obama at the white house. this interview was taped days before the tragic shooting in connecticut and was postponed until now. it was the first time the couple sat down together since winning re-election. mrs. obama also took me on a personal tour of what is called the people's house. and it's never more true than during the christmas season. after thanksgiving, more than 80 volunteers from nearly 40 states descend on the white house, trimming 54 trees, plus every nook and cranny. first dog bo is the star of the show. there he is inspecting the decorations, including this larger than life model of himself, made of 20,000 pompoms. my friend. >> yes, bo. he's really big in relation to this house. >> this 300-pound ginger bread white house was the first stop on my exclusive behind-the-scenes tour with first lady michelle obama. these are various rooms in the actual white house. >> absolutely. and the details in these rooms are just beyond this year. >> why peer into these windows when i can see the real thing? >>

welcome to the white house. prequel, hu? yeah. let me start by thanking jennifer for that lovely introduction and to welcome her family here as well. her father and her husband. we are so grateful for your service and glad you could be here. thank you, jennifer, for everything that you and your family have done for this country and what you have done to make this house as beautiful as it is. as first lady, you know that i have had the privilege of traveling across this country. one of the best things i get to do is to meet with all of the wonderful military families, like jennifer's family and your families. it is an honor to host you all here today at the white house. yeah. the cool house. i like it. i have said this many times before. i will say it again because i cannot say it enough. our military families truly represent the very best that this country has to offer. i have seen it up close. you all do so much for this country. you do it with such amazing poise and grace. you all our outstanding neighbors. and you are just phen

republicans are "nowhere in talks with the white house." they are trying. good morning. i'm jamie colby. great to have you here. welcome to america's news headquarters. >> eric: i'm eric shawn. good morning. in an exclusive interview with "fox news sunday," speaker boehner says negotiations are at a standstill. this is as treasury secretary tim geithner says the president is ready for what he calls difficult concessions. mr. boehner says he was flabbergasted at the white house stance on what they say needs to be done. peter doocy has details this morning on the latest developments from washington. good morning, peter. >> good morning, eric. spieger boehner said negotiations are nowhere, period and he called treasury secretary tim geithner's presentation of the white house proposal to avoid the fiscal cliff earlier in week "nonserious." >> i was flabbergasted. i lookedded a him like you can't be serious. i've just never seen anything like it. you know we have seven weeks between election day and the end of the year. three of those weeks have

eisenhower thinking the staff at the white house. at the same time the income then-president, that year john f. kennedy and his wife, there are leaving the blair house getting ready for the big day. another thing -- another thing that takes place on inauguration morning, and this will happen again coming is a religious service. when i was in washington with my wife a few years ago just half a block from where were saying there was this church, the 1:00 a.m. each church, traditional african-american church. that is where the inauguration church services took place for america's first black president, bill clinton. [laughter] now, all little nap here for you. things start off at the white house and move along pennsylvania avenue toward the capitol which is on the right. there is a traditional copy of the white house the takes place. it's a big deal on the days when there's a transition from one president to another. it began in 1961, net was a year or allow these pictures were made available. you don't normally see these pictures. here

the white house with this unprecedented access to 1600 pennsylvania avenue. ten presidential families features, as well, hosted by meredith viera and jenna bush hagger as the executive producer. >> we're such a small group of women and men that have had the privilege of living in the white house, although i never lived there, but spending time in the white house, even though we're defined by so much more, our careers, husbands, children, it's a privilege. we thought it would be wonderful. >> a white house christmas, first families remember airs tomorrow night on nbc at 8:00 p.m. >>> that's going to wrap things up for me, thanks for your time. see you back tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. eastern. don't go anywhere, "now with alex wagner" is coming up next. obviously, you're going to get the president, my friend. >> stay tuned, thomas. as you mentioned, he will be introducing a biden-led policy push in the aftermath of the newtown shooting tragedy. we'll unpack his remarks, plan, and strategy, and talk about the business of guns with senator barbara boxer, ryan grim, ku

but the white house this time around with president obama wants to simply issue an official white house photo to the press and to the public after it's all done. and this kind of indicates a patten of how this white house -- pattern of how this white house has behaved with the press. remember, the white house was editing press pools back during the election with vice president joe biden. so it's an indication of kind of a pattern of behavior repeating itself on the inauguration. but, you know, this is something the people did, they put president obama in office, and i think that they deserve to see what actually goes down and what happens historically from a body independent of the white house. megyn: this is, i mean, you know, the white house has received criticism, as you point out, for being a little too involved in some instances in trying to edit the press, but this is a wonderful moment for president obama. i mean, this is something he fought very hard for. it's -- what is the -- and i know that the presidential inauguration committee is saying, look, nothing's been decided yet, a

we're watching the white house. we saw speaker boehner leave and house minority leader pelosi leave. neither one is telling us what's going on. what is your gut? what do you think's going on? do we have a deal or no deal? >> my gut is feeling queazy. a lot of fiscal conservatives have been very worried about what john boehner may be giving up at the table here. i think that's why there's grassroots agitation for a fresh injection of leadership on capitol hill on the house republican side. there's always been a sense as long as these fiscal cliff negotiations have been going on an predating that to the last time the debt ceilings negotiations or give away that we're giving up way too much. and the sense is that it's all a could -- kabuki theater. >> president obama caught the hawaii vacation short for what reason? >> that's act one or two of the kabuki. to make it seem as though even though he flew off for vacation, he cares about what is happening. that's why so many americans and fox viewers obviously in particular

all eyes are on the white house. we've got i'm an javers there in washington as we wait for the white puff of smoke to come out of the white house, eamon. >> reporter: kind of what feels like here, bill. a lot of energy at the white house, a lot of curiosity surrounding this meeting. what you can't see from here and what i can't show you, unfortunately, is just about 50 yards from here is where you saw speaker boehner walking into the building, and we've got a whole cadre of white house still press photographers up on ladders peering over the hedge trying to get a picture of the leaders as they walk in and just to the left of that crowd is another crowd of reporters all gathered around the stakeout cameras. that's where the leaders could come out and talk to microphones if they wanted to say anything after this meeting. there's a lot of anticipation of whether they will say anything after this meeting, and it's widely seen that this would be a good sign for negotiations if they do come out and talk. a lot of previous

house ends up agreeing to some of it, rejects some of it in the same way the white house is arguably overplaying their hand on taxes. the question is whether you're going to see two full fledged plans be put on the table. republicans for now, including speaker boehner and mitch mcconnell both say, hey, all these plans are familiar to the white house. we shouldn't have to put them on the table. i think the white house would like to see them own it a little more publicly. a lot of aides in the white house would like to get this issue out the door. though ambassador susan rice's reintroduction did not go so well, all sides point to her being able to is your vsurvive nomination fight. is this a fight worth having for the president? >> i know this, what has happened to susan rice is terribly unfair. >> i don't think she will be nominated. but i told people, certainly i will give her a fair hearing. i do think that the underlying issue here is people have seen her far more as a political operative and not a principle. >> hillary clinton has largely avoided blame when it comes to benghazi.

the white house put out a plan that was basically the white house democratic wish list. now we see boehner responding with a plan that is somewhat like where they were last year in 2011 in the summer negotiating over $800 billion in new revenue at that point. neither one of those plans it doesn't seem is going to be the basis for this final deal. it will be somewhere in between those two points and the white house feels very much they have the political upper hand here. they say their position polls very well and they think the president won re-election for a reason. the speaker said this was a status quo election and the republicans still control the house of representatives. >> eamon javers thanks very much. let's talk some more about this republican counter offer and the white house reaction. we have democratic strategist-- okay. steve, i go to you because i read the white house reaction to this, and really all they talked about was raising the top tax rates. they had no other things to say, no commendations, no i want to work with you. steve, i know this stuff is not

do you think the white house has folded? >> i think what the president has done is done his very best, and he's been very successful to date in protecting middle class families. the other side wanted to put all of the burden on the middle class through, you know, terrible cuts to programs that support middle class families, whether it's deductions for homeownership or deductions for putting your children through college. that was unfortunate. so the president's done a good job. everyone's going to have to compromise, including the president. i think he would say he'd prefer 250, but if we have to go to 350 or 400, he wants to solve this. you know, he wants to compromise. again, we've got to close this deficit, and it's done not just by cutting but by putting revenues on the table and asking the wealthiest, which the president is good at saying ask the wealthiest to pay more than their fair share. >> i know there's another issue dear to your heart we want to discuss as well. last week the russian president putin banned all u.

i want to go to our chief white house correspondent jessica yellin in the white house briefing room right now, awaiting the president. set the scene over there. momentarily he'll be walking out, making a statement, jessica. >> that's right, wolf. we just got the two-minute warning here in the white house for the president to enter the press briefing room here and address this shooting. tragically we have all too much experience of the president speaking to the nation after shooting rampages such as this one. and in these instances he generally -- he often tries to bring it to a personal level, talk about that it is like as a father, to relate to what -- to the experience that parents are feeling across the country right now, watching this story unfold, and try to tell a story from inside that school, usually tries to find a story of heroism if he can, to reassure the nation that there are positive stories of american resilience, but this is such a grim day, it is a hard one for the president, no doubt, and for the white house here, wolf. the president found out about this at 10:30 this mo

and then to return to the white house. after that this is the first time that a first lady ever drove back to the white house with the president in 1909 that is nellie taft with william howard taft. we will see that again this time. the kennedy's, obama walked part of the distance. jimmy carter and rosalynn carter walked the entire distance of the my yolly and half in 1977 from the capitol back to the white house. in the inaugural parade will take place reviewing stand is always set up in the white house that's grover cleveland back in '95 there's the white house in the background and is a classic inaugural picture the capitol is in the background with bands marching in 1953 a famous old cowboy named montana lassoed july eisenhower with his permission. in the afternoon of inauguration day backend 1829, there was a sort of stampede on the white house. they had a big party at the people trampled the place, trampled the white house with their muddy boots and the wrecked the curtains and the carpeting and finally the fiasco en

i do not believe the white house leaders' working on open government data oppose what we -- white house leaders working on open government data oppose what the legislation does. those whose job is to do the work of three day -- that is the disagreements that have to play out. there is the same dynamic in other areas where it wants to see data published. >> building awful that a little bits, we are -- building off of that a little bit, we are placing responsibility with the administration. a key piece seems to be with congress. they have an oversight role to make sure these initiatives are functioning and seen through. is congress playing the appropriate role to make sure these things happen or is some other dynamic emerging? maybe i will start with josh, if you do not mind. >> there have been some members of congress who have shown some interest in issues of transparency. they have never done it because they thought it was a good political issue. we occasionally see opportunists who may show up and are in favor upfoi -- in favor of foia because it is in their political interests. negoti

house under the bush white house. >> yes. mrs. bush, very elegant, very beautiful decorations. she copied her mother in law's signature look, the snowy trees in the grand lobby throughout the white house. when we were working on it, they'd say more snow, less snow, more snow. the first lady had a vision, and she really communicated it to us, and we finally got it right. it was perfect. >> very quickly want to talk about bo, the first family's dog. >> he's a real celebrity at the white house. this year we have bo-flakes. if you go through, you should find the ornaments that have bo's paw prints on them. there are bo sculptures and bo cookies. he is a big, big part of the white house at christmas. >> colleen christian burke, the book is called "christmas with the first ladies, the white house decorating tradition from jacqueline kennedy to michelle obama." what a great idea. i wish you the best of luck with this book and merry christmas. >> merry christmas. >> thanks so much. >>> ahead on "starting point," eight days left to ma

i thought the white house did an interesting two-step earlier today. jay carney, white house press secretary said earlier in the day this is not a time for politics or time to discuss some of these measures. i think there was such an outcry that because of who the victims were here, because they were elementary school children, that maybe now is the time and president obama himself spot lighted the meaningful action. i think that was a very telling word. by the way, let's not forget this is the second major shooting in a public place in less than a week. there was a shooting in a mall in suburban portland. that was yesterday -- yet another moment that passed. president obama ticked off the list of tragedies that happened since he's been president. he didn't mention tussin, when former congresswoman gabrielle was shot. >> and he said he wouldn't. >> or ft. hood or binging tom, new york or 400 murders that have taken place in chicago through the end of october. it's not like hasn't had the moment to actually start this conversation. now it looked like he

after the burning of the white house, the madison white house never lived in the white house again. the temporary white house became the octagon. the octagon is another of the buildings still in washington. it was there that james madison signed the treaty again that ended the war of 1812 and jennings writes that on that occasion everyone in the household was thrilled to hear that news had finally arrived. jennings said he played the president's march on the violin. 7s were instructed to pour wine literally including for themselves and jennings rights that the french steward was drunk for two days. never he said was there such an exciting time in washington. and then there is the white house and two years from now will be the 200th anniversary of the rescue of the portrait of george washington which i would submit has allowed all americans to identify this event as the kind of highlight of be more of 1812 instead of shrinking in sadness that the white house was ever burned by an enemy. paul jennings does have a one of the kind story. he purchased his own freedom, secured his family'

fox chief white house correspondent ed henry has been at the white house, covering it all day. ed, where do things stand? >> good to see you, dana, you've been through the budget battles. the bottom line, there's not a lot of progress, so the white house is here and waiting and looking at what kind of last minute negotiations were going on, on capitol hill behind closed doors, but the senate majority leader harry reid a short time ago going home and basically saying that he will be back in the senate until tomorrow at 11 a.m., suggests that we're edging closer and closer to that cliff, but what the president did today. as he did something rare, he went on the sunday talk show for the first time in three years, went on nbc's meet the press and the last time he did one of the shows was promote health care reform today and try and back republicans back into a corner and suggested that maybe he's starting to play the blame game and saying if we go off the cliff it's going to be republicans fault. take a listen to what he had to say. >> not because democrats and congress don't want

whether or not it's actually a political more advantageous for the white house. maybe that strengthens the president's hand. about whether or not they would be strengthened if u in fact, this happens. two things happened today. one of which is beranck erksz came out and boehner essentially came out and seem today give a nonanswer of whether or not he would back just voting on the middle class tax cuts. so those two things, i think, both show -- on the one hand, bernancke, where the rubber meets the road here, when the stock market really starts to react and people would be more jittery and the reality would be upon us. and then with boehner essentially being a middle path to get passed this. >> are there really people in the white house who believe that it's a bunji jump? that if we go over in the cliff, we'll come right back up again in the market? that's not what bernanke things. >> you're right. that's not what bernanke thinks. there is a sense that the politics of it and the optics of it would strengthen the president's hand. if people start looking at their

and then the day after thanksgiving, that's when the white house christmas tree, the official white house christmas tree arrives and the first lady and children, they check it out and they always like it, obviously. that's put up in the blue room. and there are 12 other public rooms, each one of those has its own tree. these trees are huge. and then, you know, all the rooms have other decorations, the halls are decorated, the front of the white house is decorated. so it takes an army and there are also 100 volunteers from all over the country who apply for the opportunity to go to the white house and be part of the preparations to help put things up and i talked to a lot of them and they were really moved by the experience. and they were reminded it is their home too. every room we see in the special, every first family makes the point of saying that, they're occupying it now, but it is the people's home. >> i was looking at, they were putting the little miniature replica of bo on what i assume is a gingerbread white house. and knowing you a little bit, meredith, i'm shocked you didn't gr

busy at the white house today. the speaker of the house met with the president to try to break the budget deadlock. in about two weeks, as you know, most americans will see a big tax increase, and there will be massive spending cuts unless another way is found to reduce the red ink in the budget. mr. obama wants to raise taxes on the top 2% of americans, and that would include married couples earning more than $250,000. nancy cordes is at the capitol tonight. nancy? >> reporter: scott, the president and speaker boehner met at the white house this evening for about 50 minutes. we're told the conversation was frank, but before he headed to the white house, speaker boehner gave this grim assessment of the state of talks right now. >> here we are at the 11th hour, and the president still isn't serious about dealing with this issue right here. it's this issue: spending! >> reporter: white house aides say the president has proposed $600 billion worth of cuts. in an interview with cbs' minneapolis affiliate wcco, the pres

the white house is telling -- the white house press pool was told the meeting ended at 4:15 p.m. so that puts the meeting at just over an hour all told, and i'm told that we just saw senator mcconnell, the republican leader in the senate leaving the white house here, so that gives us three out of the four congressional leaders that we've now seen going out of building. unless i'm missing senator reid here. it looks like he might still be in the building at this point. >> the republicans have left the building pretty much. >> reporter: that's right. >> leaving the democrats to talk about this. so it doesn't look that great. stay right there. let's talk about this with some market pros, morgan lander and stephen nicholas is with us, ed moy and rick lake was with us earlier. chad morgan lander, what do you do? investors are watching all of this, they want some direction and they want to get ready for 2030 and the nonsense continues in washington. >> well, the market is going to get sloppy over the next two weeks until they get a resolution, and you should fully expect that they will

ed henry, fox news chief white house correspondent. joining me now, a pulitzer prize-winning journalist, campaign strategists, former reagan political director of, veteraran democratic campaign strategists. we thank you all for being here. let's turn, if i may, to you. this is an impasse, a stal i'm going to be the one who raises taxes, but you're going to be the ones tocut medicare. if you want cuts in entitlements, but the mob. i'm not going to do both for you. lou: here is a thought. that is, the obama white house has made a rare mistake, miscalculation. they have incentivized republicans to say, you know, the heck with it. if you're not going to come to the table, we are not going to advance it. you have chosen and we have reached an agreement as to parties for sequestration. we will go along with the tax cuts. that's your decision. sequestration was part -- we are partners on that deal. let her rip. they're going to get twice as much in the way of spending cuts as an increase in taxes that way it's the best deal, and it's also ori

the white house budget. we could have come back with the house gop budget. we're trying to do something that's middle ground. but the white house does not believe it was a status quo election. they believe they were handed a resounding victory. >> absolutely. nbc's luke russert. thanks so much. let's get right to our panel now. msnbc contributor ari melber is with me in the studio, and democratic strategist julian epstein joins us from washington. speaker boehner today hold reporters the president is in la la land. then he presents a counteroffer based on the mythical dynamic scoring system that saves money through projected growth. who is actually living in la la land? >> yeah, this is really extraordinary. and the republicans are not living in the real world. consider what we're thinking about, what we're talking about right now. obama, who won the election with an overwhelming electoral college mandate has put forward exactly what he campaigned on, which is sensible tax reform allowing the top 2% of the t

white house correspondent peter alexander joining us. peter, as we understand it, the white house planning to make a move within the weeks ahead. what does that mean? >> good question. that's the question we need posing to white house press secretary jay carney a moment ago. he referred to this as a complex problem needing complex solutions and said no single piece of legislation and one policy to handle this. he was peppered with questions, among other things asking specifically what the president meant when he said he would use all of the power of his office to try to effect change referring to the epidemic of gun violence in the country and no specific proposal he brought forth or timeline going forward. i heard your conversation with the guests in the last 15 minutes or so and i said what the the president say to americans right now asking the question today, why did it take until now for the president to take sincere action? as you noted, he's been to four communities now from colorado and arizona, ft. hood, texas, and now connectic

house. >> dana: they are. >> greg: keeps going to the white house. al sharpton. i mean he is -- the kato riots. c'mon. >> bob: my ear, nose, throat guy went to stones conner? new jersey and said it was baby boomers smoking dope. >> kimberly: thank you for that update, bob. >> greg: all right. radio hosts have been yanked off the air and we're hearing from them for the first time since the nurse's suicide. >> you know, shattered. heart broken. >> we're so sorry that this has happened. >> greg: police are investigating could they face criminal charges over the death of this young woman? should they? next on "the five." ♪ ♪ twins. i didn't see them coming. i have obligations. cute obligations, but obligatio. i need to rethink the core of my portfolio. what i really need is sleep. introducing the ishares core, building blocks for the heart of your portfolio. find out why 9 out of 10 large professional investors choose ishares for their etfs. ishares by blackrock. call 1-800-ishares for a prospectus which includes investment objectives, risks, charges

but i'm curious about the folks at the white house, mike, it seems to me the people at the white house are trying to decide if it's worth it. >> i don't often say this, because every time i think it i end up being wrong. but i think there's a visceral aspect of this. i think the president, when this came up in his first post-election press conference was genuinely upset. come after me, come after me, almost like a joe pesci moment there. gwen: right, right. and if it would have been anybody other than john mccain it wouldn't have been quite the same. >> which also may have pushed the presidential buttons as well. i think that there is a strong contingent among the upper echelon at the state department and at the white house that think that president should go forward with that nomination. gwen: should? >> should. i think there are others who say let's not pick this fight now. we have plenty to work on you the upcoming fiscal cliff and immigration. i think when susan collins appeared after a meeting, i believe it was on wednesday, who, you know, is not exactly a red meat republican who

but the white house says it's about the rates. ed henry is at the white house tonight. the president claims the republic math does not add up. >> that's right, shep. he met with the nation's governors today. he said behind closed doors that there is a lot at stake not just for the national economy but state by state. some of their budgets could take a major hit if, in fact, the nation goes off the so-called fiscal cliff. his spokesman jay carney was even tougher in going after speaker john boehner's latest proposal in saying it simply doesn't add up. >> we don't know who pays. we don't know what we're talking about in terms of actual legislation to increase revenues. it's magic beans and fairy dust. >> the bottom line is the president and speaker boehner have not spoken now in several days. so there is really no signs of progress. there has been some discussion that look that's just happening in public. behind closed doors maybe they are gaining some ground, i have spoken to some top white house officials tonight some top republicans on the hill they say in private they

the white house does not believe that any more. probably the key lesson they took from the last couple of years is this. do not negotiate with yourself. if republicans want it cut medicare, let them propose the cuts. if they want it raise revenue through tax reform as opposed to marginal rates, let them tell you with what they want it eliminate. if they want deeper cuts to discretionary spending, let them give you a number. above all, if they don't like your policies, let them propose their own. that way if the white house does give in to hire demands, the republicans would feel like they got one over on the prose. they won one. i think is a genuinely important principle in washington. a compromise is not measured by what you offer. it is measured by what the other side feels they made you concede. the gop is right. this is an serious proposal and that obama seriously expects them to accept it. expects him to give him a proposal. it is a serious message though. obama is no longer dealing with himself. now that gop leaked his offer,

eisenhower thinking the staff at the white house. at the same time the incoming president they are leaving the house getting ready for the big day. another thing that takes place on inauguration morning and this will happen again is a religious service when i was in washington with my wife a few years ago from where we were staying there was a church called the first church that's a traditional african-american church and that's where the inauguration church services to place for america's first black president bill clinton. [laughter] now, i will have a little map here for you. things start off at the white house and they move along pennsylvania avenue towards the capitol which is on the right and there's a traditional copy at the white house that takes place and it's a big deal on the days when there is a transition from one president to another. again, 1961 and the was a year a lot of thpictures were made available. you just don't normally see these pictures. here's eisenhower and kennedy together and at the same time you have the

i say that to democrats, republicans, the white house, but congress. they should sit down and really talk this out. the old joe biden way when he would deal with mitch mcconnell just a couple of years ago. extend the bush tax cuts in the white house they called by in the mcconnell-whisper. in the horse whisperer, one for you, one for me. that is hard. that is the way you make a deal. >> at this moment, does it look to you like we have a deal by christmas eve, new year's eve, for do we go over the cliff? >> who knows? if somebody who thinks they know is only guessing. maybe there is some strategy in the white house that, you know, by a certain date they will fort something out. >> we always start the morning with the papers. mr. woodward is the assistant managing editor of "the which sayspost wh" the stock markets are convinced that the trauma will work out. at the -- "the financial times" has the different headline. which of these is more true? [laughter] >> on wall street, they live in the zone of a on peaceful coexistence of optimism and pessimism. y

the white house. kristin, are 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

there were only a handful of staff in the white house who knew about this. the majority of my senior staff didn't know about it. my secretary didn't know about it. my personal aide didn't know about it. >> the first lady? >> the first lady didn't know about it. >> your husband didn't know? >> no. >> mrs. obama didn't know? these are big-time washington diplomatic security secrets. >> yes. this was such an important secret to keep, no one in the state department knew. the same, i think, except for those with need-to-know in the pentagon and cia and certainly the white house. so i just felt a personal responsibility to keep it close, but that meant that i was basically, you know, having to consult with myself, to be honest. >> keeping this secret also meant going on about the business of presidency, touring that awful storm damage in alabama while knowing at athat very moment u.s. navy s.e.a.l.s were already the on the move halfway around the world. you had to go to tuscaloosa? >> yes. >> you had to go have fun at the correspondents dinner? >> yes. >> seth mey

the white house saw no reason to embrace something that raised taxes so sky high and so the white house brought out something that was frankly to the right of simpson-bowles. their budget was to its right and they thought it had a better chance of passing. they thought it was a compromise. but the house republicans did not respond the same way. when they brought out the ryan budget, which was their budget alternative, they didn't compromise. they went way to the right. there was no compromise in it at all. that is fact number one. number two, in 2010 republicans won the midterm election. 2011 the white house agreed to a deal that was all spending cuts. it is the budget control act. it cuts spending by $1.8 trillion over the next decade. except for an increase in pell grants, the bill is all cuts, no taxes. and democrats agree to that. they agreed. that is fact number two. fact number three. at this point even after winning the most recent election the white house has moved much farther toward boehner than boehner has moved to the white house. from their first offer in november to the la

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 debate we've been seeing since the election. now that's what they're doing. the staff is meeting and deciding how much goes up in s

it stands adjacent to the white house christmas tree. as he's done for 20 years, the rabbi presided over that ceremony. 20 years. that is quite a streak. >> very nice. thank you. >>> 49 minutes past the hour. people waking up in minnesota right now have a little work to do, i would say so. there is as much as 17 inches of snow waiting to be shoveled outside. in some parts of the state, it sure looks pretty, doesn't it? alexandra steel is in for rob marciano. let it snow. >> absolutely. a snow on hanukkah. we have to love that. this is their livelihood there. it's been a poultry few years, biggest snow in minneapolis in two years. and certainly it's february 2011 when they had this. last year in minneapolis, they only had 22 inches. the biggest snow was four. it's been poultry. so we're bringing it on. maplewood, minnesota, 14.7. that's about 14 miles east of minneapolis. eau claire, 0 inch12 inches, yo the picture. the cold air in place. the arctic air moved in with the moisture. we got all that snow. but, you can see what happened. here

>> no, just a call, david, not holding it at the white house, not a meeting at the white house. david: a conference call, and, again, expecting shortly to have word of what went on in the so-called all-important meeting with republicans and democrats inside the white house. we know they left the white house. we have not had any announcements of any success. we'll be back to the white house right after a short break. david: this was supposed to be it, folks. remember that anticipate in the godfather when all the warring factions got together in one room to iron it all out? this is what was supposed to happen in the white house where we had democratic leaders in the senate and house, republican leaders from the senate and house, treasury secretary, even the vice president was there. they were getting together to iron out their difference. they had their meeting came out and rich edson, they didn't talk to us. we don't know what happened? when will we? >> i also don't know if anybody hugged, david. david: i doubt it. >> a la, the godfather. what happened at the beginning of this me

>> the white house is ready for christmas. the first lady gave a tour of the presidential decorations and that is not it. >> how do you know? maybe they have been growing something in the garden. >>> the white house released their holiday card. it is a realistic painting. it's the obama family dog in front of the white house. the painting was done in black and white. it's based on a color photo. that's the original photo. it was a little too colorful for me. a very colorful. i think beau might be getting to the obama supply of centrum. speaking of the holiday spirit this is nice. this happened in thanksgiving. a station in kentucky was doing a live report from a shelter that does an annual thanksgiving dinner. keep an eye on what goes on in the background in tonight's edition of "behind the news. >> what are you thankful this thanksgiving? >> this thanksgiving i'm thankful i see all these men and women in this hotel who come in and have a good thanksgiving and share it with us that i have my life back, my grandchildren, my son

back on the white house. >> mary, republicans have been fighting over the new no taxes pledge and grover norquist has republicans on record i won't vote for a tax increase. are they really ending up here negotiating with themselves in a way that hurts their positions, vis-a-vis the president? >> certainly, they are, i think that the president is energized by the fact he thinks, look, i ran a lousy economy for four years, i left unemployment high, i increased the size of the debt and the deficit, i got everything i wanted, the place is a mess and look, i got reelected. so, what's so hard about me continuing to doing that and blaming it on them. obviously, i'm very good at that and that's base clr where he's going here and the republicans i think are not very good poker players, they're signaled they're relucks tennant to go over the cliff. if you're in this showdown, i is a, come on, bring it. >> paul: they will get blamed if that happens and the president is signaling that. that wouldn't be a pleasant outcome for them. you're saying they should suggest to the president we had he' be will

speaker had presented to the white house. it seems as if taxes, for at least some people, will go up. connell: now we have this story that we have been meaning to talk about. users of instagram, the company is claiming ownership of the photos. shibani: a bout of people are reaching the conclusion of not posting photos at all. it is so important to read that fine print. the photo sharing site instagram posting on its company blog, if you do not read the coopany blog, you will not find this out. the company is changing its privacy statement so i can make money off of the pictures whether you like it or not. you agree that a business or other entity may pay us, basically anything that you put up there along with any associated metadata or action that you take with paid or sponsored content or promotions without any compensation to you. here is a good example of what could happen. you and your family are at applebee's having a dinner out. you post a picture on instagram. applebee's can go in turn and take instagram to use that ph

we understand that joe biden, our crack white house team, put eyes on him going into the white house about 1:45 this afternoon. he was in delaware yesterday. seems unlikely at this point that biden would make the trip up to capitol hill for any face-to-face negotiations. democrats say this is simply a ruse, mitch mcconnell trying to go around harry reid, the democratic leader here and appealing to joe biden, trying to make it look in democratic estimation as if republicans are going the last mile, but, look, we're stuck. we're nowhere at this point. there was a major setback earlier. you mentioned it, the so-called chained cpi. a lot of people tweeted me and said what the heck is that? simply a revised way of adjusting cost of living increases to social security recipients that would in effect lower the growth of those payments, lower the rate of inflation, lower the cost of living increase most times. republicans have evidently put that on the table. that was what really got these negotiations to a standstill. they emerged from their lunch, did republicans, just a few minutes ago, a

that's the message in the white house. we we're going to do the best for the country that's waitinger for us to make a decision. >> clarence, you even seen this movie, right? >> well, yeah. at least in the works on the senate side. on the house side, we still don't know about those hard core intransigents, and even if the senate does come up with something, if the house can agree to go along with it, as kristen said, you have to have all the democrats and about 30 republicans. there's only about six republicans that are familiar to democrats. the rest don't seem to lose any points as far as they're concerned by appearing to be as much of a road block as they can, even if it means going over the fiscal cliff. so if harry reid and mr. mcconnell can't come up with something, then you've got barack obama's proposal and the up or down vote and one way oar the over, he's going to get them on the record. >> joy, even before he gets to the house, there are plenty of republicans in the senate who can mess this up, right? even if th

this according to a white house official. basically the president said, you know, look if the speaker can not come up with some type of compromise, or republican and democratic leaders can not come up with some kind of compromise, would they put up the president's plan $250,000 below vote in the house, the white house officials said the speaker was noncommittal. the white house officials said that it does not appear that the debt ceiling is part of this. that is a major obstacle for republicans in the house. they said that they wanted for the president a four year plan the debt ceiling. it could help carve the vote. adam: when the president says nobody gets 100% of what they want, is he tipping his hat that perhaps, okay, it won't be a tax increase on 250,000, but maybe the higher 400 or 500,000 for the tax increase?

democrats and republicans have made the trip to the white house. i'm ashley webster,. it is the last hour of trading, and count down to the closing bell starts now. we have breaking news from washington. rich edson at the white house where president obama is about to meet with key members of congress, and, rich, there's talk of a scaled down deal put forth by the president. what have you heard? >> it that is the discussion. you have harry reid, mitch mcconnell arriving at the white house, should have house leadership shortly to begin a meeting, a last ditch effort to try to help the economy avoid the fiscal cliff, or at least pieces of it, and, yes, the buzz around washington is a possible path forward that aids describe as preventing tax increase for income amounts of $400,000 or $500,000 or so, extend unemployment insurance, but, still, nothing has been agreed to. all in washington are waiting to see how this meeting goes. it's just about to start here in dc. meanwhile, on capital hill, the fighting continues, and in some corners, a sense of pessimism. >> if we don't

the white house concocted this story. susan rice who is willing to lie at the drop of a hat goes out. hillary clinton wouldn't. i would like to see under oath when she was asked were you asked to go on those sunday shows and if you -- and you did not, why not. in. >> she will i'm sure claim some kind of executive. >> she can't, not on that. >> judge jeanine: i agree. never know how they will get out of it. her underling who testified said that the cable's warning of deteriorating security and inability of the libyan government to provide security went to her floor. >> the answer is why didn't they do something. one thing to say i'm the responsible officer. that's nice. no, the quid is wh question isr team didn't come to you. why isn't any one higher up being fired? you know what, the problem is in a real center ice temperature where people like vance in carter because he disagreed with the raid on the attempted desert one, you know what, we haven't had a resignation in principle saying i failed or i was wrong or whatever

just as importantly she needs to ask she was in the white house but who was in the white house dealing with this issue. so far it seems the only person they have put out there to speak about this has been susan rice. hillary clinton needs to ask tough questions about what her role was. if she didn't have a role in this who did you need to look at who dropped the ball. diplomatic security falls under the purview of the state department. it falls under hillary clinton's purview. we note hillary clinton reports to the white house. when you are taking about the white house you are speaking about the national security advisor and white house. we have silence from someone like tom donnellon another does hillary clinton she is likely to appear ton talk shows when it is convenience to do so. >> will you subpoena tom done lynn? >> as you know the white house and president obama will likely choose executive privilege when it comes to national security advisor. tom donnelly is the one person who has the answer the breakdown here was national security council where information was changed and dist

which the white house wants. the white house is adamant. and erskine bowles in the interview you quoted said he can guarantee the white house won't do a deal unless it has a hike in rates. >> bret: trying to get the major players to talk about this at any level deeper than the talking points is pretty tough. we tried again tonight with congressman van hollen. >> congressman, i'm not hearing a lot of give on the entitlement on this side. >> there is a difference between savings and medicare. we don't believe to pass costs -- >> bret: gotcha, so the answer is no. >> not true. you can reform medicare and build on what we did in the affordable care act. >> what are you going to give republicans to get them to a place to negotiate a final deal. >> there are cuts in the president's budget. i know the republicans haven't really paid attention to them. >> congressman, i haven't heard anything new you are giving them. >> they are not clear about the entitlement. that is where the president said the money is. on social security he denied any effect o

in a similar vein, the white house relatively early on made a decision tuesday's close all white house was. again, they were trying to make a big, bold statement. i can, it has had mixed success. the fact that i was want to point out if they didn't do this on their own. they did it in litigation by my group to settle a lawsuit and they were in the midst of negotiating over obamacare and we wanted to know which health care lobbyists had visited the white house. going into court and having to lobby for not disclosing that information at that time would've been politically somewhat embarrassing for them. that said, they did it stopped this bold sweeping policy that the records online. has it worked? you can read more news articles based on his record. at the same time, we had more suggestions. recently everyone was focused on paul broadwell and her affair with david trias and the fact she bent to the white house a number of times. my understanding is some of them are not recorded and logged. so that suggest there is some gaps in the record. and then we had stories about white house staffe