ROUGH CUT - NO REPORTER NARRATION
STORY: President Barack Obama said he and congressional leaders must quickly get down to work to avert automatic year-end tax hikes and spending cuts as he sat down for talks with lawmakers on Friday (Nov 16)
"I think we're all aware that we have some urgent business to do," the president told reporters.
"We've got to make sure that taxes don't go up on middle class families, that our economy remains strong, that we're creating jobs, and that's an agenda that Democrats and Republicans and independents, people all across the country share," he said.