white house correspondent mike emanuel has an update. >> reporter: treasury secretary tim geithner and white house budget director john lu went to hammer out a deal on the tax cut. >> we had a civil construction, in the spirit of the means of the white house yesterday. no surprises. >> reporter: republicans favor extending all of the tax cuts, while democrats support a permanent extension for only those making less than $250,000 per year. but the lack of agreement is keeping the negotiations private. >> we also agreed that it's important we're not going to characterize the discussions in the room. >> although, the negotiators sound hopeful, they are not guaranteeing a deal. >> if we have one. >> after an office meeting with retired general colin powell, the president said despite politics that would have to play out, he is not concerned. >> i think we got off to a good start yesterday. they're going to be ups and downs to this process but i'm confident we'll be able to get it done. >> reporter: some of the