President Obama ‘Encouraged’ After Meeting With GOP Leaders

President Obama called his morning huddle with GOP leaders, including incoming House Speaker John Boehner, a “productive meeting” but cautioned that “none of this is going to be easy” as he prepared for a Republican-dominated House of Representatives in the 112th Congress.

Two items dominated the agenda – the White House’s desire to ratify a new START deal on nuclear weapons with Russia and the Bush-era tax cuts, which are set to expire at the end of the year but Republicans hope to extend.

Watch the president’s statement:

House Speaker designate John Boehner, R-Ohio., Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va., also addressed the media after the meeting. Boehner described the meeting as a “frank conversation”: