Desirable consequences for low prices of oil . Good morning, everyone. Welcome to weekends with alex witt. On capitol hill the senate will convene a rare saturday session, on the ajen done 40 votes on nominations and an early potential sunday vote to move forward on the funding bill. It all started late last night when conservative republicans led by senator ted cruz wanted to use to stall the bill. Cruz criticized Republican Leadership. When you say as a commitment we will fight and we will stop president obamas illegal amnesty, i take them at their word, but i am confident the American People will hold them to their word. Joining me now, Washington Post political reporter. What is happening here today. Why are we here . Because the 113th congress has been good at not getting things done, and over the course of the two years that they have been in office, they have had a lot of things that they have pushed until the very last minute, and so here we are, we saw the house earlier this week, and finally after lots of haggling and back and forth passing the spending bill, and they were given this and said it needs to be passed quickly, and the senate has lots of mechanisms by which things can be slowed down so lots of things were slowed down, and the democratic leadership has nominations it wants to get passed before the change to the Republican Leadership next year, so that made it so they are trying to use the spending bill as a point of leverage to try and get the nominations passed, and everything is taking far longer. Yeah, politics as usual to me. A big Sticking Point for democrats to expand the weakening of the dodd frank bill. On wednesday i came to the floor to talk to democrats asking them to strip this provision out of the bill and protect taxpayers. On thursday i came to the floor to talk to republicans, and republicans say they dont like bailouts either, so i asked them to vote the way they talk. If they dont like bailouts, they could take out this provision that puts taxpayers right back on the hook for bailing out big banks. Thats the kind of statement that a lot of citizens can listen to and say that makes sense, its a populous message there. Does she have allies in the senate here . Yeah, its a politically popular point. Theres nobody that says we need to do this thing, and nobody is going to say that publicly. Theres an argument to be made that this is something as valuable to the financial community. Its definitely the case that there are a loft people that agree with what warner is saying, and as is with the case when we were coming out of the recession and they were going to try to decide to keep the economy from collapsing further, its politically popular and i dont think it will pass. There is one republican that did not take kindly to senator warren. Here is senator lindsay graham. So to my good friend from massachusetts, theres something in here you dont like, welcome to democracy. You have the same right as the people over here on my side to blow up the whole place. I hope that some of us or most of us will listen to your concerns and not follow your lead. So who is he talking about here, when he is talking about blowing up the whole place . Yeah, i think he is talking to the junior senator from texas. Senator cruz. Exactly. One of the issues here is all of this got pushed to the last minute, they dropped a massive spending bill this week that has lots and lots of tiny things that are focused on particular interest groups, and this being one of the most politically toxic. This is an argument to be made if it had been out in the open, and spend three weeks talking about it, and theres an aspect of this, and senator graham is correct, usually the compromise process takes longer than 12 hours. Want to predict whether its going to pass and by how much . First question, easy, it will pass, and by how much, looks like it will be in the 60plus range. I dont think that this is something that is going to be a real problem, but it definitely is the sort of thing that, you know, 2016 is two years away, and i have to hate to mention that because we are already tired of talking about 2016, and this is how we deal with bank deregulation. You will see a lot more of these popular politically important fights be raised because people are starting to position themselves. Dont go too far. I have other questions later, thanks. The clay hunt Suicide Prevention act is also expected to get a vote, that is if oklahoma senator doesnt stand in the way. This bill named after iraq and afghanistan vet that took his own life in march of 2011 is designed to tackle Mental Illness in a number of ways, and among them boosting the number of professional health available in va facilities, and speeding up access for care to vets, and however the senator says it dupe law indicates existing programs in the va and lacks cost efficiency. Clays parents are making an appeal for him to reconsider. My name is richard silke, and this is my wife susan. We are conservative republicans from the state of texas, and when i would say to you is thank you for your vigilance over our budget, but this is an exception. If i had 22 million in the bank right now, i would write that check. I dont have it and you dont have it, but what you do have is you have power. All you have to do is not say no. Its a valuable, valuable precious children of god and precious, precious members of society, and its on your back, and this is personal. Please, please dont say no. Thank you. Yeah, that is personal. They also took their case to the Rachel Maddow show last night, and take a listen to that. The cost is 22 million, and in the scope of the federal budget, it is just so small. There is no way you can put a price on the lives of these young men and women who are serve in our military. Its baffling the thinking that is going behind this. On average, 22 American Veterans commit suicide every day. Other news now, this morning a suspect in custody in that a shooting outside a school in oregon. The shooting appears to be gang related. The student serves at risk students. Fights broke out and Police Pepper sprayed students last night after the yearend dance when the students refused the police order to disperse. There were no reports of injuries nor arrests. The holiday spirit is alive and well in omaha, nebraska. Two women brought together when one of them dropped 800 outside the doctors office. The money was for rent and bills, and another woman found the cash and returned it instead of keeping it. This belongs to somebody, but im not going to walk back in that full office with all of those people, everybody will claim it. So was the temptation there . You bet, it said on one shoulder, you know what i said, but my god is greater than that. There is good people out there, and she just happened to be one of those angels of mine. The Good Samaritan received a 1 100 target gift card for the woman she helped as a thank you. And then severe weather. Homes buried outside the rock and mud outside los angeles its part of the aftermath of a Violent Storm that soaked california that has been desperate for water. Miguel, good morning. I was going to ask you what the situation was like behind you, but the picture tells that story. Reporter it really is an incredible scene out here, alex. We covered a lot of disasters, but few matched this. What happened behind me was over in a matter of seconds. The destruction here stretches much further than just this one neighborhood. This morning much of the lane here is buried under 20 feet of rock and mud, and ten homes destroyed and nearly a city block full of destruction. I looked out the window, and the street was like a river. Reporter it was just after 2 00 a. M. When the hillside gave way. First hours of rain, and then the sudden slide. It was strange. It was almost surreal. Its like its not really happening to me. Reporter windows blown out and rooms filled with mud. No time to think, just seconds to run. Firefighters scrambled to help the elderly, and for most, this is all they have. Rocks are terrible. Terrible. Reporter First Responders say its a miracle nobody died here. Some of the boulders way well over 1,000 pounds, and they are stacked up to rooftops. Across los angeles, friday was a day of rescues, in the river and on the roads, well over 100 accidents. Rain pelted the city, and more during this storm than all of last year. It was the wild west, the tornado touched down not far from downtown, damage for blocks, an incredible sight. I just said, oh, lord, watch me, and then boom, i got drenched. And she is screaming, get in, get in, get in it was really scary. Reporter now a city cleaning up, and a brunt of the storm has passed but so many the damage is just being tallied. Horrible. Really horrible. Reporter the destruction on the one block alone will likely be in the tens of millions of dollars. The clean up will go past the holidays into next year. The destruction here is going to be quite a scene for several days and weeks ahead, alex. Help me understand this. This is 2 00 in the morning, and this entire mountainside is come into these people. How long did they have . What did it sound like . Did they describe it as being like a train or something . Reporter yeah, the rain started to come down around midnight on friday and the Fire Department came out and ordered voluntary evacuations, and then at 1 00 in the morning they ordered mandatory evacuations, and 30 minutes later the mountain came sliding down, and they asked everybody to leave, but as we saw some of the folks are a bit older and it took them longer to get out, and when the mud was sliding down the hill, they had to go and make several rescues, and the folks said it sounded like a rumble, earthquake and they could hear things crashing left and right after that, alex. Terrifying. Thank you so much. She may have lost a battle, but the war is not over. Senator Elizabeth Warren has made her voice heard on what she says is a dangerous provision in the spending bill and what she is doing now to keep it from moving forward. Thanks. [ male announcer ] fedex® has solutions to enable Global Commerce that can help your company grow steadily and quickly. Great job. mandarin cut it out. See you tomorrow. We have a serious hairball issue. We clean it up, turn around, and there it is again. Its scary. Little bit in my eye. [ michelle ] underneath the kitchen table, underneath my work desk, weve got enough to knit a sweater. [ doorbell rings ] zach, what is that . The swiffer sweeper. The swiffer dusters. Its some sort of magic cloth that sucks in all the dog hair. Its quick and easy. Pretty amazing that it picked it all up. I would totally take on another dog. [ kevin ] really . I have been able to draft my own legislation and get it past without any republican votes and i expect it to be slightly different, and i think what the American People are looking for is some practical governance, and the willingness to compromise, and thats what the bill requests. That was president obama yesterday at the white house talking about the spending bill in the hands of the senate. Lets get to nbcs white house correspondent, kristin welker. Time is running out, so what is going to happen today . Reporter it certainly is running out, and there is going to be a bunch of procedural votes that dont have anything to do with the budget today, so the arm wrestling continues on capitol hill, and the senate not done to keep the government open after failing to reach an agreement on the bill last night, and theres little time left to beat the deadline. The bill did house in the house only after democrats revolted, and the democrats dont like this legislation because it scales back big Bank Regulations and also dramatically increases the amount of political contributions that wealthy donors could make. And some Top Democrats and white house officials, ultimately enough democrats got on board to pass the measure in the house, and you heard president obama talking about this. He also said yesterday that the legislation represents a compromise in what is a time of divided government. He noted the bill also Funds Health Care and immigration, and those are elements conservatives oppose. Here is the best Case Scenario at this point, alex. It would be the senate holds a procedural vote on sunday, about 1 00 a. M. Sunday morning with the goal of passing the bill on monday, and that would be in the nick of time to keep the government open, but in washington, d. C. Its not done until its done. Thats for sure. I am curious if its all hands on deck in the white house, and we know the president and Vice President reached out to House Democrats to get it passed in that chamber, and are they doing the same in the senate . Reporter i have been told by officials senior white house officials will work the phones over the weekend. Denis mcdonough in the late hours of thursday traveled to capitol hill to talk to lawmakers, and he is the chief of staff, and certainly they are going to be working the phones here behind the scenes at the white house. They want this to get done. Shutting down the government not good for either party. Everybody agrees they dont think the government is going to shut down, but, again, alex, the senate still has not been able to come to an agreement on this, so its not finished until its all finished. Very true. Thank you. Mcdonalds is trimming the options with a complete makeover. Before we go, we bring you a calendar rarity. Its 121314 today. Couples around the world are rounding up to tie the knot. 13,000 weddings have been registered for today, khgs more than twice the number during this weekend last year. If you want to hold out until the next sequential date rolls around, it will be decades, january of 2024. T sick, you cant breathe through your nose suddenly, youre a mouth breather. A mouth breather well, put on a breathe right strip and shut your mouth. Cold medicines open your nose over time, but add a breathe right strip and pow, it opens your nose up to 38 more. So you can breathe and do the one thing you want to do, sleep. Add breathe right to your Cold Medicine shut your mouth and sleep right. Breathe right. And look for the calming scent of new breathe right lavender, in the sleep aisle. Wellllll. Earlyfit latefit risefit fallfit ballfit wallfit pingfit pongfit pingfit pongfit rowfit throwfit slowfit olliefit oopsfit otisfit thiswayfit thatwayfit daddyfit pappyfit datefit weightfit goalfit gooooooalfit stepfit stairfit smartfit heartfit spinfit bikefit hikefit yikesfit wheeeeefit wowfit whoafit findyourfit its all fitbit Many Americans who have prescriptions fail to stay on them. Thats why we created programs which encourage people to take their medications regularly. So join us as we raise a glass to everyone who remembered today. Bottoms up, america. See you tomorrow. Same time. Another innovation from cvs health. Because health is everything. Get ready foat the volkswagen engineered holidsignthendrive event. Right now, for practically just your signature, you could drive home for the holidays in a new volkswagen. Like the sporty, advanced new jetta and the precisely engineered passat tdi. Ah, the gift of clean diesel. For the new volkswagen on your list this year, just about all you need, is a pen. Festive, isnt it . Get zero due at signing, zero down, zero deposit, and zero first months payment on select new volkswagen models. Ring ring . Progresso you soup people have my kids loving vegetables. Well vegetables. Shh taste better in our savory broth. Vegetables . No. Soup oh soup loaded with vegetables. Packed with taste. No, no, no. Germs, germs, icky germs, icky germs bell rings cute cute thats cute. Delete it. Cute bell rings by their second kid, every mom is an expert and more likely to choose luvs than first time moms. Oh, i think your kids eating sand. Probably cute live, learn, and get luvs in todays three big money headlines, joining me to break it down, regina lewis. What is fueling the shopper optimism . Consumer confidence at an eightyear high. I think gas prices is behind it, alex. So right about now they are getting december statements and finding they have a little more wiggle room and thats important going into super saturday, the saturday before christmas when the average person based on these price declines will have 100 extra in their pocket and they seem to be spending it. Thats great for this time of year. Lets go to the wowful week for investors . It has to do with fuel. If you take a look at crude prices. In the u. S. , for instance, they are down, and that has to do with supply. We knew that. Thats the pennsylvania and north dakota factor. And then there is brent crude, and this week the International Energy agency cautioned that consumption, worldwide consumption in 2015 might be down so they lowered their projection, and thats a demand issue, so the supply and demand issue, it made everybody think how low can it go . So what is good for consumers is not great news for every country or business. What about the menu makeover for mcdonalds . They have to do something. Sales are down 4. 6 , which is significant when you consider they have 35,000 restaurants and thats the lowest Monthly Sales in a decade, and they have too many choices. You add things to the menu and you never take things off, so they have four quarter pounder cheeseburgers, and three different wraps and chicken sandwiches, and they have room to streamline, and they are going to go from 16 value meals down to 11. Again, they have to do something. They are facing a lot of pressure from casual dining places like chipotle. The stakes are high for them. Do we know when its going to take effect . January. All right. Thank you very much. We will see you soon. And then reverb rations from around the world, but will any american agents be prosecuted for what went on. And what we are learning about the leaked sony emails. What are you doing . Dish issues . Get cascade complete. One pac cleans better than six pacs of the bargain brand combined. Cascade. 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