mike emanuel is live on capitol hill right now and mike, as the senate heads back into session today, set the stage for us, if you will. what is the mood there? >> kelly, it seems tense and a lot of people seem uncertain exactly how they move forward to get a deal that will pass both the united states senate and the house of representatives.

mike emanuel has the back and forth debate on capitol hill. i know this changes minute by minute. where are we in a search for a deal? >> harris, as you alluded to it depends on who you ask. the republicans after phone conversations with the president and vice-president of the united states. they sound like we are close to a deal. here is senator mitch mcconnel. >> the only way we get an agreement before tuesday is to have a agreement with the president of the united states . only person who can sign something in law . i am more optmistic than my friend, the majority leader. >> that optimism was a change in tone. we heard that from the speaker of the house john boehner and senator mcconnel speaker boehner has left the capitol for the evening and gone home. he clearly believe his work is done for now, harris. >> we have reports that the president was on the phone with top republicans in the house and senate and also just met a short while ago with senator reid and nancy pelosi out of the house. did the democrats agree on all of this? >> they have a different take on it. when leader

joining us live again, mike emanuel, chief congressional correspondent up on capitol hill. rity leader's office wouldn't put this out, that there will be a vote if they didn't now have the votes, right? >> bret, no question about that. a lot of insiders will say they think they may be very close, or maybe indeed have the votes, but it may be too close for comfort. so what you have right now is dotting their is and crossing their ts to make sure they have the 216 votes they need to pass the boehner plan. certainly they don't be embarrassed by bringing up the speaker's plan and have it fail in the house of representatives. bret? roig our producer up there, we've seen him in the live shots we've taken of some of the hallways, chasing down these members coming out of offices, essentially being whipped. that means being arm-twisted to say you need to vote for this. this is the best deal that republicans can take. >> yeah. sounds like there's two different operations going on. one at the speaker's ceremonial office, the other at majority leader's cantor's office. one said, i'm sti

mike emanuel. all right. that is where we

first though over to mike emanuel over at the white house. the 4 p.m. deadline, mike, came and went and it's got to be tense for them tonight? >> absolutely, harris, it feels like pressure is certainly ratcheting up. as you mentioned top two democrats in the congress have been meeting with the president and vice-president in the oval office for just over an hour at this point. we know senator harry reid has come up with his own fallback plan which we understand would cut two and a half trillion dollars and run the government until early 2013, it would not increase taxes, today the white house chief of staff put more pressure on congress to get something done. >> the congress must pass this. it is their responsibility to extend the debt ceiling and so, my sense is that in the end, they will act. we may have a few stressful days coming up and stressful for the markets of the world and the american people, but in the end there's no question in my mind, the government of america will not default. >> the challenge is finding a deal that can pass the democrat-

>> mike: mike emanuel thank you for reporting from capitol hill. republican congressman david dwyer is chairman of the rules committee. first of all you introduced the reid look alike bill. what were you doing and why would you introduce harry reid's bill in the house. >> it is great to be with you. in our west to be bipartisan, i would like to take your deer hunting cooking story and quote harry truman. if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. >> mike: our audience loves that, congressman. >> did you like it, mike is the question. let me tell you what happened. as you know from the house, we passed two mess measures cut, cap and balance . we were just able to pass by a narrow margip john boehner's plan that stemmed from the bipartisan meeting in the building in the capitol when we saw john boehner sitting with harry reid andy mitch mcconnell and we know that hairy reid backed away after the president made it clear he didn't want democrat to support it mitch mcconnell is repeatedly asking. he is harry reid to bring it for . we are waiti

first though mike emanuel is live on capitol hill. big question now. what changes, mike, did the speaker have to make to get the votes that he needed on this? >> harris, bottom line he put in a balanced budget amendment proposal that was the key for some conservative republicans who weren't quite comfortable with the speaker's plan. got him to the 218 votes necessary. but before the votes were cast, here is some of the speaker's passionate plea to his fellow republicans. >> this house has acted. it is time for the administration and time for our colleagues across the aisle put something on the table. tell us where you are. [cheers] >> and indeed that has been a rallying cry of republicans here on capitol hill. where is your plan, mr. president? where is your plan, senate democratic leadership? as for the senate democratic leadership what they don't like about it is the balanced budget amendment among other things but that is a key sticking point. take a listen. >> now the speaker has brought in the requirement to extend the debt ceiling we have to amend

mike emanuel live on capitol hill. ing to the reporting of the national journal, there are 22 nos right now, there are three leaning nos. there are seven undecides. they can only lose 24. there is a lot of this going on. who is being twisted, do we know? >> too close to call. absolutely right, shep. so, bottom line is a lot of those mexico have been inside congressman kevin mccarthy the republican whip's office for the arm twisting sessions. it's been a variety of people. there has been a lot of tea party people who do not believe, obviously in raising the debt ceiling at this point. a lot of other republicans one saying moments ago the choice of a bad bill the boehner bill or a really bad bill in senator reid's bill and so that representative says is he still a. no so, at this point they have run out of other business to do here on capitol hill on the house of representatives' side. so, they are in recess until they get the votes to move forward, shep. >> shepard: mike, this is starting to feel like a big night for spe

>> mike emanuel, thank you very much. reporting from capitol hill. >> sure. >> republican congressman david dreier from california is joining me for an exclusive interview. first of all, today you introduced the so-called reid lookalike bill. tell us what you were doing anded why you would introduce harry reid's bill as a republican in the house. >> it is great to be with you. in our quest to be bipartisan i would like to take your deer hunting cooking story and quote president truman and say if you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen. >> mike: our audience loves that. i think you nailed it. >> i don't care about them, do you like it, mike, is the question. >> mike: tell us about this bill. >> as you know, from the house we have passed two measures, cut cap and balance and then we just were able to pass albeit by a narrow margin john boehner's plan that stemmed from the bipartisan meeting that took place one week ago today when we saw john boehner sitting with harry reid and mitch mcconnell and nancy pelosi. harry

mike emanuel live for us tonight at the white house. mike, things apparently got a little at the timey last night. what do we know about today's meeting? >> harris, sounds like a much calmer scene on day five of consecutive days with meetings here at the white house. for one, we know the president told the leaders around the table, quote: it is decision-time. we need concrete plans to move this forward. they are going to take a break from meetings tomorrow. the president of the unite states will talk to reporters, take some questions to update where things stand. and then they are going to give these respective leaders 24 to 36 hours to figure out what they can sell to their respective caucuses or constituencies, harris? >> harris: i understand from these meetings because they have them. they had one on sunday. they keep having them. the sometimes the toughest talk actually happens when they are not in the meeting. >> no question about that there was some really harsh language earlier today. a lot of finger-pointing by democrats at house

at the white house, mike emanuel, fox news. >> bret: n.f.l.eams are reportedly voting tonight on a tentative deal to end the league's labor dispute. in order for an agreement to be ratified, 24 of 32 owners would need to okay the deal. the players have scheduled a conference call later in the evening with their representatives to decide whether to accept an approved settlement from the owners. >>> federal workers have a good chance of having a job for life. we'll explain next in grapevine. >>> and a real story about fake apple computer stores in china. service was very moving, wasn't it? yes, it was. i'm so glad we could be here for larry. at a time like this, friends and family matter most. even preparing this lunch is a help, emotionally and financially. mm, it's true. i was surprised to hear there was no life insurance. funerals are so expensive. i hope larry can afford it. i know. that's why i'm glad i got a policy through the colonial penn program. it gives me peace of mind to know i can help my family with some of those expenses. you kno

to our congressional correspondent mike emanuel. a lot of folks trying to get through, what is happening? >> reporter: i talked to some officials about the volume of calls. they say on a typical call congress gets 20,000 or so. right now they are on target for 35,000. they say at the peak of the health care debate they were averaging 50,000 plus a day. i stopped by senator alexander's office and the young lady there was polite and they were doing their best to multi-task. senator alexander told me a lot of calls were supporting him and saying they were opposed to president obama's plan. the phones continue to ring. the e-mails continue to come in. speaker boehner's office, they said they've had more calls over the past week or so. not a significant increase, since the president suggested that the american people weigh in on this debate. as we look at the debate, there are two rival plans on capital i had. harry reid selling his plan in the senate and -- and house speaker boehner selling his plan in the house. different plans. but th

at the white house, mike emanuel, fox news. >> bret: n.f.l. are reportedly voting tonight on a tentative deal to end the league's labor dispute. in order for an agreement to be ratified, 24 of 32 owners would need to okay the deal. the players have scheduled a conference call later in the evening with their representatives to decide whether to accept an approved settlement from the owners. >>> federal workers have a good chance of having a job for life. we'll explain next in grapevine. >>> and a real story about fake apple computer stores in china. [ male announcer ] you sprayed them. thought they were dead. [ laughter ] [ grunting ] huh? [ male announcer ] should've used roundup. america's number one weed killer. it kills weeds to the root, so they don't come back. guaranteed. weeds won't play dead, they'll stay dead. roundup. no root. no weed. no problem. weeds won't play dead, they'll stay dead. woman: saving for our child's college fund was getting man: yes it was. so to save some money, we taught our 5 year old how to dunk. woman: scholar

mike emanuel on the top story at the bottom of the hour live from capitol hill tonight. are house republicans selling their latest deficit reduction plan? >> shep, essentially the speaker of the house john boehner is saying that it is a sensible plan it will cut some three trillion dollars over the next decade or so. it will cut more spending than it will raise the debt ceiling if you will. and basically speaker boehner is trying to reassure the most conservative members of his caucus that this is a sensible plan. take a listen. >> it's not cut, cap and balance but it is built on the principles of cut, cap, and balance that can pass the united states senate as well as the united states house? >> the house democrats are strongly opposed to the boehner plan. it's not immediately clear if it will have the votes to get out of the house there are also some tea party members of boehner's own caucus who do not like this plan. >> tea party members and some conservatives as well a coalition came together with a statement this afternoon and rejected the boehner plan. senate democra

mike emanuel live at the white house. thank you, mike. >> thank you. >> shannon: one of the senators behind the cut, cap and balance bill is calling senate majority leader harry reid's moved to block that bill from getting to the senate shameful, despicable and abuse of the chamber. mike lee republican from utah joins us now. senator, welcome to you. >> thank you. good to be with you. >> shannon: strong words. >> strong words for important moment. a moment in which he would less than 10 days away from impending deadline that americans are concerned about. we had legislation moving through the congress that had beens passed out of the house of representatives with bipartisan support. five democrats joining republicans. to grant the president the exact debt limit increase that he wanted. and senator reid in the senate wouldn't allow it to move forward. wouldn't even allow debate, discussion, or an amendment process much less an up or down vote. >> shannon: there are some pretty significant strings attached to getting that de

mike emanuel is at the white house tonight. is going none your town, mike. [ laughter ] >> well, the white house believes that measure the house is going to vote on tomorrow is simply too drastic, shep. so, bottom line is they say it's not good for the country. here is white house spokesman jay carney. >> you know, this is a measure that is designed to duck, dodge, and dismandel, duck responsibility, dodge obligations and -- it would essentially require the dismantlement of our social safety net, social security, medicare and medicaid. >> in other words the white house doesn't like it but the house will vote on it tomorrow, shep? >> shepard: the white house and congressional leaders say they do agree that they have to do something. i mean, at least they can agree that they have to do something. >> that's right. the leaders all agree but there is some concern about the rank and file members. yesterday at the white house, speaker john boehner, majority leader eric cantor were meeting private whether i chief of staff bill daily her

mike emanuel on capitol hill.ord republicans are working on a rewrite of speaker boehner's bill, huh? >> that's right, shep. undoubtedly they are trying to come up with more savings. also trying to come up with enough votes to pass the house of representatives. they need 218. let's take a look at a side-by eye side comparison at the speaker boehner plan and harry reid's plan. speaker boehner's plan designed so cut $3 trillion. speaker reid's $2.7 trillion. of course the boehner plan requires two votes to increase the debt limit while the reid plan includes one vote to raise the debt limit. today boehner called his bill reasonable and responsible. take a listen. >> a real caps and real process for cutting spending before the end of this year and it provides for, i think, the best effort to get a balanced budget amendment enacted into the constitution. there is a lot of arm twisting in the house to try to come up with those 218 votes to pass the boehner plan out. they are looking at a re-write to see if they can com

we look at how those numbers may affect the president, but we begin with mike emanuel on the debt ceiling vote. >> moments ago speaker john boehner passionately rallied his republican members on the floor of the house. it's been a challenging week for the speaker as the debt plan has been delayed several times and adjusted. after the vote, in a matter of minutes, the pressure will shift to the senate, and the search for compromise. after fine-tuning his debt plan again to include a balanced budget amendment to secure enough republican votes to pass, speaker john boehner made his final pitch. >> i stuck my neck out a mile to try to get an agreement with the president of the united states -- i stuck my neck out a mile -- and it is time for the administration and time for our colleagues across the aisle, put something on the table! tell us where you are! [applause] >> house democrats were angered by the addition of the balanced budget provision and expressed their frustration. >> in the last 24 hours, we've confirmed what many people suspected, which is that the tea party republicans may be

mike emanuel is live for us on capitol hill.n a change in attitude from senator reid in less than 24 hours even though the senate just voted down his own plan. why? >> well, heather, senator reided seemed to realize that the ship had kind of sailed on his plan and he recognized that the white house has been neglecting with republicans and he has been involved in talks as well. they need a deal that can pals the senate and the house. we got this update from senator reid a short time ago. take a list. >> spoken to the vice president this morning. in fact, a couple of times. he is hopeful, of course, we have to be hopeful that we are close to agreement. this is based on new ideas and some old ideas. >> essentially we believe that the leaders are selling the details are potential plans to their membership to say this is what we are looking at. we need your support. and the bottom line is they are looking for the votes to pass because time is a wasting heather. >> gop senators are planning to meet behind closed doors. it was supposed

mike emanuel live on capitol hill. senate democrats say speaker boehner's bill will never get to the president's desk. >> shep, tonight all 353 democratic senators signed a letter to speaker boehner according to a leadership source. in it they say they will not support the boehner bill. earlier several key democratic senators teed off on the boehner plan. take a listen. >> the chamber -- put out a letter saying vote for it they know it doesn't solve the problems. nobody believes that the boehner problem is anything more than a big wet kiss to the right wing. >> the speaker's plan is on life support and it's time for him to pull the plug. we need to move on to other plans that actually have a chance of passing. >> among the items senate democrats do not like about the boehner plan the short-term extension so this would come up for a vote in early 2012. their message to the speaker your plan will not pass, shep. >> shepard: late today speaker boehner met with tea partiers to ask for their votes. how did that go? >> well,

as fox's mike emanuel reports, the price of oil is going up. >> american drivers will pay on average $3.55 per gallon at pump this holiday weekend and those high fuel costs are a drag on their wallet and on the struggling economy. when president obama took office in 2009, the price was $1.84 per gallon and it more than doubled by this may before dropping as the global economy slowed and demand reduced. the high price of crude and concerns over supply led the president to announce he's putting more than 30 million barrels from the strategic petroleum reserve on the market. a week later oil prices are creeping back up. >> the tapping of the spr is a short term solution to our energy problem. it's really a knee jerk reaction to the unnecessary moratorium in the gulf of mexico. >>> the industry and many lawmakers representing the gulf region objected to the moratorium instituted after the bp spill in april of last year. energy companies have complained of excessive regulation. speaker john boehner has accused the obama administration of continuing to block and delay new american energy p

we begin with mike emanuel on what is in the proposals. good evening, mike. >> bret, good evening. president obama and senate majority leader harry reid have backed on the idea of tax increasing about a part of a deficit reduction plan. still it is not clear if we're any closer to a deal. grueling news conferences on capitol hill as senate majority leader harry reid and speaker john boehner sell dueling plans to solve the debt crisis. with an august 2nd deadline looming larger, they're set on ripping their opponent's proposal. >> i believe the plan is full of gimmicks. >> republicans' short-term plan is a nonstartner the senate and in the white house. >> the house republican plan would cut $3 trillion and fuels a two-step approach to cut spending and avoid default and would include spending cuts that exceed the debt hike. caps to control future spending, and a balanced budget amendment vote by the end of the year. >> it's not cut, cap and balance, but it is built on the principles of cut, cap and balance that can pass the united states senate as well as the united states house. >>

increasingly dire tone coming from the house, but we begin with chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel on capitol hill gridlock. good evening, mike. >> good evening. they're trying to round up votes from house republican freshmen. earlier in the in the day, the speaker i'd get your ass in line" and back his plan. time was running short as the day was lost in the process. speaker boehner saved his talking for behind closed doors as house republicans are arm-twisting to get the 217 votes for his plan to pass the house. the speaker pulled it back, fine-tuned it, and pushed for the bill to hit floor thursday. >> when push comes to shove, i'm confident that this bill is going to pass the house of representatives. >> part of that confidence comes from signs the tide is shifting in favor of the boehner plan from fiscal hawks. >> i'm shifted, you don't let the perfect get in the way of the doable. >> there was this show of support for the boehner package. >> the fact is, rebs have offered the only proposal at this point that attempts to get at the root of the problem. and which actually has a

jamie: mike emanuel live at the white house. he latest from the white house on this, with all of the options out there? >> reporter: it is interesting, after a week of high profile meeting with the president and the congressional leaders, over the weekend it seemed to go back channel, more and the speaker's office and the white house suggest there were conversations but not necessarily face-to-face meetings and as for the public perspective from the white house, here's the warning from the white house budget director, jack lew. >> i think there are multiple tracks that are being discussed. it is not a given how we get to raising the debt limit. there are some extreme voices that are saying, we should push it over the edge. and i think the risk of taking that path is enormous. the president referred to it as an armageddon. >> reporter: making his point, he use the word armageddon three times and wanted to get that across to the american people and the white house perspective remains and we have to do something and might as well do

mike emanuel is live at the white house with unemployment at 9.1% this massive stimulus package, of courseis a possible target. mike, they released these numbers late friday at the start of the holiday weekend, not so happy about these, perhaps? >> reporter: well,. patti ann: teif you havebad newn a friday afternoon but certainly leading into a holiday weekend. $278,000 per job is the math if you break it down over the course of 2.4 million jobs, and so bottom line when the administration was selling the stimulus package there was a lot of buzz about shovel-redding jobs, putting people back to work. well we had a very candid moment with president obama when he was meeting with his jobs' council last month. take a listen. >> shovel ready was not as shovel ready as we expected. >> reporter: so, it was a light moment with president obama, but a lot of american taxpayers at a time when we are so concerned about the federal government debt may not be laughing about it at this point because at least from the white house's report it doesn't look like the stimulus created as many jobs as would hav

mike emanuel's live at the white house checking out all these developments. e two different things happening, right? you have the debt ceiling, but you also have this question about how we're going to cut debt long term. so where are we today? >> reporter: well, essentially, you know, the white house is hopeful that that gang of six plan can materialize and be further, you know, move the ball down the road, if you will, that perhaps the senators can make a lot of progress in getting it done. there's a lot of questions about whether it can get done by august 2nd, but a lot of people would tell you that when the congress makes up its mind to do something, to actually do something, things can move be pretty quickly. so it's not entirely clear if they can get it done, but we do expect the gang of six to talk to reporters about 3:00 this afternoon. there also sounds like the possibility of a white house meeting with some leading lawmakers late afternoon, so a lot of moving parts, and we're just trying to keep track of it, jenna. jenna: as we all are, right, mike? i

we begin with mike emanuel on a busy day for lawmakers and switchboard operators. >> good evening, the white house today used a word that president obama did not use in his address to the nation. veto. this, has republicans are searching for the vote to pass speaker boehner's debt plan. >> phones have been ringing off the hook in offices on capitol hill the day after president obama encouraged americans to make their voess heard on the debt crisis. >> good afternoon, bill nelson's office. >> the morning after a broadcast war of words with the president, speaker john boehner continued selling the merits of his plan, designed to cut 3 trillion dollars in spending and more. >> it has a real process for cutting spending before the end of this year, and it provides for, i think, the best effort to get a balanced budget amendment enacted into the constitution. >> still, as the house rules committee prepares the boehner plan for a vote. it's not clear if the speaker will have enough to pass it. and recruiting g.o.p. votes with this pitch. >> in this bill you have a vote for a balanced budget

mike emanuel has the latest details. >> good evening.s afternoon, president obama issued a veto threat of the cut, cap and balance plan which is due to be voted on in the house tomorrow. fine-tuning continues on a bipartisan fallback plan in the senate. >> we're making progress. >> reporter: today, president obama offered that update on the debt negotiations. late sunday morning after church, the president met privately with speaker john boehner and eric cantor but no significant progress or agreement was reached. momentum appears to build around the backup plan. mitch mcconnell is fine-tuning with mary reed to allow the -- harry reid to allow the president to raise the debt ceiling three times for $2.5 trillion. allow republicans who oppose to vote in disapproval each time. it includes $1.5 trillion in spending cuts and creates a new congressional committee looking in to how to cut trillions more. mcconnell continues pressing for bolder change but is losing hope. >> the republicans are trying to persuade the president of the need for a

mike emanuel looks at the stalemate and what might happen leading up to the august 2 deadline there are other august dates with national significance. the iowa straw poll, august 13. and the g.o.p. debate on fox august 11. carl cameron examines how the early tests are weighing on republican hopefuls. we will also have analysis from brit hume. special starts at 6:00 eastern. now back to "the five." ♪ ♪ >> bob: wisconsin governor scott walker, oh, how we love him, is on the hot seat again. this time, walker admits making mistakes during his handling of the recent wisconsin union showdown. he says he didn't lay political groundwork no kidding, governor. to which i say no shot. meanwhile, some wisconsinlucks are facing recall because of the public outrage -- some wisconsin politicians are facing recall because of the public outrage. could the governor find himself recalled as well? this august there will be a vote on state senators, four republicans. they will go down in defeat. then, you have to wait one year under wisconsin law to have a vote on recall the governor, which is january of ne

mike emanuel at the white house.dent obama and republican leaders in the senate today have been talking up this new proposal by a group of democratic and republican senators known as the gang of six, but there could be some storm clouds that are starting to brew over there at the house of representatives. listen to this. >> what we've heard so far is that this bill is going to dismantle medicaid -- excuse me, medicare. i encourage my colleagues across the aisle to actually read the bill before they come in and talk about it. page 4 specifically says we don't cut medicare with this bill. we've heard the president say social security checks might not go out on august 3rd. that's just false. the president has every legal authority and the money available to him to send those checks out if he wants to. we've heard that the country will default on our debt if we don't raise the debt ceiling. not true. not true. the authority is there, the money is there. we have plenty of money with which to pay the interest on our debt.

mike emanuel is live on capitol hill right now and mike, as the senate heads back into session today, set the stage for us, if you will. what is the mood there? >> kelly, it seems tense and a lot of people seem uncertain exactly how they move forward to get a deal that will pass both the united states senate and the house of representatives. we caught up with senator clare mccaskill, answering her phones in other own office and the phones have been ringing off the hook all week long since the president said, you know, contact your representatives and make your voices heard. well, she got an earful about people saying just get something done. people who are married about their social security or medicare, so, she heard directly from her constituents and was able to say that she understood their concerns. bottom line at this point, well, here is senator harry reid. >> it's time for us to be adults, it's what the american people want. it's time to come together and compromise. it's what the american people want and that's what we need to do. >> so, it's time to be adults. so what he is s

mike emanuel is live at the white house with more on this to help us work this all out. good afternoon, mike. >> reporter: good afternoon, martha. critics of the stimulus package say the taxpayers did not get what they paid for at a price tag of $278,000 per job. the white house says that number is misleading. president obama signed the stimulus package into law on february 17th, 2009, less than a month after taking office. the $787 billion recovery package was designed to, quote, set our economy on a firmer foundation. regarding the analysis of it costing more than a quarter of a million dollars job created, a spokesperson says, quote the recovery act was more than a measure to save and create jobs, it was also investment in american infrastructure, education and industries that are critical to america's long-term success and an investment in the economic future of america's worker families. a leading ceo said it is important to remember how bad the economy was at the time. >> some would point to the stimulus as we were talking earlier and say it was ineffective. i would

mike emanuel is live on the north lawn of the white house. good morning to you, mike. >> reporter: good morning. bill: can they get it done? i mean, even if they agree to it, the gang of 6 by the august 2nd date. >> reporter: that is a fascinating question and i have not gotten a straight answer, honestly. i talked to a leading democrat in the u.s. senate, and he said, it takes weeks if not months for the congressional budget office, the nonpartisan congressional budget office to determine exactly if a piece of legislation does what it says it will do. will it really cut $4 trillion, in spending over the next decade or so? but, then there are others who will tell you that it is amazing how quickly the united states senate and the congress can work when it sets its mind to it. so i talked to a white house aide, who said i wouldn't say for sure that we can't get it done by august 2nd. i don't know we have reached that conclusion yet. perhaps that is the thing being discussed behind closed doors but it was certainly fascinating the way so many bi

mike emanuel is live at the white house to tell us more about that.hat exactly is a speaker series and the reasons behind it? >> reporter: for $5,000 you get to attend five events with obama all-stars, insiders, if you will. for example this afternoon former white house chief of staff and current chicago mayor rahm emanuel is heading an even in new york series. that would be the first of five events that you could attend if you're willing to pony up $5,000. bottom line is, even if you're the incumbent president you need to raise a lot of money if you want to top what president obama did in 2008. here is one expert's take on this fundraising activity. >> a billion dollars is a lot of money even for a president. it puts a lot of pressure on their fundraisers. they have to come up with creative gimmicks to raise the money, and they do, because it's their job, and they have to produce. >> reporter: bottom line, president of the oo united stat, whoever he is has a demanding day job. president obama is not traveling these days due to the debt crisis here in

mike emanuel live at the white house for us now. what is the latest from the white house, first of all, mike? >> reporter: jon the white house perspective that this is a huge problem, our nation's debt, so this is the time to do something big and do something bold. it is not clear where the votes will be in terms of trying to do something of that nature. our understanding is from talking to sources, both here at the white house and on capitol hill is there were conversations back and forth between the president and speaker john boehner over the weekend. we will ask white house press secretary jay kare carney about. here is budget director jack liu. >> i think the minimum the debt will be extended. notwithstanding the voices of a flew that are able to play with armageddon, responsible leaders in washington are not. >> reporter: jack lei used karpa tkpwed done various times. the clock is ticking. we will get a better view of where things stand when we ask jay carney questions. jon: what is happening in congress specifically with that p

mike emanuel is standing by live at the white house for us. it's not just standard & poors, it's moody's also. is the white house talking about this. >> reporter: we've heard officials saying this makes the case this a deal needs to be struck, and of course we've had a series of these meetings since sunday, daily meetings with the president of the united states, key congressional leaders and it sounds like things are getting more tense as the days go by. here is senator republican mitch mcconnell on president obama. >> he really gave us three bad choices. higher taxes, smoke and mirrors, or default. and we refused to accept any of them. republicans will not be reduced to being the tax collectors for the obama economy. we won't be see duesed into calling a bad deal a good deal. and we won't let the white house full around with the full faith and credit after the yo united states. >> reporter: clearly mitch mcconnell is concerned whether a deal with be struck. one hopes behind closed doors in these meetings as they are trying to find common grou