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reports. chris lawrence of the pentagon and brianna keeler in our washington bureau. let's start with chris. chris, we're talking about two high-level government officials in a scandal, general allen sent to become the supreme ally commander for nato. first off, what's the latest on the investigation? you are hearing anything? what is going to happen to general allen? >> reporter: yeah, right now what i'm hearing is that general allen is here in washington wondering exactly the same thing. he was just 48 hours away from going before that senate confirmation hearing to take over nato. now that has been postponed. he is here and people are wondering what's going to happen to him next. from what we've been able to determine from sources at the pentagon, basically they are looking at between 20 and 30,000 pages, most of them e-mails sent between general allen and jill kelly down in florida between 2010 and 2012. so right up until this year. i'm told the e-mails were inappropriate in nature and now the inspector general here at the pentagon is looking through those to see what exactly

and spending cuts. jill doherty is in our washington bureau. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> jill, both sides have said they are optimistic about a deal here. they're also not budging on some key issues. >> yeah, i mean, there is some room around the edges, but essentially, and this is the the opening gambit, of course. they're both talking about taxes. the president saying -- and revenue. the president saying that he wants more revenue from the wealthiest americans and the republicans and especially mitch mcconnell, who's the senate minority leader, he's taking a tougher stand than even boehner. let's listen to both of those positions. >> let's be clear. an opening bid of $1.6 trillion in new taxes just isn't serious. it's more than simpson/bowles or any other bipartisan commission has called for. it's been unanimously rejected in the house and senate. it's twice as much as the white house agreed to last summer during the debt ceiling talks, and looked at in the context of the spending cuts yet to be implemented, it amounts to about 20 cents in cuts for every new dollar in tax hi

the senate. >> white house correspondent brianna keilar is live from washington, d.c. for us this morning. brianna, speaker boehner seemed to be offering the president on olive branch earlier this week when he talked about the possibility of increasing revenue. but here he's taking a hard stance against tax increases. what does that say about the chances of a compromise? >> well, it may actually sound kind of like it's splitting hairs. but it's really two different things where he's talking about increasing tax rates. he says he's not okay with that. but he would be maybe okay, maybe amenable to increasing revenue. to bringing in more tax dollars, because there is a difference. and what he's saying is part of a chorus of conciliatory language that we're hearing from democrats and republicans on the hill. listen to more of what john boehner said in that interview. >> -- talk about all kinds of things we may disagree. i'm the most reasonable, responsible person here in washington. the president knows this. he knows that he and i can work together. the election's over. now it's time to get t

washington democrats have spent money without any care for the cost or the future. and refuse to do anything to protect long-term spending programs like medicare, a failure that's among the biggest drivers of our debt. >> one out of three people in this country are going to rely on medicare and medicaid for their health insurance. so we need to find ways to reserve these programs. >> senator durbin is suggesting the debate over the entitlement programs should be waged after the new year once the fiscal cliff issue has been settled. >>> six minutes past the hour, new storms rolling into the northwest this morning. and that could cause dangerous flooding. alexandra steele is live in atlanta for us. what's going on? >> hey, good morning to you guys. we've got one storm that's gone and one storm that's a massive storm incoming. so let's start with this, all you guys in new york city had snow, for sure, but right now we certainly don't. this has all moved offshore. this was just the rain, but what was left behind? actually black ice there this morning. places like new jersey, six inches of snow.

washington correspondent for politico. he joins us now from washington. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> so let me first get to -- i'll get to the fiscal cliff but first want to get your reaction to the petraeus story. there are reports this morning that the fbi and the justice department knew about this over the summer, as early as over the summer, and some members of congress are complaining they didn't know about it. >> members of congress always wish they knew what was going on before they get informed of things. that's a typical complaint whenever the administration comes forward with something. i would say this, there's either a situation where the fbi believes there's a potential security breach or there is not. if they believed there was a potential security breach they probably should have informed members of congress so that something could be done about it or gotten petraeus out of his job. what we've heard so far is they didn't believe that there was a potential security breach, which leads to the question of why david petraeus ended up in the position he did. and i think

in congress. they came before our cameras yesterday in washington, john. they did talk about the election being a voice from the american voters for a call for compromise. and you heard both men talking about working together to fix the country's problems along with the president. but at the same time, you also heard both men laying down markers and both men disagreeing on whether whether it comes to the fiscal cliff the wealthy should be taxed. take a look at what they said. >> it won't solve the problem of our fiscal imbalance overnight. certainly won't do it in a lame duck session of congress. and it won't be solved simply by raising taxes or taking a plunge off the fiscal cliff. >> the vast majority of the american people rich, poor, everybody agrees that the rich, richest of the rich have to help a little bit. >> another disagreement, john boehner the house speaker talking about doing a framework but getting a new deal done with the new congress. harry reid saying let's not kick the can further down the road. negotiations really get under way next week when both sides of the house an

dan lothian is live from washington this morning. dan, that clock is ticking louder and louder what is the very latest? i hear there are one-on-one meetings happening today. >> that's right. these are the president himself not sitting down and talking with lawmakers, but timothy geithner will be on capitol hill and other senior level members of the administration trying to hammer something out here. this is a complicated process. so far it does not appear the two sides have gotten closer. that's why you see the president pushing hard, first of all through social media, trying to get americans out there to pass the message along, put pressure on lawmakers to get this middle class tax cut extension down. the president sitting down with small business owners, with ceos of major companies, pushing that middle class tax cut message. they don't believe that this is the comprehensive solution, but they believe this is a step towards the final solution, a final agreement to prevent this fiscal cliff scenario. the president saying he believes that this can get done before christmas. take a l



dan lothian, live from washington this morning. it's really nice to see you, dan. >> good to see you. >> let's first talk about the fiscal cliff. the president said we could see a deal by next week. that may hinge on this issue with taxes. how are republicans responding to the president's remarks? >> well, you know, first of all, there does seem a willingness by republicans to find areas of agreement, to reach a compromise. but they are pushing back on the president's plan because they don't believe that a solution should lie in tax hikes for any americans, including the wealthiest of americans, despite the fact that there's this looming fiscal cliff and the president has said, as you heard just a short time ago, that only middle class americans should get some ease here and not those wealthy americans from those taxes. and despite that, john boehner believes that a solution is possible. take a listen. >> i've outlined a framework for how both parties can work together to avert the fiscal cliff without raising tax rates. if you've look closely at what the president had to say and loo

. whenever big conflicts happen in the middle east, washington wants to be seen as playing a major role as peacemaker. that is clearly why mrs. clinton is in the region today, but it is also clear that throughout the past few days it's been egypt that's taking the lead as peacemaker. obviously, they have strong links to hamas and they also have links with israel with that peace treaty they have promised to abide by. so they seem to be logical peacemaker. yesterday they were optimistic that a cease-fire would be established. mr. morsi says he expects the aggression to stop. obviously, christine, that didn't happen. heavy fighting throughout the night and the early morning hours. not exactly boding well for egypt's status as peacemaker, but they seem to be remaining optimistic. they are hopeful something can get done today. >> reza, have egyptian officials told you why they can't get the two sides to agree to a cease-fire when they claimed they were so close? it looked as though from signs on the ground they were so close and the heavy fighting continued all night. >> reporter: yeah, well

of the beltway here in washington. >> he's not easily categorized in any way. he wants it all. he's rational, first of all. he's a little bit deliberative and cautious. but then once in a while he'll go for the bold stroke because he wants something larger. >> the president's next decisions would move the right to anger. >> you better wake up, america! >> the left to disappointment. and leave a nation more polarized than ever. >> i think he came in feeling his own exceptionalism. and then the realities of washington smacked him in the head. >>> january 2009. the president's promises of hope and change would be put to the test by the worst financial crisis in modern history. >> you look at any important economic statistic. they were collapsing faster in the fall of 2008 than they had collapsed in the fall of 1929. >> 11 million americans unemployed. 13 million homes in foreclosure. the president's chief economist saw an unprecedented hole opening in the economy. >> we were hanging on the edge of a cliff. in fact, we were starting down that, down into the abyss. >> for once, most in washington

is under way at a military base in washington state. it will determine whether robert bales should be tried for murder in the shooting deaths of 16 afghan civilians. that was back in march. >>> police are looking for a skateboarder who robbed a bank in carlsbad, california. investigators say the man dressed in the all black handed a teller a note yesterday. there's a picture of him there, demanding an undisclosed amount of money. the teller complied. no one was hurt. investigators say witnesses didn't spot a weapon. but they have his mug. right, soledad, did you see that? >> yes. and he's on a skateboard. my guess is they'll wrap up the case pretty soon. >>> keep it right here on cnn, our special live election coverage begins tonight at 6:00 p.m. eastern. cnn's wolf blitzer has a preview. and apparently he does not have a preview. obviously a little problem with the tape of wolf. but basically tonight is where you want to be watching cnn's coverage. coming up this morning on our special election day edition of "early start," who will win or will we have a winner at all, will the results be


in wisconsin, and a very small two-point edge in new hampshire. i'm joined by mark preston live in washington. mark, there's been a lot of talk about the president's handling of hurricane sandy and how it might affect this race. we get a glimpse of what americans think about this handling in a new poll by abc/"washington post." 78% of voters approve of the president's response, 44% say they approve of mitt romney's reaction. neither candidate is seeking to politicize this were tragedy overtly. but it really does beg the question, how could this affect this race? >> it certainly puts the president in the position of being a commander in chief and being the leader at the time of a crisis. and in many ways, he's gotten a lot of support of one of mitt romney's top surrogates, and that's chris christie. and just yesterday we saw president obama and chris christie in new jersey surveying the damage. let's listen to what they had to say about each other. >> i cannot thank the president enough about his concern and the compassion for our state. i heard it on the phone skand w able to witness it today

fast. >> jill dougherty in washington, thanks so much. >>> 18 minutes past the hour. you're watching "early start." let's go to christine romans with the day's top stories. with everything happening in the middle east, we were just talking oil prices. >> i watched prices, they were up almost 3% yesterday, down a little this morning. we'll continue to watch the markets and their reaction to what's happening in the middle east. >>> meantime, a new poll finds that more americans are concerned about the fiscal cliff than the scandal involving former cia director david petraeus. 36% of republicans, 35% of democrats and 31% of independents say they are following the debate on the fiscal cliff very closely. how does that compare with the petraeus affair? well, only 28% of republicans, 21% of democrats and 19% of independents are following the investigation, quote, very closely. >>> florida senator marko rubio didn't give an answer when asked by "gq" how old the earth is. his response? "i'm not a scientist, man." it's estimated more than 4 .5 million years old. there are multiple theories on

's the current director of the woodrow wilson center in washington. she joins us live from cairo. representative harmon, thank you so much for joining us. israel and hamas, as you know, are meeting separately with egyptian officials. but i think it's important to point out that egypt is not a neutral negotiating partner in this. they have long been an ally of hamas. i ask you, during your trip there, are you hopeful that you can reach any sort of agreement to a cease-fire? >> well, actually, i am. i mean i'm not the one negotiating it, but this is my third visit to this marvelous country, the largest in the arab world, in a year. and at this time, even with gaza going on, there is reason for optimism about the egyptian economy, and future of an imf loan, and a constitution about to be drafted, hopefully that will include full, equal rights for women. but, gaza is on the minds of everybody here, and i have heard in the last hour or so, there is reason for optimism that a cease-fire could be announced as early as this afternoon and the role egyptians have played in helping broker that is viewed as

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