wisconsin governor and scott and koch brother lapdogs scott walker is in washington d.c. today he'll be the keynote speaker at a summit to promote education privatization was right wingers call it school choice it's unclear if walker will also be signing autographs or posing for pictures or running his own kissing booth for the all the right wingers who are now falling over him since he had the so-called courage to screw over average working joes and janes in his state the last time walker was in d.c. was because chairman of a government oversight committee and were. just manning congress and former small time criminal. wanted to honor him with an appearance before congress for busting up labor unions in wisconsin meanwhile is walker is being treated like a rock star here in d.c. today his republican co-horts back in wisconsin are scrambling because they know their days are numbered this summer six republican state senators will face recall elections for supporting scott walker's anti-union efforts those elections could begin as early as next month so right now these guys

kron4 rob fladeboe reports that they accuse the city of resorting to wisconsin style politics. >> san jose labor unions rallied outside of city hall blasting the mayor for trying to make them scapegoats for the city's financial woes. >> the mayor cannot pay his bills because of the interim responsibility that he's done for years. now he is making us pay for that lack of judgment is not right. >> it scares me. we should talk, we should save the city, but not that take that out and the people that work hard. >> they say that the mirrors are reforms creslan takes away the collective bargaining rights. >> we are trying to make modest changes to the expectations of future benefits in order to save the pension system, maintain the solvency of the city and the pension system so that the benefit payments that people receive today what they have earned and a crew will be protected. >> othe fiscal emergency will be able to challenge them in court. the unions are threatening legal action of their own. >> one of the wisconsin 16 were at the rally today. spencer was their leading the fight against

a judge in wisconsin struck down the law today and said the law was passed in violation of wisconsin's public meetings act, so the law is just off the books. perhaps temporarily but game on now. >> all right. nothing like a good litigation over a law about open meetings to get the lawyers happy. >> you know what, open meetings -- it's just the greatest. >> all right. look forward to that discussion. >>> coming up, can too much compassion be a bad thing? s network all across america. we're adding new cell sites... increasing network capacity, and investing billions of dollars to improve your wireless network experience. from a single phone call to the most advanced data download, we're covering more people in more places than ever before in an effort to give you the best network possible. at&t. rethink possible. the count on chevy event is here. your ticket to a cruze eco. 42 mpg and over 500 highway miles a tank. one of our 9 models over 30 mpg highway. fuel up, rock on. very well qualified lessees can get a low mileage lease on a chevy cruze eco for around $159 a month. or qualified b

a federal judge in wisconsin today struck down a controversial state law that stripped most collective bargaining rights from public workers, but that may not be the final decision as wisconsin's supreme court takes up the issue next month. still ahead, friending your utility company, or how the concept of social networking can help businesses save big money on energy. it's tonight's "planet forward." >> tom: the vice president and a bipartisan group of congressional negotiators met for a little over an hour today. they're working to hammer out an agreement to cut federal spending and raise the nation's debt ceiling. time runs out in early august. lawmakers in the talks say they

the so your argument basically is that the people of wisconsin said we don't want gays to get married in the state we don't just have rights in the state and therefore i think are you going to heritage and it will inherit all of this concert assassin what about when the people of mississippi said you know we don't we don't want african-americans to have rights in our state we think that slavery i don't agree that you can equate the two but i think that i think we're talking human rights versus you're not you have asked me what you think about mary i don't think this is a gay rights group and i think that you know i personally don't have a problem with it but i think that examining the constitutionality of some law that a governor put into place is completely legitimate and there's no problem with going back or eating it if it is unconstitutional as you know the argument is he made that is i think the attorney general said that it is unconstitutional then we go back to the real problem and go through the process repeal the original bill if that's what you want to do with wisconsin if t

you have what's the latest on the wisconsin recall . there's a lot going on through the recalls have been sort of fight these are efforts to remove republican state senators who align themselves with the walker agenda and three. key votes came from republicans who represent districts they could very easily elect a democrat i know those cases that recalls have been certified they're going to go ahead three more recalls republican senators are now in play and likely to go ahead and usually there are three potential recalls of democratic senators those are still being what it all adds up to is the likelihood that on july twelfth or thereabouts we will have elections a process was gunson that will quit governor walker's agenda to the chest if you change really remove his supporters john thank you so much for being with here with us tonight it's a good story a good story john thanks for having me on i push it beyond union busting let's not forget what happened in tuesday's election in new york's twenty sixth district where voters rejected th

look one thing you forgot the fact that in two thousand and six people of wisconsin pass constitutional amendment saying that they were against same sex marriage and they didn't want the same rights of marriage given to same sex couples that's constitutional amendment that was approved by the people and then a democratic governor in wisconsin said oh well we're just going to i'm going to go ahead and challenge that and say that same sex call there was a. right but like that against the will of the people and so while he's saying as and i'm not going to end this because it's goes against the constitution and also of course city that you just uttered is that you can actually have power of attorney and anybody can go visit you can you can states out which power of attorney to a same sex partner to a friend to a neighbor to me. decisions where in hospitals we already have. thousand places in federal and state where the word marriage is involved typically with me out here and this is not about rights as you know it's about getting the stature of marriage too high. so it's a silly argument ba

what happened in wisconsin -- i know we are not going to impeach obama. we could impeach boesh. >> what's happening in wisconsin is along the lines of what happened in the peace movement back in 05, 06 when the democrats were largely crittenden they were on board with it and many on board with impeachment and challenging business. that is to say an organized force, public leader in wisconsin, which still exists, and the general public activists hat with and the young and enthusiastic line up with the interests of the democrats in the state legislature in wisconsin and when that happens then you get all the participation and resources and funding of the democratic party loyal activist groups. for the most part we get inverted the representation so the groups ago to one of the parties and say what should we ask members to ask you to do rather than ask them what they want to take that to washington and so, what's happened in wisconsin and michigan and the rest is very encouraging and is worth a building on. >> are you talking about we the people of the movem

wisconsin was a police state, very liberal, right? it is against the law to have intercourse until you are 18 years old. but i just ask you this, this is san francisco, let me ask you this -- how many of you have smoked pot? [laughter] i ask this of my students every semester. how many of you have sexual intercourse before age 17? in my state, you are convicted felons. right? so i tell my students, i tell them that i'm going to take my university's 15,000, and going to take my students, and we're going to march down to the police station, and they are all going to confess to having sexual intercourse before age 18. my point is there is no escape anymore. it is not just a criminal records. i really feel sorry for our children and grandchildren. we are telling -- felonizing recreational drugs, felonziinizg recreational sex. i go into prisons, and in interviewing lesbian women who are 19 and 20 years old who get 20 years for having sex with a 17 year-old. she's 19, she 17, she got 20 years. that is what is coming to. in this country now

i'm from madison, wisconsin, which is a town not unlike san francisco. they cannot put me on trial in madison in wisconsin, so they took me to the south of carolina, and they put me on trial in strom thurmond federal courthouse in charleston, south carolina. across the street was the confederate cemetery. from the courthouse, they flew two flags -- the u.s. flag and the confederate battle flag, which was the state flag of south carolina. from the court room, i could look out the window and seaport sumter in the distance -- see fort sumter. they put me on a case with no marijuana. they invented imaginary marijuana. they said i was charged with conspiring to contribute 10 tons of colombian marijuana. i pled not guilty. i had a jury trial. i was found guilty on one account, acquitted on nine. i had an appellate case and the supreme court case. i was then facing 15 years. since may to nine. when i went to federal prison, i did time in eight different states in nine different federal prisons, including four penitentiaries -- that is a maximum security. includ

that we're seeing that you know in the heartland of america working class people have risen up and wisconsin is a great example for the entire nation that shows that the working class can rise up if they organize themselves to defend their rights so i think that not only was constant but in other parts of the country people are really feeling the pinch economic crisis and you know for the rest of the world knows where it is like to be hungry in the rest that was in poor for a very long time and here in the united states you have millions of people who live below the poverty line so i think that it's only a matter of time before the mass of the people in this country organize themselves whether it be through organized labor or not to defend their interests and to have a better life that iran is inspiring as it was to see what we saw in wisconsin and you're absolutely right they certainly did organize and what actually came out of what happened rather than sort of bring an awareness what actually came out of that in terms of policy and change in this country well we understand that it's a long

17th and wisconsin? >> yes, 17th and wisconsin is a guitar duo this year. >> a guitar duo? >> their ampersand is two girls on guitars. >> like a flying v or like a -- >> like an anne defranco. >> and then mariposa? >> we have a chair station there. you know, even if your station is going to cause problems with the neighbors -- >> our tier station is not amplified and therefore -- commissioner meko: they're not within our jurisdiction. >> but other than that, commissioners, i -- you know, i can't tell you in advance who's going to have a problem. but if you can eyeball the list at all. president roja: you know, it sounds reasonable to me. but yeah, commissioner perez? how are you communicating to the performing artist? to provide a rara encouragement for the runners but not necessarily to overplay themselves so that they're now disturbing the neighbors. is there some kind of orientation or message to the band so that we invite you to come here -- sometimes they're used that. but this is a different kind of event. what's your way of communication to them? >> i'm not sure if y

in wisconsin even in union protests than i would but the size and scope and got of government is what people. are concerned about and the spending and the jobs and so i think that when it comes down to it at the end of the day politics are going to are going to be affected by the economic conditions in this country and how your government being run but on the defending doma you know i happen to this really doma i don't support that law and i think that i think that you know whether it's scott walker in wisconsin or president obama if an executive believes that was unconstitutional then they have an obligation not to defend it because they have an obligation to uphold the constitution when they take care of that but i think it seems to me that a lot of these guys are just taking gratuitous shots. you know install it makes this historically we've had groups that. you know have been the victims of the demagogues basically and and you know we over the last decade you know the jury falwell era you know it was gays i mean you know gays are responsible for nine eleven and now it's also musli

you know wisconsin recently banned same sex visitation rights and the governor there says he wants to stop defending all was in the state. to stop enforcing. the laws in the state that defend gays are the rights. we're seeing the same thing and they're there the house is about to pass a ban on gay marriage these are all republican driven what's up with the you know if you identify yourself as a gay conservative group what's up with not gay conservatives what it would you know. they're not going to you know the rest of america is kind of waking up to this is a civil rights issue that we're all people here well i think one i disagree with those those actions that you talked about but i think one thing that we're seeing and this is happening all across the country and you just touched on it is that normal people in in the last number of years are coming out and living their lives openly and honestly and that includes teenagers used to be you know nobody came out in high school you know nobody came out in middle america and so as more and more people come out and more and more americans k

we do want to give you an update on the guy from wisconsin, the one we have been talking about, eaten more than 25,000 big macs in his life. we wanted to give you an update on this. >> the question this morning, how can he pack the calories, cholesterol, fat and all that and seemingly have no ill effects on his health? well, jim avila went looking for answers. >> pretty close to 90% of my diet is just the big macs. >> reporter: he is a freak of nature, wisconsin's don gorske, able to eat big macs every day and everywhere. >> this picture is my 19,000th big mac. >> reporter: more than 25,000 in all. >> they haven't killed you? >> nope, not even close. i am doing really good healthwise. >> reporter: he has the checkups to prove it. his cholesterol level is shockingly low with little exercise. >> one mac a day is not negatively impacting his numbers. >> i feel great. i never get sick. >> reporter: still, not a diet most of us could get away with. one big mac has 540 calories, 29 grams of fat, the equivalent of an entire large cheese pizza. on a more personal note, a 9-mile walk to work i

. >> wisconsin state center who led the fight against anti-union legislation if they told the city workers the same thing will happen here. >> and chuck reed is proposing something to decimate the city of san jose, not just the workers, but also the citizen and of working families. >> he says that the mayor plans to declare a fiscal emergency and have a referendum on reform will in effected bargaining for all city employees. >> if it is done here, the proposal like the one in wisconsin will go to the extreme and push the nuclear option without exploring more avenues of negotiation. >> this is the release plan only cost the city even more as labor unions, you have notes was but the resulting legal action of your own. quite possibly that might be another type of referendum. >> if the mayor cannot talk to the people that he needs to, eventually the people may say that he needs to go. >> in san jose ron fladeboe. >> will he said he doubts whether the centegot the center understands and he defended the plan. >> i doubt if he knows a lot about the problems that we face in san jose. i certainly d

a wisconsin judge has struck down a controversial law stripping collective bargaining rights from most collective workers in the state. the law, championed by republican governor scott walker was passed in march despite massive protests. the court ruled that republicans in the state senate violated wisconsin's open meeting law. >>> the supreme court has ruled that states have the right to shut down businesses that knowingly employ illegal immigrants. the court upheld a 2007 arizona law rejecting arguments that control over illegal immigration is solely a federal responsibility. >>> the last of three men blamed for instigating ethnic cleansing during the bosnian war will face charges on genocide. ratko mladic is accused of massacre of 18,000 boys and men in serbia. >>> two astronauts are taking the final walk on the fourth walk of this next to last mission, astronauts are installing an extension pole on the space station, officially ending its construction. no walk is scheduled for the final shuttle mission. >> and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the d

and it's not just in wisconsin. we've cross-pollinated wisconsin people with ohio people with missouri, with tennessee, with indiana. we've gone all over the country, and people are mobilized. and it's not just union people. it's working people in general. small business people are out there supporting us. nonunion workers are out there supporting us because they think these people have gone too far in trying to pay back their rich donors by destroying the right of workers out there. so we're taking that message everywhere, we're seeing it take effect. and, apparently, we're doing something right because guys like scott walker, his rating in the his own state -- ratings in his own state have fallen like a big rock in a small pond. they think he's gone too far. >> okay. someone says, i didn't hear the word "obama" in your prepared remarks. [laughter] doesn't the president warrant at least an honorable mention? [laughter] >> well, i was talking about people that are off on the wrong course. [laughter] so, of course, i

it's ohio, it's wisconsin, it's florida. it's everywhere. it's everywhere newly elected republican governors have taken hold. they are good, decent people, but they have a fundamentally different view of the country than we do. across america folks in those states are getting a real doze of the unvarnished agenda of the new republican party, republican party circa 2010 and they don't seem to like it one bit. the same thing is happening nationally in congress. congressman paul ryan, who is a good, smart, decent man, and he is, he's laid out the republican vision of how to deal with the deficit and how to move forward, but he does it by decimated medicare, slashing investments in key areas, putting everything on the backs of the middle class and increase tax breaks for the wealthiest among us. every republican candidate in the house of representatives embraced that vote except -- and every republican candidate for president embraced the ryan budget except newt gingrich who said it was social engineering. even newt's right once in a while. a cl

and i think all of us can be rightly proud of wisconsin in its most recent supreme court election. the election of the freshman senator and the election of a very vigorous governor who is doing the things we need to have done. all of that happened on the watch of chairman reince priebus. i would be very appreciative, mr. chairman, if you would join me and tell us how you did it and what you are going to do next. [applause] >> good afternoon. i hope they try to keep the remarks brief. but i do want to thank the mayor and david and larry for having me this afternoon. i have to say to david, layperson who has led us for many years. four years as general tells will and instead of life tells will to the rnc and to me. he gives me advice and i appreciate people like that who take you under their wing and our statement to our party. sosman to our party. so thank you, david. it is true. my name is reince priebus. i know it is a bizarre name. i am as normal as they come. my son's name is jack. my daughter is graced. i am reince priebus. what happens when a greek and a german gets married? i

a way to tunnel underneath that wall and fund them anyway through voucher programs is going out in wisconsin where governor scott walker is slashing nine hundred million dollars out of his education budget and adding seven hundred fifty million dollars to the school voucher program and also in new jersey where governor chris christie cut two hundred or eight hundred twenty million dollars i was education budget last year then created an eight hundred twenty five million dollars school voucher program last year and that's just to name a few here to explain how the scam works and what it means for the future of public education america is that giuliani reporter and blogger extraordinary at think progress said welcome back thanks for having me. what does how does this work exactly federal funds going to fund religious schools you know what happened to thomas jefferson's wall of separation well that's exactly where the school voucher movement came from a one point american history of the twentieth century a lot of religious conservative americans said that you know we want tax are going to relig

wisconsin democrat also suggested the fight could get even nastier. >> if the mayor and city council do the right thing i say recall every single one of them. >> love to have visitors. hope he spent a lot of money in the hotel. >>reporter: south bay labor council did pay for the senator ip o herandis sy in san jose. the next big meeting on pension reform and the cost savings that could be realize takes place on june 21st. that is the same day that the council could declare a fiscal state of emergency and force this issue to the november ballot. in san jose, abc 7 news. >> and coming back up to san francisco mayor he hadley announce the pension reform plan today with support of majority of city supervisors. some labor unions and investor warren. the plan would cap pension benefit, raise retirement ages and require city work investigators pay more into the system. the proposal expected to good to voters in november. but he faces prospect of jewel from public defender who wants to place alternative pension reform measure on the ballot. >> our plan is fair. it is responsible. it protects

as we crisscross his wisconsin strict. i ask paul ryan if the budget bargain could be in the offing? >> do you think these massive issues that you're dealing with, the budget, let's say, can be done only by one party? >> no. no, i don't. >> you have to work together? you have to negotiate? >> yeah, i think so. >> is that atmosphere available? >> no. not right now. we're probably not goating to get a grand slam agreement that fixes all of these problems. my now hope is get a single or a double. get something done that gets us on the right path. >> congressman ryan said he expects republicans and democrats to agree on fiscal controls to lock in spending levels, but he said a big picture deal on the debt crisis probably won't lap before the 2012 election. it's what the treasury secretary tim geithner said a couple weeks ago. the big question remain, can the united states afford to wait that long? the powerhouse "roundtable" tackles that and weighs in with their reviews of the president's stand-up act as well at the president'

a lot of us watched with great attention what was happening in wisconsin when there were workers' rights are being attacked and i think a lot of people are getting more money more more and more angry it's a big country and a big ship takes a longer time to turn and you know that's a really interesting question that i have for you what would you say the average turnout just in general for your events aside from that ohio one so i'll be honest i'm a survivor a lot of these and there's a lot of times you know there's more media then activists and then the protests that we cover but quite often it's just the opposite as well where there will be tens of thousands of people who as was the case in wisconsin as well as a political reason because i thought i'm just curious in general over the last couple years what have you seen is that right just on may twelfth in new york city there were about ten to fifteen thousand people protesting against wall street abuses saying that wall street isn't do their fair share to help those that encourage recovery last year is what would that what the crowd is

what do you believe you're doing right in wisconsin? >> well, i think it's a series of things and contrast from other states. illinois since the beginning of year has raised taxes on corporations, they've got a higher effective tax rate than we do in wisconsin and raised taxes on individuals. we've lowered the tax, passed major tort reform to cut through the litigation cost, pushed major regulation reform to cut lieu the red tape, so that employers can put more of their money into putting workers to work and not into other government bureaucracies. all that i think is something that people are starting to take notice of. >> now the flip side of that is, your cuts. people have been extremely critical of your education cuts, $900 million in state funding for public schools. how do you respond to the criticism that you're pro business but on the backs of students, teachers and teacher unions? >> well the difference is, unlike nearly every other state, 44 have deficits, almost every state is cutting money to local governments, schools, the

the 57-year-old wisconsin man ate his 25,000th big mac. he says he's had at least one a day for the past 39 years. and it takes him exactly 16 bites every time. he also keeps all of the -- oh, go gosh, boxes stacked in the basement. wonder if he dated back to when they were in styrofoam. >> i don't think that's their slogan anymore. >> he is eclectic. isn't overweight. always gets good cholesterol numbers. guinness recognized the feat three years ago, three years and 2,000 big macs ago. i can put away some, but 25,000. >> i like fast food but not to that degree. >>> a quick check of the weather headlines, jacqui jeras in the extreme weather headlines, i bet she was once a quarter big mac consumer. >> i don't hate the big mac. is that the only thing he eats all day. he's this big. >> the fact that he saves the boxes in the basement, i guess that was in case guinness wanted to count. >> maybe. >> how much space would that take up, right? >> a lot. >> like the entire basement! speaking of basements, hate to use that as a transition, people ar

the same that found in our party in 1854 in wisconsin but we're in a battle for freedom. we're in a better opportunity and a battle for an america and a battle for our children and their children. do we want to have a country that leaves? or do you want to have a country that follows? do you want to of a country of makers? or do you want to of a country of takers. do you want to a more people writing the wideband, or do you want to have more people driving the white and prove the stakes are high, and the consequences are very real, and that brings me to the rnc. i can promise you on my life that like all of you here, i did not run for chairman because i have got some great worry about the future of the republican party, and you are not hear the case you are just gravely concerned about the future of the rnc or your local party or your state party. i ran for chairman of this party because i am concerned about the future of this country. i know that we have a battle to fight. i know that we have to save america, and that is why i ran for chairman of this party. we're the on

what do you think about what is happening in wisconsin and? >> [laughter] i am grateful you appreciate my effort to communicate with the general public. some of my colleagues get worried. [laughter] i do not want to suggest even for a second that what i am doing here there are some technical sayings that can do well that is not what i am trying to do but to tell you that, but you can make a judgment. it is strange because when it comes to drug safety, nuclear power, that middle east policy those with very strong opinions. it should not be like that. why does the economist get off the hook so easily? with the fda and everyone but you seeing larry summers is okay and greenspan was okay? i don't think so. what you have raised is a complex question but mainly because of my lack of expertise but contributing to women is number four washington has changed the world more than the internet. basically the argument is the house of technology represented by the washing machine has reduced the requirement for household work so much but now that we have a

house budget chairman, paul ryan of wisconsin. >> prove to them that wisconsinites of having civil debates. >>> then, in the crosshairs, a nato bomb hits a house with gadhafi inside, killing his son and three grandchildren. how will the strong man strike back, and how does it all end? >> this is where i direct operations. >> was the way out for the u.s.? a former administration insider weighs in. >>> plus, we're live from the vatican, as pope john paul ii gets one step closer to sainthood. is the fast track too fast? >> announcer: live from the newseum in washington, "this week" with christiane amanpour starts right now. z >> welcome to our viewers here and around the world. there is a lot happening this sunday and we begin with unfolding news in the libyan capital, tripoli. the libyan government is condemning what it called, quote, a direct operation to assassinate moammar gadhafi, this, after a nato bomb hit gadhafi's compound. it spared him but killed three of his grandchildren and his youngest son. could this be a game-changer in the war which is dragged into a state mate in recent wee

among the speakers, wisconsin senator among the 14 who left his state to deny the governor a vote on a plan that would strip unions of their right to collectively bargain. he says the same thing is happening in san jose right now. however, the mayor of san jose says that's just not true. >> chuck reid is proposing something that will decimate the city of san jose, not just workers but also the citizens of working families and if done here, the proposal like in wisconsin goes to extreme. >> i'm trying to protect what they've earned and accrued and to ensure they get paid in their retirement what they've earned and accrued. but in order to do that i have to adjust their expectations about future benefit increases because we can't afford the system that we have now. >> reporter: now, the mayor says that the emergency declaration will allow the city to make changes to employee retirement spending which went from $63 million in the 2000/2001 fiscal year inform $186 million this year to a projected quarter of a billion dollars for 2012/2013. though the vote is likely to be put off until ju

let's start with the wisconsin case, elliott. so the judge struck down the law but what does that really mean? >> what it means is for now the law will not go into effect, but the judge struck it down based on a procedural failure. remember, if you really followed this carefully when the law was passed, the republican majority in the wisconsin senate rushed it through the committee, rushed it onto the floor and passed it, violating a judge has now found the open meetings law that required that there be notice given to everybody for 24 hours or so. they didn't give the notice and, therefore, the process was wrong. now, the question is why have the republicans who still have the votes to pass this law again not gone back and done it the right way, because the judge didn't say the law was unconstitutional. the judge merely said the way they passed it didn't satisfy the process that they were supposed to follow. now, why the republicans haven't gone back to pass it again, maybe because the politics of the moment right now is very dif

a similar bill in wisconsin appears headed to that state's supreme court. governors in places like massachusetts and connecticut want unions to give back to help balance their budgets. their demands might not be driven so much by political philosophy as the skull necessity, but for a union member, that are -- fiscal necessity, but for a union member, that argument may be academic. all this is occurring at a time when unions are struggling to maintain their membership. today, 50 million, or 12% of working americans belong to unions. that happens to be the lowest level in 70 years -- today, 15 12% of workinglict simp americans belong to unions. that happens to be the lowest level in 70 years, compared to 22 million at its height. having actually worked in the coal mines, our guest speaker went to work for the united mine workers, becoming their youngest president in 1982. he served three terms and brought the mineworkers into the afl-cio. in 1995, he became secretary treasurer of the afl-cio and served in that post until 2009 when he became the fifth presiden

bargaining rights from public workers, but that may not be the final decision as wisconsin's supreme court takes up the issue next month. still ahead, friending your utility company, or how the concept of social networking can help businesses save big money on energy. it's tonight's "planet forward." >> tom: the vice president and a bipartisan group of congressional negotiators met for a little over an hour today. they're working to hammer out an agreement to cut federal spending and raise the nation's debt ceiling. time runs out in early august. lawmakers in the talks say they are making progress, but a key issue will be just how long any extension of the debt ceiling will last. darren gersh takes a look. >> reporter: on the short end, a debt ceiling extension may last just until the cherry blossoms come out again in washington-- about six months or so. budget watcher stan collender is not looking for the talks now underway to reach a long-term agreement. >> i think they are going to need something at least symbolic, a fig leaf-- something a number of members of congress can hang th