>> welcome to al jazeera. here are the stop stories we're following at this hour. a congressional tug-of-war could shut down the government at midnight. israeli prime minister ben benjamin netanyahu. >> good to have you with us. 13 hours and counting. that's how much congress has to pass a bill that would prevent a

partial government shutdown at midnight tonight. and there is little hope that democrats and republicans will reach a compromise. there have been no negotiations. but members of congress have done plenty of talking. >> you just listen to the president, talk to the president of iran, talk to putin, but won't sit here and talk to the representatives of the american people that would like to deal with this problem. >> this was a calculated strategy to drive the country to the cliff and then give us what we want in the affordable care act or we're going to shut down the government to default from our debt. >> the leaders in business tell us don't do this. don't shut down the government. don't fail to pay the government's bills with the debt ceiling. that's exactly what the republicans are hell bent on doing. >> they're the one who is are playing games. they need to act. >> there is a time and place to debate obamacare.

but not at a time when millions of innocent people are held hostage if we don't fund the government. >> here's what you need to know. the senate will reconvene later this afternoon. at that time democrats are expected to shoot down the house legislation and send back a simple spending measure. congress has until midnight to vote on that spending bill or partial government shutdown begins. libby casey joining us now from washington. has there been any progress on capitol hill and could a compromise take place before midnight? >> we're not seeing any movement forward. as you mention the countdown clock is really on. we heard speaker baner ticking to that same line. and it's the republican call to make compromises. they're not going to do that, so that brings us much closer to a shutdown. it could be a legislative way forward, but with this very short window now, almost 12

hours at this point it's really unlikely and we are facing that government shutdown. >> there is a lot on the table here. what is at stake if a shutdown goes into affect? >> at 12:01 the partial shutdown would commence. it's not everything that shuts down. basic things will still function. and people deemed essential will go to work. let's talk about things that keep rolling. things like entitlement benefits will continue to get paid. that means medicare, medicare, social security. however there is concern getting new people enrolled in in those programs. the application process could be held up. airport, air traffic controllers would stay on the job, so would tsa, security screeners but non-essential personnel who might work on the wings of outside of things. they may not going to work. there could be still some delays.

800,000 workers could be furloughed. they could be told to stay home. that does not only have ramifications for them, but the places where they spend money. veterans benefits could possibly held be pup places like the smithsonian museum, they could all close down. real-life implications. thomas, the shutdown could last anywhere from a day to weeks to who knows how long. if it's short, the less of an impact. it the longer it goes the greater the impact on services. >> and what does it mean long term for the struggling economy? >> yes, this is really the early game for the big fight that is going to come up in mid-october. so we're seeing the u.s. get closer to its debt limit, and the treasury department has said october 17th is the day that we hit that. many people have is seen this as

the next financial fight. taking those two together could have real implications, impact on the market and the economy. this is the little wave that leads to the big one. we just don't know how it's going to play out. the other impact is politically. everyone is asking who will get the political fallout? will republicans be blamed, and as americans start to feel the impact of this that might insentize congress to get back to work. >> libby casey joining us from capitol hill. the threat of a government shutdown sending stocks down. the dow had a fall at the open and is still deep in negative territory. one analyst said this is no time to start thinking about hiding the money under the mattress. >> if you're the average investor and you're doing your home work you won't have to worry because you're focused on companies who are doing their home work, global earnings, strong brands, good presence.

what you have to be concerned about is a knee-jerk reaction of traders. >> you may remember the last government shutdown in the mid 1990s, stocks sunk but made a come tact once congresacomebackd congress made a striking deal. always get the latest on www.aljazeera.com. coming up in just a few minutes here, president obama will meet with israeli prime minister ben image netanyahu in the white house. it comes days after the historic phone call with iranian president hassan rouhani. as you may remember, john, before coming to d.c. netanyahu said he would tell the truth despite sweet talk from iran. are we expecting a friendly meeting? >> i think friendship is something that these two men will ever achieve. they plainly loathe each other.

we know this because we've caught them snarling at each other. president obama did not go to israeli. they didn't meet at the u.n. general assembly a couple of sessions ago, and so friendship is not something that they will move towards. the united states and israel are the best of friends. they are the closest of allies in the whole world and particularly in the middle east region. that is not going say. with president rouhani making nice to the united states, that does present something of a democrat ma to prime minister netanyahu. we just have to see. not only is there a new town, but about there is likely to be a new tone between washington and tel aviv. >> when we get down to it, john. what are both men looking to get

out out of today's meeting. >> president netanyahu is looking for the red line. do you remember when he drew the bomb and the red line. very vivid moment. the red line gets the point that iran will reach that israel will no longer accept and israel will look to attack iran's nuclear facility. while prime minister netanyahu is looking for firm time lines from president obama for firm time lines. you can't blame him for taking this hawkish stance, if they're really building a nuclear bomb secretly, then his country is the first they'll be affected. >> that meet something set to take place in the white house in

just a moment. john terrett. thank you. the second face of the bp 12 in a new orleans court. bp trying to avoid billions of dollars in fines after a rig explosion in 2010 killed 11 people and called the largest offshore oil spill in u.s. history. who is responsible and how much of the damage is turning into a huge fight. stephanie boswell reports. >> the family has been raising oysters since 1904. mitch runs the business that his grandfather started. >> we grew from a 14-acre lease to now roughly 15,000 acres. >> there is a pocket of oil here. >> when he's not tending his oyster beds he's creeping a close eye on the marsh. >> this is oil. definitely oil. >> three and a half years ago these marshes were covered in

oil that poured into the gulf of mexico for 86 days after the explosion of the drilling oil rig. >> 200 miles of shore lines still has oil. 14 of considered moderate to heavily oiled. >> it's been devastating. oyster processing plants have closed, and oysters have not spawned in the golf in two years. >> so 2014 we're going see a drastic decline in oyster production which is worse for the markets because of the few processes left cannot get enough oysters. >> who is to blame is the subject of a trial in new orleans under the clean water act. phase one focused on the cause of the blow out and level of negligence by bp and other companies. phase two concentrates on the events after the explosion. >> everything that happened after the blow out in terms of the efforts to cap the well, and

to determine how much oil was spilled. >> co-owners of the well, bp and anadarko are the defendants. they say 2.4 million barrels spilled. >> the low ball estimates by bp are laughable. >> expert testimony will come up with the correct number. the court still must decide the issue of negligence, which is needed to determine fines based on the clean water act. they could range from $4.5 billion to $17.2 billion. that's on top of $42 billion bp already spent on fines and settlement payment. anyone who depends on the gulf for their livelihood will be watching. >> we need to win for our futures. >> reporter: 80% of clean water act fines will be spent on restoring the gulf coast.

stephanie boswell, al jazeera, louisiana. >> the vatican announces a day for the sainthood of two popes. we'll explain why there will be a dual cano canonization.

now he's claiming for the first time that they've carried out attacks and chemical weapons that were supplied by regional governments and by western governments. there were familiar lines in the speech that we heard from the syrian government many times before. he even compared what's going on inside syria with the events here 12 years ago in new york.

during 9:11. >> what can you tell us-- >> ladies and gentlemen, this is not a civil war. there is no civil war in syria, but it is a war agains that rece no, sir values, no justice no, equality, thi my country requirs the international community to act in accordance with relevant resolutions and counterterrorismism. >> other important developments, following that chemical weapons resolution passed by the security council on friday, there is some hope now that with the agreement between the west and russia they can do something about the humanitariantation. u.n. officials for months have been trying to improve the humanitarian access. they're having a hard time getting visas and getting aid to

opposition controlled area. they're trying to get the russians on board. they've objected to this sort of thing in the past. that statement would not be legally binding in international law, but it would carry the moral authority of the 15 members. >> i want to talk more about that statement. what more can you tell bus the security council statement on the humanitarian crisis? >> well, that statement would be an important break through, i think. you speak to people here at the united nations particularly the coordinate who are is trying to get supplies into syria. it's the thing they keep talking about, how difficult it is. how much red tape it is. they put in their passports to get visas to help the people and often the passports come back with no visa in them. they think if they have this sort of statement it will put pressure on the syrian government to give access to

syria where people so desperately need help. you have 7 million syrians displaced from their homes. >> james bays, thank you. we're following a developing story. 15 people are injured after two commuter trains collided in chicago. one of the trains ran head on into the other. we're talking about the eastbound and westbound trains here. one was stopped at a station during the morning rush hour. the train was thanksgiving was stopped was out of service. we can tell you none of the injuries are life-threatening. authorities are investigating why the two trains are on the same track. as soon as we get more information we'll pass it on to you. it's a bird, it's a plane, the new offshore energy alternative coming up.

that's all i have an real money. victoria azarenko

>> meteorologist: top of the morning to you all for folks waking up on the east coast. it's a gorge da gorgeous day, ah pressure is in control from new york city down to lappet. we're talking about beautiful continues. continues--beautiful conditions. we have a frontal boundary on the move and it will bring scattered showers into western new york. but as i said staying dry and quite beautiful in new york city all the way down into atlanta. very difficult story if you're in the pacific northwest. areas of low pressure making its way onshore. we're talking about heavy rainfall across portions of seattle down into portland. if you live across the washington and oregon it was caseoregon cascadesone to two fe pass the snoqualmie pass. in the evening we'll see a pile up of rain on the roadways

on i-5. and these are the watches we have right now from the washington cascades into the oregon cascades. we're going to see one to two feet of snow. folks traveling along i-90 use precaution. when are we going to see sunshine? later on in the week. with our high of 58 and we'll finally begin to feel just a bit warmer. take a look at temperatures in chicago. warmer yesterday with the high coming in at 74. >> thank you. off the coast of spain the officers offshore turbine. they'll float out to sea to take advantage of stronger wind. it will be a prototype of a version than will eight times larger and each turbine will be able to power 8,000 homes.

thanks for watching al jazeera. "inside story" is coming up next. remember, for more information you can log on to www.aljazeera.com.