mike emanuel at the rotunda at the russell building. thanks. if you win tonight's power ball jackpot you can stop worrying about anything washington does go. out and buy your own country and make your own laws. tonight's jackpot is now $550 million. that's a record for power ball and the second highest lottery jackpot ever in our country. lottery officials say tickets are selling at a rate of, get this: 130,000 tickets per minute. and a lot of people say they already know what they are going to do if they win. >> i would go away and hide for a little bit. >> some of it it is going to go to charity. and then it's going to help me be successful. >> of course i'm not going to work tomorrow. [ laughter ] >> plane ticket to vegas and then anything that happens in vegas -- >> build a nice doomsday bunker, who knows. [ laughter ] >> donate a bunch of it. i don't really need that kind of money, i guess. >> he may be the only one. >> shepard: if you have ever spent time here in new york, you probably heard the voice of lavonda. >> good evening, everyone

on friiay, he's scheduled to meet with congressionaa leaders attthe whiie house.in washington, mike emanuelnewss 3 coming up on the earll editionn.. tens of thousands -3&of dollars spent... to save a baatimore neighborhoodd neighborhood.tte ten years off innestments... ad whht... if anything... they've accommlished. ,3 3 triple-a will release it's panual thanksgiving holiday travvl forecast this orning.. the auto club offees its predictions for traffic oo thee ground and n the air, as drivers it the oad during thanksgiving weee. week.triple-a sayssit will also tell us what ooexpect n the waa of gas prrces, air fares and hotel costs.the group will announce its forecast nnmbers at reagan national irport at 10:455a-m. 3 ((2-shot toss to weather)) 3 ((ad lib meteorrlogist)) 3 mmp jaaie map 3greebspring map liberty 3 3 3 3 p3 cominggup... it's the biggest week of tteeyear... as far as ravens fans are concerned. concerned.the reason why coachh pohn harbaugh thiiks the the best in football. 3 turninn around an eeesore... a stone's throwwfrom the inner harbor.the decade-long push o 3 tens of thousa

but we begin with the chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel and another reason that the talk reconciliation so important. good evening, mike. >> good evening. there are strong suggestions that the nation's debt problem may be worse than $16 trillion and counting and key lawmakers are saying it's time to slash spending. >> i can cut $600 billion more out of the federal government tomorrow. nobody would know a difference except for the people employed by the programs here in washington, d.c. >> when asked by fox what he would be willing to cut, the senate majority leader didn't offer anything new. >> remember, we have already done more than $1 billion worth of cuts. we have done that. so we need to get some credit for that. and the negotiations that take place. >> 42 business organizations sent this letter to top lawmakers urging congress not to increase taxes writing, "we strongly urge congress to pursue comprehensive tax reform that lowers rates on all forms of business income while enacting significant entitlement reforms that put the federal budget on sustainable fiscal pat

mike emanuel in northern virginia. steve harrigan in the hotly contested swing state of florida.in colorado where candidates an running makes made 40 stops since january. according to the colorado secretary of state office, 1.7 million registered voter cast ballots, more than half the active electorate here. republicans have an edge in early balloting. followed by democrats a unaffiliated. there are reports of voting machine with the wrong selection in colorado and another county, one machine was pulled offline. the real clear politics average of polls president obama lead is 1.5%. a tie. now to florida, we find steve harrigan. >> early voting was it can nickly supposed to stop in florida. saturday at 7:00 p.m. it has gone on across the state. there is complaining about the process so far in florida. the long lines. three hours in places like miami dade county. the reasons are several. for one, reduced days of early voting from 4 to 8 days. the longest ballot in florida's history. 12 pages both sides. they are confident it will go smoother. there are 10,000 places to cast a ballo

>> shannon: mike emanuel thank you.ll ahead, the human toll for people who are not fighting in israel and gaza. first, to rebuild or not to rebuild? after superstorm sandy. just no fun to drive. now, here's one that will make you feel alive. meet the five-passenger ford c-max hybrid. c-max says ha. c-max says wheeee. which is what you get, don't you see? cause c-max has lots more horsepower than prius v, a hybrid that c-max also bests in mpg. say hi to the all-new 47 combined mpg c-max hybrid. >> shannon: tonight, rental car shortal by thanksgiving week. thousands of cars, including rep tall, drive in demand and higher prices for vehicles that are still available. if you own property in disaster zone there are also questions tonight about whether you should rebuild or even be allowed to. senior correspondent rick leventhal has thatory from staten island. >> new york city collected more than a quarter billion tons of debris in the aftermath of hurricane sandy. but the job isn't done yet. soon, at least 200 of the hardest

mike emanuel is on capitol hill. ey ended up backing rival candidates in one race. >> that's right, shep. it was for the house republics fourth ranking leader. cathy mcmorris rogers from the state of washington was the establishment choice to be promoted. well, she faced a challenge from tom price from the state of georgia, who paul ryan was backing in a letter to colleagues. this is big because if she had lost, all the top house republic leadership would have been male. well, mcmorris rodgers, won, shep. >> shepard: we are sprk boehner and pelosi to hang on to their jobs. >> that's right. john boehner was renominated to continue to serve as speaker of the house. there was not any controversy there. and with republicans in the majority, it's expected to be made official by a full house vote. there was some buzz about whether nancy pelosi would continue on as the top house democrat, which she told us today. >> my colleagues made it very clear and in fact i think they must have coordinated with each other because their

>> shepard: mike emanuel live on capitol hill. just in to fox news from the o really file? island power authority or lipa is stepping down in the wake of super storm sandy. this comes on the same day an attorney filed a lawsuit against lipa claiming negligence in the aftermath. and the attorney is seeking class action status potentially including hundreds of thousands of long island customers who, in some cases have had no power for two weeks. the feds say only about 25,000 customers in the storm zone are still in the dark only. certainly a major improvement since just yesterday when the number was three times that. but today as the new york city mayor michael bloomberg pointed out that figure does not include tens of thousands of homes and businesses that are destroyed or too badly damaged for crews even to restore electricity. >> the majority of new yorker who's remain without power do so not because the utilities can't provide power on the street but because necessary repairs still have to be performed. >> shepard: it's not just homes and businesses. the storm badly dama

mike emanuel in d.c. tonight. how are conservatives approaching this issue that has clearly divided republicans in a huge way? >> well, shep. they suggested republicans believe they are the party of free marks and the party of family. the nation embraced fixing the immigration problem in a compassionate way. >> you know how many families were broken up in mexico? and in central america? of people who come here to work, leave their spouses, their children back home. and they never see them. they may -- they have the commitment to send remittances but then they start families here in the united states. it's breaking up families. >> others suggest what's being discussed in washington is essentially amnesty. a spokesman for a group called fair says, quote: immigration reform as it is now being discussed is centered on rewarding those who have broken our laws and making it easier for millions more people to enter the u.s. legally so there it you have the conservative divide, shep. >> shepard: that's not all of it. some

mike emanuel live in fairfax, virginia with more. mike?ep, experts at the university of virginia predict record turnout about 4 million voters expected to participate in this election. so, mitt romney and his team recognize it is much harder to win the white house without virginia. did he two events here today including a loud rally in the george mason basketball arena trying to make sure he wins here. meanwhile vice president biden is doing several stops in virginia on election eve. is president obama will win the election overall and says he believes that they have a clear shot of winning virginia average of recent polls has president obama leading by three tenths of a point. shep? >> shepard: mike emanuel fairfax, v.a. as for the nine electoral votes at stake in colorado. the candidates made six trips to that state in the last four days. alicia acuna live in denver. alicia? >> the colorado secretary of state office says it sent staff to pueblo, colorado voting machines indicating wrong selection in another county a machine was pulled. n

mike emanuel live on capitol hill with the top story at the bottom of the hour.ns now that, well, all this has happened? some but probably not as much as president obama and speaker would like. president obama made this offer on the trillions of dollars in spending cuts and tax increases due to hit at the end of the year what's known as the fiscal cliff. >> there is an alternative to going over the fiscal cliff in whole or in part. it involves making real changes to the financial structure of entitlement programs and reforming our tax code to cush special loopholes and deductions by working together to create a fairer, simpler cleaner tax code we can give our country a -- >> he told phone call he would be open to a bridge, basically buying time to so a new congress in a new year could work on these fiscal issues, shep. >> shepard: democrats maintain control of the senate what are they saying? >> senate majority leader harry reid says compromise is not a dirty word. he is prepared to sit down with the republicans and negotiate. here the majority leader on his take

mike emanuel on fox top story live in the d.c. newsroom tonight. mike, it looks like some republicans are changing their tunes. >> shep, republicans say they favor both major spending cuts and additional revenue from tax reform with lower tax rates. the pledge you mentioned is identified with americans for tax reforms grover norquist who has gotten many republicans to promise they won't vote to raise taxes. south carolina senator lindsey graham is pushing back saying capping deductions would help generate revenue. the top republic on the senate budget committee explained graham's position. >> he is conditioning any tax increase on fixing these programs, social security and medicare, particularly in making sure that they are sound for the future. so that's lindsey's position. and he has talked about accepting revenue to accomplish that goal. >> republicans continue saying they don't want to increase tax rates arguing that will hurt job growth. democrats say the middle class could be spared from a tax increase now. >> however as we continue to negotia

>> bret: mike emanuel on capitol hill after a throat lozenge. thank you.the approaching fiscal cliff? will we walk up to the precipice and stop or jump over to economic black hole? take a deep breath. here we go again. jim angle has details. >> reporter: the fiscal cliff was crafted to be so distasteful, the officials would do anything and everything to avoid it, which did not work. >> we could be in a recession next year and it could decrease size of the economy. >> fiscal cliff is $440 billion of taxes and $200 billion of spending cuts. going over the full fiscal cliff is recipe for recession. >> not the way mr. obama wants to begin the second term. the fiscal cliff and simultaneous cancer jens of tax increases an spending cuts will wreak havoc with the economy. spending cuts for instance take $2.10 trillion in ten years. >> these are big cuts, 10-14% in programs quarter of the way through the fiscal year. that is bad policy and dangerous. >> the biggest stumbling block is tax increases, everyone wants to extend the bush tax cuts for those making less th

fox news chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel takes a look. >> with the election over, somelaks are floating conservative alternative to president obama's dream act. supporters say achieve act would legalize status of undocumented children who grew up by giving them visas. after earning a degree or serving in the military they could eventually become citizens. unlike to dream act it does not allow the people to jump ahead of legal immigrants waiting their turn. >> it's a perfectly reasonable way to go. >> congressional sources say retiring senators kay bailey hutchison and jon kyl were working on the plan with marco rubio over the summer but it was put on hold after mr. obama's executive action. now with the election over, some republicans are waiting if the time is right to pass it by the end of the year. rubio says conservatives must better explain they are for a legal immigration system that works. hard to get people to listen to you on economic growth, tax rate and healthcare if they think you want to deport their grandmother. policy matters, too, but rhetoric is importa

mike emanuel is live on the hill. mike, safe to assume republicans they're not happy with what came from the white house yesterday, are they? >> reporter: bill, no question about that. and clearly both sides are trying to draw each other out. there is clearly gamesmanship going on, trying to get details from the other side and make that side look bad. but there was a lot of optimism on capitol hill yesterday when treasury secretary tim geithner coming up for individual meetings with the top four congressional leaders. republicans were hoping that there would be a lot of details in terms of those spending cuts that you guys have been talking about but they feel like what he came up with was an old document, essentially the president's last budget plan which got zero votes here on capitol hill. so a lot of republicans are saying it is time to get serious folks. here is speaker john boehner. >> i'm disappointed in where we are and disappointed in what's happened over the last couple weeks. going over the fiscal cliff is s

the republican aides tell mike emanuel there was a lot of detail about the new tax increases. $1.6 trillion in new tax increases from the new rate, capital gain, dividends as well. new spending, starting with $50 billion next year. the white house is countering that is leftover stuff from the president american jobs act. not really spending. nonetheless, the republican aides on the hill saying this is a nonstarter to them. white house aide i just spoke to said that this is not new. this is the president's original budget framework going to september of 2011. they say inside the white house tonight the real problem is the republicans will not give in on new tax increases for the rich. so tonight we're still hopelessly deadlocked. >> optimism faded as tim geithner arrived on the hill ahead of christmas without bearing gifts. the specific list of spending cuts that spiker boehner wanted geithner to bring, leading the republicans to declare talks are going nowhere. >> i'm disappointed in where we are. and disappointed in what has happened over the last several weeks. i'm here seriously trying t

. >> tonight, chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel tells us there is a lot of talk and preciousittle action so far. >> thanksgiving and christmas holidays the number of legislative days until the nation hits the fiscal live are limited. much to be worked out. numbers are set for spending cuts and revenue increase. they recognize it cannot be done by the end of the year. so they want extension of current tax rate and spending levels. >> it seems a prudent course of action is figure out a bridge that takes us for some for of time. avoid issues fruition on january 1. >> the top republican said jeff sessions sent this letter to the top four leaders in congress saying if they are planning extension of unemployment insurance, offset for the changes must be achieved through real safings. not gimmicks like baseline saving from future war spendings that is not expected to occur. the markets won't reout well to staying the course. >> the worst thing that can happen is we put a temporary fix in. deal with it next year. >> senator joe manchin says it's important for washington to seize the

henry is trying to read tea leaves on a day of mixed signals from all sides but we begin with mike emanuelpossibility that g.o.p. lawmakers may put their oath of office above a promise to antitax increase organizer. good evening. >> good evening. the republican sources say they are offering a balanced approach of significant spending cuts and some revenue without boosting tax rates. >> we have been responsible as we remain firm on this point. no tax increases now for promised spending cuts that won't materialize later. the american people have seen that game before. they won't be fooled again. >> the top republican on the senate budget chel explained the g.o.p. plan to bring in more money. >> eliminate all kind of loopholes and gimmicks and increase revenue without raising the top marginal rate. that most economists say would hurt the economy if we were to do it. >> the republicans are being confronted in the fiscal cliff negotiations about the no new taxes pledge, which of them signed. now lawmakers are pushing back. >> # $16 trillion in debt the only pledge we should make to each other i

. >> mike emanuel, thank you very much. >> coming up next on the rundown are you looking to earn a littlextra cash during the holidays? cheryl casone that is three companies who are hiring right now. >> i now pronounce you significant others. what the heck is that? we will tell you about this one state that is cutting out the word husband and wife from marriage certificates. >> it's true. flush >> welcome back. it is 22 after the top of the hour. two weeks after he was busted for allegedly assaulting then fiancee now wife hope solo. jeremy stevens now behind bars. the ecstasy at el seahawk arrested after prior arrest for marijuana so session. >> you could be paying more to indulge in junk food. the president will tax junk food to get americans healthier. >> obama is known for her fight against childhood obesity. >> 'tis the season to start hiring. reports showing that seasonal hiring is at the highest level in five years. cheryl casone is here with three of the companies hiring seasonal workers right now. short term job if you want to bring in extra cash. >> that is the thought process go

jon: mike emanuel in washington, thank you.for more on the fiscal cliff politics if and when we can expect to see some kind of deal, let's bring in ab stoddard, operate editor and columnist for "the hill." this was all supposed to be so ludicrous that no congress, no president would let it happen, and here it is about to happen. are you an optimist, ab? >> well, i think i'm beginning to be an optimist, but i'm reserving the right to change my mind. [laughter] we're not going to see a deal as we have been saying until after thanksgiving, and i think we're going to see it much closer to christmas eve. they always put things off to the last minute. and the fights and posturing you're seeing broiling between the two parties are really about numbers that no one's put on paper. so the real, you know, rubber meets the road moments are not going to come deep until, you know, almost late december. jon: well, president obama campaigned on a platform of saying, you know, the rich can pay more. so should anybody who earns more than, say, a

our chief congressional correspondent, mike emanuel, live on capitol hill right now. what's the latest on those meetings and the secretary's shuttle diplomacy, mike? >> reporter: we heard from speaker john boehner who said that treasury secretary geithner did not come with a substantive plan in terms of spending cuts. we know the republicans were hoping when the treasury secretary came here to capitol hill, that he would have laid out some serious spending cuts because the republicans are saying if we're putting revenue on the table, we need to see some serious spending cuts from the white house. i think it's important to note the difference between what is said in public and what is said in private. these meetings are held in private. in public lawmakers are sounding a little tougher. here's the senate majority leader on the senate floor earlier today. >> for four months house republicans have refused to act. instead, they've held the middle class hostage to protect the richest 2% of taxpayers, people who enjoy a decade of ballooning income and shrinking tax bills. >>

mike emanuel is live on capitol hill now. at are the republican complaints, mike, and how are they pushing back at the president? >> reporter: senator john john cornyn who is a member of the rupp leadership says he thinks president obama wants to go over the fiscal cliff by proposing higher taxes, no spending cuts and no plans to save entitlements. with president obama going to pennsylvania today, the house republican whip, kevin mccarthy's office put out a video profiling a small business nearby in pennsylvania that would get hurt by a tax hike. >> i'm jerry gorsky from an engineering company. however good or bad we do is my income. this notion of $250,000 being top 2% or the wealthy people in america ignores the way most small businesses work in america. >> reporter: i mentioned president obama is going out on the trail, if you will in pennsylvania to sell his arguments. one would expect we would hear some sort of response from speaker john boehner after that. jon. jon: what are the democrats saying? i mean about these g.o.p

chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel has the worst case scenario. >> i'm more worried aboutequester now than ever. >> that is because senator cornyn believes the automatic defense and spending cut due to start in the new year known as sequestration is not treated with a sense of urgency. >> it's overshadowed by the fiscal cliff negotiations. >> it's timed with the country hitting the fiscal cliff, $500 billion of tax increases and spending cuts. scheduled to take effect in january. ill led to the super committee to create work out cuts of $1.# trillion. on defense, 9.4% cut for every program across the board regardless of merit. in 2013 trimming $3.9 billion from defense operation and maintenance. air force and navy would be cut by $4.2 billion. afghan security forces chopped by $1.3 billion. and embassy money and consulate would lose $1.2 billion. asked about the spending cut deal, the top democrats suggested they're finished. >> that is part of a big bold and balanced package that has big cuts. we voted for $1 trillion in cuts. revenues are needed and job creation is essen

>> shannon: mike emanuel thank you. still ahead, president obama breaks new ground in burma.adding insult to injury. after super storm sandy. ford c-max hybrid. when you're carrying a lot of weight, c-max has a nice little trait, you see, c-max helps you load your freight, with its foot-activated lift gate. but that's not all you'll see, cause c-max also beats prius v, with better mpg. say hi to the all-new 47 combined mpg c-max hybrid. >> shannon: 12 more new york city public schools reopened today following the damage from super storm sandy last month. 18 are still closed. gas rationing extented through friday. for many people's whose homes were damaged, insult has been added to injury. senior correspondent eric shawn explains from breezy point new york. >> amid the devastation and destruction that remains three weeks after hurricane sandy, a stinging surprise from the new york city building department. a notice, tacked to the front door, demanding the storm's victims fix their problems under penalty of law. >> the city needs to work with us, not against us. you know, to im

mike emanuel live at the white house with more on that. mike, how confident are they about this cease-fire? >> well, greg, they are aware of history. they recognize the cease-fire is still fragile and they recognize violence could easily flare up again. another white house photo takes us behind the scenes in cambodia when president obama spoke to secretary of state hillary clinton and told her he was dispatching her to the middle east. after the cease-fire was announced, secretary clinton was careful with her language. >> the united states will work with partners across the region to consolidate this progress. improve conditions for the people of gaza. provide security for the people of israel. >> and u.s. officials seem hopeful that the new president of egypt, mohammed morsi who played a key role in this whole standoff, this conflict that he will be a force for peace in the future, gregg. >> gregg: so far so good. what about the president's second term if the cease-fire does not hold? >> violence in the middle east, a threat of a war could

chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel tonight on the prospects for some kind of compromise.> with the u.s. economy due to hit the fiscal cliff, trillion of tax increases and spending cuts, president obama called for a catch henceive deal and said he is not going to one on the top 2%. >> we cannot afford to extend the bush tax cuts for the wealthy. we can make sure that middle class taxes don't go up. if we get that in place we are removing half of the fiscal cliff. >> speaker john boehner offered what he considers a balanced approach generating the revenue from tax reform and entitlement reform. late today, boehner said the president's position is flawed. >> we are not going to hurt our economy an make job creation more difficult. which is exactly what that plan would do. >> letter sent by the u.s. chamber of commerce and signed by 232 organizations calls on the president and congress to immediately extend all the tax cuts and find other cuts to replace sequestration. the president suggested taking a closer look at reforming entitlements without offing details and says he wo

chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel takes a look. >> with the election over, some republicanawmakers are floating a conservative alternative to president obama's dream act. supporters say the achieve act would legalize the status of undocumented children who grew up here by giving them visas and earning degrees and serving in the military they could eventually become citizens. unlike the dream act the g.o.p. plan does not allow the young people to jump ahead of legal immigrants waiting their turn. >> it's a perfectly legal way to go and a conservative argument to help specific targeted individuals in in case. >> congressional sources say retiring senators kay bailey hutchinson and john kyle were working on the plan with marco rubio over the summer, but put on hold after mr. obama's executive action. now, with the election over, some republicans are weighing if the time is right to attempt to pass this by the end. year. >> rubio says conservatives must better explain that they are for illegal immigration system that works. >> it's really hard to get people to listen to you on

and mike emanuel is live on capitol hill. the white house is expressing putting pressure on congress. >>reporter: a report on the impact if the bush tax cuts are not extended. the study says the typical middle class family will see taxes go up by $2,200 next year affecting businesses and retailers. the argument is the families will spend less and it will hurt the economy. >> you can see it across housing, and services, and things like paying for cell phone, groceries, durable goods, auto purchases. evidence like this is a reason why retailers are so concerned that congress has not yet extended the middle-class tax cuts. >>reporter: and carney noted the president spoke with harry reid and speaker boehner over the weekend. everyone is anticipating another high profile white house meet this week on the fiscal cliff sources in congress say there is you not one on the schedule so far. >>shepard: over the weekend some republicans are telling grover norquist to take a hike with the "we won't raise taxes" pledge. >>reporter: the fine

mike emanuel works the hill and busy last night and usually today. got a hint of what is coming? >>reporter: he will say he is not about to raise taxes on small business owners. he will congratulate the president of the united states, house republicans recognize the president won a new term, the senate democrats a lot of them won a new term but they feel like they won, as well, so, they believe they have a mandate to not raise taxes if there is a mandate to come out of this election. they recognize people back home want washington, dc, they want it to work and to essentially rebuild faith with the american people and that washington can get problems done but the question is, where will compromise be? who will blink first? will the president have a plan that says here is a way forward? will boehner throw out something that is appealing to the democrats? or will harry reid in the senate? people are saying we need to work together and find common ground but the question is, where is that? >>shepard: this line you used "raise taxes on small businesses" was a campaign nod and during t

the obama campaign and mike emanuel is with the president near columbus ohio. we her from the president on job creation. how is he going after governor romney today? >>reporter: he says there are signs of progress 5.5 million job creates and he says that mitt romney lacks new ideas and that is returning to the ways of the past. here is the president in buckeye country in columbus area today. >> we know what change looks like. and what the governor is offering ain't it. giving more power back to the biggest bangs, that is not change. another $5 trillion tax cut in favor of the wealthy, that's not change. refusing to answer questions about the details of your policies until after the election? that is not change. would report after running in 2008 as "hope and change" he is not crazy about governor romney saying he is the "change" candidate and the president calls governor romney a great salesman. >>shepard: the president invested a lost time in ohio is this the last time before tuesday? >>reporter: he is making the third of three stops in ohio today. we expect h

chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel is following that story. >> speaker john boehner a centralure in cutting a deal says republicans offered a plan to avoid the fiscal cliff through the significant spending cuts and tax reform and are committed to working with the president. >> this is one reason why we believe we put revenue on the table. as long as it's accompanied by serious spending cuts. to avert this crisis. >> texas senator john cornyn says the bipartisan simpson-bowles deficit plan offered meaningful savings worth pursuing. >> they identified $1.1 trillion tax expenditures, benefits, deduction, credit and the like that could be cut as part of grand bargain. we ought to look at that. we need to flatten the code, simplify it and make it pro-growth. >> on the democratic side, senate majority leader harry reid told reporters he would like credit for what congress previously cut. >> we have already done a billion dollars worth of cuts. >> today, the top democrat in the house took a similar approach. >> i think it's important to note we have already agreed to $1.5 trillion in

mike emanuel is in richmond, virginia. who knew? >> yeah, shep.thought this might be one of the early calls of the evening of the battleground states. the polls closed at 7:00 eastern time and here we are five hours later and we do not have a winner of the commonwealth of virginia. 13 electoral votes at stake the romney-ryan team invested a lot of time and resources here. governor romney made two visits here on election eve. congressman ryan spent the afternoon of the election in the richmond area. recognizing that if they lost virginia, they may not have any possible opportunity to get to 270 electoral votes. crowds were huge. we heard reports of people waiting in line three or four hours to vote, and the bottom line was, virginia election officials said they were not going to call the race with people still in line. so they are going to give they will a chance to cast their ballots and let the process go forward even hours after the polls have officially closed, and then ultimately call the race but bottom line, polls were always extremely close

mike emanuel.: a major development in congress' fight to avoid a fiscal cliff as house speaker john boehner says there may be no way to avoid the oncoming tax increases and spending cuts if the president isn't willing to put his signature program, the healthcare law, on the chopping block. what does that really mean? byron york is chief political correspondent at the washington examiner and a fox news contributor. byron i want you to explain this. i mean, look, obamacare passed the u.s. supreme court and obviously it's not going to be overturned by executive fiat by a president mitt romney. so that leaves a third approach and here what john boehner rights, congress has a constitutional responsibility to conduct thorough oversight of the executive branch and congressional oversight will play a critical role in appealing obama care going forward. how in the world does that happen? >> well, it's not going to play a role in p repealing obamacare. this is a little bit of a surprise from bean bone, he sa

i'll explain the importance of it all with mike emanuel. hinking of t virginia tonight, mike? >> both sides are expressing confidence and saying they've seen large turn-out in their key areas, which explains why it may be too close to call at this point. we've heard long lines across the commonwealth of virginia. in many places one to three hour waits. prince battleground william county outside washington, d.c. we heard the wait was as long as four hours. it's quite possible although polls have closed, that there are voters still voting here in virginia because state officials told us that if people were in line at 7:00 get to hey would still cast a ballot. bottom line, turn-out is ahead of 2008 numbers. versity of m the uni virginia predicted there would be record turn-out in the election. four million voters turning out. ^from what we've seen in terms of lines all across virginia, it sounds like those people have turned out in big numbers. of course, on election day a lot of people wonder about the weather. whether weather may have scared people away. it was mild in the 50s

here is chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel live from capitol hill. e we going to get on this today, mike. >> republicans clearly feel like too much of the discussion in washington related to the fiscal cliff has been about increasing tax revenue. they want to make sure that entitlement reform is truly on the table. they are bringing in former bill clinton white house chief of staff erskine bowles who has done a tremendous amount of work shall on dead issues in recent years. he had his own individual plan last year which looked at adjusting the medicare eligibility cage and making adjustments to social security. weapons have to be encouraged by editorials out today. in "the washington post" says since 60% of the federal budget goes to entitlement programs there is no way to achieve balance without slowing the rate of increase of those programs. usa today also has an editorial out which says, quote, social security represents more than one fifth of federal spending, much too big to ignore. the sooner these changes are made the less painful they will be.

mike emanuel is live in virginia right now. >> reporter: virginia is as tight as any of the battleground win it. real clear politics poll shows mitt romney with three-tenths of one-point lead over president obama. so this is very, very close race. last night the president was in virginia in a rally with bill clinton and singer dave math uses. part of his message is that congress is to blame. >> what they are counting on now is you are going to be so worn down by all the squabble, so tired of the dysfunction, so weary of what goes on capitol hill you are going to give up and walk away. put them back in power and let them stay there. in other words, it's on cynicism. virginia, my bet is on you. >> reporter: speaking of congress, mitt romney's running mate paul ryan spent time in virginia. much of his message was about half trillion dollars in defense cuts known as sequestration. a huge issue here in virginia. >> mitt romney and i we are not going to let this sequester take place. we are not going to gut our military. we believe peace through strength. that the best way to keep us safe to h

chief congressional corps responsibility mike emanuel is live from washington with more on in this storyke? >> reporter: well, hi, jenna. yeah, these conservatives are talking about the need to change both action and on the on immigration. they're saying fair, comprehensive immigration reform is the right thing to do, but they do say technology needs to be used in the form of a high-tech social security card, using thumb prints to avoid the fake id problem, and then securing the worlder will be easier if business owners are following the rules. >> then you cite to employers you hire someone who doesn't have either this identity card or this new social security card, and you're going to go to jail for six months. >> reporter: richard land says republicans lost the 2012 election when governor rick perry from texas was booed last year for texas' program allowing illegal aliens to have instate tuition. since mom won only 27% of the latino vote, that has sounded the alarm with some republicans. enter florida senator marco rubio who has been talking about the immigration issue, reaching latino

mike emanuel in washington.ill: fox news alert just in time for thanksgiving the big holiday season that follows, the day after and a large potential strike looming at the largest retailer in america on one of the biggest days of the year. walmart is now fighting back against that possibility. thousands of workers threatening to walk off the job over what they say is low pay and poor health benefits. >> pay is an issue for some of us, a lot of us tired of living in poverty. a lot of us on food stamps. >> i don't know if i should go with my morals or just go with my need to have an income at the moment. bill: what is this all about? cheryl casoni host of cash an fox business channel, what is this about. >> reporter: this is about a union that has been trying to bet in the door at walmart. walmart has been at odds with this union. they are going to the nrb, they reached out to them and they will make a decision on this issue. the could be violating federal labor laws buybacking these protestess that will be happen

chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel is watching it all unfold on capitol hill. we know about the visit about the expectations for what might happen during it. >> reporter: martha, timothy geithner arrived here on capitol hill a short time ago to meet first with senate majority leader harry reid. we know he's having individual meetings with the top four leaders of congress. what republicans have said they want to hear, and republicans will be critical, because they need republican support to get any final fiscal cliff deal through the senate, and also through the house, they say they hope that he's coming with concrete spending cut ideas that are acceptable to the administration. one of the meetings today will be with senate republican leader mitch mcconnell who a short time ago sounded pretty fired up. >> the only reason democrats are insisting on raising rates is because raising rates on the so-called rich is the holy grail of liberalism. their aim is not job he tkraoe asian, they are interested in wealth destruction. not job creation but wealth destruction. >>