the feelings are very strong within the house gop conference. we're not sure how this will go. but now a big question mark hangs over this legislation. >> needless to say, nobody wants to see this drag on anymore. needless to say, you have been covering this. let's go over to luke russert also watching this for us. what are you hearing in terms of eric cantor and speaker boehner now. >> it's a wild story, richard. i have some details about that meeting that happened on capitol hill. i heard there are about 40 members who spoke um in that meeting. 37 of the 40 who spoke up spoke out against the bill. one member who is pretty close to the house speaker, john boehner, told me "it was like living in another world, listening to some of the things my fellow members were saying." talking about maybe we should have hundreds and millions in spending cuts to this amendment we will send over. this member told me he felt his colleagues did not have a clear idea of what exactly was happening throughout the country. that this idea that the senate last night had an 89 members voting together

. >> and house gop leaders in virginia. >> getting advice on how to turn the party around. plotting their next moves at their annual retreat. >> face it, president obama won. >> the republicans lost. >> i told them, stick to your principles. >> we need a principled, conservative party. >> this is not about tactics. >> you guys lost. >> to figure out you lost every possible demographic there is. >> if there is a legitimate rape. >> stop talking about rape. >> find something else. >> i'm running for office, i can't have illegals, i want to protect legal immigration. >> they have a big problem in national elections. >> president obama has won the election. >> the president right now has a higher approval rating certainly than congress. >> horrible numbers for congress. >> a pitiful 14%. >> pretty bad numbers on john boehner's report card. >> the debt ceiling is a dangerous game. >> i don't see that as a winner for them. >> don't fight battles you can't win. >> it is a troubled time for the party. >> let's stop for a second. >> let's make clear decisions. >> the republican stra

you had the house gop constituents all there together, all the leaders of the house. they decide, we're going to give a three-month reprieve to dealing with the debt ceiling, we're going to temporarily extend this limit. what do you think happened there and are you in favor -- what do you think was the ideology behind that? >> i think the ideology was ideology. i think within the republican party and within congress, it seems like the issues are not the issues anymore. the fight is the issue. i think republicans have understood that in this environment, hopefully that, like mayors do, we look at solving problems. and right now, the environment is just not good to have that kind of discussion. we saw it with the fiscal cliff discussion. we saw when you get to last-second discussions, good decisions aren't made and really nobody wins in those because then you have to sort out what happened. i think the republicans are saying, listen, let's have a cooling-off period, let's figure out how we want to approach this. let's work on solutions. that's what mayors do all day lon

we are in a situation where if the house gop doesn't do something, then we have a real problem. >> yeah. the difference there just to be clear to everybody, it's not just that the opposition party has traditionally voted as a matter of protest against raising the debt ceiling. the norm changed is that house republicans demanded specific concessions in exchange for raising the debt ceiling, not just casting symbolic votes but saying we want trillions of dollars in cut, billions of dollars in cuts. that's new, using the debt ceiling as a bargaining chip but along the same lines i have noticed something maybe. that the ground is shifting here in terms of where the house republicans looking for the leverage in the upcoming fights over medicare, medicaid and entitlements and talking about the debt ceiling as beverage and then the continuing resolution funding the government and coming up for exwe ration in march and going up to the deadline, past that deadline, it is not good, results in a government shutdown, a temporary government shutdown and nowhere near as catastrophic in terms of debt

the house gop meets again. by now, the senate has warned them. they will not entertain amendments, sure enough gop opposition can't gather enough support to pass those amendments any way, which brings us to last night. after 11:00 p.m., house members vote on the senate member as is. they approve it 257-167 sending it to the president's desk. it's interesting to note, 16 house democrats voted against the measure, 85 house republicans voted for it. behind the scenes, the level of tension between the party leaders extremely high, devolving to nasty name calling. last week reid tocommented on boehner, and yesterday boehner told reid to go blank yourself. he even repeated the comment and bragged about it later. >>> secretary of state hillary clinton remains hospitalized this morning for a blood clot behind her right ear. her doctors say she'll make a full recovery, there's no neurological damage. this type of blood clot is rare and can be very dangerous. robert bazell with more including important warning signs you need to know. >> reporter: the type

the house gop is meeting at this hour for the second time today. leadership and members are discussing how to move forward on a bill they say need to include spending cuts. house speaker john boehner and eric cantor arrived at the meeting together. but it was cantor who set off the storm earlier today just hours ago by announcing he could not support the senate bill that was approved this morning at 2:00 a.m. house democratic leader nancy pelosi attempted to put pressure on tonight. she posted this on twitter saying quote, strong majority of house democrats support the bipartisan senate bill that passed 89-8. confident it will pass and speaker boehner allows an up or down vote. and republicans like congressman jack kingston of georgia blame the senate for a hastily written bill. >> it was way past those senators' bedtime. they were blurry eyed when they were reading it. we're trying to fill in the gap where they missed a few things. >> let's bring in luke russert who has been covering this story on capitol hill. what's the latest on the meeting? we

the house gop meets again. by now, the senate has warned them they will not entertain amendments. and sure enough, the gop opposition can't gather enough support to pass those amendments anyways. which brings us to late last night. just after 11:00 p.m., house members vote on the senate measure as is. they approve it 257-167 sending it to the president's desk. it's interesting to know that 16 democrats voted against the measure while 85 republicans voted for it. >>> behind the scenes, the level of tension you can imagine between the party leaders extremely high evolving into nasty name-calling. harry reid had publicly said that speaker boehner was running a, quote, dictatorship in the house but this morning, politico is reporting on friday when the men saw one another some the lobby of the white house, they reportedly told reid to go blank yourself. politico said that multiple sources said that boehner even repeated the nasty comment to reid and bragged about it later. boehner's office has not commented. >>> secretary of state hillary clinton remains hospitalized for a blood clot

at about the same time, the house gop convenes. we quickly learn that house republicans may be staging a revolt. majority leader here eric cantor and his peers begin rallying for amendments to that bill. namely that. >> want to add about $330 billion in spending cuts to that bill. then at 5:30 this evening, the house gop conference meets again. by now, the senate has warned them they will not entertain any amendments, in other words, if it comes to them. that will not put it to the floor. and sure enough, gop opposition cannot gather enough support to pass those amendments anyway. which brings us to tonight. live on the floor at the moment, we look. house members preparing to vote on exactly what the senate suggested. we're watching this as it is being voted on. there were four things that needed to happen as they convened again this evening. we are now what we expect to be about an hour and 15 minutes away, roughly before we understand what the vote outcome is on the senate-passed bill. we expect them to start debate on the senate

. ♪ >> senate republicans are pushing for reform, but the house gop might just land the party in reform school. it is tuesday, january 29th, and this is "now." >>> joining us today former deputy white house press secretary, executive vice president global strategy group, and former obama money bunny, the man with a very long title bill burton. >> a lot of hats. >> a lot of hats. politico congressional reporter jake sherman is making his debut with us. msnbc political analyst and former dnc communications drishgt karen finney is here, and mother jones washington bureau chief david corn. channelling the spirit of rick perry, will the republican party finally have a heart when it comes to immigration? president obama is en route to las vegas where he will outline his immigration priorities just hours from now which comes amid signs of bipart sfwlan agreement on the issue in the senate. for senate leaders it has been a swift path from this attitude -- >> drug and human smuggling, home invasions, murder. >> we're outmanned. with all the illegals in america, more than half come through arizon

inside capitol hill, house gop itself will decide if they fall in line with their comrades in the senate or stage rebellion demanding changes to the fiscal cliff compromise. hello, everyone. i'm richard lui. here's the latest in the fiscal cliff talks. 2:00 a.m. we had a deal sfr the senate with strong bipartisan support. then this afternoon around 3:30 p.m., we heard that they would amend that bill and that there was not support for it from leaders. the house will then take a look at this, but we are hearing that the senate will hear none of it. they will not accept an amended bill. but for the second time today, the house gop caucus met to discuss the way forward with the senate bill itself. house speaker john boehner emerging sfr that latest meeting after proposing two options. first is an amended bill that would cut around $330 billion in spending. republicans would then see if they had the 217 votes needed to pass the new bill. if they can't get the required number of votes, they would bring the senate bill to the floor for an up or down vote tonight or tomorrow morning. let's bring

do you think the house gop has the will to stand against the speppeding cuts going forward. >> i believe that the house has the political will for whatever the people in the country demand it do. there are so many fantastic people who want to represent the districts. they will represent them appropriately. my concern is what s&p. if we don't do about the massive overspending we are done. >> all right. congressman. thank you for joining us . we appreciate it >> thank you so much. thank you. now, it is time to way in on washington woe's. to you think that the gop has the back bone to stay firm. tweet year answers and i will read the responses later in the hour. i look forward to that. >> congress may have passed a deal. but next steve forbes will tell us what it take to get deficit under control and back on track. it is it a tall order indeed. stay with us. . i tried weight loss plans... but their shakes aren't always made for people with diabetes. that's why there's glucerna hunger smart shakes. they have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes. and

with this house gop conference, it's not over until it's over. we'll see here in the next half hour. >> luke, there's some channelling of bob marley going on in the capitol, which is to say, no woman, no cry. no budget, no pay. tell us a little about that interesting writer to this bill. >> you know, it's an interesting idea that was attached here, which really comes from no label, that group with david walker, and actually jim cooper, a blue dog member of the democratic coalition of tennessee introduced this original. that's why they feel if they can hit the 217 number they'll get more democrats to support this. the idea is, once this passes the house, the debt limit would be extended to may 19th and possibly worked on afterwards, but if the senate does not come up with a budget by april 17th, any salaries would go into an escrow account until 2014. it's not really no budget, no pay, it's just no budget, you'll get your money later, because we legally have to give it to you. in the senate, those guys are straight cash. i don't think a lot of the

gop. nothing gets done." and morgan lefey tweeted out, "it seems like the republicans' answer to everything is always no. except for repealing health care." keep sharing your thoughts with us and like us on facebook and use the hashtag edshow on twitter. coming up, bill o'reilly said he'd have to quit his job if president obama raises taxes. we'll see if he kept his promise. stay with us. 53. big time taste should fit in a little time cup. new single serve cafe collections from maxwell house now available for use in the keurig k-cup brewer. always good to the last drop. >> that gives us heat. >> i -- two pinches because i like it spicy. >> curry powder -- >> pinching that again. >> you are meticulous with the pinch like really pinching that. >> you can go for it. you want don't want to overpower. >> like pinch like that. like! >> back in the day. the bam! [laughter] >> what else is there. >> mango juice an pineapple juice. use more manage goal. pineapple has froth and we will shake it up.

. >> the house gop is scheduled to meet about this bill at 1:00 p.m. do you think the majority of republicans will pass this plan? >> well, hard to say what the house republicans will do particularly with some of their more extreme tea party members is a challenge i won't take on. but i can tell you that house democrats are ready to make sure that we avoid those tax increases on the middle class. that we ensure the wealthiest americans pay a little bit more. that we ensure that we protect social security and medicare and senior citizens and that whatever we do going forward is balanced so that the middle class doesn't bear the burden of any of these decisions in the future. >> now, the fight over spending cuts now happens in two months. does that mean we're basically going to be doing this all over again in just a short time? >> well, it means we have more work to do. and i think that's okay. we want to make -- anything worth doing is worth doing thoroughly and with a lot of thought. and so we want to make sure that whatever we do related to the seques

the house gop leadership considered an amended version of the senate's fiscal cliff bill, which would include around $330 billion in spending cuts. nbc news is reporting there are not enough votes for the amended bill to pass. now, without those needed votes, speaker john boehner is prepared to bring the senate deal to the house floor for an up-and-down vote possibly tonight. the senate bill is expected to get around 170 democratic votes in the house, meaning it will need roughly 50 republican votes to pass. now these developments come after house republicans were on the verge of rejecting the senate bill earlier today. house gop leader eric cantor telling the caucus he could not support the bill without spending cuts. all right. let's turn to nbc's mike viqueira who has been covering all the latest developments from washington on this. so vic, the reason we're in this place, this has something to do with a fig leaf? >> well, i think so. i think plainly what happened here is after it became apparent earlier in the day that the house republican conference did not like what the senate d

house gop, eyes default, shutdown. and it talks about the very real possibility that house republican members want to see the government shut down or default if they don't get the cuts they want. >>> let me bring in "times" deputy bureau chief ed o'keefe. good morning to both of you. this is all just breaking now, but the president has said and he said it consistently. he's not negotiating over the debt ceiling. michael, is this more of what we're going to hear from him today? is he going to lay the groundwork for the battle ahead? >> i think so. to some degree i think what's happening is a game of chicken unfortunately. i know the financial markets hate it. and it kind of turns your stomach a little bit. but obama has said we're absolutely not negotiating over the weekend a significant event when the treasury department ruled out this kind of fantastical sounding option of minting a trillion dollar platinum coin. so they've closed yet another door, and he's essentially said, you know, i'm just not playing ball. i read

house gop leaders decided to wait for the new session of congress before taking the vote. new york republican peter king called it absolutely inexcusable. and democrat eliot engle says speaker john boehner should hang his head in shame. >>> secretary of state hillary clinton, entering a fourth day in a new york city hospital where she is being treated for a blood clot. chelsea clinton has been at her mother's bedside. and tweeted, thank you for sending good thoughts to my mom's way. doctors have not given a date when clinton can leave the hospital or how soon she'll be able to resume her usual, hectic pace. >>> and students from sandy hook elementary get ready to head back to class tomorrow for the first time since the shooting nearly three weeks ago. an open house scheduled today and therapy dogs are on their way from chicago to help ease the transition. we'll be live in newtown, coming up on "good morning america." >>> in the week of the newtown tragedy, one new jersey school district will have an armed police officer at every school beginning today. there's always been

house gop members are backing off a requirement to cut $1 of spending for every dollar the debt ceiling has raised. it's a move the president has demanded. >> i do believe it is a recognition of political reality. i think we realize the president won the election. >> reporter: but republicans on capitol hill are not voting to raise the debt ceiling without getting something in return. they say in order to approve a highe debt limit, they want senate democrats to do something they haven't done in four years -- pass a budget. >> for us to have a debate about spending and debt, we've got to have the focus be on a budget and what we're going to do to achieve a balanced budget over time. >> reporter: senate democrats view the vote as an opportunity to raise more money for taxes. >> it's going to be a great opportunity for us. in our budget we lift budget reform which many of my republican colleagues like, but it's going to include revenues. >> reporter: the house is expected to approve the debt limit increase tomorrow. no dollar amount specifically is in the bill, but the legislation is expe

cnn has just learned from two house gop aides that house republicans are considering an amendment which would add $300 billion in spending cuts to the senate's plan. this is how this is going to work. the house leadership, gop leadership, is going -- right now they are doing something called whipping. they are going to see whether they have the 217 votes necessary to pass the legislation with the amendment. then it would have to go back to the senate for reconsideration. the senate has gone home so i don't know whether that means they are going to come back and deal with it but if they were to change it, there would not be passage of this bill tonight. markets would open tomorrow morning and the u.s. will have gone over the cliff. remember, we are also getting a brand new congress tomorrow. now, option two, which house speaker john boehner has put before his caucus, is that if they cannot come up with the 217 votes necessary to amend this bill, he will put it to the house as an up or down vote. that means everybody gets to go on the record saying which way they are voting for this bill.

we are learning that house gop rank-and-file will gather for a conference meeting. boy, would you like to the inside of that conference meeting. guest: indeed, but my hunch is it will not be a raucous affair. i would assume speaker boehner would have a hands-off approach, and say, "guys, i did my best, this came down the pike, we try to come up with the deal, and not get it done." his own caucus would not support it. we should have realized that was the danger. at the time, speaker boehner said to the president and harry reid, the senate needs to send something our way, and we will deal with it. i thought it was a humble and honest approach. now, they got it, and i do not think they're going to like it. host: again, the house comes into session around noon eastern time. keep your television on c-span as we continue our coverage of the so-called fiscal cliff. tactically, we went over the -- technically, we went over the cliff, but all reports are if this deal is approved by the house, they could retroactively fixed the tax hikes, and also before the sequestration or

reporter danielle nottingham with more. >> reporter: house gop members left closed

house gop members will meet again this evening. actually within the next half hour. that meeting is scheduled then. live on capitol hill, danielle nottingham, matt back to you. >> danielle, thank you very much. >>> earlier today the white house released a fact sheet on the deal. for starters it would permanently extend middle class tax cuts, extending credit for working families, raises $626 billion by ending tax cuts to the wealthiest 2% of the americans. promote deficit reduction and strong fiscal growth and extend the farm bill through the end of the fiscal year, thus averting a sharp rise in milk prices. stay with 9news throughout the night for the very latest on the fiscal cliff. we'll have updates on our website, wusa9.com and the latest tonight on 9 news at 6:00, 7:00, and 11:00. >>> same-sex marriages got underway in earnest today, all across maryland. a wide cross of people are tieing the knot. among them more than half a dozen couples who literally lined up to wed at a water front end on maryland's eastern shores. our scott broom reports. >> reporter: at th

even some of the parties' own remain skeptical. >> this gop house retreat is pretty fun, so far. as republicans brace themselves for an immigration debate marco rubio focused intently on the year 2016 and it has been pushing the outlines of an imgraugs reform plan. while rubio may be making headway outside washington, he has yet to win over the raucus house caucus where the water is, indeed, choppy. the newly appointed chairman of the house immigration subcommittee is south carolina republican trey gowdy, a fast and furious devoteee who co-sponsored a bill entitled the prohibiting back door amnesty act, supported arizona's highly controversial immigration law, and received an a-minus rating from numbers usa, a group dedicated to reducing the number of immigrants entering the united states. joining the panel now is the new yorker's nick baumgartem. i read the names of those scintillating sim posa, and i wonder as we talk about the gop 2.0 or 7.0 or whatever it rags you choose to believe this is, are you convinced that this is anything more than rhetoric? i really don't mean to be

we are learning that house gop rank-and-file will gather for a conference meeting. boy, would you like to the inside of that conference meeting. guest: indeed, but my hunch is it will not be a raucous affair. i would assume speaker boehner would have a hands-off approach, and say, "guys, i did my best, this came down the pike, we try to come up with the deal, and not get it done." we should have realized that was the danger. at the time, speaker boehner said to the president and harry reid, the senate needs to send something our way, and we will deal with it. i thought it was a humble and honest approach. now, they got it, and i do not think they're going to like it. host: again, the house comes into session around noon eastern time. keep your television on c-span as we continue our coverage of the so-called fiscal cliff. tactically, we went over the cliff, but all reports are if this deal is approved by the house, they could retroactively fixed the tax hikes, and also before the sequestration or automatic spending cuts kick in wednesday, the have another day to dea

gop to get something done. so i think that's one of the things that's going to happen. it could be that they delay these spending cuts in talking about them either around the sequestration or around the time when they have to renew the continueing resolution to fund the government. this is what they've been talking about, spending cuts. but coupling it with the debt ceiling just seems to be a non-starter. >> it's just a non-starter and a nons sense kal notion. but let me come back to you for one quick second, wes. it's gotten so bad, i mean, it's gotten so out of hand until they want to change the brand now. so tea partiers are trying to actually change their name because the brand has gotten so bad. salon reports that the south florida tea party has announced that it will change its name to the national liberty federation siting concerns about the branding and negative associations with the term tea party. >> well, you know, it's funny. they do have a branding problem. but changing the name ain't fixing it. th

house democratic caucus is meeting in less than an hour while the house gop leaders are meeting at 1:00 p.m. eastern time. both parties undoubtedly laying the groundwork for the fiscal cliff showdown that will unfold between its 435 house members. one of those members is democratic congressman from michigan. he's kind enough to join me. thank you for being with us today. first of all, if you could get me up to speed on the decision to make a decision v you heard anything about the possibility there might be a vote today with your members? >> i haven't heard directly. i think there will be. i think the vote last night in the senate set the stage. it was overwhelming. we're going to have a caucus democrats and republicans will discuss the bill. the vice president is coming to the democratic how cause cuss. we'll hear from him. he will explain what's in it. he will say in terms of what was in the senate bill as to the tax cut, they achieved 85% of it. they talked about the minimum tax that would affect 30 million people that now is attended to permanently. also unemployment insurance ext

. >>> well, it took three days, one plantation, and hundreds of gop house members, but republicans finally announced a debt ceiling plan. kick the can again. this time for three months. in an efforts to put pressure on the senate to do something instead. that's the whole, it wasn't me, i guess, strategy. of course, that means another debt ceiling debate is just three months away. joining us now, bill cohen, a columnist at bloomberg view and by phone we have nbc's luke russert in williamsburg, virginia, covering the house republicans. welcome to both of you. >> thank you, karen. >> luke, i want to start with you. republicans are calling it a plan, democratic leader nancy pelosi call it is a gimmick. it sounds more like -- i mean, my read initially was this is more like political posturing rather than a serious deal. what are you hearing down there? >> well, it certainly is something that's meant to try and force the senate to act. you know, the senate has not passed a suggest in over 1,300 days and that's a popular rallying cry of the house gop. but what came out of this retreat was the ide

. >> big news in the debt ceiling, the house gop considering on raising the debt limit. we'll bring you more details and the senate judiciary committee, patrick leahy announced he'll be taking up issues of gun violence and immigration in the new term. republicans and democrats recently announced senate committee assignments and we'll talk about that as well. this afternoon the president kicked off the national day of service volunteering at a school here in the d.c. area. tomorrow he will take the oath of office in a private ceremony at noon. nbc's kristen welker is at the white house. nbc news senior political editor mark murray standing by with new insight from the new nbc news wall street journal poll. let me start with you. for folks who may not get this, a lot of folks wondering why is the president -- he's going to be sworn in on sunday and sworn in again on monday. what's the deal? >> reporter: well, craig, the reason is that the constitution states that the president has to be sworn in before noon on january 20th. january 20th falls on a sunday this year. it's th

january of this year, which is only three days old, he hammers house gop and speaker john boehner for poor leadership. are you seeing a pattern here? >> i think you're a little more cynical than i am. the rnc is saying look at me, i think this guy is going to win. consider me for 2016. >>> he's been screaming about getting help for his constituencies. and trying to get help for new jersey when they needed help. especially now that he sees the house adjourning without finishing the bill. tonight, the billions that they needed was just so horrible and shameless and he's just standing up -- >> after they promised it to them after several conversations. >> he's just standing up and screaming as loud as he can, we need help. that's the sort of governor that you want for your state who's going to pound his chest and say we need help. there, you see somebody who's being honest. those sort of moves are not going to help you in a gop primary. they're going to help you in a general election, but how is he going to get through a gop primary after doing those sort of things. >> one thing you need

and then we sort of see the collapse of the bill among the house gops. talk that it may be amended, that it could go down and send the markets into a tail spin. what is interesting, richard, when it happened there were a lot of republicans that we spoke to they said it is lunacy. we can't do this. we'll take the blame for the party -- left right, democrat, republican, we need to take this deal. there is another part of the house republican in congress, that said no no no let's have a fight on this. this comes back to republicans know that they got $400,000 as a threshold. a lot of them take it as a victory, because the president started at 250. they think take this deal then the real fight will come in march on the debt limit. and if they don't budge, you know that is the real real big one when it comes to how the markets will react if they want to fight to the debt limit, that will be the next big one. that is when we'll surely pay more attention to than we did this. >> the credits could be down graded, only the second time in our history in modern time

gop brand? >> i don't think it's done a lot of damage. sometimes in politics like in war you find a holding action so the army can escape. i think that's what you saw. the army is off the beaches and back where it belongs. and the fights ahead of us are fights that we're very well positioned for and we're very united about and that's spending. and we've got the sequester vote, the continuing resolution vote and the debt ceiling vote in front of us. and if the president thinks that he's not going to negotiate, he better think again. he's president of the united states, he's not emperor of the planet. we'll have to see the spending cuts and entitlement reforms he's talked about. i take him at his word, said he'd like to put them on the table, we haven't seen them. i'm looking forward to seeing them literally in a matter of days. this next 90 days is going to be really critical for restoring the fiscal stability of the country. >> i want to ask you, you just mentioned you guys are united but last n

here is our friend, house gop deputy whip peter roskum from illinois. how far are you willing to go to keep the republican promise? >> look, what we have to recognize is that john boehner looked into the eyes of a president who couldn't. a president who couldn't put the big deal together. couldn't challenge his party and couldn't bring it home which is why we are where we are. let's also remember that the president got his revenue. so the entire conversation now shifts to where is the spending, where is the savings and where is the balance in the president's so-called balanced approach. as we approach this debt ceiling as you were discussing a moment ago it will get very serious. i think folks are figuring out that the revenue side is not the equation. it's got to be dealt with on the spending side. the president in my view has been completely cavalier on this whole question. >> we have had in the last 48 hours one of them on this show, senator ted cruz and cornen and both said to back up the spending cut pledge they would be willing to shut down the go

house gop members considering making amendments like adding spending cuts. that would force the bill back to the senate with the deadline bearing down on everyone. the legislation raises revenue by increasing taxes on the affluent but contains almost no spending cuts. it makes the spending cuts permanent for families making less than 450,000 per year and provides another year of unemployment benefits for two million people but payroll taxes are going up. vice president joe biden who negotiated the deal with mitch mcconnell also on the hill trying to get support from house democrats. and the political wrangling is far from over. no matter how this deal turns out both sides headed for major clash by the end of february over whether or not to raise the nation's debt ceiling. at the white house, ed henry, fox news. >> despite a wee hours of the morning fiscal cliff deal in the senate, the house of representatives has yet to take it up and the real damage is about to start. tom vacar is in the newsroom with details. >> reporter: despite today's progress, right no

the conservative web site redstate.com says, "house gop is in disarray. . it's not liberal media span." and, tomorrow, republicans will vote on whether boehner keeps his job as speaker. this has been one less after another for boehner. and the pressure may be getting to him. political reports that on friday, he walked up to senator harry reid, just steps away from the oval office and unleashed an obscenity. reid asked him what it was all about and boehner said it again. the gop is falling apart. but we can't let that crack up hurt the country. joining me now is congress won january shakowski and mi mia malikah henderson. happy new year to both of you. >> congresswoman, how can democrats deal with the republican party that's in such disarray? >> well, i actually liked what happened last night. that is john boehner said he didn't need to follow the rule of having the majority of the majority party. but, actually, did let the house work its will. and a majority of democrats, all but 16, and 8 a rep5 republican able to move the country forward. i'm hoping that

and you hear how the house gop that doesn't look very much like america, it's largely southern, very white, and very male. so it will be interesting to see what comes out of these meetings. >> let's speak to a white male. steve, pollsters aren't the only ones giving the republicans advice on how to improve their image. here is former secretary of state general colin powell. take a listen to him. >> i think the republican party right now is having an identity problem, and i'm still a republican. i think what the republican party needs to do now is take a very hard look at itself and understand that the country has changed. the country is changing demographically and if the republican party does not change along with that demographic, they're going to be in trouble. >> steve, senator marco rubio has fired back immediately, and he points out that the gop has put to hispanics in the senate plus an african-american. that's got to be the poorest defense of tokenism i have ever heard, isn't it? >> what general powell said is right. the problem is this, the rest of the country is moving in a

there was universal concern over gop members about the lack of spending cuts in the senate bill. the compromise bill that passed from the senate. if that happens, if the house amends it and sends it back, then senator reid would have to take up the house bill and act or choose not to, and we could either have a ping-pong match between the senate and the house dealing with amendments back and forth, or you could have a real stall, and the thing could go no where. >> it could go no where because this congress is about to end. the bill that passed in the senate, am i right, becomes null and void as of when, tomorrow afternoon sometime? >> actually thursday at noon is when the new congress is set to be sworn in. technically the senate bill expires at that time when the new congress is sworn in. now whether parlimentary procedure could be invoked and they could delay the new congress from coming in, i think we would have to talk to the experts about that, but what we are looking at now potentially is another long night is the bottom line here. and remember that you are going to start

right now, house gop leaders are huddled in virginia plotting their next moves at their annual retreat. let me bring in a.p. national political reporter and political reporter for the "national journal." good morning. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> we've been through a pretty rocky year. you've had a bruising election, the fiscal cliff, of course the tragedy in newtown, and it does feel like in washington very little can get accomplished right now. our poll shows 56% favor tighter gun control laws, 52% want illegal immigrants who hold jobs to apply for legal status. so, liz, what are his second term priorities going to be? what are we going to hear from him? >> well, look, i think he's already signaled what they're going to be. he's made it very clear that big immigration package is going to be put together. he feels a need to address gun control in the wake of newtown. and, you know, he's going to have to face the tax issue, as well. it's not just raising the debt ceiling that he's going to have to deal with. but he's going to have to negotiate with the republicans and perhaps t

we're told there's a leadership meeting going on right now amongst the top players in the house gop. they're trying now to possibly sculpt an amend. they could add to this bipartisan senate bill that passed with 89 votes early this morning to try to bring it on the house floor as early as tonight to change it to something they feel would be more easily digested by their rank and file. we do not know what that amendment will look like. from members i have spoken to, they said they hoped it would be sensible. what is sensible for house republicans is not necessarily sensible for senate democrats or not necessarily sensible for the white house. so we are now going in to the evening hours on january 1st where the markets are closed today, it's a holiday, with no real idea what's going to happen with that compromise crafted by the senate, what the house is going to do. we very well could wake up tomorrow with all street and the markets ramped up and ready to go with no idea what the path forward is. and from folks i have talked to inside that gop leadership meeting who were close to the s

because the house gop agrees to temporarily lift the debt ceiling for three months. what kind of surprise was that? what does that do for the debate now? >> reporter: alex, i think it changes the debate, because house speaker john boehner, remember, initially said that any increase in the debt limit had to be offset with dollar for dollar spending consults. so what happened over the past several days that the republicans essentially moved off of that point. they agreed to increase the debt limit without spending cuts to offset it. the provision, of course, is that in three months, they're sort of pressuring congress to get a budget deal passed, and if they can't essentially members of congress won't get paid. so that is what they are hoping will be the sticking point in this matter, but from the white house's perspective i think they see this as a victory. however, democrats not thrilled about the three-month extension and idea of increasing the debt limit ink kramentally. >> kristen welker from the white house. see you later. >> reporter: thank you. >>> white house

he is not worried about engaging with a fractured gop. the president is going right back to you, the american people. the white house getting after it. put on their website, publishing the facts sheet. what this tax deal is all about. the details were shared on the president's massive e-mail list. the white house also released a video where the president explained his strategy of tax cuts and deficit reduction. >> so instead we're solving this problem in several steps. last year we started reducing the deficit through $1 trillion in spending cuts. and the agreement we reached this week will reduce the deficit even more by asking the wealthiest 2% of americans to pay higher taxes for the first time in two decades. so that's progress. >> president obama handled this showdown much the same way he handled other standoffs in his presidency. he knows that progress comes step by step, not all at once. here is one major step. remember the bush tax cuts? they're all gone. they expired on the last day of 2012. the tax rates passed last night, these