coming out of senator john mccain's office and lindsey graham. is that what's happening there? >> reporter: there's some belief already that you see that there's a scalp that was thrown their way. >> no, you surprise me. they're not celebrating a scalp are they? >> if the question is will they satisfy the opponents of susan rice whether they be john mccain or lindsey graham or other senators who have spoken out against her, i doubt it. we live in a age when if there's a fight to be had, a fight will be had. there is always political advantage being sought here, and i don't think this is going to mean anything in terms of a softening of the president's -- or opposition to the president's agenda or other appointments that might come down the line. speaking of which, one of the odder by-products of this entire episodes as it has dragged on is the republican endorsement of john kerry for that job. we've heard an endless stream of republicans come forth and endorse john kerry. as a matter of fact, i just saw john kerry coming out of a briefing on, guess what? a closed briefing from

you heard what lindsey graham said.e said this is getting to be more than what susan rice gave us an explanation. he said we're talking about a complete breakdown in the intelligence, in security, in everything concerning that benghazi mission. what's your take on that? >> well, i have reviewed all of the threat warnings by the intelligence community. there were multiple threat warnings, well over 200. i have read the priority warpings. i believe that the intelligence was good. now, it couldn't say at a certain time or on a certain day. there had been prior attacks. ... it's well known the attack on the british ambassador, attack on the red cross. they both pulled out for a period of time. the fish bomb thrown over the fence which is not much but is an indication. this is an interesting facility. because it isn't a consulate, as senator graham said. it's a mission, and the number of state department people there were very few, just one, two, or three at the most. and there were no records or visas that i know of. it rea

interesting and intelligent conversation between lindsey graham and dianne feinstein. not a lot of talking points, a lot of serious conversation between two patriots. we had on the panel senator evan bayh. >> good to see you, happy new year. >> even under these circumstances good to see you and happy new year to you and everybody out there. >> fascinating and serious conversation as you you say, something that, of course, is the major topic in our country today. what do we do about the debt and the economy. lindsey graham and dianne feinstein both on "fox news sunday." check your local listings. and right here on the fox news channel so just keep it right here. >> stay right here all day long with us. >> exactly. >> and coming up now, the doctors in for their sunday house call. looking ahead to 2013 and the breakthroughs that doctors are hoping for in the new year. what kind of medical advances do you hope for in 2013 for you and your family? go to fox news .com/sunday house call and join our chat. the doctors will take one of our questions on the air. stay tuned. this

>> it's not as juzy a scandal -- lindsey graham has his own political problems. always vulnerable from the right. he's going to follow john mccain to the right and try to turn it into a faux scandal. >> dana, i believe we have you back electronically and digit digitally. we never saw hillary clinton put her full support behind ambassador rice. does this suggest that there might be something of an issue between those two individuals? >> well, there certainly was back in the 2008 campaign where susan rice was really mocking hillary clinton as a candidate suggesting that, you know, she's not qualified being the wife of a president doesn't qualify you to have a foreign policy and become the president on that basis. you know, her people will certainly say for the record that they have no animus now and they're all for it, and you asked earlier about sort of this list of enemies. it's not the sort of situation where you have people coming out before the cameras saying, this woman is intolerable. the amount of chatter, however, that i have heard, i don't know her. this

democrat dianne feinstein and republican lindsey graham. also, with 2012 it in the rear view mirror we look ahead to 2013. our sunday panel weighs in on what we will be talking about in the coming year. all right outrage now on "fox s sunday." >> chris: and hello again from fox news in washington. well, it turns out the fiscal cliff is going to be a cliff-hanger with less than two days until the new year, senate leaders are still trying to work out a deal to avoid tax increases on almost every american. but any compromise will do close to nothing about our debt problem. joining us now to discuss what kind of deal they will and won't vote for are two key senators. democrat dianne feinstein and republican lindsey graham. and senators, welcome back to "fox news sunday." >> good morning. >> thank you. >> chris: senator are graham, a couple of days ago you you said you thought we were going to go over the fiscal cliff. now, we are in the midst of a lot of last ditch pa bargaining between the senate leaders reid and mcconnell. what do you think o

i don't know if there's anything lindsey graham can do in the senate to stop mass murder that's hellt on murdering -- >> but there's got to be -- that can't be the default of legislators in our country that, there's not a public policy role to address mass violence when we've had the number of mass shootings even since 2007 that are show shocking. the question from wayne lapierre is what did the assault weapon ban accomplish, preventing high-capacity magazines. that's something you're challenged by. >> the amount of gun violence since we passed the assault weapons ban and the brady law is down considerably. is it as good as it should be? absolutely not. but we have to keep working on this. and there are lots of different solutions. the pro-gun people who say don't include guns and the pro safety people like myself who say don't look at other solutions is wrong, just as you said on your show. we have look at a holistic solution. we cannot make the new normal one of these mass shootings every month and that seems to be what's happening. so much we should try all kinds of different thin

senator lindsey graham, who was one of the main critics told me tonight her withdrawal is not the end of the controversy. he told me the administration is still inexplicably stonewalling, "and we still want some answers." it's not known who the president will now nominate to replace hillary clinton, but republicans and democrats said tonight the nominee who would be most easily confirmed is massachusetts senator john kerry. >> pelley: bob, thank you very much. busy at the white house today. the speaker of the house met with the president to try to break the budget deadlock. in about two weeks, as you know, most americans will see a big tax increase, and there will be massive spending cuts unless another way is found to reduce the red ink in the budget. mr. obama wants to raise taxes on the top 2% of americans, and that would include married couples earning more than $250,000. nancy cordes is at the capitol tonight. nancy? >> reporter: scott, the president and speaker boehner met at the white house this evening for about 50 minutes. we're told the conversation was frank, but before he

and i don't know if there's anything lindsey graham can do in the senate that can stop mass murder frome crazy person hell bent on killing. i would say better security in school. >> that can't be the default of legislators in the country that there's not a public policy role to address mass shootings, when we've had the number of mass shootings even since 2007 that are so shocking. what did the assault weapons ban actually accomplish in terms of preventing access to high capacity mag zones in the fact that it doesn't work is still something you're challenged by if you want to approach this legislation again. >> well,ing amount of gun celebs since we passed the assault nuclear weapon ban in the brady law is down considerably. is it as good as it should be? absolutely not. need to keep working on this, and there's lots of different solutions. the pro-gun people who don't say guns are wrong and the pro-gun safety people like myself who say don't look at other solutions are wrong just as you said on your show we have to look at a whole list of solutions. cannot make the new normal one of th

it was astonishing to see lindsey graham, that he opposed this.t's why i'm somewhat astonished about the depth of the 38 votes, that they would get into opposition. >> interestingly talking about veterans, john mccain supported it. another veteran. truly distinguished and a claimed veteran supported not just by his vote, but also testified in favor of it before the foreign relations relation committee. so there is a group presently serving men and women who supported this law. we don't have to go back to the bob doles or the former president bushes, and with all due respect to them, you've asked the right question. what do we do in the here and now, the present. i think there is a real potential body of strength to work outward and maybe recruit some of those senators who voted against it, and we'll have new senators who are not yet on record. >> eliot: i and many others certainly hope when you turn the corner in january i heard senator kerry say there could be hearings shine a spotlight on how flawed the arguments in opposition to the treaty were

think it's important to note here that a lot of these i think you said crazy bastards using lindsey graham's words are not exactly that that's right and that's and the same when lindsay graham says you are terrorists shut up you don't get a lawyer who is deciding what people have done in advance but that's what we have the courts for we have the courts so people can give due process in a fair trial so you know i think this is another terrible provision. i don't know whether it will cause the president to veto it i don't i don't think he will but whatever whatever he does it goes against obama's campaign promises to shut guantanamo one time and has been a shameful chapter in american history and it repeatedly been sanctioned and cited by the court for improper practices there so we. we are part of this process too as lawyers we are our second circuit case where the government is appealing judge force ruling which stated the n.b.a. is unconstitutional is coming up soon we might even have some more litigation surprises that will let our team know that. in the near future well we always apprecia

wab in iraq, lindsey graham. war on susan rice lindsey graham. fiscal cliff. lipped see graham.nswer on every issue and the only guy in the united states senate but he is out there all the time. why are we still listening to john mccain and lindsey graham? >> they have to have something to do, you know. >> bill: don't they have other people they could book? i don't care. call mitch mcconnell. call al republican senator. right? tom grassley. whatever. there are a lot of people out there, bob corker. i hope stead we keep seeing lindsey graham as if he is the only guy over there. i don't know. i am on a tear this morning. >> he has to have something to do. before the susan rice thing -- >> >> bill: go shopping. >> when i heard lindsey graham talking about susan graham that guy is in the senate? what else could he do? >> good, the war on susan rice. did you make that up? i am loving it. >> bill press is the war on susan rice. >> i will tell you who bill press is this morning, war on john boehner. >> that's who i want to talk to you about. i think it's time for john boehner to get ou

lindsey graham or john mccain? really?ed for this man. >> bill: don't be sorry you voted for him. i think this is a fight he could have won. i think it's a wishfight he should have fought >> caller: he is weak and it's like the first time when he caved on the single pair. >> bill: we have seen him cave before. i love him. but i am not going to hesitate to say when he is wrong. i think he is wrong. i saw him. i was at that news conference right after the election when somebody asked him about susan rice and he was on fire. he came out and he said, don't mess with her. if you have a problem, mess with me. i think they thought it would cost too much political capitol. a lot of people said look, president obama should not waste too much political capitol on susan rice. i kept saying no no, no. he's got to fight this fight. he decided not to. i think it's a big mistake. veronica in onianta, new york. >> hi, bill how is it going? okay. number one, first of all, the republicans don't believe in the american people because they do

elected officials on this, because prior to this shooting and the news of it happening, senator lindsey grahaming about how he owns eight guns. take a listen. >> why should my constitutional right be limited because you don't understand why i want eight guns? >> why do you want eight guns? >> because i enjoy shooting. i hunt. it's something my dad and i did together in the south as part of growing up. if my individual rights under the constitution are limited by the sensibility of others, i don't have a whole lot of rights. >> so when we talk about the rights of gun ownership, second amendment rights in this country, the conversation is more about these assault weapons, these high capacity magazine clips that probably the senator doesn't need to go hunting deer or rabbit or whatever he's trying to track down there in south carolina, or anybody else, for that matter. so when we talk about the fact that elected leaders need to get a better understanding of this, even after having one almost assassinated in january of 2011 on a congress on your corner event at the local supermarket, if that's not

and i didn't hear john mccain or lindsey graham or anybody saying anything then. so to be talking about this when susan rice had absolutely nothing to do with the decisions in regard to what the security should have been or shouldn't have been in benghazi, to try to put the blame on her now, it seems incredible that they continue with this line of criticism. >> here is the latest possible wrinkle for the ambassador. some environmental groups now are being critical of ambassador rice over some holdings that she has in canadian oil companies. she could stand to profit if the keystone pipeline is built, apparently. this is according to open secrets.org. she owns between 300,000 and $600,000 in transcanada stock. should she -- should she divest herself of those holdings at this point? >> look, that's a nonissue. nobody talked about the fact that dick cheney had so much in halliburton when he was vice president of the united states or when he was running. so now to come up with this with reference to condoleezza rice is almost a joke to me. plenty of things she could d

the triumvirate of john mccain, joe lieberman and lindsey graham. welcome back to all three of you. you said you just got re-elected, this is to president obama, how about doing something big that is not liberal? how about doing something big that is really is bipartisan? every big idea he has is a liberal idea that drowns us in debt. how about manning up here, mr. president and use your mandate to bring this country together to stop us from becoming greece. >> yes. >> man up, barack obama. strong words. >> he has a chance to be an historic president. what makes us greece? it's not because the tax code is at 35% versus 39.6. what's going to make this country greece, like every other western nation, retiring at 10,000 a day in terms of baby boomer, three workers for every retiree, in 20 years we'll have two. medicare and social security are about $30 trillion underfunded. if you did what tip o'neill and ronald reagan chose to do, reform entitlements, we become the most dominant place on the planet pretty quickly. so what i would plead with the president to do is use this mandate. red

. >>> the looming fiscal cliff with republican lindsey graham and dianne feinstein and the benghazi attack. a preview when we come back. >>> gwen tolbart will be back with the workweek preview. stay with us. we will be right back. it's embarrassing it's embarrassing! we can see you carl. we can totally see you. come on you're better than this...all that prowling around. yeah, you're the king of the jungle. have you thought about going vegan carl? hahaha!! you know folks who save hundreds of dollars by switching to geico sure are happy. how happy are they jimmy? happier than antelope with night-vision goggles. nice! get happy. get geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. >>> the so-called fiscal cliff is looming. a live look now at the capitol where lawmakers held negotiations into the night and early this morning. they will be con convening -- convening once again this afternoon. >> at the top of the hour, we are going to have an exclusive interview with senators diane phi stein and -- feinstein and lindsey graham. maybe they have gotten word as to how these negotiati

yeah lindsey graham, drama queen that he is -- >> i would rather talk about him than lindsay lohan. >e cliff. it is clear to me they've made a political calculation. >> i wonder if lindsey graham looks better in a dress? i'm pretty sure. >> stephanie: president has put forward, it is in the g.o.p.'s court. they're the ones that aren't responding. >> tim geithner said no agreement without an increase in tax rates for the wealthiest americans and if that meant going over the fiscal cliff republicans would be to blame. so nancy pelosi, little scamp that she is, she is threatening -- [ ♪ "world news tonight" ♪ ] she threatens to force a vote if the republicans don't act on the middle class tax cuts. tee-hee. i'm guessing boehner is going to be -- >> flabbergasted. >> it has never been done before. >> ever. flabbergasting. >> it is flabbergasting. >> stephanie: flabbergastacious. >> i'm impressed by your flabbergastivity. >> stephanie: lindsey graham went on to say we'll lose everything we know as america if we don't fix entitlements. we're becoming the greece of out-of-control spending. [

lindsey graham up for re-election, this open senate seat and then nikki haley worried about their own primary challenges, this is quite the thr three-ring conservative circus. white house aides and john boehner's staff have pretty much shut down public communication about the financial cliff talks. yesterday an embarrassing stunt by the senate republican leader mitch mcconnell on the floor of the senate. at boehner's request senate leaders and representative nancy pelosi have been excluded from talks leaving it to boehner and obama to make a deal. though boehner spokesman michael steele tells us this morning if we're going to solve this problem every congressional leader and more importantly the white house have all important roles to play. the fact is we've heard this same thing. and that is that pelosi and the senate leaders are not in the room at first. they'll be brought in when boehner and the white house are close. mann while, back to the debt ceiling. the new republicans' main point of leverage n. a rare misstep, mcconnell may have taken some of that leverage away in a move tha

shut up because they don't have a right to a lawyer if they're considered terrorists by senator lindsey graham so that's why graham put this want to put. this in the republicans put this in. saying that we should close guantanamo i think i'm going to know too regarding you know a lot of times when you know regular people think of guantanamo bay they do think you know the worst of the worst the terrorists are held there but let's not forget that that a large number of people at one hundred day right now have been cleared for release but just can't have not been released because of certain political situations in their countries you know their country of origin so i think it's important to note here that a lot of these i think you said crazy bastards using when the grahams words are not exactly that well that's right and that's and the same when lindsay graham says you are terrorists shut up you don't get a lawyer who is deciding what people have done in these videos but that's what we have the courts for we have the courts so people can give due process in a fair trial so you know i think this

. >> reporter: senator lindsey graham told me this morning his phone rang saturday night and was the defense secretary calling saying he was told the bill to avoid the fiscal cliff will not avoid anything for sequestration. so he'll need to write 800 layoff notices to contractors. >> if the president doesn't deal with this, he's a lousy commander-in-chief. if there's a deal done that doesn't set aside the defense cuts, we've already cut out of the it was department, then i'm disappointed in the president as commander-in-chief and the republican party for allowing this possible a party. >> reporter: sequestration is designed to be painful. it was imposed by congress on itself when the super committee didn't work it out. president obama said today the cuts can be offset by raising taxes on the rich. >> we have raised revenue by the wealthy paying a little bit more, then that would be sufficient to turn off the automatic spending cuts, and that also would have a better outcome for our economy long- term. >> reporter: senator graham told me he thinks it's possible to find $600 billion in

also in 2014 senator lindsey graham is up for re-election. we don't know for sure if he's going to run, but conservatives have been challenging him in pry mother for a long time. they don't view him as conservative enough. which jim was a very conservative senator all in favor of conservative primaries getting the more moderate republicans. this is going to be two very interesting, very competitive races in a state that's not necessarily very competitive in the national landscape. >> ifill: who wants their job, who wants lindsey graham's job and who wants tim scott's job? >> now that tim scott is appointed, it's obviously very early to tell but i don't think he'll get as much as primary challenge. he's very -- pretty well regarded among conservatives in the state. lindsey graham, there were several people maybe someone in the sell gibbs, a state senator perhaps who might challenge him in the primary. still up in the air, but i'd be very surprised if he didn't get a challenge of some sort in the primary next year. >> ifill: in general, do thes

. >> now senator, i want to play something from a former colleague of yours, lindsey graham, what he said about the debt limit specifically. let's play that and come back and talk about it. >> why would i raise the debt ceiling again unless i address what put us in debt to begin with? i'm not going to raise the debt ceiling unless we get serious about keeping the country from becoming greece, saving social security and medicare. >> so, what senator graham is essentially outlining is that this is sort of a bargaining chip that the republican party does have. the debt limit today, we reach it, but we can get about another two months before we truly go over. do you agree with that sort of strategy that the debt limit be used as a way to kind of leverage more on the spending side out of the white house and democrats in congress? >> personally, no. i happen to think that when your credit card comes due, you pay the bill, but i can understand the frustration of people like lindsey graham, who's an extremely responsible and very, very good senator, in my opinion, because he wants to get som

. >> when it comes to susan rice, i can tell you as far as lindsey graham's concerned, i find great faulth what she said on the 16th of september. >> we'll get the first read for you. plus, we'll play for you the new hillary clinton tribute video that some say is paving a path for 2016. i'm only in my 60's... i've got a nice long life ahead. big plans. so when i found out medicare doesn't pay all my medical expenses, i looked at my options. then i got a medicare supplement insurance plan. [ male announcer ] if you're eligible for medicare, you may know it only covers about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. call now and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement plans, it helps pick up some of what medicare doesn't pay. and could save you thousands in out-of-pocket costs. to me, relationships matter. i've been with my doctor for 12 years. now i know i'll be able to stick with him. [ male announcer ] with these types of plans, you'll be able to visit any doctor

lindsey graham, i don't think was saying we'll go over the cliff for sure. posturing himself. that wasn't a comment, that was a posturing move. >> we know one of the most dangerous places is between senator graham and a television camera. give me your headline really quickly, perry. >> my headline is "obama delays vacation but negotiations are continuing and progressing and moving towards a deal." a deal will happen at some point, but obama always has his vacation delayed. i was covering the president a couple years ago and my hawaii trip got delayed a couple days. life went on. >> you were not happy. >> i was, you know, i was not happy, it's true, craig. >> what's your headline, sir? "markets down, party trade blame as fiscal cliff talks fail." >> you're so gloom and doom. >> republicans don't see themselves as unruly kids and don't see obama as a wise principal, contrary to what ari was saying earlier. >> what do you think it's going to take at this juncture to get a deal done? >> i think you have to have the president show some leadership and show an actu

john mccain, lindsey graham, and joe lieberman. this exchange on susan rice on whether the president nominates her she should be confirmed. >> on this one, we were going to prove that the three amigos cannot agree and still be amigos. i think the rest is up to the future and unfortunately i'll be watching it on tv. >> personally, don't think she would serve the country well in that capacity. >> i'm willing to give her the nomination process, but she's got a lot to prove. >> from a strictly partisan democratic political point of view, would it be wise for the president to pick this fight for two of those amigos and a whole bunch of other republicans? >> it's a great question, wolf. why would the president nominate susan rice if it's just going to make she's guys mad? but here are the facts. if the president has actually -- didn't nominate ambassador rice for that reason, we would essentially be giving in to a narrative. for that reason, giving in to a narrative which is just false. which is that somehow the administration withheld t

senator lindsey graham is live on that. martha: looks like a beautiful morning everywhere, doesn't it. new reaction as details are now emerging in yet another nfl football tragedy. this time a crash that killed a dallas cowboy player and left another player charged with manslaughter this morning. >> i think everyone in our organization who knew him is completely numb and has been numb the last couple days. football is a game of emotion. a lot of different emotions circulating. somehow how some way, we have to process it all and understand that life is different than football and we had a job to do today gressiv, 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. music: "make someone happy" music: "make someone happy" ♪it's so important to make meone happy.♪.♪it's so e ♪make just one heart to

that's what lindsey graham has been talking about. he has been critical about benghazi.er possible nomination. >> if you believe she is the best person in this country you have a lot of people to turn to to be secretary of state that she is the most talented and gifted. i am inclined the presidential choices i voted for every candidate official almost all of president obama's judges. when it comes to susan rice i find great fault with what shea has done. in another areas. when it comes to secretary of state. this is up to the president. >>> senator john kerry another name rumored to be a possible replacement for hillary clinton. >> time for a check of today's weather with maria molina. >> good morning once again good morning everywup. mild and warm temperatures across the big chunk of the country. everyone will be enjoying temperatures right where they should be this time of year or up to 30 degrees above average. 60s in new york city and over across portions of the midwest. a little warmer during the afternoon hours. 46 for the current temperature. the warm temperature

on the world stage. >> those statements, i take it, from either senator mccain, lindsey graham or ayotte? >> reporter: senator graham told me especially there was no way he was going to let her nomination go forward. as you just heard, the president made a point of noting that he he was very unhappy with what he called the distortions of susan rice, particularly with her record of benghazi. it's important to note that benghazi was the flash point that might have taken her nomination down before it even started but it was beyond that. it was also just the feeling that she was too political and may be better to be the national security adviser as jessica just reported because it's more political and she doesn't need senate confirmation. >> everyone stand by. gloria borger is here in "the situation room" watching what is going on as well. we were bracing for an announcement of the new national security team next week. we didn't know if the president was going to dig down and fight aggressively for susan rice by writing this letter to the president, she has withdrawn her name? >> i've just s

. >> i'm just surprised that john mccain and lindsey graham can be so out rage the person who no palin, and she's the one tha cliff neg president obama has made a counter offer to speaker john boehner. details next. stay with us. >>> and 0 in the a taking away all guns. but that's not what i'm saying. i would just think that the >> well, the thing is, there has to be a message to rural folks and gun owners across the country. look, we understand that you may be a hunter, a gun collector, you may have just grown up in a family where guns are are always a part of your life. you can continue to do that, the second amendment will protect you on that but you need to separate yourself from these maniacs who are running around with automatic weapons and walking into theaters and into schools. you need to have a certain self-respect and say, look, my gun rights, my gun engagement, if you will, is completely different from these maniacs. and as a result, we need to say to these folks, you can be on the side of sensible gun control and still not only protect your guns but also protect the cultur

. >> i'm just surprised that john mccain and lindsey graham can be so out raged about the l the person president obama has made a counter offer to speaker john boehner. details next. stay with us. >>> and 06 of course, we love hearing from our vi in the af jo taking away all guns. but that's not what i'm saying. i would just think that the founding fathers could have foreseen automatic weapons se second amendm >>> and we are back. president obama has made a counter offer to house speaker john boehner to fiscal negotiations. $400,000 as the new dividing line on taxes, meaning tax rates would return to clinton-era rates for those making $400,000 >> well, the thing is, there has to be a message to rural folks and gun owners across the country. look, we understand that you may be a hunter, a gun collector, you may have just grown up in a family where guns are are always a part of your life. you can continue to do that, the second amendment will protect you on that but you need to separate yourself from these maniacs who are running around with automatic weapons and walking into theaters an

she called for meetings with mccain and i believe lindsey graham and then kelly ayotte and they said meeting, we feel worse. >> they said things were not cleared up. another pivotal moment, after the meetings with those senators, who already kind of noted they were opposed to susan rice before the meetings, they came out with more questions. you had a moderate republican in susan collins within days who met with susan rice. she came out saying i'm not sure i can support this nomination if she's nominated. when you have a moderate republican who is a supporter of the president's democratic nominees saying i'm not sure about this, a female senator in susan collins, it was clear the votes were not there for susan rice to be secretary of state. >> thank you very much. >>> mike emanuel, who we were talking to about the john boehner and president obama meeting, there's another piece of news. >> a lot of people on capitol hill are wonder whether the president wanted a fight over the next secretary of state. a lot of republican senators here were saying that essentially he should have the pe

the president caved after months of republican attacks led by senators john mccain, lindsey graham and kelly ayotte on u.n. ambassador susan rice focusing on her scripted television appearances following the benghazi tragedy today ambassador rice withdrew her name from consideration to be nominated for secretary of state. in an interview with brian williams, rice pointed to the distraction the republican attacks have caused. >> today i made the decision that it was the best thing for our country for the american people that i not continue to be considered by the president for nomination as secretary of state because i didn't want to see a confirmation process that was very prolonged very politicized, very distracting and very disruptive because there are so many things we need to get done, as a country. and the first several months of the second term president's agenda is really the opportunity to get the crucial things done. we're talking about comprehensive immigration reform balanced deficit reduction, job creation, that's what matters and to the extent that my nomination could have

republican senator lindsey graham says he does not expect a big deal until the next round of debt ceiling talks. >> our republican colleagues, by refusing to go along with revenues, are risking the fiscal cliff. >> there will not be a big deal. the chance for a big deal is with the debt ceiling. that is one of will have leverage to turn the country around. >> president obama urged congress to get a deal done when they returned from christmas break. president obama was among the dignitaries that attended the memorial service for the senator. the world war ii was the first japanese-american elected to both houses of congress, serving hawaii for 50 years. he died of respiratory complications last monday. he was 88 years old. former president bush is still in stable condition in a houston hospital. the 88-year-old former president has been hospitalized since november undergoing treatment for bronchitis. doctors are opportunistic he will make a full recovery. they said today he still needs to build up strength before they can release him. no discharge date has been set . >> it looks like the w

. >> senator lindsey graham was "meet the press this morning. >> we are one law away from solving this problem. this problem runs deep and wide. i live in south carolina and chuck lives in new york. i understand how he was brought up. maybe he tries to understand how i was rabrought up. people where i live i have been christmas shopping have been coming up to me, please don't let the government take my guns away. >> how realistic do you think that is? >> chuck is my boss. anything chuck says absolutely 100%. >> who said there wasn't politics on the show today? >> it's a rhetorical question because president obama himself has mentioned on the streets of chicago you need one set of gun rules and in wyoming maybe it is something else. i think we have seen that kind of regionalization of laws. connecticut had an assault weapons ban that didn't prevent this tragedy from happening and didn't outlaw the kind of gun you would want to be outlawed for that kind of tragedy. i don't know that the federal government will be able to slice and dice. it will be very difficult and very close if they ar

lindsey graham, all the man cares about is fighting off a tea party challenger.e gets to go back to south carolina and he gets to say i thwarted the president, the newly-reelected president, and i took down a wonderful african american woman. i have to say i don't know that they're deliberately putting race in the equation, but maybe there's something unconscious about it. but a lot of the people who have been targeted in the situation have been african americans. i don't know how it works out that way. but it has. it's a sad day. susan rice will be fine. she's going to go on and do great things for the country. but we've lost a public servant. and the president has been thwarted. and i think this boeds terribly for the supposed, new bipartisan cooperation that we're all supposed to hope for. >> congresswoman, we've also seen a blatant double standard. in november, matt lowe, he con fronted mccane about why he stood up for condolisa rice after a mass of intelligence failure in 2005. let me show you both the question and the response and get you to give me your vi