>> welcome to al jazeera america. i'm morgan radford, and here are the for lows we're following for your right now. the halls of the government are mostly silent, 12 hours after counting after the partial sh shutdo shutdown. we're waiting for benjamin netenyahu to bring us the closing address to the un general assembly. ♪ now this is just day one of the first government shutdown in more than 17 years. and right now there's no

indication of how long it will last. more than 800,000 federal workers have been furloughed and thousands of employees are still on the job without pay. many government facilities are closed. members of congress are back at work, but there is no signs of an agreement on a funding bill to reopen the government. libby casey joining us live on capitol hill. libby can we expect any real movement today or is this likely to drag on? >> that's a good question. so far nothing knew on the horizon. it is up to the house republicans to come up with new legislation. what house republicans have said they want to do is have a conference, meeting between a small groups where they would come and sit at a table and hash things out. that's not meeting with any

interest from the senate democrats. harry reid said, look, we wanted to see down with you for months now to talk about the budget and republicans you would don't it. now we're in shutdown mode. we get to get the government back up and running. and then we'll talk. let's take a listen to senator harry reid, the top democrat on the floor today. >> all over america federal employees are -- they were given four hours this morning to clear off their emails, computers, close down their offices all over america. they were asked to come to work at 8:00 this morning. by noon they are out of their offices. the government is closed because of the irrationality of what is going on on the other side of the capitol. >> reporter: and senator reid is blaming republicans for that

irrationality. different message we're hearing, though from republicans. particularly those in the senate. they are trying to keep their ranks tight. here is mitch mcconnell. >> the house legislation has been perfectably reasonable it didn't have anything republicans wanted or everything democrats wanted, but it represented compromise, and it reflected the will of the government people who don't want a government shutdown and who want to tap the breaks on obamacare. >> reporter: the top republican you hear from there, but not all republicans agree. they are saying let's talk about the budget and leave the fight over the health care bill for another day. >> we just heard them pass the hot potato back and forth. but the american public is

really turned off by both parties. how will that effect the election. >> first of all the president no matter who he is gets the blame when things don't go right. a new quinnipiac poll out show that almost almost of americans disapprove of the president's work right now. that's pretty significant. here is republicans and democrats in congress stand up. 60% disapprove how democrats are doing and three-quarters disapprove of the republicans. but the question is how the american public will perceive the shutdown in the coming days. we're hearing reports from all over the country about how this is having an impact. as we see the images on television, and read about more accounts, americans may start getting angrier. >> libby, the truth is, we have

been here before, congress using budget deadlines to push for concessions on other issues. are we going to see this again in a couple of weeks on raising the debt ceiling? >> reporter: that's what a lot of economists are afraid of. now the question we're looking at next is the debt ceiling, and economists, market watchers say this is a big deal not just for here in the united states but also overseas in terms of the market, and in terms of the u.s. credit rating. what is new now we have these tea party republicans who say we have to push fourth our idealogical views. we have to get the health care law stopped in its track, and they are willing to push things farther to try to get what they want. so those days of concessions and you help me, i'll help you seem

to be a thing of the past. this will be a picture of things to come in a few weeks or will they be able to hash thing outs so it will be cleaner in a couple of weeks? it really remains to be seen. >> thank you, lineby. most americans are not too pleased with the way that congress is handling this impasse. 63% of american public disapproves of the way republicans have handled budget talks. 56% disapprove of the way that democrats in congress are dealing with the budget, and only half of americans approve of president obama's performance on the issue. benjamin netenyahu is set to

speak in just a minute. let's take a listen in. [ applause ] >> i have great pleasure in welcoming the prime minister his excellency, benjamin netenyahu of the state of israel, and eninvite him to address the general assembly. mr. prime minister? >> thank you, mr. president. i feel deeply honored and privileged to stand here before you today representing the citizens of the state of israel.

we are an ancient people. we date back nearly 4,000 years to abraham, isaac and jacob. we have journeyed through time. we have overcome the greatest of adversities. and we reestablished our sovereign state in our ancestral homeland, the land of israel. now the jewish people's odyssey through time has taught us two things: never give up hope, always remain vigilant. hope charts the future. vigilance protects it. today our hope for the future is

challenged by a nuclear armed iran that seeks our destruction. but i want you to know, that wasn't always the case. some 2500 years ago, the great persian king cyrus, ended the babylonian exile of the jewish people. he issued a famous edict in which he proclaimed the right of the jews to return to the land of israel and rebuild the jewish temple in jerusalem. that's a persian decree, and thus began an historic friendship between the jews and the persians that lasted until modern times. but in 1979, a radical regime in

tehran tried to stamp out that friendship. as it was busy crushing the iranian's peoples hope for democracy, it also led wild chants of death to the jews. now since that time, presidents of iran have come and gone. some presidented were considered moderates. others hard liners, but they have all served that same unforgiving creed, that same unforgiving regime. that creed that is espoused and enforced by the real power of iran, the dictator known as the supreme leader.

first ayatollah humaneny, and now ayatollah rouhani. president rouhani is a loyaler is event of the regime. he was one of only six candidates permitted to run for office. nearly 700 other candidates were rejected. so what made him acceptable? well, rouhani headed iran's supreme national security council from 1989 through 2003. during that time, iran's henchman gunned down opposition leaders in a berlin restaurant. they murdered 85 people at the jewish community center. they killed 19 american soldiers

by blowing up the [ inaudible ] in saudi arabia. are we to believe that rouhani, the national security advisor of iran at the time, knew nothing about these attacks? of course he did. just as 30 years ago, iran's security chiefs knew about the bombings in beirut that killed 241 american marines and 58 french paratroopers. rouhani was also iran's chief nuclear negotiator between 2003 and 2005. he masterminded the strategy which enabled iran to advance its nuclear weapons program behind a smoke screen of diplomatic engagement, and very soothing rhetoric.

now i know rouhani doesn't sound like his predecessor, but when it comes to iran's nuclear weapon's program, the only difference between them is this: aukmed dinany nijad was a wolf in wolf's clothing, rouhani is a wolf in sheep's clothing. like everyone else, i wish we could believe rouhani's words. but we must focus on iran's actions, and it's the brazen contrast, this extraordinary contradiction between rouhani's words and iran's action that is so startling. rouhani stood at this very podium last week, and praised

iranian democracy. iranian democracy, he said. but the regime that he represents executes political disdense by the hundreds, and jails them by the thousands. rouhani spoke of, quote, the human tragedy in syria. yet iran directly participates in assad's murder and massacre of tens of thousands of innocent men, women, and children in syria. and that regime is propping up a syrian regime that just used chemical weapons against its own people, rouhani condemned the, quote, violence scourge of terrorism. yet in the last three years alone, iran has ordered planned or perpetrated terrorist attacks in 25 cities and five

continents. rouhani denounces, quote, attempts to change the regional balance through proxies. yet iran is actively destabilizing, lebanon, yemen, and many other middle eastern countries. they promise, quote, constructive engagement with other countries, yet two years ago, iran agents tried to assassinate saudi arabia's ambassador in washington, d.c. and just three weeks ago, an iranian agent was arrested trying to collect information for possible attacks against the american embassy in tel-aviv. some constructive engagement. i wish i could be moved by rouhani's invitation to join his

wave. a world against violence and extremism, yet the only waves iran has generated in the last 30 years are waves of violence and terrorism that it has unleashed in the region and across the world. ladies and gentlemen, i wish i could believe rouhani, but i don't. because facts are stubborn things, and the facts are that iran's savage record flatly contradicts rouhani's smoothing rhetoric. last friday, rouhani assured us that in pursuit of its nuclear program, iran -- this is a quote -- iran has never chosen

deceit and secrecy. never chosen deceit and secrecy. well in 2002, iran was caught, red handed, secretly building an underground centrifuge facility, and then in 2009, iran was again caught red handed secretly building a huge underground nuclear facility for uranium enrichment in a mountain. rouhani tells us not to worry. he assures us that all of this is not intended for nuclear weapons. any of you believe that? if you believe that, here is a few questions you might want to ask.

why would a country that claims to only want peaceful nuclear energy -- why would such a country build hidden underground enrichment facilities? why would a country with vast natural energy reserves invest billions in developing nuclear energy? why would a country intent on merely civilian nuclear programs continue to defy multiple security council resolutions, and incur the tremendous cost of crippling sanctions on its economy? and why would a country with a peaceful nuclear program develop intercontinental ballistic missiles, who's soul purpose is to deliver nuclear war heads?

you don't build acbms to carry tnt thousands of miles away. you build them for one purpose, to carry nuclear war heads. and iran is billing now icbm's that the united states says could reach this city in three or four years. why would they do this? the answer is simple. iran is not building a peaceful nuclear program. iran is developing nuclear weapons. last year alone, iran enriched three tons of uranium by 20%, doubled his stockpile, and add thousands of new center fujs, including advanced centrifuges. it continued work on the heavy water reactor in iraq.

that's in order to have another root to the bomb. a plutonium plant. and this vast and feverish effort has continued unabated. ladies and gentlemen, underground nuclear facilities, hea heavy water reactors, advanced centrifuges, icbm's. see, it's not that it is hard to find evidence that iran has a nuclear program, a nuclear weapon's program. it's hard to find evidence that iran doesn't have a nuclear weapon's program. last year when i spoke here at the un, i drew a red line. now iran has been very careful not to cross that red line. but iran is positioning itself

to race across that line in the future at a time of its choosing. iran wants to be in a position to rush forward to build nuclear bombs before the international community can detect it and much less prevent it. yet iran faces one big problem, and that problem can be summed up in one word, sanctions. i have argued for many years, including on this podium, that the only way to peacefully prevent iran from developing nuclear weapons is to combine tough sanctions with a credible military threat, and that policy today is bearing fruit. thanks to the efforts of many countries, many represented

here, and under the leadership of the united states, tough sanctions have taken a big bite off of the iranian economy, all revenues have fallen. the currency has plummeted. banks are hard pressed to tra transfer money. so the regime is under intense pressure from the iranian people to get the sanctions removed. that's why rouhani got elected in the first place. that's why he launched his charm offensive. he definitely wants to get these sanctions lifted, but he doesn't want to give iran's nuclear weapon's program in return. now here is a strategy to achieve this. first, smile on. smiling never hurts.

second, pay lip service to peace, democracy, and tolerance. third, offer meaningless concessions in exchange for lifting sanctions. and fourth, and the most important, ensure that iran retains sufficient nuclear material and sufficient nuclear infrastructure to race to the bomb at a time that it chooses to do so. you know why rouhani thinks he can get away with this? i mean this is a ruse. it's a ploy. why does rouhani think he can get away with it? because -- because he has gotten away with it before. because his strategy of talking a lot and doing little has worked for him in the past. here is what he said in his 2011

book about his time as iran's chief nuclear negotiator, and i quote, while we were talking to the europeans in tehran, we were installing equipment in [ inaudible ]. now for those of you who don't know, the isfahan facility is an indispensable part of iran's nuclear weapons production. rouhani boasted and i quote, by creating a calm environment, a calm environment, we were able to complete the work in isfahan. he fooled the world once. now he thinks he can fool it again. you see rouhani thinks he can

have his yellow cake and eat it too. and he has another reason to believe that he can get away with this, and that season is called north korea. like iran, north korea also said it's nuclear program was for peaceful purposes. like iran, north korea also offered meaningless concessions and empty promises in return for sanctions relief. in 2005 north korea agreed to a deal that was celebrated by many people the world over. here is what the "new york times" had to say about it, quote, for years now, foreign policy insiders have pointed to north korea as the ultimate nightmare. a closed, hostile and paranoid

dictatorship with an aggressive nuclear weapon's program. very few could envision a successful outcome, and yet north korea agreed in principal to dismantel its nuclear weapon's program, abide by the safeguards and admit international inspectors. and finally, diplomacy, it seems, does work after all. ladies and gentlemen, a year later, north korea exploded its first nuclear weapons device. yet, as dangerous as a nuclear-armed north korea is, it pails in comparison to the danger of a nuclear-armed iran. a nuclear-armed iran would have a choke hold on the world's main

energy supplies. it could trigger nuclear proliferation throughout the middle east, turning the most unstable part of the planet into a tender box. and would make the specter of nuclear terrorism a clear and present danger. a nuclear-armed iran in the middle east wouldn't be another north korea. it would be another 50 north koreas. i know there's some in the international community think i'm exaggerating this threat. sure, they know that iran's regime leads a -- these chants death to america, death to israel; that it pledges to wipe israel off of the map, but they think that this wile rhetoric is just bluster for domestic con

su -- consumption. the last century has caught us that when a radical regime with global ambitions gets awesome power, sooner or later its appetite for aggression knows no bounds. that's the central lesson of the 20th century, and we cannot forget it. the world may have forgotten this lesson, the jewish people have not. iran's fan gnat schism is real. this fanatic regime must never be allowed to arm itself with nuclear weapons. i know that the world is weary of war. we in israel know all too well the cost of car, but history as taught us that to prevent war tomorrow, we must be firm today.

this raises the question, can diplomacy stop this threat? while the only diplomatic solution that would work is one that fully dismantles iran's nuclear weapons program, and prevents it from being one in the future. president obama rightly said that iran's conciliatory words must be matched by transparent, a verifiable and meaningful action. and to be meaningful, a diplomatic sol louing would require iran to do four things. first, cease all uranium enrichment. second, remove from iran east

easter -- iran's territory, the stockpile for nuclear weapons. and remove the underground facility and the advanced centrifuges. and four, stop all work at the heavy water reactor in iraq. these steps would put an end to iran's nuclear weapons program, and eliminate it's breakout capability. there are those who would read illy agree to leave iran with a residual capability to enriched uranium. i would advise them to pay close attention to what rouhani said in a speech to iran's superpeople