eamon javers of cnbc, and mike viqueira of nbc. >> award-winning reporting and analysis, covering history as it happens. live from our nation's capital, this is "washington week" with gwen ifill. corporate funding for "washington week" is provided by -- >> this rock has never stood still. since 1875 we've been there for our clients through good times and bad. when their needs changed, we were there to meet them. through the years, from insurance to investment management. from real estate to retirement so s,evtiedve dopel new op ideas for the financial challenges ahead. this rock has never stood still that's one thing that will

nbc's mike viqueira what are you hearing? >> eric cantor, the number two republican after john boehner, the speaker of the house voiced his lack of support. he will not support the bill that passed the senate last night. it was about 1:40 last night in the morning, 89-8. the senate passed it. they largely left town. they left it up to the house of representatives to decide what to do to avoid the fiscal cliff. the house must act on the senate bill and pass it if it's to come to the president's desk for his signature. the house leader said last night they will either do that -- first they will take time to look at it, talk about it. they will either pass it as it stands or amend it. evidently what we found out right now, the significant fact that the number two republican, eric cantor, known to be a conservative leader, of course, is going to oppose it, it's looking as though republicans in the house of representatives are leaning towards amending the bill. that means the senate now, largely out of town, would have to come bac

nbc news correspondent mike viqueira is nbc's washington bureau right now. mike, how much support does the speaker have right now to stay in that position? >> you know, jim, that's a great question. there's been a lot of speculation over the last couple days. after all that turmoil yesterday, where there was a back and forth, a question whether house republicans would go along with the overwhelming bipartisan vote, there were republicans very angry about that vote, they didn't think it had enough spending cuts in it to match enough tax hikes, and they hesitated. in the end, speaker john boehner had to put it on the floor that angered a lot of republicans. newscast his number two, eric cantor, the majority leader voted no, and john boehner voted yes on final passage. now, jim, tomorrow is the formally election of the speaker. he's already been nominated. usually a formality. we have no reason to believe otherwise. but you've got to believe that somewhere down the line, he may be weak end here. that's why he's already looking forward to another fiscal clive. >

let's bring in my colleague nbc's mike viqueira. mike, what was the white house able to get out of these meetings with president karzai because there was no specific number in terms of troop reductions. there was no specific time, although the president and president karzai mentioned a drawdown trans -- sorry transfer of responsibilities in the spring. what did the white house hope to negotiate? >> reporter: there was some indication, martin, and judging from president karzai's comments as compared to the tone he's used in the perhaps that he perhaps may be more receptive to the so-called residual force in the united states is interested in leaving in afghanistan. there are 66,000 allied troops now and one other thing that came out of that meeting, martin, incidentally, is that the president and president karzai revealed that they're going to accelerate the drawdown of those allied forces, that handover, that transition, if you will, towards the afghan forces to take a lead role in combat operations. they're going to start doing tha

joining us now i'm delighted to say is mike viqueira live with us from the capitol. mike, apparently there's not a lot of love from the texas delegation so far. is that right? >> reporter: that's right, and that roll call is ongoing but everybody has an ear out to hear who, in fact, is going to vote no. i think the over/under among wags in the press corps had it at about four. this is going to be an overwhelming vote in support of john kerry, of course, a senate colleague of all these members. the irony continues after the race in 2004 and all the attacks and all the vitriol that were leveled his way. but you're right the texas delegation, both senators, the freshman ted cruz and john cornyn, the number two ranking republican in the senate, have voted no as well as jim inhofe, the very conservative member from oklahoma. that may have something to do with john kerry's stance very forthright in favor of doing everything he can in terms of international treaties in terms of using his position both here in the senate and prospectively at the state department to fight cla

i think, first of all, the issue that mike viqueira brought up is going to be a key topic here, which are troop levels. the white house earlier this week signaling that they would be open to withdrawing all residual troops after 2014 or even having a smaller troop presence there than initially thought. that will undoubtedly be a key topic of conversation between president obama and president karzai and they will really be meeting to assess the situation there, the training of afghan forces. of course, that is a big part of the drawdown process right now, so they will be talking about that, touching base on that issue, about you again those troop levels will likely be key. an important point, martin, i don't expect them to come out with a resolution. we don't expect to hear specific numbers at the end of tomorrow. what we're expecting is more of an update. we expect president obama and president karzai to give a joint news conference which is customary when a foreign leaders comes to visit. i think that's what we're hoping for, but again no specific troop levels. >> and you don't think

kelly o'donnell and mike viqueira, thank you, guys. get some sleep. one deal is finally done, but who has the upper hand as we head into triple jeopardy, the coming budget fights. domenico montanaro is here with this morning's first read. i don't think anybody comes across great here, domenico, but i was struck and maybe this was inevitable, but we had a lot of conservatives coming out, saying this is a terrible deal as we had a majority of the majority voting against it. we asked kelly about john boehner's speakership. the vote is tomorrow for him to be speaker of the 113th congress. it doesn't seem like there's anything emerging. i'm a little baffled, not because i think he should be ousted, but you've seen this level of resistance, where he was cut out of the final negotiations. >> i think it's like kelly said, they're happy with the fight that he waged and they're okay allowing him to see the light at the end of the tunnel, be able to make the call whenever he wants to decide to lead and end his career, whenever that will be. and i think people li

mike viqueira, thank you so much. we'll be talking to you later. joining us now is congressman john yarmuth, democrat from kentucky. thanks for being with us today. a lot happening with your gop friends across the aisle as they are trying to put together perhaps an amendment is what our reporters are telling us. you and i have spoken over the last week several times, and earlier today you said something that you have said before. speaker boehner, you know, has taken on some bravery here. you give him some credit for that you said this morning. you called him courageous for being willing to send this deal to the floor. now that we're hearing these latest developments, excuse me, these latest developments, what's your thought about house republicans and they're signaling they're going to send it back to the senate? >> well, richard, i think a couple things are clear. one is, yeah, i did think that speaker boehner was acting very courageously when he said he would bring the senate bill to the floor. now he's not willing to do that, so i probably have

watching that with us is mike viqueira. you're at the white house right now, mike. and what might be the reaction from the white house to what is happening so far. talk about what is on the floor. i'm looking at one of the tweets you sent out about ten minutes ago. you started by saying "holy cow." >> i think we're on the express train here, something tells me tonight, richard. you look at this vote here. normally the debate, we call it the rule here for all you legislative geeks. it is basically the rule that governs the debate for the upcoming legislation. that of course being the senate bill that the house has now decided, as luke was just describing a moment ago. finally, after a day of chaos and tumult on the house floor, that they were just going to sort of throw in the towel and put it on the house floor. and you look at this vote. you see the bottom, the tallies. 165-2. these votes on this procedural vote, these rule vote, these are almost always straight party line votes. and you see that it is passing with an overwhelming majority, which sort of tells you

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 did in the wee hours last night at 2:00 in the morning, that they wanted to amend that bill, thereby throwing this whole thing into question and putting us on the fiscal cliff for possibly days more. they stared into the abyss after there was an eruption here on new year's day. and they saw that it would have been a public relations disaster. the senate would not have acted on any bill that they put on the floor that would have changed the senate bill. that means there would have been a new congress. that means the legislative slate would be wiped clean after thursday noon when the new congress is put into session that the economy would be thrown into chaos. the markets would be thrown into chaos. people's paychecks when they start

and my colleague, mike viqueira. i want to start with you, senator lincoln. you're in congress during the 1994 debate. bill clinton to this day, your fellow arkansan, believes more so than any of the other issues that he had to deal with in '94, the '94 midterms the assault weapon ban is what hurt democrats the most. what can the white house do -- your advice to joe biden, do you go small, incremental and get something passed? or do you try to go big, change the conversation, but ultimately fail? >> i think you have to stay steady on the conversation. that's critical. i took that vote in '94. i had to go home and run for re-election. >> and you won. >> i did. but i went to those nra meetings. and i talked to those people who i knew very well. i went goose hunting saturday morning over on the eastern shore. you know, there are reasonable people out there who understand that the incidences that we saw in connecticut are too frequent. they're -- they're outrageous. and we've got to do something about that. >> you think you can have the conversation. you felt lik

eamon javers of cnbc, and mike viqueira of nbc. >> award-winning reporting and analysis, covering history as it happens. live from our nation's capital, this is "washington week" with gwen ifill. corporate funding for "washington week" is provided by -- >> this rock has never stood still. since 1875 we've been there for our clients through good times and bad. when their needs changed, we were there to meet them. through the years, from insurance to investment management. from real estate to retirement solutions, we've developed new ideas for the financial challenges ahead. this rock has never stood still and that's one thing that will never change. prudential. >> additional corporate funding for "washington week" is provided by boeing. additional funding is provided by the annenberg foundation, the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. once again, live from washington, moderator gwen ifill. gwen: good evening. nothing says bipartisan cooperation like ringing in the new year by counting down to a midnight vote to rai

eamon javers of cnbc, and mike viqueira of nbc. >> award-winning reporting and analysis, covering history as it happens. live from our nation's capital, this is "washington week" with gwen ifill. corporate funding for "washington week" is provided by -- >> this rock has never stood still. since 1875 we've been there for our clients through good times and bad. when their needs changed, we were there to meet them. through the years, from insurance to investment management. from real estate to retirement so s,evtiedve dopel new op ideas for the financial challenges ahead. this rock has never stood still that's one thing that will never change. prudential. >> additional corporate funding for "washington week" is provided by boeing. additional funding is provided by the annenberg foundation, the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. once again, live from washington, moderator gwen ifill. gwen: good evening. nothing says bipartisan cooperation like ringing in the new year by counting down to a midnight vote to raise taxes

eamon javers of cnbc, and mike viqueira of nbc. >> award-winning reporting and analysis, covering history as it happens. live from our nation's capital, this is "washington week" with gwen ifill. corporate funding for "washington week" is provided by -- >> this rock has never stood still. since 1875 we've been there for our clients through good times and bad. when their needs changed, we were there to meet them. through the years, from insurance to investment management. from real estate to retirement solutions,eve' dveelwed de n ideas for the financial challenges ahead. rochaers vneis stood still and that's one thing that will never change. prudential. >> additional corporate funding for "washington week" is provided by boeing. additional funding is provided by the annenberg foundation, the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. once again, live from washington, moderator gwen ifill. gwen: good evening. nothing says bipartisan cooperation like ringing in the new year by counting down to a midnight vote to raise taxe

before the meeting, nbc's mike viqueira asked him about security in his country post-20 post-2014. >> i was told by the organizer of the senate to keep quiet. >> thank you, everybody. >> admitted he was told he was not allowed to speak to reporters. >>> new quinnipiac poll in virginia, close race for governor. the two are practically tide with mcauliffe at 40%. cuccinelli tied at 34%. bolling dropped out of the race important the republican nomination in late november. he has been the exploring the option of running as an independent candidate. continues not to rule that idea out. finally, the nationwide outbreak of the flu has taken a dangerous turn. in boston, it is so bad the mayor declared a public health emergency after reporting power deaths and over 700 cases. the cdc reported this is the worst flu outbreak in the -- the united states has seen in the last decade overall, virus has been reported in 41 states with 29 of those states reporting high or severe levels. >>> some hospitals are seeing such a high number of flu patients, that they can barely handle treating everyone. doc

mike viqueira with more from capitol hill. mike. >> milissa, very interesting evening to say the least. so much activity. the vice president arriving on capitol hill, 9:15 eastern time. i guess about 2 1/2 hours ago. huddled with senate democrats, essentially selling them on the deal that he has struck with the republican leader, mitch mcconnell. an hour and a half later, the senator started to emerge, positive, optimistic signses from leading democrats in the senate. including chuck schumer, who too optimistically said we would have a vote before tonight or raise the possibility in the senate, we're only 2 2 0 minutes away, but the goal is to vote in the senate on the deal they have come up with. and schumer and many other senators have eamericai emerged anticipate having many democrat votes at all. many coming outside of their own meeting anticipate that they are sort of going to hold their nose and vote for this milissa, something in this bill for everyone to hate. and the question remains now, assuming sometime before dawn

mike viqueira joins us live from washington. mike, no sooner did the president plead for less drama than speaker boehner managed to anger chris christie, andrew cuomo, the entire northeast constituency and then some. now i guess he's had a change of heart. is that right? >> he drew a lot of bipartisan fire. and peter king after firing some broad sides at speaker boehner and who on the floor suggest that republicans stop donating money to the republican party until this thing gets straightened out as a means of retribution, peter king emerged from that meeting with other tri-state area lawmakers and says what's done a done. my anger this morning was a lifetime ago. apparently the speaker patched things up to a sufficient agree with peter king. i don't know about the democrats from that area. with his offer now to put a bill on the floor for $9 billion. a down payment sof $9 billion, the most urgent need is flood insurance for those folks on the coast of new jersey, new york, and connecticut. put that on the floor on friday. just

mike viqueira is also with us this hour to bring us up to date. one of the points brought up by luke russert when he was speaking with representative latourette was the number that could support the bill as it stands right now, that number that representative latourette was just putting out there was 40 to 50. as we know, that magic number is 218. >> reporter: yeah. here is another number, 89. 89 people in the united states senate voted for this thing and one more number for you, richard, 5. 5 people voting against it. of the eight who voted against it in total were republicans. the thought was that such a strong vote with carry the day in the house of representatives. they would see the political and economic writing on the wall. evidently that's not going to happen or at least it's shaping up that way and the scenario that luke and i have been describing over the course of the last half hour is now taking shape where the house may be trying to vote tonight or tomorrow to amend this thing and then thereby throwing the entire question of a deal of

mike viqueira you're still here with me. and some said we're very close. >> absolutely, i don't want to say it is a foregone conclusion but it is shaping up very well. the seeds of more confrontation are born verye very easily. others having a big chunk taken out of their paychecks, the markets have been calmed fortunately the respect, i suppose all of this took place on a holiday. but in two month's time we have the triple jeopardy the debt ceiling which the president has said he will not tolerate any gamesmanship on this however, with the debt at $16 trillion and growing, and the country technically already hitting the ceiling. and with the treasury secretary saying he could buy time for moving things around another couple of months it will require a vote from congress. it will be interesting to see how the president gets around that. also we have the sequestration, that takes place tonight if they couldn't reach an agreement on spending cuts but what they did is put off sequestration for another two months. and the third

. >> all right, mike viqueira, stand by. we're going to kristen welker at the white house. >> i can tell you that president obama called majority leader reid and also pelosi over at the house, and they both agreed with this deal that we have been discussing throughout the night, this deal that would allow tax cuts to expire on those making $400,000 or more and $450,000 or more for couples, as well as extend unemployment insurance benefits. and it would stave off the sequester for two months through a combination of tax cuts -- or tax hikes i should say, those tax hikes that i just mentioned, as well as spending cuts. so those are the broad parameters of the deal. and again, president obama tonight calling harry reid, nancy pelosi to make sure that they both signed off on this deal, which they have. so now we have the vice president who is just arriving at the hill. he is going to sit down with the democratic caucus, sell this deal to the caucus, answer their questions, answer their concerns. but, again, the broad outlines of