An unusual request that gets a surprising response. Got two of them and i only need one. Captioning sponsored by cbs this is the cbs evening news with scott pelley. Glor good evening, scott is off tonight. Im jeff glor. It is the end of a holiday week, but it would appear congress is just getting started. Tonight, the president said he is mottestly optimistic about a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff, which would mean avoiding automatic tax increases and spending cuts come, you know, 1. The president spoke to the nation this evening after an hourlong meeting with congressional leaders at the white house. Democrat and Republican Leaders have agreed to extend jobless benefits and some tax increases. They appear to remain deadlocked on who exactly will pay those higher taxs. We have two reports tonight, beginning with Major Garrett at the white house. Major, good evening. Reporter good evening, jeff. Two things are clear tonight that were not clear this morning progress is real and if a deal