jessica yellin is there and joins me next. >>> plus the man who will be third in line to the presidency not so much afraid to cry. shed a few tears. we've compiled the best of, if you will, republican john boehner's greatest watershed moments. that's next. ♪ [ male announcer ] breathe, socket.

jessica yellin as always right in the thick of things for us.ess, how is this supposed to work exactly? >> reporter: so this is an organization. it's not actually founded by bloomberg or by politicians. it's founded by activists but very powerful democrats, republicans and folks who want to get what they say sort of moveon.org or tea party style grassroots movement around the middle, the idea being that if we want to get past partisanship and want people in washington to make compromises you need a force of people that will send e-mail and petition, et cetera like the other groups do for compromise positions. what does that look like? here are some of the founders of the group explaining their vision, brooke. >> never give up your label. just put it aside so we can do what government should do and solve problems and find common sense solutions. >> we need you to go out and organize in your communities and raise a voice out here. what we're really hoping for you to do is go out there and create a ruckus for democracy. >> what i'm arguing for is t

now to jessica yellin with the latest news from the political ticker. ve most charitable cities, washington, d.c. jessica, what do you have? >> not shocked by that, brooke. there are signs that support for the tax cut package the white house negotiated with members of congress is growing among the public. but there is a new outspoken high profile critic. mitt romney the ones and potential future republican presidential candidate has come out against this tax cut deal even though it's been considered a win for the gop. he says it's a disappointment and the next more conservative congress could get a better deal. why does this matter? the tax cut deal probably will pass in tend anyway. but could this be a sign that members of the tea party and far right aligned fiscal conservatives will eventually come to see this deal as a bad one for fiscal watch dogs? we'll see how that one progresses. >>> other news, president obama today met with these two men, warren buffett, bill gates and bill gates' wife melinda gates was there, too. they were talking about charit

jessica yellin joins me from washington. hello, jessica. >> hey, ali. more division among the republican ranks over this tax cut package. i'm talking about the 2012 presidential hopefuls. coming out today with an opinion, the latest news is that former pennsylvania senator rick santorum, one of the folks who might run for president in 2012, says he is against the tax cut deal. he knowles it could if they don't pass it, taxes will go up next year temporarily, but he wants the next congress a pass a permanent extension. that means he joins sarah palin and some others opposing the tax cut deal. also mitt romney in that camp. mitch daniels also might run for president and says he supports it. why? because it's better than nothing right now. and they can amend the problems later, he says. among those other republicans who stand for the tax cut package, john thune, a senator currently in congress, and many others. so a lot of division on that still. and also talking 2012, ali, some new news on when is it all going to begin? those of us planning our schedules

so is jessica yellin. we'll delve deeper into why this is so controversial. 't this just part of the budget? jessica will have more on that. first, i want to go back to something that affects all of us, the tax can cuts. the fact that our taxes could be going up the first of the year. the house not taking up this tax cut bill. brianna keilar knows all about that. she joins me live from capitol hill. the reality of the situation now is that they're not talking tax cut bill right now, brianna. does that mean it's totally in jeopardy or not necessarily? >> the house floor, the house is actually in recess right now while they figure out what to do with this. in jeopardy, i don't think we can say that. is this going to be mezei? you bet. the democrats were going to have a hard time getting votes just to get this bill to the floor. they pulled it from the floor. why did they do that? some liberal democrats said it's not going to be enough for us just to have a vote on changing the estate tax, which we have spent so much time talking about. we want to at least have a

jessica yellin is next. oh, my gosh. ♪ [ male announcer ] you know her. we know diamonds.ogether we'll make her holiday. that's why only zales is the diamond store. where you can get up to $1,000 off now through sunday. newsroom. remember late last week -- i think it was thursday -- it seemed letting guys serve openly in the military was done for. how about this? this is happening right now. the house is about to start this debate all over again, and we're hearing within the next hour we should have a vote on a law to repeal ""don't ask, don't tell."" right now it's a standalone bill. it was part of a bigger defense bill, doing away with the "don't ask, don't tell." that was part of that one massive piece of legislation and that one of part of the bill was killed. well, yesterday two house members proposed the standalone measure to repeal specifically don't ask, don't tell. that and that alone -- and, yes, they can do that. the debate, i'm told, is about to start with an up or down vote to then follow. we're going to be watching some of this together. we'll bring it to you

sanjay gupta and jessica yellin. >>> mexico's brutal drug cartel may be recruiting teenaged hitmen?ld boy who's killed repeatedly for drug traffickers. now back to "larry king." ♪ ♪ >> larry: how did you defeat alcoholism? >> well, i didn't defeat it. one doesn't look at it that way. >> larry: how long are you sober? >> all i can say is, i'm never sober. i don't want to be sober. but i have to say, i don't just don't drink, but a part of being involved in alcohol and the way of that life and all, which is today it's extremely interesting to see the way it's dealt with today. mainly because of the dui's because of drunk driving, because that's -- that's just -- that's not permissible. but aside from that, people drink and -- it's a different world today because of the scrutiny and the attention being paid to us. in my day, it was an old part of being -- as they used to say to sir lawrence olivier, what's your favorite part of acting? he'd say the drink after the show. it was all part of a world. and then when it started to replace -- when the cart was in front of the horse and sort o

and instead they make a holographic jessica yellin and make her come up as a holograph on election nightdo you remember that? >> larry: yeah, once they did that. >> well. >> larry: but fox, you think they're fair and honest in reporting -- >> what? no. god, no. >> larry: but that's their motto. >> what? that's their motto? >> larry: yes. >> well, that's a complete lie. >> larry: okay. >> no, i think they're tenacious. i think they are confident. and they are -- they are showing the model of how to build an organization that believes in something. i think what they -- i think it is wrong-headed for a news organization. i think they've built an incredible political organization. really effective political organization. >> larry: so it's a political organization? >> yes, that's right. >> larry: we'll be right back. >> larry: jon stewart is the host of a night of too many stars. it's an overbooked concert for autism education. it airs tomorrow night on comedy central. here is a sneak peek. >> 3,000. 4,000. >> i see only men so far. are there any women? >> 8,000. 9,000. there's two of you now

and instead they make a holographic jessica yellin and make her come up as a holograph on election nightarry: yeah, once they did that. >> well. >> larry: but fox, you think they're fair and honest in reporting -- >> what? no. god, no. >> larry: but that's their motto. >> what? that's their motto? >> larry: yes. >> well, that's a complete lie. >> larry: okay. >> no, i think they're tenacious. i think they are confident. and they are -- they are showing the model of how to build an organization that believes in something. i think what they -- i think it is wrong-headed for a news organization. i think they've built an incredible political organization. really effective political organization. >> larry: so it's a political organization? >> yes, that's right. >> larry: we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] let's be honest. no one ever wished for a smaller holiday gift. ♪ it's the lexus december to remember sales event, and for a limited time, we're celebrating some of our greatest offers of the year. lease the 2011 is 250 for $349 a month for 36 months with $3,399 due at signing. see your

our national political correspondent jessica yellin and senior correspondent dana bash. let's show our viewers. we started breaking these down last night. the spending bill stacks up to about here. this is just some of the earmarks. republican side. remember, the republicans said, we're against this, this is horrible. 35 republican senators have 1,630 earmarks. here's some of the top republican earmarkers. senator cochran, known as a great appropriator, 230. wicker, 199. grassley of iowa, 86. kit bond of missouri, 78. bob bennett of utah, 76. if the republicans are so anti-earmark, why didn't they go to the floor immediately and say, here's an amendment, take them all out, every one of them, every one that has an rncht behi "r" behind it, take it out today? >> i like one of the great appropriators of all time, bob livingston who said, you know what, the president's budget is a $1 trillion earmark. there's nothing wrong with members of congress wanting to put things in. >> wait a minute, wait a minute. what happened was, that earmarks got -- earmarks were to fix a bridge

i want to bring in our cnn national correspondent jessica yellin and cnn political analyst david gergen who spoke with president obama, and this is greg brown the ceo of motorola and i asked him, now in the tax deal gets passed and the top percentage of americans will receive a tax break and here is how he responded. >> we at motorola would not make a hiring decision based on the extension of the bush tax credits. whether we grow depends upon the market conditions that we are operating in, and the competitive landscape and the demand for the product. there is a lot more things that are important to whether we hire and invest. over all corporate tax reform, r&d tax credit and get the korean free trade deal approve and follow on quickly with panama and colombia, so those are the bigger areas that will create an overall climate for sustainable economic growth, and those among other things are some of the things that we talked about today. >>, so the back and forth that is happening here inside of washington, inside of the beltway over the tax deal and the notion of creating jobs, it seems

our cnn national political correspondent, jessica yellin, looking into that. jessica, i want to start off with who is opposing this and why. >> who is opposing it, suzanne, makes it clear there is no unity among republicans on this measure. those opposed include sarah palin, congressman mike pence, former governor mitt romney and former senator, rick santorum. wu some of the reasonses they cited, they like the tax cuts extended longer than two years, some object to the change in the estate tax and additional spending without cuts to offset that. in general they say the overall package won't create jobs in their view and they believe the next, more conservative congress, in their view, can deliver a bill they like better. >> who is actually supporting it? >> on the other side there is indiana governor mitch daniels, former house speaker newt gingrich, minnesota governor, tim pawlenty and south dakota senator, john thune. what do they say? they say there is plenty in the tax package that they don't like, but they think this deal is better than the alternative, le

i want to bring in our national correspondent jessica yellin, and our political analyst gloria borger this. jessica, you first, there is opposition from the left and the right, and now you have a reputable agency saying it could cause long-term damage to the economy. what do you know? >> well, moody's has issued a statement that said -- well, the quote is, u.s. tax package is negative for u.s. credit, but positive for economic growth. so, moody's basically tells investors whether or not it's safe to invest in companies, cities, state governments and even the u.s. government, and they are saying that because this will add to the debt and it doesn't do enough for anything really to reduce spending, at all, it could reduce and downgrade the value of the u.s. currency in the long run, and the credit worthiness of the u.s. currency in the long run, and that the u.s. may not be as safe an investment as we thought, and that is a big shot against congress in the bow, and around the world as to what we are doing here. >> and if the president pushes this through congress, how does he set this u

national political correspondent jessica yellin on the story at columbia university in manhattan.ood to see you. you've got my curiosity piqued here. tell us about no labels. >> we've got an interesting shot up right now. this is an organization you're looking at a panel discussion on hyperpartisanship and how the country can move away from it. this is an organization that says it will be the radical center. if you are sick of all the partisan bickering in washington, if you believe that too many pol tegss are governings focused on the next election and not the long-term good of the country and if you think there's not enough voice being given to the majority of where americans stand, this group says they're for you and they are trying to harness what they again call this radical center. here are the group's founders explaining. >> the day will soon be 1,000 people from all 50 states, republicans, democrats, and independents, by word of mouth only brought together and united by a simple idea -- no labels. which means never give up your labels, just put it aside so we can do what g

our national political correspondent, jessica yellin, is in new york.pened up. what is this group really all about? >> wolf, you know, we spent the day here trying to see what they're going to do. the group is trying to fight what they call hyperpartisanship and fight solutions and the endless gridlock in washington. they promise a, quote, ruckus for democracy and a radical center. what is that? well, we pressed and they'd like to find a way to get grassroots movement, a moveon.org or a tea party type movement around the middle so that when legislators are trying to reach bipartisan deals and trying to cut compromises, right now they're only getting bombarded with e-mails and protests and petitions from groups on the far left or the far right. this is designed to build a mass movement of a million people who will organize and activist around the middle and support legislators who cut deals and reach compromises. so it's a very interesting concept. if it works, it could be fascinating. it's an idea being born here at columbia university. an elite college

correspondent you can't put a label on it although we'll call her national political correspondent jessica yellinsay some things sound gimmicky. this sounds kind of neat if it could work. >> reporter: it sounds like it could appeal to a lot of people with that big if, if it works. they want to organize the kind of grassroots movement you see from moveon.org on the left or tea party on the right but to support centrist positions so if an elected official wants to take a position where they compromise with the other party there will be online movement, people sending petitions to back that person up because they're getting deluged right now from what they call the extremes, hyperpartisans on the left and the right. they're trying to organize this. here's one of the founders mark mckinnon, a republican best known for working with john mccain on the principle of this group. >> the established interest general reflex to be cynical about what we're doing here. and they make their profit and their attention through conflict. so the only thing that changes that is if we really show them numbers. so we ne

jessia yellin, part of the best political team on television, live from the political desk. hi, jessicaright now? >> hey, don, a big bill died last night, the omnibus spending measure that was supposed to fund the government, harry reid had to pull it because he didn't have the votes after all. instead the senate will introduce a temporary extension of the current spending so they can keep working. this is why it all matters. this was the major bill that included $8 billion with earmarks for both republicans and democrats in it. after the last election, the republicans decided we cannot back this anymore, because they took a pledge to have no more earmarks. they are so against new government spending. major, major fight over one of the spending measures. >> looking at later today, president obama is going to sit down with some labor union leaders, remember he met with ceos earlier in the week. well, you did one side of the aisle, you have to do one more side of the other. and many ears will be there. then you just talked a bit about larry king and his last show. well, on that show last