House Republicans Draw Up A "Plan B"
BURNETT: More of our reporting from here in Newtown ahead. A dad joins us and a family. But first, we go to Washington. House Speaker John Boehner today announced his so-called Plan B, that's what he's calling it, if he and the president don't reach a deal on avoiding the fiscal cliff. Our Dana Bash takes a look at how that plan adds up and, well, what the president had to say about it.</s>DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (over-over): House Speaker John Boehner negotiating by phone with the president Monday afternoon. The speaker's office released this photo to show he is trying to cut a broad deal to reduce the deficit and avert the fiscal cliff even though he's also now pursuing what he calls Plan</s>B. REPRESENTATIVE JOHN BOEHNER (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: Our Plan B would protect American taxpayers who make $1 million or less and have all of their current rates extended.</s>BASH: According to sources in the room, the speaker described this backup plan to House Republicans as a way to try to inoculate the GOP from political blame if fiscal cliff compromise talks fail.</s>REPRESENTATIVE STEVE LATOURETTE (R), OHIO: His point was we have to face reality and the reality is the president was re-elected, that taxes if we do nothing on every American are going up on January 1st.</s>BASH: Another goal of this new Plan B tactic, try to force the president to agree that any package to reduce the deficit be equal parts tax increases and spending cuts.</s>BOEHNER: That at this point would be my version of a balanced approach.</s>BASH: Part of the Republican strategy is also to call the Democrats' bluff. Just two years ago, high profile Democrats came up with the idea of extending tax cuts for incomes up to $1 million. Now Democrats think they hold the cards and say no way.</s>SENATOR HARRY REID (D), MAJORITY LEADER: Everyone should understand, Boehner's proposal will not pass the Senate.</s>BASH: The White House argues the president gave a lot of ground in a proposal leaked to reporters Monday night, making concessions to the GOP position on tax rate increases and spending cuts. In fact, a Democratic source in the room tells CNN the president's congressional liaison got an earful at a meeting of House Democrats for agreeing to a change that would effectively make Social Security checks smaller.</s>JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president has always said as part of this process when we're talking about the spending cuts side of this that it would require tough choices by both sides, and that is certainly the case if you want to reach an agreement.</s>BASH: And there were several other areas where the White House says that they gave in to the speaker. First of all, when it comes to those tax rates, the president has campaigned for five years on raising taxes of incomes $250,000 or more. He bumped that up to $400,000 in income, and also in spending cuts, the White House says that they proposed $1.2 trillion, but the Republicans really quibble with that and that's why they say they are still pushing forward on this Plan B. And just moments ago, there was a meeting that lasted for more than an hour, trying to figure out if the speaker can even get the votes for that Plan B and the votes are supposed to be on Thursday. Now I'm going to go over to my colleague, John Avlon, for more on this fiscal cliff deal.</s>JOHN AVLON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Thanks, Dana. Well, as you said, 13 days from the fiscal cliff, Senate Democrats saying that Plan B is DOA. The question is really can President Obama and Speaker Boehner come together. The good news is they're both tough negotiators and both have been making significant concessions. So the question is what would that look like for most Americans. Well, first of all, the president has said he would make the top rate $400,000 instead of $250,000, significant concession. And saying he's open to chain indexing of the CPI for Social Security. That is hugely controversial with liberal Democrats who say it's essentially a concession on one of the most prized programs of the Democratic legacy. The speaker, being open to raise not just revenue but rates, a big concession and taking the debt ceiling limit potentially off the table for two years. Now, the problem is that the activists in both parties are howling at what they see are unacceptable concessions, saying that no deal is better than a bad deal. That is the challenge for both men in negotiations going forward. Other aspects, the president pushing for some stimulus spending for infrastructure, also extension of unemployment benefits, but the big thing for folks to focus on isn't just the short-term patch. But the potential for a big deal now, what we have come so close to having in the recent past. No matter how modest, even it's only $2 trillion it would be historic to see concessions on both sides. It would be a great way to begin the New Year with the debt ceiling not on our backs in February -- Erin.</s>BURNETT: John, thank you very much. Up next, four days after the Newtown tragedy, the NRA has finally broken its silence. It was a total blackout, nothing on Twitter, nothing on their web page. They broke it today. And the story of Vicky Soto. Her final moments of heroism from a young man who loved her.