i think he missed an opportunity to do that with the health care bill a year ago, he has to do that with the jobs bill now, and they have to let him do that. >> i'm going to

. >>> republican brown is now the gop's 44th senator. that means the democrats no longer enjoy a supermajority and can now have any of their initiatives blocked. brown was the winner to fill the seat of the late ted kennedy. >>> an alabama man faces attempted murder charges for the actions behind the wheel. they say he was angry for having to prepay for his gas. the surveillance video showed mays trying to flee the scene. but officers were able to subdue him with a stun gun. >>> a group of neighbors are upset that their neighbor was holding sex parties in his home. that constitutes a business enterprise in a residential area. hixstorn has removed his website which advertising the parties. >>> super bowl sunday just days away, we will see the colts square off against the saints. for many people, the commercials unveiled that day are about as amusing as the game. derek valcourt shows us some of the ads. >> reporter: from doritos to e- trade talking baby. super bowl sunday is the advertising event of the year. often showcasing some of the b

he is following up on a state of the union promised on more outreach to the gop. >>> and republican scott brown followed up on one of his campaign promises, meeting winners of their radio station charity raffle at a boston bar for what they called the brown beer summit. massachusetts officialplan to formally certify his election today. >>> the federal government is investigating how toyota held a major -- called a major recall -- handled a major recall. the gornment is looking at potential electrical problems that may have led to issues with the gas pedals. >> we want to know what caused the problem, and i don't want just a statement, because they tend to be at variance with what they have said publicly and privately. >> toyota halted sales of eight of their brands. auto sales overall were up six% last month, but toyota sales plummeted by 16%. >>> time to talk about the weather. this could get very interesting as we go from friday afternoon and saturday. we are not even thinking about the snow. >> could be record-breaking. adam was looking at numbers. >> well, at least is saturday morning

larry, in particularly, scott brown, where he can really benefit the gop, is if the gop uses him andnald like they smartly did to give the rebuttal new, fresh faces. the temperature out there is against washington. it's against incumbents. that's why i think brown largely was voted in. so he can make a difference within the party, hopefully, and also can make a difference in the senate because of that very crucial one vote. >> i think she makes a good point. i think they need to -- i think that's right, to put a fresh face out. this guy seems to have done a pretty good job so far. i don't disagree with -- i think the election was significant, you're right. how much influence a junior senator has in the caucus, she could be right, he may have a lot. that's something i don't know. >> i think james and i would agree -- >> larry: andrea tantaros and james carville. >> good luck to your saints, james. >> larry: americans detained for trying to take haitian children out of the country, children who may have parents. why did they do that? to deliver technologies that anticipate the future,

i was impressed with the way that the gop held the line.and i really, really liked what paul ryan said. i think his statement on the different of philosophy hit at the core of all of this. we don't think democrats are evil creatures or anything that hate america or something like that we all know we have the same goals, but we have different means to achieve those ends. i think paul ryan hit on how the democrats don't understand that the ramifications of the means they use could adversely affect americans. >> greta: do you see this as a step forward or disappointment or a staged operation? >> staged operation, and i was a step forward. i think the people were actually represented. i don't think they've ever been able to take part because alternatives have never been considered before, especially primetime like that >> greta: dana, thank you as always. now to philadelphia, pennsylvania where katy abram joins us live. what did you think of today company >> there are a couple of things that surprised me. the first was when i think eric ran for

the gop has been. we have more on just how much money has been raised. >> while the president was quietly finishing his first year in office, the republicans are trying to be more stealthy as they continued to build their word tract -- continued build their war chest, some are presumably a run for 2012 and some have never stopped running. when you want to make the white house your house, you have to get an early start and a wealthy one, at least a handful of republicans have emerged as president obama's biggest contenders. hitting the speaking circuit and asking for on my donations. >> we are in the year of the nonstop campaign. you have to have an organization at this point you are serious about running in 2012. >> here is how stackup -- like how to beat, just over $500,000. -- so what can we glean from all of this? who is in the best position to make a run at the white house? >> newt gingrich has a 527 and that's different. he can raise more money, but there's no question he has a huge organization.

does it -- clearly the gop is hoping to embrace -- you had this quote from john boehner the other day. john boehner said house minority leader said there's no difference between what republicans believe and what tea party activists believe in. clearly a lot of players in the republican party are hoping that to embrace the tea partyers and a lot of tea partyers are hoping they will bring the gop back to conservative roots. >> you have conservative activists what woant to surf ths wave. a lot of people conflate tea partyers and independent voters. tea partyers are conservative populi populists, to the right of the republican party. most independent voters are in between the democrat iic party d republican party. a lot of tea partyers would like to see more polarization in washington. there's a further irony here. look at the way the republicans are trying to set themselves to take power back in 2010. look at scott brown. the idea republicans could take ted kennedy's seat, play for obama and biden's seat. they are the people tea partyers would have called rhinos in years past. mike kirk,

foes -- scaring off gop foes. kinds of people along. it's not just democrat or republican. is just people who are fed up and frustrated to be honest with you, i am so tired of hearing people call us racists or bigots or infer that we are related to the klan in some way. it is not what it is about at all. we just fed up. we don't know what else to do. they want to call us mad as hellers? well, we are, we are mad as hell. another thing, where they all say that this is all since obama came out. i am a registered republican, and i was just as upset and angry and disgusted with the george w. bush. it is not a black-white thing or a democrat-republican thing. host: unfortunately, i have to let you go, because we are having a terrible connection there. sorry about that. bill on our line in towson, maryland, the democratic line. caller: good morning. i would like to say it that the teabaggers stayed home the entire time during the no-bid contracts in iraq or afghanistan -- iraq war in afghanistan, where there was no congr

handful of democratic senators the valley forge contingent, brown's victory last month treated as if the gop has achieved a 41/59 majority in the senate. earlier this afternoon, democrats in the senate giving their 60th member interim senator paul kirk a standing ovation as he delivered his farewell address. senator kirk was supposed to have had one more week in office but yesterday mr. brown demanding he be sworn in today only hours after massachusetts governor patrick had certified his election. on tuesday mr. brown had indicated he would be sworn in next week at a news conference this evening the junior senator giving a reason for his change of heart. >> people have asked me why i wanted to get sworn in so quickly after the results had been certified and the answer is there is no hidden agenda. it's pretty basic. i want to get to work. the secretary of state had certified the results. we gave him initially a fair amount of time. he called the other day and said they were ready so we thought it was appropriate to come down and start working. there are a lot of votes pending that i would li

as for terror suspects, gop critics here are mounting an effort to bar funding for civilian trials. the white house says the bush team showed that terror suspects can be fairly convicted in u.s. courts. among them, shoe bomber richard reid. in washington, brook hart, nbc news. >> meanwhile, some lawmakers are preparing to challenge the obama administration's decision to try the 9/11 suspects in federal court. the bipartisan group introduced legislation that would force the white house to use military tribunals instead. >>> well, it's been a very busy year for president obama, but it's also been a busy year for his wife. first lady michelle obama. this morning she spoke exclusively about "today" show in the past year in the spotlight. despite all of the attention, she says she is still the same person she always has been. >> i approach this position like i approach my life. i try to be as authentically me as i can be. i've said this before. because it's easier to maintain it. so i don't think about occupying a list or a title. i still see myself as michelle obama, the girl who grew u

the president laid out his plan monday 3 days before the scheduled meeting with the gop. >> he's basicallyrippled the summit that's expected on thursday. by coming in with a rerun of the same failed bill that couldn't pass the house or senate. >> they pushed back greatly on this notion they're a party of no. if they're not the party of no, first it's a perfect venue to be a party of yes. >> one republican law maker is calling for a boycott. >> winter 98 winter blast. >> we hope we don't continue to that number! we're still in the winter season. look at the hd radar. you can see showers working there waddle virginia coming into maryland maryland toward charles county. a little bit of rain. break of precipitation is west over toward i81. zooming out the picture you can see the area of low pressure. there is one low spinning down out of the great great lakes region. this is a we we we canr low -- weaker low supplying with us the colder air. we have is this moisture riding along the coast converging with that system. so we have 2 systems working together that we're going to watch strengthen on

british house of commons leader harriet harman and then president obama talks to house republicans at the gopreat in baltimore. after that, another chance to see q &a whip terry teachout. . . >> now from london, prime minister's questions from the house of commons. harriet harman fills in well he meets with the president of ireland. ties that have been so successful. we are looking so much at the sector. >> questions for the prime minister. >> number one, mr. speaker. >> i have been asked to reply. my hon. friend the prime minister is in northern ireland where talks are ongoing to secure agreement on the evolution of police and justice hours. the prime minister will make a written statement later and place it in the library of those how those. i am sure the house will wish to join me in paying tribute to riflemen peter aldridge from fort battalion rifles serving as part of three rifles battle group and corporal daniel cooper who served battalion rifles who died in afghanistan. they were heroes who displayed extraordinary courage and absolute commitment to the task before them and their collea

that means the gop needs ten seats to win control of the senate.ry uphill battle, but each week, it seems the gop puts another democratic seat in play. let's look at the map. they believe that they now have put at least seven democratic seats in play. north dakota, delaware, nevada, colorado, illinois, pennsylvania, and of course, now, indiana. now, to make it even a remote case for winning control of the senate in 2010, they need candidates in three of these long shot states to become more serious challengers. california, connecticut, new york, and up in the upper northwest, washington and oregon. i can can tell you this, wisconsin and washington, they're very active in candidate recruiting there. california, a very expensive state. we shall see. of course, the republicans have their own share of senate seats that they still have to defend. nearly a half dozen. for us political junkies, though, there's going to be maybe 20 to 24 competitive senate races come november. unbelievable. moving on. can a democrat from miami tap into nascar nation, i say

the gop wants president obama to pull the plug on his trillion dollar bill and start all over again. >> unless they're willing to do that, i think it's nearly impossible to imagine a scenario under which we could reach an agreement. >> reporter: but the president has no intention of giving in. >> i know that there are many who have been skeptical of our reform efforts. . right up up yesterday, he was still campaigning if an overhaul. today he'll lead talks on several topics including controlling costs and expanding coverage. he's hoping to convince the american public and skeptical members of his own party that his plan is the best way to overhaul the nation's health care industry. republicans have been repeatedly criticized for not bringing enough ideas to the table. but ahead of today's meeting, had they said they now have specific solutions. >> we have six steps that we think will make our current health care system work better. >> reporter: analysts say the president may have to compromise to get results. >> this is a signature domestic issue. he campaigned on having this pass in

. >> reporter: republicans party spokesperson began repeating gop claims that the current bill should be ripped up. >> we believe we have a better idea. reducing healthcare costs. and start over. let's go step-by-step toward that goal. >> they don't have the time for us to start over. >> reporter: he later challenge the president's claim. >> you are wrong about your bill. >>i'm pretty certain i'm not wrong. >> reporter: both sides have a point. premiums will be 13% highier. both policies would cover medical service and half of subscribers would be eligible for subsidies. john mccain brought up that the healthcare negotiations took place in front of cnn cameras. >> let me make the point because we are not campaigning anymore. the election is over. >> i'm reminded of that every day. >> reporter: democrats could ram healthcare reform through by using senate budget reconciliation rules which require 51 votes. 49% of americans are against democrats passing legislation without republican support according to a poll released today. >> also on the healthcare front a house bill in annapolis is

gop leaders proposed a modest, step-by-step approach. republicans arguedhat the american people want reform but not what's on the negotiating table. >> the thing i've heard more over the last six or seven months, is that the american people want us to scrap this bill. >> reporter: the president made it clear that starting from scratch is one republican idea that's off the table. >> if we can't, then i think we have to go ahead and make some decisions. and then, that's what elections are for. >> reporter: there was more public interest in the summit than the state of the union address. nearly 4 million streams of the summit were accessed on the white house website, compared to over a million on the state of the union. >> a stunning number there. viviana hurtado, thanks. >>> yesterday's summit, as viviana mentioned, was televised on c-span. was anything accomplished? or was it just political theater? abc's chief political correspondent, george stephanopoulos weighs in. >> political chess. and both sides gained something. the president rein

this will bumbling not be enough to persuade. -- this will probably not be enough to persuade the gop -- the thing that concerns her most, any bill that raises taxes. collins and snowe feel that the public health option that they created in maine is a mess. the public option has been off the table for months. it sounds like there are s20 or so democrats who are trying to push the leader on this. he has said that he will consider it. he will need cooperation from many in his caucus to do this. they only need 51 votes and not 60 in the process of reconciliation. he will not get a republican vote with a public option. host: will the white house push for public option? guest: you have sent some retirements after the election. i think that there are some possibilities. and i'm not sure that they can get 50 senators. host: we have a question from a caller. caller: i would hate to see that public option put back in. i would not vote for barbara boxer again because the democrats spend too much money, too much on funded programs. we need insurance reform and health care reform. i have been fam

. >> reporter: gop leaders say their opposition is inspired by the american people, whose worried the president's plan will limit their coverage and add to the ballooning federal deficit. >> if they think the american people are mad at him now, they haven't seen anything yet. >> reporter: the reform negotiations have been secret. the six-hour summit will be broadcast live on c-span on the internet. >> in addition to republicans calling it a trap. they're calling this a six-hour poe t photo op for the president. >> reporter: this is high political theater. every detail has been scripted and negotiated. certainly from the camera positions to the seating arrangements at the table that i mentioned. as far as policy is concerned, both sides huddled yesterday, preparing for today's meeting. >> viviana hurtado in washington. >>> the killer whale attraction at seaworld orlando is closed today, after the horrifying attack that killed a veteran trainer. >> and there is new video taken just moments before the woman was snatched by the 12,000-pound whale and dragged under water until she drowned.

his oath means democrats lose their supermajority, but will brown necessarily toe the gop line once hevoting record for clues. iscovers to use legalzoom for important legal documents. so start your business, protect your family, launch your dreams. at legalzoom.com we put the law on your side. >>> ted kennedy's seat in the senate about to be taken by a republican. scott brown is getting set for his swearing in a little bit later on today. >>> our senior congressional correspondent, dana bash, live from capitol hill. hi, dana. good to see you. >> reporter: you, too. >> we understand you're learning a little bit more about what kind of digs the incoming senator will enjoy, and then we'll talk about his record, whether he's conservative, liberal or somewhere in the middle. >> reporter: absolutely. >> what about his digs? >> reporter: let's start with that, we had the cameraman, chris turner, turn around to where scott brown will ultimately have his offices. it's down the hall. here's why this is important. this is the former office spales space of ted kennedy. he isn't just taking his old

asking the president to sort of continue what they did in baltimore, where the white house and the gop has a regular exchange calling it question time. >> this is called smack down. not really. its a group of people from across the political spectrum. we have a conservative, liberals. all those people are on board. they are asking the president and republican leaders to do this regularly on tv, no sponsors, no interruptions to show off the kind of exchanges we saw the of the paper in looks like the president got the upper hand in that. republicans also got to make their points. thicken no longer say he has not heard their idea they said republicans are the party of no. >> would be the vehicle for this kind of dialogue aspects >> this set would be great. they could meet here. i think that the idea is that they would do it wherever they get together. the white house says it worked because it was spontaneous. if you did it every week, people would become more predictable and it would not have the pop it had the other day. the president is looking for ways to be spontaneous. he was in new

the gop wants him to pull the plug on his trillion dollars bill and start all over again. >> unless they will do that, i think it's nearly impossible to reach an agreement. >> reporter: there's many that have been skeptical of the reform efforts. right up until yesterday, he was campaigning for an overall. today he will lead topics on several costs including leading coverage. he wants to show them his plan is the best for the healthcare overall. republicans have been criticized for not bringing enough ideas to the table but they said they have specific solutions now. >> we have six steps that we think will make the current healthcare system work better. >> reporter: analysts say the president may have to compromise to get issues. >> he campaigned on having this path in his first year. it's really a do or die from the white house for the democrats. >> reporter: even without the republican backing, democrats could still push through the healthcare reform on their own. reconciliation would require only a simple majority, but so far democrats have been reluctant to use the strong- armed tact

president obama and gop leaders each willing to put aside bipartisanship. agreed that they had related jobs creation, and that senate republican subsequently voted to block mr. obama's choice of craig becker for the national labor relations board. first call this morning on what the president sees as petty politics. veronica, good morning to you. caller: yes, good morning and happy new year. i am glad it's going to be open. i hope the public gets to see everything, you know that is going to be happening. you know i wish that they would just show what the republicans say behind closed doors and then show the takes when they come out. saying that he doesn't talk to them. this president is talking to them more than i have seen any president talk. he's on the air everyday. it's good to see, the fourth thing they were ñzemdemanding i the health care bill is in the health care bill. so i don't understand what it is. all of us can actually see it, they have to come to some kind of agreement here. and we can get something passed. because everything is no. and you c

. >>> federal agents are questioning gop leader's 2006 campaign spending. the chair and former lieutenant governor is accused of arranging for his 2006 senate campaign to pay a defunct company run by his sister for services that were never performed. his finance chairman made the allegation to federal prosecutors as he was about to be sentenced for unrelated fraud charges. >>> plenty of speeches of arng directed towards the obama administration during the conservative political-action conference today. the primetime speaker didn't disappoint. newt -- >> we know what is good for america's future. >> what a difference a year makes. >>reporter: the bell of the ball, keynote speaker, glen beck. the conservative political-action conference may have started with a small group of conservatives back in 1973, but it has grown. now attended by members of congress, major political activists and some of the biggest personalities in the grand old party. >> really behind conservative candidates. the new era of hope and change was sweeping aside our values and principles.

let's talk about the candidates running against him on the gop side.re are three relatively unknown candidates that are all leading him in the polls. we have danny tartanian. he's a local businessman. also sue lowden, a former news anchor, and sharon angle, a former gop assembly woman. all these people have low name i.d. throughout the state especially comparing with harry reid who has been in politics here for so long. he has a lot of money and a campaign organization that's been in place for quite some time. megyn: that will be interesting to watch come november. the obama administration grappling with big decisions on where to try ksm, not to mention the fort hood massacre. former attorney general john ashcroft whose policies have been so attacked by the obama administration is here to tell us what he thinks of how the president is handling the war on terror. and geraldo rivera is here to talk about tiger's emotional mea culpa. and attorney gloria allred's parting shots. >> it was a disgrace. my doctor said most calcium supplements... aren't absorbe

we promise you we would show you the question from the gop house members.dget and washington. >> you are soon to submit a new budget. well the new budget like the old budget, triple the national debt and continue to take down the path of increasing the cost of government to almost 25% of the economy? >> caller: with all due respect. i have to take this last question as an example of how it is very hard to have the kind of bipartisan work we are trying to do because the whole question was structured as a talking point for running a campaign. look -- let's talk about the budget once again. i will go through it line by line. the fact of the matter is, when we came into office the deficit was $1.30 trillion. 1.3. so, when you say suddenly i've got a monthly budget that is higher -- monthly deficit higher than the annual deficit left by republicans, that is actually not true, and you know it is not true. host: of the parties and the deficit, that is our conversation. shreveport, louisiana, brenda, a democrat. caller: thank you very much for giving us the outlet.