Im zonaida sambolin. The i realsraelis pounding targets while Palestinian Militants continue to launch rockets into israel. Israel calls up reservists in preparation for war. Ben joins us by phone this morning. Egypts Prime Minister paid a visit to gaza. Somehow that going so far . Well, it was originally planned it would be a threehour cease fire while the egyptian Prime Minister was making this visit to gaza. According to our sources, it doesnt appear either side significantly reduced their level of military activity in gaza. Certainly before the sun came up there was an intense air attack on gaza itself. It may have been lessened somewhat in the morning while the Prime Minister was touring gaza. But after hes gone, its expected to get back to the same pace. There are elections coming up not too long from now in israel. Palestinians are saying that may be part of the impetus for israel to be taking action. Certainly this is what you hear oftentimes. Tc it was the casame case in the 2008, 2009 offensive. They say the leaders are motivated by a desire to show theyre strong on hamas. In fact, we spoke to one palestinian lawmaker who stressed the point that really this is all about politics. And ben, of course, one of the big concerns right now escalation was initiated by israel. There was a cease fire. There was a truce, which was violated by israel several times. Unfortunately, we all dont want to have any innocent person hit or hurt, but it seems that mr. Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of israel, decided to use israeli and palestinian blood for his election campaign. And certainly because there are elections planned for january of next year here in israel, its widely expected that Prime Minister netanyahu will be reelected for another term. This is the connection many palestinians are making. This is a delicate situation, ben. Obviously all over the region, particularly for the new government in egypt. I understand there will be big demonstrations in cairo today. What are the risks right mow of egypt being drawn in fourth this conflict . The chances are actually fairly small. Egypt has enough problems with it is with fighting militants next to gaza. Egypt says it still respects the camp david peace accord signed with israel back in the late 1970s. Obviously, we can expect egyptian politicians and leaders to make as much political hay as possible over this gaza violence, but its highly unlikely that egypt has really the wherewithal or desire to get sucked into that conflict. I know from speaking to many egyptians, they dont have an appetite for it. They may sympathize with the people of gaza, but that sympathy does not extend to an eagerness or willingness to engage or become involved militarily in that conflict. All right, ben. In jerusalem this morning. Thanks. Coming up later, soledad will be speaking to Israels Deputy foreign minister. Thats in our 7 00 hour. Here at home, president obama will have the four top leaders of congress over to the white house today to begin talks on avoiding the fiscal cliff, which could plunge the u. S. Economy back into a recession. Both side say there is room for compromise, but at the same time, it appears democrats and republicans may have dug in on their longheld positions concerning tax hikes 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. Theyre 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. Theyre 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, whos the Senate Minority leader, hes taking a tougher stand than even boehner. Lets listen to both of those positions. Lets be clear. An opening bid of 1. 6 trillion in new taxes just isnt serious. Its more than Simpson Bowles or any other Bipartisan Commission has called for. Its been unanimously rejected in the house and senate. Its 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 hikes. In other words, no cuts at all. Its a joke. A joke. We right away say 98 of americans are not going to see their taxes go up. 97 of Small Businesses are not going to see their taxes go up. If we get that in place, we are actually removing half of the fiscal cliff. Half of the danger to our economy is removed by that single step. Okay. So is it a joke, or as the democrats would say, the math isnt adding up . Lets look at the issue of deficit reduction. The democrats say the lets say if you cut loopholes or cut deductions as republicans are saying, that doesnt add up. But the republicans are saying mr. Obama does not have any mandate to raise taxes. Here we are. I think youd have to say youve got the tone now. Both looking at the president , how is he going to open up, looking forward more compromise, or digging in the heels trying to parlay his reelection into something that can really push the republicans to do something that they want. Jill, one more thing i want to talk about. Its those tax cuts. We know the president wants to put a bill up to vote that would extend the tax cuts for families earning 250,000 or less. Do you expect Speaker Boehner is going to go for that . Well, probably not initially. They would, of course, want the tax cuts just to continue, but there could be some type of room after all that 250,000 for a family some might consider low for who is rich in america. There might be more flexibility in terms of pushing that to a higher number. Youre not going to get that in this initial discussion, but its a possibility later on. All right, jill. Thank you. Eight minutes after the hour. A parade honoring veterans goes horribly wrong in midland, texas. At least four people were killed when a train slammed into a float packed with veterans and their spouses yesterday. More than a dozen other people were rushed to the hospital. The circumstances that led to the crash are unclear. Union pacific says the tracks lights and crossing gates were working and the train sounded its horn before the crash. The commander in chief as consoler in chief. President obama toured Hurricane Sandy devastation in new york yesterday flying over ravaged neighborhoods in queens, comforting devastated homeowners in the streets on Staten Island and reassuring they will come back and he will also be back. I came up here right after the storm, was on the jersey side, and i had promised to everybody that i was speaking on behalf of the country when i said we are going to be here until the rebuilding is complete. And i meant it. So im going to come back today, but im also going to be coming back in the future to make sure that we have followed through on that commitment. The recovery from sandy now has a point person. President obama named sean donovan, a new yorker, who is the secretary of the department of housing and urban development, as the goto guy. It is nine minutes past the hour. Informative but not necessarily conclusive. Thats how senate and house lawmakers describe realtime video and testimony about the attack on the consulate in bengha benghazi. Senators say the video combines surveillance and drone footage. A source familiar with the hearing said the video includes shots of ambassador Christopher Stevens being dragged out of the building. He and three other americans died in the september attack. And some of the obama administrations sharpest critics on benghazi actually skipped the briefing. Among them, senator john mccain. When one of our producers questioned him about it yesterday, he got very testy. Listen. Senator mccain, listen, i understand that you did miss this briefing yesterday i have no more comment i have no comments about my schedule and im not going to comment on how i spend my time with the media. Is there a legitimate feeling that youre complaining about wanting more i have no comment. Why cant you comment on that . Because i have the right as a senator to have no comment. And who the hell are you to tell me whether i can or not . Later, a more cheerful mccain explained what happened to piers morgan. It was a scheduling error. I can assure you i got all the information. You can tell there that mccain was a little sorry he went off as he did. Our producer was ted barrett, one of the best producers and reporters in capitol hill. Those questions were not at all inappropriate. 11 minutes after the hour. That hearing mccain was referring to happens just a few hours from now when David Petraeus testifies before the house Intelligence Committee. Will he shed new light into what really happened in benghazi . Well take you live to washington next. [ woman ] ring. Ring. Progresso. I just finished a bowl of your new light Chicken Pot Pie soup and its so rich and creamy. Is it really 100 calories . Let me put you on webcan. Lean roasted chicken. And a creamy broth mmm i can still see you. [ male announcer ] progresso. You gotta taste this soup. Mmm i can still see you. Try running four. Ning a restaurant is hard, fortunately weve got ink. It gives us 5x the rewards on our internet, phone charges and cable, plus at Office Supply stores. Rewards we put right back into our business. This is the only thing weve ever wanted to do and ink helps us do it. Make your mark with ink from chase. Former cia director David Petraeus is about to testify before a house Intelligence Committee. The closeddoor session is set for 7 30 eastern this morning. Thats one week after stepping down as director of cia. Petraeus will be asked what he knows about the september 11th attack on the american consulate in benghazi. All the while, theyre investigating the situation with petraeus. A source close to petraeus says he plans to clear up what he calls a lot of misrepresentations about what he told congress initially. What does that mean hes going to say . Well, our Barbara Starr did some excellent reporting talking to a source close to petraeus. They said he really plans to tell lawmakers he knew almost immediately that a radical Islamist Group was involved. At the same time, he got a stream of intelligence, including about 20 distinct reports, also emerging, indicating that it was all based on fear over antiislamic video, which we heard initially from the administration. Now, i can tell you i spoke to lawmakers on the Intelligence Committee yesterday who are still frankly annoyed as what one described as petraeus weak presentation. So could these differences explain the inconsistencies in the administrations response . I guess the question is, it seems pretty contentious on the hill, based on what ive been seeing you report. Will this satisfy the critics . You know, unclear. One thing that became clear, especially after talking to lawmakers after yesterdays intelligence briefings, which went on all day long, is its sort of a political test. Republicans came out saying that they believe that what they heard makes clear that the administration was not telling the full story and democrats came out saying that they got the answers that show the administration was giving the best information that they had based on the intelligence. You mentioned the critics. Listen to what john mccain, whos the leading critic, has been saying. I think its been very clear now for quite a long time that there was no demonstration. That, of course, was the key element in what ambassador rice was saying and what the president was saying. There was not any demonstrations. I didnt have to have any secret briefing to know that. Thats public knowledge. So it knocks all this story about the president not knowing and who was responsible and all that. Now, the one thing these lawmakers can get from David Petraeus they perhaps couldnt get from others is details about what happened from the ground. He was on a trip to tripoli and elsewhere in libya shortly before he resigned. Thats what Intelligence Committee members really want to hear from him, about what he learned while he was there. All right. Thanks. It is now 17 minutes after the hour. Time for early reads, your local news making national headlines. Were going to start with new details about general petraeus, the mistress. A new report shedding light on Paula Broadwells path from homecoming queen through Harvard University to the generals biographer. She first met general petraeus at harvard in this 2007. She earned a masters degree from harvard, but was asked to leave her doctoral problem. Over time, she hinflated some e credentials. And in the arizona republic, the first medical Marijuana Dispensary has been approved to operate in the state of arizona. Voters in 2010 approved the states law to make it legal to sell and grow their own medical marijuana. Its setting up a showdown, including with the attorney general and the controversial sheriff, joe arpaio, who are warning people they can still be prosecuted. That guy is in the middle of everything. Its a federal crime. Yet, in states theyre allowing people to grow it and sell it. Its a great unanswered legal question. 19 minutes after the hour. For an expand look at all of our top stories, head to our blog. If you think the fiscal cliff is just a washington problem, wait until you hear how you might be affect the. Were talking less money for every state. Thats coming up next. Hello [ all ] ohh that is crazy are you kidding me . Let me see oh what thats insane noooo mr. Woodson . Oh hello hello [ whistles ] hello [ all ] hello [ coach ] caleb, ive got someone i want you to meet. Hello. [ male announcer ] at t. The nations largest 4g network. Covering 3,000 more 4g cities and towns than verizon. Rethink possible. 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State houses across the country are really looking across this math. Federal money make up about onethird of state revenues. Let me say that again. Money from washington, d. C. , your federal tax dollars, makes up about onethird of what states have to spend. Many of them, i think 19 states, are already facing budget deficits. On top of that, you have the potential for big cuts for the federal funding of the grants these states get. Theres no state in the union, all 50 states get federal money. All of them are facing cuts starting january 1st if we go over the fiscal cliff. Let me show you a little bit. 18 of federal grants to states would be subject to the cuts. The sequester, that horrible word for a really stupid thing. Overall, 7. 5 billion would vanish from state coffers at a time when theyre already look at billions of dollars in budget deficits. As you know, states are not like the federal government and they can just run red ink forever. They have to balance their budget. If they dont have the money, that means youre going to lose services. What kind of services . Youre going to lose education services, probably all kinds of