people unemployed are about to lose unemployment insurance if there s no deal. the final point is that i was pressing a white house official a few moments ago. the president s going back tonight. what is on his agenda? what can he do differently that he couldn t do on the phone in hawaii and they re telling us they have nothing on the schedule. they don t know if he s going to bring republican and democratic leaders to the white house. he gets in thursday morning. does he do it thursday afternoon, evening, wait until friday? bottom line is the clock it ticking. every lever the president pulled here hasn t worked yet. ed, thank you so much. the president s reported i get that for free comment not sitting well with grover norquist who joins us now. let me stay on this other thing, they ve known a couple days the president would like likely life hawaii and dropped into washington, d.c. and save america from the fiscal cliff. how does the president win this
got to leave it there. always good to see you. thanks. to ed henry in honolulu where the president is set to depart tonight. we got breaking news from the speaker and i believe they said we have a couple deals on the table. it s your turn, senate. yeah, eric, that s where the ball is going now. but what i think the speaker and maybe majority leader eric cantor are leaving out is the reason all eyes turned to the senate is the speaker can t get the job done thursday on plan b. plan a is essentially the big deal, the $4 trillion debt plan. i was speaking a short time ago to a white house official that happened they believe the president moved halfway towards the republicans starting at only want to go raise taxes on $250,000 and above. he moved that goalpost to $400,000 or more. speaker baner was far away
both sides of the aisle to get a solution so we don t go over the cliff. i believe the president is eager to go over the cliff. i don t believe that at all. there are 535 of us who can provide leadership. 435 in the house and 100 in the president. all of us have a responsibility here. doug: that little exchange on fox news sunday between senator conrad and senator borasso a perfect metaphor as the nation peers over the fiscal cliff with only a few days left. bring in the panel. bill kristol from weekly standard. juan williams, columnist with the hill. syndicated columnist charles krauthammer. bill, start with you. we heard that congress is coming back to session on thursday, 22. two days from now. we heard from ed henry in honolulu that the president plans to leave his vacation spot tomorrow to return. reason to return or not? he should. i watched that exchange on
the time of year for it. back over to you. thanks, rob. turning to politics, president obama concedes that the party took a self-described shellacking in the midterm elections but just one month later some key congressional victories suggest the president recaptured momentum. extending the bush era tax cuts, winning the congressional repeal of the don t ask, don t tell policy, adoption of the s.t.a.r.t. nuclear arms pact with russia awaiting his cig signature and the 9/11 health care bill. it will provide free medical treatment to workers exposed to the toxic dangers of ground zero. cnn s senior white house correspondent ed henry in honolulu where the president is beginning the vacation. reporter: well, the president landed here in hawaii in the middle of the night after the long flight from washington. this hawaiian vacation delayed by the lame duck session of congress and before leaving washington, he had a news