kelly o'donnell, our capitol hill correspondent, with us from the hill tonight. kelly, good evening. >> reporter: hi there, brian. well, the temperature was really turned up here today with talk about the chance of a government shutdown. you've got leaders from both parties digging in over how deep and how painful budget cuts need to be. with government spending on the chopping block -- >> when we say we're going to cut spending, read my lips. we're going to cut spending. >> reporter: that provoked the senate's top democrat to accuse speaker boehner of being reckless enough to trigger a government shutdown. >> and now he's resorting to threats to do just that, without any negotiations. that is not permissible. we will not stand for that. he's wrong. >> reporter: if congress can't agree on cuts soon, the government is scheduled to run out of money to pay its bills in two weeks. but some republicans predicted a more dire fate. >> if we're not careful, the united states will follow the roman empire. >> reporter: there was drama, with a debate until almost 4:00 this m

let's go to our capitol hill correspondent, kelly o'donnell, for an update tonight. kelly, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. this was incredibly abrupt. within hours after the scandal broke, the western upstate new york republican, chris lee, is out. now, a web-based gossip site had published a story today that said that lee had sent a shirtless photo of himself to a woman that he had made contact with through the site craigslist. now, congressman lee, who is married and a father, immediately made a decision to step down. he sent word to his colleagues on the house floor today in a message that was read by the clerk. >> i hereby give notice of my resignation from the united states house of representatives. >> reporter: lee also put out a written statement saying he has regrets the harm that his actions have caused his family, his staff and constituents. he apologized for profound mistakes. earlier today it was business as usual when congressman lee, a two-term congressman, was appearing at a hearing. aides to speaker boehner would not comment on any conv

and with us "the washington post"'s howard fineman, kelly o'donnell, constitution cynthia tucker and politico's jon harris. first up, america broke? the urgency of our debt crisis is long talked about but now is really hitting home. on the state level we seen the face-off between governors and public employees. most dramatically out in wisconsin. on the federal level, there's a growing sense of the fury that brought in the tea party might lead to a bipartisan deal on entitlements. here's a graphic that shows the urgency. lovente edge you see the current year, social security, medicare and medicaid are still below total federal revenue. but look at what happens every year from now on. every cent of annual federal revenue will be engulped by entitlements by the year 2050. is the time right to find a fix? one of the biggest voices on the republican side is their new house budget chair, paul ryan, who said this to politico's mike allen -- >> so are you committed to doing on medicare? >> yes, we have to fix these problems. >> are you committed to doing something on medicaid? >> we think m

nbc capitol hill correspondent kelly o'donnell has the details. kelly, good morning to you. >> good morning, meredith. sudden is the word. what's so stunning about this is how fast it all unfolded. from the time of the revelation of the scandal to resignation was just a few hours. the former congressman is a former businessman, considered an up-and-coming conservative. he said that he wanted to leave office so that his actions would not be a distraction. this is the image, shirtless and flexing, that tanked the political career of chris lee, a conservative republican congressman from western new york. >> we're here to get something done and that's really what it's about. >> reporter: his stunning message was read by a clerk on the house floor. >> i hereby give notice of my resignation from the united states house of representatives, effective 5:00 p.m. eastern standard time, wednesday, february 9th, 2011. >> reporter: a lightning-fast fall for the married father just sworn in for a second term last month. >> mr. lee is recognized. >> reporter: lee

>>> kelly o'donnell with that perspective. thank you. it's 7:17. here's meredith. >> ann, thank you. david gregory is moderator of "meet the press." good morning. >> good morning. >> it's been a rough week for republicans to say the least beside the resignation of congressman lee they have seen several bills defeated in the house where they now hold a majority. how big of a setback is this for the party and how do they get back on solid ground? >> the roughest part is they made a promise in the course of the election to cut $100 billion of nondiscretionary spending, a part of the budget that's away from the big four like defense spending and medicare and social security. then they came in and said, well, we are not going to keep that pledge. there were a lot of reasons why, none of which were flying with the members. a lot of freshmen republicans said, we made a promise. we have to keep the promise. they have had to adjust and deal with the controversy like this. it shows you that they have a lot more cohesion on the campaign trail and in the minor

nbc's kelly o'donnell has details. good morning to you, kelly. >> good morning. good to see you, meredith. scott brown has delivered the unexpected before politically. his big upset win that he became one of the most sought-after republicans out on the campaign trail. but now he gets very personal, disclosing a childhood of abuse. scott brown made the political world take notice just two years ago. >> this is the people's seat. >> reporter: that huge republican upset, winning the seat ted kennedy held for decades. today, senator brown is turning heads again. but with a deeply personal memoir "against all odds." in an interview with "60 minutes," brown revealed that a summer camp counselor sexually abused him. >> he said if you tell anybody, i'll kill you, you know? i will make sure that no one believes you. >> reporter: brown says he was just 10 years old. >> it was certainly back then very traumatic. >> reporter: brown says he never told his family. >> my mom will read about it for the first time. my wife has read about it. i haven't told anybody. >> reporter: b

nbc's kelly o'donnell is on capitol hill with the latest. kelly, good morning. >> reporter: hi there, savannah. after so many days of protests in wisconsin and so few days left here in d.c., to try to avoid a federal budget crisis, the real political question this morning is which side will blink first? the pressure ratcheted up in madison, wisconsin, over the week en. protesters backing union workers vented anger aimed at the state's new republican governor. governor scott walker went on national television to defend his effort to drop some collective bargaining rights and get unionized state and local workers to pay more for health care and pensions. >> i think right now, frugality has ended, people expect us to make the tough decisions. >> reporter: here in washington, where buck passing got its name, some democrats are predicting a government shutdown. when current funding runs out march 4th. >> if we end up shutting down the government, and calling into question whether we're going to meet our obligations for social security checks and p

capitol hill correspondent kelly o'donnell has details. good morning. >> reporter: hi, meredith. both democrats and republican house members have been doing this for decades. some are even proud of it. but the outside group that exposes ethical lapses in washington says what happens here overnight just isn't right. by day, hanson clark is a busy new congressman. >> i did this so i could be the best member of congress so i could spend all of my time here working. >> reporter: by nightfall in his office -- how do you make it work? >> it's a tight fit. i have to move this table back. >> reporter: the michigan democrat does a quick change. he's one of dozens of congressmen -- and it is all men -- who sleep in their offices. >> it focuses me on my job which is to work with people. >> reporter: critics say this house should not be a home. >> it turns the house office buildings into frats or dorm rooms and that's unseemly. >> reporter: does rent-free bunking at work take unfair advantage? >> look at that. a perfect fit. there we go. that will work. >> reporter: a watchdog group filed an

o'donnell. and then there is delhi who i got a chance to sit next to and get to know. kelly, of course, won her 2012 election with the help of some mini republican presidential contenders. i mean, it was sarah braylon that gave you the most support, kelly. i mean, it was she who said, i can see the presidency from your house. give me a break. [laughter] as we celebrate fresh faces in congress this year, i have to tell you that this new job of mine is more like being a high school freshman. the names have changed, but experiences are still the same. mornings -- learning to go when the bell rang, looking forward to recess, choosing a locker -- i mean, an office. running for class officer, presumably your class is larger than nine people. i was even a cheerleader in high school, and now i get to be a cheerleader for the best district in the state of alabama, the seventh congressional district, home of rich culture, good people, and great food. you all or should i say y'all know us albanians as the greatest state in the union. the states that have won back-to-back national colle

o'donnell. and then there is delhi who i got a chance to sit next to and get to know. kelly, of course, won her 2012 election with the help of some mini republican presidential contenders. i mean, it was sarah braylon that gave you the most support, kelly. i mean, it was she who said, i can see the presidency from your house. give me a break. [laughter] as we celebrate fresh faces in congress this year, i have to tell you that this new job of mine is more like being a high school freshman. the names have changed, but experiences are still the same. mornings -- learning to go when the bell rang, looking forward to recess, choosing a locker -- i mean, an office. running for class officer, presumably your class is larger than nine people. i was even a cheerleader in high school, and now i get to be a cheerleader for the best district in the state of alabama, the seventh congressional district, home of rich culture, good people, and great food. you all or should i say y'all know us albanians as the greatest state in the union. the states that have won back-to-back national colle

o'donnell. and then there is delhi who i got a chance to sit next to and get to know. kelly, of course, won her 2012 election with the help of some mini republican presidential contenders. i mean, it was sarah braylon that gave you the most support, kelly. i mean, it was she who said, i can see the presidency from your house. give me a break. [laughter] as we celebrate fresh faces in congress this year, i have to tell you that this new job of mine is more like being a high school freshman. the names have changed, but experiences are still the same. mornings -- learning to go when the bell rang, looking forward to recess, choosing a locker -- i mean, an office. running for class officer, presumably your class is larger than nine people. i was even a cheerleader in high school, and now i get to be a cheerleader for the best district in the state of alabama, the seventh congressional district, home of rich culture, good people, and great food. you all or should i say y'all know us albanians as the greatest state in the union. the states that have won back-to-back national colle