but look at what tom cole also said.what he said his party's leverage is, either shutting the government down, that's what the cr is, that he mentioned, defense and domestic spending cuts that are dramatic and that both sides agree are too dramatic to threaten, and the debt ceiling which jeopardizes again the full faith and credit of the united states. those three things that the republicans call leverage indicate to me the republicans are willing to bring us to the brink again. that is unacceptable. it's economically impossible for us to even think. we've got to work together. >> can i just ask you quickly, we know about secretary clinton being in the hospital. >> yes. >> do you have any information on her condition? >> i don't. i know hillary clinton is incredibly strong and she's doing the right thing, focusing on her health. so many people who go through a grueling schedule that she puts herself through don't do that. she's doing the right thing, in the hospital, and i'm sure she'll be back after a speedy recovery. >

i think tom cole thinks it's going to happen. i think tom coburn thinks it's going to happen.to play a bite from him and get your reaction. here he is. >> sure. >> i'm okay to compromise even on some of my issues, if, in fact, we'll solve the problem. but what we have is a game being played for political -- for the extreme right wing and the extreme left win rather than coming together and leading and solving the problem. >> so grover norquist. if you had to accept the tax rates would go up, all right, just they're going to go up and they're going to go up on somebody. what would you really want in return? not revenue-neutral. real tax increases. what do you want in return? >> well, i am in favor of revenue increases -- look, if you grow at 4% a year instead of 2% a year, reagan levels instead of obama levels or french levels, you get $5 trillion in additional revenue over a decade. we could pay down all of the overspending of obama's first term by having 4% growth instead of 2% growth. and we know how to do it, because we did it under reagan. >> but why would you cut spending

. >> it's funny that you see tom cole saying i want to come back to washington, d.c. tomorrow because i think boehner -- tom said absolutely not. they are this close to the deadline, there is no real idea of what's happening. these are our elected leaders. >> the video clip you may want to play tomorrow is kick the can down the road from republicans and democrats and the house and senate. it's the phrase du jour to that conveys no action. it's a sad state and here we are. >> congressman cole is wrong in saying nobody wants to see middle class taxes go up. nobody wants to see themselves getting blamed. that's the real dynamic. nobody is attached to the taxes in d.c. we'll be back with our l in a bit. now trivia question. the answer, maryland junior senator ben cardin. he spent 20 terms in the house before becoming a senator. that's a good chunk of time. >>> if you have a political question for us, e-mail us. we'll be right back. don't go anywhere. [ male announcer ] how do you measure happiness? by the armful? by the barrelful? the carful? how about...by the bowlful? ca

>> republican house speakers tom cole and marsha blackburn. >>> then falling off the fiscal cliff, a tumble that would shake the world with international monetary fund christine lagarde. >>> plus what happens if nothing happens with moody's chief economist mark zandy, jackie comes of the "new york times" and cnn's dana bash. i'm candy crowley and this is "state of the union." >>> politically the speaker is playing with a weaker hand that the president, the pressure is higher on him and his critics are harder too. >> the republican party's finished. >> he is selling out our children right now with these massive tax increases and that's a starting bid. he's saying here $800 billion now will you sit down with us, obama? >> twistill with the votes get counted in his caucus of republicans, boehner seems to have more room to maneuver than he did in preelection face-offs over political matters. even if the republican speaker gets a deal, can he get it passed? joining me now, republican congressman tom cole of oklahoma and marsha blackburn of tennessee, thank you both so much for joining us,

joining me now is tom cole of oklahoma, martha blackburn of tennessee, thank you both for joining us,nd i think that's really the key question that we keep hearing. they'll get a deal -- they'll get something. but it doesn't matter if the two of them get a deal, it matters if the speaker has the house votes for it. tell me about the feeling in the caucus now for how free of a hand the speaker has. >> i think people are looking at how do we solve the system-wide problems. if you're going to talk revenues, you have to talk cuts, reform of your trust funds, medicare and social security -- >> you have 20 something days to do that. >> these are things that we have been talking about for years. the fiscal cliff is a name that the media came up with, but some of us have been saying for years, you have got to stop the out of control federal spending or you will end up at this point, we're there. >> i just want to the remind folks of something you said about the middle class tax cuts, i just want to the play that. >> in my view, we all agree that we're not going to raise taxes on people that m

look, the last minute, as tom cole said, the deals come together at the last minute. the last minute was really before christmas. as a practical matter, that is how these deals come together each of the last three years of the obama administration, on the budget, on deficit, on tax cuts years ago. they came together before christmas. it's hard to see how this works out at this point, to tell you the truth. there is a conference call at 2:30 among house republicans trying to decide what to do. we expect the leadership to let the rank and file know what their plans are. the speaker is not in washington. we understand he is in ohio of his home state. the president has landed here back at the white house in washington. it's unclear exactly where they go from here. essentially what john boehner is saying, you go first, harry reid. 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

up next republican congressman tom cole. and baby makes three. kim kardashian and kanye west's big baby announcement. also, sydney, australia celebrating the new year just three hours ago with fireworks over the famous opera house. in new york city, an already crowded times square. people waking up there. our big question what is your new year's resolution for 2013? tweet me at richard lui. we'll share some of your comments later. >>> a live look at the markets which appear to be taking going over the fiscal cliff in stride. many people say it is built into the market. many investors are still confident leaders will strike some sort of deal as talks go down to the wire and even if they don't they are counting on senate majority leader harry reid to present a backup proposal to limit some of the damage. we're watching live pictures on the right-hand side of your screen. senator barbara boxer speaking. they just reconvened about 15 minutes ago. we continue to keep our ears on the floor as they debate what we believe to be the latest offer coming fr

i think again what tom cole was saying the other day -- maybe we should give it to him, because then all of a sudden there is a debate that takes place about the real things. i want to come back and say, you can easily get to $1 trillion in revenue with a four-page bill dealing with the tax peace, and again it is not something that a lot of northeastern states like, i realize, because of high state and local taxes, but you can get there. what i hope will happen is instead of spiking the ball the president will sit down with boehner, who i think really wants to do something -- i think both sides agree that they want to do something. i hope they will sit down and mesh something together that republicans can be ok with that generates the kind of revenues that we need, but also the kind of entitlement reforms. you keep saying -- i love you and you know that, and i love the things you state about the other senators from tennessee -- the fact is that the decisions, all the options around the entitlement reform have been discussed. we all know what they are. it is very simple to put them in

your honor with representative tom cole. -- you are on with representative tom cole.r: i do not understand how you do a budget. we have done budgets, and medicare and social security would equate to my mortgage and health care. i do not understand why you start at the top, which will hurt the most people, and then blackmailed them. you are talking about seniors, people that paid in their whole life. this is always what you go to to cut. i and stand it is a big chunk of payment, but if you cut -- i am understanding is a big chunk of payment, but if you cut 10%, does that not make up for a lot of it? maybe congress and the senate should be paid by what they do instead of the street salary and benefits, because if you were paid piece works, you would have almost no salary. guest: i like the idea of being paid for what you do. if the senate has not produced a budget in three years, so they have not had the courage to do it. less sierra senator harry reid produces one next year -- let's see if senator harry reid produces one next year. you might not like the republican bud

republican representative tom cole says he's confident that boehner can get the votes he needs. >> on the speaker's plan, he had over 200 republican votes, it's not as if he had an awfully strong hand to play, if it's a deal john boehner can accept, it will be passed in a bipartisan manner with a very strong majority. if on the other hand he's neutral or not favorable, his chances will be a lot slimmer. >> lisa desjardins following the fiscal cliff negotiations on capitol hill. do you have any good news for us, lisa? >> reporter: the news is a little better than it was earlier today. we know negotiations are still happening. there was a point today where we thought there was a total breakdown. tonight it's between senator mitch mcconnell and vice president joe biden. we're some of the last people in the building. i know -- come on through, guys, if you want. there's one of the crews that -- the worker crews are starting to come into work tonight. we're the last reporting crew. all the members of congress have pretty much gone. the republicans in the house were meeting late tonight to

. >>> and when we come back, republican congressman tom cole.'re watching "morning joe," brewed by starbucks. ♪ these are... [ male announcer ] marie callender's puts everything you've grown to love about sunday dinner into each of her pot pies. tender white meat chicken and vegetables in a crust made from scratch. marie callender's. it's time to savor. i just got started and i'm like "hey, that first 20 came off, well it wasn't too hard at all." i love breads. you can still eat bread. i love my sweets. i can still have a cookie on weight watchers. i love the barcode scanner. occasionally, i'll use it at the bar. of course! that's what it's for, right? bar code. oh i think i'm never going there again. i feel healthy. and just...young again. [ female announcer ] weight watchers online. the power of weight watchers completely online. join for free today. ♪ >>> this is all a political game. they want to talk about the debt, they want to talk about the deficit. they want to talk about simpson/bowles, they want to talk about this and that. it's not r

congressman tom cole.ks and weeks ago he had this done and he needed, you know -- >> we may wind up basically where he -- >> and he is deeply conservative. it is not like he is a moderate member. he is a deeply conservative member. >> uplifting news, go skins. >> where is my foam finger? i have my own shameless plug. if you liked this hour of television and let's be honest, you probably did, i hope. i will be on for andrea mitchell at 1:00 p.m. that is as shameless as it gets. tune in. right now that's it for this edition of "the daily rundown." we'll see you next year. that's right. i got to close out the year. have a safe and happy new year coming up next on msnbc it is chris jansing & company. lower cholesterol, how does it work? you just have to eat it as part of your heart healthy diet. step 1. eat the soup. all those veggies and beans, that's what may help lower your cholesterol and -- well that's easy [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. we can afford to take an extra trip this y

oklahoma republican tom coles is one and joins me now.ery much. >> thank you. >> is there a way to move the tax debate forward to start talking about the spending cuts you want to see locked in? isn't the tax debate now blocking progress towards the larger issue which is getting -- attacking the deficit with real spending cuts? >> i think there is, but let me make very apparent i think the speaker is right. i think the proposal he's put on the table is a great proposal that we ought to not raise rates. there's other ways to get revenue that honestly are more economically productive in the long term. having said that, again, i think you might be better served to do this in pieces. first, we disagree with the democrats on a lot of things but we don't disagree about the 98% of the american people. we don't think their taxes should go up. to me since that's a point of agreement and doesn't affect either side's negotiating position on the other issues we ought to remove it from the table. make sure most americans don't have to worry about thei

congressman tom cole, thanks for joining me, sir.

a republican congressman tom cole was someone praised by democrats for saying, let's get this deal done. he was on yesterday referring and talking about entitlements, which is a touchy subject for democrats. let me play what he said. >> look, if only nixon went to china, only obama can fix entitlements. this is where a president has to lead. >> what's your reaction to that? you have, obviously, the conventional wisdom is that whoever puts entitlements and specifics on the table will take the hit from it. democrats don't want that hit. republicans don't want the hit. you have cole hear saying it has to come from the president. >> i agree with congressman cole that the president has the credibility to talk about medicare reform, and i would urge the congressman to read the detailed plan that the administration has put forward on medicare reform. it's there in black and white in excruciating detail. you don't need a sleep aid. pick up the document. it will put you to sleep it has so much detail on exactly how to reform medicare. i don't know where this narrative came from that somehow pres

tom cole says he's confident boehner can get the plans he needs. >> on the speaker's plan

we have had a few republicans in the house led by tom cole the other day starting to say that they, too, see a way forward for raising rates and, so, even though we're hearing terms like stalemate and the two sides still seem quite far apart and we're not seeing any movement, i think what we're seeing is an acknowledgment by the republicans of the very difficult spot they are in. the almost total lack of leverage that they have and they don't like it and you can see them squirming and being angry at the white house's holding fast and refusing so far to make any concessions. but they don't have a lot of choices here. and i think you're starting to see them peel off one by one. >> molly ball, lynn sweet, we'll see you a little bit later in the hour, ladies. thank you so much, appreciate your time. >>> thank you. >>> overseas new demonstrations in egypt as hardline islamists rallied in support of mohamed mor morsi. today's rallies meant to counterprotest protests in the past week. morsi has been facing wide-spread unrest over that decree that expands his presidential powers. nbc jim maceda

. >>> representative tom cole of oklahoma sits on the budget committee, dealing with the cup's money problems all year, but now, we are down to those critical hours. he joins me from washington to offer his perspective near this crucial dialogue. so simply put, do you think we are going to get a deal in time, congressman? >> i do. i think the nature of these things is you get down to the last minute, into the very good way to run a railroad but the way this railroad does run. >> this particular railroad seems to have an air of desperation about it as we get down to it. >> people are concerned, and they ought to be. we are talking about every american's tax rates who pays taxes, talking about the extension of unemployment, the estate tax this has more elements in it than most things do i think at the end of the day, you know, in the senate now, i think the senate will come to some sort of arrangement, they will push it over here and then i think the house will be the decisive arena, a lot will depend, obviously, on what the senate agrees to >> isn't that the question what will happen

let me play what tom cole said. >> these are minor adjustments. they're things that people will hardly notice. but they add up over a decade to a lot of money. will you take political heat? sure. i think everybody is going to take political heat on all sides of this. >> there is political heat and then there is outrage. could this produce outrage from liberals? >> well, this one can. and this is where the base, the democratic base, is going to have to -- responding angrily to this. why -- the argument is if the very wealthy have to pay more, why are you still hurting some of the people who, for whom that small amount is very meaningful in paying rent or getting food on the table. and i would think that this very much is in the eye of the beholder, having a bigger tax hit when you're very wealthy is quite different than having a cost of living increase shaved when you depend on social security. and that's part of the essential conversation going on now. >> some of the constituencies are out there. check out this ad that just came out. >> welcome to

we have heard from tom cole that they pass the senate bill. we are hearing from house members saying to get this piece done. republicans said, why don't you get together and get things done? we know that if the discharge petition comes out before the house, they have enough votes to pass it. why wait 27 days? why not just do it now. the house needs to take up a bill that we gave them back in july. it passed on a bipartisan vote here and when is brought up in the house it will pass with a bipartisan vote. >> i want to echo a little bit of what the senator said. consumers are shopping, a lot of us went through black friday and we are in the holiday shopping mode. when i was in alaska this weekend, the number one question that we get from people is, what are you doing to get the ball moving? we know there has to be a long- term plan. we sent over a tax proposal that mentioned to make sure that under hundred comincome and $50,000 keep their tax cut. this is a decision that can be made right now. we know that when we hear from members that that bil

you're on the air with tom cole. >> caller: don't understand how you guys do the budget.icare and social security would equate pay mortgage in half here. everything else gets cut 10%. no movies, i don't understand why start of the tom assured to most people can blackmail them yutaka both seniors in people who care their whole life. this is always that she go to to cut. i understand it's a big chunk, but if you cut everything off 10%, does not make up for a lot of it? my other question was maybe congress in the senate should be paid by what they do instead of just a straight salary neither benefit. you would have no salary. >> guest: i like the idea pay-for-performance. the senate hasn't produced democratic leadership a budget in three years. your point of how you budget in the senate, they simply don't. that doesn't take 60 votes. it takes 51. they got plenty of votes. they could go to one. let's see if senator reproduces the next year as we move into the fourth year. republicans have produced a budget. you may not like the budget. that's fair. if it comes to super idea,

we were talking to tom cole a little while ago on the show.a he was telling me, look, if you conceivably get 180 democrats to vote for this and maybe 40 republicans to get past that 218, 220-mark, where are you going to find the house republicans if they don't support the deal? if they are able to cut a deal in the senate that house gop leaders you do like you'll get considerably more than 40 votes. even if they get a deal done tonight in the senate, it's got to be something that realistically could pass over here in the house, and that remains a big unknown at this point. >> what are you hearing from republicans? >> well, you know, there's been some speculation about where this offer on social security, the cost of living adjustment came from. robert costa of national review reported a little nugget that republicans alerted the white house and democrats that they may demand that this be part of the negotiation a couple weeks ago. that to me seems like a bit of a stretch. it seems pretty clear that mcconnell and the senate leadership sort of o

you heard tom cole say it a moment ago.he same time speaker boehner is sort of proposing an end run around the white house. he's calling it plan "b." he's pitching to the house a tax increase on families earning $1 million and up. his plan would not stop the sweeping spending cuts to defense and domestic programs. the white house is already shooting it down saying it has no chance of passing the senate. the president for his part wants to raise taxes on families earning $400,000 a year and higher. that's a change for him up from $250,000. he is right now proposing $930 billion in spending cuts. >>> a massive winter storm stretching from colorado all the way to the upper great lakes expected to cause dangerous blizzard or near blizzard conditions today. going to look live right now at denver where snow is falling pretty hard. you can't even see it. blizzard warnings in effect in the central plains. visibility at times will drop to less than a quarter mile. forecasters expecting 6 to 12 inches of snow in some places. the real

tom cole says a deal, any deal will be hard to get done.arfare beginning in january with the continuing resolution the debt ceiling to try to deal with spending issues. >> continued uncertainty about tax and spending policies in 2013 could result in another recession. frustration seems to be the operative word tonight. if no fiscal cliff deal is reached, most everyone's taxes will go up tuesday with deep spending cuts kicking in. earlier i spoke with a democratic and republican strategist. they seemed to echo the sentiment of the voters. >> this is like, when you at the beginning of the year and you're in school at the beginning of the year, you get assigned a big project and you leave it until the last night. when i used to do that, my parents used to punish me. if kids were behaving the way these congress people are, they would be in the time out. if it was the public sector they would be fired. the only solution lies with us, the american people, and with us the voters demanding that they start working together and actually coming up wit

one of those members is tom cole of oklahoma.ed the pledge and says he's not bound by it anymore. representative cole, a month ago you wrote allowing taxes to rise for just the top bracket may seem an acceptable middle ground by comparison. but this path would be enormously damaging to the economy, which meant you weren't going to do it. now you have been urnling your fellow congressmen to at least extend the bush era tax cuts to those making less than $250,000 and then do battle over tax cuts for the wealthy later. what changed your mind? >> first of all, nothing changed my mind. frankly you mischaracterized my position. i'm not for raising tax rates on anybody. i don't think it's a good idea. bad for the economy. going to slow down, hurt rates. that's my position, not because i signed a pledge. that's what i believe. what i have said is we agree with the president that taxes on 98% of the american people shouldn't go up. that's 80% of the bush tax cut. we could make it permanent. we are still free to fight another day. i think

for some reason, except for tom cole and a few individuals, we don't see where the republicans understand. we can all be winners. can you imagine looking out at the country before the holiday and saying 98% of you are not going to have one more penny to pay on your taxes? that's a big deal. and for some reason they're offering up all this other soup. it's an unpleasant soup that actually is an assault on the middle class. so i think they're in serious trouble with the american people right now. >> now, do you get any sense, because what you're saying just seems so sensible and and logic do you think they're moving that way? >> reverend al f i could tell you yes, i'd be so happy. i'm a very optimistic person. in july the senate passed that bill. all they have to do is take it up and pass it. they could have taken it up in july, august, september, october. november, we're at december, they haven't taken it up. now democratic leader pelosi has said it's a situation where there's a discharge situation at the desk meaning if 218 people signed that bill, it would come up for a vote and the repu

the position of congressman tom cole, that the party should agree immediately to extend the bush tax rates for americans making less than $250,000 a year is the best of a bunch of bad choices for the gop. >> the g 0 op is boxed in saying it's a terrible position because by default democrats get what they want. a big bargaining chip for house republicans is they need congress to raise the debt ceiling before the end of february when analysts estimate the treasury would run out of options and hit the borrowing cap. no deal is reached. closer to the deadline and today they will argue that's bad for business. help in supporting an approach without drama or delay a. >> we can't be going through another debt crisis, debt ceiling crisis like in 2011. that has to be dealt with. >> the president of the business roundtable has said congress should raise the debt ceiling enough for the next five years to avoid uncertainty. clearly that's something that won't happen. short term spending cuts should be part of any fiscal cliff deal. the big news this morning is we're not going over the cliff. the

people now are looking for congress to make some common sense decisions and tom cole sounds like he'sg common sense. his argument is as simple as no new taxes. >> thank you so much, once again, do appreciate your time. >> thank you. >> thank you. >>> 29 days left to avoid falling off the cliff. the house speaker says the negotiations are going nowhere. we'll talk to a top financial services committee member and democrat maxine waters straight ahead. >>> plus, many saw last month's election as a mandate for the immigration system. we'll ask kay bailey hutchison what the republican party needs to do. you're watching msnbc, the place for politics. with a low $18.50 monthly plan premium, select generic hypertension drugs for only a penny and in-store copays as low as one dollar on other generic drugs after deductible, saving on your medicare prescriptions is easy. so you're free to focus on the things that really matter. call humana at 1-800-808-4003. or go to walmart.com for details.

congressman steny hoyer, tom cole, steve israel all next. at some people behind the scenes at msnbc. i hope you all have a very happy new year. >> happy holidays from "the daily rundown!" >> happy holidays. >> and have a very happy new year. >> happy holidays. >> happy holidays. >> happy new year from "andrea mitchell reports." >> merry christmas. >> merry christmas from "the cycle!" >> happy holidays from the "alex witt" team. >> happy holidays from "up with chris hayes." >> happy holidays! >> merry christmas. happy holidays. >> happy holidays from msnbc. >> happy holidays. >> merry christmas. happy holidays. >> happy holidays from the p.a.s. >> from all of us at msnbc, merry christmas and happy holidays. >> merry christmas. happy holidays. >> merry christmas. happy holidays, everybody. >> hello, team. what a wonderful 2012. i'm looking forward to a fantastic 2013. happy new year. >>> happy new year. the question today. are you ready to go cliff diving? breaking news tops our agenda this hour. can congress avoid turning into a pumpkin at mi

in the next hour, tom cole, tom price and chris van hollen. then at 8:00 a.m.astern, senator ron johnson and bob corker. president obama issued a warning on "meet the press." >> on midnight, december 31st, if congress doesn't act, then everybody's taxes go up. and for the average family, that could mean a loss of $2,000 in income. for the entire economy, that means consumers have a lot less money to make purchases, which means businesses are going to have a lot less customers, which means that they're less likely to hire and the whole economy could slow down at a time when the economy is starting to pick up. >> but after it was all said and done, leaders on the senate floor couldn't get anything done, at least not yet. >> there's no single issue that remains an impossible sticking point. the sticking point appears to be a willingness and interest or frankly the courage to close the deal. i want everyone to know, i'm willing to get this done, but i need a dance partner. >> this morning, we've been trying to come up with some counteroffice to my friend's proposal

. >>> new today tom cole is responding to criticism from members of his own party. the politician suggested the gop should accept president obama's plan to extend tax cuts and debate the tax hikes for the wealthy. >> i do believe we should take things where we agree with the president and take them off the table one at a time. this would strengthen our position in the course of the negotiations. >> joining me e is former governor howard dean and congressman tom davis. hello, you guys. good to have you both. so representative davis, i will begin with you. congressman kohl says this move would strengthen the gop position. do you agree or do you think it's a risky approach? >> well, it's a little of both frankly. when you give that up, there's nothing left for the president to agree to. he's won the day. the problem with that is everybody goes off the cliff at this point. everybody's taxes go up and does that strengthen your position? the problem is you need one spokesman for the republicans. the republicans can't have a lot of members out there freelancing their own i

. >> i want to bring in congressman tom cole, a republican from oklahoma.ood to see you again, congressman, good morning. what happened with susan rice, do you think that it is adding to, alleviating some of the tension that clearly is going on between some democrats and republicans over the fiscal cliff or has no impact at all? >> frankly, obviously i don't know if it was susan rice's decision or the administration's decision, but i think she was going to have a pretty rough and tough nomination process, confirmation process, and that's a fight the president doesn't need right now, it would have been a distraction. >> duds he get credit for that? duds she get credit for that? okay there,'s a concession that's been made here. >> i'm sure that the president didn't want to make this move or have this made. but again, you can only fight so many battles. he's got a lot of other fightses that are coming. this is one he didn't need, he needs and i think the country would be best served by someone that's a unifying figure and can side step some of these situations

>> no, we saw tom cole last week suggest that maybe republicans should go along with the president ande a tax cut to 98% of americans, raise the -- >> so two republicans. >> two republicans and others privately say that there may be some room there, the trouble that speaker boehner has as you pointed out earlier in the segment is the tea party and republicans are trapped also on their messaging on this. the white house has been good about messaging that the republicans are the obstructionists in this and they are waiting until, waiting essentially republicans out on this. i did a story in "national journal" yesterday where top house republicans brought in some of the best gop communicators in washington and said we have a messaging problem here. we want to get a deal, the white house isn't talking to us. how do we want to put that out in the public, so they know it's the white house who won't talk with us. the white house knows public opinion is on their side, "washington post" "pew center poll said 50% blame republicans. >> the message you talk about chris is working but there's the o

also, tom cole will be here on set. that's great. we're going to ask him what he was thinking last week. i'm joking. congressman. also, democratic senator claire mccaskill. can you believe this? and congressman chris van hollen. also, we're going to bring in former national security adviser dr. brzezinski. and straight ahead, mike allen with the top stories from "politico." and mika should be jetting in from the south of france just in time to say hello to her father. first, though, let's send it to bill karins with a check on the forecast. >> good morning to you, joe. you got to d.c. a day too late. yesterday, it had to have been the warmest day you'll see probably till about april. it was 72 degrees yesterday in washington, d.c. it was even in the 60s all the way as far north as buffalo, syracuse and rochester. things are coming back to reality. cold front's heading through. chillier air is arriving, especially western new york. some showers out ahead of that front. if you're leaving the house now in maine, coastal new hampshire do

the republican position with a few exceptions, like tom cole, is you know what, too bad.obody gets tax relief. we republicans will hang out right for that 2%. >> let's talk about the president's position on this. times done changed is perhaps an understatement. my paraphrase of your words. the president in a "new york times" piece today calls attention to the way the president was talking about putting revenue on the table in 2011 versus 2012. he was talking about ending deductions and closing loopholes as a primary way to get revenue on the table which is a different position than he has now. play that sound for everybody so they can remember. sorry. it's a full screen. i will read the quotation. what we said was give us $1.2 trillion in additional revenues which could be accomplished without hiking tax rates but simply accomplished by eliminating loopholes, some deductions and engaging in a tax reform process to lower rates generally while broadening the base. that is different from where the president is at now. is there currency to the republican argument that the pre

we'll talk to tom cole who is making that case in just a few minutes. >>> bmw and mercedes are looking for the best selling luxury brand in the united states. wait until you hear what your money can get you these days. you're watching cnbc. ...so as you can see, geico's customer satisfaction is at 97%. mmmm tasty. and cut! very good. people are always asking me how we make these geico adverts. so we're taking you behind the scenes. this coffee cup, for example, is computer animated. it's not real. geico's customer satisfaction is q rea this computer-animated coffee tastes dreadful. geico. 15 minutes could save you 15 % or more on car insurance. someone get me a latte will ya, please? >>> is the u.s. consumer in trouble? the front page on this morning's "wall street journal" says yes. but are holiday sales and shipping proving otherwise? courtney reagan is on top of that story. >> today is a big day when it comes to holiday shipping and spending. it's fedex's busiest day of the year counting all the orders. ceo estimates it will move a record 19 million parcels today. that's up 11% from

and congressman tom cole.s an update on the condition of secretary of state hillary clinton who is hospitalized with a blood clot. we'll have a live report. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. >>> the offers that i've made to them have been so fair that a lot of democrats get mad at me. i offered to make some significant changes to our entitlement programs in order to reduce the deficit. they say that their biggest priority is making sure that we deal with the deficit in a serious way. but the way they're behaving is that their only priority is making sure that tax breaks for the wealthiest americans are protected. >> all right. we're taking a look here as the clock counts down as we head over the fiscal cliff. a live look at capitol hill as the sun comes up over washington. they're working, working away there on capitol hill. here with us now from washington, former white house press secretary and former senior adviser to the obama campaign, robert gibbs, who looks like he's on a ski vacation.

what you have to look for is the splinter that tom cole started last week, heard mr. chris toll say about how the president has an effective bully pulpit he can go around the country and say 98% of americans with a tax cut under my plan, trying to save it for the rich. republicans are coalescing around, if anything, is this idea that in order for the president to move on entitlements, they got to hold this hard line on the bush tax cuts for 250 or above. they don't want any deal that doesn't have to pertain to entitlements. that's why you're seeing the saber rattling that we thought would only be in november continue into december. as of right now there is no clear way forward talking to both sides. >> the -- michael steele, the saber rattling has reached an almost deafening pitch, i think. maybe on both sides. i wonder, you know, from your perspective is bill crystal and tom cole ultimately helping john boehner in terms of laying the groundwork or hurting him? >> i think they're absolutely standing there with a flashlight in the darkness of the abyss that is the disc

. >> i think that it is true that many republicans are saying privately what tom cole said on this show, that they believe the politically expedient and right thing to do now is just to cut their losses, agree to tax rates going up for the most wealthy and really try for significant tax reforms so that 39.6% is going to be moot. >> if nothing is done by the end of the year to avoid the fiscal cliff, automatic federal spending cuts could impact the foot we eat. emily schmidt explains. >> preparing for holidays is a reminder of something else around the corner. >> i just can't imagine funding being cut at this point. it was be tragic. >> she is worried budget cuts would hurt food safety inspection. that's mattered to her since her twins her born in 1999. she and her babies got listeria poisoning. contaminated food sickens about 48 million a year. 3,000 die. so the fda and usda are charged with protecting the simply. an 8.2 budget cut translates to $157 million. there's no word exactly what cuts would mean to staffing. >> both fda and usda are stretched pretty thin when it comes to the act

one thing that came out this week was the suggestion by tom cole, who is a republican from oklahoma, saying maybe we should just agree to these middle class tax extensions, just sign them, give them to the president and that's what he says he wants, get that off the plate and then let him take all of the political fallout for everything else that comes. the economic hit from the top rates, the sequester and everything else. >> he would still end up having to do something on the spending cuts that are coming and on the debt limit. dan, very briefly. >> yeah. but basically we are back to where we were in the 2011 neglect yes, sirs. the republicans committing on tax cuts and tax increases and the democrats promising to do something on spending later in 2013. it's very hard to see that that's going to get resolved by the end of the year. >> all right. what a mess. when we come back, the prospect of the tax cliff is already affecting the behavior of some companies and shareholders, including one of president obama's biggest backers who is cashing out before rates go up. the details are ne

>> tom cole, republican from oklahoma, a very astute politician, was it very honestly and openly a politician before he got elected to congress, and said that we ought to take the deal and cut taxes on 98% of people, basically rid ourselves of the fact that most people other than charles c., that the republicans have become the party of billionaires' and millionaires in this debate. that is what happened in the election of 2012. that really is a continuing problem for republicans. that is what you are seeing to it is not just anti-grover norquist movement. it is a realization that they have a political problem. >> a lot of positive signs for a deal. one is that grover norquist, who is kind of a ridiculous figure, it has been exposed as that and people are walking away. businessmen are in town saying we want predictability, and that is a good sign. but the indication from the white house is that obama is pretty dug in -- i want, i will break those republicans. maybe it is just a bargaining position, maybe he is making it, but the feeling is that he really does want to bust the other side. >> w

journal. >> host: we want to welcome back to the table congressman tom cole, republican of oklahoma. let's begin with the news. house speaker john boehner sent a proposal to the white house yesterday, counterbid as it is being called. what do you think? >> guest: i think it is a great opening start. actually it makes very tangible with the speaker committed to after the election which is we are going to put it on the table so that question is settled and we are not talking about how much and what way, but that is an enormous step forward honestly by the republicans or concessions. not something we want to do but something we recognize we have to do to get there. so i think the speaker's proposal directs us to words what some of the problems are which are entitlement spending. that is what is driving the debt and we can't pussyfoot around it. we can't solve it with just revenue, you have to have reform. while we like the ryan budget and i think i would be the appropriate way to go, they picked up elements of some of the proposals of ernst and bowles and as senator simpson made in an e