and speaker john boehner can't please anyone. ♪ >> happy new year, everybody. >> aloha, mr. president. >> the fiscal cliff vote wasn't the only drama in the house of representatives. >> the house stands adjourned until 10:00 a.m. tomorrow for morning hour debate. >> mr. speaker. >> we will promise that this vote was coming up. >> it's the most disgraceful action i've seen in this house in the 20 years i've been here. >> nine weeks after sandy, not one penny has been appropriated. >> we turned our back on them. >> the only thing our republican colleagues did this week is serve up false hope to the people devastated by the storm. >> they have no problem finding new york when it comes to raising money. >> the relief will come early next year but will come at the $27 billion level. >> anyone from new york or new jersey who contributes one penny to congressional republicans after this should have their head examined. ♪ a very happy new year to you and your family. 2013 begins as washington barely avoids crashing off the fiscal cliff. in a rare late night vote, they managed to pass a compromised bill on new year's day. republicans were forced to frown and bear it affirming the first tax increase in two decades. starting with earnings over $400,000. all that remains is for the president to sign the bill into law. so we begin the year with a harmonious congressional kumbaya, right? >> the conduct of the republican leadership was disgrateful, indefensible, and immoral. we cannot believe that this cruel knife in the back was delivered to our region. >> oh, dear. that was republican congressman peter king of new york. and the cruel knife to which he's referring, that could be a failure to vote on a relief package for superstorm sandy. the vote was abruptly pulled back by speaker boehner last night delaying the bill until the 113th congress which convenes tomorrow. gop leadership apparently determined the house shouldn't even try for $60.4 billion in new spending on a night it added $4 trillion to the deficit. and congressman king is not the only one outraged that politics took precedence over people. >> republicans in congress brought this house to a new low last night. >> we're all hit hard enough with the recession. on top of that now we have to deal with the anxiety and the failure of congress to act. >> talk to the people. look into their eyes. understand their needs. come walk with me, mr. speaker. >> this is time to stop debating and take the gloves off. jersey style. >> and speaking of jersey style, governor chris christie came out swinging this afternoon. >> shame on you. shame on congress. on a political chess board of internal palace intrigue politics, our people were played last night as a pawn. and that's why people hate washington, d.c. that's why they hate this politics. last night it was my party responsible. >> under fire, speaker boehner met with lawmakers from new york and new jersey just last hour relaying to them that he'll hold a vote friday for part of the sandy supplement. mike viqueira joins us live from washington. mike, no sooner did the president plead for less drama than speaker boehner managed to anger chris christie, andrew cuomo, the entire northeast constituency and then some. now i guess he's had a change of heart. is that right? >> he drew a lot of bipartisan fire. and peter king after firing some broad sides at speaker boehner and who on the floor suggest that republicans stop donating money to the republican party until this thing gets straightened out as a means of retribution, peter king emerged from that meeting with other tri-state area lawmakers and says what's done a done. my anger this morning was a lifetime ago. apparently the speaker patched things up to a sufficient agree with peter king. i don't know about the democrats from that area. with his offer now to put a bill on the floor for $9 billion. a down payment sof $9 billion, the most urgent need is flood insurance for those folks on the coast of new jersey, new york, and connecticut. put that on the floor on friday. just a day after the new congress begins. and pledges to do the $51 billion on january 15th. here's the problem all along. the speaker did not want to put this bill on the floor in a day of turmoil and chaos. yesterday on new year's day in the halls of congress and the bowels of the basement of the capitol building, lawmakers hurrying back and forth huddling again and again and again trying to work out a way to get past the fiscal cliff. the base of his party was very upset with what was going down. you saw the vote yet on the fiscal cliff. a lopsided margin for democrats voting in favor. a lopsided margin, a little bit less so, for republicans voting against. he didn't want to put it on the floor in that atmosphere. and one problem with the temporary solution to do part of it on friday, the senate's going to have to act all over again. >> exactly. >> the slate is wiped clean until the clock starts again. >> mike, i have to put this to you. what does the politics of washington have to do with hundreds of thousands of people whose homes have been devastated, whose businesses have been devastated through no fault of their own. what is speaker boehner thinking when he decides to put the political warfare that he's engaging in washington ahead of the needs of the ordinary citizens of this country? >> well, those on the coasts of new jersey and new york and connecticut are going to find this a bitter irony. but some in the gop say the supplemental bill is $60 million. i got to add quickly here that that is the usually course of events in washington for these emergency supplementals. they do add to the debt. and yet they've been voting on time and time again. there are also things in this bill that don't have anything to do with recovery from sandy. and that's another thing that a lot of folks have objected to. nonetheless, it did pass the senate. one of the last things the senate did before leaving down and dealing with the fiscal cliff. obviously didn't make it to the floor of the house of representatives. after the president, chris christie and those irate lawmakers from new york, new jersey, and connecticut really tried to corner the speaker last night. literally. got very angry. it's going to happen friday. >> thanks, mike. i'd like to bring in now congressman joe crowley of new york with us from capitol hill. congressman, we got word the last few minutes that mr. boehner will call a vote on the first $9 billion in sandy aid this friday. are you satisfied with that response? >> i certainly am not. first of all, martin, it's great to be on your show again. happy new year to you and your listeners. >> to you and your family, sir. >> but i've been told over the last few weeks that it's going to happen. i was told we'd have a vote on this yesterday on the larger package. i would then told we'd have one on today. then at the last minute the rug was pulled out from underneath us. and i really say underneath the victims of storm sandy. so forgive me if i seem a little bit skeptical here. i don't -- i cannot take a gift horse in the mouth. i have to see it. and quite frankly, martin, this is only part of it. you know, the $9 billion is only part of the overall package. it really leaves me begging the question whether we'll ever get anything beyond that done. i'd like to believe the speaker. >> and mr. crowley, you know for a fact your colleague darrell issa said he would vote for maybe $27 billion but not the $60 billion. so there's no confidence you could have this will come through. so there's $9 billion in flood defenses being tabled on friday, but beyond that, can citizens in new jersey and new york have any confidence that they're going to get any of this money that's needed? >> well, listening to darrell issa is just incredulous. there have been disasters in the west coast. in texas and louisiana, the gulf coast, in the carolinas, in kansas. i have never asked whether or not it's paid for. i've never asked whether or not do they have any connection to new york at all? you know, these aren't questions i ask. i ask what can we do, how fast can we do it? let me say to you, ten days after katrina, this congress appropriated $64 billion to the people in the gulf states. we didn't bat an eye. >> yeah. >> we take the first $9 billion on friday it will be 68 days after sandy hit. >> it's unconscionable, sir. and 72,000 homes and businesses have been damaged or destroyed in new jersey. 305,000 homes, 265,000 businesses damaged or destroyed in new york. and speaker boehner seems to think nothing of playing politics with storm victims and their very lives. >> i was told they had no stomach to take this bill up before the end of the year. and my response is will they have the stomach to see the suffering taking place in the rockaways, in blorooklyn, new jersey, and connecticut. could they stomach seeing small businesses that are closed and probably won't open again. we just came through the busiest cycle. the christmas holiday season. that's when they make just about all their money for the year to survive -- to go into the next year. so really what this is is a failure of the republican congress to have a heart. they did not have a heart for the american people, the victims in this. >> isn't congressman peter king absolutely right when he says there's a double standard that republicans have when it comes to new york. they'll fly in here for as many fund raisers they can host, but as soon as the region desperately requires assistance, republicans are out of laguardia quicker than saying speaker boehner. >> i could not believe the degree that peter had gone to blast the house leadership. we were all betrayed. the members of congress were betrayed. they were told this bill would be on the floor. the people of new york, new jersey, connecticut and the quad-state region were betrayed. and the american people were traded. out of many one. this is not about us singularly. it's not just about new york. we don't ask questions when it happens elsewhere. >> absolutely. new yorkers gave republicans more money than any other state in 2012. >> don't remind me. >> more than $15 million. do you think that congressman king's threat of halting donations was what actually made the speaker act for this vote to be tabled on friday? was it really as crude as that? >> i don't think it was insignificant. and i don't want to say that that it's everything, but it's certainly not insignificant. it ought not be about campaign funds and about the politics of the republican caucus. it ought to be about the lives of americans. i think that's what peter is focused on. the people in long beach and long island. michael grimm in staten island. these are real people's lives and their stories. people have lost lives, have lost their homes. think of the mass transit. the hit impact it took on new york city's mass transit on subway and bus and rail. it's enormous. it's going to take a great deal of time for us to come back. but i'll tell you this. new yorkers -- we're pulling ourselves back up without waiting for the federal government. it would be nice to know that when we need the help, the federal government is there to help them and congress is there to help. regardless where they are. >> wouldn't it just. thank you for being so straight up and defending your. constituents. >> thank you. next, to boehner and cantor, calls for a new speaker to the house. stay with us. >> i appreciate your saying i'm a transformative figure. i try to transform my own figure. ♪ aspirin, really? 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>> well, martin, i always like to save some breaking news for you when i come on. >> i'm grateful to you for that. >> i have huge breaking news tonight. there are serious rumors that at the conference tonight at 5:00 john boehner will announce that he's resigning as speaker of the house. there are multiple senior sources that i have talked to tonight that have said that this is going to happen. >> ron, i wouldn't wish to question your sanity, but i find that very hard to believe. >> i know. listen, i find it hard to believe. i was put at a one in four chance today we'd be able to kick him out today. there are a serious group of members thinking about it. >> do they have someone as an alternative in mind. >> eric cantor is probably the one. >> is this a coup? >> i don't have any evidence. >> you have to put evidence forward. you put forth a rumor. sub shans -- substantiate it. >> -- the first business of order tomorrow. and why it should be -- by the way, it should be a $9 billion bill. i don't know if you saw this, but only $9 billion of the senate bill is going to be spent next year. one out of every $20 of that bill was spent on pork. how immoral is it to stuff a bill like that for pork. >> you're becoming slightly overexcited. let's stay on one issue for a moment. i put to richard wolffe the possibility that speaker boehner is going to resign. >> i would be astonished. for all sorts of reasons. first off, there has been no serious challenger. it's important if you're going to fire someone or have someone step down, that someone else wants the job. and nobody else wants this job. this isn't just about john boehner. it's about the caucus itself. admittedly boehner has not done a very good job of that. when you hear republicans say he hasn't delivered what he promised, there's the part where he hasn't delivered but there's the fact he made promises he could not deliver in all seriousness. he hasn't had unity in his leadership team. i know there are competing theories, maybe there's some makavellian strategy this is one big group. i don't believe that either. but you've got to have someone to replace him. >> were you not listening that this is probably led by eric cantor? if you've ever met him, he wants nothing more than to become the speaker of the house. i think that's what the move is going to be tonight. at least there's a possibility it can happen. or tonight the reason boehner decided not to drop the sandy bill altogether, why he decided to do the vote on friday is those members are joining with the coup and he was in serious jeopardy. it's one of those two things. but like i said, serious people are telling me there's a chance he's going to resign tonight. >> richard, we mentioned the discontent among conservatives. let's hear from one of them right now. this will be interesting. >> there are a lot of conservatives in the caucus who -- republican caucus in the house who hate the bill and for good reason. i mean, this is a complete surrender on everything. >> the republicans can have a problem, but isn't the problem not john boehner. it's the party. how do you lead any of these individuals anywhere? >> well, they haven't -- in spite of charles' intellect. they haven't surrendered on everything. they got 98% of the bush tax cuts. so they used to be the party for tax cuts but in is the last couple years just what we're seeing in the last republican primary is the idea of a progressive taxation system where rich people pay a higher percentage of their wealth, that is actually being undermined. in the primary system they were from a flat tax. to go from a party where pretty much every candidate said we want a flat tax to where things have become more progressive. that is a change. it's not what republicans stood for even four years ago. under president bush this was the center piece of his taxation policy. now it's surrender. that's how far this party has traveled. >> indeed. ron meyer and richard wolffe, thank you for breaking the news. we've run out of time but will follow up tomorrow. coming up, where are the apologies from those who claim the secretary of state was faking her own illness? 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[ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus liquid gels speeds relief to your worst cold symptoms plus has a decongestant for your stuffy nose. thanks. that's the cold truth! a brief update now on secretary of state hillary clinton. we heard today from a state department spokesperson who reports that mrs. clinton despite being in a new york city hospital room has been keeping in touch with her staff in washington. she spoke with them on the phone today. and on saturday the secretary made calls to the envoy in syria and to the prime minister of qatar. doctors at new york presbyterian hospital are treating a blood clot that was discovered in mrs. clinton's head after she sustained a concussion next month. we'll bring you more details when they become available. stay with us. the day's top lines are coming up. ♪ snot [ lisa ] my name's lisa, and chantix helped me quit. i honestly loved smoking, and i honestly didn't think i would ever quit. 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