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The president held a prep rally in the east room and suggested he was not that flexible. >> i am open to new ideas. i am committed to solving our fiscal challenges. but i refuse to accept any approach that isn't balanced. >> reporter: the confronteddational approach fired up democrats as the president hit the road again again, making his case on the fiscal cliff. >> it is too important for our families to not get it done. >> reporter: the president did have that lunch with romney, which yielded only an awkward photo. and there was little outreach to rank-and-file republicans, beyond one on one...

Republicans beyond one-on-ones with speaker john boehner. the president's team says the g.o.p. dug in on taxes so he did his best. >> he negotiated with and gave republican leaders and he put forward proposals that represented by any measure serious compromise. >> reporter: the strategy seemed to pay off, as the president got a better deal in the cliff talks. and went in to his inaugural riding high. since the "state of the union," though, he has had far less leverage in the sequester fight after some missteps, including exaggerations about the impact. >> whether it's sequest related i don't k...

Right now on "first look," the house approves a budget deal, the fiscal cliff is averted. the deficit expected to grow by $4 trillion, president obama headed back to his hawaiian vacation. contentious cliff talks had one leader telling off another in the crudest of terms. penn state fights back. the mummers are out in full force, and some residents in colorado are enjoying the new legal pot dens. good morning, i'm bill karins, the house has finally given approval to the bill to undo the effects of the fiscal cliff. in the 11th hour, the house voted 256 to 167 in favor of the bill to stop mid...

>> yeah, when? it has -- actually, just to ban the magazine, the assault magazine, we could do it right now, and then take dianne feinstein's initiative and others to move to ban assault weapons and the rest. yes. then address mental health issues, violence in our society, in our inner cities, and beyond. >> important points all. we'll be right back. our exclusive conversation with nancy pelosi continuing next with those cliff talks, including her reaction to john boehner's plan b. this is andrea mitchell reports only on msnbc. [ woman ] ring. ring.

Excerpt from his new book, "because i said so." >> it's a must-read. >> i like the cover, why every kid should read. >> mike allen has a look at the "playbook." hello, mike. >> happy friday, willie. >> let's talk immigration because the president has said this is next on deck once we get through this fiscal cliff question and the debt ceiling. will be the next big undertaking for congress sometime in 2013. how does it shake out? >> yeah, well, "politico" has learned that the president plans to really step on the gas on this. you know, the other day tom friedman was saying that we have to chang...