the president having been informed at 10:30 this morning by john brennan. obviously they are tracking it very closely at the white house. the state has the lead, but the fbi supports local law enforcement and local responders who came to the incident. the local police department has about 46 or 47 officers. this is a small community about an hour and a half outside of new york city. >> as david said, hard to explain to our kids. hard to explain to ourselves. what in the world has happened here? all these kids killed by a lone gunman in an elementary school just before christmas? i mean, it's just impossible to understand. >> here are some of the initial police transmission tapes when the calls came in. >> indicated she thinks there's someone shooting in the building. >> the individual that i have on the phone is continuing to hear what he believes to be gunfire. responding at this time. the shooting appears to have stopped. the school is in lockdown. >> roger. >> there are reports that two shooters were seen running past the gym, which would be the rear --

will this cost john brennan his speakership? guest: boehner said the members were not angry with him. they were not showing dissatisfaction with him. one of the other things about that was that standing next to him at the press conference was eric cantor. that was a clear sign that these guys are tied together and eric cantor is not ready to unseat john brennan. there was a lot of symbolism in that press conference. -- ready to unseat john boehner. if he goes back and stars to negotiate with president obama and tries to bring back the deal at this conference cannot accept again, the danger to him does arise. from what i was told thursday night, he gave a well-received speech to the conference. he said, i did not have the votes. his speech was well-received by them. he is well liked by those members. as of right now, he is not in in any immediate danger right now. depending on -- he is not in any immediate danger right now. host: will call on our line for independents. caller: i have hit some number crunching. these entitlements

he was first alerted at 10:30 this morning by john brennan. he has been updated regularly about the development that is are unfolding right now in connecticut. i'm also told that he spoke with fbi director mueller. he also called the governor of connecticut malloy to extend condolences and offer sympathy and any help that the federal government might be able to provide at this point in time. white house press secretary carney they would daily briefing today and asked about this situation. he said that the president is monitoring this situation quite closely. when we asked him what the president's reaction was, he said it was too early to really answer that but here's a little bit of what he did say about the president watching the developments unfold. take a listen. >> i think it's important on a day like today to view this as i know the president as a father does and i as a father and other who is are parents certainly do which is to feel enormous sympathy for family that is are affected. >> reporter: carney was asked if the events in connect

president obama was notified about this tragedy at 10:30 this morning by his national security adviser john brennan and receiving briefings all day, and he has reached out to the director of the fbi and as well as the governor of connecticut, governor malloy, and also expressed that the federal government will stand with connecticut as it deals with this tragedy and not only emotionally, but offering up full resources in what is a long and dark process ahead for the state. the president ordered the flag lowered to half-staff here at the white ohouse and throughout washington, d.c., and to your initial point, chris, the president making it clear that this is not a tragedy for the state of connecticut, but the tragedy for the nation as well. his emotions overflowing today and one of the most emotional moments we have seen from this president, chris. >> i agree. and watching it on el television, it was overwhelming. thank you, kristen welker. >> we will return with more on the tragedy of the shooting at an elementary school in sandy hook, connecticut. not today. [ male announcer ] bob has afib: atrial

by john brennan? >> john cornyn is his national security adviser -- john brennan is his national security adviser. >> [indiscernbile] there is something from the president's response confirming details specifically, but you share with us, a lot us to understand his personal human reaction? , those reports have come since i have come out here, so i cannot confirm victims and therefore not able to confirm victims, and it is hard to give a reaction of the president to reports of victims and not especially children. as a father, incidents like these weigh heavily on him, and i think everyone who has children can imagine enormous suffering that accompanies an event like this. i prefer to provide you more information once i have it and once we have confirmed some of the reports that you mentioned. >> do you expect the president to address this? >> it is certainly possible that the president will have something to say. i cannot tell you whether or not, depending on the reports we're hearing, whether it is a s

he was alerted about this shooting earlier today by his -- by john brennan, his national security adviser. he's been getting updates throughout the day, and he reached out to the governor of connecticut not only to he can tend his condolences, but also to make it clear that the federal government is prepared to stand with connecticut as they deal with, respond to, and begin to heal from this unspeakable tragedy. the president really making the case that this is not just connecticut's tragedy, this is really the nation's tragedy. one thing that stood out to me, i know it stood out to you, martin, was the president making the point that in the wake of this shooting, it is in his words, time to take meaningful action to try to prevent another tragedy like this from happening again. what does that specifically mean? we'll have to wait and see for the details to come out, but clearly it is a reference to some type of stiffer legislation when it comes to gun policy. president obama has ordered the flags flown at half-staff. the national flag here at the white house, the flags at the capitol als

the acting director, michael morrell, and white house counterterrorism adviser john brennan are considered top contenders. as the dominos fall, there's an interesting political angle. if senator kerry is tapped for a cabinet post, outgoing massachusetts senator, scott brown, is widely expected to run in the special election to fill kerry's seat. >> victory and defeat is temporary. we may, obviously, meet again. >> reporter: brown came to power in a 2010 special election to fill senator ted kennedy's old seat, but lost re-election in november to elizabeth warren. many said senator kerry was breeze through nomination as secretary of state. but he may face tough questions about his past support of syrian president bashar al assad. rob and paula? >> abc's tahman bradley live in washington. thanks, tahman. >>> and the administration's asia team is reported to have been so surprised by north korea's rocket launch this week, several of them were at a holiday party when it happened. a blog on the foreign policy website reports they were joking it was nice of the north koreans to delay the launch s

the oval office briefing from homeland security advisor john brennan alerted the president to the magnitude and the horror of the details to come. about five hours later, when the president appeared in the briefing room, the characteristic bounce in his step was gone and the nation learned this tragedy hit the president like no other. >> i know there's not a parent in america who doesn't feel the same overwhelming grief that i do. the majority of those who died today were children, beautiful little kids between the ages of five and ten years old. they had their entire lives ahead of them: birthdays, graduations, wedding, kids of their own. among the fallen were also teachers, men and women who devoted their lives to helping our children fulfill their dreams. so our hearts are broken today. >> reporter: the president also said the nation has endured too many of these mass shootings and for the first time in his presidency he said washington must take meaningful action to prevent similar atrocities. as the president spoke his press secretary jay carney and white house chief of staff sat feet

violate the rules of engagement that were laid out by our president's own counterterrorism adviser john brennan who in april suggested drone strikes are only used when a significant threat might be posed by an individual who is an operational leader of al qaeda or one of its associated forces and capturing the individual is not feasible as al qaida his brother the guy who got blown up in the drone strike as his brother told mcclatchy news we could have made sure he turned himself in if he was guilty of any crime that arrest him put him on trial. the united states used to stand for the rule of law we used to pride ourselves as the moral because for the rest of the world we didn't some merrily execute people without trials but those days are long gone replaced by a semi covert drone warfare program started by former president george w. bush and ramped up by president obama who now has his own kill list and has ordered the drone execution of an american citizen most you know without due process most notably anwar all of a lockie and his sixteen year old son who were blasted away in yemen in two th

john brennan and mike morale are considered the top contenders. president obama has accepted her decision and meeting with her in private. >> eric: new this morning, a federal court will hear barry bonds will hear his obstruction of justice conviction. they have set oral arguments for february 13th. last year a jury convicted bonds of one felony obstruction count for giving an evasive answer when he was asked whether he received drugs that required a syringe. bonds lawyers argue the answer was accurate and was not meant to obstruct justice. >> the city of san francisco is asking to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the nudity ban. four people challenged the law last month. they have filed a motion to get the suit thrown out. he says the suit is without merit. the public nudity ban will take place february 1st and allow it in events like bay to breakers and folsom street fair. >> definitely not that sort of weather. >> you have on to bundle up. >> mike has the forecast. >> it is kind of cold is motivating, you want to dress for the cold, dress in layer

director, acting director michael morale and john brennan are considered top contenders. one last note on senator kerry. some say he is a shoo-in for secretary of state but he will likely face questions about past support for syrian president assad. >>> new this morning, today is decision day for states to notify washington if they will run their own insurance markets under he'll overhaul. 19 states have turned down the administration's invi station to set up health insurance exchanges. that leaves the feds with a huge task of doing it for them. on the other side, 17 states including california, washington, d.c. say they want to set up their own markets. >> walgreen's drugstores have agreed to pay a huge fine to settle a lawsuit filed in in alameda county. they are going to pay $16.5 million after they say they illegally dumped dumped waste into trash bins. they dumped patients' records without shredding them first. they were found to be violation of the law. this settlement covers more than half the counties in california. >>> new york city leaders are trying to protect

will this cost john brennan his speakership? guest: boehner said the members were not angry with him. they were not showing dissatisfaction with him. one of the other things about that was that standing next to him at the press conference was eric cantor. that was a clear sign that these guys are tied together and eric cantor is not ready to unseat john brennan. there was a lot of symbolism in that press conference. -- ready to unseat john boehner. if he goes back and stars to negotiate with president obama and tries to bring back the deal at this conference cannot accept again, the danger to him does arise. from what i was told thursday night, he gave a well-received speech to the conference. he said, i did not have the votes. his speech was well-received by them. he is well liked by those members. as of right now, he is not in in any immediate danger right now. depending on -- he is not in any immediate danger right now. host: will call on our line for independents. caller: i have hit some number crunching. these entitlements

morning at around 8:00 i heard from him and he said meet me in the diplomatic room, and myself and john brennan dennis mcdonough and chief of staff bill daley met him and he turned to us and said i made my decision, we're going to go with a raid. write up the orders. >> what do you do? >> i returned to my office and drafted the orders and signed them. >> and then how was it operationalized? >> we had developed prior to that literally a playbook of every step that would have to be taken from the point that the president made the decision and we began to implement that. we came into the office on sunday morning and we began a 10 1/2 hour principals committee meeting. >> 10 1/2 hours continuous? >> yes. >> and you were watching that? >> yes. >> when it began, how nervous were you? >> focused is a better way to describe it. >> were there any drops in mood when that helicopter malfunctioned? >> yes, of course. yeah, a helicopter did malfunction and a tail hit the wall and it had a hard landing. but contingencies had been planned for including that and the operation went forward without missing a bea

chief of staff bill daly and tom donlon and his deputy and counterterrorism chief john brennan. that morning the four most important irishmen on this side of the atlantic. judging by this photo, we are all approximately in our positions, if i play the part of bill daly. the president is not here. it is 8:20 a.m. how is it you knew to be here with the president that morning? >> we'd arranged to meet with him here prior to going to tuscaloosa, alabama, to get his final decision. >> he was touring storm damage, so he's in casual clothing. his ride is idling out the back door. he comes to you, stands in this grouping and says what to the best of your recollection. >> my recollection is that he said it's a go. we're going to do the assault. we're going to do the raid. complete the orders, and let's go. >> i recall being here that morning working up briefing points for him, and i think tom started in. the president said, i got it. it's a go. we looked at him, and he said it's a go. let's get it going. >> it was the last check. as tom said, he had made up his mind overnight, told us it

30 this morning in the oval office the president was notified by the homeland security advisor john brennan of the shooting in newtown, connecticut. at a school. the president, receiving regular updates as more information becomes available. >> the president has received many of those emergency updates over the last four years. from a congresswoman shot at a super market in tucson, arizona. she survived but six others did not. >> our hearts are broken by the sudden passing. our hearts are broken. >> to an aurora colorado movie theater this past summer. >> 12 dead. >> when you have an opportunity to visit with families who have lost their loved ones as i described to them, i come to them not so much as president, as i do as a father. and as a husband. >> late they're same month the president faced criticism from liberals for speech to the national urban league. >> when i said in the wake of tucson was we were going to stay on this persistently. >> the where he talked about violence but carefully danced around the issue of gun control and offer nod specific plans for follow-through. >> we ide

. >>> homeland security adviser john brennan first notified president obama of the tragedy here at 10 morning in the oval office. 3:15 this afternoon, he had been thoroughly briefed. and he prepared his remarks in the briefing room. named after the shooting attack on president reagan. nbc also learned that the original remarks were longer than the emotional statement that the president, a father of two young girls, of course, eventually delivered. >> this afternoon, i spoke with governor malloy, and fbi director morell. i offered governor malloy my condolences and made it clear he will have every single resource he needs to investigate this terrible crime, care for the victims, counsel their families. we have endured too many of these tragedies in the past few years. and each time i learn the news, i react not as a president but as anybody else would, as a parent. and that was especially true today. i know there is not a parent in the america who doesn't feel the same overwhelming grief that i do. the majority of those who died today were children. beautiful little kids between the ag

notified about this tragedy, chris, at about 10:30 this morning by his national security adviser, john brennanhe has been receiving updates throughout the day. he reached out to the director of the fbi as well as to the governor of connecticut, governor malloy. expressed his condolences. also expressed the fact that the federal government will stand with connecticut as it deals with this unspeakable tragedy. not only emotionally, but offering up its full resources to the state of connecticut as it begins the healing process. what will undoubtedly be a long and dark process ahead for that state. the president ordered the flag lowered at half staff here at the white house and throughout washington, d.c. and to your initial point, chris, the president making it clear that this is something that is not only a tragedy for the state of connecticut but the tragedy for the nation as well. his emotions certainly overflowing today. one of really the most emotional moments that we have seen from this president. chris. >> i agree with you completely. just watching it on television it was overwhelming. kri

was first briefed of the situation in connecticut at 10:30 a.m., his homeland security adviser john brennan alerted him as to the developments. and he since has been receiving regular updates according to the white house spokesman jay carney. we do know, wolf, he's expected to address this, to actually come out before the cameras, perhaps, and give some sort of statement to speak to this. he's been in touch with the governor of connecticut. he's been in touch with his fbi director. the white house has been waiting to get a firmer grasp on the facts. as you know, it is a very fluid situation and the president certainly wants to know he has a firm grasp on the facts of the case, what is going on before he addresses the nation, wolf. >> it looks like this may be the worst mass killing at a school in u.s. history, based on the information i'm getting over here. columbine high school, littleton, colorado, back in 1999, dylan klebold and eric harris killed 12 fellow students and one teach brother before committing suicide in the school library. in this case, john king reporting close to 30, we be

president obama was alerted about this tragedy at 10:30 this morning by the national security adviser john brennan. he is receiving updates throughout the morning and afternoon. white house press secretary jay carney holding a daily briefing today and talking about how tragic the events are and asked the initial response was. carney held off saying that it's too soon and the president waiting for details and made the point that president obama is watching these events unfold today as a father as much as he is wachi inwatching as a presid. the president reached out to fbi director mueller as well as the governor of connecticut malloy. now, president obama is very reminisce ept of the aurora, colorado, shooting and president obama spoke to the nation. he was middle in the campaign at that point. he suspended the events. spoke to the nation about how tragic it was, extended condolences to the people of colorado. i'm sure we'll hear similar comments of the president today. jay carney was asked earlier today about the fact that president obama has supported stiffer gun control legislation. he was asked

the big question is whether john brennan, currently the director of homeland security want that job. it's his if he wants it. the question is, does he? otherwise director morell could get it. the president could perhaps make all of these announcements next week. >> stand by just for a moment. jill dougherty is our state correspondent. it looks potentially like john kerry could be the man that you'll be covering in the weeks and months to come, john kerry, chairman of the foreign relations committee, democratic presidential nominee back in 2004. what are you hearing? >> well, obviously now that susan rice is out of the picture, it would be very logical to turn to him. he is well known for international affairs. every type of issue he seems to have a statement ready within seconds. he's a heavyweight. he knows all of the issues. he wouldn't have the difficulty, it would appear, in the senate for being confirmed with that post as susan rice would have. and it also clears the way now for secretary clinton to move on to her next venture because don't forget until that process of guesting

he was first notified by, and security adviser john and brennan. this is five minutes. >> this afternoon i spoke with gov. malloy. i offered him my condolences and made it clear he will have every resource he needs to investigate this heinous crime, care for the victims', and counsel the families. we have endured too many of these tragedies the past few years. each time i learned the news, i react not as a president but as anybody else would. as a parent. that was especially true today. i know there is not a parent in in america who does not feel the same overwhelming grief that i do. the majority of those who died today were children. beautiful little kids between the age of 5 and 10 years old. they had their entire lives ahead of them. birthdays, graduations, weddings, kids of their own. among the fallen were also teachers, men and women who devoted their lives to helping children fulfill their dreams. our hearts are broken today. for the parents and grandparents, sisters, and brothers of these little children, and for the families of the adults

last our president obama was notified about the shooting might deputy national security advisor john brennanwhite house is still waiting for more information about the incident, but the president is receiving regular updates. the president might address the nation regarding this incident. we have not confirmed that, but if he does we will bring you the president's comments as they come and. that's all the time we have right now on that breaking news story. did you back now to lori and adam. adam: the president might address the nation. if he does, we will take that year. we want to turn our attention back to the fiscal cliff because as we move closer and closer to it you don't expect to find anyone on capitol hill making any decisions this weekend since both the house and senate are on recess until monday. republican congresswoman marcia joins us now from natural to talk about where we stand on all of this. thank you for joining us. you certainly have your credentials when it comes to fiscal responsibility. i was doing a little background, and i see the you are a champion. known as one of th

this morning in the oval office, the president was notified by his homeland security adviser john brennan of the shooting in newtown, connecticut. at an elementary school. the president has been receiving more updates about this incident. as the day perceives, as we get more information, we will certainly provide it to you. megyn: we will get back to you as news warrants. fox news has confirmed that the shooter is a 20-year-old man. a 20-year-old man we do not know whether he had a child and that's cool. we were told it was catered for. kindergarten usually around five years old. that doesn't mean that he couldn't be the father of a student there. it does seem a little young, but we don't know enough right now. we are being told the press conference is expected within the next 40 minutes and we will get the first briefing we have had from the people who actually know what happened. the least better than nothing. now we have dr. keith ablow, he joins me via skype. we really need to hear from him today. everyone out there is feeling disconcerted and sat and stared. wondering if this is the

he was notified by homeland security advisor john brennan. he ordered flags lowered to half staff. this is about 5 minutes. >> i spoke with governor malloy and fbi director muller. i offered governor malloy my condolences on behalf of the nation and made it clear he will have every resource he needs to investigate this crime, care for theirctimw and families. we have endured too many of these tragedies. each time i learned the news, i react not as a president but as anybody else would, as a parent. that was true today. there is not a parent in america who does not feel the same grief i fail. do. the majority of folks who died today were children between the ages of 5 and 10 years old. they had their entire lives head of them, birthdays, graduations, weddings, kids of their own. among the fallen were also teachers, who devoted their lives to helping our children fulfill their dreams. our hearts are broken today. for the parents and grandparents, sisters and brothers of these little children and for the families of the adults who were lost. our hearts are broken for the parents of th

informed about the tragedy friday morning, 10:30 a.m., informed by his national security adviser john brenn brennant the situation throughout the day. he made phone calls to fbi director robert mueller and the governor of connecticut, danell malloy, and offer the full support and resources of the federal government. president obama has ordered that all flags on all federal buildings in washington, d.c. be flown at half staff, a sign of the collective grief this nation is feeling over what has happened in connecticut. alex, it is usual for the president to go and visit a community, when it is suffering so much. we saw this after the shooting in tucson, after the shooting in aurora, colorado. i would not be surprised if we saw that again, but at this point in time, the white house has not released any of those plans. alex. >> kristen, it has been reported that the president had a longer statement prepared yesterday and that due to his overwhelming emotion as the president of this country, as a father himself, and the elm pa elm path empathy feeling, he couldn't get through? >> that's right. we have h

borders and in their region and recognizing we had to address the deputy national security adviser john brennan labeled the upstream factors of radicalization. the resolve to strengthen our work in countering violent extremism or that government power so they can bump the attraction of violence and recruits her enemies cause. today for your seder, things that different. both on the ground and as i discuss later with the u.s. is doing. especially in the civilian side of the house. in southeast, a few score has been seriously degraded. without a doubt, osama bin laden is to pressure from the scene was the most and port milestones in the fight against al qaeda. the remover -- removal of the sole commander for 22 years is a testament to the work of countless intelligence and counterterrorism across the government and that further demonstrated as never before the extraordinary proficiency intelligence communities achieve and counterterrorism is someone who would then director for counterterrorism at the white house in the late 90s, i have to say the leaping capabilities is nothing short of astonishi

brennan, washington. >>> senior correspondent john miller, welcome. >> good morning. >> why can't they get him out?levels. if he was a straight up spy, this would be much simpler. >> it would? >> it would be a spy trade. unfortunately, you know, what they are asking for is -- it's in the ballpark but a bet of a mix. the cuban five didn't come to steal u.s. secrets. what they did was come to infiltrate anti-castro groups in the miami area and feed that information back. one of the things that makes that murkier one of them allegedly supplied information about the freedom flights where they were dropping leaflets and two sees nsa were shot down and people killed. he's convicted of conspiracy to commit murder in that case pep lost on appeal. the idea of phones for freedom versus, you know, conspiracy to commit murder is a bit of an uneven thing. >> what leverage does the u.s. government have? >> not much. when you look at these cases and you can't talk about this case without talking about the case of robert levinson, the retired fbi agent who is being held in iran where, again, it's very difficult to

john goodman is the author. this is booktv on c-span2. >> in her book, "pat nixon" mary brennan recounts the life of the former first lady who died in 1993. ms. brennan discusses her use of mrs. nixon's recently released private documents. this is just under 50 minutes. >> welcome to the richard nixon presidential library and museum. my name is paul and i'm the acting director of the library. i appreciate all of you coming to one of our continuing author talk recitations. today, we are very fortunate to have really the leading scholar on pat nixon who is by the way of warren 100 years ago this year. mary brennan, did much who did much of her research here for her book, is the chair of the department of history at the university of texas and san marcos. her specialty is post-world war ii conservative movement and she has written to date, three different books those being turning right at the 60's, conservator capture of the gop, wives, mothers and the conservative women conservative women in the crusade against communism and of course the book we love the most around here which is "pat nixon" embattled first lady. he

brennan, thanks. >>> also in washington is cbs news political director john dickerson. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, charlie. >> what are the ramifications of this report? >> well, the political ramifications, in a sense the political price has already been paid for these administrations. susan rice withdrawing her name from the secretary of state nomination. even though this report has nothing to do with her at all. she wasn't at the state department. that has removed her. her nomination will not be discussed in the senate. if john kerry is the nominee, he wasn't involved with the state department. he'll answer questions. he's not on the hook for them. that does not become a public forum for this scathing report. that as a political matter helps the white house. >> john, hillary clinton sends this letter to members of congress saying that she will accept all 29 of the panel's recommendations. five of which are classified. but there are some critics of this administration who accuse her of faking a diplomatic illness so she doesn't have to testify tomorrow be

brennan at the state department. >>> for the second time in five days president obama met with house speaker john boehner to work on progress. bill plante is at the white house. bill, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, norah. the speaker heads home to ohio for the weekend after meeting with the president for almost an hour. both sides called the encounter frank which usually means they didn't agree on much of anything. however, administration officials say that treasury secretary tim geithner was also there. that could be a good sign. he hasn't been in previous meetings. the white house continues to insist on the president's plan of $1.4 trillion in new taxes. the president did say in an interview that he remains hopeful. the speaker, despite some voices in the republican party now saying that they may have to accept a tax increase remains publicly adamant that tax hikes are simply out of the question and off the table. if there is no progress in the next few days there's almost no chance that anything can get done before christmas and very little chance to do anything before the end of the year. norah, charl

brennan, thank you noor. >>> in washington this morning, just 26 days left before the fiscal cliff deadline. president obama spoke on the phone with house speaker john boehner on wednesday while his treasury secretary said the white house is, in fact, ready to go straight over the fiscal cliff. major garrett is at the white house. major, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, norah and charlie. later on this afternoon the president will travel across the potomac river to northern virginia to meet a middle-class family to make the self-evident point if the there is a deal and taxes are raised by about $2,000 they'll be happier and spend more money. that's the p.r. side of this. much more importantly, for the deal, the two key players yesterday picked up the phone. the phone call relatively brief and substantive, though details remain illusive. shorter, sources say. the last week 28-minute conversation described then as curt, direct and frank. no one with this call used such barbed words and occurred before treasury secretary tim geithner laid down this harsh fiscal cliff marker. >> if the administration, are they prepared to go over the fiscal clif

brennan, thank you for that. >>> in washington this morning, there are just 26 days left before the fiscal cliff deadline. president obama spoke on the phone with house speaker john boehner on wednesday while his treasury secretary said the white house is, in fact, ready to go straight over the fiscal cliff. major garrett is at the white house. major, gd morning. >> reporter: good morning, charlie and norah. the president will cross over the potomac into northern virginia to meet with a family who says their taxes don't go up, they'll be happier and spend more money. that's the pr side of this. much more important, the context of the deal, keet players yesterday picked up the phone. phone call relatively brief and substantive. details remain elusive. it was shorter, sources say, to last week's 28-minute conversation described them as curt, direct and frank. no one familiar with this call used such barbed words. it also occurred before treasury secretary tim geithner laid down this harsh fiscal cliff marker. >> is the administration prepared to go over the fiscal cliff? >> oh, absolutely. again, there's no prospect to an agreement that doesn't involve those rates

brennan, thank you. medical correspondent dr. jon lapook is here. he is affiliated with new york presbyterian hospital where secretary clinton is being treated, but you are not involved in her treatment. >> that's right. >> john, thank you so much. let me ask you, how serious do you think this is they're keeping the secretary in the hospital for at least 48 hours? >> well, that depends on the answers to a lot of questions that we don't know. i am affiliated with columbia. i haven't spoken to any of the doctors who are taking care of the secretary. but here are some of the things that are running through my head. it's unusual for somebody who's had a blow to the head to get blood thinners. the reason is when somebody falls and hits their head you're worried about bleeding into the skull, into the brain, like natasha richardson had. so the last thing you would want to do is thin their blood. so trying to figure out what could have happened here. she had some sort of concussion two to three weeks ago she fell and hit her head. at that point i'm sure they did some kind of brain imaging, a c.a.t. scan for mri to the head. at that point she must have had no bleeding or so little they were able to observe her outsid