Brown the final weekend has now arrived before the fiscal cliff hits on new years day and with it, more than 600 million in tax hikes and spending cuts. In a last bid for a deal, president obama stated his terms facetoface to Top Republicans and democrats. Congressional leaders arrive ted white house this afternoon for their first Group Meeting with the president since november 16th. Vice President Biden and treasury secretary Timothy Geithner also attend. But there was little to suggest the makings of an 11th hour bargain. A source familiar with the meeting told the newshour its president is sticking with his offer from last friday. It included keeping the bush era tax break force the middle class but raising tax rates on incomes over 250,000 dollars a year. President also wants to extend Unemployment Benefits for some 2 million americans who will lose them in the new year. And a proposal would delay any spending cuts. The president asked for an up or down vote on his plan unless there is a counter proposal that will pass both the house and senate. A little more than an hour after the meeting began, several participants were seen leaving. And back at the capital the senates democratic majority leader harry reid and republican Minority Leader Mitch Mcconnell offered their takes on the meeting. We had a good meeting down at the white house. We are engaged in discussions, the majority leader, myself and the white house, in the hopes that we can come forward as early as sunday and have a recommendation that i can make to my conference and the majority leader can make to his conference. And so well be working hard to try to see if we can get there in the next 24 hours. And so im hopeful and optimistic. Whatever we come up with is going to be imperfect. Some people arent going to like it. Some people will like it less. But thats where we are. And i feel confident that we have an obligation to do the best we can and that was made very clear. Brown House Speaker john boehner aides said if the Senate Passes a bill the house will take it up and either accept or amend it and a short time ago president obama appeared in the White House Briefing room with a statement. Here is some of what he said. We had a constructive meeting today. Senators reids and mcconnell are discussing a potential agreement where we can get a bipartisan bill out of the senate over to the house and done in a timely fashion so that we met the december 31st deadline. But given how things have been working in this town, we always have to wait and see until it actually happens. The one thing that the American People should not have to wait and see is some sort of action so if we dont see an agreement between the two leaders in the senate, i expect a bill to go on the floor. And ive asked senator reid to do this, put a bill on the floor that makes sure that taxes on middleclass families dont go up. That Unemployment Insurance is Still Available for 2 million people, and that lays the groundwork then for additional deficit reduction and Economic Growth steps that we can take in the new year. All of this still developing. And we will have more on all of it with mark shields and david brooks later in the program. Also ahead warner also ahead, between now and then; protesting a gang rape in india; mass producing high quality education and remembering general Norman Schwarzkopf. But first, the other news of the day. Heres kwame holman. Holman the u. S. Economy has dodged a potentially crippling strike at ports up and down the east coast and gulf coast at least, for now. The longshoremens union agreed today to extend its existing contract by another month. That word came after the union and shipping lines worked out a deal on royalty payments for unloading containers. The contract extension gives the two sides time to resolve their remaining issues. Wall street finished the week with its fifth straight losing session. Stocks have been falling as concern mounts that washington will fail to get a budget deal. The Dow Jones Industrial average lost 158 points today, to close at 12,938. The nasdaq fell 25 points to close at 2,960. For the week, both the dow and the nasdaq fell 2 . Sectarian tensions flared across iraq today as tens of thousands of sunnis staged mass protests against the shiiteled government. There were rallies in fallujah and ramadi, where protests already had erupted earlier this week. Today, mosul, tikrit and samarra had demonstrations as well. Protesters took to the streets waving flags and signs. They chanted slogans demanding fair treatment from the baghdad regime, and the release of sunni prisoners. Shiite Prime MinisterNouri Almaliki said the demonstrations were not acceptable. The government of china imposed tighter controls on Internet Usage today. Now, chinas 500 million web users will have to provide their real names when they register for internet service. And providers must delete any web content deemed illegal, and report it to authorities. Leading writers and bloggers insisted its a new way for chinas communist leaders to censor their critics. translated since the internet came into china, the Chinese Government has been repeatedly imposing restrictive measures, such as shielding, blocking and banning. It has even spent billions of dollars to build a firewall against overseas sites. They just dont want to see any freedom of speech which is provided by the constitution because it will hurt their vested interest. Holman the new curbs come in the wake of a series of online discussions that have helped expose corruption scandals. Russian president Vladimir Putin signed a bill into law today banning americans from adopting russian children. The move terminated more than 50 adoptions that already were underway. The measure came in reaction to a u. S. Sanctions law targeting russians accused of human rights abuses. Former president george h. W. Bush was said to be alert and improving today. A family spokesman said hes even singing with doctors and nurses. Mr. Bush is 88 years old. Hes been hospitalized in houston with complications from bronchitis. This week, he was placed in intensive care, but in an email yesterday, his chief of staff said the former president wants people to put the harps back in the closet. Those are some of the days major stories. Now, back to margaret. Warner the victim of a horrific gang rape in india died tonight at a hospital in singapore. The attack enraged much of the country, and the reaction caught the government offguard. Ray suarez has more. Suarez the fury across india has been building for nearly two weeks, since a 23yearold medical student was gangraped and then thrown from this bus in new delhi. Sexual assaults are rife in india, especially in new delhi, where, on average, theres a rape reported every 18 hours. But this time, the extreme brutality of the crime ignited outrage that turned violent with street battles between protesters and police. The protests have continued this week, amid growing accusations that police and other officials are dismissive of sex crimes. It is completely sad on the part of the government actually since they are doing nothing about the innumerable rape incidents which are happening around us. Suarez in response, Prime MinisterManmohan Singh announced yesterday the creation of new committees to improve womens safety and expedite assault trials. Today he reiterated his governments commitment to justice. Suarez six suspects have been arrested in connection with the gangrape. And last week, indias home minister said the government is moving toward applying the Death Penalty in such cases. But other Indian Officials have triggered new anger by their public comments. Yesterday abhijeet mukherejee, a lawmaker and son of indias president , dismissed the protesters as women with too much makeup and dark purposes. translated i believe there must be some hidden agenda of some political party. So many people and students have turned up that it is hard to believe the noninvolvement of any political party. The protests that have taken place in delhi and the magnitude shows that there are hidden motives of Political Parties in this matter and the government should look into that angle. Suarez mukherejees comments drew a fierce backlash and he apologized for them today. Meanwhile, another tragedy, mourners gathered yesterday in punjab state for the funeral of a 17year old girl who reported being gangraped in november. She killed herself wednesday after saying shed been humiliated by police. And yesterday the government said it would begin a directory of people convicted of sexual crimes. Earlier i spoke with npr south asia correspondent julie mccarthy, whos reporting this story from delhi. Jns julie, there are tens of thousands of rapes in end yabs, there are 40,000 rape cases currently currently in the courts. Why has this case caught the National Imagination . Wbltion i think what cause the imagination of the people was this horrendous attack on this young woman that is 23yearold girl who was who is at the heart of this upheaval in india. After the shock subsided there was anger and it poured out into the streets. So you had a very graphic symbol around which people rallied. And the protests in many ways were spontaneous. They were driven by the it revolution that is india. Social media played a huge role in assembling people, getting out the message, what were they doing, where were they doing it. And prot testers were demanding sus tis for this young woman who they said was gang raped on a moving bus that passed through police check pointses that assault was taking place. So there was dismay of the police who had long been criticized on their infectioniveness on handling Violent Crimes against women, of Violent Crimes period. Suarez the police came down hard on the protestors, did that have the effect of bringing more people to the cause . On the second day where they had shut down indiagate which is the central city landmark of india, that happened on a sunday, it did have the effect of creating a cat and mouse, a game between the police. The protestors were extremely angry for example that no one from the government had come out to address them on the saturday when they had been tear gassed and water canonned as they approached the president s residence. Sos there a sense of a government that was tone deaf and wasnt hearing the people. And that just made them more enraged. So in many ways it was an invitation for them to come back. So yes, the crackdown not only angered people but i think generated a lot of heat, that said, on sunday, which were the especially violent, especially violent protests, the numbers were a lot fewer. Suarez well, you talk about tone deaf politicians, have the nations leaders heard the protestors now. Are they responding in a different way . Well, theyre trying. The government has responded with what many governments often respond to in Crisis Management situation, commissions and inquiry, emotions are running very high and the call for Capital Punishment is an expression of the public outrage and you hear that a lot. And the government is said to be considering that. Now of course the critics say, well, look, this is not, whats not needed here is greater punishment. But what is needed is better investigative and prosecutorial ca pace, that is what will help the problem. But while there was this need, you know, for policing reforms and better forensic and more efficient criminal justice system, the contours of the debate, ray, are coming down this to this. How do we change attitudes toward women. I mean indian women complain about a mentality that springs are from centuries of tradition. Of defining women as objects and being subject ated. And young men say the women are achb seen as the repository of the family honor. So if the women is the victim of a sexual assault, oftentimes she sown as having been dishonored the family rather than the r5i7ist who has dishonored her. So a huge shoift in attitude is what many think is called for. But back to the government, yes t was caught flatfooted, no question about it. For example, the home minister insisted that he wasnt obligated to talk to any demonstrated and ended up equating them to maoist rebels. So that, that was a comparison that really enraged a lot of people. Suarez during this same week the victim of another notorious rape committed suicide. Has that just added fuel to the fire . All the while this furor was erupting over the gang rape in delhi, details emerged of this harrowing case in the punjab where a 17yearold girl committed suicide. She was reported to have been diswrought about being gang raped during the volley this year, the hindu festival of light and being harassed by police who also refused to register her case. So again, more of these cases are coming out and i suppose theyre hitting the headlines harder because of the because the because the country is in a recessive mood to see them. You know h this is a venting. These demonstrations are a venting that springs from something very deep. A deep vein of frustration about violence against women generally. And about the impunity for the perpetrators, the vast majority of rapes that are reported do not result in conviction. And those conviction rates have declined delayed on decade. Suarez nprs julie mccarthy, thanks so much for being with us. Thank you, ray. For more on all of this we turn to Miranda Kennedy who lived in india from 2002 to 2007 as a reporter. Shes the author of sideways on a scooter life and love in india. Which looks at the lives of women in that country. Suarez miranda, as weve been discussing, Sexual Violence against women in india is wide spread, everything from being grouped in a public place to the kind of horrific gang rapes that have made the news. What do the women that you talk to in your reporting over the year make of their own predictment . Well, i think the sense of powerlessness on women in india is something that goes across cast and religion t is widespread. There is frustration about it. As julie said there is a deep vein of frustration in the country. And i think that is what we are seeing, this this one case has sparked off, you know, this citizens protest didnt come out of nowhere. Its not a new issue. There have been Sexual Violence against women in india for many, many decades. But i think the sense ever a new feeling of kind of liberation about being able to take to the streets and Say Something about it is why we are seeing so much action right now. When a woman overcomes her own misgivings, pressure from her own family, and actually goes to the police, what happens . Are the accusations investigated . Are the accused tried . Well this is one of the bigger problems, ray. Because first of all it has to be said that the vast majority of the rapes are not reported in india as all over the world. But especially in india because it is a huge that would. There is a cultural nono against it. It can ruin your life, if are you raped will you not get married. You could be thrown out of your village. So that is the most important thing. But if you do have the get up to go to the police as most of these women that have been discussed tonight did, you could be humiliated as the younger woman was, the woman who committed suicide earlier this week. She was humiliated and often they are humiliated sexually. And the Police Station t is completely unacceptable. And then the police will not push it through. And the second big herdle that women face is they if they do dare to come forward is the judicial process. You know, indias judicial process is notoriously slow for everything, including rapes but everything else. So if here the outside would be, you know, a year but most cases are gone through in a few months. In india youre talking several years so why would you do that. Why would you ruin your life if nothing is going to happen. All the nations of south asia have had female Prime Ministers, all have female cabinet secretaries. Theyve had female party leaders, potential governors. How come they havent taken up the cause of the wide spread and widely understood cruelty against women in their country . Well, all elected governments are their hands are always tied by the social morees and cultural constriction of that country, their own country and india is a thriving democracy but it is also very conservative. And there are many traditions which would prevent those kibsd of things that from happening. So i think its great that we have female leaders right now, the head of the governing party in india is a woman but that doesnt mean that she can make her only issue that of womens issues. If the rest of the government isnt going to follow along, indias government is very constricted in many ways from what it can do. So unfortunately this hasnt been made a big case, a big issue of yet so far but i actually think that this could be the time. I think that this case could give an opening. Well, news from singapore of the young womans death after the gang rape broke during the middle of the night in the india. So indians in their millions will awake to the news that the woman has died. Have we crossed a threshold. Is this an issue that simply cant be put back in the bottle and forgotten . Well, you know, i think that probably when it comes to the street protest the death, the tragic death of this woman is going through means the protest will peak today and its possible that after that the protests will dribble off and you know this case may be forgotten. This womans name may stop being the top of the news. But i think that this case is a watershed moment. I think it can be a watershed moment. There are many other cases in india of other social issues where civic protests have