nbc's luke russert is on capitol hill. luke, what's the latest?ll, good morning, chris. the latest news around the hill in terms of the supercommittee is that for the first time in a good while, we'll actually see them publicly today as they meet with doug elmendorf down here to discuss a variety of things about the budget in terms of defense spending and nondefense spending, but also there's a new report that came out from the cbo that said household incomes in the top 1% since 1979, their wealth grew by 279%, expect democrats to hammer that out of elmendorf to say, hey, that's why there should be revenue raisers. in terms of the work of the committee, a lot of it has been secretive, but what you've heard from aides, they are three-fourths of the way there in terms of cuts, but in terms of getting all the way over the hump, they are still very far away because there are real discussions going on between should we raise revenue or cut entitlements, the same divide that has been plaguing capitol hill here since the beginning of this congress, chris

joining me now is nbc's luke russert. explain all this. the democrats saying they're going to bring up another part of this bill that invests in roads, bridges and more. does this prove that it would be a lost cause? >> reporter: well, thomas, for the second time in ten days, president obama's jobs bill went down in the united states senate and what this showed us last night is that it's very much impossible for any kmoenlts of this bill to move forward. you would have thoft that $35 billion for teachers and firefighters would have resonated loudly within the senate chamber. that's what the white house thought. it didn't yesterday. republicans sticking to their guns that it's wasteful stimulus. this is not what president obama wanted to hear. he says, quote, americans deserve an explanation as to why they don't deserve those jobs and every american deserves an explanation as to why republicans refuse to step up to the plate and do what's necessary to create jobs and grow the economy right now. what you see there, that's a little lit of 201

luke russert covers capitol hill for us and joins us. nica. >> let's go ahead and take a look at some of what's on the docket. spending bills for 2012, pieces of the president's jobs bill. give us the best and worst case scenarios and could we be looking at a possible government shutdown here? >> well, the best case scenario is that republicans and democrats hold hands and decide to fund the government with plenty of time before that november 18th deadline. as we've seen with this congress because it is divided, that usually is not the case. however, i've heard from sources on both the right and the left that any talk of government shutdown close to thanksgiving is not something either party wants to deal with. that's why there's an idea that the house and the senate will have some sort of agreement in place at least a few days ahead of that november 18th deadline where they'll say, look, let's extend the deadline one more month, have christmas be the back end, and take another month to negotiate. we'll have a one-month funding bill to av

we also have luke russert on capitol hill to tell us about what's happening.rug shortages of some kind of the most commonly used drugs in hospitals. this executive order tries to alleviate some of that problem. can you tells more? >> reporter: that's right. hi, there, richard. well, the aim of this executive order is to try to cut back on some of those shortages. here's what it does. it orders the fda to do a couple of things, to broaden it reporting of possible shortages. also, to really increase its review of drugs that are in the process of being manufactured to try to speed up the manufacturing process. and also to step up its communication with the justice the department to try to cut down on price gouging. now, some analysts have looked at this and other presidential actions that have been taken in the past week and says it's really not going to have a huge impact. and that, of course, has caused republicans to say, this is really the president playing politics. the white house has pushed back against that type of criticism, though, and has said, look, t

joining us from d.c., luke russert and jonathan capehart. good morning -- it's afternoon, 30 seconds after. luke, i'll begin with you, what is the reaction to the president today. >> reporter: well, the reaction of the capitol hill, john boehner said he's trying to work with the president to find common ground on solutions they can both support to help the economy. the house passed today that one part of the president's jobs bill, that repeal, 3% holding tax that aç lot of businesses were unhappy with. john boehner mentioned the free trade agreement. when it comes to what the president wants to do for the future of the country and what house republicans want to do, there is still a very deep divide. there's absolutely no appetite from house republicans for a big stimulus package. the president wants close to what the jobs bill was. even when broken in pieces it meets a brick wall. there's not a lot of appetite at the white house with the gop, talking about the forgotten 15 job creating measures. a lot of those have to do with deregulation, s

nbc's luke russert joins us from washington. luke, that bill wasn't a blockbuster job creating bill, but maybe it's a start. >> that's right. that's what a lot of republicans are saying, chris. this is a bill about an interesting sort of tax. it was a tax that would essentially say the government would have to hold back 3% of whatever they would pay government contractors because over time, they felt government contractors were not taxing themselves properly. this is a tax that a lot of small businesses do not like. it was in the president obama's jobs plan bill to repeal this tax, specifically republicans jumped on it. yesterday it passed the house by a wide margin, 405-16. that being said, it was essentially repealed a law that had never been enacted. never been enacted because a lot of people on both sides felt it was a law with a lot of faults to it. therefore, it won't have an immediate economic impact for a big stimulus package, chris. >> let's talk about the debt reduction super committee. they're far from a deal. what's i

it depends who you ask. >> all right, luke russert on capitol hill. for the insight. >> always a pleasure. >> before the united states attacked libya with missiles, they first considered doing it with computer code. they debated unleashing a cyber attack with libyan air systems before launching. the plane never became reality, but the fact that it is considered is a changing face of war. one of the reasons i'm told the cyber attack was decided against was the fear that it would send a message that this is fair game in combat and we should be more vulnerable. >> that's right. the challenge with the cyber attack is not like a tradition where you launch it and it blows up and it's over. you launch it and it attacks and the mission and code floats around. somebody else be it the rugs or the chinese could shoot back. it's precedent-setting. if they launch a cyber attack, other nations will say the americans have done it. this is allowable now. you used traditional mu anythings like cruise missiles and it took out the system. >> the chi meez and the russian

luke russert covers capitol hill and joins us now. ing the lead had been chuck schumer in the senate. now the house is thinking of a strategy to get that bill out of committee onto the floor, think they could get enough conservative republicans to join in against china. >> correct. it is interesting. the idea now is the senate would pass this senate currency bill tuesday which would force some protectionist tariffs for american products to figure out the $600 billion trade deficit. the president hasn't said where he stands on the bill. there's a lot of speculation the gop leadership is coddling wall street. same with the president, that he is doing that with wall street. there's enough support in the house gop conference. i spoke to a few rank and file members they believe to possibly have a discharge petition. what's that mean? eric cantor is not going to take up the bill himself, he is the majority leader. they have 177 signatures on there. you get 218 members, republicans and democrats, then force the house to vote on the bill, perh

mike viquiera and luke russert, thank you very much for joining us. that's enough. it's done.tay with us. the week's top lines are coming up. >> they have got to stop this. it's just so counterproductive. if they want to lose, this is the game for losers. i wouldn't do that. get married? no, i wouldn't use that single miles credit card. nice ring. knock it off. ignore him. with the capital one venture card you earn... double miles on every purchase. [ sharon ] 3d is so real larry. i'm right here larry. if you're not earning double miles... you're settling for half. really? a plaid tie? what, are we in prep school? [ male announcer ] get the venture card at capitalone.com and earn double miles on every purchase every day. what's in your wallet? i was gonna say that. uh huh... whose non-stop day starts with back pain... and a choice. take advil now and maybe up to four in a day. or choose aleve and two pills for a day free of pain. way to go, coach. ♪ >>> from the love of guns and smoke to mitt the wind sock and rum and coke. we sum up the top lines, week in review. >> a man and

nbc's luke russert is here for us. the republicans are presenting their jobs plan and the president said he is willing to consider a solution so give us the scoop. what is their solution? >> we heard for months now about a house gop jobs plan. about an hour ago, senator john mccain and rand paul did just that. it's a plan that we saw in the house. first and foremost, it's to repeal by the president's health care and the repeal of the bill. on top of that, you would also have a deregulation specifically looking at what the epa does. the national relations board. there is news on this end. >> hit us with the news. >> the corporate tax goes down to 25% and personal income tax goes down to 25%. >> tax cuts. the specific numbers, there would be a moratorium on the new regulation and torque reform. that's one we heard for a while. >> the balanced budget amendment. a combination of ideas on capitol hill. >> if 2/3 of the country believes the jobs plan is the right way to go, one independent said it would raise growth by 1.3%,

let's join nbc's luke russert. aside from trickle down economics, is there anything in the proposal and you are not allowed to say cut taxes and remove regulations. on to the question. >> not necessarily a new proposal, but it goes back to what he said the last week in his speech. he was slated to give the university of pennsylvania, like a steve jobs program. that had to do with the income disparity in the united states and the idea that if the government can empower, they get a chance to bring everybody up rungs of the ladder. that would be the idea. as always these jobs from the republican centralized with a few 10 apts and deregulation. >> you are not allowed to say that, luke. >> the philosophical divide here is republicans will never go for this big radio stimulus package that president wants and democrats will never go for the complete bring the regulatory hands off the backs of businesses. they think all sorts of terrible things will happen. >> he was due to deliver this steve jobs proposal and the business

. >> nbc's luke russert joins me from capitol hill. so what are the democrats going to tackle first and when? >> well, chris, out of the $447 billion jobs bill the president proposed some weeks ago, the first thing that will go forward is about $35 billion for teachers and first responders. how would that be paid for? the senate democrats want to increase a is yosurtax on millionaires. this presentses a problems for republicans. they see it as failed spending. any type of tax increase would be a no g-go in the house. therefore, it very well could pass the senate possibly later this week or the next few weeks. once it gets to the house of representatives, it has very little chance of passing. if nothing else, the president is trying to get republicans on the record as being against $35 billion for teachers or firefighters. at the end of the day, it is solvable even if they can't get it passed completely. >>> no to the millionaires tax. what does the president that, te is a desire by the president to extend unemployment insurance for ano

. >> let's go to nbc's luke russert, live on capitol hill. luke, democrats planned to use this against the gop during the election, saying that they have stopped jobs measures, stopped the creation of jobs. do republicans consider that? are they concerned about that at all? >> richard, this series of votes on the president's jobs bill really have been political more than anything else. it's well known that even if this bill were to pass the united states senate which is controlled by democrats, it would go nowhere in the house of representatives. it's controlled by republicans. what you're seeing is a series of votes squarely done for decision 2012 politics. last night, with all the republicans voted against it, you better believe democrat also make ads saying so and so running for president or senate or congress in the house, they voted against giving money to firefighters and teachers. they want to get these things they believe to be political viable, democrats do, they want republicans to vote against them and continue this moving forward.

luke russert joins us and the clock is ticking.e mood of the country, the occupy demonstrations, is that beginning to play some kind of pressure on the committee? >> the pressure that is being forced on the committee i think comes from two areas. you are right when you say there is a feeling around the country that the congress is inept. they are the lowest poled congress in history. the committee has to do something big and bold in order to really save congress in a sense to prevent them to go back and say they were able to accomplish something. you see support. there is a bipartisan letter around the house with 45 signatures that said they want to have a large deficit reduction package where anything could be on the table in terms of entitlement and revenue. the spirit is definitely there. the other thing that is really pressuring this committee to do something. the state of the u.s. economy. if this fails to act or if they do something that is viewed as very much the bare minimum, they could have a real bad impact on the financi

nbc's luke russert. thanks so much. we'll be right back to clear the air. proud of this.e not. woman: we...um... teen: have you guys seen captain stewie and lil' miss neptune? dad: did you look all over the place? under your desk? all around? teen: uh, they're fish, they live in a bowl. dad: what're gonna do? anncr: there's an easier way to save. anncr: there's an easier way to save. teen: whatever. ncr: 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. our neighbors putting their lives on the line. and when they rely on a battery, there are firefighters everywhere who trust duracell. so, look for these special packs to see how you can help your local volunteers. duracell. trusted everywhere. or a can of paint... you came together to vote, to share... to volunteer. and now, thanks to you, 10 communities have more to smile about. what's next? tell us on facebook. >>> it's time now to "clear the air" and we've spent much of today's broadcast assessing last night's big fight in las vegas, and the focus has been on domestic issues, but i wanted to pause for a moment and

luke russert joins us from capitol hill. a lot going on today.is vote tonight, we expect it around 6:00, 6:15 on the jobs plan. it basically goes down in defeat because well, they need 60, they can't get 60, may not even hold all their democrats. is that the latest head count? >> that's correct, andrea. the big news really on that vote is that they knew all along they wouldn't get the 60 votes for closure, which is a procedural method so the bill can be debated on the floor of the senate. what makes this vote very interesting is that there's a chance democrats might not even get a simple majority of their own caucus to support the president's jobs bill, and that's something that a lot of democratic aides will tell you is embarrassing for the white house, if they can't get 51 democratic senators of the 53 to support it, then they lose that talking about of being able to say it was gop obstruction that put this bill down. had we been able to debate it on the floor, we could have passed it in the united states senate. looking at some senators, joe m

luke russert covers capitol hill for us. it's nice to see you this morning.know what are the real chances that they'll meet this deadline? >> well, the chances that they'll meet the november 23rd deadline, thomas, are pretty good to reach what the target number is $1.2 trillion in cuts. a lot of folks on capitol hill feel that that number is attainable. the question is does this committee do something big and bold which both sides think is needed to preserve the credit rating and show the economy that the u.s. is serious about bringing down its national debt and doing something big and bold does not necessarily look like a real possibility. kr? well the battle lines have been drawn over the last few days with republicans and democrats putting forth their plans to cut the deficit. you still have a problem between taxes versus entitlements. republicans don't want a tax increase. the democratic plan has $1.3 trillion in revenue. they don't want cuts to medicare and medicaid, that's what the republicans have. >> luke, nice to see you this morning. thank you. >> y

and luke russert has the details. what do we know? >> reporter: good afternoon, savannah. we should remind our viewers that the super committee has met in secret for the past few months, and now we are starting to learn a few deails on what exactly democrats are offering. the plan they have to hit is $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction by november 23. the democrats are now according to sources offering a plan that would cut $3 trillion from the federal deficit over the course of 10 years. how would they pay for that? it would be a mix of roughly 50% entitlement reform, 507% revenue increases. have i also heard there's a possibility of some stimulus within this plan. but most importantly, a senior democratic aide told me, look, what the democrats on the deficit reduction committee are trying to do is emmult what john boehner and barack obama were trying to do over the summer in terms of a grand bargain. democrats feel that by going out and saying we will have substantial entitlement reforms particularly on medicare is a sign saying we are willing to jump off the deep end, if