let s go outfront. good evening everyone. i m erin burnett. we re in countdown, counting down to a tax hike. congress has ten days to reach a deal that will keep american taxes from going up on january 1st. if they fail to agree, the average american worker will lose $40 a week. under fire today, republican house members who rejected a deal that would have extended the payroll tax cut by two months. past the two-month extension, return to work on the year-long extension or explain to the american people, 160 million of them, why congress would not listen to them. the speaker in turn went before the cameras to make his point. we re here. we re ready to work, looking for our counterparts to sit down with us so we can do what the president, bipartisan leaders in the house and senate all want. that s to extend the payroll tax cut for one year. deja deal. why don t we have a deal? let s asking republican jeb hensarling from texas, co-chair of the deficit super committe
are going to be making some statements i suspect as well. at least the president will talk about what s at stake for them. john, you and i have covered these games of chicken for a long time. president will be walking out in a moment. can t believe personally that they won t work out a deal between now and december 31st, because the stakes are too enormous. the stakes are enormous. i think you re right they ll try to work out a deal. if republicans this morning didn t think they d wake up and make a deal, the president of the united states is winning the optics of the political war right now. now he s going to add some rhetoric to it as well. let s listen in. thank you, everybody. please, please have a seat. good afternoon to all of you. merry christmas. happy holidays. we ve been doing everything we can over the last few weeks to make sure that 160 million working americans aren t hit with a holiday tax increase on january 1st. we ve also been doing everything we can t
newsletters written in his name from the past. questions coming up again as he rises in the polls on this american morning. good morning. good to see you. you too. thursday, december 22nd. i m ali velshi with christine romans. it could all be unraveling this morning. a wave of coordinating and deadly blasts rocking baghdad. four car bombs and nine roadside bombs went off within two hours of each other, killing at least 63 people and wounding close to 200. this a few days after the last u.s. troops left iraq. it s the worst violence to hit that country siz a political crisis erupted between iraq s sunni and shiite factions. ar wadamon is live. what s the latest on the ground there, ar wa? reporter: christine, this is iraqi s worst nightmare coming true. some blasts were so powerful, they shook our building and we re not that close to any of the specific locations. these explosions, happening exactly at rush hour, between 7:00 and 9:00 a.m. one taking place close to
next year. but here s the thing, folks, both parties want this. they agree that there should be an extension of this tax holiday. the problem here is that house republicans refuse to settle for the two-month band aid, the two-month extension that has already been passed by the senate. listen. our house gop negotiators are here and ready to work with their counterparts in the senate. he s not lucy, i m not charlie brown. we re not falling for that football stunt, again. okay, lucy and charlie brown. that s what we ve come to now, kate. it can be silly season up there sometimes. but just getting more and more silly, it seems. so, is this just all for show and eventually what people want to know, whether or not this is going to get done, is it? well, it s a good question. right now there s no clear answer, to be quite honest, as it seems both sides at the moment are more dug in than ever before. as you said, the house rejected the senate compromise that two-month extension
gone. off on their holiday break. what does that mean for you, your paycheck and unemployment benefits? and what s this committee all about? we will talk to one of the members in a few moments. we are still keeping our eye on a massive blizzard that ripped through the rockies and central plains. rain to sleet to snow. snow has tapered off but the blizzard shut down highways and interstates. the conditions are to blame for at least four deaths in new mexico alone. this one is a survey and among likely caucusgoers, there is a new leader of the pack, ron paul comes in at 28%. newt gingrich has been tied at 28%. at this survey he drops to second place but gingrich does pull away. airline pilots. in a push to increase safety and prevent pilot fatigue. unveiled what are the most sweeping changes in pilot rules in half a century. it is a big deal to them. it s a big deal because for 25 years people have been talking about this and haven t done a dang thing about it. accord