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Rebound from the pitfalls of 2010? what's the future of the gop with tea partiers in congress and an unsettled presidential field taking shape? what are the prospects for economic recovery in the new year? snow politics. tough questions for the politicians when a white christmas goes wrong. with us, columnist, david brooks of the "new york times." e.j. dionne of "the washington post." washington correspondent important the bbc, katty kay. senator-elect from president, republican pat toomey. also new book "violence of peace," yale law professor, stephen carter. captions paid for by nbc-universa...

>> and you were working at the four seasons hotel and then with the economy going down, you lost your job. >> yes, sir. i used to work 16-hour days and now my condition is very severe and i just want to be another working member of society. i don't want to, you know, fade away and die, you know? i'm a good person, mr. anderson. >> senator-elect, what happens now? how does this get resolved? >> well, first i just want to say i'm very saddened by doug's case. he and i met about a month ago and this is really a case of rationing care and it just is so troubling that this has become such a politic...

>> i understand the logic of it and why some states might want to do it. it needs to be decided on a state-by-state basis. i'm agnostic to the policy question of whether it's a good idea because it's a state question. not a federal one. >> since you are now almost a senator, tomorrow we can call you senator rather than senator-elect. you know there's discussions about reforming the filibuster. where do you stand on that? >> well, you know, i think the current filibuster rules served us well and content with leaving them as they are. the senate meant to be a deliberative body and i want it to c...

Commitment to the american people. obviously republicans are also worried about the economy and jobs. we saw some goodwill between the two parties during the lame duck session of congress, but that good will may break down when the two parties try to figure out what to do about the government deficit. but in the short-term, they're hoping to get the economy going in the right direction, rick. >> those two parties are going to start trying to hash it out in the coming days and there will be a whole crop of fresh new republicans with some newfound power on the hill. what are they saying, mike? >...

Observes getting the old gang back together isn't exactly encouraging. it won't just be former tom delay staffers filling up the offices of the congressmen who came to town pledging to clean up the joint. >> you have chosen an energy lobbyist as your chief of staff. that the right person to drain the swamp in washington, an energy lobbyist? >> i've hired the brightest political mind, political consultant and lobbyist in utah. >> incoming republican senator-elect mike lee of utah defending his choice of a lobbyist to be his new chief of staff. it's not just mike lee. lobbyist was a very popular...