on monday we'll talk about this and also hear from congressman gregory meeks from long island after this break. more from our roundtable after this. this is america.

i wanted to take just a couple of minutes to go to new york with congressman gregory meeks.district, of course, includes far rockaway and queens which was hit so hard during hurricane sandy. congressman, it's good to have you here. and i wanted to make sure we were checking in to see how folks in the hurricane zone were fairing this thanksgiving and this thanksgiving weekend. tell me about the week you've had with folks up there as we look at the images. >> let me tell you, first, every individual on that peninsula, whether to the east or to the west, was affected. there's not a single individual not affected by the storm. but just listening to what your panel was talking about, on thanksgiving it was spiritual, inspirational to see individuals come from around the city and indeed from around the nation to try to make sure that people were eating. i saw neighbors cooking as if it was the summertime on their grills and sharing their food with other neighbors. and people coming together saying that we still have a long ways to go, but we're going to be thankful that we have li

and joining us by phone, gregory meeks, democrat of new york. his district, by the way, in the middle of the hurricane sandy zone, and there is a snowstorm out there now. so i appreciate mr. meeks very much. want to go to my friend kevin boehner first, though. did john boehner's speech surprise you? is this a conciliatory message done deliberately and are we going to get off the dime on the fiscal cliff, kevin? >> well, first let me say to greg our prayers are with you. we're in hurricane alley here in texas. we know how devastating these are. so if there's anything we can do to help you in your district, please let us know. secondly, john boehner naid i think exactly the right two points today. one, he said the president doesn't have a mandate to increase taxes. in fact, the strong re-election of a republican house has made clear the american public doesn't want higher taxes. the second point was the right balance to this fiscal cliff to address this issue is a combination of a stronger economy that generates new revenue through fundamental tax

and we'll here from representative gregory meeks this morning as we check in on some of the hardest-hit victims of hurricane sandy and see how they offered thanks this weekend while surrounded by destruction. >>> from nbc news in washington, the world's longest-running television program, this is "meet the press." with david gregory. >>> president obama doing his part for the economy over the weekend out holiday shopping as part of small business saturday, picking up several children's book at an independent bookstore iypÑarlington. >>> meanwhile, uncertainty in the middle east. more clashes in egypt over the weekend as police use tear gas this morning to disburse protesters in cairo. i want to start there. we have "new york times" columnist david brooks and our own andrea mitchell. andrea, this is because president morsi has seized power, a day after brokering a cease-fire between israel and hamas, he is now consolidating power. how worry side the administration about it? >> very worried, but they are very, very cautious because he is their new point of leverage really with hamas. he i

with me at the table is new york congressman gregory meeks, a democrat and member of the financial servicesommittee. ryan alexander of taxpayers for common sense, danielle garza of the libre initiative and louisiana state senator karen carter carpenter chair of the louisiana democratic party. thanks to everybody for being here. i want to start with you, representative meeks. i was making this point that isn't this what you guys do? don't you look at the federal budget, you make decisions. when i look at this fiscal cliff on the one hand i hear folks saying look, you got all the power this time on the democratic side. go ahead and go over this cliff. on the other hand, i look at the folks most likely to be fundamentally implemented by it, they're the most vulnerable. how do you manage that power relationship? >> i think that the president is doing it right. i think that you see the tone has changed by the speaker particularly. there's a difference this time than it was before. >> yeah. >> before when you had the tea parties who came in 2010 and they are the grover norquist no taxes and they

congressman gregory meeks was baptized at that church and i asked him and pastor j.d.ng it's going to take the community to recover. >> it's going to be a long time. this is a symbol of what it is. we are here at st. john's baptist church and it's going to take this church, which is an institution in the community, a long time to get itself back on its feet. it was devastated by this storm. you just look inside and you'll see complete destruction. it's going to take months upon months upon months to get it back together again. >> pastor, this is the largest church here on the peninsula. >> on the peninsula. and we have 15 employees, we did. we have a day care, ministry. the church is open seven days a week doing the weekdays from monday to friday from 6:00 until 6:00, and now these employees of our church are without a job. the bottom has been completely destroyed. six feet of water destroyed -- >> this bus, right, this is your bus. went all the way up into the actual bus? >> the van, the air condition system is gone. the boiler system is gone. everything that's in the

we are having our own very important meeting right now with representative gregory meeks, a democrat from new york city. mr. meeks, welcome and congratulations on your re-election. >> thank you, tyler. good being with you. >> let's talk about the fiscal cliff a little bit. what specifically would you be willing to yield on of the things that are very important to you to help us avoid the fiscal cliff? >> i think that conversation that everything's on the table is on the table. for me, it has to be balanced. we have to make sure that there are some things very important to me, like i'm sure there's some things important to my colleagues. you can't have it i know i have been talking to my constituents and letting them know that pain is going to be on the way but it has to be emquickable pain. for me, i'm with the president. everything is on the table, we have to talk, can't be why where it is one-sided and somebody tells me it has to be all cuts and no revenue. >> has anything, mr. meeks, really changed. ♪ president won re-election, he would say that is a vindication of his position. b

on me to the press, carl levin, peter king, and gregory meeks. we will also see the chairman and chief executive of honeywell international. our next call joining us on the independent line. we have pat from tennessee. caller: you made the statement a few minutes ago, exactly my thought. when you have senators and representatives of their in congress, then they are representing the states. that is how the states have a say in the budget talks. i noticed a while back they talked about reducing your marks. that is when they put things in that they want to add to the budget, things that the one for the states. that is how they are represented already. thank you. host: thank you. what you were quoting was eight tweet that came in that said states already have a say by sending members to the house and senate. democrats line. caller: i think today pose the question is interesting. this was one of the first questions addressed by congress back in the summer of 1787 at the constitutional convention. the convention had only originally begun to address som

gregory meeks. from start to finish this bill has been a bipartisan effort and is an example of what we can -- what exactly we can accomplish when we work together toward a common goal. this project will be the first bulk natural gas transmission project in brooklyn, statin island and queens in more than 40 years. the 5.2 million people living in these three burroughs are demanding more and more natural gas. natural gas as we all know is reliable, it's clean, it's domestic and it's economical. on september 15 of last year, new york city deputy mayor testified before the national park subcommittee and in support -- and they're in support of the grimm-meeks bill. i appreciate all the courtesy shown to him on that day. in his testimony, the deputy stated, energy demand in new york city is increasing and will continue to grow. therefore getting the gateway project done is a major effort that includes the private sector, the city, state and federal governments. the gateway pipeline project will generate

i have spoken to people in the rock aways and queens where congressman gregory meeks, who is a big democrato gas, no nothing, people are having problems. and, in staten island, which unfortunately to a great degree has been ignored a lot of pain and problems. for all the -- now visits by cabinet officials days later to the new york and new jersey area we are not getting the gas people need and people cannot function. >> >> gretchen: do you hold fema responsible for not being here and coming up with the same ideas that hess came up with to bring in the generators. >> it's in the gas lines, looting, dispirited feeling of many people in new jersey and new york who say i'm stung at my home. i can't get to my job. i have a little gas left i want to make sure i stay here in case i need to go somewhere in an emergency. people are paralyzed economically in a huge huge swath of new york and new jersey. and so today we'll see cabinet officials coming to new york coming to new jersey. catherine sebelius we saw. janet napoleon yesterday holding press conferences. but what's needed is not press conferen