very long time. it's also sending shock waves across egypt and the entire world. fair warning, what the camera caught, what the women are protesting, well, it's hard to watch. and here's also no sound. which perhaps is just as well because the images speak for themselves. watch. now, we don't know what ultimately became of this woman except that she suffered serious cuts, serious bruises. but we do know this. she's not the only one. and yet keeping them honest, until tonight the generals in charge of egypt these days are insisting that what you just saw was only an isolated incident. >> translator: and here i want to mention a very important point. the armed forces and police have pledged not to use violence against protesters, physically or even verbally. >> now, do these troops look like they've taken some sort of pledge of nonviolence against protesters? i mean, does beating the daylights out of defenseless people qualify as nonviolence? it's been going on for days. riot police, for all intents and purposes, engaged in rioting of their own. and yet keeping them honest, we'll speak with "the new york times" david kirkpatrick who reports that no one in the military has been investigated or charged in connection with any sort of misconduct. in a statement the military supreme council said it had already taken, quote, all the legal action to hold whoever is responsible accountable. now, as we show you these pictures, consider the rest of the statement. the supreme council, quote, says reassures its respect and appreciation for egyptian women and their right in protesting and their active positive participation in political life. the council also finally said it acknowledges and regrets that violations, that's plural, took place over the last several days. activist mona safe already knew all of that, in fact, she's been seeing it firsthand. we spoke earlier tonight. mona, this brutal video, it's hard to watch, a woman being severely beaten and dragged through the streets. people have seen it all around the world now, as you probably know. you say that egyptian authorities are specifically targeting women. is that right? >> yes. i'm saying that in the current clashes, it seems to be part of the tactics, that they are specifically targeting women. they are specifically beating up women and harassing them and sexually assaulting them, to threaten them. and i think also, to send a signal that there are no more red line for them. what we would have thought are things they would never dare to commit are things they are now doing publicly in the middle of the street with all cameras directed at them. i think this is just a sign that it's an open war between us and them. >> they're not even trying to hide it, you're saying. i mean, we see this incident here, we're watching it right now, on the monitors on tv, but, i mean, is that an isolated thing, or are you seeing that off camera as well? is this happening more and more? >> i'm saying that what you are seeing right now has happened in the past three or four days to more than one girl. on the 16th, there was more than nine girls detained by the army. actually, more than 20 girls detained by the army. nine of them were hospitalized or detained for overnight in the cabinet building. and they were then taken to hospital because of their wounds and because of the bruises they suffered from twhat they endure because of our army. so i'm saying that this is not an isolated incident. this seems to be a conscious decision to target female protesters and to make them reconsider joining the street protests again. >> and the video, again, is hard to watch. people literally stomping their boots on people's bodies. i mean, up until yesterday, as you know, military authorities were claiming they haven't used violence against the egyptian people. you can decide for yourself watching the video. but today, mona, they did issue an apology and said they will investigate these incidents. what do you make of that? do you trust that they're going to do this? >> reporter: no, of course. an apology -- a written apology is nothing. we have hundreds of detainees that are facing trial right now, are facing prosecution right now. all of them are tortured. the majority of them are minors. and they were all tortured. we have officially 13 marchers so far. we have tens of hundreds of wounded. with the girl you have just seen, there's another one, an older woman who tried to protect another girl, and she's currently in the hospital with hemorrhage and a broken skull. so we are talking about a horrible, horrible sequence of time against all sorts of ages and gender of revolutionaries and egyptian citizens and definitely an apology on the tv and on facebook is not enough. >> mona, thanks so much. i know you told me earlier you're in a safe place. i hope you continue to be safe. thanks so much for joining us. >> thank you. and with us now in cairo is david kirkpatrick of "the new york times." and in new york, professor, senior fellow at stanford university. welcome back. david, again, i think a lot of people have seen this video of a woman being brutalized, undressed partially. it was stunning to see, what's been the reaction where you are inside egypt? >> well, you know, i think that video may have been viewed more often in the united states than it has been in egypt. it's been widely shown on the independent satellite television here, television networks here, and they've prolivproliferrated mubarak left, really portraying the protesters as paid thugs out to take down the egyptian government, egyptian buildings and assaulting egyptian soldiers. so it came as something of a surprise tonight when so many egyptian women took to the street over this image and over this story, you know. thousands, maybe even 10,000 women, carrying this picture of the woman who -- we don't know her name, so people here just call her the blue bra girl -- marching through the streets. it's been really a galvanizing moment, i think, for a lot of egyptian women. >> we're looking at some of those images now as you're talking. flaud, secretary clinton said this today. this systematic degradation of egyptian women dishonors the revolution. she says women were being targeted. based on what you're hearing and learning, is that true, do you believe? are women specifically being targeted there? >> i think they are being targeted. what we're witnessing is a mix of class and sexual violence. remember, these people you are watching and you describe it right, sanjay, when you said it's the riot police having a riot of their own, when they're charging these protesters, these recruits, these security forces, they come from the poorest strata of egyptian society. and to them, the protesters are educated. the protesters are paid agents by foreign powers, unnamed foreign powers. so what you witness is, if you will, an animus toward women and protesters and young recruits who are poor, who are very poorly paid, very poorly trained. and i think it's a reckoning time for the great oz who is hiding behind the curtain. he must come out and own up to this kind of violence. >> professor, i mean, some of this is just disheartening to hear especially after all we heard this spring. there seemed to be hope at that time of the revolts of the arab spring would hold governments more accountable but also broaden social reforms. i mean, is that goal realistic with all that we're seeing now? >> well, you know, these were 18 magical days. i think we all remember them, sanjay, the 18 days in liberation square in tahrir square. and i think in a way, still the promise of this arab spring, of this arab awakening, is still alive. we are not really witnessing, by the way, the violence of the arab spring. we're witnessing the violence of the security forces, trained, nurtured by the mubarak regime, by tantawi. so people say democracy is failing. the new liberty is failing. no, it's actually the repression of the old regime that are failing. >> david, i mean, as you hear all that and you put together the events of the last couple of days, we heard a general of the ruling military council at first denying there was any violence against protesters. today that same general expressing great regret for attacks on women. promising to punish the assailants. i mean, did today's march make a difference? is this some indication that change is possible? >> well, i think it is. i mean, whenever you see, in a world of martial law, the rule of the military council then the way they did tonight and cough up that apology while the women were still in the street, you know they've got some kind of power. and i have to say, you know, over these last few weeks, we've seen the military council increasingly move to try to carve out for itself permanent political powers and autonomy in the coming egyptian constitution. they want to hold on to power, perhaps behind a civilian mask. and for a while, i thought that was -- they were going to get away with it. and it's been a violent few weeks here, but it's really also made me question whether the egyptian people are willing to go along with that. i think what we're seeing is a very meaningful resistant to that plan and a really strong back-and-forth between the military council that doesn't really want to go so fast and a lot of egyptians who are just as eager for democracy as they seemed to be in february. >> professor, does the united states, do you believe, have a role here, given the extent of the violence that we're witnessing here? >> we have a role. we're invested in the egyptians in egypt. we're invested in the regime. we're invested in the officer class who run this country because you do have an officer class, they're really kind of a ruling cast. and they wish to, as david kirkpatrick says, they are not really willing to relinquish power. we do have ties to the officers. we subsidize this officer corps. there is $1.3 billion american aid built to the officer corps. we have enormous lempverage, an we are implicated. and i think we should speak out as our secretary of state has spoken out, that's the proper thing to do. >> you're hearing a lot of people speaking out, but still what happens next remains to be seen. there's elections coming up in just about a month from now. we'll keep on top of that. professor, as always, thank you. david kirkpatrick, please stay safe out there as well. let us know what you think, we're on face bobook and also google plus and twitter. up next, house republicans block tax cuts. not only is the president upset at this move, so is john mccain. we'll explain what happened and what it means for your paycheck. also, what some republicans think it might mean for the overall gop brand. later, our series on junk science in court and the potentially innocent people who could be doing time because of it. >> based on the evidence heard in this trial, are you comfortable saying that mr. hornic is guilty of murder? >> i'm not, no. >> we've got that coming up. first, let's check in with aisha. >> i'm not going to sing it because there's nothing festive about it, but the weather outside really is frightful. in fact, it's beyond that. try dangerous. even deadly. we'll show you where this massive winter storm is hitting and where it's heading. that and much more. dinner! 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[ female announcer ] we all age differently. roc® multi-correxion 4 zone moisturizer with roc®retinol and antioxidants. lines, wrinkles, and sun damage will fade. roc multi-correxion. correct what ages you. your money and how partisan politics could take some of that money literally right out of your pocket. just as those christmas bills start arriving. today house republicans refused to sign off on a deal to extend the payroll tax cut that 160 million americans had been getting this year. they rejected compromise legislation that passed the senate with overwhelming support from both parties. then they called for new talks between the house and the senate and then they called it a day. >> we've done our work for the american people. now it's up to the president and democrats in the senate to do their job as well. >> earlier president obama lashed out. >> i saw today that one of the house republicans referred to what they're doing as, quote, high-stakes poker. he's right about the stakes. but this is not poker. this is not a game. >> the stakes, to be clear, are about $1,000 for the average taxpayer. the mipolitical stakes could be significant. we're going to explore the split this issue seems to be opening between moderate and tea party republicans in just a moment. first dana bash is at the capital, she's been repoca capit capitol. what's the latest you're hearing? >> reporter: this is an honest to goodness stand-up. i've been covering congress for more years than i'd like to count. even in the past year when sa stalemates have been tough, you hear about compromise. i don't hear about that. what makes it interesting is that everybody, sanjay, this is important to underscore, everybody wants a one-year payroll tax extension, the president, senate democrats, house democrats, republicans. the issue has been how to pay for it. it costs about $120 billion. that's why the senate passed a two-month extension to sort of patch that up while they work on the long term. republicans as well. but that is something that house republicans simply say it's not good enough. that's why they're stuck here. >> are they concerned, as far as you can tell, dana, the members of congress, the republicans, in particular, about simply getting blamed if the tax cut expires? >> reporter: you wouldn't know this from the public bra brovad. particularly republicans, sanjay, in the hallways, there is concern, no question about it. even some of the new members who really want to make a stand on things like this, they're saying that they are concerned. this is something that's different. this is a pocketbook issue. it really, as you mentioned at the top of the show, really the segment really affects people's pocketbooks. people making $50,000 a year, they will see $1,000 sliced out of their paycheck. that really makes a difference. >> especially this time of year. dana bash, thanks so much. great reporting. to that point, there is some news cnn/orc polling that's out today suggesting the tax battle is hurting republicans and helping the president. take a look. by a 50% to 31% margin, people say they have more confidence in mr. obama than in congressional republicans to handle the major issues facing the country. the survey also shows mr. obama's job approval at 49%, which is up 5 points from last month. the disapproval number, 48%, is down 6 points. now, to be clear, they're not exactly stellar numbers going into a re-election campaign, not by any means. but it is something to ask our political panel about. former george w. bush press secretary ari fleischer, follow him on twitter, and also democratic strategist paul begala. good evening, gentlemen. thanks for joining us. paul, let me start with you. december 20th, five days before christmas, are you surprised at the way this is all playing out, this payroll tax cut debate? >> you know, i think we've seen this coming all year. if you go back to the spring, the republicans were flirting with a government shutdown. they wanted to shut down the government. and then in the summer they flirted with twaudefaulting on national debt. and now in the winter, they apparently want to kill the president's middle-class tax cut to force a tax increase on 160 million middle-class americans. forgive me if i see a pattern here. i think there's pretty good evidence now that the republicans seem to be willing to tank the economy in order to hurt the president politically. and of course, you tank the economy by hurting the middle class. i don't think it's going to work. i don't think it's good politics or good economics, but i think that's what they're doing. >> ari, i can't imagine you agree with all of that, but before you respond, i want to play a clip of how senator john mccain characterized the fight over the payroll tax extension today on "the situation room with wolf blitzer." take a listen. >> it is harming the republican party. it is harming the view, if it's possible, any more of the american people about congress. >> so do you agree with that assessment, ari? >> i disagree with john mccain and paul begala. look, the senate has turned into a killing ground of all good things in washington, d.c. they haven't passed a budget in two years, and now instead of doing what has always been done, passing tax cuts that last a year, which is the way tax cuts work, they passed something that has never happened before. a two-month tax cut which makes no sense. why? because the senate couldn't figure out how to pass anything more meaningful, so they did what they always do. they rubbed each other's backs, did something meaningless and called it a day and the senate left town. so now the house has called the senate's bluff. nobody likes to see this type of dispute happening in washington, d.c., but the fact of the matter is, from a pure policy point of view, what the house has passed is far superior to what the senate has done, much more serious, much more sub standive. politically risky, yes. but it is the sounder, better approach of the two approaches. >> isn't it significant to you, though, ari, in the senate, we're talking about a vote, 89-10, both parties, you know, agreeing or at least voting on this particular proposal in the affirmative, 89-10. i mean, isn't that significant in terms of where we should go -- >> no. it's exactly what's wrong with the senate. they couldn't get their act together to pass anything meaningful that lasted a year. so they said we give up, throw our hands in the air. let's get together and pass a bad policy, and they all got together to pass a two-month extension. this is meaningless. we'll be right back two months later into the same fight, the same argument. while the house has actually passed something meaningful. the other thing here, too, is the senate's walked away from the table. always when there's a disagreement between the house and the senate on how to pass legislation, which is typical, and it happens in every congress, no matter who controls it, they meet in what's called a conference committee to work things out. the senate's refused to meet in a conference committee. and barack obama won't even call the democrats to meet in a conference committee. this is an abdication of duty by the senate so they can stick to something that's i'll rub your back, you rub mine bad policy. >> a lot of people have various sort of opinions on what's going on here and what's driving it. paul begala, i want to play another clip. this is what obama strategist david axelrod told fox news. >> you have to wonder whether some folks over there think somehow screwing up the economy, throwing a wrench in the works, is a good political strategy for them, that somehow if they can s