republican position again. one would hope -- >> more posturing, is what you're saying? >> yeah. the rhetoric should be tamed because if you enflame people who have to vote for something in 48 hours, you're going to make that task much more difficult. we'll see how they handle it and whether their words are measured. >> let's go to the white house. that meeting is private. what does the president need to do at this moment as he deals with the democratic leaders moving forward to try to cobble together a compromise? >> one assumes senator reid is going to tell the president what he may have to swallow. it probably won't be pleasant, assuming a deal can be worked out. potentially, when this comes back to the house, if it gets back to the house, speaker boehner may have to rely on dozens or hundreds of -- or more than 100 democrat votes to get this passed depending on what's in it. it may truly end up being bipartisan. no one will like it, but it will still be bipartisan. >> back to your analogy as professor. there

the man who many republicans would love to run for the republican nomination for president against barack obama isn't doing so well in his home state. a new poll found that only 43% of voters approve of governor chris christie's handling of the state, and 53% disapprove. says this is down significantly from his 48-45 rating in january, which wasn't so good either. christie is also down with independents, 40-54. in a head-to-head matchup, christie trails newark mayor cory booker 43% to 47%. and in the matchup we would really like to see, christie is tied with bruce springsteen at 42% to 42%. the poll was conducted through automated ic automated telephone interviews which we continue to believe is not as accurate as when a real person makes the call. >>> coming up -- new details about the hacking scandal at the rupert murdoch empire that point questions in the direction of "the new york post." michael isikoff joins me. >>> and later, something we never thought we would ever see. stephen colbert breaks character, and he does it to bring you a very important message in his own words. [ male a

tell republicans -- say republicans should not compromise on taxes at all. the middle, of course, is in another place. independents and the tea party are not in the same place. they were in 2010. that's why republicans came to power. they're not right now. that's why the president is winning this problem. >>> michele bachmann is rising. she's surged into second place on our poll and the republican prima primary, 16%, trailing mitt romney. a month ago she was at 3%. we've seen this every month in our poll going back to april. in april, it was trump that surged to second place. in june, the candidate that surged was herman cain. right now, it is bachmann. next month, is it going to be rick perry. look at our poll. combine rick perry and richelle bachmann, the two of them got 27% to romney's 30. there is an anti-romney coalition out there. will some conservative coalesce it? that's the game to watch over the next six to eight weeks. >>> momentum may be building the gang of six budget plan. democrat senator, michael bennett, member of the banking committee, sena

obviously some republicans and most republican leaders, republican leaders up here, do not support that. they say it would be devastating for the economy. a lot of members on both sides aisle are saying we need to focus on jobs. democrats in particular have put the white house on notice that deal you strike it better create jobs or we're not going to vote for it. i think you're going see a lot of democrats when the deal is done see a surprising amount of no.crats vote host: and this is a piece in the "the washington post" this morning about the c.b.o. who c-span viewers know the reference to it. and the headline, c.b.o. packs an authoritative punch. tuesday afternoon the c.b.o. scoring of speaker boehner's plan changed the outcome. on tuesday afternoon when the congressional budget office announced that house speaker john boehner's proposal for raising the debt ceiling would have saved significantly less than promised, the republicans' response was instantaneous. they backed down. it continues about how the c.b.o. works and when it was created, which was 1974, by a congressional budget

republican presidential candidate. [laughter] but he has a simple way out of this mess: to keep the republicans from being blamed for raising taxes or defaulting all they have to do is ask the president to submit a request to congress to raise the debt ceiling. then, vote yes on a resolution disapproving of the thing they asked the president to do. then, obama would veto the disapproval, and since the republicans don't have the two thirds majority to override the veto, the debt ceiling gets raised and the republicans get to say they voted against it. twice. just like the classic jimmy stewart movie. "mr. smith gives up and starts shooting people." [laughter] [cheers and applause] it's brilliant. [cheers and applause] [laughter] it's brilliant. the gop gets everything they want, except anything they asked for. and obama gets stuck with what he wanted to begin with. and mcconnell has gotten their nuts out of that vise -- by cutting them off and leaving them behind for obama to hang from his rear view mirror as an air fre

but i must say i'm disappointed that republicans -- a couple republicans -- can't accept the progress, the huge progress that's been made and the huge difference that they've made in the conversation and the mindset of washington, d.c. about a critical issue of national importance. >> cornell? >> well, of course i'm going to push back on some of that. and then actually i want to sort of not play partisan politics and try to speak to something bigger. i don't think they've changed the conversation that much. typically especially with the american people. because the american people actually still think that we do need revenues along with cuts to get there on this. but you know, this is such a humongous debacle that it blows our minds. it would almost be comical if we were not headed for a cliff. the fact of the matter is, even if he passes this bill, it is dead on arrival in the senate. not only among democrats say they're not going to vote for it but you have a number of republicans who say they won't vote for it. so instead of the speaker being held hostage by a group of radical tea

within that house, republican coalition -- within that house republican coalition, you have to look at the 1987 freshmen class and the tea party. they saw the shutdown as a washington compromise that was less than met the eye. they gave speaker boehner and president obama a chance to cut the deal, they looked at the deal and said, we got burned, we got much less out of it than we thought. this time they're going to be much more reluctant to follow the president, certainly, and even follow their speaker. >> isn't it -- doesn't it put the republican leadership in this an awkward position, they can't deliver their members, that means they'll need more democrats to pass it, that gives the democrats more leverage to move the whole package to the left. >> if you want to do it. there are many republicans who want to make in the moment, the moment where everything comes to a head and people blink and decide to do something completely out of character and they want the democrats to make that move, not them. >> i was wondering about timing. because it seemed like the negotiations were going alon

that way he can hear directly from senate republicans directly from senate republicans why what he is proposing will not pass. all of us know that congress isn't going to approve hundreds of billions of dollars in tax hikes. >> mcconnell, who yesterday during the president's press conference, held a phony press conference about a phony constitutional amendment that will never pass, spent today issuing phony invitations to the president and making phony references to what he calls tax hikes. the current republican position that any agreement on deficit reduction must be 100% spending cuts and 0% tax revenue increases, contradicts an earlier republican position. republican leaders in congress clearly do not believe that any revenue increases are unacceptable in principle, because they are right now touting a study by three conservative economists from the conservative american enterprise institute which found that, quote, successful fiscal consolidations averaged 85% spending cuts and 15% revenue increases. 85%, 15%. 15% revenue increases. there is a big difference between 15% and 0%. t

i'm going to be reelected let the republicans take the country over the cliff. >> republicans need to start talking to the elected barack obama. the youth that reagan won by 20%. this is generational. these policies are fiscal future. >> bill: here is your problem. >> i don't have a problem. >> you support gay marriage, correct. >> yes. >> traditional republicans don't. they don't. >> but a majority. >> bill: you don't want roe v. wade revoked. >> nor do majority of americans, bill. >> bill: i'm telling you the traditional core of the republican party opposes you on almost every social issue. >> let me tell you what the traditional core of the republican party wants this time. jobs, low gas prices, national security they want it in 2004 and that's what they want would in 2008. people like you who try to divide our party on social issues, that is not the way forward for the republican party. we need to be united 80%. >> bill: did you say people like me. >> reagan said 80% ally is not my 20% enemy. people like you. >> bill: stop it i'm telling you the truth and you can't handle the trut

to democrats who just want to pay off that pile of republican debt think about it this way the republicans ran up a huge credit card bill and now they're refusing to pay for it they took the good times the stimulation of the economy from all that spending and the political benefits from all those wars and now they don't even want to pay for it if you or i did that with a credit card and did it intentionally we'd be in jail that's why we're in debt before reagan took office our national debt was just under one trillion dollars and our top tax rate was seventy four percent but reagan promised the nation good times so he gave his rich buddies tax cuts and then put two trillion dollars on the nation's credit card reagan borrowed and spent in just eight years more money then every president of the united states from george washington to jimmy carter come by and now the republicans don't want to pay the bill for reagan stepped. then george herbert walker bush came along he kept running up the nation's credit card so that by the time he left office four years later he added another one and a half

that new republican plan has already been rejected by the tea party republicans in the house for not being extreme enough. here's how the head of the nonpartisan center on budget and policy priorities, bob greenstein, a frequent guest on this show, described that plan today. house speaker john boehner's new budget proposal would require deep cuts in the years immediately ahead in social security and medicare benefits for current retirees. the repeal of health reform's coverage expansions or wholesale evisceration of basic assistance programs for vulnerable americans. the plan is, thus, tantamount to a form of class warfare. if enacted, it could well produce the greatest increase in poverty and hardship produced by any law in modern united states history. this may sound hyperbollic, but it is not. the mathematics are inexorable. on a night when the democratic president and the republican speaker of the house both had the chance to address the american people, it is worth remembering why the american people stand on the issues at hand. a pew poll released just last week shows 50% of re

house republicans passed a budget. one of the items balancing the budget eventually is a $1 trillion we are going to save from the wars in iraq and afghanistan. a peace dividend. now in the deliberations, republicans say that does not count any longer. having voted for it. so there is more than a little inconsistency all the way are around. that'll it is serious when you hear some members, a freshman, and some of the people campaigning for president, saying that you really do not have to raise the debt ceiling. and you would not really compromise anything much. but the truth is, the facts showed you can pay off the entitlements, but then you cannot pay soldiers in the field. you cannot have a justice department. you cannot have anybody looking at whether your borders are sick. you cannot have education. you cannot pay anything if you pay those bills and interest on bonds. that is it. >> that is why i think the good news in as bad situation is john boehner saying he still thinks we can get a big deal. >> the rupert murd

and the republicans are ignoring you. aren't they missing an opportunity to try and make some hay out of the heat being on the president. >> a huge opportunity. the biggest problem with the latino community and president obama they feel like they went on several dates with him during the election season then all of a sudden he didn't call the next day. they were hurt. so him coming was a huge way of saying he is reaching out. but what is happening is the republicans realize they have a latino problem so what we are doing is instead of actually engaging with latino community there are eight state legislators that passed really difficult voter id laws. that suppresses the latino vote and the young voter and elderly vote. they recognize they have a long-term problem and they won't be able to fix it in this election. instead of engaging smartly, they decided to take it to the state legislator. that's where people should keep their eye on the ball. that and by state legislators, not by coincidence, will get new districts becau

where are the republican candidates for president? michele bachmann, of course, mindlessly doesn't want the debt ceiling increased under any circumstance. other than that, where is everybody? >>> and we learn today no group has been hit harder by the recession that continues than latinos or also may be the most important voting block for president obama come next november. can you hold them if things get worse? finally, finish tonight with a way out of the debt showdown. we start with the debt fight itself. jay carney, white house press secretary, joins us right now. thank you for joining us. it seems to me if you watched the fighting today, the state of play is the republicans under boehner want a two-round fight, they want a second round during the presidential election next year, and another fight over the debt ceiling next time. president wants to have it all out now. is that the difference? >> i think it's the difference, although i view it a little differently. the reason why we believe and the president believes so strongly tha

republican by republican. there's two tracks. biden-mcconnell could strike something and get it going. or harry reid goes it alone, picks off these republicans and gets his 60. i don't think he has it yet. let's not rule it out. i know the mcconnell people are trying to say harry reid doesn't have the votes. they have been working this all day long. >> when we look at this, especially for casual observers that will remember the biden talks that fell apart and now we're hearing more about the activity with vice president biden being actively involved with mcconnell, if you were going to say the chances of them coming up with something crafted together as opposed to what reid has already done what are those chances? >> reporter: there's a good chance they do come up with some agreement. i just don't if it will happen before midnight tonight. we talked about the clock. the clock does matter here. if they can file legislation by midnight tonight, reid would pull his version of this, and shift control a, highlight it, delete it, put i

that's one of the republicans. if you negotiated this deal in the center, you could get it done probably tomorrow if not a week or two ago. the problem is speaker of the house and majority leader in the senate have power about what comes to the floor. are they going to stop something to come to the floor? probably not. they will want to be in the negotiations. >> hold on. hold on. >> the unfinished business is question on suspending rules. >> it's official. it passes. the house passes john boehner's republican plan to raise the nation's debt ceiling and historic moment right now but as we say and let me bring gloria borger back into this conversation, the democrats in senate including harry reid say never mind. it's not going anywhere. >> they are going to table it. they could possibly use this as a vehicle to put their own measure on and get that done sooner. i think as john was pointing out, there's a bit going on here because each house has to kind of work its will and you have the leaders who want to get down t

and here's what's coming up tonight the big picture it's back to square one for republicans after speaker boehner his grand old plan proved only to be a grand debt limit disaster the only five days left with the house to be able to draw up a new deal before a nation of faults and if the right wing continues to inject their most woman fear mongering rhetoric it will american society that our nation faces the same consequences as norway. you need to know this there was supposed to be a vote in the house tonight on speaker john boehner his debt limit plan but instead the chamber asylum why because droves of republicans came out against boners plan yesterday after the c.e.o. said the proposal doesn't quite deliver on its promises maynard said his plan saved a trillion dollars actually the c.d.o. said only eight hundred fifty billion so just like that better better full poll the vote now just hours ago boehner released a revamped proposal that saves nine hundred seventeen billion and he's telling his republican colleagues that it's time to get in line so will they listen and can republicans re

and here's what's coming up tonight the big picture it's back to square one for republicans after speaker baiters grand old plan proved only to be a grand debt limit disaster with only five days left with the house to be able to draw up a new deal before a nation of faults and if the right wing continues to inject their most fear mongering rhetoric into american society that our nation faces the same consequences as norway. you need to know this there was supposed to be a vote in the house tonight on speaker john boehner his debt limit plan but instead the chamber is silent why because droves of republicans came out against boners plan yesterday after the c b o said the proposal doesn't quite deliver on its promises innards of his plan save a trillion dollars actually the cvo. only eight hundred fifty billion so just like that better better full poll the vote now just hours ago beta release day revamped proposal saves nine hundred seventeen billion and he's telling his republican colleagues that it's time to get in line so will they listen and can republicans really be taken seriously any

is and why republicans can't answer it internet steelies it. drives the world of fear mongering used by politicians who makes decisions to break through get through it including me who can you trust no one who has you view you with the global machinery see where we had a state controlled capitalism is called sasha's when nobody dares to ask we do our t. question more. your take my take is your chance to send in your questions comments ranson observations about anything we talk about here on the big picture or during my radio show and it's by chance to give you my take on it one more time our first comments tonight is from a viewer ratline ideas have been tossed around about how to resolve the debt limit debate in congress and what president obama can do about it if republicans succeed in bringing our nation to a default one of those ideas is the so-called constitutional option here's what allen had to say about i believe president obama has an affirmative part with gauging to world raise the debt ceiling card that is to pay all bills through un

if they get 30 republicans, moderate republicans, and there are 30 moderate republicans, it's a very minority part of the republican party, but they have enough to get 216 votes. >> they do. the question that i have and i think this is the holy grail which is what is enough for nancy pelosi to say okay we have a deal. if i'm going to pass this, if i'm nancy pelosi i'll pass this in the house. i'll put my people on the line. what are the republicans willing to give up for me to supply the votes, which is why the "wall street journal" editorialized this week about tea party republicans and said to them, you know what? you're empowering nancy pelosi. so, those are the kinds of discussions that are taking place right now and maybe the democrats feel the republicans are not willing to -- >> my own sense is if the president of the united states who is the leader, if he says this is good enough for me, nancy pelosi, the democrats in the house and the democrats in the senate they will salute the president, the commander in chief and say yes, sir. >> they have been griping about him throughou

what are the republicans bringing to the table. well the country the bringing a balanced budget amendment to the constitution of the table that's one thing but that's actually it's actually not a balanced budget amendment it's a two thirds majority agrees taxes on billionaires and corporations and that has a little bit of balanced budget attached to it so they can call it that well i don't know if you notice but in a balanced budget amendment the language isn't saying anything about millionaires billionaires it applies to all americans it would be it would take a two thirds vote of both chambers to raise taxes on all americans no matter how much you make that's a good thing we need to make sure that all of us have been cut dramatically in the last thirty years of there's going to be a raise that you know during the period of the strongest growth in this in this country in the forty's to the seventy's millionaires and billionaires are paying ninety one to seventy four percent the high tax rates of this country right yeah well actual

the republicans should be asking themselves where are the jobs. >> there's some areas where the republicans have been more resistant in cooperating, even though most objective observers think it's the right thing to do. i'll give you a specific example. it's estimated that we have about $2 trillion worth of infrastructure that needs to be rebuilt. we haven't gotten the kind of cooperation that i'd like to see on some of those ideas and initiatives, i'm going to keep on trying and eventually i'm sure the speaker will see the light. >> mr. president that is soft talking in the arena of rigidness and record number of filibusters. i don't get your position. while the speaker and other republican leaders pretend the party is united in opposing new government spending, the new republicans in congress, you know what they're doing? quietly trying to secure millions of government dollars. no fewer than a dirty dozen freshman republicans in the house lobbied to get government funds for their districts while publicly shouting about reckless federal spending. joining me tonight is sam stein, political

it becomes a real question i think for the republicans, for the republican party as a whole. are they in the business of cutting deals to help president obama increase our debtedness $2 trillion or in the business of forcing the showdown and at least keeping to principles and limiting the damage done by president obama to win in november 2012? there are interesting tactical and strategic decisions for republicans moving ahead. >> i argue they have to go beyond not allowing the tax increases. they need the tax reform. serious tax reform to bring down the corporate rate and close the loophole to enable you to do that. level playing field and make it more investor friendly country for companies to build in. they need to take time to look at that, tax reform. >> shannon: if they have a hard time getting a budget done and getting the debt ceiling done who thistles the appetite for tackling the tax cut? >> as james baker said to me not long ago, doing that, you have gives on both sides because the democrats get to close loopholes and republicans get to lower the corporate tax rate.

are republicans active republicans running in democratic primaries that's legal it was constant and what's significant about it is as you suggested they did it but they surely on record to delay the election process they actually were gaining a process but something different happened over the last thirty six hours and that is that the republicans ginned up a last minute stele campaign to get people who cross over that republicans get conservatives to cross over and vote in the democratic primaries with the purpose of beating the real democrats is spend substantial money on this they're doing robo calls they're using all sorts of digital tools and so yeah i think this is a serious night now they're going to watch these results closely this has been done before john i grew up in michigan and when i was a kid in michigan michigan was the only state and i think it was the sixty eight primary that where the democrats went for george mcgovern urged wallace rather and the reason why is because we had open primaries in michigan and the republicans said to their own people go vote in the demagogue

republicans said no. he sacrificed more, offering to only raise taxes on those making more than $1 million a year. you know how many millionaires there are in minnesota? 7,700 out of a population of 5 million. that's less than 1% of the state. republicans again said no. they then counteroffered. they would come up with a list of unspecified revenue increases, but only if dayton was willing to sign on to a list of provisions obviously designed to destroy the state's democratic party. like placing restrictions on abortion and requiring photo i.d. for rotors. in other words, we'll bargain if you concede to our list of ar gugably untenable and preposterous demands. it's not all that different from places like wisconsin and new jersey where republicans have taken the position that the entirety of budget shortfalls must be dealt with by cuts that fall hardest on working people and the poor and protecting to the last dime the sarchtty of millionaires bank accounts. pawlenty finally recalled, and i'm not exaggera

if that republican dynamic from last year is still in effect, and is affecting republican presidential politics this year, that would explain things if the party were on course to nominate somebody who is a real unknown, somebody like a herman cain or somebody like my personal republican muse this year, thaddeus mccotter. but that could not explain or predict a michele bachmann nomination, because michele bachmann is a lot of things but she is not unknown. she is famous. for years now, unlike a christine o'donnell or joe miller, michele bachmann has been all over national tv. and not just on fox. she has been all over msnbc, all over cnn, even made it as far as "meet the press "on nbc on sunday morning. her record is totally in line with the off the charts craziness of a sharron angle or a christine o'donnell. but michele bachmann's craziness has been in public. it has been on tv. >> i may not always get my words right. but i know that my heart is right. >> michele bachmann is amazing as a political figure. but it is not likely that michele bachmann actually will be the republican nomi

why the republicans are right. both of them presumably will say the stakes for the united states are enormous right now and the country must do everything possible. everything possible to avoid default. they've been negotiating publicly and privately now for weeks and weeks and weeks. and unfortunately for the country, indeed, for much of the world, unfortunately the negotiations collapsed order the next few days. still possible they might be able to work out a deal. the strikes enormous. you see the president walking up to the microphone. let's listen. >>> good evening. tonight i want to talk about the debate we've been having in washington over the national debt. the debate that directly affects the lives of all americans. for the last decade we've spent more money than we take in. in the year 2000, the government had a budget surplus. but instead of using it to pay off our debt, the money was spent on trillions of dollars in new tax cuts, while two wars and an expensive prescription drug program were simply adde

it's still the republican mantra. as we said before, the far right, anti-government gadfly grover norquist makes it his business to make them all recite that never ever pledge again and again. >> there's a majority of the members of the house of representatives who signed an ink in blood that they will never raise taxes. >> you should never raise taxes in order to cut taxes. >> i took a pledge when i became a straight representative to never raise taxes. chris: those are just 2 of the 236 house members and 412 u.s. senator that's signed grover norquist never, ever pledge. what power that man has. when we come back, michele bachmann's family business includes counseling gays to become straight. does that seem odd, even to conservative republicans? chris: welcome back. is michele bachmann too extreme even for many christian conservatives? one of her central causes has been opposition to gay rights. >> if you're involved in the gay and lesbian lifestyle, it's bondage. it is personal bondage. personal despair and personal

the republicans are completely split, aren't they? you have the tea party saying no, we are not going to sign on to any deal. they don't want any revenue on taxation. they are saying no, we're not having this. your party is split in two. how does that help america and the american people who are 100 hours or so from the biggest financial crisis the country has ever seen. >> i don't agree that the republicans are split in two. the republican party united in the house and senate that sent to the senate the budget. sent them a proposal to put cuts in place and caps in place that were modest in terms of the issue we are dealing with and asked for a vote on the balanced budget amendment. that was rejected in the senate. now, they are proposing to send another proposal that will try to find the common ground. that will be rejected by the senate or vetoed by the president. frankly, i think the republicans are trying to put forward alternatives here to simply walking away from the debt ceiling issue and the debt crisis. i point out, the credi

we have the republicans saying our plan. they're having trouble getting the votes tonight, but they say their plan is the best plan. senator reid said his plan is the best plan, the white house says their approach is the best approach. take us behind the curtain. are there conversations that convince you after what i'll call political posturing or political flag planting, is the president working the phones, should the president be working the phones? is there something going on after we get through planting the flags on the republican house and the democratic senate that we actually get this done before the deadline? >> well, i can only tell you as a governor, i was definitely on the phones, i was in their face on the phones, setting down continuously with the front row and the back row. >> should the president do that? >> everybody has their style. i am not going to tell him what he should and shouldn't do. i respect the president and he does what he thinks is right. this is the time when it's crunch time, you have to put

i think, ed, the plan of the republicans is pretty clear. what they want to do is everything they can to protect the wealthiest people in this country who are doing phenomenally well, whose tax rates are the lowest on record. they want to protect corporate america. we have companies making billions of dollars in profits and not taking a nibble in taxes. and then what they want to do in a variety of ways is not only slash discretionary spending on education, on health care, on environmental protection, on nutrition, their plan is to go after, as you referred, the big three. they want to decimate social security, medicare, and medicaid. that is their long-term plan of action. but as you alsoç indicated, les be very clear. the democrats have compromised and compromised and compromised. the reid proposal calls for $2.7 trillion in cuts, a lot of it military, but not all of it. and you know how much we're asking from the wealthiest people and largest corporations? zero. zero. >> well, i found it interesting tonight, you just said that the democ

the republicans go back and talk to republicans, democrats to democrats. very little political rekward and compromise. >> in our last 30 seconds, i think john boehner and barack obama have a common goal, and that is people want their leaders to lead. so if boehner wants the house to remain republican, he needs a deal, and if the president wants to go back to the white house, he needs a deal, yes? no? go ahead and agree with me. >> i think the country needs a deal and i hope the republicans get one done. >> history shows when presidents are re-elected, congresses get re-elected. >> thanks so much. >>> up next, our "sound of sunday" -- highlights from the other sunday morning talk shows. then "fareed zakaria: gps." to make science as exciting as a video game. i need to reach peter, who's falling behind. and push janet who's 6 chapters ahead. ♪ [ male announcer ] with interactive learning solutions from dell, mrs. davis can make education a little more personal. so every student feels like her only student. dell. the power to do more. so i wasn't playing mu

are republicans active republicans running in democratic primaries that's legal it was dancing but what's significant about it is as you suggested they did additionally on record to delay the election process so they actually were aiding the process but something different happened over the last thirty six hours and that is that the republicans ginned up a last minute del campaign to get people to cross over get republicans get conservatives and cross over and vote in the democratic primaries with the purpose of eating a real democrats instead substantial money on this they're doing robo calls they're using all sorts of digital tools and so i think this is a serious night now that we're going to watch these results closely this has been done before john i grew up in michigan and i was a kid in michigan michigan was the only state and i think it was the sixty eight primary that where the democrats went for george mcgovern urged wallace rather and the reason why is because we had open primaries in michigan and the republicans said to their own people go vote in the democrats the republican

on republicans. said can they say yes to anything? and we haven't seen the capacity of house republicans to make tough decisions. the only other point i would add to this is we have wire reports that the republican aides are saying that the big hold-up here is the president's revenue figure changed after he saw how much the gang of six, bipartisan group of senators, was willing to cut. that he then wanted more in revenue increases. that seemed to be, according to republicans, where the talks derailed. he was asked about that in this briefing and he said no, he had not moved the goalpost. wendell, your reaction? we have both seen extraordinary scenes in the briefing room but that is in the top ten. >> i think it's important to look at this in the context of yesterday's almost meltdown by the democratic caucus. when what the white house called misinformation appeared on the wires and the newspaper websites that indicated the president was prepared to agree to spending cuts without this revenue componen

republicans don't agree with that. >> well, some republicans do. first of all, i would say most republicans in america do, and you begin to see a republican senator speak to this, that, listen, we had a deal with speaker boehner that obviously fell apart that included $800 billion in revenue. i'm confident any solution that this committee would produce that ultimately is voted on n congress is a balance. >> frustrated members of your own party, they are saying, look, why doesn't the president who has his principle stand up for them, rather than spending so much time wanting to be bi-partisan, a conciliator.. they are saying the republicans are driving a harder bargain. as george described, the president proved all of the way to the language and the ideals that the republicans espoused. >> if you look at -- yes, because he wanted a clean bill, then a bill with cuts on spending and as george is talking about, it's all cuts for the moment. >> first of all, we've been clear, we need this debt ceiling increased well into the future. the spectacle in was

republicans controlling the house. eventually any negotiation people have to be willing to give. >> the republicans and the democrats both need -- we got to be able to raise the debt ceiling. we cannot leave it where it is. given that, though, the president and the democrats have got to understand that people are not willing to vote for h that increase without significant change in terms of our spending. significant cuts in spending. >> chris: but let me ask you this question. i'm sorry, juan, i will get to you in a second. i understand the republican argument that all of the cuts that the president talks about are fuzzy. if you could get $3 in spending cuts for $1 in revenue increases would you make that deal? >> if i was voting, absolutely not. because revenue increases, tax increases which the president wants and i think is important to distinguish, tax increases right now are going to be job killers. they are going to lead to slowing the already very sluggish economic growth. the president himself acknowledged in 2

tonight republican leaders under fire for being the party of no. "usa today" says they're acting, are you ready for this? like the taliban. plus mitt romney is at it again. another day, another flip-flop. with all his contortions, this guy's going to need obama care. and president clinton says to president obama, don't blink in his standoff with republicans. i'll give you my thoughts on that. welcome to the show. i'm al sharpton. tonight's lead, president obama ramps up pressure on republicans to do their job in the debt fight. this afternoon, the president pressed congress to make a long-term deal on the debt ceiling. >> i don't think the american people here sent us here to avoid tough problems. that's in fact what drives them nuts about washington, when both parties simply take the path of least resistance. >> the president says he's willing to compromise, but are the republicans? >> it's my hope that everybody's going to leave their ultimate mate tums at the door, leave the political rhetoric at the door and we're going to do what's best for ou

this is big for the republicans. never done before with a long-term budget plan to bring down the deficit. now everybody agrees also there has to be a balanced approach. they agree to $1.6 trillion in cuts and what the president is saying is there's $400 billion in tax subsidies. tax give ways, as al you mentioned, tot hedge fund managers, that we can no longer afford. now if republicans don't buy that, as david brooks said nothing in the new york times, they are idiots. they don't know how to govern. they won. they ought to take this deal. >> mr. brooks, conservative columnists, is saying come on. you are marginalizing yourself. can't even you even hear from your own people that ideal logically agreed with the republican line. >> well, look, reverend sharpton, you showed some polls a minute ago that showed 70 or 8 30ers don't agree with republican owns this or that or the other thing. if the republicans are standing up for their convictions and beliefs against the tide of public opinion, it may be political courage

all republican votes. not a single democratic vote, and a scant majority. 218 out of 435-member house. when it came to the united states senate, it was dead on arrival, on a bipartisan basis. a bipartisan majority of senators, 59, voted to table the boehner proposal. and now we have a chance to reopen this conversation. and i can tell you, there is a growing sentiment among senators on both sides of the aisle to sit down and reach a reasonable compromise and to save our economy from the disaster that awaits us if we fail to extend this debt ceiling. what these senators on the republican side are waiting for is a permission slip from senator mcconnell. he told them to hold back until boehner had his chance. hold back until the boehner bill came to the floor. that's all history now. the american people want us to move forward. they want us to come up with a bipartisan approach that doesn't have us relive this scene that we've seen for the past week over and over and over and over again, like the old groundho

republican. let's not forget that we had an apartheid regime right here in the us. i think the bombings feed on the oil. we have the government says to the keep you safe get ready because of the freedom. you know sometimes you see a story and it seems so you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else you hear see some other part of it and realized everything you thought you don't i'm sorry this is the. other year in a devastating oil spill in the united states last week a pipeline belonging to exxon mobil underneath the yellowstone river ruptured spewing tons of crude into that notable waterway at first the company downplayed the area of contamination after reexamining the spill over the weekend and now it appears that over forty two thousand gallons of oil coated more than ten miles of the yellowstone river choking wildlife and slipping in the river banks that now march to national treasures whack and buy crude allies two years so how many more until we get the message and kick

probably not a majority of the republicans. if it comes up for a vote, they'll pass it, and the cries i will be averted. having said that, there's no guarantee that that's going to happen. there are so many obstacles standing in the way. and the more the rhetoric heats up, the less likely a deal will be struck. it's going to be tough going. we're going to be working all weekend. i suspect the cots are going to be brought out of some warehouse. staffers on the hill will be keeping all nighters, keeping this movie. it's going to be tough. >> jessica, it is to most american people watching this, they're saying, what the hell you playing at? you're playing with our future, with the finances, with the nation's economy, we are a few days away from a potentially catastrophic default. yet we're hearing the detail from the press conference. i heard a report earlier and maybe you can confirm this. that speaker boehner and the president haven't exchanged a word in five days. >> reporter: that's right, not since monday, nor has -- mccon sd

to pay for it oh republicans now that they did republicans know that they are just as guilty as others on the i don't think and republicans and democrats are both guilty on this right and they pay for it they're trying to paper now by with spending democrats and i killed him as bill clinton. he had early on that he had i do want to make sure he knew up to george w. bush and economy it was the entire one hundred percent of the debt of the us is was going to be paid off in ten years and the republicans agree with that and economic passed in two thousand now let's not forget that let's forget. the us are going to be sure that large bush took. guys that out of this thing i'm not saying this is about the republican and democrat problem you had nancy pelosi who is the leader of the house led the speaker of the house last year she had the majority in the city also to the white house and it didn't seem like you had any problems with spending then you all spent as well as well as a republican this is a party not a party because you are spending this is not a spending problem let's here is tryin

is and why republicans can't answer it in tonight's deal he said. drives the world the fear mongering used by politicians who makes decisions to break through get through it if you may who can you trust no one who is in view with a global missionary to see where we had a state controlled capitalism is called sasha's when nobody dares to ask we do our t. question more. your take my take is your chance to send in your questions comments ranson observations about anything we talk about here on the big picture or during my radio show and it's my chance to give you my take on it one more time our first comments tonight is from the viewer rant line a lot of ideas have been tossed around about how to resolve the debt limit debate in congress and what president obama can do about it if republicans succeed in bringing our nation to a default one of those ideas is the so-called constitutional option here's what allen had to say about it and i believe president obama has an affirmative obligation to work raise the debt ceiling that is to pay all bills when do

it does hurt senate republicans. it does hurt guys trying to win in those states in which independent swing voters. but these guys see cutting as their m.o. >> on the democratic side, 54 blue dogs, and before the 2010 election, there are 25 now and four of them are running for either office. it's decimated. the compromise doesn't exist. >> the disease, chris, liz, luke russert, hang on. we have to do 2012 after the break. first we ask, who was the last u.s. president to win the white house while losing his home state? it's richard nixon. he was a new york resident in 1968 when he won the white house. he's no longer a california resident but there you go. if you don't count nixon, you'd have to go all the way back to woodrow wilson. our thanks to jeff greenfield for that one and i promise mr. gre greenfield a shoutout, follow him for political information and a couple of laughs. we'll be right back. i couldn't conceive this as a heart attack. the doctor leaned over and said to me, "you just beat the widow-maker." i wa