bottom line, why does david axelrod still have a job? >> i just want to add one footnote about worst defeat. if they hold on to the senate, that makes it the second worst defeat. in 1994 when they lost the senate, what happens there is you lose control over nomination, you can't get anything done. so at least they've got that. so i'm going to put it down as the second worst. howard, john boehner's press secretary issued this statement. republicans made a pledge to stop all the tax hikes scheduled for january 1. we're glad to see the america's must trusted adviser now agrees with this course of action and hope he and the plt show leadership blah, blah, blah. i can't even finish reading it. so they' got their interpretation of what david axelrod says which seems awfully clear to them. they've won, this is over. >> it's the notion that the white house has already accepted the fact that there's going to have to be an extension of all those tax cuts including those for the wealthy of sometime short of permanent but beyond tomorrow. how long t

the way david axelrod, top guy at the white house for obama who is looking at all this describes it, is a little differently. he says -- the way he views politics there's a wine candidate and a beer candidate. so that's the white house thinking. the wine candidate will be a manager type and the beer candidate will be somebody who does appeal on a gut level to the people in iowa. >> but in iowa, it's going to be good for mitt romney, i believe, if sarah palin runs. and does well in iowa. ok. because then people are going to say oh oh, she can't get elected even though she's doing really well. and who do we look at? chris: and one or thing. sarah palin, everybody in the press, we're all watching her. everybody is watching television is watching her. and they aeady know mitt romney. he's got the bye. right? he may like that. >> any one of the people in the eastern division that you're talking about -- chris: the regulars. >> the regulars want sarah palin in there. >> exactly. >> to put all the other people in the shade. on the charisma side. chris: let's go to matthews meter because we'

his was a subtle signal, and axelrod's wasn't. and i think what this is, chris, you and i both know, this is reality politics. >> yeah. >> i mean, what can they really get through in the senate when you have moderate to conservative democrats who are saying that they are not prepared to increase taxes on the wealthy during this economy. the votes aren't there. >> and the worst thing that could happen -- it seems to be -- i will try this as the last question. it seemsy to moot worst thing that could is the democratic-led congress this year, this fall, doesn't pass the tax cut. the people face higher taxes next january. in come the republican-dominated house, and more republicans in the senate, like the cavalry coming to save the taxpayer, they do go ahead and cut taxes for everyone. and the president's forced to sign it. the republicans are the big heroes. the democrats really look like the bad guys. that's my thought about what they must know be afraid of. >> i gree you complete be. and that's not to increase taxes on anybody who

axelrod's comments this morning. but it took president clinton eight months from the time we won in november to his decision in june of '95 to work with us. i mean, change on this scale is very wrenching. it's wrenching for his staff. it's wrenching for his allies. speaker pelosi becoming the minority leader will make it harder. i don't know what the president will do. the only place i worry about in terms of kind of riots you were showing is not americans in general. i believe the scale of change coming to government workers is going to be so great that you may well see, in places like sacramento or albany, new york, very serious unrest by union members who are offended at the idea that they should actually earn in proportion to the taxpayer and not be the new special class in america, which is what they've become over the past 20 years. >> let me get to -- we talked about this issue before, dr. greenspan. should the tax cuts on wealthier americans be extended without corresponding spending cuts? what's going to hap

job expects him to do that but that is not what axelrod was talking about. the deal that seems almost certain to be made and that is what axelrod made the mistake of telling the truth about, a temporary extension of all the tax cuts and the middle-class tax cuts as well as the tax cuts for the so-called wealthy, we will see an extension for somewhere between two and five years and not just because republicans want to see them all, all the bush tax cuts extended but because an increasing number of democrats do, as well. just a growing number of democrats made it clear before the election they think it is a bad idea to rai taxes on anyone in a tough economic time like we are in right now. >>trace: you are saying axelrod showed his hand a little bit and maybe gave up the bargaining chip that the president has with boehner? >>reporter: the liberals knew they wouldnd up with but they wanted something in return. one thing the liberals want is an extension of unemployment benefits so basically we showed our whole card, or, according to the white house, that is what

you have david axelrod on meet the press on sunday. david axelrod seemed to be sending a message to the progressive wing of the party they have to observe the political realities. the election was lost and they are going to have to negotiate on the tax cuts. the president taking it back farther. where do you think they stand on this bush tax cut? >> i think the only thing they are taking back is the president wants to do the negotiabling when he gets home. axelrod said it more plainly than they would like at that home. we will work that out i hope and i expect on "meet the press" on sunday. they do have to do it. i think the president will try to position himself as the fiscal conservative by saying if we do this, where are the corresponding spending cuts, republicans? that may be where he tries to score a point. >> here is what he had to say about the deficit commission. some have already broadly praised him for holding fire and not dumping the way nancy pelosi did. let's watch. >> the only way to make those tough choices historically

she's the daughter of david axelrod. president obama's closest advisor, and the architect behind the president's historic 2008 campaign. but far away from his political success in the world of washington, d.c., is a family life that has been filled with challenges. >> look at you, what are you painting? nice. >> beautiful. >> reporter: david and his wife, susan have struggled to help their 29-year-old daughter, live a normal life. >> i was thinking a flower one. >> you don't like this? okay. back in the bag. i lost. >> reporter: seeing her healthy is a dream come true for them. in the wake of a very long nightmare. lauren has a severe case of 0 epilepsy. she has had it since the day she came down with a bad cold when she was 7 months old. her pediatrician prescribed a small dose of cold medicine and even today, susan wonders if it caused the onset of her daughter's disease. >> at that time, they didn't make pediatric formulas and a gave her a quarter of an adult dose and she seemed to sleep through the night and i though

the way david axelrod top guy at the white house for obama who is looking at all this describes it, is a little differently. he says -- the way he views politics there's a wine candidate and a beer candidate. so that's the white house thinking. the wine candidate will be a manager type and the beer candidate will be somebody who does appeal on a gut level to the people in iowa. >> but in iowa, it's going to be good for mitt romney i believe, if sarah palin runs. and does well in iowa. ok. because then people are going to say oh oh, she can't get elected even though she's doing really well. and who do we look at? chris: and one or thing. sarah palin everybody in the press, we're all watching her. everybody is watching television is watching her. and they aeady know mitt romney. he's got the bye. right? he may like that. >> any one of the people in the eastern division that you're talking about -- chris: the regulars. >> the regulars want sarah palin in there. >> exactly. >> to put all the other people in the shade. on the charisma side. chris: let's go to matthews meter because we've al

we saw axelrod trying to clarify what he said. but it is very clear that if you needed any signals here that this is a white house that understands there's a new political reality out there. they don't control the house of representatives and that at some point, if i were betting, i would bet that they would end up with some kind of temporary, not permanent but temporary extension of those tax cuts for the wealthy along with a permanent extension of the tax cuts for the middle class. >> nancy pelosi and a lot of liberals in the house say if you provide a continuation of the bush era tax rates for the wealthiest, that's $700 billion the next ten years. let me bring dan lothian in, he is with the president in seoul. what are white house officials saying? what was their reaction when this huffington post interview david axelrod came out, dan? >> reporter: well, white house aides here echoing what david axelrod is now saying there is nothing new here, that the president after the election talked about being open to compromise on these

axelrod saying the question is not about going left or right now. reaction to the republican victory, but -- here is a favorite white house line. "moving the country forward." jamie? >> republicans, let's get back to the tax cuts for a second before i let you go. if, in fact, there is only a temporary extension of these, will they accept that? do we know? what did he think? >> jim demint on "fox news sunday," some call him senator tea party. he sketched out a possible formula for a deal, extenting the bush era tax cuts for all americans, talking about a temporary extension for the upper income americans. here is demint. >> we need to remind everyone that we're not talking about cutting taxes. we're talking about keeping current tax rates the same. and i don't think there is any room to negotiate on raising taxes; particularly, on smaller businesses. i hope we can get a permanent extension. if the president wants to compromise on a two or three-year extension. >> so two or three years, possible deal in the works. jamie? >> jamie: senator jim demint,

axelrod, this is not a failure of communication. this is a repudiation of the president's policies. >> chris, there is a volume of research and i can make a variety of points off of exit polling and other research but the bottom line is this: the american people have gone through a very difficult time. we walked into the greatest recession since the great depression. people have taken a terrible beating out there. and there are mercantile exchanges -- millions of people looking for work and we have stopped the free fall and have had ten months of positive job growth and our economy is growing we need to accelerate the growth and that is fundamentally what the american people -- >> you don't think they were saying -- >> they want to us work together and do it. >> chris: if i may, david you don't think the country was saying, voters were saying there is too much big government, too many 2,000-page bills, too much spending, too much intrusion? >> i have no doubt that people are concerned about spending. but, they are fundamentally conc

his was a subtle signal, and axelrod's wasn't. and i think what this is, chris, you and i both know, this is reality politics. >> yeah. >> i mean, what can they really get through in the senate when you have moderate to conservative democrats who are saying that they are not prepared to increase taxes on the wealthy during this economy. the votes aren't there. >> and the worst thing that could happen -- it seems to be -- i will try this as the last question. it seemsy to moot worst thing that could is the democratic-led congress this year, this fall, doesn't pass the tax cut. the people face higher taxes next january. in come the republican-dominated house, and more republicans in the senate, like the cavalry coming to save the taxpayer, they do go ahead and cut taxes for everyone. and the president's forced to sign it. the republicans are the big heroes. the democrats really look like the bad guys. that's my thought about what they must knbe afraid of. >> igree you complete be. and that's not to increase taxes on anybody who make

james rosen, fox news. >>> president obama is playing down david axelrod's statements. the president said he wants to make sure the attacks don't go up for middle class families. >>> have you ever wondered what it is like to work some morning news? there is a movie called morning glory giving you a closer look at the drama that sometimes going on behind the scenes. kevin mccarthy has talked with the stars. >>> our facebook fan of of the day is kadijah james and she says her favorite part is ask the weather guys. you can be our facebook fan of the day by posting your comment under kadijah's photo. the challenge jobs. don't tell me about a dog. a day care full of kids, house chickens. call a day's work. call 1-800-steemer ♪ i'll stop the world and melt with you ♪ ♪ i'll stop the world ♪ ♪ i will stop the world ♪ ♪ you've seen the difference ♪ ♪ and it's getting better all the time ♪ ♪ i will stop the world ♪ ♪ i'll stop the world and melt with you ♪ ♪ i'll stop the world ♪ ♪ i'll stop the world, i'll melt with you ♪ >>> no redskins foot

we have to deal with the world as we find it, axelrod sighed. >> my own take is that axelrod let go of a negotiating position that the administration wanted to hold over boehner and the g.o.p. it's possible he was signalling the progressive community this wasn't going to happen and let them know that the administration would support temporary tax cuts again. >> only before the great shellacking of november 2, president obama was opposed to the extension of tax cuts across the board. i refuse to think it makes sense to pay for $700 billion tax cut, for millionaires and billionaires. but then he was professing himself willing to cut a deal. >> how the negotiation works itself out is too early to say. >> axelrod told fox news today president obama still opposes a permanent extension for top earners. spokesman for house republican leader john boehner replied we hope he and the president will show leadership convincing speaker pelosi to stop the tax hikes permanently in the upcoming lame duck session. when he was asked if he'd compromise, he suggested that the next speaker of the house, fro

it sounded like a tactical retreat and axelrod will be a guest on fox news sunday. chris wallace joins us with a preview. >> good morning, melanie. >> so why is the compromise getting a push-back? >> because liberals don't like it. even if they except the idea that there will be an extension given the republican rally and the mid terms, they feel that axelrod showed their whole card and made the final negotiating evident before they got anything for it. and i think it was interesting that the president in the clip you had said he thought it would be irresponsible to permanently cut the taxes for the wealthy. i think the deal a lot of liberals would like to see is a temporary extension of the tax cuts but in return they get something like the extension of unemployment benefits. if axelrod has shown what their whole card is then they don't get anything for it. and i think the democrats have to decide what hill are we going to die on here? it's not just the tax cuts but quite a few things that congress needs to take care of. what do you think will get done? >> for all

axelrod's comments this mning. but it took president clinton eight months from the time we won in november to his decision in june of '95 to work with us. imean, change on this scale is very wrenching. it's wrenching for his staff. it's wrenching for his allies. speaker pelosi becoming the minority leader will make it harder. i don't know what theresident will do. the only place i worry about in terms of kind of riots you were showing is not americans in neral. i believe the scale of change coming to gornment workers is going to be so great that you may well see, in places like sacramento or albany, new york, very serious unrest by union members who are offended at the idea that they should actually earn in proportion to the taxpayer and not be the new special class in america, which is what they've become over the past 20 years. >> let me get to -- we talked about this issue before, dr. greenspan. should the tax cuts on wealthier americans be extended without corresponding spending cuts? at's going to ppen? what s

. >> woodruff: we have a newsmaker interview with white house senior advisor david axelrod. >> lehrer: margaret warner examines the decrease in schools known as "dropout factories" and the rise in high school graduation rates. >> woodruff: and gwen ifill talks to marcia coyle about today's supreme court arguments over moving inmates out of california's crowded prisons. >> lehrer: that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> lehrer: the long-awaited pentagon study on the effects of ending "don't ask, don't tell" was released today. it concluded there could be initial disruptions from dropping the ban on gays serving openly in the ranks, but there would be no long-lasting problems. the pentagon study began ten months ago. the question: what happens if congress repeals the policy that forced more than 13,000 pers

axelrod, this was not a failure of communication. this was a repudiation of the president's policies. >> chris, there is a volume of research and i can make a variety of points off of exit poll and other research. but the bottom line is this, the american people have gone through a very difficult time. we walked in the greatest recession since the great depression. people have taken a terrible beating out there. there are millions of people still looking for work. even though we stop the freefall and we've had ten straight months of positive job growth, and even though our economy is growing, we need to accelerate that growth. that's fundamentally what the american people -- >> chris: you don't think they were saying -- >> and they want to us work together to do it. >> chris: if i may, you don't think that the country was saying, the voters were saying there has been too much big government, too many 2,000-page bills, too much spending, too much intrusion? >> well, i have no doubt that people are concerned about spending. but they're

is this just maybe david axelrod making a mistake in what he said or what? >> this sort of fit in with what the president said the other day, we can't afford to let the tax cuts for the middle class expire. i thought david axelrod was speaking plainly. we got to deal with the conditions. they have 37 democrats who either signed a letter, 31 signed a letter. six have dissociated themselves with the letter saying we ought to extent tax cuts. 41 democrats said we should vote on this before leaving to go home for the campaign. i bet today, majority between the republicans and the democrats who support extension in the tax cuts there is a majority in the congress, at least in the house of representatives who extend all the tax cuts for some period of time. similarly in the senate, we have senators, conrad, nelson and bayh, all of whom said we need to extend the tax cuts. the president will be under intense pressure to extent the tax cuts. if he doesn't, what is going to happen in two or three weeks, the treasury department will have to send out new withholding ta

david axelrod in chicago this morning. thank you as always. >> good to be with you. >>> now senator john mccain, welcome back to "meet the press." welcome back to the country. you were, as i said, in iraq and afghanistan. you just heard david axelrod say any withdrawal will be conditions based. is that not enough to satisfy you? >> well, i would like e president to say that it's only condition based. according to mr. woodward's book, his problem is the political -- the left base of the democrat party. you don't fight and conduct wars that way. you win, then you leave. th's what we've done in iraq. and the fact is the perception is, amongst friends and enemies alike, that we may be leaving. and that has caused them to make certain accommodations, because they can't leave. that's just a fact, down to the gornor level, down to the police chief level. they say the taliban are telling us we're leaving and they're going to cut off our heads. famous taliban captive said to his american interrogator, you've got the watches. 've go

we are talking about david axelrod, right? >> the present senior adviser is moving up his departure. the end of january, early february. very interesting, but the's campaign manager will be coming into the west wing in early january. he will eventually get david axelrod's sea. but we are seeing is obama 2.0. as soon as he gets in there, he will start on a reorganization of the west wing. >> political junkies to see this all the time. it is not unusual to watch members of the white house leave after a couple of years should we take away any more of from this? are there any problems? >> i think this is a good point. and a lot of presidential advisers are sort of faceless. but david is a little bit of a celebrity after leaving the 2008 effort. david axelrod will still be the chief strategist for the president's re-election. we will see him a lot. we will see the campaign go full force starting in the spring. david axelrod is moving out early to recharge his batteries. the reelection campaign will probably be based again from chic

axelrod's comments this morning. but it took president clinton eight months from the time we won in november to his decision in june of '95 to work with us. i mean, change on this scale is very wrenching and it's wrenching for his staff, for his allies. frankly, speaker pelosi becoming the minority leader will make it harder. so i don't know what the president will do. what i do, the only place i worry about in terms of the kind of riots you were showing is not americans in general. i believe the scale of change coming to government workers is going to be so great that you may well see in places like sacramento or albany, new york very serious unrest by union members who are offended at the idea that they should actually earn in proportion to the taxpayer and not be the new special class in america which is what they've become over the last 20 years. >> let me get to the issue of tax cuts to both of you, bethany and dr. greenspan. we talked about this issue before. are tax cuts paid for or to put it a different way s

axelrod doesn't have mr. obama's mouth piece inside. i think perhaps they have been misunderstood or mr. axelrod -- >> bill: i'm sure there was a miscommunication between the president and his top advisor. i'm not buying that for a second. [ laughter ] nicole is in for dana perino who had a heart attack last night during my interview with george w. bush. [ laughter ] you should have seen dana's face, o'reilly, oh. >> great interview, by the way. >> i was loving it. >> bill: thank you. is the president going to fold or is he going to raise? >> i think the president has already fell toed. i don't think david axelrod marches out and floats too many trial balloons that don't have the blessing of the president. i think the president understands what you and president bush talked about last night, that whether he can come along and accept it, the american people understand that you do not raise taxes at a time of economic distress in this country and do you not make it harder for the people who employ the vast majority of americans to add job

with david axelrod, we'll be right back. we know why we're here. to give our war fighters every advantage. ♪ [ man ] to deliver technologies that anticipate the future, today. ♪ and help protect america, everywhere. from the battle space to cyberspace. [ female announcer ] around the globe, the people of boeing are working togethe to givour best, for america's best. that's why we're here. ♪ martha: we're continuing to get bulletins on the situation in south korea, this is the first indication from the pentagon, they say no additional u.s. military assets will be moved to the region to cover what is going on in north korea, in terms of the attack on this island, that is right on the parallel on the 38th parallel there. no additional u.s. troops will move to the korean peninsula and the pentagon declined to comments on whether u.s. forces are at a heightened state of alert in the area. which is interesting. pentagon says it is too soon to discuss boosting korea military deterrents, following the shelling of that island that lies on the parallel

he'll be in the west wing to shadow david axelrod. he'll be getting his desk, his senior adviser title. axelrod we're told will be leaving after the state of the union address, january, early february, back to chicago, get a little r and r, then in the spring the president's re-election will kick off full speed. a big reason it's held in chicago is because as you know the axelrod family stayed there and david wants to work out of there as the chief strategist. >> axelrod absolutely in dispensable for the president. >> absolutely in dispensable for the president and home sick for his family and hometown of chicago. let me ask you on another personal issue, personnel issue. in the white house, the number one issue in this country days the economy. why is it seemingly taking so long to name a successor to larry summers? >> this seems like a layup to bring in the ceo, put a ceo in the cabinet, put a ceo in the west wing. and, in fact, rahm emanuel wanted to name a ceo going out the door, incoming chief of staff said, no, we're tired of do

axelrod there was not a failure of communication. this was a repudiation of the president's policies. >> chris, there is a volume of research and i could make a variety of points off exit poll and other research. the bottom line is the american people have gone through a difficult time. greatest into the greatest recession since the great depression. there are millions of people still looking for work. even though we stopped the free fall and had ten months of positive job growth we need to accelerate that growth. we think that is fundamentally what the american people want. >> chris: if i may, you don't think that the country was saying, voters were saying too much big government, 2,000-page bills, too much spending, too much intrusioning? >> i have no doubt that people are concerned about spending but they are fundamentally concerned about their jobs, chris, and they want to see robust job creation and they want to see this country strengthen its economy and grow. and that is what we want as well. so i think that is fundamentally t

after coming from fire from the left, axelrod is walking back the statement. earlier, he reiterated the support for extending middle class tax cuts you but added, "we don't believe we can afford a permanent extension of tax cut for wealthy." with the president's poll numbers diminishing, is the white house determining anything? we turn to beckett of varney and company from the fox business network, stuart varney. >> i'm still looking for truck that ran over my party last week. can't find it. >> sean: we'll help you through it. i'm offering counseling on the radio show for liberals in great need because i'm a compassionate conservative. start with stuart. this is a total complete cave. >> yes. >> sean: all right. but, but there is talk that they are setting a trap or attempting to for the new republican house majority. that is they want to say all right, we'll make the middle class tax cuts permanent. but as it results to the wealthy, we will only extend it for a short period of time. should republicans go for this? >> i disagree. >> i know you do. but above al

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david axelrod, it wasn't news. he was reiterating what the president said when the president said in his first press conference after the midterms he was absolutely -- >> one word, absolutely. >> absolutely open to negotiations. it is an indication of reality. they are going to end up doing something temporarily. >> the president lost of% of the midterm election. it is 2012. he has to let the independents know he heard them. >> is that what they said? did the independents say extend all the bush tax cuts >> the independents are concerned about raising taxes and debt reduction. axelrod was reaffirming there was a huge election lost by democrats and it is a new political world. >> let's show the math. president bush won a contested election and got these through. they are due to expire at the end of the year. the president wants to renew for individuals making 200,000 or les a year. couples making $250,000 or less a year. that adds $3 trillion to the deficit. the republicans want to renew all the cuts permanently, th

axelrod said in that article. in seoul, south korea today, the conclusion of the g-20 economic summit, the president said emphatically he's not caved in. across the board tax cuts were put in place in 2001 and 2003. they're set to expire in december. the obama administration only wants to make them permanent for the middle class, not the richest americans, and that pretty much jibes with what he said on the campaign trail in 2008 and just after he was elected. >> i end the bush tax cuts for the wealthiest americans. >> and it means letting the bush tax cuts for the wealthiest americans expire. and rolling back the bush tax cuts to the top 1%. >> roll back. >> we're going to roll back. >> i'm going to roll back the bush tax cuts for the wealthiest americans. >> for the wealthiest americans. >> for the wealthiest americans. >> it is true that i want to roll back the bush tax cuts on the very wealthiest americans. a and. >> what is the president's position now? he clearly seems to be signaling he's willing to comprom

he's going in and going to replace david axelrod. is there any concern among democrats -- were i a hill democrat i'd be very concerned, you're trading one chicago campaign guy for another chicago campaign guy, another guy that flew too close to the sun in 2008, another guy who thinks barack obama is special and this unique character in american politics and there's nobody else like him. basically there have been a group of people that have, for lack of a better word, worshipped barack obama. doesn't he need an outsider to go in and say it ain't 2008 anymore, the world has change and this is how we're going to win in '12? >> if you spent time with david plouffe you realize he's not a guy that is as affected by the kool-aid as others around. this is a guy that ran bob toracelli's campaign in new jersey. >> if you've run the torch's campaign, yes. you're left wide open. okay. sorry. the torch. >> it means he's seen babies lit on fire. >> it means he's dealt with a lot. ask halperin. he's dealt with a lot. you have to deal with the torch

that maybe the compromise axelrod is signaling. the spokesman for the incoming house speaker, john boehner, issued a statement saying republican bes made a pledge to america to permanently stop all the tax hikes scheduled for january 1st. we are glad to see the president's most trusted adviser now agrees with this course of action. i hope he and the president will show leadership by convincing speaker pelosi to stop these tax hikes permanently in the upcoming lame duck session. pelosi against allowing the tax rates to stay the same for richer american americans. a new poll out now shows they want the democrats, republicans, the president, leadership incoming in the house and new expanded republican minority in the senate to cooperate, new cbs survey says 72% of americans say congressional republicans should make tradeoffs in order to get things don't. don't want to just see the republicans stand by and refuse to negotiate, refuse to compromise, including on some of their key principles. finally, the first lady, michelle obama, on t

. >> i think that david axelrod, with whom we had a 90-minute interview with yesterday afternoon, was thinking down the road. what a lot of people in town think is obvious. that because of the political situation in the lame duck congress and the procedural situation, the white house doesn't want to take the risk of trying to veto a bill that has tax cuts for the rich. >> let's look at david letterman. you'd say he is in a sense of substance, he is looking at a tax cut for everybody. >> no change. that's not a plan -- >> impact of suggesting moving to the middle. >> here he is. >> president obama's in india right now. over there visiting our jobs. thank you. >> mark penn, i think about states like pennsylvania, ohio, indiana, illinois, wisconsin and all bid back at the president last tuesday. i keep asking myself, don't you think the working guy is not really a chuckle? they think their jobs are going overseas. >> that's the single toughest job for the president in the next two years. the devastation of democrats in the midwest and south is where this election's going to be. that's go

he said, axelrod told us all bush tax cuts will be extended. something doesn't smell right here. >> steve: what will happen on your show coming up shortly? >> we're going to look at some of the interview with mr. bill o'reilly and former president bush tonight and a whole lot more. we follow everything. by the way, starting monday, we'll be on at 9 p.m. >> excellent. >> brian: cool. thank you very much. it was great to see you. have a great weekend. coming up, two very important stories about christmas shipping. yes, shipping. a deadline today for getting gifts in the mail and one retailer doing all shipping for free. you have to hear who that is. >> steve: then you never know what she's going to say. the lovely, unpredictable cloris leachman dancing into our studio. come on in. you're next on "fox & friends." >>> quick headlines for you. today is the deadline for using the cheapest option to mail packages to military members serving overseas. if you want them to arrive by christmas, that's the cheapest way, you got to do it today. if you're wi

axelrod. the white house response to axelrod's story in "the huffington post." "this story is overwritten, nothing's changed from at what president said last week. we believe that we need to extend the middle-class tax cuts. we cannot afford toboro $700 billion to pay for extending the tax cuts for the wealthiest americans. full stop, period, end of sentence. does this -- >> now, ed -- >> does this clear up the issue, bill? >> no, no. i don't think that it does. i think what it means is that david axelrod mistakenly, he got out a little ahead of the story. he realized that he shouldn't have said everything that he said to "the huffington post." but ed, this is the big difference, the president was saying a week ago, no way, no how. we're going to extend the tax cuts for the middle class and not extend the tax cuts for the wealthy people. >> okay. >> because right now it's changed. we're open to extending. ed, they've given up on this thing. >> all right so, the headline on "huffington post" this morning was "white house gives in on bush tax cuts." >> sam stein g