Sharpton, on 'Meet the Press,' talks fiscal cliff, Obama's second term agenda

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Rev. Al Sharpton joined the roundtable on Meet the Press on Sunday to discuss the “fiscal cliff” and the anticipated second term agenda for President Barack Obama.

Sharpton, along with fellow guests MSNBC anchor and senior Washington correspondent Andrea Mitchell, New York Times columnist David Brooks, documentary filmmaker Ken Burns and former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, discussed what Americans can expect in a second Obama term and in upcoming fiscal cliff negotiations.

Sharpton said there is no question “we are gonna have to deal with the question of where the tax rates go,” and noted that during a meeting the president held with progressive leaders, including himself, Obama pledged to uphold his campaign pledge to raise taxes on the rich. After that, Sharpton said the priorities of jobs and unemployment “will be dealt with.”

Brooks said that if the U.S. can prove that it is “governable” in the coming months, “we have the potential to be the hotspot of the world,” noting that Europe, the Middle East and other regions around the globe are stagnating.

Burns, who said he recently emerged from “witness protection, along with Big Bird,” joking about the threats to cut PBS by the Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, said that people understand that the pain of budget cuts will be felt by everyone.

And Mitchell added that the president will need to show a different brand of leadership in the second term than he did in the first.

The roundtable was joined by Honeywell CEO David Cote, who concurred with Brooks on the idea that the U.S. needs to prove it is “governable” in order for business leaders to invest.

The group also discussed the leadership lessons to be learned from the movie “Lincoln,” and the ongoing role race plays in our politics.

Watch the entire roundtable above.