welcome to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. these are the stories that we are following for you. no negotiations, no deal, and no end in sight for the shutdown in washington, but there is a huge announcement expected from the white house this afternoon. and deciding the future of the infamous military prison at guantanamo bay. ♪ the government shutdown is now nine days old and congress has eight days to raise the nation's debt limit. now there could be a glimmer of

hope. both sides appear to be open to temporary end to the shutdown and a short-term debt ceiling x extension. libby casey joins us live now on capitol hill. lineby president obama suggesting that he would be open to the possible deal. how is being received and what reaction can we expect? >> asking about democrats is a good place to start because both house and senate democrats would like to see a longer deal cut, and they would like to see the debt ceiling raised not just in a piecemeal fashion but for over a year because that would get it off the table through midterm elections. and a lot of them are pointing to majority leader in the senate. and here what he had to say today.

>> let's reopen the government. speaker boehner could end this government shutdown today, an hour from now by letting the house, entire house vote on the senate's clean bill to reopen the government. when the speaker is on national tv and other places saying we don't have the votes, he never -- he will never know because he won't let the measure come to the floor. of course it has enough vote. let's reopen the government and pay our bills. is no reason for republicans to force the nation's economy ever closer to catastrophic default. >> democrats say these issues have to be dealt with before they are really willing to negotiate. >> libby, how it is playing out among americans? what r the polls and everything else saying? >> there is a lot of fear about

what actually breaching the debt ceiling would mean. and economists are saying you really need to be ready. there are handful of tea party members who are saying it is a bit of a bluff, but for the most part economists saying it will be a big deal. reuters has a new poll out that shows three-quarters of americans are concerned. and 30% say it is the fault of republicans, that's up 4 percentage points from last week, 19% say it is the democrats fault. a lot of politicians are watching these polls and trying to determine who to blame. >> so they seem to be backing away from tying the affordable care act to the budget. >> this is fascinating, isn't

it? that was really the line they were drawing in the sand. we are still hearing that from some hard core conservatives, but op-ed pieces that appeared in the "washington post" and "wall street journal" by eric cantor and paul ryan both talked about how they want to deal with this fiscal standoff by raising the debt ceiling if they can get some spending cuts, if they can get some bigger grand bargain issues. neither mentioned obamacare and that's getting blowback from conservatives, but the mean stream part of the party seems to be moving forward. >> thank you very much. now america's vets could get hard hit by the shutdown. the secretary of veterans affairs explaining what is at steak this morning. >> if the shutdown does not end in the coming vehicles, va will

not be able to ensure delivery of 1 november checks to more than 5.18 million beneficiaries, and that accounts for about $6.25 billion in payments that people are expecting. >> the shutdown has already furloughed hundreds of thousands of federal workers, including members of the cia. the cia is now calling them back to work. they still, though, won't get paid until the budget impasse is over. mike viqueira is live in washington. and mike a very big day for the president. he is expected to nominate janet yellen to be the next head of the federal reserve. is the timing a bit of a surprise? >> yes and no. as the shutdown and impending debt ceiling start to take a bite out of real workers, and the markets start to react to all of the dysfunction here in

washington, the posturing and stage craft goes on today without a lot of visible movement, but the plt is taking a break for an announcement that about a month ago would have been a surprise. janet yellen, the first female to be nominated for that post. if confirmed, she would be the first female to serve in that role. the president will appear here to announce the nomination. by her side and the president's side will be ben bernanke. larry summers was looking for t nomination. he ran in to a lot of opposition by the left. and in many senses this nomination today is about summers falling on his sword

about two weeks ago and withdrawing his name from nomination. now the question will be will janet yellen will care rig out the policies of ben bernanke. the quantitative easing that has been talked about, and also monetary policy, the core function of the federal reserve, keeping track of interest rates, racing them or lowering them, and job number one, keeping an eye on the unemployment rate. that is expected to be the focus. will she be confirmed by the senate? most expectations are that she will be. there has been some opposition voiced by republicans, chiefly bob corker who sits on the banking commission, but this is

a good day for democrats who were backing this nomination for weeks now. >> mike viqueira joining us from the white house. mike, thank you very much. joining us now with more incite about janet yellen is our business correspondent, and the word that always comes to mind when you hear people talk about ms. yellen is incite. >> often people say she has the ability to see what was coming. when she was heading the san francisco federal reserve she warned about the housing bubble. and we see where we are now. also in 2010 she was warning about a jobless recovery, citing businesses who are more efficient, where i will boar productivity was going up. all of the employees who were left behind after those who were laid off, they were actually successfully taking on more responsibility, which meant that

businesses were able to do more with fewer people, and that's exactly what we're seeing now. >> are her policies consistent with those of ben bernanke? >> based on what we can see, they are. she was a big supporter of ben bernanke when the fed was loaning money to banks when no one else would. >> and no six-month job report needed if you are to be the chairman of the fed, what are the markets saying? >> they are mixed. down mostly at this point, because people don't know what is coming. we are in earnings season, dell, so the bottom line is, are companies making money and what is the return on investment. the good news about janet yellen won't wipe that away. >> thank you very much. and a reminder that the president will make that

announcement officially nominating janet yellen at 3:00 eastern time. al jazeera will cover that event for you live. the white house also denying reports today that claimed that the u.s. is considering cuts off most of its military aide to egypt. the u.s. gives egypt about $1.5 billion each year, about a third of that money going to the military. the obama white house saying an announcement on the future will be made soon. and the administration is also moving forward with plans to close the controversial military detention center at guantanamo bay. the pentagon appointing a special envoy. >> nearly five months after the president renewed his promise to close guantanamo, the pentagon

announced its envoy will be mr. lewis. here is what he is facing . . . lewis's job, clear the backlog. and according to a guantanamo spokesperson, 17 detainees are on hunger strike, 16 on the list for tube feeding. two are now in hospital for observation. the detainee population will soon drop by one. a federal judge says this man can be released due to his severe mental illness. meanwhile the administration is still fielding questions about the capture of this man. right now the suspect in the 1998 u.s. embassy bombings is being questioned on board a u.s. navy ship in the mediterranean. >> we know mr. al-libi planned

and helped execute plots that kills hundreds of people, a whole lot of americans, and we have strong evidence of that, and he will be brought to justice. >> reporter: but congressional republicans think the administration is making a mistake. >> this system of using navy warships in lou of gitmo, compromises our ability to gather intelligence, because the best tool we have in intelligence gathering is time itself. >> reporter: that's a non-starter. the administration says it won't be sending anymore people to guantanamo. and it's reasons include the cost of the prison. $4.7 billion since 2002, and rising. >> this is really a political issue, and unfortunately u.s. taxpayers end up paying the price. really, of course, the detainees pay the price, but the fiscal aspect of it is u.s. taxpayers don't even realize we're spending billions of dollars for

this. >> reporter: the challenge then for lewis, remove what the president calls a stain on the u.s.'s reputation, while ignoring all of the critics. inspectors in syria say they are make progress now when it comes to dealing with that country's chemical weapons. on sunday they began their mission to destroy syria's chemical weapons stockpiles. today the director general of opcw said some equipment has already been destroyed. he is also calling for temporary ceasefire to allow inspectors time to fulfill their mission in syria. >> barnaby phillips has more from the hague. >> reporter: they are only beginning their work. it has been relatively safe where they have worked so far on sunday and monday and again today. they visited another site. i think he is looking ahead and making the point that this is going to be an extremely difficult job if the war is

raging at full tilt and there will be times and places where they are going to need help and cooperation from various armed forces if they are to do what they seek out to achieve in what is after all a pretty tight timetable. let's just remind ourselves of exactly what he is saying the opcw would like to happen in the coming weeks and months. he wants the syrian government to submit itself timetable by october 27th, then we open the opcw will sign off, will agree on that timetable by november 15th, and of course the entire mission has to be completed by june the 30th, 2014. that's not just the identifying and the destruction of syria's chemical weapons stockpile, it is also the vary indication, the certification, if you would like from this side that that destruction actually has taken

place. now that is very ambitious under the circumstances. ♪ >> i'm meteorologist dave warren. a storm is developing just off of the coast of north carolina. and that will bring a lot of rain here to the eastern coast, the mid-atlantic coast here from north carolina all the way through up washington, d.c. and philadelphia. developing here now, area of low-pressure to the south, and high-pressure to the north. there is that northeast wind that will pile water up in the back bays, you'll see coastal flooding and very heavy rain with each high tide cycle. seeing some coastal flooding, minor initially, the wind gusts over 35 miles an hour. 21 mile an hour wind gusts in washington --

[ technical difficulties ] -- there is all of the heavy rain it's just about to push into washington, d.c., should be there by tonight. area of heavy rain just south of philadelphia and then continues to spread north. so a lot of heavy rain and that constant northeast wind coastal flooding is the problem with this storm. rain throughout the weekend here, thursday, friday, saturday, for washington, finally seeing a little break on sunday. coastal flood advisories and watches in effect all along the coast here even up through new york where there is a coastal flood statement. not much else happening here in the us. pretty quiet in the middle portion of the country. heating up there as temperatures climb into the 60s and 70s. watching this cyclone develop that is forecast to track towards india, so we'll be

watching that closely here. >> dave warren, thank you very much. coming up next on al jazeera, protecting local markets and small business, how two different countries are reacting to the growth of those mega chains.

while the economy struggles at home a lot of big u.s. companies are looking for investment future expansion overseas. they are beginning to chase the growing demand in asia and latin america. but small business owners are not rolling out the welcome mat. we have two reports for you on this issue. we begin with adam in mexico city. >> reporter: welcome to mexico city's central market. it's the largest market in the world. every week hotel owner comes here to stock up on fresh

groceries to serve his guests. >> translator: you can't beat these prices. if i buy this stuff in the neighborhood what i live, i play up to four more times of what i pay here, so i save a lot. >> reporter: the central market feeds a system of more than 300 neighborhood markets across the city. markets have been central to mexico's cultural and economic life for centuries dating long before the spanish even came here. but according to mexico city's government these markets are under threat from national and international chains popping up across mexico. earlier this year, the supreme court overturned a city law that bard soup -- sp

soup -- spup -- supermarkets from big chains. mexico's supermarket association wouldn't speak to us but has said the city is trying to block the creation of new businesses. many have a sent mental connection to the markets. while the city struggles to limit the growth of supermarkets it's the country's sluggish economy that has lead to a slow down in construction. the city hopes they will continue to attack business for decades to come. now to india. wal-mart's recent split from its indian partner could defer

foreign investment. >> reporter: in 2007, wal-mart joined up with one of indians largest telecom companies. it had never sold directly to consumers. wall mat then set its sites on retail. now the company is taking a step back. wednesday's announcement means that wal-mart will now own the wholesale company but it won't see its name on the building. this shaws a cautious change in its strategy for india. >> it would make sense to play it safe, wait for the general elections and then see. >> reporter: several other obstacles have hit wal-mart's

entry into the sector. small businesses feared wal-mart's rival in the sector would shut them down. later other regulatory requirements came up. he says if wal-mart can't set up shop in india, other foreign retailers won't be able to either. >> unless it is all taken care of, i think the pace will continue to dwindle. >> reporter: wednesday's announcement isn't just a step backwards for its operations in india, but may also deter other international retailers from being business here. something so far no other company has stepped up to do.

>> still ahead as far as most of us are concerned being bitten once by a shark would be enough to keep you out of the ocean, but not everybody. that's all next on al jazeera america.

welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm del walters these are your headlines. president obama says he plans to meet with house democratic leaders today. he has blamed republicans for holding the u.s. economy hostage. senate democrats came out a time ago to talk about the ongoing budget battle. >> i'll say it once again. open the government, pay our bills. we are happy to negotiate on anything. we -- we have given boehner what he wanted. number 1, his number. we did that. it was hard to do. you have all heard me say that. number two, he said he wants a conference. we said we'll go to conference to you on anything you want, all

you need to do is open the government and let us pay our bills. and the president will nomination janet yeller as the head of the federal reserve bank. in a news conference earlier today the head of the un inspectors saying can experts plan to visit 20 sites in the upcoming weeks. the saying goes once bitten twice shy, and you would think that would also apply to sharks. >> reporter: greg pickering is either the unluckiest man or the luckiest. he was diving for eddingable sea snail that is very prized in restaurants in asia.

when a shark thought to have been a great white attacked. remarkably, though, this isn't the first time mr. pickering has been attacked. 2004 another shark attacked him. at the time he said that wouldn't put him off getting back in the water. >> the shark grabbed me -- i felt the teeth go right into the bone. once it has happened in 34 years, i would say that is very small odds. >> reporter: tragically being bitten twice has proved possible. this was a spokesman for the frishryes department. >> if a sizable white shark is caught in the waters over the coming hours from the evidence i have available to me at the moment, i'm likely to give the order to destroy that shark. >> reporter: conservationists

don't like that, though. >> it's very sad and a terrible experience for people. but it's -- we're playing in their waters. we just have to be more careful. >> reporter: greg pickering has had ten hours of surgery. his condition is described as serious by stable. a california company building a bicycle deal with led-colored illuminations. you can see they are programmed to display different patterns. the animations appear when riding at low speeds which means they with perfect for people just like me. thanks for watching al jazeera america. i'm del walters. "the stream" is up next. for updates throughout the day go to aljazeera.com, and a reminder we'll cover the news

conference at 3:00 announcing the appointment of janet yellen. we'll see you then.