brianna kieler reporting for us from the white house. o say i have never seen a speech that he couldn't almost get through. and i think a lot of people would say the same thing. >> reporter: it was a very emotional moment for president obama, soledad. something certainly remarkable, but there was something else in his comments that was also remarkable. if you're someone who listens to president obama and you really parse every word he says, as so many of us do, he talked about having meaningful action. this is significant. because white house press secretary jay carney was asked yesterday about what might happen in the wake of this tragedy. every time, unfortunately, that there is a shooting like this, people start asking about what kind of legislation might congress be able to enable to enact to stop this from happening. a lot of times that means to be gun advocates saying something needs to be done. this has not been a priority for mr. obama in his first time, but listen again today as he said it in his weekly address. >> as a nation we

greatly appreciate you updating us from the white house. >>> and the brady campaign to prevent gun violencesince 1970, 1.4 million americans violently killed with firearms. that is more than all u.s. service men and women killed in all foreign wars combined. it is also a stat that chairman of the stop handgun violence quoted in the huffington post blog titled "enough dead children from gun violence." and joins me now live. thank you for your time. >> thank you. >> let's ask for your reaction of the nra silent except waiting to get more information on the investigation. >> well, the nra has virtually owned the republican party and they have intimidated the democrats in to submission. so, you know, they're just going to lay in the weeds. they already know they control congress. and as a result, 83 more people will die today and every day. i mean, just since the massacre in newtown 240 more americans died. average 83 a day and 8 kids. that's another 24 kids. so basically, another classroom has been emptied by gun fire just since the newtown massacre. >> let's read something saying in part it i

let's get to ed henry who is with us from the white house tonight. president says the election proved most americans are on board with this plan. >> that's right. he, without using the word thinks he he basically has a mandate. even though the election is over, he is out campaigning for this again because he thinks there is a dead lock here in washington and he wants to break it with pressure points from the american people pushing republics because republics are now in a defensive posture where if they don't act in the next few weeks and we do fall off that so-called fiscal cliff, taxes will go up on everyone. and the fact is republics against tax increases so the president basically put the pressure on. take a listen. >> a clear majority of americans, democrats, republicans, independents, they agreed with a balanced approach. deficit reduction and making sure that middle class taxes don't go up. folks agreed to that. now, the good news is we are starting to see a few republics coming around to it too. >> now, house democratic leader nancy pelosi put

and carol lee of the "wall street journal" joins us from the white house. thank you both for talking to us. carol, i'm going to start with you. from the white house perspective, where do things stand? >> i think from the white house perspective, the ball is essentially in the house john boehner's court. i think the president and his team of advisors feel that they've positioned him fairly well, that he's in a very defense i believe position in terms of his latest offer, that he forward yesterday. to the speaker. but if you step back and think about where we were four days ago versus where we are now, it's pretty remarkable how much the two sides have come to very close to reaching an actual deal. now the two sides are in this position where the job is to sell it to their different caucuses and make sure that the seams don't come unraveled in the coming days. once speaker boehner on friday decided he would retreat on republican opposition to raising tax rates, it became a matter of what you dial up and what you dial down as opposed to this philosophical debat

from those remarks to the president. chief white house correspondent ed henry is live for us from the white house.d, the president was pressed today about benghazi, what did he say? >> you heard a little, but also pressed on whether or not he did enough to support susan rice, who had been talked about as a potential nominee as secretary of state, and pulled back after the criticism of what she had said on those sunday talk shows, where critics were suggesting she was misleading the american public about whether this was a spontaneous reaction to that anti-muslim video, whether it was a terror attack. the president dismissed all of that, in his words, he said politically motivated attacks against susan rice and the the rest of the administration and then he went on to say this about the investigation. >> with respect to who carried it out, that's an ongoing investigation. the fbi has sent individuals to libya repeatedly. we have some very good leads, but this is not something that you know, i'm going to be at liberty to talk about right now. >> reporter: now, you mentioned the reaction, the fact th

jessica yellin is joining us from the white house, dana bash is on capitol hill, jeffrey toobin is with us also, tom foreman is over there, and don lemon is with us as well. jessica, let me go to the white house first. what do you think the white house is going to say about the nra's proposal there should be armed police officers in every single school to try to prevent what happened in newtown, connecticut, last friday morning? >> reporter: well, wolf, so far there is no response from the white house, but we can expect that this is not the kind of proposal that they are looking for from the nra. the white house has made it clear they are open to talking about a lot of ideas, but they are looking, first, for some gun control measures and some cooperation on that front and some other mental health measures. you waerd what wayne lapierre suggested was a database of all mentally ill people in the united states, and i can't see the president going for some sort of collection system of anybody who qualifies under who knows what definition for mental illness. back in -- i'd point out in 1989

steve joins us from the white house with more on this. >> melissa, thanks very much. sting comments from the treasury secretary who laid out the negotiating position of the administration in ways that it hadn't before, at least not explicitly as they had. what i want to play here is the sound from the interview and i'm going to put my question in there too just so you understand exactly what the treasury secretary was responding to when it comes to the position of the administration on walking away or letting the country go over the fiscal cliff without tax hikes for the wealthy. here it is. >> i want to understand the administration's position when it comes to raising taxes on the wealthy and those making more than $250,000. if republicans do not agree to that, is the administration prepared to go over the fiscal cliff? >> oh, absolutely. there's no prospect to an agreement that doesn't involve those rates going up on the top 2% of the wealthiest. remember, it's only 2%. >> what the -- we just got a statement from senator hatch who called treasury secretary geithner's

peter barnes joins us from the white house. we are all confused. what is going on? egotiation continues. the president putting pressure on republicans today. in a briefing with reporters he said he has met them halfway towards getting some kind of agreement that he is, quote, right there in the middle and there's no reason why they can't wrap this up. he said republicans have conceded that tax rates need to go on the wealthy because they're going to vote tomorrow on a bill that would increase tax rates on people making $1 million and he wants to see the threshold come down and revenues come. there are a few hundred million dollars apart and spending cuts so he thinks they should have a deal by christmas. here is what he said. >> at some point there has got to be a recognition on the part of my republican friends that -- take the deal. they will be able to claim that they have worked with me over the last two years to reduce the deficit more than any other deficit reduction factor and we will have stabilized at the ten years. that is a significant achievement for them

rich edson joins us from the white house with the very latest with the governors meeting today, rich.h the governors meeting a number of democrats and republicans emerged from the west wing saying they pressed the president to get a deal done. they say they didn't endorse or reject either of the proposals on the table but still washington continues to muddle through this. the democrats have a proposal on the table. the republicans say it is not serious. republicans have a proposal on the table. democrats say it is not serious. now a new line in the sand from president obama, this from an interview with bloomberg tv a short while ago saying we're going to have to see the rates on the top 2% go up and we're not going to be able to get a deal without it. the president hadn't gone there before. perhaps there was perhaps a wiggle room following thought. still there is no line in the sand how much rates have to go up. the white house position is that they must go back to clinton rates for top earners. that is nearly 40% on amounts of more than $250,000 a year. republicans have put $800 bill

and abc's jake tapper joins us from the white house. with the very latest. you asked the president yesterday in the news conference, where have you been for four years on this issue to eradicate semiautomatic weapons? >> reporter: that's right. then-senator biden had written that ban into law in 1994. but it expired in 2004. the vice president will be meeting with chiefs of police who support reinstating that ban. and the president will be reaching out to lawmakers to try to come up with post-newtown solutions. president obama had promised the citizens of newtown meaningful action. and in a morning press conference, he explained what that meant. an administration focused on preventing future tragedies by focusing on mental health, culture, education, and gun control. >> the fact that this problem is complex can no longer be an excuse for doing nothing. the fact that we can't prevent every act of violence doesn't mean we can't steadily reduce the violence and prevent the very worst violence. >> reporter: vice president biden will head the initial effort with

the needs of a still weak economy. >> indeed. stay there, congressman, because our white house correspondent kristin welker is joining us now from re you able to flesh out some of the details that's being reported by the associated press amongst others? >> reporter: well, both sides are being fairly tight-lipped right now but here is what i can tell you. my republican sources on the hill confirm that house speaker john boehner has presented the white house with a counteroffer to an offer that he apparently presented to house speaker bonn boehner on sunday. what are the details of that offer? they are not saying except to say it includes new revenues and entitlement reforms. they're also still calling on the president to release more specifics about what he would do to reform entitlements. the white house has spent much of the day pushing back against that saying look at our proposal from 2011 for deficit reduction. the two sides are meeting though, martin. as you know, the president and house speaker john boehner met on sunday and with the exception of the nugget we're getting right now, they're not telling us a whole lot. one pe

. >> nbc news white house correspondent kristin welker joins us live from the white house.ent has said he would veto speaker boehner's plan b if it were ever to reach his desk. so with just days until this deal has to be done to avoid the fiscal cliff, please tell us that there's something going on to resolve this matter beyond battling press conferences and counter accusations. >> reporter: well, martin, look, i wish i had better news. the bottom line is there are negotiations going on at the staff level, but it appears as though these negotiations are all but stalled at the most senior levels. the last time president obama and speaker boehner spoke was monday. that's not a great sign. the focus is on the hill, on this vote on plan b. conventional wisdom is this gives house speaker john boehner a little bit of cover, maybe gives him a little bit of a negotiating tool as we head into the final countdown to the new year, but i have been speaking with house republicans, republicans on the hill who are senior who say they, quite frankly, are surprised by the fact that this has

dan lothian, reporting live for us from the white house. ow is democratic congressman chris van hollen, the ranking member of the house budget committee. welcome, congressman. >> good to be with you. >> did you just hear what dan said, that speaker boehner didn't have his picture taken with the president? >> i did, carol. i wouldn't read too much into that. as you know, the speaker and the president get together a lot. i'm sure the speaker has had many occasions to have his picture taken with the president and vice versa. i really wouldn't read much into that particular fact. >> we'll take you at your word. how would you character the negotiations going on, ongoing, stalled, on life support? >> i think a mix of all three of those things. and the reason i say that is the president has been very clear in his proposal, both on the tax and revenue side as well as the spending side. i'm glad we finally got a piece of paper back from speaker boehner and the republicans but when you look at it, there's a lot less than meets the eye. i have it in my

after hearing their story, the president reminded republicans in washington that everyone will have some skin in this game. nbc's mike viqueira joins us live from the white housemike, it seems as though the president was using today's visit as a visual aid for republicans to remind them that the majority of americans are on his side when it comes to continuing tax cuts for the middle class but raising them for the top 2%. >> well, i think that's entirely accurate, martin. over the course of the past two weeks, think of what we've seen now in this public relations xin xran and the president have launc launched to try to get republicans to cry uncle on this tax hike. we have seen a parade of ceos coming up and down the driveway. we've seen the president travel to the business round table yesterday. we have seen the president talk to middle class taxpayers. we've seen this twitter campaign that you describe, my2k. the 22k being the $2,000 on the line if the country goes over the cliff. the president also went to philadelphia a week ago tomorrow to that toy factory. it was a toy factory but it's clear the president is not playing around here. he is really hitting

from talks with congress to gun control competing for his attention. what to do about firearms is now one of the top questions facing this administration. kristin welker joins us live from the white house earlier from the white house spokesman that the president has embraced senator feinstein's proposal for re-enacting the ban on assault weapons, but it may be possible for him to do other things, at least according to new york city mayor mike bloomberg who said this on "morning joe." >> number one, what the president can do is possible, all he's got to do is get out his pen, okay? there are some things he can do. we have not had a director of alcohol, tobacco and firearms for six years. he can tell his prosecutors to prosecute the cases of those who are caught lying on their application. the president can got after rogue gun dealers. the federal government should be doing this. >> that's a rather long list of things the president could do. are you hearing the white house is considering any of the things mentioned by the mayor? >> reporter: well, i think that they are considering those proposals and a number of other proposals. i'm hearing we could hear something announced within the ne

the president and lawmakers of both parties before monday's midnight deadline. the house is scheduled to reconvene on sunday evening to do what we don't exactly know. so joining us live from the whitese is nbc's kristin welker. kristin, welcome. >> reporter: thanks, karen. good afternoon. >> so what are we hearing about this meeting? i know it's still going on. any news? >> reporter: well, we do know this, a source familiar with these talks says that president obama is not going to be offering anything new during this afternoon's meeting. he's essentially going to be saying what he said at the white house last friday when he called on congress to put forth a package that would extend bush era tax cuts for those making $250,000 or less, extend unemployment insurance benefits, as well as stave off some of those deep spending cuts that are set to go into effect. the president is going to make the argument that he believes this can pass through both houses, but, of course, there is a big question mark over that. i have been speaking with republican aides on the hill who say house republicans are really waiting to see what the senate does at this juncture before they weigh in on anythin

and the very same christine welker joins us live from the white house.rlier today. the speaker's office is now pushing back a little bit claiming there are no parameters on what tax reform would look like. but they aren't denying what you said, are they? >> they're not directly denying it. their point is raising tax rates or keeping them low is a moot point. because they have always been opposed to raising tax rates on wealthy americas. they say it would hurt small business owners. they're calling for overall tax reform, they say. but this has evolved into a game of chicken with both sides refusing to concede anything until the other side does first. so yesterday it seemed like there was some movement. today it seems as though these negotiations are really to some extent falling apart. as you know president obama and john boehner spoke on the phone yesterday. sources on both sides are describing that phone conversation as tense in large part because of this issue over the tax rates. there is still no movement on this issue. of course the clock is ticking

the math, it doesn't work. >> nbc's kristin welker joins us now from the white house.in, republicans keep calling for the president to come into the negotiating table, but if speaker boehner repeatedly puts out proposals that refuse to raise tacks on the wealthiest of americans, then the president has made it clear there's no point in hosting a discussion, hasn't he? >> he has. and right now the president's senior administration officials still believe that the president has the leverage in this argument because he won re-election, because he ran on this very platform of increasing taxes for the wealthiest americans, and also because if you look at the polls, the majority of americans agree with them. house speaker john boehner saying i have put my best offer on the table. he even has some members of his own conference saying he's giving in too much. you talked about these two men poe lententially sitting down a talking. president obama said it's not the time to sit down. that essentially these gothss are getting hammered out behind the scenes. you had the white house

the white house rejected it. tracie potts joins us from washington with the details. >> reporter: good morning, everyone. with a white house proposal and republican proposal on the table, you'd think we would have somewhere to begin negotiations. the white house says what republicans have offered isn't even a start. six governors, democrats, and republicans weigh in on the fiscal cliff today. what will they tell president obama about the spending cuts and tax increases now just 28 days away? >> we must reign in our out of control spending. >> reporter: republicans have an offer, $800 billion in new taxes, half what the president wanted. $600 billion saved in part by making americans wait until they're 67 to get medicare. plus more cuts totalling $2.2 trillion. but no tax hikes for the wealthy. >> that's just not going to happen. >> reporter: the pentagon could take the biggest hit from president obama told defense experts monday, don't worry. >> even as we make very tough fiscal choices, we're going to keep investing in these programs. >>

kelly o'donnell's nbc capitol hill correspondent, and nbc's peter alexander joins us live from the white house. kelly, i want to start with you. wow, was there a lot of drama on capitol hill last night. i am interested, where do we go from here? the house is now in adjournment until christmas. boehner with a 10:00 a.m. press conference today. what do we expect him to say, kelly, and what's next? >> well, the signal we expect from the speaker is to say he is ready to move on now. they tried this. he was ultimately trying to send a message that republicans would go along with some tax increases in order to move the president. it was a show vote in the sense it was never going to become law. but it was intended to shape the debate and maybe to give him more leverage in trying to get the best deal possible. now, the republicans who wouldn't go along in part because it's in their dna to oppose any increase on taxes even for the 0.2%, but also because they were concerned that they be on the record for making this vote going for higher taxes without having the spending cuts that they say is the real

the amount they're willing to cut. i mean it's, it's -- not a serious proposal. so right now we're almost nowhere. >> >> mike viqueira joins us live from the white house. where is almost nowhere? >> it's inside the beltway and it's business as usual. it's also december 1st, alex, and we have exactly one month now to avert the fiscal cliff and avert what everybody agrees would be economic catastrophe. of course that combination of $500 billion, a half a trillion dollars in extra taxes for americans, about $2200 just next year alone for the average family. $100 billion in spending cuts, automatic spending cuts, part of that sequester, from the deal that we went through last year that we took right up to the last minute. so, there are two things that are clear here after the president's proffer, one the president and the white house feel as though they have the upper hand here, there's no question about it. number two, they're playing hardball. number three, i'll add a third one, we are in the preliminary stages, believe it or not, as we enter this final month. here are the basic outlines of what the president is proposing, $1.6 trillion in new revenues.

that was last night before the president took air force one from hawaii to washington. molly is live for us at the white house. update us on the next move from the obama administration. >> despite the phone calls that the president made before he left hawaii, he spoke to top democrats and republicans and no negotiation meetings have been set. at least not formally or public limit there's nothing set yet between all the sides to discuss this. the president's back in washington after he cut short vacation to get back to the white house for possible last minute fiscal cliff talks leaving his wife and daughters in hawaii. the vice president is scheduled to be here today for meetings. don't forget the obama administration and congress have the debt ceiling hanging over them. the u.s. set to hit the borrowing limit of over $16 trillion by the end of the year. there's a lot going on at 2012 winds down. in congress, the senate is in session, the house is not. it's the first time either chamber has been in session for business between christmas and new year's since 1970. >> trace: so they're coming back to work. the p

thanks very much, lisa and jessica yellin joining us from the white house. thank you both. we'll stay in close touch and follow this. thank you. >>> in new york, police have a woman in custody in connection with a case of the man pushed to his death from a subway platform in that city. police had targeted a woman who looked like this police sketch, a heavy set woman in her 20s caught on a security camera running away after that attack on thursday. david aristo is live in new york with the latest developments on this, and pretty quick work here, wasn't it? >> seems to be. they have this woman in custody right now because that she had implicated herself, the statement we got from chief of police department spokesman paul brown. and this is a case that certainly has rocked new york. this is the second time this has taken place within the month of december. it's something that doesn't happen all that often here in new york. 8.5 million people in the city and many, many people take the subway. so to have something like this take place, you would think it's got the city in sort of

the national christmas tree. doug kammerer joins us live from outside the white house. hey, doug. >> reporter: hey, doreen. just a beautiful night out here tonight. a little on the cool side. we've got the fray playing behind me right now. you can see they're playing right now. interesting story here, they're with the president. the president ran into them and said, guys, you need to come down here and play at the national christmas tree lighting. of course, the band said, yeah, we'll look at our calendar. no problem, mr. president. we'll be there for you. we just had jason mraz just get done playing. and we show you the fray is now playing right now. and they're playing santa claus is coming to town. a little bit earlier it was actually phillip phillips. we have the video that came out earlier. the "american idol" winner from last year. and he came out a little bit earlier and was singing, too. we're seeing performer after performer. these are all very big names that are going on right now. lead singer of the fray, just asked the president if you've been good this year. i'm not sure. this is pretty good.

joining us from the white house this morning for our first on cnbc interview is alan krueger, chairmanf the council of economic advisers. good morning. >> good morning. >> as residents of the northeastern united states, a lot of us are still trying to get our heads around the idea that sandy didn't affect these numbers at all. are we almost certain to get some major revisions next month? >> the bureau of labor statistics reported that they didn't see a substantial effect of the hurricane on the top line numbers. however, the report does show that over a million workers normally working full time worked part time during the survey week which was a result of the storm. so i think we see lots of indicators that the storm is having an affect. today's report shows a picture of the economy continuing to heal but there's a long way to go until we're back to full health and that's why the president has been pushing congress for a balanced plan to address our fiscal problems and support the economy. >> all right. speaking of which, i'm glad you brought that up. our steve liesman interviewed the

reports the white house could be joining forces with the justice department to take action against washington and colorado, which also recently legalized the recreational use of marijuana. joining me fromuse correspondent, kristen welker. sticky issue for the president. to what degree is the administration prepared to enforce federal law without alienating a significant number of people that just supported i his re-election? >> reporter: good morning. a number of people that supported president obama, liberal democrats, may support the initiatives to legalize marijuana in colorado as well as washington. here's what's happening right now. the justice department is essentially reviewing these initiatives. they're reviewing it against the controlled substance act. this basically says that by federal law it is illegal to possess or sell marijuana, so that's what's going on behind the scenes, these conversations in early stages right now. i don't believe there's any action that's necessarily imminent. of course, we have to wait and see on that point. you're absolutely right. politically this could be challenging for president obama, but at this point in time they're really looking at all th

the white house. the president had to answer questions on the fiscal cliff and also faced pointed questions about gun control. joining us now is kristen welker fromrol was never on the forefront of the president's agenda during his first term. he was called to account for that today. let's take a listen. >> this is not the first issue, the first incident of horrific gun violence of your four years. where have you been? >> well, here's where i've been. i've been president of the united states dealing with the worst economic crisis since the depression, an auto industry on the verge of collapse, two wars. i don't think i've been on vacation. >> that seemed to be a fairly personal moment for the president. is the white house, though, sensitive about its record on guns? especially to criticism from their own progressive supporters? >> well, they certainly have gotten a lot of criticism. i think there is some sensitivity there. remember, this is the fourth time that we will have seen a mass shooting under president obama's leadership. each one very difficult, obviously, for the nation and for him. president obama has talked about the need to enact dif

from the white house. we heard it again from leon panetta. the americans are clearly drawn a line here saying, you cannot use these weapons there is the suggestion that it might be the syrian plan. what are the options for caring -- for taking out those chemical stockpiles, if any? >> i do not see an occupying force imposing security as a viable option. short of that, what you're talking about is some sort of air campaign, maybe in conjunction with selected rebel groups or not. that is about it right now for military options. >> is it possible to take up the chemical weapons inside? gregg's that depends on what weapons and where they are stored. -- >> that depends on what weapons and where they are stored. we need to get the logistics in place. we need to pull the aircraft together, manned and unmanned, and get the search and rescue together and get that prepared so that if a decision is made, the military force is ready to execute. >> i assume there are risks involved with bombing sites that have chemical weapons. these things can be dispersed. >> that is right. and depending on the kind of weapon that we are talking about, the chemical weapon,

the stroke of midnight. wendell goler is joining us live from the white house. wendell, great to see you.is the very latest on these negotiations? >> reporter: well the vice president and senate minority leader mitch mcconnell talked late into the night yesterday and picked up before breakfast today and word is they made some progress. the two basically took leadership of the talks when president obama and house speaker john boehner failed to cut a deal. when. mcconnell essentially gave up trying to negotiate with senate majority leader harry reid. now said to be reasonably close together on income tax rates though republicans want to use the additional money to cut the deficit and democrats to soften spending cuts. california senator barbara boxer made clear this morning she is not looking for perfection. >> i wanted to add at least a cautiously optimistic note i am hopeful we will get something done and i think if we do, and if it's fair, fair enough, we should get our country off this cliff. >> reporter: boxer says she is willing to move up the income protected from tax hikes but her b

from the white house. we heard it again from leon panetta. the americans are clearly drawn a line here saying, you cannot use these weapons there is the suggestion that it might be the syrian plan. what are the options for caring -- for taking out those chemical stockpiles, if any? >> i do not see an occupying force imposing security as a viable option. short of that, what you're talking about is some sort of air campaign, maybe in conjunction with selected rebel groups or not. that is about it right now for military options. >> is it possible to take up the chemical weapons inside? gregg's that depends on what weapons and where they are stored. -- >> that depends on what weapons and where they are stored. we need to get the logistics in place. we need to pull the aircraft together, manned and unmanned, and get the search and rescue together and get that prepared so that if a decision is made, the military force is ready to execute. >> i assume there are risks involved with bombing sites that have chemical weapons. these things can be dispersed. >> that is right. and depending on the kind of weapon that we are talking about, the chemical weapon,

the next 24 hours. chris is back with us. we have new pictures released from the white house. they're not new, but they're nus to all of us.ne is intriguinintri. this is the president taking a phone call on november 6th in his hotel room in chicago. so, chris, what do you think he's -- who do you think is on the other end of that line? >> that date rings a vague bell, andrea. november 6th? i had it circled for four years on my calendar. that is actual concession call from mitt romney to barack obama. i love these photos. you very rarely get this semi candid look into the white house and the president. >> and, again, when we've talked about ohio and all the other key states, but iowa was stuch an important state. look at this next photo, and this is the president greeting michelle obama as she arrives in iowa before the election. that's a great picture. just the anticipation. >> you know, andrea, too, with that one, i think what's fascinating about it is both their relationship, which i think really did help frankly president obama in this election from his wife's speech at the xwengs all the way to the fact people liked hi

from happening again. almost the same words he used in the remarks he made on friday from the white house., this president has not suggested anything specific what that might mean meaningful. what are white house aides telling you behind the scenes if he is not going to mention anything specific tonight in connecticut, at what point should we dppt him to talk about those meaningful solutions? >> reporter: after the tragic shooting in colorado at the movie theater, president was on the scene and talked again about action that could be taken. he is facing pressure from mayor bloomberg and others. white house aides are saying privately he doesn't think it's time to jump on it immediately. he want to talk about having the nation come together. that pressure is not going to go away especially from democrats that want to see action. i have seen this before with other presidents but stepping away from gun control. people making assumptions but all of a sudden the partisanship in washington will disappear. you are right to mention gabrielle giffords, president made dramatic remarks in tucson about

the us tonight r.t. correspondent liz wall reports from the white house where candlelight vigil for the victims took place. well today a day that will live in infamy in the u.s. after one of the deadliest school shootings in u.s. history nearly thirty people shot dead many of them very young children in newtown connecticut this is now igniting a debate over gun control in the country and people are now taking their concerns to the front of the white house as you can see people about one hundred people have gathered here in front of the white house holding candles holding signs voicing their concerns saying that now is the time to talk about gun control in the u.s. we spoke to some of the protesters here's what they had to say today we saw a room full of kindergartners slaughtered by a guy who never should have gotten a gun. if our president can't talk about it the issue now as a father of two daughters young daughters i think it's time for him for a gut check in there's no more and no more excuses anymore this should not have happened we should have measures in place before this to prevent people from acc

ed henry at the white house with us from the briefing room, standing by. have seen the reaction from the president and jake carney. very report everyone in this room is trying to take a breath. i have never seen the president in four years getting that emotional and wiping away tears in front of us, and he stopped himself several times in the remarks saying obviously that he is reacting not just as a president but as a parent as many of us obviously are all around the country and the world. it is also important to note that the business of government does go forward. he made very clear he spoke to the governor in connecticut and he spoke to the f.b.i. director, robert mueller, and pledged every resource of the federal government will be there for the folks in connecticut, state and local law enforcement, to tell with this tragedy and he obviously got into the emotional toll of this tragedy that goes far beyond what any dollar or any resource from the government can deal with but it is also worth noting and i want to make sure i quote hip, he said that at s

the other day. we felt it was imperative for us to focus on things republican and democratic alike. [inaudible question] connell: live coverage from the white houset speaker was scott walker. talking about the relationship between the local governments and the federal government over this fiscal cliff situation. our next guest is here to say, our point is, we need the government out of the markets and we need to get them out now. he is in d.c. today. what does that mean, you need to get the government out of the markets? >> you know the solution. they have to compromise. cut spending, cut entitlements and increase tax. that is the bottom line. there is just too much affecting this market. the word on the street is, by boehner, so read. we have to get the government out of the market. connell: you can see where the compromise could happen, if they wanted to make it happen. if they do, are you relatively optimistic about markets? >> yes,,we think so. the key word, it is actually risk to both sides of the market. that does not make sense. there is lots of risk to the upside. if somehow they do get it resolved, it will be a surprise to the market and

the tax hikes set to kick in on january 1st. that of course is a few days away and so far no word of any kind of deal. molly henneberg joins us live from the white househi, molly, what do we expect today from the president? >> reporter: hi, patti ann, the president was supposed to come back to d.c. after the new year. as you were saying he's en route from hawaii to washington for any last-minute fiscal cliff talks. he left his wife and two daughters in hawaii when he left last night hawaii time. he has been in touch with harry reid's office over the holidays and we did get a scheduled update that the vice president will be here at the white house today for meetings. at this point not a lot of encouraging signs coming out of the white house or capitol hill that a fiscal cliff deal is in sight. patti ann: are there any other meetings set with house republicans? >> reporter: nothing yet, although that can change. we do know that house republican speaker john boehner is still in his home state of ohio. his spokesman says he'll update if there are any travel changes, meaning he'll let us know if the speaker decides to come become to washington for any kind

first family turned on the lights this evening on the national christmas tree across from the white house. for all of us all around the world, good night. captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org note "e.t." ♪ >>> demi moore's wild night out. caught on camera. >>> her bizarre behavior in miami with lenny kravitz and stacy keibler striking strange poses, dancing by herself is hard-partying demi out of control. >>> then -- kate leaving the hospital with will by her side. but is the royal baby still at risk? >>> plus -- >> new fallout from the pregnancy prank phone call. >>> justin bieber's grammy snub. ♪ >> why one of the world's biggest pop stars

the wealthy and to eliminate the houses debt ceiling leveraged. joining us now from washington d.c., peter wallace, former reagan white house counsel, former member the financial crisis inquiry commission. a senior fellow at the american enterprise institute. good to have you here. you believe there going or the cliff. >> i think their is a real danger of this. one can see a path for obaaa that does not look so terrible if we do go over the cliff. all of the taxes go up, but the democrats have an opportunity to introduce legislation to reduce the taxes for 98 percent of the people leaving the wealthier people, i guess you could call them wealthy, the top two percentage to stay at the high rates. it is possible to do this. lou: it is posible, but i have to ask you, surely the republicans have to understand and had understand six months ago what what transpired in this lame duck session of congress? what this president oud press forward to. the fiscal cliff, the result of sequestration and agreements between the two paries, capitol hill and the white house. why would they not have thought out a position here? >> you know, one of the things that puz