Up next for Hillary Clinton? The paid speaking circuit

>> he's in d.c. this morning. he's the chief white house correspondent for "politico." mike, good morning.

>> good morning. we'll try not to get too fresh down here.

>> good, yes. you're a bourbon guy, aren't you?

>> without that splash. no girly splash.

>> okay. all right. so you guys this morning have an exclusive story about what's next for hillary clinton . what can you tell us?

>> yeah, this is the first phase that secretary clinton has announced in her new life. starting this spring, probably april or may, she's going to hit the paid speaking circuit. she's selected the harry walker agency of new york as her agent. it's also the agency for her husband, president bill clinton . we're told that folks in the speaking industry expect she'll be one of the highest paid speakers ever to hit the circuit. high six figures up there with president clinton , tony blair , george w. bush .

>> i think no surprise there.

>> this is what a lot of people do. step out of public life , make yourself a little money perhaps before stepping back into public life .

>> the clintons need that. they don't have a lot. you know, i understand that when they go on vacation, they have a canoe and this little shack in arkansas.

>> sometimes a days inn .

>> i love days inn .

>> econo lodge . they like that one too.

>> mike, let's talk about something happening in washington. john mccain had a big splash of news yesterday when he talked about universal background checks . going to gain wide support by republicans in congress. that's huge news, and it's not just huge news in a political sense. people that have really been focused on reducing gun crime for a very long time say, yes, they'd like to have assault weapons banned and, yes, they'd like to have high capacity magazines banned, but if you really want to cut gun violence , tighten up and make universal background checks and take care of the gun trafficking. then you'll not only take care of the mass shootings, but you'll start to make a dent in chicago and other places across america. keeping guns out of the hands of felons and the mentally ill .

>> this is something that could even get through the republican house. people were a little dismayed, a little pessimistic about getting anything through. over the weekend, i talked to some of the lobbyists on the gun issue. they also are hopeful of getting some reduction in the magazine size, which you've talked so much about here on " morning joe ." assault weapons , no way, but there are some of these earlier steps. as you make a point -- as you point out, they would make a real difference.

>> they really would. anybody surprised by that?

>> i noticed it and thought, yeah.

>> i've been hearing from behind the scenes that they were moving in a positive direction. tom coburn obviously playing a critical role here.

>> it's part of the gun gang they have.

>> i was surprised, though, that we got the news this weekend. it came out this weekend. mccain just said it. hey, looks like it might pass. that's really, really big news.

>> despite the top-line headlines in the last couple months, the senate had become a hot bed of bipartisanship. the white house strategy all along has been to get some gun control stuff through the senate. i think you're going to see maybe even overwhelming vote in favor of whatever package emerges.

>> that would be great.

>> that would be amazing. mike allen , thank you.

>> happy holiday.