>> i had him in mind, true. >> and at the end of the day, mitch mcconnell is a better leader of the caucus than boehner is, and mcconnell has controlled the levers of the filibuster process, and the tact that he is meeting with harry reid means there won't be a filibuster and i would be surprised if he could not whip the congress. we have not seen a weaker speaker of the house than john boehner who has essentially thrown up the hands and walked away from the process and the konts tugs constitutional mandate that spending is controlled by the house and not the senate, and he says you guys pass something. they were going to pass it anyway and it is the house that is the problem, and always has been, and this is the same congress behaving this way for two years. >> thank you, joy reid, and thank you, clarence page. we have a great programming note. sunday, barack obama will be david gregory's guest. i think you can bet that david will ask him all about the fiscal cliff talks. that is on "meet the press." >>> and what became of john boehner because not long ago he was the leader of a powerful

jon: you see what you did there, mitch mcconnell? mitch mcconnell sat on his balls so hard, he broke claire mccaskill's neck. we'll be right welcome back. my guest tonight is the bishop of the episcopal diocese of new hampshire. his new book is called god believes in love. straight talk about gay marriage. please welcome to the program bishop gene robinson. >> thank you. i have a present for you. i brought you a dreidel. ( applause ) i read the instructions on the back. it's a gambling dreidel >> jon: they all are. thank you. i don't have but thousands of these. now, do you go to hanukkah celebrations play a little dreidel >> i don't do the gambling thing jon: of course not. gambling. i meant the fun. >> i'm more a seder kind of guy jon: that's not for me. it's come on, just eat. >> it goes on for hours jon: and you're celebrating freedom >> i like that jon: the jews wandered for 40 years but i can't eat now. we'll have a seder sometime. i always leave a seat open. here's what you've done here. you got this book "god believes in love

he's been in negotiations with senate minority leader mitch mcconnell. hort time ago mcconnell suggested a deal on taxes may be very close. now, knowing biden as well as you do, take us inside that room. how is that conversation likely to go? >> you know, those guys have been negotiating and closing deals for a couple decades, and it's a very different kind of politics than i think we've gotten used to over the last few years. i mean, joe biden used to say that this congress, it's not your grandfather's congress. by that i think what he meant was you could actually get in the room with another old-school partner and shake hands and have that handshake actually mean something, meaning your caucuses would be with you. you could craft a deal and actually have your troops marching behind you. that certainly wasn't the case with john boehner. so i think in that room they're probably bemoaning how hard they have to work to actually line up all these pieces to get their troops behind them and, frankly, they can't know whether those troops are going to be there,

mitch mcconnell and his buddies worked on saturday. wow, wow, that's fantastic. >> it really -- it's touching, isn't it? just a little working weekend. a nice long christmas break. the house disappeared for the holidays after boehner's plan "b" failed. where is the sense of urgency? everyone is home at night and hopefully we're all putting our hopes on mcconnell and joe biden having a productive dinner, but by god, to your point, this has been going on for not just weeks or months, but years. and the fact that they're trying to cobble together some kind of patch to avoid the political pain and the economic pain more importantly to the country that's set to kick in tomorrow night at midnight is, frankly, pathetic, and it's a political problem, but it's an economic problem, and it's entirely self-created. when marshall blackburn was talking earlier and trying to blame the senate, look at the mirror. don't block at the other guy radio right now. you have to own this, and if particularly in the house of representatives because it's the rep

as you know, he's been called on by mitch mcconnell to help with these last-minute talks. what do you think his role is now with so little time left? >> well, the vice president goes way back with senator mcconnell, and i've been in the room when they have talked, and it doesn't sound like two partisans separated by deep ideology. it sounds like guys who know how to bang out a deal. that said, if that were up to them perhaps they could get somewhere, but there are so many other forces swirling around this right now. i'm kind of in the same camp as kristen and the other political analysts we just heard from. if we are starting to hear things getting further apart rather than closer apart at this late date, i don't know that a decades old friendship between a couple of senators -- former senator and current one are going to make that much difference at this point. >> paul, let me play for you what senator lindsey graham said this morning on "fox news sunday" about the chances of a small deal. let's listen. >> exceedingly good. i think people don't want to go over the cliff,

his comments step all over mitch mcconnell's claim. it's not an effort to marginalize the minority party. with 386 filibusters from republicans, these rule changes are simply a way to make the senate work again. that's what you pay them for. let's turn now to senator debbie stabenow of michigan. there's been a lot of conversation in the liberal community in this country about this. and democrats seem to be chomping at the bit. is this going to happen? are we going to see change? >> yes, i believe that we are going to see change. we have the support to make the changes and i think it's clear the public wants us to get something done. of course, we're going to work across the aisle, but one person shouldn't be able to hold up the department of defense bill or in the case of my bringing jobs home act, which is so important for shipping jobs overseas, we had 57 votes but we couldn't get 60 to stop a filibuster and they haven't to stand on the floor and talk so nobody knew who it was from block us to closing loopholes to bring jobs home. th

we know mitch mcconnell is here. we assume harry reid is here and their staffs are going back and forth. i spoke to one aide who said don't expect for any details to leak tonight. they'll be closed-lipped about this because the idea if anything does leak out it gives more of an opportunity for folks on either party to kill a deal if they don't like what they hear. some sort of a agreement will be announced tomorrow when the house is back in session and the senate is back in session and they can go back to say hey, this is the best opportunity. as far as the likelihood of this kraig, things have not been going well and there's optimism here and there and things are fluid like kristen says and it will be the final deal, but what we do know is these folks on capitol hill are very mindful of the damage that can be done to the economy if nothing is brief. we've had five down days in the stock market and we're preparing the country on tuesday for the first tax increase in 20 years, and i think finally at the end, that's st

. >> senate leaders harry reid and mitch mcconnell were back at the capitol in no time. mcconnell gathered his members to inform them of the work that needs to be done. >> we had a good meeting down at the white house. we are engaged in discussions, the majority leader and myself and the white house, in the hopes that we can come forward, as early as sunday, and have a recommendation, that i can make to my conference and the majority leader can make to his conference, so we'll be working hard to try to see if we can get there in the next 24 hours. so i'm hopeful and optimistic. >> i'm going to do everything that i can. i'm confident senator mcconnell will do the same. but everybody, this is -- whatever we come up with is going to be imperfect and some people aren't going to like it. some people will like it less, but that's where we are. and i feel confident that we have an obligation to do the best we can and that was made very clear in the white house. and we're going to do the best we can for the caucuses that we have and the country that's waiting for us to make a de

you have demint out there running a candidate against mitch mcconnell to his right, almost beating himme around, trying to move the party to the right. selecting candidates like sharron angle and some of the whackier ones like christine o'donnell. all around the country always trying to get several notches to the right of what we have. bob bennett, not right wing enough, orin hatch, not right win enough, john mccain not right wing -- their idea of right wing is way out, and the leader of them all is this guy who is leaving the senate. how do you see it? >> i think this is the place where the conservative movement and the republican party often times part ways, and jim demint has been the burr in the bonnet of mitch mcconnell who people on the left think of as this hard right intransigent guy because he said his top priority was making barack obama a one-term president, but really mitch mcconnell in a lot of ways is like john boehner. an old-time dealmaker. people like jim demint can't stand people like that. they feel the party has become to easy to capitulate. remember with the budget

i have no idea what mitch mcconnell is talking about. it seems to be nothing more than political posturing, but i want to say nobody is trying to put this on john boehner. it's on boehner. he's the speaker, and so it's not of a political bringsmanship or gamesmanship. it's the fact. >> it seems the strategy here, boehner obviously kind of said and i think he's been called out for this, said it's up to the president and the senate. i give up, we're leaving town. i guess now they're going to come back sunday, as if that's going to create some sense of urgency. what strikes me is the message that continues to come forward is the american people are going to -- believe that the president and democrats are showing real leadership and they will blame the republicans if this deal goes south, and yet when you listen to mcconnell and you listen to speaker boehner, it doesn't sound like they got the message, and as harry reid pointed out, the president won and he won campaigning on these ideas. again, these guys are just being stubborn. >> absolut

but mitch mcconnell made positive sounds yesterday. and i think that led folks to say, hey, maybe there's at least an outside chance of getting a deal. >> if a deal gets done, it will be a much smaller deal than both sides thought they would be able to reach if you asked them a few months ago. the president has a full agenda in the coming year. he said that he wants to do something on immigration. he is indicating that he would like to do something with regard to gun control and there's been talk on energy legislation. but it looks like raising the debt ceiling is not part of the deal. that is four major political fights that the president has on his hands. what is going to get lost the longer this drags on? >> i think most of those things. look, if this drags on into the new year, this is going to be the focus up until the inauguration. and as you mentioned, not only the debt ceiling but also come march, you will have to figure out how to extend government spending for the rest of the fiscal year. and they don't, the government would

mitch mcconnell says he needs a dance partner. mcconnell said that in negotiations when they had all but stalled. vice president biden brought into the negotiations engaged, and he really did, it seem, at this point help to move the negotiations forward. the vice president has more than 30 years searching in the senate. 23 of those along side senator mcconnell. he certainly are on all sides are staying he has been a big help here, chris. >> as anyone who has ever sat in the senate gallery and watched relationships matter. it's a great point. kristen welker, kelly o'donnell. i will let you get back to reporting on this. >> i want to bring in jonathan capehart. let's talk about where we are. >> i have compared xwnk to a college student who waits until the absolute last minute and is tightening out the last words of their paper as they are running out the door to hand it in. that's probably an arcane comparison. i have dated myself. you get the idea. >> arcane, but apt. is there any way that congress moves forward? does anybody wind u

let me ask you, let's bring up the number of votes that harry reid got to get his job and what mitch mcconnell got to get his job and then the president's. the president got 65.6 million votes. senator mcconnell got less than a million, 954,000 and senator reid, 363,000. a man whos had got 65 million votes has handed off the leadership of this key issue to two men combined who haven't gotten even 1.5 million votes. they represent fewer than 1.5 million people in america and he's seated leadershceded leade. why? >> obama has all of the power right now. the president had a meeting with congressional leaders and he knows at the end of the day what he wants that 250 threshold unemployment insurance extension, he's going to probably get it. he's going on "meet the press" first time he's going on in three years to put his foot on the republicans and senate republicans to say as this deadline approaches what will you do? will you prevent a small extension of tax rate increases. i'm offering you 250. are you going to take it or leave it. that's hard ball politics. that's what obama is doing now. he's

but forgive me, i thought mitch mcconnell was on the floor.er thing i wanted to tell you about is mcconnell and the vice president have been in intense negotiations up until 12:45 in the morning and 6:30 in the morning and the negotiations are continuing. that's why we're getting from both sides of the aisle despite some grumbling on the flanks of the left and the right that they are making progress. >> all right. i want to listen to what tom harkin, the veteran senator from iowa. the progressive unhappy with parts of the negotiations. let's listen to him for a minute. >> that's the real middle class in america. they are the ones getting hammered right now. they are getting hammered with housing costs, rental, heating bills, kids going to school. they have no retirement. now they are talking about raising the retirement age on people who work hard every day. women standing on their feet for 30, 40 years and raise the retirement age again on them. well, again, if we're going to have a deal, the deal must be one that does favor the middle class.

we may still hear from mitch mcconnell. see if we can get a hint of his expectations for the possibility of any deal, and we'll come back with a community as well. stick arns. i got mine in iraq, 2003. usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because it offers a superior level of protection, and because usaa's commitment to serve the military, veterans and their families is without equal. begin your legacy, get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve. [ rosa ] i'm rosa and i quit smoking with chantix. when the doctor told me that i could smoke for the first week... i'm like...yeah, ok... little did i know that one week later i wasn't smoking. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix is proven to help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke. some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these stop taking chantix and cal

he has been since he got that call from mitch mcconnell.bviously, they have made some very good progress. but what's going on right now do you imagine? >> i imagine that they're trying to sell that very good progress to their caucuses. you know, democrats aren't necessarily going to broadly embrace the plan that i understand has come out of their negotiations. for example, it sets the tax threshold at $450,000 as opposed to the kind of $250,000 that i think a lot of democrats, although i heard steve israel earlier offer a different viewpoint, but i think most democrats walking around with that threshold -- >> senator tom harkin learned about it in "the washington post" and he was not happy about that today. >> so that's a good example of the type of call you're talking about. also, the estate tax kind of landed much more on the republican's side of the field than the dem's. >> let me ask you about that because i had chris van hollen on last night, and his view on that was that it was ridiculous, that the idea that people who had huge estate

on one side, you have establishment, john boehner and mitch mcconnell.o them, the election was lost because the conservative ideologues pulled him so right he could never find his way back in november. on the other side, jim demint, rick santorum and the industrial complex that make the same argument ideologues always make when they lose, the problem our guy wasn't ideological enough. the problem is going out in technicolor with demint bolting out to become the ceo of the conservative movement. joining me is the former head of the rnc and joy reed, managing editor of rio.com, also one of us. this is what happens when you go near the misery index, the rush limbaugh show. yesterday, jim demint, still the united states senator from south carolina and the out-going heritage foundation president dent and rush made fun of the speaker. let's listen. >> well, i think it's safe to say boehner is not forcing either of you guys out, right? >> that's pretty true. it might work a little bit the other way, rush. >> what do you make of that? it might work a little bit

harry reid and mitch mcconnell had some problems getting to a final offer, final counteroffer this afternoon. but the inclusion of vice president biden means the white house is in the loop with what minority leader mcconnell is doing. >> how much hope is really the question here, ryan? taking the cost of living essentially, the cpi off the table for social security, which was going to be a non-starter for harry reid and for the president, so i guess the republicans could say look, we gave that up. what are you giving us? >> i don't think there's much hope at all, frankly. part of the reason is that nobody really has an incentive to get a deal done today or tomorrow. all the incentives line up to push people over the cliff. what you saw with social security today indicates how unlikely it is they're going to get to a deal. in some sense, i think the republicans got played a little bit, because president obama was the first one to introduce chained cpi, social security cuts into the conversation. and then democrats just erupted today when republicans reintroduced them. as they should have, bec

senate majority leader harry reid, senate minority leader mitch mcconnell. they are trying to come up with something that can pass the house and the senate. the president laid out a proposal earlier this evening. at the beginning of this meeting. $250,000 per year. that income would be shielded from tax increases, and now he wants an extension of unemployment insurance. that is something that essentially a nonstarter in a republican-controlled house. now he is leaving it up to the two leaders in the u.s. senate try to reach a compromise. something perhaps along the line of what is being negotiated between the speaker and the president a couple of weeks ago. perhaps a tax increase for amounts of more than $400,000 or $500,000 per year. also, senate leaders want to include something on the estate tax, according to a white house official. we'll can also be key to this is that the white house officials are also telling fox news and ed henry that it appears as though the debt ceiling is not part of that. this is a huge nonstarter for republicans in the house. the

mitch mcconnell. because there is nothing left for me to do here. want to read something in "the wall street journal" op-ed about who is to blame in this. here is what they said. to put this in raw political terms mr. boehner offered a break, offered to break a core gop principle on taxes and mr. obama offered him nothing he could take back to his rank and file in return. instead he has treated the talks as an extension of the election campaign traveling around the country at rally style events at which he berates republicans for not accepting his terms of surrender. grant gave lee more at appomatt appomattox. okay. civil war comparison. is it possible -- jonathan mentioned polling suggests if we go over the fiscal cliff republicans will bear the brunt of the blame. i spoke to some republican strategists who say that is not true and ultimately that will change because president obama is the president of the united states. possible or not possible? >> i don't think it's possible. polling has shown over the last year that congressional disapproval of

in of that case mitch mcconnell would have to agree not owe filibuster and speaker boehner would haveo allow the bill to come to the floor. it's 9 process disagreements. >> i may not be the only person who is getting confused on the optimist/pessimist signals. let's listen to what we heard from a couple senators. first senator schumer on the demeanor tide and senator cocker on the republican side. there are different prognostications. let's take a listen. >> i'm getting a little more optimistic today. sometimes it's darkest before the dawn, and there are two good signs for optimism today. one is that leader mcconnell is actively engaged. for the first time leader mcconnell is speaking to the president. if the senate is going to be the place where action starts, you need both of them there. and the second reason for optimism is boehner is back at the table because you can't pass something just through the senate. >> this afternoon's meeting feels much to me like optics to make it look like we're doing something but let me just say one more time, this is a total dereliction of duty at e

he actually got it from mitch mcconnel when he proposed it in 2011 as one of the ideas that he threw last minute. so here was mcconnel this morning asking for a vote that was his and he was asking for that vote to show the democrats would vote against what is now the president's idea and then harry reid shocked him by agreeing to have a vote on the stunt right away. >> is there an objection? of course there shouldn't be. he is now agreeing to what the majority leader asked for. reserve the right to object. what we are talking about here is a debt ceiling grant matters of this level of controversy always require 60 votes. so i would ask my friend if he would modify his on sent agreement to set the threshold at 60. >> what we have here is a case of republican ares heren the senate not taking yes for an answer. >> just now i told everyone that we are willing to have that vote. and now the leader objects to his own idea. i guess we have a filibuster of his own bill. so i object. >> is there objection he to the original request? >> objection is heard. >> whiplash. >> whiplash. okay i've sp

take away mitch mcconnell's filibuster and he will strike back by obstructing everything you do!m keep the filibuster so he can obstruct everything you do! (laughter) i think the choice is clear. we'll be right back. (cheers and applause) (cheers and applause) >> stephen: welcome back, everybody. my guest tonight is the original voice of both yoda and cookie monster. i'll ask him if four cookie cs. please welcome frank oz. (cheers and applause) thank you, hey, nice to meet you frank oz. can i call you frank oz. >> you can. >> stephen: frank oz -- >> can i just say something? >> stephen: yes. >> my favorite part of your show bar none is when you introduce the guest and you come here and take a bow. (laughter) i love that. >> stephen: well, i've got to give these people what they want. >> it's great. (cheers and applause) >> stephen: well, that's great to hear. >> i mean it, i think it's hysterical, and you deserve it. >> stephen: thank you, i put the most thought into it. >> of course. >> stephen: well, everybody knows you, of course, as being the voice of miss piggy, the voice of

country the first tax hike in 20 years after monday night. >> and one would also assume that mitch mcconnell would have to back a grant, he could face a primary fight if this thing -- >> you touched on one of the great sub plots of these entire negotiations is personal things that boehner and mcconnell have in these negotiations. obviously, mcconnell doesn't want to have someone on the right come after him because he was in favor of a tax hike and john boehner's re-election as speaker of the house. and that would come across as a vote of no confidence. very embarrassing and they don't expect it happening and there's a lot at stake for mitch mcconnell and john boehner personally. great point you brought up. >> if the senate fails to come up with something, does the president have the votes? >> reporter: if harry reid got this through the senate, i.e., that he got all democrats onboard for the 250 or below and he was able to pick up retiring republicans and maybe he gets olympia snowe from maine, scott brown and folks like that and get to the 60 threshold and break the filibuster and if he was

to that, equally importantly, 23 of those years were spent serving alongside minority leader mitch mcconnell. so they have a good working relationship, good personal relationship. you remember that yesterday mcconnell said he needs a dance partner in these negotiations. he didn't feel as though they were moving forward. so he reached out to vice president biden. biden engaged. and what looked like a stalemate yesterday really has begun to move forward overnight, the two on the phone late into the evening until midnight i am told working out the details of a compromise. their staffers on the phone into the early morning hours. folks here at the white house up quite late as well. so it looks like some type of compromise is starting to form that would include increasing taxes on those making $450,000 or less. remember president obama wanted that threshold at 250,000. house speaker john boehner wanted it much higher at about a million dollars. this is somewhere in between. also, an extension of the unemployment insurance benefits. they're still hashing out some of the final details but it does a

even mitch mcconnell says we are very, very close.the markets have moved up on that hope we will get a done deal and avert the fiscal cliff. >>> positioning portfolios for the new year, i can majs is tricky right now. there's a lot of mess going on in d.c. we're going to help. we're going to give you the single best play for 2013. >>> and also next, two congressman, one democrat one republican. they're going to talk to us about the fiscal cliff. are they happy or sad? and can they rise above to get a deal done? "closing bell" will be back after this break. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 when i'm trading, i'm totally focused. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and the streetsmart edge trading platform from charles schwab... tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 gives me tools that help me find opportunities more easily. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 i can even access it from the cloud and trade on any computer. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and with schwab mobile, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 i can focus on trading anyplace, anytime. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 until i choose to focus on

harry reid is trying to jam mitch mcconnell into allowing this vote to go forward without the 60-vote threshold, something that's necessary for virtually every vote here in the senate and mitch mcconnell says it's time for president obama to lead. the threshold question is, can something pass the house of representatives? can john boehner put something on the floor that needs the majority of democrat support that will not get republican support and none to speak of that would allow taxes to go up for people making more than $250,000 or 400,000 as was in the president's last offer and the answer to that question remains very, very unlikely. so we are where we are. this ain't schoolhouse rock, that's for sure. it's not like the house passes a bill, the senate passes a bill. this is a stand yau and the looks like the ultimate version of white house gridlock. >> right. and you mentioned the threshold. we have senator murkily on later today to talk about how crucial the filibuster is. i want to go right to steve kornaki here. we talk about the weather sometimes because it's more fun than p

john boehner -- >> but mitch mcconnell did reach ute to the president.u see that as posturing, we're doing our best, or do you think the republicans are serious and feeling pressure about making a deal? >> i don't think they feel that much pressure. i think they feel -- they feel a little bit of pressure but feel more pressure from their base and from the right, and that is especially true in the house among the house caucus. the whole reason for that plan b fiasco, of course, that boehner pulled before christmas, was that his more conservative members wouldn't agree to any tax increase at all, even on incomes above $1 million a year. the pressure they feel is from the right, and believe me, you look down the list of the republicans in the house of representatives and try to look and see what percentage of the vote barack obama got in their districts. which is a good barometer of how much kind of pressure they might feel to moderate. barack obama got 38%, 42% in most of their districts. they don't care about what democrats in their districts think. they

but even though it is mitch mcconnell's idea, even though he came up with it, mitch mcconnell is not for it. mitch mcconnell at this point does not support the mcconnell plan at all. he didn't think democrats did either. and yesterday he wanted to call their bluff. now that is when c-span2 suddenly became amazing television. yesterday afternoon mitch mcconnell asked the senate to move to an immediate vote on the mcconnell plan. vote on it now. he figured majority leader harry reid would back down and prove that even democrats don't like this idea. but reid did not back down. he doubled down. he said, yeah, let's vote on the plan. but let's move to an immediate up or down vote. no filibuster, no 60-vote requirement, let's see if it gets 51. if so, it's passed. at which point mcconnell, seemingly kind of taken aback, kind of filibustered his own bill. he said, no, if we're not going to have a 60-vote threshold, there would be no vote at all. so in the space of a few minutes, mitch mcconnell moved to vote on the plan, had gotten his wish, and then he launched a filibuster or a 60-vote c

i don't want to -- mitch mcconnell -- >> if mitch mcconnell says $250,000, everybody above that will get a tax hike, are you there, yea. >> mitch mcconnell says $250,000 and above -- >> he's not going too do that. >> tax rate hike? >> senator schumer doesn't want to see that happen. christian gillibrand doesn't want to see that happen. dianne feinstein doesn't want to see that happen. it's not going to be 250. some number. there's going to be -- i don't know what it's going to be. the floor is at least 400 because that's out there. my guess is, we're going to be in -- i don't want to say, at least 500 and my guess is it's going to happen and pass and -- but here's the thing. you're talking about 8 days of funding for the united states government. >> right. >> medicare -- >> when spending comes in. >> we have a medicare program where people are paying one third of the cost and 20 million more americans will be on it the next ten years and we have yet to deal with that. >> one other thing that the president said during this interview. he was asked about chuck hagel used to be a republi

mitch mcconnell and harry reid have a pretty good personal relationship. they each will privately tell you that they're friends, they actually like each other, and they're both here in washington having some pretty serious discussions about what they can have that passes the senate. can that actually pass the house in time for the deadline is another question. you're going to have lawmakers coming back late sunday night. they have a lot of other things they actually have to tend to. so what ends up happening? is it very possible right now it seems the calculus for a lot of these members is to let the tax cuts expire and then come back and do some sort of patch. >> you think that's our best case scenario? do you agree with that, david, the scenario? we go off the cliff. someone suggested this morning we go off the cliff just a little bit. we don't bungy jump off the cliff. we fall a few feet. then they fix it after a few days and say we have put in tax cuts. is that the most likely scenario you see? >> there's a lot of people on both sides that have talked

i think we have some sound bites from mitch mcconnell and harry reid on the senate floor.cease if we can one that now. >> we had a good meeting down at the white house. we're engaged in discussions, the majority leader, the white house, and myself in the hopes that we can come forward as early as sunday and have a recommendation that i can make to my conference and the majority leader can make to his conference. >> i'm going to doering i can. i'm confident senator mcconnell will do the same. but everybody -- whatever everybody comes up with is going to be imperfect. some like it. some like it less, and that's where we are. i have the confidence we're going to do the best we can. that's the message in the white house. we we're going to do the best for the country that's waitinger for us to make a decision. >> clarence, you even seen this movie, right? >> well, yeah. at least in the works on the senate side. on the house side, we still don't know about those hard core intransigents, and even if the senate does come up with something, if the house can agree to go along with i

this is after two stop soldiers, mitch mcconnell and harry reid failed to make much progress through tonight and this morning. harry reid went home earlier this yeeng and biden and mcconnell were taking point on the negotiations. they worked out a deal couple years ago for unemployment insurance that cut the social security tax. they 6 worked together before and they have succeeded reaching a deal before and folks on capitol hill they can do so again. >> less than 26 hours from what everyone calls a fiscal cliff. it would be comprehensive big package we hear them talk about, the big compromise that speaker boen and the president had worked out a year and a half ago? >> if you want what is known a as the grand bargain you would likely get in two steps. a small down payment, a tax rate increase and some of the spending measures and some of the other tax measures and perhaps instructions for the next six to eight months to congress to work on entitlement and spending reform and broader tax reform package. but all those specific details when you talk about entitlements and spending on the

some democrats think that mitch mcconnell is ready to force john boehner's hand. we know the republicans are going to lose the fight of taxes because tax rates are going to go up for every -- the only question is how many people they go up for. so if you already know what the outcome is going to be, the question is how much punishment do they want to take? it is possible that they would wait after january 1. they could say we're going to cut taxes now instead of vote to allow them to go up. gwen: let's move on. because there's one more thing we want to go to. from iran to syria to libya to egypt to israeli, palestinian standoff over gaza, the obama administration's wishes have seldom been grapted. >> we and the world have joined in condemning the brutality of the assad regime. >> no one wants to determine what happened that night in benghazi more than the president and i do. >> and this administration has either been guilty of colossal incompetence or engaged in a coverup. >> a red line should be drawn right here. before iran completes the second stage of nuclear

mitch mcconnell. [applause] >> over the years, we recognized many remarkable men and women in this place of honor. all of them extraordinary. it would be foolish to make comparisons among them. for me at least, today's ceremony was particularly meaningful. i first came to know the woman we honor today two decades ago. and told the story of her struggle. and to make that cause -- it was impossible not to be moved by her quiet resolve, her hidden, luminous heroism and it is impossible today all these years later not to be moved by the fatah that this most unlikely of revolutionaries may yet witness the deepest longings of her heart. representative, democratic system in which the people of burma are able to fully enjoy their god-given rights. it is in this hope that we stand today with the people of burma and with aung san suu kyi knowing that whatever the future holds, she will fight unflinchingly to the end. in this place surrounded by the statues of our own national heroes and equality, we draw inspir