Could a Christmas miracle help us avoid the fiscal cliff?

OutFront tonight: an early Christmas miracle! Or at least a glimmer of hope today.

President Obama brought glad tidings of great joy to the doom and gloom of the fiscal cliff, saying that making a deal was "too important" to "screw up" and that he'd go anywhere and do whatever it takes to get it done before Christmas.

And House Speaker John Boehner, not to be outdone, put this early gift under Obama's tree by saying that he was optimistic that a deal could be struck sooner rather than later.

Investors couldn't wait to open their presents. On that news, the markets quickly recovered their early losses - The Dow Jones industrial average gained nearly 107 points, or 0.8% by the end of the day. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq also both ended up 0.8%.

So will we have a true Christmas miracle, courtesy of these two men? Erin spoke this evening with Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas - the incoming Republican whip and member of the Budget and Finance Committees - and asked him what his side is doing to get us to this deadline of having the fiscal cliff done and resolved before Christmas?

CLICK TO SEE OUR PANEL DISCUSSION FEATURING CNN CONTRIBUTOR AND NEWSWEEK/THE DAILY BEAST COLUMNIST JOHN AVLON AND NEW YORK UNIVERSITY ECONOMICS PROFESSOR DAVID ALTMAN.