Transcripts For CNNW CNN Newsroom 20130101

Meltdown. Technically the nation went over the fiscal cliff when the new year began. But practically the senate pulled a parachute that should soften the fall. About 2 00 a. M. Eastern, senators passed a round of compromises with a vote of 898. I said should. This deal is far from done. Now it is up to the house to stop 600 billion of automatic tax hikes and spending cuts. At this hour, though, a vote is not scheduled. Multiple house members took to the floor today to say their vote will be no. The current agreement with the fiscal cliff was agreed to, were told, somewhere around 11 30 last night. The bill was voted on at 2 00 in the morning. Now, again this is new years eve. I dont know how many senators between midnight and 2 00 a. M. In the morning had a chance to thoroughly read this agreement that is 157 pages long. You see, this is not how we should run our government. This is drama. Unnecessary drama. So what did the senators pass . Well, it was very long bill, 157 pages. There are a host of tax credit extensions, medicare extensions, and a lot more. But here are some of the key points. Couples making 450,000 or more and individuals making 400,000 or more will see a higher tax rate of 39. 6 . That is the rate from when bill clinton was president. Couples making 300,000 or more, theyre going to have the cap on itemized deductions. Benefits for the long term unemployed, those will be extended. And the most criticized point, the senate plan, will delay the sequester, thats right, those big automatic spending cuts and taxes by two months. But over that same time period, the plan allows for 12 billion to be cut from government programs. Senior Congressional Correspondent dana bash is on capitol hill and, dana, does it even look like the house will vote today . Because thats kind of crucial. It is a big open question, deb. I can tell you the reason why im standing in front of a maybe not so pretty white wall is because im down the hall from where republicans are meeting as we speak. House republicans. And you can hear at different times some clapping and different times other maybe not so happy noises coming from inside the meeting, but they are discussing the way forward. And what were hearing from sources, again, this meeting is going on what were hearing from sources about what is happening behind the doors is that there are a lot of members concerned that they want spending cuts to go along with this deal. They dont want to just pass mostly mostly tax cuts but tax increases. That is a big part of what im hearing is going on. The other thing were told is that the House Speaker is simply not taking a position whether he is for or against this. Hes being very cautious, were told, in this meeting, with his members. Simply listening to ideas, laying out options, you know. One option that the speaker said publicly, even before we saw this senate vote, is that the house may take up the deal, may take up the bill, but then try to amend it in some way. Were waiting to see what they decide, but we should also note theyre not going to decide anything out of the meeting. Were told clearly theyre going to take into consideration what they hear from the members in this meeting, spend some time this afternoon discussing it inside the leadership. And then have another meeting later today to figure out how theyre going it how theyre going to move forward. And, of course, the question is whether or not there is going to be a late night vote tonight or maybe delay it. Dana, out of curiosity, there were eight senators who voted against this deal, is there a possibility that the republicans cannot rally and cannot get the kind of votes that they need to get this passed . Is that even a remote possibility . Or is it pretty much a done deal even though perhaps grudging done deal . Reporter it is a remote possibility that they cant get the votes, absolutely. There is no question about it. Because, look, to get this, this first of all, the House Speaker as you well know, the house is run in a very tight way, whether it is the democrats in charge or republicans, so the House Speaker will be able to decide how he brings it to the floor. What kind of vote it is. So he could decide right off the bat that, yes, hes going to bring it to the floor, which he promised to do, but hell only do it as part of a process that also allows amendments, an amendment on adding spending cuts. That would if that passed, that would change the dynamic right away, it would go back over to the senate and they would have to decide how to deal with it. Thats one potential option, but the answer to your question is it is definitely possible, even plausible, there arent the votes here. Democrats, thats why there is a meeting still going on, deb, going on we think for two hours, meeting with the Vice President in another part of the capital because hes trying to make sure the democrats are still in line because there are a lot of liberals also not happy with it. In fact, im told in my ear, joe biden just left that meeting. Just wrapped up. Thats why both sides are trying to figure out where things stand. And it is obvious from what im saying it is very unclear. Sure. Clearly so much uncertainty, a pingpong effect going back and forth. Interesting to see exactly how this turns out. But clearly still work to be done. Dana bash, thank you so much for all your work. Thanks, deb. The political leaders who cut this deal call it imperfect and many members of congress on the floor today, democrat and republican, cannot have agreed more. A new years deal for new years day or groundhog day. Like the movie groundhog day, this government in two months will arrive at another crisis of debt, of spending and taxes. Our debtbased economics system with its exponential growth of debt due to compounded interest consigns us to massive unemployment, threats to the social safety net, a deteriorated infrastructure, a psychology of poverty amidst plenty. Austerity. Congress must regain its full power accorded under the constitution. Congress is addicted to spending money. Maybe congress should join spending anonymous. Heres the 12step plan. One, congress should admit it is addicted to spending someone elses money. Two, make a list of the wasteful spending. Three, pass a yearly budget and a constitutional balanced budget amendment. Four, stop giving money to countries that hate us. Five, have the resolve not to spend money we dont have. Six, dont contribute to the addiction by taking more money away from americans. Seven, dont borrow any more money from china. Eight, dont make excuses for our addiction. Nine, dont blame others for the addiction. Ten, run Congress Like most people run their family budgets. 11, remember we are to do the will of the people. And, 12, have a support group and meet regularly to confess our addiction. What do we know about certainty with the bill that passed the senate . We know it has bipartisan support. Thats encouraging. Im a republican who has been making the case that revenues must rise. That bill does that and if it becomes law, it provides certainty to our tax code which would help our economy. Yet mr. Speaker, we also know a certainty it fails to address the mortal threat facing our country, uncontrolled spending. It fails to reflect the balanced approach that was advocated by our president. So we find ourselves again with a bill that reflects not financial wisdom, but the seductive spirit that pervades this town. Were going into a new year as the first generation who did not ask the question what can we do, what can we sacrifice to make future generations have a better life than we have. Instead, we ask how much can we eek up taxes a little bit so that we can keep spending, 58 cents, to get a dollars worth of wasteful bloated government. So that our children and grandchildren can pay 42 cents of every dollar that we waste on ourselves. Is that any way to start the new year . Were taking up a bill that will not do anything to cut spending. Im embarrassed for this generation. Clearly a lot of dissatisfaction on capitol hill. No matter what goes down there today, your taxes are going up. Thats right. Well, for the majority probably not as much as you probably feared, but expect an increase in at least four areas. First, everyone will get hit with the Social Security payroll tax. It is going back up from 4. 2 to 6. 2 . So for a person with an annual income of 50,000, that would take about a thousand dollars a way. There is also a new medicare tax, close to 1 of income over 250 grand. That group will also pay nearly 4 more on dividends and Capital Gains from investments. And if you put money away in a flexible spending account for medical expenses, well, youre not going to be able to stash as much as you did last year. Im going to turn to cnns christine romans, host of your bottom line. And, christine, are we breathing maybe a premature sigh of relief here. I never breathe a sigh of relief, especially watching washington. Couple of things to remember here. We still have the house that is a really important hurdle here. The markets closed today. You have a house that has to deal with this. And then, you know, there is a punt if you will on the sequester. You got a lot of other thins decided Going Forward here. And you still have weeks, months, maybe years of difficult budget negotiations on getting our debt and deficits in order. Sigh of relief, i wouldnt necessarily breathe one just yet. What we know for sure is that your taxes, your tax rates on 98 of americans are not going to go up. Your tax rates will not go up on 98 of americans. We know doctors are breathing a sigh of relief. Theyre not going to theyre not going to have to get a big cut in what their medicare reimbursement rates are. We know people on jobless benefits are breathing a sigh of relief. Beyond that, you point out the payroll tax holiday, it is important too. Most workers, almost all of the 160 million workers in america, will get a little less each week in the paycheck because that temporary payroll tax holiday is going away. Right. Certainly not as bad as most people expected given the uncertainty. At this point with no vote from the house, and you can see the podium there, thats where some republicans will come out and speak, with no vote from the house, it will be very difficult for millions of people this year to file their tax returns. Some folks not even knowing where to begin or over what period of time taxes are going to apply. One thing that is really important here is the amt patch. Looks like the senate part of this thing, they want to make they want to patch permanently the alternative minimum tax, so the called wealth tax. They want to patch that permanently. If the house picks that up and it happens quickly, you could see you could see that the tax refund season could go along as normal. Remember, according to the irs, you know, if they didnt approve a patch to the amt, they said up to 100 million taxpayers might not be able to file their returns or collect their refunds until late march. So, you know, by the deadline, of course, in april, but by late march, thats an awful lot of time the money is not working in the economy. It is important to get this fixed very, very quickly on that front, no question. And we talk about everything that is going on right now. Dana just said that in fact there is a distinct possibility that there may not be enough votes to pass this. How will investors react if, in fact, the house either doesnt vote, votes it down or amends it and it has to go back to the senate . How does the market react . The market the way the market stands right now, rally on the last trading day of the year, the anticipation was that this was going to get done, the progress in the senate was something that suggested there be progress to get this under way. Very good year in stocks last year. The s p up 13 . Despite the fiscal cliff worries. And you got to see it get handled. If you saw the house not pass this, or you all of a sudden saw some controversy with amendments in the like and two competing versions of this bill and this drags on, i think you could see the stock market take a tumble and thats something members of congress have told us, they like to avoid that. They rep t. A. R. P. And the bank bailout and the stock market didnt like it when they didnt pass the bank bailout in first place, thats a fresh memory for them. Christine romans, thank you for keeping an eye on all of this. So much to keep an eye on, thanks. As we wait for republicans to speak, the Vice President playing a huge role in getting this deal done. But does joe biden have the pull to actually get it through the house. Plus, ill speak live with the attorney for one of the very first pot clubs in colorado. Just opened after voters approved a new marijuana law. You can do two things at the same time. You can watch videos and text. Or you could watch the Earnings Report and take notes, like were supposed to. So. Can i get it . Yeah. Okay either of you put together the Earnings Report . Yes, me totally. Why dont you tackle the next quarter while we go to lunch. Pu pu platter . Yup keep up the good work. I will keep up the good work. Do more with the new Samsung Galaxy note ii. For a limited time get two flipcovers for the price of one. Exclusively at verizon. So as you can see, geicos Customer Satisfaction is at 97 . Mmmm tasty. And cut very good. People are always asking me how we make these geico adverts. So were taking you behind the scenes. This coffee cup, for example, is computer animated. Its not real. Geicos Customer Satisfaction is quite real though. This computeranimated coffee tastes dreadful. Geico. 15 minutes could save you 15 or more on car insurance. Someone get me a latte will ya, please . Well, marijuana smokers in denver have a new place to light up outside their homes. It is called club 64. And it is billed as a private pot smoking club. Back in november, colorado voters passed amendment 64 which legalized the Recreational Use of marijuana in a private space. With plenty of goldfish and cheetos on hand, club 64 opened its doors yesterday at 4 20 p. M. To start ringing in the new year. You cant buy marijuana there, but the 30 membership fee will get you a new place to light up. They said regulate like alcohol. This is where, you know, you can come and hang out and smoke instead of drink. It is great to be able to exercise my vote now, to be able to just get together with my common man and be able to express ourselves in our constitutional limit. Joining me live from denver is robert cory jr. , the general counsel for club 64. Thank you for being with us. Is this socalled cannabis club, is it actually legal for people to gather and do this . It is legal. The voters of colorado have spoken and the voters of colorado legalized cannabis. And it is a new year in the mile high city. And it is a wonderful new year. And freedom was in the house last night. What is interesting also is does this club have any sort of legal responsibility to legal responsibility to its clients . If somebody comes there and then goes home and theyre impaired, what responsibility does the club have . Well, the club has a similar responsibility to any bar that overserves a patron or puts somebody in a difficult spot. It is the same thing. The voters of colorado wanted to treat marijuana like alcohol. And that is what this club does to some extent. We provide marijuana but we dont sell it. And people can come and exercise their Constitutional Rights together and associate together. So this club, is it like any other kind of club . Can you get a drink or are you basically just smoking pot . And is there dancing . Are there couches . Walk me through it. Well, what we had last night was a deejay, we had some good music and we had some refreshments. We did break out the cheetos and goldfish. And those were gone by the end of the night. And the champagne was not all consumed. We had some of that to ring in the new year. We didnt sell liquor. We cant do that. It is a lot of conversation and the feeling last night is this is our new freedom. And we are emerging from the chains of prohibition in this state. And Washington State is doing the same. And so there is a lot of pentup emotion and demand to exercise our freedoms. And thats what happened last night. And it was a wonderful thing. You know, across the United States there were, im sure, lots of bars that were celebrating new years eve and there was probably some violence and problems with those liquor establishments. Club 64 had no such problems. It was peaceful. It was positive. And it was a good thing. And everybody was happy. What is so interesting is that, you know, those of us of a certain generation knew a group of people called sort of pot heads, quote unquote. Is this more of a refined crowd or are you concerned that there may still be a negative connotation about the clientele that is coming and doing this . Because not everybody is going to. Well, we have a very diverse membership. All ages, different races, social, economic levels, but these different people come together because of marijuana. And because of cannabis. And so it is actually a very diverse club. And is there a stigma with marijuana . Of course. There is a stigma with alcohol too. We are looking to move past that, though. We do it in a respectful and classy way. And we do it in private on our own. And were not making a spectacle of ourselves by any means. Do you think people will be more out in terms of saying, i light up. Did you . I think people are pretty open about that. I think people at the club, theyre proud to exercise their Constitutional Rights. Theyre proud of what the voters of colorado did. And the voters of colorado spoke very loudly. We enacted this overwhelmingly, 55 of the vote. It got more amendment 64 got more votes in colorado than president barack obama got in colorado. So marijuana is popular here. And were not ashamed of it. And the members of this club are not ashamed to be exercising our Constitutional Rights. All right, very good. Robert cory jr. , thanks so much for joining us. Well, any minute House Republicans and democrats are expected to announce what each party will do in raegards to th fiscal cliff deal. Dad. Listen, were gonna go broke unless we figure out a way to divvy up this shared data plan. Fairly. So, um, whoevers fathered the most children, gets the most data. Lets just do it by hair. Body hair . Most dental work. What . [ phones buzzing and beeping ] stop downloading, and stop liking everything. It should be by who has the least amount of cartilage in their left knee. [ mom ] i just want to take a bath. [ male announcer ] say no to sharing. Say yes to sprint. With truly unlimited data, text and calling. Well, just moments ago Vice President joe biden met with House Democrats rallying votes in favor of the fiscal cliff deal that passed the senate in the wee hours of the morning. Biden is playing a major role in the negotiations. Jessica yellin is at the white house. Jessica, what is the mood after the Vice President s meeting there . Reporter hi, deb. First of all, the Vice President s motorcade just got back here to the white house. So clearly work continues. There is a sense still that things are progressing and this is going to come to completion. Its not surprising to anybody that there are concerns by democrats and that some of them would voice them. The Vice President s meeting lasted about 90 minutes. Obviously if everything was smooth sailing, it would have lasted much less time. So but theyre used to that. Vice President Biden has done these deals now three times. And he goes up there and is sometimes the punching bag and listens to what democrats have to complain about, takes it all on board, explains to them. One person in the room i thk tweeted out and described it as a bit of a filibuster by the Vice President. But he is done now and back and the white house is confident. I wouldnt say overly confident, but they feel good that they will get the democrats they need to support this, deb. And it is interesting because there were some Senate Democrats who did vote against it. Is there any particular part of the plan that hes really trying hard to push amongst the democrats . Reporter well, it depends. There is progressive democrats are upset about the fact that the income tax threshold, people who will be paying a higher income tax was set at 450,000, not 250,000. Their argument is democrats had republicans over the barrel. Why did they give inon this point . The other thing that is very upsetting to sympat ing tting t why did they put off the debt fight until for another two months because there will now be a debt ceiling battle in two months and theyre very upset that they will lose leverage and have to negotiate with republicans again. From the white houses point of view and other moderate democrats point of view, there is no choice, this is what one does in a negotiation. They have to compromise. And so when we look at all of this, and how this plays out, i think david brooks coined the term trench warfare when it comes now to the kinds of negotiations were going to be seeing up there on capitol hill. Yes. Is that the sense youre getting it not going to get easier to do a deal after this . Reporter gosh, i feel like we have been in the trenches and now were down to the muck. And were barely seeing the light. We have been there for more than two years now. So, yes, i point out that one of the most important elements of this for the white house was obviously raising income tax rates for the highest income earners. The president campaigned on that. It was an absolute must. He got that. The other piece of this was something we kind of gloss over, it is that twomonth buydown on those big spending cuts. And part of the way they agreed to this, they postponed the debt cliff, if you will. And the way they agreed to it is they paid down 24 billion on the deficit. Remember, congress agreed to these major spending cuts, right . Thats two months down the road, so even that is kind of a little bit anticlimactic. It is like, my god, the fiscal cliff, the fiscal cliff. Well deal with it in two months. Jessica yellin, so much more to talk to you about. Well check in later, but thanks so much. As we wait for republicans and democrats to come to the microphones, one democrat just left the meeting, hes going to be joining us next. 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Well, despite progress early this morning in the senate, and you can see right there with the democrats are expected to speak, despite some progress, the fiscal cliff deal is far from over. At this hour, a vote is still not scheduled in the house. But multiple house members did take to the floor today to say that their vote is going to be no. Senior Congressional Correspondent dana bash is on capitol hill and, dana, youre with one of those folks who was in the democratic meeting with the Vice President. Was it a pep rally . Was it a warning . Was it a rallying cry, your president needs you . What went on in there. Reporter sounds more like pep rally but ill have the congressman speak for himself. This is steve israel, congressman from new york. And the chairman of the Democratic Congressional campaign committee. Why youve seen him a lot on cnn, in charge of electing democrats in the last cycle and this coming cycle as well. Lets answer the question that deb just asked, which is, tell us what the Vice President told you all. Well, he was evangelical, converting a bunch of skeptics. I think hes persuaded our caucus that there are pieces of this deal that everybody can dislike. But going off this cliff is something that no one can accept. And while everybody would prefer improvements, nobody can get the deal that he got. And that the president got. So were at a moment of truth. We have to get this done. And he let the caucus feeling that we need to get this done. Reporter now, again, youre talking about the democratic Vice President talking to a group of democrats, happened to be evangelical talking to a group of skeptics. There were a few members who have concerns about pieces of this. As the Vice President said, there is something in there it is the perfect compromise, like any classic compromise. At the end of the day, nobody is entirely happy. But what would make america completely unhappy is if we just vote defense this thing and go off the cliff. We have done our part. There is a Critical Mass of democrats that are prepared to support this. And continue to negotiate, to strengthen the middle class and protect medicare. We now need the Republican Caucus, once again, this is like deja vu all over again, we now need the Republican Caucus to meet us and get this thing passed and move on. Reporter one last question about the democratic meeting. Do you think keeping on the evangelical metaphor, do you think he converted enough of his fellow democrats that you feel how many at this point do you think as a member of the leadership, how many do you think youre going to lose . Im not concerned about losing democrats. Im concerned about what the republican majority is going to do. Theyre the majority. They have a responsibility for getting this done. This place has become like an episode of the road runner cartoon. Every congress is another cliff. They have a responsibility to produce the votes. They have yet another caucus. We should have done this a year ago, should have done it a month ago, could have done it two weeks ago. They need to come to the table and work with us. I came from downstairs where the House Republicans are still meeting as we speak, i believe. And it sounds like still going on, behind closed doors, but it sounds like there are a lot of complaints that this deal is just dealing with taxes and they really want to include spending cuts. And perhaps they havent decided what theyre going to do, perhaps House Republicans might agree to offer an amendment to this. That adds spending cuts. Do you think thats a deal killer . We have done spending cuts. We did a trillion dollars in spending cuts in the budget control act last year the. There are spending cuts. There are cuts in this. Sequestration is late for two months but paid for with a mix of revenues and additional spending cuts. There are spending cuts in this. At the end of the day, we need compromise. I learned one thing, in politics and in life, when it is always my way or the highway, you end up on the highway. Lets just stay here and get this done. We have to revisit many issues in the next two months and there will be other opportunities for us to negotiate, but right now, we cannot continue to hurdle off this cliff. More people want action. One last question, a good chance that the house, you will not be voting on this today. Is that problematic, especially as a new yorker, you know the markets are going to open again tomorrow. Is that a potential risk . The longer we wait, the less confidence the American People have and they have very low confidence in us already. Number one. Number two, the more that can be done, and right now we need more confidence and less mischief. Democrats want to get to yes. Republicans need to quit trying to get to no. Thank you very much, steve israel. Appreciate it. A readout from what the Vice President told democrats and also pretty good sense of where democrats are as theyre waiting for republicans who run the house to make a decision, deb, about where theyre going to go and that theyre going to do and when this vote will happen. Everybody watching and waiting. Dana bash, thank you so much. Thank you. There is a lot of attention on john boehner and whether hes got the votes to pass the fiscal cliff plan. There are some in his own party who may stand in his way. Thats coming up next. Instead i got heartburn. [ horse neighs ] hold up partner. Prilosec isnt for fast relief. Try alkaseltzer. Kills heartburn fast. Yeehaw as we continue to keep an eye on the fiscal cliff, the republicans continue to meet behind closed doors, a meeting described as a bit noisy and excited. The democrats just finished their meeting with Vice President joe biden. That was described as an evangelical meeting. Still unclear whether a vote by the house will take place on the bill that was passed by the senate or whether in fact they will amend it and send it back to the senate. Joining us from washington, bob cusack, the managing editor of the online journal the hill. And, so, bob what is the latest word you have as to what is going on and whether in fact john boehner can get his people together to vote for this . Well, it is going to be very difficult. House republicans dont like the Senate Passed bill, even though it passed 898. It looks like the house will pass something to return it back to the senate. Theyll amend it in some way, it looks like, because they dont like this 4 trillion price tag that just came out over the last ten minutes, cbo just released that. And this is just a tough vote for house conservatives who many of them would worry about a primary challenge should they vote for this. So it looks like the drama is intensifying here. This is not going to be over with a final house vote today. It will just be kind of the beginning. Theyre going to punt it back to the senate and theyll have to see theyll have to pass that version, whatever is in that, and then the senate will have to decide what to do. Bob, talk to us about the cost of this. You just cited the how much did you say, how many trillion . 4 trillion. 4 trillion. The bill, as it stands, if i understand you, will cost 4 trillion. Yes. And thats what conservative republicans are upset about. A month ago, we were talking about they proposed 2. 2 trillion in spending reductions and now you have this. There say lot of provisions in this the estate tax, or income rates, also fix for doctors who participate in medicare. These are all very expensive items. The Senate Passed it. Earlier today. But the house doesnt like it. And what is so amazing is when i was reading through it, it is a very lengthy and wordy and thick document, how many other things sort of found its way in. You know, from the way we have been breaking it down, the fiscal cliff, how much do you tax, how much do you spend, but there ray lare a lot of other p and addones in a sense, am i wrong . A lot of people didnt like how the senate process worked. It was struck behind the the deal was struck behind closed doors. Then they went to the floor on new years eve, and right after new years eve, they passed it. Basically nobody had time to read the bill. And it had a very limited amount of debate at 1 00, 2 00 in the morning. So thats what House Republicans, they stressed they like to read bills, they dont like to vote in the middle of the night. And the more they look at this, the less they like it. The bottom line here, if Speaker Boehner does not support this bill, and he has not expressed public opposition or support for this, it is not going to pass the house. House democrats clearly are on board. The president is on board. But House Republicans are not. And they control the chamber. Bob, it is hard to have sympathy for lawmakers who basically say we dont like the way this was done, we dont want to pass bills in the middle of the night. They had plenty of time where they could have had plenty of time to read through whatever it was they negotiated. So right now, the American Public is really running out of patience. And goodwill. And so it almost seems that it is incumbent of the House Republicans to at least maybe have a show of good faith, that theyre willing to consider this as they negotiate everything else, do you think a lot of the amendments were going to see are going to be about spending cuts . I think it will. There will be a lot of and House Republicans have to band together because House Democrats are not going to support those spending cuts and it is true. Congress had a long time to deal with this, even since the election they had two months, waited until the last second. Boehner couldnt pass the socalled plan b bill. He lost a lot of leverage on this. This is very tricky for john boehner and his lieutenant. They have a relatively narrow House Majority, polls show that the fiscal cliff blame would be mostly on them, not the president. Not on democrats. That might change. But this is a very risky move if we go well into january with this unresolved. And you got to wonder if the House Republicans are kicking themselves for not passing the plan b, which allowed for tax rates on people making a million or more since the figure that passed was significantly less at 400,000. Bob cusack, thank you. We appreciate you being with us. Thanks, deb. Well, developing this hour in alaska, on a shallow and rocky shore line near the uninhabited kodiak island, a huge oil rig has run aground. It has run aground. The coast guard has done a flyover of the shipwreck. It says that there is no signs of an oil spill. At least not at this stage. The kulluk is carrying 150,000 gallons of fuel and oil, operating as part of shells controversial Arctic Drilling program. Well, word of new fallout from the case against Jerry Sandusky. Sports illustrated is reporting that the state of pennsylvania is expected to sue the ncaa over the punishments against penn state in the aftermath of sanduskys sex abuse expand ax tscandal. Hes behind bars for the next 40 years and the ncaa took away all of its wins, reduced scholarships, and temporarily banned the school from competing in the post season, making it an unattractive place to actually go. Were told penn state is not involved in the lawsuit. It turns out that the blood clot that put secretary of state Hillary Clinton in the hospital is in a vein in her head. How doctors are treating it, what it means for her future health. Dr. Sanjay gupta is here. Hell explain it all to us. M [ male announcer ] break the grip of aches or arthritis pain with odor free aspercreme. Powerful medicine relieves pain fast, with no odor. So all you notice is relief. Aspercreme. New details on Hillary Clintons health scare. The secretary of state is being treated with blood thinners to help dissolve a blood clot discovered in her head. The clot is located in the vein between the brain and the skull, and it is just behind her right ear. The doctors at New York Presbyterian Hospital say theyre confident she will make a full recovery. Her daughter chelsea echoed that positive outlook in a tweet saying, quote, thank you to all for sending good thoughts my moms way. Grateful to her doctors and that she will make a full recovery. Dr. Sanjay gupta has more on the possible dangers mrs. Clinton faces. Sanjay . We have new details about what happened to secretary of state Hillary Clinton. Specifically where this blood clot is located. You remember before we knew she had a blood clot, she was getting blood thinning medication and we can surmise from that the blood clot itself wasnt located on top of the brain because if it was, actually pushing on the brain, blood thinning medication would worsen that, make that pressure on the brain even worse. Let me show you here by way of model. First of all, this is on the right side of her head, but for the demonstration ill show you the left side of the head for the model. Here you have the brain, the blood clot was pushing on the brain, you wouldnt get blood thinning medication. But in this case, the blood clot is located in one of the blood vessels inside the brain. A blood vessel that typically drains blood away from the brain. It is called the sinus here. And in her case, it is in this area over here. The transverse sinus on the right side of her brain. This is a pretty rare condition, something that doesnt happen often. But needs to be treated with blood thinning medications to try and make that clot dissolve. Here is the concern. You have blood going to the brain, that blood also needs to leave the brain. If that blood is not leaving the brain, the pressure in the brain can start to build up. Thats what you dont want to happen. Now, most likely, you know, in the secretarys case, they need to get another scan at some point to actually show that the clot, the blood clot inside the blood vessel has in fact gone away. Doctors very important to point out they said, look, she had no stroke from this, which is a potential complication. She had no neurological impact whatsoever. Ive heard from sources that if you were to see her, you wouldnt know that this sort of problem was going on. But, again, a rare occurrence, a cerebral venous clot being treated with blood thinners in the hospital. As we get more information, well bring it to you. Back to you. All right, thanks so much. It is something we have not heard for almost two decades. North koreas leader giving a new years day speech to his people. What he told them and his surprising message for south korea straight ahead. Wo things e same time. You can watch videos and text. Or you could watch the Earnings Report and take notes, like were supposed to. So. Can i get it . Yeah. Okay either of you put together the Earnings Report . Yes, me totally. Why dont you tackle the next quarter while we go to lunch. Pu pu platter . Yup keep up the good work. I will keep up the good work. Do more with the new Samsung Galaxy note ii. For a limited time get two flipcovers for the price of one. Exclusively at verizon. Your doctor will say get smart about your weight. Thats why theres glucerna hunger smart shakes. They have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes. [ male announcer ] glucerna hunger smart. A smart way to help manage hunger and diabetes. I need you. I feel so alone. But youre not alone. I knew youd come. Like i could stay away. You know i cant do this without you. Youll never have to. Youre always there for me. Shh ill get you a rental car. I could also use an umbrella. Fall in love with progressives claims service. New years eve celebrations turned deadly in ivory coast in west africa. Thousands were walking home following a big fireworks display in the former capital city of abidjan. Unclear why, but panic struck, triggering a stampede. 60 people were crushed to death including dozens of children. In syria today, in the north flights in and out of aleppos International Airport are being canceled. A syrian troops and the rebels battle on surrounding roads. The opposition stepping up its attacks on airports in aleppo province, chipping away at the governments dominance of the skies. This video shows the aftermath of attacks on rebelheld strongholds in a damascus neighborhood. Activists say the syrian army pounded the city with fighter jets and rocket attacks. North Korean Leader kim jongun has made a rare new years speech with an even more surprising message. He says it is time to end the conflict with south korea once and for all, offering the olive branch while warning the confrontation only leads to war. He also spoke of the need to improve the countrys economy and hail the controversial rocket launch last month that put a satellite in orbit. The authorities are looking into threats against the u. S. Ambassador to yemen. There are reports that a terrorist group with links to al qaeda has issued a reward for his death. Brian todd has the details. Reporter less than four months after the killing of u. S. Ambassador Chris Stevens in benghazi, libya, word of a specific threat to another american envoy, in another arab country where al qaeda is dangerously strong. A bounty of 160,000 worth of gold has been placed on gerald feuerstein. According to Site Intelligence Group which monitors jihadists on the internet, the bounty was announced in audio clips and screen grabs posted by militants. We cant verify the clips authenticity, but the u. S. And yemeni governments are taking them seriously. The militants also offered 23,000 for the killing of an american soldier in yemen. Analysts say the militants may be affiliated with al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, the terror groups powerful branch in yemen. They have really been looking for a way to hit the United States, whether the u. S. Embassy in yemen, which they attacked in september of 2008, or carrying out more attacks here in the United States. Reporter this is the same group that came close to detonating a bomb in the underwear of a militant in the 2009 Christmas Day plot to bomb an airliner bound for detroit. It attempted to send printer bombs to the u. S. The following year and tried again this year to bomb a plane bound for the u. S. It is also not the first time al qaeda or an affiliate has offered gold for the killing of a prominent american. The example that leaps to mind is paul bremmer who was the most important american nonmilitary official in iraq during the george w. Bush administration. And Osama Bin Laden himself offered substantial reward for his death. Reporter in one got to bremmer. The odds of an assassination this time, a yemeni official says security is being stepped up around the u. S. Embassy and the areas where diplomats live. Analysts say ambassador feuerstein may not need to reinforce his personal security detail too much. They had this little mini green zone in which all the people who work at the embassy essentially live within a very secure corridor there right next to the embassy and so they travel from this secure housing location to the embassy and back and forth. And they dont really get out, which makes them very, very difficult targets. Reporter but one deadly asset that al qaeda in yemen has may tip the balance. Thats this man, ibrahim al yasiri. Intelligence Officials Say he was behind that Christmas Day attack three years ago, and the printer bomb plot. He once placed a bomb inside the body of his own brother, which came close to killing a top saudi official. He is still at large, and experts say has been able to train others on his techniques. Brian todd, cnn, washington. Well, as republicans meet right now behind closed doors, discussing what to do with this Senate Fiscal cliff plan, well speak live with one republican who is inside that meeting. Live coverage of our breaking news right after this. Aww man. [ male announcer ] returns are easy with free pickup from the u. S. Postal service. Well even drop off boxes if you need them. Visit usps. Com pay, print, and have it picked up for free. Any time of year. Nice sweater. Thank you. The man who lived a real life movie thriller by protecting american lives during the iran hostage crisis has died. John shearman helped shelter and smuggle six american diplomats out of iran in 1980. The rescue was the basis for the hit movie argo with ben affleck. While his role was left out of the film, his actions during the hostage crisis were pivotal in protecting the americans after the u. S. Embassy in tehran was stormed by militants. He hid the americans in his home until they could escape the country. His son told us he was a humble man and a Real Canadian hero. Sheardown suffered from alzheimers and had cancer. He was 88 years old. Top of the hour. Good afternoon, everyone. Im deborah feyerick. And right now the house is in recess while the nation is in limbo. Technically we went over the fiscal cliff when the new year began. But for all practical measures, the senate pulled a power shoot that should soften the fall. Senators approved it 898. Now it is up to the house to stop the fiscal cliff. Thats 600 billion of automatic tax hikes and spending cuts. At this hour, though, a vote by the house is not yet scheduled. A multiple representative took to the store today floor today vote would be no. I wish i could say this was a proud moment, a moment in which we started the year off right, in which the first of january was the first of great many good things. It isnt. Were kicking the can down the road. And worse than that, when faced with a mountain of debt that we were heading for, like an airplane, did we climb over it . No. What were going to do in the present plan is put nearly another trillion dollars worth of debt on the American People. Well, joining us now from capitol hill, representative peter welsh, democrat of vermont. We see some democrats moving to the podium. They are also scheduled to speak. Congressman welsh, we dont want to interrupt you. So nancy pelosi stepping to the podium. Lets take a quick listen. Well, we just finished a standing room only, threehour long caucus meeting, which in which the Vice President not only roused the entire membership, but also gave us a very thoughtful and detailed explanation of what has gone on, and how it was that he and the president , working with the democratic and Republican Leaders in both houses, were able to come together on this compromise. We first want to say thank you to the Vice President for being so gracious. Quite honestly, so frank in his conversation with us in explaining as much as he could about what has transpired over the last several weeks. We now are waiting to hear from our republican colleagues, whether or not they want to do what the senate did, in a very bipartisan fashion. And give the American People an opportunity to have a vote. There are people throughout this country who might look at this deal and love it, some might hate it, some may not understand it. But we firmly believe that every american in this country should have a right to have a vote in the peoples house. The senate sent us a bill. Were hoping the house will respect the wishes of the American Public and let the representatives of those people vote up or down on that legislation. And with that, let me turn now to our leader, nancy pelosi. Thank you very much, chairman. Last night the senate i guess it was early this morning, the United States senate voted in uncharacteristically very strong bipartisan way, 89 votes in favor of the compromise legislation. This is that was historic. That legislation was sent over to the house. Up until now our speaker has said when the senate acts, we will have a vote in the house. That is what we said. That is what we expect. That is what the American People deserve. And so we look forward now as we go forward in this day to see what the timing will be for a straight up or down vote on what passed 898 last night in the United States senate. Today we had the privilege of, as our chairman has said, of hearing from the Vice President. He talked about what is in the legislation and what lies ahead, and difficult negotiations as we go forward. We had a frank, as you said, mr. Chairman, frank discussion in that regard. Right now our members, after very thoughtful deliberations and review, are continuing to review the legislation, weighing the pros and cons and weighing the equities of not going over the cliff, but we all are very eager to see the form that the Republican Leadership will put on to the floor today. I think that we have made gigantic progress. I hope that we can have a bipartisan agreement as we go forward. But as i said, our members are making their decisions now and we look forward to hearing from what the republicans have to say. A person who will know best what our numbers are in this regard at some point during the day is the distinguished whip mr. Hoyer. Im pleased to yield to him. Thank you very much, madam leader. 112th congress has about 46 hours left to go. This congress unfortunately has been most known for an unwillingness to compromise. An unwillingness to come together to act on behalf of the American People. Today is january 1st. Taxes will be going up on everybody in america if we dont act. Those who are relying on Unemployment Insurance, millions of americans relying on Unemployment Insurance to make sure they can support themselves and their families, if we dont act, well be at risk. Vice President Biden has worked very hard to come to a compromise. By definition, a compromise has elements in it that each party does not like. But by definition it has things in it that each party should like. The speaker said that if the Senate Passed a bill, he would put it on the floor for a vote. The leader pointed out we expect that to happen. We think thats the best interests of the American People. We hope that our colleagues on the other side of the aisle can reach compromise. Our members are reviewing the specifics of the compromise that has been reached to determine whether they can support that compromise. I am hopeful this congress will as one of its last acts not only on this compromise, but also very hopeful and would expect that we would provide the Emergency Assistance needed for the victims of sandy. One of the countrys worst storms in history that damaged the northeast so badly. Im hopeful we will be able to move on both of these issues. And that we will have members on both sides who perhaps will not agree but hopefully we will have members on both sides who will agree and we can act as the American People expect us to do so. Why dont we ask well hear from the incoming vice chairman as well. Thank you. Thank you. Ill be very brief. I think the difference between a divided government and dysfunctional government is the willingness to compromise. We saw that in the senate, as leader pelosi and our whip mr. Hoyer have said. That means looking at an agreement, and deciding whether on balance it helps not democrats or republicans, but whether it helps move the country forward. And were hopeful that republicans on the house will do as democrats and republicans did on the senate and weigh all the equities here but decide at the end of the day that not everybody gets 100 of what they want, democracy means as i said a willingness to come together for the good of the country. And thats what compromise is all about, especially in an era of divided government. So our members are taking a look at the bill, and, you know, we just would ask our republican colleagues to bear in mind the good of the country as they also weigh all the equities here. And with that, i turn it over to the distinguished vice chairman of our caucus. Thank you, chris. I will just very briefly we all appreciate the Vice President coming to the caucus today in a very straightforward, very thorough way, explaining the process of the negotiation and why we are where were at today. I do think, though, the time for discussion and talk is coming to an end. And it is going to be time for us to vote soon. Or all this would have been for not. Our being here, new years eve, new years day, happy new year to everyone, would have opinion for not if we dont come to some point and have a vote. And thats what the American People deserve, thats what the American People expect as well out of this process. We can either move forward in a bipartisan way, hand and hand, to avert the fiscal cliff, or our republican colleagues could help lead us off the cliff. We hope thats not the case. Questions. If i can ask i think you were first. Let me just ask, what are your spies on the other side in a sense telling you how it is going over there . Because you have to count heads with them as well. Im not stipulating to any characterization of any information that we receive from our friends in the press. I really have no idea. As well to try to approve this. What are you hearing from the other side . I think that what your question is better addressed to the republicans coming out of their conference. We just came out of ours. And we know what you tell us as to what is coming out of their conference. Let me just say, we havent had an opportunity to talk to their leadership at this point in time since our meeting. You said a moment ago you would prefer a straight up or down vote on that. Absolutely. Is that because of the time or is that because this was a deal brokered by the Vice President . No, it was a it was a bill that was passed in the United States senate 898, tell me when youve had that on a measure as controversial as this. They had problems with that one, almost to the number, similar. Right. Well, i hope we dont have a reenactment of that where the republicans in the house painted themselves in the extreme of not wanting to find compromise and a solution. But lets be optimistic. Let us all, as mr. Hoyer and others have said, hope they decide in favor of the country as we go forward, but the issue of whether we have an up or down vote shouldnt even be a question. It shouldnt be a question. We were told when this we would not have any legislation on the floor until and unless the senate acted and when they did, we would have a vote. And so we want to have that vote. And we look forward to what the timing is on that. And this is all about time. And it is about time that we brought this to the floor. Mr. Hoyer mentioned, it was only a matter of a couple of months since the election, eight weeks. And in that period of time, we have been pushed to even even into a new year. It is long overdue for us to have this solution to go forward, and remove all doubt as to how we go what comes next for our country. So we expect the American People deserve an up or down vote on what was passed in the senate. Madam speaker, if there is an up or down vote, how many democratic votes would you have . Will you be able to deliver . That is not a subject ill be talking about right now. As we mentioned, all of us considering members are considering the legislation. Just heard from the Vice President. And we will find out which members youre saying you want bipartisanship from the other side. Dont you have to say that you are willing to support this piece of legislation . I dont think there is any doubt well have bipartisanship. She asked me for the number. I dont have a number. But i can tell you, we will have a bipartisan vote. Thank you very much. When will you start whipping . Your premise is incorrect. That was the democrats wrapping up their version of what was going on in their meeting with Vice President joe biden. Lets hear from the republican side of the aisle. The house gop just wrapped its closed door meeting. Senior Congressional Correspondent dana bash on capitol hill and, dana, you heard the Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi saying up or down, up or down vote. Does that mean that they would not consider any amendments by the republican . Youre with the republican now. Reporter right, thats what shes pushing the republicans who control the house to do, to just have an up or down vote and have no amendments. I was talking to lots of republican members coming out of this meeting, just now, and it seems as though there is pretty intense sentiment to amend it, to put more spending cuts in there. And so that seems to be an issue and ill bring in one of the republicans in that closed door meeting, congresswoman ann hayworth. If you can describe the feeling among your republican colleagues in this meeting just now. Well, you know, there is a whole range of sentiments there. Clearly we want to get the best net benefit for the American People that we can. This bill, as you delve into the details, cbo just scored it, is an enormous net spending increase. Even though there are some forms of tax relief that we did want to see, we passed a bill back in august to extend tax relief for everyone, grow the economy, best thing we can do, really. There was no there is no spending restraint. In fact, there is new spending. So thats a tremendous concern. Are we really going to benefit people . We know we need tax relief. We dont want everybodys taxes to go up. We want our hard working citizens to have that relief. But if were massively increasing spending for every dollar of cuts, there is one estimate, 41 spent of new spending or spending for every dollar of cuts. Were not getting a good deal. Reporter would you vote for would you vote for the senate bill without any amendments . I would trusting in the deliberations of our conference, representing the american we were reelected as a House Majority in this election, as was the president , we know, so we have a job to do. And i am very hopeful that we will be able to come up with an alternative, an amendment that we can present to the senate, and that there will be a public voice here. This is a good time for the public to be engaged. The new year. We really need to have an honest discussion about spending. Reporter you know, particularly as a member of the class of 2010 that ushered in this republican majority, there are a lot of people out there, many democrats, but some not, saying here they go again, the House Republicans, messing everything up. Representing the American People. Trying to do the right thing. Because really we were elected and then reelected as a majority to bring the federal government to the right size to respect every tax dollar, wherever those taxpayers come from, all of us pay taxes, everyone in this country, in one or another way. Those dollars have been massively misspent in the past administration for four years. We have more than a trillion dollar deficit. Reporter another concern i heard was the markets. The markets open tomorrow. And a lot of concern about what this will do to rattle the economy this meeting, not even taking a vote, no matter what happens. We need to weigh all the factors. I assure you we are. The discussion was vigorous. It was thoughtful. It represented an entire range of views about where we strike the balance between the perfect and the good, dont let the perfect be the enemy of the good, but we really do have a serious problem on our hands that the president and the senate have essentially refused to address. The senate hasnt passed a budget in three years, three and a half years now. And all of a sudden they come up with this last minute bill. Theyre the ones who have really been holding the American Economy and the american taxpayer hostage for the past several years. Not right. Thank you very much for joining me. Appreciate it. Deb, just to be clear for our viewers to understand, if at the end of the day there is going to be another meeting later today at some point of House Republicans, if the decision is to put up on the house floor an amendment with spending cuts, really any kind of amendment, what would then have to happen is it would have to go back to the senate for another vote. They would have to either accept if or change it again. And so what it means in real terms is this thing would not be over. And it could drag out, it could drag out until tomorrow or the next day anyway because we dont even know no matter what the votes are when they would occur. All of that is yet to be decided, very, very fluid as you just heard. Like one huge pingpong match there. And were just learning, dana, eric cantor is telling reporters that he does not support the bill. He does not support the bill. He didnt say whether he would vote against it. He said he did not support the bill. Joining us from capitol hill, representative peter welch, the democrat of vermont. Thank you so much for being here with us. One of the big questions, do you have any hesitations about voting for the bill that has passed the senate . I dont have hesitation about voting for it. There is a lot of things i dont like. And a lot of us thought that the president should have held firm on the revenues at 1. 6 trillion, because thats got to be a significant component of a long term balanced deal. On the other hand, we werent able to get it, partly because of the practical realities of legislating in this town. So what we have now is a middle class tax cut, theyre going to stay at the lower rates. We have broken the iron grip of Grover Norquist on the republican party, at least in the senate, and taxes have gone up on the top 2 and that will help us if Going Forward. And then secondly, we have a compromise. And that is really vital to this country, to see that congress can have debates in division and can make decisions. And there is no harm that is being done by this bill to the American Economy and the american middle class. There is some positive things here, despite the fact that both sides are going to have a lot to criticize, and the thing that is alarming to everybody is that two months from now, were going to be back at it again with the debt ceiling, with the with the budget expiring, and that is going to be another fight all over again. You know, congressman, you say that there will be no harm to the american middle class. But the republicans would argue that by not putting in any spending cuts, that in fact you are harming the middle class, because it is just incurring more and more and more debt. The House Minority leader nancy police plo pelosi said up or down vote. Do you expect the republicans to come back with an amended version of this deal . Well, thats where the spker has a real hes got a jam. Because the republicans do not want a vote for this. They note revenues have to go up, but they dont want their fingerprints on any tax increase. And the fact is if they amend it and put in all kinds of cuts that havent been part of the negotiation, it may appease their base, but it wont solve our problem. So the speaker, i think, knows that on a practical level. But hes got a caucus that does not want to violate the Grover Norquist pledge. By the way, the debt is a serious problem. And thats why i think the president and many of us were disappointed once again that we didnt get a grand bargain. Everything should be on the table. But at least this time there is an outcome that is possible, that will do no harm, and will allow us to continue this debate on how to right size government and get savings in some of our benefit programs. All right, congressman peter welch, thank you. It appears at least the ball has been moved a little bit down the field. Thank you so much. We appreciate your time. Thank you. Well, forget the politics for a second. Up next, find out what the breaking developments mean for the markets tomorrow. And your paycheck. Thats right. Your paycheck in the coming months. More breaking news continues. Stay here. Humans. Even when we cross our ts and dot our is, we still run into problems. Namely, other humans. Which is why at Liberty Mutual insurance, auto policies come with new car replacement and accident forgiveness if you qualify. See what else comes standard at libertymutual. Com. Liberty mutual insurance. Responsibility. Whats your policy . We asked total strangers to watch it for us. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Ill be right back. They didnt take a dime. How much in fees does your bank take to watch your money . If your bank takes more money than a stranger, you need an ally. Ally bank. Your money needs an ally. Well, whatever goes down on capitol hill today, your taxes are going to go up a little bit. First, everyone is getting hit with the Social Security payroll tax. It is going back up from 4. 2 to 6. 2 . So therefore person making an annual salary of about 50,000, nail see about a thousand dollars less this year. There is also a new medicare tax, close to 1 of income for people making over 250 grand. That group will also pay nearly 4 more on dividends and Capital Gains on investments. And if you do put money away in a flexible spending account for things like medical expenses, you wont be able to stash as much as you did last year because there will be fewer deductions. Im going to go now to terry savage, personal financial columnist for the chicago sun times. First, the Congressional Budget Office first came out with some figures about how much the senate plan will cost. And the report is it could be as much as 4 trillion. Doesnt seem like thats the spending the republicans want. Thats over the next ten years. We have to start out. This is very allison in wonderland. Like the mad hatters tea party. When they all finish congratulating themselves on getting a deal done, which they probably will, theyll find out they havent done much about anything. They have made tax changes and many people will pay more taxes as you described. But they havent done a thing about spending. The cbo assumed from its baseline here that all those bush era tax cuts would go away. So when the tax cuts only went away for certain people, it really does add 4 trillion and it reveals the fallacy of this whole deal, which is that we havent made any, any, any serious attempt to deal with spending over the next ten years. And, of course, that will come up as we bump up against the debt ceiling in a month or two. And what is interesting is the democrats would argue, look, were going to be bringing in about 600 billion over ten years, but thats really only a sliver of the population that is going to be sort of funding that amount of money. You have to remember that every year for the last three years, we have had added to the budget deficit. We had a budget deficit of 1 trillion every year for the past three years. So that our National Debt is now up over 16 trillion. Here is another 4 trillion we can project if we go forward without making any effort to deal with the outlying years in terms of all of the things that the government promised to pay. And thats why this this deal, everybody is so excited about just this tax fixation, and thats important to people. But the actually the people that will get hit hardest on the tax deal are the lower income people, because that Social Security payroll tax really impacts everybody the first 110,000 that you earn will now be taxed up to an additional 2. 42 . So 6. 2 is the takeout of your base pay, and everybody will see less in their paychecks starting with the next paycheck. So interesting. When you look at this, do you think that with everything that has gone on, the issues of spending will be able to be dealt with, practically, and calmly later on or do you think right now people are just going to dig in, it is going to affect the stock market, going to affect how we pay taxes, how we spend, do you think there is some area of discussion, some Common Ground . If you sit around watching cnn all the time, as i do, it has got to make you feel a little helpless. The rest of the world is watching. When they come up with a deal, im going to assume the house will make this deal and not try to send an amendment back to the senate, the markets are anticipating a deal yesterday that the market closed up 150 points, so we will probably see a carry through of the rally. We wont see the u. S. Markets, the futures open at 6 00 a. M. Eastern tomorrow. Well see the asian markets, they have been closed for holiday, theyll open in a few hours. Then europe. I assume there is a deal. Youll probably see some kind of relief rally, the thing we see when greece takes a step or italy takes one of those crazy votes, to make it look like theyre dealing with their debt. But over the long run, the whole world has to be watching the fact that america has not seriously attacked the issue of our overspending that has gone on year after year. And that will come to a head and i sure hope theyll deal with it better. It will be a new congress that has to deal with that in february. Exactly. David brooks said they really didnt deal with any really, really tough choices. That will be coming up in the weeks ahead. Terry savage, thanks so much. We want to read you a comment from House Speaker john boehner, from his spokesperson, just coming out now. It says, quote, the speaker and leader laid out options to the members, and listened to feedback. The lack of spending cuts in the senate bill was a universal concern among members in todays meeting. Conversations with members will continue throughout the afternoon on the path forward. Wolf blitzer is going to be joining us. Hes going to be breaking it all down for us. Stay with us. S the galaxy note. You can do two things at the same time. You can watch videos and text. Or you could watch the Earnings Report and take notes, like were supposed to. So. Can i get it . Yeah. Okay either of you put together the Earnings Report . Yes, me totally. Why dont you tackle the next quarter while we go to lunch. Pu pu platter . Yup keep up the good work. I will keep up the good work. Do more with the new Samsung Galaxy note ii. For a limited time get two flipcovers for the price of one. Exclusively at verizon. [heart beating] [heartbeat continues] [heartbeat, music playing louder] im feeling better since you know me. Announcer this song was created with heartbeats of children in need. Find out how it can help Frontline Health workers bring hope to millions of children at everybeatmatters. Org. And the back and forth of the fiscal cliff continues, House Speaker john boehner saying the lack of spending cuts is a universal concern for republicans. Dana bash joining us from capitol hill and shes got some reaction. Dana . Thats right. I have with me republican congressman steve latourette. Thank you for joining us. Pleasure. You are one of the many people who i understand spoke out pretty vocally inside this closed door meeting. What did you say . I indicated this is a sad state of affairs that well take a bill that was passed on new years eve by some sleep deprived octogenarians that is heavy on taxes and does nothing to cut spending, part of the big problem we have in the country. Sleep deprived octogenarians you call them. Lets be clear. This was a huge overwhelming vote in the senate. Not just on the democratic side, but republican side, 45 republicans, 40 voted yes. Your fellow republicans. I think a lot of that must have had to do with new years eve and perhaps early celebration. It just doesnt make sense. This is not a good deal. It gives all the tax increases, which i said months ago, i would be on board to support, but we have to do something to cut spending. This bill increases spending by over 600 billion. Now, knowing what you do, based on this meeting, just now, do you think the likelihood is that your leadership is going to offer some kind of amendment dealing with spending cuts . Yeah, Leadership Meeting now and the anticipation is well get together about 5 00 and go over whatever it is that they have come up with and then ask for support. Ill be supportive. No matter what happens. Ill be supportive. And we cant let taxes go up on so Many Americans in this horrible economy. But the fact of the matter is we make their problem worse unless we figure out how to cut spendin spending. Hes asked that we be responsible and whatever the spending cuts are, that they either be something the president himself proposed in the past, or that the senate has embraced in the past. I think thats what youll see. What i have heard is that what theyre talking about, or what you are talking about, is a pretty small scope of spending cuts, perhaps even just to replace, not to get into the weeds, but thats where we are now, just to replace the spending cuts that you have now to replace the sequester for two months with excuse me, the revenue rates with spending cuts. Meaning let me just to be fair to our viewers, what they passed there was to delay the sequester for two months and to pay for it with half tax revenue and half spending cuts. You want to get rid of the revenue part. And also the payfors are gimmicks, not spending cuts. If you do away with the sequester which everybody has to remember the price for the debt ceiling a year ago august, to now say were just going to pretend that doesnt exist and kick it down the road is not responsible. And so it needs to at least be paid for. And i would advocate the two months is ridiculous. I dont know a defense contractor, a business person in the country, that does plans their Business Space upon two months of work. It should be replaced for a year. You were incredibly vocal and critical of your fellow republicans after they decided not to go along with your friend, the speaker, john boehner, on what he called plan b, raising taxes for millionaires and above. You said this is why people, you know, are questioning republicans and questioning your party. If there is something done to scuttle this, will that just speak to the concerns that you even you have as a retired men about your party . We need to be positive and we need to be for something. And im perfectly comfortable as a departing republican being for. The president won. Lets give him his tax increases he wants. Im also comfort for reducing spending in a responsible way. I think most republicans come out of that thing, if thats the pitch that the speaker makes, being supportive of this plan. One last question. Do you think there will be a vote of any kind today . Yeah, i would think that well meet at 5 00 and as long as there isnt some big rebellion in the room, that something would come to the floor. Theyll whip it during the votes. There was a rebellion in this meeting, right . You said earlier in the hallway that was refreshing . Yeah, the leadership listened to everybody for an hour and a half and actually listened to them rather than telling people what they wanted to do. Variety of opinions and im really hopeful theyll come up with something. Thank you for joining us. You helped us give us insight to what is going on in your Republican Caucus. Deb, back to you. All right, dana bash, thanks so much. There you heard it. Perhaps a vote will in fact take place today. Well go to wolf blitzer now in washington. And, you know, wolf it fascinating, the republicans sound a bit exhausted, a bit defeated. Eric cantor saying he does not support the bill. And john boehner saying that lack of spending cuts is a universal concern, wolf. If there is a vote today, looks like there will be a vote, probably a vote with some amendments to what the Senate Passed last night, assuming the republicans have their way and can get that passed. Not a bipartisan basis, a partisan basis. They are the majority of the house. Then they will send that legislation with an amendment back to the senate. Up to the senate to move either later tonight or tomorrow, to either accept it, make their own amendments, send it back to the house. The clock is ticking, though, because this 112th Congress Ends at noon on thursday. If they dont have it on the president s desk, whatever legislation the house and the senate can agree on by noon on thursday, then they start all over again because they swear in the 113th congress, new senate, new house they start from scratch, none of the legislation that passed the last night in the senate or might pass the house today is going to mean much because they have a whole new cast of characters, a lot of new members, new senators, new members of the house coming in. They start from scratch. They really dont have a lot of time and, remember, deb, if they dont get this done today, or at least by tomorrow, the markets are going to react and there is probably going to be a significant drop in the markets because people are nervous out there about what is going to happen. If they also dont pass anything, those draconian tax increases on everyone, not just people making more than 400,000 a year or 450,000 a year, taxes, tax rates are going to go up on almost all federal income taxpayers, and the spending cuts, the cuts in the sequestration isnt called, the domestic spending, the National Security spending, they will go into effect as well. Going to be a lot of jobs that will be lost and a Significant Impact on the overall economy. So the stakes over the next 24 hours are significan wolf, clearly nobody has the energy to start from scratch. But do you get the sense from any of the republicans youre speaking to that at least they see this as moving the ball a little bit farther down the field . Certainly, you know, they havent gone ten yards, but do they feel that way a little bit . They dont like the fact that there arent a lot of spending cuts in this legislation. The tax provisions, the republicans arent thrilled about, most of them, because it does raise taxes by for people making more than 400,000 or 450,000 a year. Theyre not happy with that. A lot of those republicans certainly in the house would go along with it as the democrats are going to go along with it if there were more spending cuts. Well see. I suspect that well see an amendment once it comes up in the house for some significant spending cuts and well see where it goes as far as the senate is concerned. That could be the kiss of death, this whole thing could collapse over the next 24, 48 hours. And then they start from scratch on thursday. Absolutely. An amendment would have to go and an amended deal back to the house, the senate. Wolf blitzer, thanks so much. A lot more coming up at the top of the hour with you, thanks so much. Again . Its embarrassing its embarrassing we can see you carl. We can totally see you. Come on youre better than this. All that prowling around. Yeah, youre the king of the jungle. Have you thought about going vegan carl . Hahaha you know folks who save hundreds of dollars by switching to geico sure are happy. How happy are they jimmy . Happier than antelope with nightvision goggles. Nice get happy. Get geico. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. As we continue to follow all the ups and downs of the fiscal cliff, want to bring you up to speed, apparently eric cantor says he does not support the deal that is on the table. House Speaker John Boehner says the lack of universal spending cuts is a grave concern to the members. Whether they will amend the current deal and send it back to the senate, still watching. However, a prominent republican does say perhaps a vote could take place today. Still a little light at the end of the tunnel. It was an act 40 years in the making. The group known as the wilmington ten is finally seeing redemption. In 1972, nine black men and one white woman was convicted of firebombing a Grocery Store in North Carolina. Despite their claims of innocence, and suspicions about racially biased prosecutors, all ten were found guilty. Victor blackwell is joining me now. Victor, take us back. What was the case all about . 1971, schools were desegregated in wilmington, North Carolina. And the black high school was shut down. There were boycotts, there were protests, and ben chavis, later to become the executive director of the naacp was sent in to quell some of the violence. One night of rioting, the white home supermarket was fire bombed. These ten people, chavis, eight other black men and one white woman, the wilmington ten, they were framed. They were charged and convicted and sentenced to 282 years combined for this crime. Now, a few years later one witness in this case recanted his testimony, said he was coerced, bribed, and then the convictions were overturned but already served eight years in prison. Let me take you to just yesterday when North Carolina governor bev perdue, pardoned them and gave them a pardon of innocence. Here is part of her statement. These convicts were tainted by naked racism and represent an ugly stain on North Carolinas criminal Justice System that cannot be allowed to stand any longer. That came yesterday. But four of the wilmington ten have already passed away. They didnt live to get that pardon of innocence. They didnt know that they had been pardoned, clearly. They died continuing to think has the prosecutor in this case responded to the accusations of racism . Yes, he has responded to them. Ill tell you how the accusations of racism came about. Just a couple of years ago, note pads, the legal pads that attorneys write on during the trial, they were handed over to an historian from the North Carolina chapter of the naacp. They found notes next to jurors numbers that said kkk good. Uncle tom type or no. She associates with negros. Those types of comments and he has said to the wilmington star news, this happened back in october, that these are being misinterpreted, he was not making any racial comments and that he wanted blacks on the jury who would be fair. He could have an all white jury, but why would he want one . That is the concern. These were people, again, who were wrongly convicted, 40 years ago, and their family members actually say that the last 40 years have been a nightmare. We have some sound from them. It has not been easy when the fellows will go look for jobs, they were turned down. People just talked about them. Even our own family. The whole community did not stand together. Theyre convinced in their own minds and heart somebody did it, you know . So, i mean, we were chosen victims of crimes that we didnt commit. Governor perdues historic action today doesnt remove the past 40 years of injustice against ten innocent american citizens. And, deb, the next question is, will they sue the state of North Carolina for compensation for serving eight years in prison when this did not happen and they were convicted wrongly. Any answer to that question . Not yet. Victor blackwell, thank you so much. A fascinating story and they finally got their pardon. Thanks, appreciate it. Lots more coming up, everyone. Stay with us. The stroke of midnight we not only welcomed in 2013, we also ushered in some new state laws. Thousands of them. Some of them are serious, some a little more bizarre, some make you wonder what took legislators so long. How about this . Illinois banning sex offenders from handing out halloween candy or dressing up like santa or the easter bunny. In florida, flashing your headlights to let oncoming cars know that police have set up a speed trap, that is no longer illegal. So flash away. Californias banning stores from selling expired infant food and formula. Probably a good idea. And in maryland, same sex couples can now marry. Anne bremner joins me from seattle to talk about some of these. Here is the big one, anne. Folks in illinois and california are now a little less worried about what they have hidden in their facebook and twitter accounts. Explain this. Well, a new law, new year, new laws, and this is an interesting one because what it is is it basically says employers cant force you to give over your password for twitter, facebook, any kind of social media. And Higher Education authorities cant do it either. And it is basically, we say, twitter, facebook, these things are all public. But the right to privacy is one of the most important right we have in this country. Common law right, constitutional right. And this, i think you draw the line, the lawmakers have said in illinois and california, enoughs enough. You have a reasonable expectation of privacy. Why did they need that information . They cant force you to give the passwords and i think thats a law that will spread beyond those two states. It certainly doesnt mean employers cant look at what youve got on your Facebook Page they cant access it. New laws in response to the Jerry Sandusky molestation case at penn state. How does that affect folks in oregon . This is a weird one too. So many people i think during the sandusky case, myself included, thought why arent they having reporting laws in upper levels of education, in colleges. Saying if there is child abuse, you have to report. Clergy have to report. Teachers have to report. To this day, at least today, heretofore, we didnt have reporting requirements for college personnel. Basically says, it is a nobrainer, you should report, it is common sense. But now thou shalt report and if you dont, you have penalties if youre a College Level personnel or authority, abuse, sports or otherwise, the sandusky case, the effects of that have spread all over including to the west coast. A little less secrecy a little less secrecy when it comes to folks who work around children. Anne bremner, thank you. A sports anchor is back on the air after a Backyard Grill exploded. How it happened and her road to recovery neck. And i wont. Because before i went to sleep, i set this. Now my iphone knows not to ring, unless its important. cause disturbing this would just be. Wrong. [ woman ] what i want this season if youd like to try and guess it is something very special i would readily confess [ dogs barking ] cause all i want this season is something from your heart la da da, la da da [ male announcer ] thinking of others this holiday season, travelers. Well, as we bring you up to date on the latest on the fiscal cliff, Democratic Leaders urging an up or down vote on the deal that has passed. They dont want any amendments. House republicans, however, saying that there is still universal concern over what they see as a fundamental lack of spending cuts. Still, they seem resigned about a possible vote perhaps tonight. Well, espn anchor hanna storm is back on the air after recovering from a serious accident involving a propane grill explosion. According to abc, the Sports Center host was using her gas grill three weeks ago when it he can ploeded causing second and thirddegree burns. Nischelle turner has more. It was really good to see her back on tv this morning. She was on to cohost the rose parade. She said before the show that she was going to be nervous. You could see that she was a little bit but her cohost, josh eliot, just said it was glad to have her back and that she looked as good as ever. Hanna mentioned that people may notice some differences to her appearance, like different hair texture because she was wearing extensions due to losing most of her hair and she lost her eyelashes and eyebrows. The accident happened on december 11th when she was using a gas grill outside of her home in connecticut. The grill exploded and hanna says she saw this wall of fire coming towards her. Her clothes caught on fire, her hair caught on fire. And during the broadcast she did mention and said thank you to the burn center for taking such good care can of her. Seeing her on the air, it is hard to believe that she had such a serious accident a few weeks ago because all you really saw was the bandage on her left hand. Most of the burns, were told, are on her chest area because her clothes caught can on fire. She did have that covered up. But yes indeed, it was good to see her on the air because no one knew how extensive the injuries were because she hadnt been out. No one had seen her since the accident. And her husband, who is also a sports reporter, and we understand the bandage may have come because she ripped the shirt off that is was on fire. Yes. We are all delighted and thrilled to see her back on air after a devastating accident. Thanks and happy new year. And she did great this morning, too. She did a great job. She did. Well, a soldiers Surprise Homecoming a short time ago at the rose parade. Youll see that next. Excuse me, sir im gonna have to ask you to power down your little word game. I think your friends will understand. Oh no, its actually my geico app. See . I just uh paid my bill. Did you really . From the plane . Yeah, i can manage my policy, get roadside assistance, pretty much access geico 24 7. Sounds a little too good to be true sir. Ill believe that when pigs fly. Ok, did she seriously just say that . Geico. Just click away with our free mobile app. A man protecting lives during the iran hostage crisis has died. John sheardown helped smuggle six diplomats out of iran. Twha happened . Six of the hostages went out a back exit. Where are they . Revolutionary guards are going door to door. These people die. They die badly. While his role was left out of the film, his actions during the crisis were pivotal in protecting the americans after being stormed by militant. S. Sh eachlt sheardown was 88 years old. One family at