that's kerry washington's role. >> wait.aking roles in this tarantino movie. >> really. really. really. >> let's play what kerry washington -- >> i told you, toure. >> let me be the ref. >> you don't usually see -- >> hold on. let's listen to washington defend herself. >> for black women, it's different for us. i've had women say to me it's not very feminist. i say you know what, this is a modern feminist story in a way for black women because we have never been afforded the fantasy of being saved. that's not a part of our history. families were broken up. the dividing of the black family was a tool of slavery. it was how they kept us in chains was by breaking us down and making us believe that our men couldn't save us, wouldn't save us, weren't there for us. >> there was a great debate over where i'm going next but i'm going. i thought it was interesting, modern feminist story, i thought this is -- i would have been the character riding out to go save my man. >> see, that's -- >> that's the thing she's trying to get at. rig

tonight, jay welcomes -- albert brooks, from the new movie, "django unchained," kerry washington,

and it has kerry washington, samuel jackson. >> jimmy: samuel l. jackson's in it, too? >> oh, yeah. could have done more. i think time was limited. >> jimmy: it wasn't a three-hour -- he wasn't in "the hobbit." >> you know, there's an app -- a samuel l. jackson app for your phone, and you can press the curse that you want. >> jimmy: for all the kids out there, christmas is coming. >> seriously, seriously. it's not a joke. >> jimmy: is that unbelievable? well, i want to show everyone a clip of the great christoph waltz. waltz is correct, right? not valtz. >> whatever -- whatever you like. i mean, waltz makes more sense. valtz means nothing and waltz does. waltz has three-quarter -- ♪ >> jimmy: yeah, yeah. valtz means nothing anywhere. >> nothing at all. >> jimmy: what if you're a bank robber and you want to break into the vaults? [ laughter ] [ rim shot ] >> i'm afraid they are empty. >> jimmy: yeah. we have a clip. here is christoph waltz with jamie foxx in "django unchained." take a look at this. >> you kill people, and they give you a reward? >> certain people, yeah. bad people. >

. >> kerry washington spoke, scarlet johansson spoke. >> we have to move it on. >> those were good.ared to that speech. >> scarlet johansson gave a good speech? >> i know this is exciting but everyone calm down. >> i don't boo god. you see, c-max helps you load your freight, with its foot-activated lift gate. but that's not all you'll see, cause c-max also beats prius v, with better mpg. say hi to the all-new 47 combined mpg c-max hybrid. your soups are so awesomely delicious my husband and i can't stop eating 'em! what's...that... on your head? can curlers! tomato basil, potato with bacon... we've got a lot of empty cans. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. [ sniffs ] i took dayquil but my nose is still runny. [ male announcer ] truth is, dayquil doesn't treat that. really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your runny nose. [ breathes deeply ] awesome. [ male announcer ] yes, it is. that's the cold truth! .there are 47% who with him who believe that they are victims who believe that government has a responsib

which brings me to the part of the fact that you are having an affair in this show with kerry washington'srracial plus he's married and it is pretty hot stuff over there. >> it gets pretty hot yeah. tomorrow night's episode gets very hot. >> joy: oh really? what kind of reaction are you getting from the viewers? >> fantastic. it is building every week, it gets more and more and more. i was -- month or so ago in shooting -- i created a television pilot show for amc that i'm producing and directing but we were doing the pilot in philly and people were literally running out of buildings to grab me to say how much they liked "scandal" because when you get out of l.a. and new york, ordinary people who aren't so used to seeing people in our business. it was really nice. it was great. >> joy: they got excited when they see a celeb. the petraeus scandal is going on. are you going to incorporate that? >> judy smith who is the crisis manager who kerry's character is based on is also an executive producer on the show. judy is representing one be of the parties in the petraeus scand scandal so i don't

kerry washington. and, of course, willy moon.p next. [ cheers and applause ] ♪ >> steve: from studio 6b in rockefeller center, the national broadcasting company presents -- tonight's guests are -- and featuring the legendary roots crew. and here he is -- jimmy fallon! [ cheers and applause ] captions paid for by nbc-universal television -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com ♪ [ cheers and applause ] >>> jimmy: oh, my goodness. that's what i'm talking about. [ cheers and applause ] thank you. i feel the love, everybody. welcome. welcome to "late night," everybody. thank you so much for being here. [ cheers and applause ] i appreciate it. oh, it's going to be a great show tonight. here's -- first, here's what people are talking about. pope benedict officially joined twitter, yesterday. [ cheers ] and before sending a single tweet, he already has more than 250,000 followers. yeah, then jesus was like, "seriously, i walked on water, i only got 12 followers?" [ laughter ] [ applause ] i don't know what i'm supposed to do. some politic

. >> rose: when you put this affect, you got kerry washington, too.ys-- >> she plays django's wife, broomhilda. >> rose: and there are some terrible lashing scenes in the movie. >> there's a flashback where django remembers him-- the reason they got-- the reason they're in the predicament at the beginning of the movie is they tried to escape together and they got captured. so they whipped-- whip kerry, and whip broomhilda, and burn runaway "r's" into kerry's cheek and django's cheek and sell them separately. once django gets free and becomes a bounty hunter now he needs to track her down and save her. in the movie he has a flashback where he remembers her whipping. and it's a-- you know, it's a very disturbing scene. you actually never see the whip actually touch her back, but it's just in kerry's face. un-- whenever you see-- i've never qiept bought it when i see movies where people get whipped because i just know that pain is so unimaginable that people would be losing it a lot more than they ever do in movies. it's almost like brando-esque, and i n

. >> kerry washington spoke, scarlet johansson spoke. >> we have to move it on. >> those were good.d to that speech. >> scarlet johansson gave a good speech? >> i know this is exciting but everyone calm down. >> i don't boo god. i celebrate jesus. i don't know who was there. that's them. not me. >> i'm glad to see i provoked such passion. let's see the next political fumble and see if we can top that. >> if it is a legitimate rape the female body has ways to shut that whole thing down. let's assume that didn't work or something, i think there should be punishment and the punishment should be on the rapist and not attacking the child. >> life is a gift from god. it is something that god and even in the horrible situation of rape it's something that god intended to happen. >> two senate seats. in states that romney won. because of that. >> two words. they lost. . >> as a republican woman does that make you want to leave the stage? >> i think this is punishment. this is. as a woman i want to forget it and i want to say every old white man, go study a chart of a woman's reproductive sys

our congressional correspondent kate bolduan takes a look at kerry's legacy in washington. >> thank you much, mr. secretary. >> his senate colleagues have joked about his ambition, what many regarded as the worst kept secret in washington. even in recent senate hearings john kerry already sounded like he was looking ahead to his future job and the anticipated battles over the state department budget with congress. >> that must change. and in the next session of the congress, i hope it will. >> he wasn't the president's first choice. u.n. ambassador susan rice took herself out of the race after republican backlash. >> it was unjustified to give the scenario as presented by ambassador rice. >> senator kerry knows himself about being torpedoed by attacks. accused in his 2004 presidential run about lying about his run. and criticized for his 1971 testimony opposing the vietnam war. >> how do you ask a man to be the last man to die in vietnam? >> kerry was painted a flip-flopper and out of touch, unable to grasp the struggles of regular americans. but candidate kerry did put president obama,

particularly troublesome for someone poised to be america's top diplomat kerry was for wiki leaks before he was against it as reported in the washington monthly this was kerry's statement after the afghan war logs were released he said quote however a legally these documents came to light they raise serious questions about the reality of america's policy toward pakistan and afghanistan those policies are at a critical stage and these documents may very well underscore the stakes and make the calibration needed to get the policy right more urgent but later the washington post reports that kerry condemned wiki leaks calling it a lawful and potentially endangering u.s. citizens he's also gone on the record on n.b.c. speaking out against the document leaks yes there is real damage social security numbers of individuals have been made public. technology about roadside bombs has been made public the relationship of the president let's say of yemen who was involved with us and helping to fight the domestic terror in yemen has been exposed for parts of his relationship with the united states that could be very damaging to our efforts there th

and from the series "scandal," and the new film "django unchained," kerry washington.e." [captioning made possible by disney-abc domestic television] announcer: now h

. >>> developing news in washington president obama just nominated senator john kerry to join his cabinet >>> scuffle over air jordans. bay area security guard hurt as hundreds try to get a pair of new shoes. . >>> developing news out of washington. president obama is nominating senator kerry to replace hillary clinton as secretary of state. the president made the announcement moments ago. kerry served as chairman of the foreign relations commit -- committee. he lept to the front of the list for the job after u.n. ambassador rice withdrew her name last week. >>> in newark mall security guard was punched in the face over a scuffle of air jordans. large crowd rushing through the door a man was apprehended for hitting the guard during the shoe frenzy. the new sneakers went on sale in morning a raffle system was implemented. >> i'm only interested in two pairs someone should be held accountable. they send out 20, 30 pairs when it is going to be 100, 2 sometimes like they are trying to initiate some type of difficulty. >> the sneakers retail for $185, resalers are offering the shoes for as muc

. >>> and what was a poorly guarded secret in washington, john kerry nominated to the next secretary of state. susan rice was believed to be the first choice, but she pulled her name out of the running after several members of congress attacked her responses to the deadly attacks in benghazi. >>> a former u.s. marine was imprisoned in mexico for four months has been reunited with his family. john hammer was released yesterday partly thanks to the work from u.s. senator bill nelson. hammer was imprisoned on a questionable charge after police found him with an antique shotgun. he says u.s. officials told him it was okay to cross the border with the gun shown here, but mexican officials accused him of violating their law. those are the headlines, randi, back to you. >>> thanks, nick. as the year winds down, we wanted to take a look back at some of the top moments in 2012. >>> today is a new day at augusta national. >> augusta national, perhaps the most prestigious gulf club in america had excluded women from the membership role since the opening in 1932. but that changed in august with

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to put susan rice on the sidelines, bring kerry out of the senate, open up the massachusetts seat for scott brown? >> there is always the back story in washington, and the kerry thing may be part of it. but there's something about susan rice that is off-putting to people, i don't have my arms about buying it if you cannot win over susan collins, who is a nice, reasonable person, she cannot be a very good ambassador in her own cause. >> and she is from maine. >> well, she is really from washington. but there must be something about her that antagonizes people. >> i think people are missing the point. i don't think the story is susan rice. the real story is the president paid he said himself in his press conference, don't pick on the little lady, pick on me. if you want to complain about what was said on the talk shows, the veracity of the administration talking about what happened in benghazi, pick on me. ok. he is the one who was responsible. what was told of the added states -- was told to the united states on that day was a fable. it began with the demonstration, it got out of hand, there was a right, people ended up dead except there was no

ivan eland advance analyst and senior fellow at the independent institute believes kerry can temper down washington's foreign policy sacrifices that they make along with their families. i mean i think he's actually a better choice than susan rice i think he'll be more restrained in advocating u.s. military intervention since he was a vietnam war veteran now he's been for some wars but he has been overall i think he's been a restraining influence on the on the u.s.'s chairman of the foreign relations committee and of course he has a lot of experience is combat experience in vietnam and many of the people who were in vietnam who john mccain is the big exception are more restrained in their foreign policy they're not as excited to see to send u.s. service men and women into harm's way and i think that that's probably a good thing at this stage deadlock over dad and spending is seeing the united states hurtle towards a fiscal cliff that will trigger a widespread tax rises and government cuts on new year's day to tackle the fast approaching deadline congress members have gone on holiday or in our business

staying in washington, president obama appears set to nominate senator john kerry as his next secretaryment could come this week. susan rice was the expected choice, but she pulled her name out of the running because of the controversy over her comments in the wake of benghazi attacks. hillary clinton was supposed it to testify this week, but sthaets on hold. she suffered a concussion and is resting at home. she battled a stomach virus and fainted after being dehydrated, but her office says it's not severe. >>> all of our hearts are heavy this weekend with the tragic story out of newtown, connecticut, but coming up, a reminder we could all use. that good things do still happen. so, this board gives me rates for progressive direct and other car insurance companies? yes. but you're progressive, and they're them. yes. but they're here. yes. are you...? there? yes. no. are you them? i'm me. but those rates are for... them. so them are here. yes! you want to run through it again? no, i'm good. you got it? yes. rates for us and them -- now that's progressive. call or click today. i get conges

kerry to that job. many analysts had already called it washington's worst kept secret. if confirmed senator john kerry takes on a key role in the national security team during the second term. senator john kerry would replace the current secretary of state, hillary clinton, who will step down early next year. this afternoon, president obama calling senator kerry an exemplary public servant. >> we turn the page on a decade of war he knows we have to harness american power and ensure they work telling, diplomatic and development, economic and political, military and intelligence, as well as the power of our values which inspire so many people around the world. >>gregg: john kerry has chaired the senate foreign relations committee for six years after his failed presidential bid in 2004. wendell is like at the white house. any sign of a fight over senate confirmation or is this a foregone conclusion? >>reporter: you are right, it is a foregone conclusion. the senate is a close knit group and he has been there 20 years. he will not need on the job training and he called on la

kerry. and this makes him a perfect choice to guide american diplomacy in the years ahead. >> reporter: wolf, with his 30 years in washingtonnd kerry's comfort with the ways of the senate, john kerry might not be a natural partner for the president but the two men have come to respect one another, especially when the president has dispatched him to work on issues in pakistan and afghanistan and sudan. but especially as they joufted with each other during debate prep for many hours in the nevada desert and at camp david, wolf. >> stand by after you hear from the president, right at the top of the hour, 5:00 p.m. eastern, he'll be in the white house briefing room to make a statement on the fiscal cliff. you'll be there as well. thank you, jessica. >>> john kerry's nomination taps what has been a tumultuous time for the white house to find a secretary of state. a look now at the senior senator from massachusetts. >> reporter: many regarded as the worst-kept secret in washington, even in recent senate hearings, john kerry already sounded like he was looking ahead to his future job and the anticipated budget problems with congre

. >> buzz in washington about whether susan rice or john kerry will be the next secretary of state and told the president hasn't made up his mind yet and may not make up his mind until january. he wants to get the fiscal cliff business done with so don't be in a rush to await that decision. chris: when we return, the the week, will barack obama's scores in the second term be on foreign policy or here at home? chris: welcome back. syria, egypt and afghanistan are just the foreign policy challenges we already know about russia out china and there which brings us to the big question this week -- will the president's second term triumphs be abroad or here at home? >> i think his second term will be defined by foreign policy and looming confrontation over iran. chris: politco has spoken. >> despite all of the domestic issues, he will have a bigger role to play on the world stage and brought into that with events whether it be syria, iran. >> leadership just changed in china for the first time in 10 years, the most important economic relationship we have in the world and he's got to make hea

washington. president obama nominated senator john kerry to succeed hillary clinton as secretary of state. secretary clinton who was still recovering from a concussion, was not there, but in a statement called the pick excellent. president obama's first choice for the job, susan rice withdrew her name after coming under fire about the tragedy in benghazi, libya. >>> now an update on that prison break. two convicted robbers scaling 17 stories with a rope made out of bed sheets. then impossibly hailing a cab to freedom. tonight, a new twist. abc's john schriffen has our story. >> reporter: he pulled off a daring escape from prison, but now joseph "jose" banks is busted. appearing in court this afternoon, after nearly three days on the run. the fbi arresting him late last night in chicago. >> yeah, it's kind of scary. but i thought that they'd, like, go far away. >> reporter: we now know both accomplished bank robbers, joseph banks seen here on surveillance video, broke out of their high-rise federal penitentiary in chicago, using sheets and towels tied in the form of a rope, even stuffing cl

kerry a lock for state? >>> and the other big late story in washington, speaker boehner goes to the white house. how close are they now to a deal? rudolph giuliani is here to say a lot about these things. i'll ask him if america is getting more dangerous in the wake some of very shocking high-profile gun crime. >>> he was known as one of the west memphis three now damien echols is adjusting to life as a free man. >> i was in a state of extreme shock and trauma. >> and how he survived 18 years on death row. >> it's absolutely nightmarish. >> this is "piers morgan tonight." >>> good evening, you're looking live at the white house where president obama has had one of those win some, lose some kind of days. the president and john boehner met for 50 minutes in a meeting being called frank. when basically translates to no deal yet. but the good news was, quote, the lines of communication remain open. the bad news, ambassador susan rice was withdrawing from the short list to replace hillary clinton as secretary of state. >> i withdrew my name because i think it's the right thing for the country and i t

have joked about his ambition, what many regarded as the worst-kept secret in washington, even in recent senate hearings john kerry sound like he was looking ahead to the future job and the anticipated battled over the state department budget with with congress. >> that must change and in the next session of the congress i hope it will. >> reporter: he wasn't the president's first choice. u.n. ambassador susan rice took herself out of the running after republican backlash. >> it was unjustified to give the scenario as presented by ambassador rice. >> reporter: senator kerry knows himself about being torpedoed by attacks. accused in his 2004 presidential run of lying about his military record in vietnam. >> john kerry has not been honest about what happened in vietnam. >> reporter: and criticized for his 1971 testimony opposing vietnam war. >> how do you ask a man to be the last man to die in vietnam? >>> kerry was painted a flip-flopper and out of touch, and unable to grasp struggles of regular americans and kerry did put president obama, then an unknown politician on the national stage at the democratic conventio

is reportedly on the list of possible successors if senator john kerry is nominated as secretary of state. affleck will be in washington today testifying before the house armed services committee about the security situation in congo is that's your morning dish of scrambled politics. >>> the dow saw its first back-to-back triple digit gains in five months tuesday. that was amid optimism that a deal will be reached on the fiscal cliff. today investors will be watching for fresh housing data and earnings from economic and holiday bellwether fedex. >>> this morning, swiss banking giant ubs announced it will pay a record $1.5 billion fine over its role in a global interest rate fixing scheme. >>> in the wake of the newtown massacre, cerberus is selling its majority stake in bushmaster firearms, the rifle used in friday's school shooting. >>> mark zuckerberg is making good on his promise to donate the majority of his wealth to charity, donating 18 million facebook shares worth about $500 million to the silicon valley community foundation. >>> oracle beat the street's estimates after the bell, and google's effort to put ever

kerry after the service. joining me now for our daily fix chris alissa, msnbc managing editor of post politics.com jeffrey goldberg, national correspondent for the atlantic washingtonu chief susan page, and the "new york times" white house correspondent mark lamb berg. let's talk about the pick of john kerry. we knew it was coming. the timing is interesting. they wanted to do this before christmas, but then we thought it was going to be after christmas, even from the kerry people. how did this all come together for today? >> i think the white house, andrea, wanted to get one of these announcements out the door before the christmas holiday and given that this was the worst kept secret in washington, it seemed the right day to do it. what's interesting is it is only senator kerry. there's no announcement for secretary of defense or the pentagon. there are short lists for both of those jobs, but the fact that he is only going out with senator kerry suggests that there may be some questions surrounding the candidates for those other posts. the intrigue continues. >> the intrigue, indeed, and chuck hagel, of course, is the name that has become controversial again. we ar

kerry's nomination has been one of the worst kept secrets in washington and had been held up by a rangef factors, including this chaos in congress. last night the five-term senator was spotted making a rare appearance on the house floor shaking hands and chatting with democratic members, so then when asked by politico if the hugs were for a job promotion, kerry replied no, no, no, no, no, no, no. today it looks a little more like yes, yes, yes. the 69-year-old chairman of the senate foreign relations committee maligned by republicans, of course, just eight years ago has not encountered any op sfwligs from his colleagues across the aisle. that's a far cry from the uproar that greeted another member of president obama's foreign policy team, u.n. ambassador susan rice. kerry is due to appear along side president obama at a white house event announcing his nomination next hour. sam, i want to start right there. john kerry and susan rice, of course, were both confident of this president on foreign policy. kerry at times had some substantive breaks with the president, and now he is being tapp

kerry falls in between. that's not an ideal. >> i think he has -- i have a column in the washington post dotcom about this. instincts. if you go back to reagan and the latin american period when this country was intervening in really ugly ways, kerry stood up and spoke effectively about a different latin american policy. he might well take the lead as this administration should in ending the folly of an embargo on cuba. there are a set of issues that this country would do well to take on and kerry, i think, has the confidence of, you know, of many. do you want someone so -- you've had the cyrus dance debacle. it was a might mare. let's hope we don't see that battle. if it is kerry, we don't know -- >> we go forward with optimism in our hearts. i will say, though -- >> you are a brave woman. >> susan rice's national security advisor. >> that would be the consolation prize. this is the woman that took on the iranians in & the north koreans and somehow we're complaining she's too tough. the irony is not lost on me. we have to leave it there. thank you to katrina, karen, and ben for joining me today. that is a

. >>> staying in washington, senator john kerry is in line for a new job. president obama officially nominated kerry to be the next secretary of state. he's currently the chairman of the senate foreign relations committee. secretary of state hillary clinton said she wanted to leave the job after president obama's first term. >>> well, a white christmas is in the forecast for some of us. but with it, we may see some unwanted weather. the midwest got its share this week with a blizzard in iowa and more than a foot of snow in wisconsin. the system that caused this is expected to dump inches in western pennsylvania and upstate new york today. as for christmas, the big day, let's check in with meteorologist alexandra steele. she has all the answers on who is going to see a white christmas. good morning, alexandra. >> good morning, everyone. good morning to you. meteorologically, a white christmas means there's an inch of snow on the ground christmas morning. doesn't have to be falling. just has to be there. look at this. who is going to see a white christmas? so

kerry as hillary clinton's successor. joining me now for more on this, cnn foreign affairs reporter elise. the biggest open secret in washington, once susan rice took her name out of the running. john kerry would be up there. >> john kerry made no secret for the last several years, actually, that he would love the job. on capitol hill you know that senators have said that he would be easily confirmed. >> that's right because of republicans and democrats see him as somebody who would be good at the job and, as you said, he's lobbied for it. but what is going to be interesting, elise, this coming week we talked about the hearing is going to happen on benghazi, hillary clinton is not going to be there, but john kerry is the senate foreign relations chair. he is still going to chair that hearing. >> secretary clinton taking the week off to recuperate. her deputy will be testifying for this independent advisory board on the events in benghazi. also be a closed briefing on the hill by members of the advisory board. now, gives john kerry kind of one last chance to show some leadership before he heads over for his confirmation hearing

noted fundanager and strategist harvey eisen, and in other news from washington tonight president obama nominating senator john kerryo be the next secretary of state with their views on kerry, benghazi, obama's foreign policy. we will be talking with fox his national security analyst k. t. mcfarland, former ambassador john bolton, and today the national rifle association exactly one week after the sandy hook school massacre has come up with a proposal for securing every school in this country, and it is such an obvious solution, so simple it immediately raises the question, why didn't anyone else think of it? well, we begin tonight with the fiscal cliff, justin days from the largest tax hike in american history was no movement toward a fiscal cliff deal more in the action in the house or senate. the responsibility now to avoid massive taxe and draconian spending cuts reting squarely on the prsident. fox news chief white house correspondent ed henry with our report. >> just as our economy is really starting to recover and starting to see optimistic signs and we have seen actually some upside to from a whole range of

. >> at this point, all of washington is going to be surprised if president barack obama doesn't nominate john kerry to replace hillary clinton as the next secretary of state. kerry, a massachusetts democrat and former presidential candidate has supports from both sides of the aisle. word of the possible selection comes days after u.n. ambassador susan rice withdrew her name from consideration. formal announcement could come later this week, we're told. >>> the nation lost one of its longest-serving senators, daniel inouye. he died of respiratory problems this afternoon at walter reed medical center. his wife and side were at his side. he served in the senate since 1962. at the time of his death, he chaired the powerful senate appropriations committee. >>> take a look at this car accident. a mercedes flipped upside down. this is what tied up traffic for hours on wisconsin avenue and northwest today. the driver had to be pulled from the wreckage. he survived serious injuries, though. no word on why he crashed, but here's the good news. all lanes of wisconsin avenue now open again. >>> marymount unive

kerry. let's play "hardball." ♪ >>> good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. let me begin tonight with this.resident obama deserves the best possible secretary of state. he picked a great foreign policy officer in the first term. he deserves to have one in the second. it's been my view some distance from the white house that the president was truly undecided on who this person should be. ambassador rice's removal of herself from consideration made his decision easier. john kerry could end up a fabulous secretary of state, someone to make this country truly proud. he lost the presidency by a single state in 2004, then went on to become a deeply effective chairman of the senate foreign relations committee. he projects a grace under pressure that we see in the president himself, a noble attribute most of us take as quiet courage. as embarrassing as it is to admit, he is one of the few top politicians in this democratic country to master foreign languages. not a small talent in world diplomacy. i like kerry because he's had the guts to run for office just like hillary clinton. he's had the nerve

washington, d.c. president obama will nominate senator john kerry to be his next secretary of state. harry reid will be on the senate floor and house minority leader nancy pelosi will discuss the cliff crisis. with plan b history, washington is scrambling to get a deal done. the markets however are decidedly worried. dow jones has been down triple digits almost all session. we are off our worst lefs, down about 174 point a few moments ago. down 152 on the dow. 17 to the minus side and nasdaq is off almost 40. let's go to washington where john har wood is standing by with the latest on the fiscal cliff follies. john? >> all follies so far, sue. we had house speaker john boehner come out today and have a news conference explaining the failure of his plan b last night which stunned a lot of people because both boehner and eric cantor majority leader said they were confident they had the most to pass it. what he said today at a news conference is that there were members who had a perception which he said was incorrect. it would raise taxes. that why the thing went down. here is the speake