washington/dallas game in prime time, the nbc announcer said the nickname is different from others like braves and chiefs and warriors and is a slur with no place in 2013. costas added that he doesn't think team owner dan snyder harbors any ill will toward native americans. snyder has insisted he will never change the name. that's it for "the lead." i'll be back at 11:00 p.m. eastern, 8:00 p.m. pacific for a special on the shutdown. i now turn you over to wolf blitzer in "the situation room." happening now, breaking news. with america's debt ceiling about to come crashing down on the world economy, senate leaders say they're close to a deal but the white house postpones an urgent huddle. what does that mean? is it potentially a good thing? and what would a deal look like? i'll ask the leader of the bipartisan effort in the senate to break the deadlock. republican senator susan collins will join me live. on the day the government shutdown, a key part of obama

care was supposed to be up and running but countless americans are still getting error messages. should someone be fired? i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." right now, all eyes are on that ticking clock. in less than 55 hours, the treasury will start running out of money to pay the nation's bills. with the debt ceiling deadline bringing new urgency, senate leaders are suddenly much more optimistic about a deal. but just as suddenly, the white house today postponed a meeting between the president and the congressional leadership. let's get the very latest from our chief congressional correspondent, dana bash. she's up on capitol hill. what's the current deal under consideration, dana? >> reporter: first, let me just say the fact that the white house meeting is not happening is actually a good thing and that comes from sources in all parties. it is because they feel that they are on the cusp of getting a deal without going to the white house, just among senate republican and democratic leaders. but to answer your question,

here's the framework of what we're told is in this potential deal. first of all, to keep the government running or to reopen the government and keep it funded until january 15th, but along with that would have a deadline for budget negotiators to finish a budget, to finish the fiscal year, by december 13th. then the debt ceiling. they would increase that until february 15th. now, democratic sources i'm talking to say that that could slide but if you look at what's on the screen right now really quickly, if you can put it back up, the whole idea of the give and take starting with the end, the debt ceiling, democrats gave on that. they did not want to keep the debt ceiling -- they wanted to lift the debt ceiling through the rest of the year, through the election. they're giving in on that. then with regard to funding of the government, republicans are giving in on that. they wanted to have a deal to fund the government through maybe even a year. why did they want to do that? because it would lock in place

forced spending cuts that democrats don't like. then the last thing i wanted to tell you about are obama care provisions. there are some potential obama care provisions in this. they're not big, but they're there. first of all, income verification for those getting obama care subsidies. we are told that that is something that republicans very much wanted, just to make sure there's no fraud in the system. democrats appear to be giving on that. then the last is something democrats actually wanted because the unions were up at arms about a fee on employees receiving insurance. this would be delayed for a year. so those are the -- that's the framework of what they're talking about. senate republicans were supposed to meet within the hour but we are told that they are delaying that meeting until tomorrow morning. not again for any bad reason, but because they want to get their ducks in a row to make sure they have all of the details laid out to present to their caucus formally. then of course the next question is what happens in the house, and republicans in the house are already saying don't expect us to just swallow this deal.

we might try to change it. >> very unusual, the president, the white house, they announce a meeting at the white house at 3:00 with the bipartisan congressional leadership, then say not so fast. stand by. let's continue what's going on, dana bash up on capitol hill. after all the bitterness, the harsh rhetoric, could a deal be at hand, and what will it take to bring house members on board? joining us now, democratic congressman chris van hollen of maryland, the ranking democrat on the budget committee. are we on the verge of a deal, congressman? >> well, we don't know exactly. yogi berra's advice was always good, it ain't over til it's over. i think it's good news they postponed the meeting at the white house because conversations are still going on and people are trying to finalize an agreement, and as you and dana said, the big question is exactly what those parameters will be and then of course, what happens in the house of representatives. it's too early to tell, because

we haven't seen the fine print here. but needless to say, i think speaker boehner is going to have to make a decision to finally stand up to some of his sort of reckless tea party right for the good of the country. >> we did get a statement from a spokesman for the speaker saying if the senate comes to agreement, we will review it with our members. that statement just coming in from house speaker john boehner's office. how do you read that? is that encouraging to you? >> well, again, it's still too early to say, because what we've seen out of the house republican caucus is things change minute to minute. even when speaker boehner reached an agreement with harry reid about keeping the government open without those extraneous affordable care act provisions, he then reneged on them because his caucus erupted. it's really too early to say. we haven't seen the agreement in the senate, either. the overall parameters i think are what dana expressed. we do not think there should be

extraneous provisions attached to the clean c.r. and clean debt limit provisions. we think those are the properly discussed within the budget negotiation framework but again, let's see what the senate comes up with and we'll go from there. >> say they come up with what dana just reported, by mid-january, they are going to continue to keep the government open until mid-january. you as the ranking member of the house budget committee, you would have to have your house senate budget committee conferees meeting by mid-december, you would have to come up with some sort of agreement and you would extend the debt ceiling through mid-february. is that all acceptable to you? >> well, that timeline is acceptable. again, without having seen whether there's any fine print or conditions to it. but that timeline as dana indicated is a compromise. we believe that the sequester that's in place right now is creating a drag on the economy. it's not just us. the congressional budget office

which as you know is a nonpartisan agency, has said that if sequester levels of funding remain in place throughout this fiscal year, we'll have 800,000 fewer jobs in this country by this time next year. now, that's a self-inflicted wound that we don't need. we would have preferred to have a shorter timeline to negotiate on that. but look, those dates are a question of compromise and agreement. i think they would be acceptable. the question is whether or not they try and throw in these extraneous provisions related to the affordable care act. those matters it seems to me should be subject to the budget negotiations and not something tacked on to this agreement. but again, let's wait and see what emerges. >> i spoke earlier with senator amy klobuchar of minnesota, who has been involved behind the scenes in trying to come up with some sort of deal. she says she would welcome, she would support one of those measures to eliminate or at least delay for two years medical devices, a tax on

medical devices, which is part of the affordable care act, as you know. a lot of democrats, lot of republicans don't like that tax to begin with. she would like to see it, even she would support it as part of this deal to keep the government running to extend the debt ceiling. that is okay with you? >> wolf, i would find it a little bit strange that we took up a measure that actually increases the deficit by losing the revenue from that provision as part of an agreement to lift the debt ceiling. that doesn't make sense to me. why would we be increasing the deficit in that process. that's the kind of thing that in my view, would be better suited for the budget negotiations that would take place where you can take into consideration all questions related to cuts and revenue. that's the appropriate forum for that conversation to take place. that's my opinion on this. but again, let's see what comes out of the united states senate and then speaker boehner will

have to do something which he's refused to do in the house so far. we could have the government open today if he allowed democracy to work its will and if he hadn't actually changed the rules of the house to prevent democracy from having its way in the house. >> let's talk a little about one aspect of obama care that people, now in week three of this obama care, people are having a tough time still getting on board, logging in, finding potential plans that they can sign up for and robert gibbs, a man you probably know, was the white house press secretary during the first term of the obama administration, he said this earlier today. listen to what he said. i'll read it to you. he said i hope they are working day and night to get this done and when they get it fixed, i hope they fire some people who were in charge of making sure this is supposed to work. fire some people. lot of people are suggesting that this is a great

humiliation, embarrassment to the president of the united states, the fact that it wasn't rolled out perfectly, not even close to being perfectly. who should be fired, if anyone, according to you? >> well, wolf, first, i think we have to focus exactly where robert gibbs said we should focus, which is let's fix the problems, get this thing up and running. there's a huge amount of interest from the american public, a huge amount of people who are looking for this kind of affordable care so let's get the system fixed and up and running. then we can go back and figure out where things went wrong and see whether people need to be held accountable. clearly, if there were mistakes made, people should be held accountable but i think we're getting ahead of the game here. our focus should be all hands on deck, let's fix this problem so that the millions of americans who want to get access to affordable care, can do it. >> you still have confidence in the secretary of health and human services, kathleen sebelius? >> i do. this has been a very big rollout.

you know, there's the good news and the bad news. the good news is that the affordable care act, the idea behind it, was absolutely necessary, because you have this huge unmet need for affordable care. the bad news is that millions more americans than anticipated decided to try and sign up for the exchange in the early days. i think the administration thought that that would be sort of paced over the three-month period, you wouldn't have this huge influx. obviously somebody should have anticipated the huge demand up front, but again, our focus now has to make sure that we meet that demand. >> if you read that long article on the front page of the "new york times" yesterday, there were people in the inside saying this was not ready to be rolled out, there were serious problems, don't do it, don't do it, just wait, get it ready, make sure it works. but they decided to roll it out anyway. i suspect we will be learning a lot more about this but i'm sure the president of the united states is not happy that it wasn't ready to go in tip-top shape on day one.

>> i'm sure that's true. >> i don't blame him, either. thanks very much, chris van hollen, the ranking democrat on the house budget committee. he will be a busy guy over the next few weeks, assuming, assuming this deal works and let's hope there is a deal. up next, i speak with republican senator susan collins, one of the architects of this possible deal to end the shutdown, pull the nation back from the brink of default. countless americans keep trying to log on to that obama care website with not a whole lot of luck. we will show you what they have been up against. we have a special report. [ male announcer ] this store knows how to handle a saturday crowd. ♪ [ male announcer ] the parking lot helps by letting us know who's coming. the carts keep everyone on the right track. the power tools introduce themselves. all the bits and bulbs keep themselves stocked. and the doors even handle the checkout so we can work on that thing that's stuck in the thing. [ female announcer ] today, cisco is connecting the internet of everything. so everyone goes home happy.

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nthat's why they deserve... aer anbrake dance. get 50% off new brake pads and shoes. one of the leaders of the bipartisan effort to try to break the deadlock is republican senator susan collins of maine. she's joining us now live from capitol hill. senator, thanks very much for coming in. >> my pleasure, wolf. >> the decision to postpone the meeting that the president had scheduled for 3:00 p.m. eastern today with the house and senate republican and democratic leadership, is that good news or bad news? >> i think it's probably good news, because i believe that that postponement as well as the postponement until tomorrow morning of a meeting of the senate republican caucus means that the details are being

worked out on the compromise and anything that brings us closer to a vote is a positive development. >> say it does pass, some of the ideas that you and your colleagues have worked behind the scenes to come up together. let's say it passes and passes impressively in the senate, 70 or even 80 votes. are you confident that the speaker of the house would allow that piece of legislation to come up for a yea or nay vote without any modifications? >> well, i have never served in the house, so i don't dare make a prediction but my hope is that it would have enough momentum that speaker boehner would bring it to the senate floor. after all, the house's attempts have not been successful so far in reopening government and averting default so i hope that they'll take a serious look at the senate bill. i hope they'll just pass it so

that we can quickly reopen government, avert the default and restore the confidence of the american people. >> let's talk about the latest ideas that may be on the table right now, close to a deal. how long would the government stay operational, fully operational without any government shutdown? this current deal that you could vote on, let's say as early as tomorrow. >> well, that's one of the key issues that has been under discussion. the bipartisan group of 12 senators, six republicans, six democrats, that met in my office this morning did arrive on a date and we agreed not to disclose the specifics of that, but suffice it to say that it was shorter than the original six months that i had proposed. the hope would be that during that time, the budget committee conference could meet and come up with a plan that would guide the overall spending for the

year. we would, however, not be breaking the budget cuts -- the budget caps, rather, that were included in the budget control act. >> the forced budget cuts known as sequestration. dana bash reported earlier and i will tell you what she reported in case you missed it, you can tell us if we're correct or not correct, close, not close. january 15th, the government would be funded, december 13th, the house senate budget conferees would come up hopefully with some sort of deal, and that the debt ceiling would be raised until february 15th. are those accurate? >> well, those numbers and dates are very close to what we have recommended in our bipartisan group. i think i'll just leave it at that, because it is up to the discretion of the two leaders at this point in the negotiations. >> the medical devices tax, i know you and your colleagues were ready to go ahead and link

that to this deal as well. a lot of officials say the white house believes that's a nonstarter even though there are plenty of democrats and republicans who support getting rid of that medical device tax, at least delaying it for a couple years. could this deal go through without any direct connection, direct connection to that medical device tax? >> i'm baffled by the white house's opposition to a two-year delay in the tax, which is what our compromise group had suggested, because it does have widespread bipartisan support. when we had a vote during the budget resolution on this issue on repeal of the tax, it garnered 79 votes, so that's a lot of democrats who view this $30 billion tax over ten years as being counterproductive and as being passed on to the health care consumers as well as having an impact, a negative impact, on

domestic employment. what we had proposed was replacing the revenues from that tax from a different source, so it really would have no impact on the financing of obama care, and that's why i'm surprised that the white house has continued to push back on either repeal or at least a two-year delay of the tax. >> i don't think they want any direct connection because the president said he wasn't going to negotiate obama care under this kind of threat, if you will. but maybe you can finesse it, come up with an indirect connection and maybe that will get going. just a thought. senator collins, thanks for all your good work. >> thank you. >> coming up, lawmakers say a possible deal is in the works to end the shutdown, stave off a government default. does anyone come out of this ahead? and those obama care error messages. we will show you what so many americans are facing when they try to log on to the new health care site. stay with us.

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we're continuing to follow the breaking news. as the clock ticks down to a possible u.s. debt default,

lawmakers are signaling optimism about a possible deal. senate leaders say they're closer and closer to an agreement that would end the government shutdown, stave off the default. so what is the white house saying about all of this? let's get some more from our senior white house correspondent, brianna keilar, who is joining us from the north lawn of the white house. what are they saying about the latest developments, including the decision by the president to postpone that earlier 3:00 p.m. scheduled meeting with the republican and democratic leadership? >> reporter: hi, wolf. this feeling of optimism appears to be shared at the white house as well. that meeting was postponed i'm told by white house officials because there was momentum on the senate or in the senate when it comes to these negotiations and the president wanted to make sure that that continued uninterrupted. meantime, he did get out today into the d.c. community. went to a soup kitchen, where some furloughed workers have been spending some of their free time, serving those less fortunate who need some of that free food, and there, as he made some peanut butter and jelly

sandwiches with the help of some youngsters, he racheted up pressure on republicans. so actually, we do have a sound bite, wolf, that we were hoping to play but basically, what he was saying was he was warning it was untenable to continue the shutdown and he warned, this was really the dire warning that he said if we don't start making some real progress over in the house and the senate and if republicans aren't willing to set aside some of their partisan concerns, he said we stand a good chance of defaulting and those are some really strong words to be coming from president obama. he outlined some of the possible ramifications or the ramifications of the debt ceiling not being increased, and a default going forward. he talked about interest rates going up, payments for social security and disability beneficiaries not going through, and at this point, white house officials are still insisting what we've heard all along, that

the president will not negotiate on obama care as it would be connected to the debt ceiling or to this government shutdown now in effect. but here's what's interesting. in the same breath, they won't really dismiss out of hand some of these ideas that we're hearing percolating in discussions up on the hill. one such example, that income verification where republicans want to they say to avoid fraud, they want to verify the income of americans who are seeking that subsidy to purchase their health insurance. right now, the white house is saying that while they certainly want to make sure that americans who need that subsidy aren't discouraged ultimately from getting it because of some sort of verification, they are sort of waiting to see what the mechanism would be that is proposed. so there's a lot of kind of wait and see going on as the senate is working up there. >> wait and see together with you, brianna. thank you. so there is some optimism that a temporary deal may be within reach to reopen the federal government, stave off a possible default. will there be any winners in

this exercise in government dysfunction? let's bring in our chief political analyst, gloria borger and our chief national correspondent, john king. gloria, look at this new abc/"the washington post" poll. disapproval numbers, 74% disapprove of the republicans in congress, 61% disapprove of the democrats in congress, 53% disapprove of president obama. so there's a lot of disapproval there although the republicans are the winners as far as disapproval are concerned. more people disapprove of them than disapprove of the democrats or the president. >> by 20 points. 20-point difference. i think you would have to say that in the short term, at least, we don't know about the long term yet but in the short term, the republicans have given themselves a real black eye in the view of the american public. the question that i have coming out of this, and peter hart raised this question last week -- >> he's a pollster. >> a democratic pollster who does the "wall street journal"/nbc poll. his question is, is this short

term or is this going to be long term. is this going to be sort of a moment when the american public took a look at the republican party and decided you know what, they really can't run the government and we don't want them to do that, or will the damage just be short term because as you point out and as the "post" poll points out, they're kind of mad at everybody. we don't know the answer yet. >> the irony and the anger within the republican party, especially on the house side, is that it's the moderate members who come from the more competitive districts. there are not many of them but they tend to be in the northeast and midatlantic states. those members are now worried because they would vote to reopen the government. they have been saying all along don't do this, don't make this stand on obama care, don't shut down the government over this. the more conservative members are viewed as safe. even when this ends despite these national polls, most of them will go home and likely get reelected but some of their more moderate friends may get caught up if there is an anti-republican wave. >> so the question is, will anybody learn from any of this. mostly on the republican side. we're going to see that when republicans get ready to vote on

whatever comes out of the senate, because it's pretty clear to me that what's coming out of the senate is something the white house could sign. so we're going to have to wait and see what house republicans decide to do and whether they continue to make their stand or whether john boehner is willing to say okay, get it done. >> hold on for a minute. erin burnett is joining us, the anchor of "outfront." i know you're very well plugged into wall street. what are you hearing from some wall street leaders right now about this very, very sensitive moment in these negotiations? >> i guess on the one hand, let me start with the glass half full, they're glad there could be some sort of resolution because of the no man's land, we have never been in a situation of implicit default before, so they are glad about that. i think that's important to say. however, they are extremely frustrated by the act that it's being put out as some sort of solution to delay the debt ceiling, that they see that as frankly a joke and pretty pathetic.

it's been 13 times since 2011 that congress has now done this, this sort of brinksmanship on these issues, and to them, they really see this in terms of their relationships with banks and companies around the world. you know, one source said to me today wolf, i think it's worth talking about, saying look, they were meeting with big leaders from companies and central banks at the imf over the past few days and they said it's bigger than this. it's the default, that's a big issue, the u.s. faith and credit is a big issue but also it's things like the united states says it's going to be pivoting to asia militarily but it's not. america's absence is quote, unquote, obvious to everyone. they see that parallel with the debt ceiling and they see it in congress and they think it's just, it's not just an embarrassment but has become something that's truly hurting america's role and america's ability to be the leader around the world financially. >> yeah. having said all that, better to get some sort of deal for december and january and february than no deal at all and

potentially see the u.s. default. >> absolutely. they would rather have that than nothing but they see this as pathetic. the only bipartisanship you can get it kicking the can down the road as opposed to dealing with something. the super committee had 18 months and i remember john king, we were on every night talking about that, and they weren't able to deal with any of these issues in 18 months. so why would you expect that suddenly now they will be able to do it. look, maybe a miracle could happen, but there's a lot of negativity on wall street. >> erin will have much more, 7:00 p.m. eastern, "outfront." john king, thank you. gloria, thanks to you as well. when we come back, failure after failure after failure. our own elizabeth cohen has been trying to get on to obama care websites for two weeks. she has an important new update we will share with you. also, who is to blame if the country were to default on its national debt? the "crossfire" cohost newt gingrich and stephanie cutter are here in "the situation room" and will debate. when you're merging onto u.s. cover your ears...

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a lot of americans keep on trying to log on to that obama care website, but with no luck. we will show you what they have been up against. la's known definitely for its traffic,

congestion, for the smog. but there are a lot of people that do ride the bus. and now that the buses are running on natural gas, they don't throw out as much pollution into the air.

so i feel good. i feel like i'm doing my part to help out the environment. scathing new criticism against the obama administration's botched obama care rollout from a former white house insider. the former white house press secretary robert gibbs calls it excruciatingly embarrassing and people should be fired over how it was handled. so many americans trying to register have been plagued by glitches for more than two weeks now. our senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen reports. >> i put in my user name and password and it didn't recognize it. >> reporter: error messages, page not found, system down. it's been a tough nearly two weeks for obama care. >> there were error messages or

that little annoying kind of twirly thing. hate it. hate it. >> reporter: i have been trying since day one to get an account and log in on healthcare.gov. i failed again -- >> couldn't make this page work. >> -- and again -- >> it wouldn't log me in. >> reporter: -- and again. it's not working. when i called the 1-800 number for help, the reps tell me volume is high and to try again during off-peak hours. so i tried at 10:30 at night. 7:00 in the morning. and still, it didn't work. so finally, i set my alarm clock for 3:00 a.m. sunday morning. but guess what? the system was down for maintenance. i'm not the only one having trouble. on facebook, people took to the healthcare.gov page to vent by the thousands. on cnn's ireport -- >> i tried it hundreds, literally hundreds of times since october 1st. >> reporter: independent analysts tell cnn the problems

go way beyond high volume and minor glitches. they say the site fails to follow even basic protocols in its coding. there is always the old-fashioned option of enrolling over the phone and using snail mail and you do have time, to be insured by january 1st you just have to complete the process by december 15th. >> elizabeth cohen is joining us now live. i take it you are seeing a little light at the end of the tunnel. what's the latest? >> yes, i am pleased to say that this morning, i tried to log in, i failed, tried to log in, i failed, tried a third time and i failed. so i said all right, i'm creating a new account. which i tried to do in the past. i created a new account, didn't work, didn't work a second time. the third time, i was able to create a new account and actually get into the site. i worked on it for awhile, it's really actually so easy to use, incredibly clean, a great user interface. i then had to walk away from my desk and when i came back, several hours later, i'm sorry to say i could not log in again. i tried to log in again and it

wouldn't let me back in. so i think you hear the word spotty a lot to describe this website and that's certainly the experience that i've had. >> i heard other words besides spotty to describe the website as well. they're still not telling us how many people have tried to enroll, have tried to log on, have tried to purchase health insurance through this new affordable care act. >> right. reporters have been asking for those numbers. all right, well, how many people have had success on the site, how many haven't, and the administration has not given them, however, a federal official did tell me today that later this week, possibly hopefully he says even tomorrow, they will be giving some metrics, some numbers that will describe the performance of the site. now, it's not going to be the enrollment numbers that we all want, but i'm told that it will be some data, some information that will at least give a sort of description in some way of how the site's performing. >> elizabeth cohen, glad you got in finally. not so glad that eventually you couldn't log in a second time but i'm sure things will happen

in the next several days or weeks. appreciate it very much. up next, taking america to the brink. does either side come out ahead in this battle over spending and the debt ceiling? "crossfire" co-hosts newt gingrich and stephanie cutter are both here. extraordinary heroism by a u.s. army officer who is about to receive the medal of honor and his actions were all caught on videotape. the day we rescued riley, was a truly amazing day. without angie's list, i don't know if we could have found all the services we needed for our riley. for over 18 years we've helped people take care of the things that matter most. join today at angieslist.com jbut when it comes to investing, things i prefer to do on my own. i just think it's better to work with someone. someone you feel you can really partner with. unfortunately, i've found that some brokerage firms don't always encourage that kind of relationship. that's why i stopped working at the old brokerage, and started working for charles schwab.

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so who's to blame if the country were to default on its national debt or other obligations? the "crossfire" co-hosts stephanie cutter and newt gingrich, they are here. they will debate live right after this. ♪ norfolk southern what's your function? ♪ ♪ hooking up the country helping business run ♪ ♪ build! we're investing big to keep our country in the lead. ♪ load! we keep moving to deliver what you need. and that means growth, lots of cargo going all around the globe. cars and parts, fuel and steel,

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executive office building right next door to the white house. bruce reed is chief of staff. we're only 54 hours left before the potential default on the nation's debt and other financial obligations. joining us now to debate how it's all going and play out the "crossfire" co-hosts, stephanie cutter and newt gingrich. guys, thanks very much for coming in. are you upbeat that this is virtually a done deal right now? >> no. i think will they get something done, yes. will it probably be a mess, yes. will it probably be secret and nobody will know what's in it, yes. none of that makes me upbeat. if you're saying do i think we will avoid a total complete train wreck and the disintegration of american credit, yes. >> what do you think? >> i think they will eventually come to a deal. >> this week? >> i think it's unfortunate that it's come to this. these are self-inflicted wounds. i heard somebody say earlier that macroeconomic advisors have the new report out today that because of these, you know, man-made created crises in washington, it's cost america 900,000 jobs.

i think the american people are tired of it. we will come to a deal eventually, but it's coming at a great cost. >> who gets a better deal right now, would it be the president or the republicans, who wins, assuming this deal dana has been reporting and that we have been reporting, fund the government through january 15th, have these house/senate budget negotiators work out some deal by december 13th, extend the debt ceiling until february 15th, who wins out of this deal? >> what stephanie just said, if this did in fact cost us 900,000 jobs, nobody wins. the president presides over a weak economy. the republicans have a black eye. frankly, harry reid doesn't look all that good, either. the city of washington decays in the esteem of the american people and we decay as a country around the world. this is a lose-lose-lose process. >> i think if you look at the data that's coming out -- >> the polling numbers. >> there's a "the washington post" poll that's out today that shows republicans getting the blame by more than two to one.

compared to the president, almost three to one. and i think that there's a reason for that, because the american people didn't agree with shutting down the government over obama care. they didn't agree with republican tactics up until now, and it's very hard for republicans to pull back from that. you know, it's an open question, how long that blame lasts, but they have a little bit more than a black eye. they have a bloody nose, a black eye. they're taking the hit. >> we lived through this in the '90s. the country will want to know by next summer is obama care working, are jobs being created, is the deficit under control, does washington look competent and if those things end up being negatives, the republicans will win a big election and if they're not negatives, the republicans will probably break even. >> -- who they can trust on the economy, who they can trust on health care, who they can trust to put ahead of their own political interests and hands down, republicans are losing on those. it will be very difficult for them to regain that trust. >> you're shaking your head. >> because i think it's silly. >>

the president is not on the ballot. >> no, but his party is. there's no evidence that an incumbent president with a weak economy, with a malfunctioning obama care, with a continuing deficit is going to be in a position to go and say, let's have a refer ren come election. without that the republicans will keep the house. >> first off, we don't know -- there are glitches to the website on obama care, but it doesn't mean come january people will not be gidget their care. that's what matters. number two, the deficit will be happen by the end of this year. number three, what exactly are republicans going to run on? they're going to run it on defunding obama care when hundreds of thousands, million will be -- they'll run on further cuts to the federal budget. in history -- >> well -- >> and it comes at -- further cuts come at great cost. >> stephanie, even with

mother -- >> kids on head start. >> even with mother -- >> veterans. >> the fact is increasingly the country does not like washington, increasingly the country wants smaller government. almost all the data is people prefer to have more things back home and fewer things in this city, and frankly, given that the roll-out will eventually will get fixed, you have to ask yourself, if you are the person whose future health depended on this bureaucracy, would that make you more comfortable or less comfortable? i think a lot of americans will be less conferrable. >> you are ignoring the fact for the states that are -- obama care is actually working. kentucky is signing up something like 1,000 people a day. >> we don't have official numbers yet. >> but that's just out of kentucky. so we can project all we want, but according to -- this is not from me, but from independent

news organizations research, there is a big backlash happening, even on the question on the side of government. people don't see this as a debate over government. they see this as a debate -- a forced debate over obama care, a forced debate that ted cruz led the republican party off the cliff on. >> very quickly. we're out of time. >> i think the election next year will depending more on the economy, the deficit and the fact that bureaucracy doesn't work very well for local people. >> it does work fairly well for 6 on million americans who work on social security. >> they send them a check. >> that seems to work. >> all they do is send them a check. >> medicare, people like medicare, they like sold security. >> that's right. >> when you get beyond that, you'll find people overwhelmingly in the polls -- >> let's hope -- if it's an successful as medicare and social security, that would be great. let's see how successful it is.

it's only been two weeks. thanks very much. see you right after "the situation room", 6:30 p.m., another new "crossfire." coming up on our special report, tweet us your questions for republican congressman darrell issa. use the #sitroom. he's standing by. a young soldier's valiant effort about to earn him the nation's highest military honor. what you wear to bed is your business. so, if you're sleeping in your contact lenses, ask about the air optix® contacts so breathable they're approved for up to 30 nights of continuous wear. serious eye problems may occur. ask your doctor and visit airoptix.com for safety information and a free one-month trial.

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♪ [ male announcer ] more room in economy plus. more comfort, more of what you need. ♪ that's... built around you friendly. ♪ tomorrow president obama will award the medal of honor to an army commander. here's other pentagon correspond barbara starr. >> reporter: it was a helicopter ride into the hell of war and the soul of captain william swenson, a soldier who refused to leave anyone behind, and spoke up to senior commanders when it all went wrong. >> what happened that day was a

as a result of clouded judgment. it was a result of clouded judgment on behalf of people who did later receive letters of reprimand. >> reporter: they were ambushed in one of the most brutal firefights of the afghan ward. swenson said he man did not get urgently needed air support, a claim validated by the army. then hi nomination filed was said to be lost. now he is finally receiving the medal of honor the nation's highest com bad award. it was early morning when the column of more than 100 u.s. and afghan troops started up the valley's narrow path. enemy fire opened up from three sides. >> outnumbered, outgunned and we have taken casualties. sergeant westbrook is shot in the throat and laying out in the open. >> he called out and said i'm hit. he wasn't panicked, there was no indication of pain. i called hold on, all right, i'm pinned down, keep fighting.

>> swenson runs across open ground, dodging enemy fire to get him. sergeant kevin durst was crew chief of the medevac come a helm helmet-mounted -- flashing an orange panel, but it makes him an enemy targets. >> he wall street completely under control of the whole situation. he knew exactly what had toss done and when. swenson and a medic help westbrook to the helo, then a moment amid the mayhem. watch as he gently kisses him good-bye. swenson has no memory of it. >> i was just trying to keep his spirits up. i wanted him to know it was going to be okay. i wanted him to know he had done his job, that it was time for him to go. >> swenson, determined to get everyone out, went back into the battle with others still under fire to find and bring out the

bodies of dead american and afghan fighters. sergeant westbrook died a few weeks later. barbara starr, cnn, the pentagon. happening now, all eyes on the u.s. senate, where leaders may be close to a deal to reopen the government, but the real action may referencery shall round up in the house of representatives. i'll talk about that with rep congressman darrell issa. he's standing by this hour. ranchers feeling the pain as a -- in the agriculture department. much of it is closed. plus the public relations war. the tea party ratchets up the rhetoric, but is it really hurting the gop? we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. this is a "the situation room" special report. government shutdown, day 14. day 14 of the government

shutdown, less than 54 hours until a possible u.s. debt default. the stakes could hardly by higher as harry reid and minority leader mitch mcconnell continue to try to hammer out a deal to end this crisis. they were supposed to meet with president obama over at the white house earlier this afternoon, along with the house leadership, but that meeting was postponed to give them all a bit more time to work on their plan, and we're now told a moo et with the president today is unlikely. mcconnell will present the plan to senate republicans, we're told, tomorrow. let's go straight to capitol hill right now. other chief congressional correspondent dana bash is standing by. let's talk about specifics, the back and forth. what is going on? where is the middle ground right now? >> reporter: first of all, i can tell you senators are arriving back for the first and only vote of the day just off the senate floor talking to a lot of senators, and they are learning the information as we do. so it's unclear where this is

going to go, but the bum line is if the democratic leader and republican laterer have worked this out, it looks likely that it is going to go forward. if you look first at all of the whole question of reopening the government and funding the government, the framework of the deal would be to do so under january 15th, and that would also be precluded -- or -- the previous of that would be to have budget negotiations start and figure by december 13th, so the idea is we wouldn't be running up against this crisis that we're in right now. that will be the goal there. then the debt ceiling, which of course we are supposed to hit this thursday. that would be lifted and extended through february 15th, you might ask what are the give-and-takes there? first of all republicans certainly gave on the question of continuing to fund the government why, because that

would have -- into place and keep them in play. so they gave on that. they wanted to extend the debt ceiling, raise it so we don't have this potential crisis up until and through the next election, through the end of 2014. they gave on that. but there's something else that is up for discussion that it looks like democrats will give at least a bit on, and that's changes and ointo mania care, wolf, the idea of making shirr that people who get subsidies, that there's no fraud there, that these deserve them, so verify their income. also something that would help unions, who have been begging democrats to do this, delay a fee on employees receives insurance. you've heard the president say so many times, the democratic leaders say so many times they won't do anything to change obama care. if it's ransom for anything else, but it look like they might give just a little bit. >> let's say this passes by the

senate, if you've been mitch mcconnell and harry reid on board. it goes through 70 or 80 senators out of 100 approve it. what's the guarantee that the speaker of the house will allow it to come up for a vote in the house of representatives without any changes? >> reporter: at this point house of representatives sources are saying there's no guarantee, not even close. certainly it will be harder for john boehner to sort of listen to the conservatives in his caucus who are saying, don't do this, don't do anything that doesn't have -- get more from the democrats than this particular deal would? particularly ball -- but even, for example, sax by chap bling, he's a republican senator, very tight personally with john boehner. i spoke with him just moments ago, he said based on what he's heard, it will be hard for john boehner to get this through the republican caucus.

certainly look for them to -- >> if they pass something else in the house of representatives, then it's got to go back to the senate, back and forth, house senate conferrees could get implicated. >> reporter: yeah, that's not going to happen. >> there's no deal until there's a deal. let's see what happens. brianna keilar is joining us. what's the feeling over there? >> reporter: there's some optimi optimism. the meeting was postponed. we're told that is sort of the positive. the president felt like there was momentum in the senate negotiations. really a lot of focus now up on capitol hill. we did get a glimpse at vice president joe biden, who would have been in that meeting. he came out on what i think is the balcony of his ceremonial

office in the eisenhower building right next to the west wing. some internal discussions obviously going on here at the white house about this, but right now, today we saw president obama really, he was visiting a soup kitchen today. this was a soup kitchen where some furloughed workers have been spending some of their free time during the government shutdown helping feed less fortunate folks here in washington, d.c. president obama used this as an opportunity to ratchet up pressure on republicans. here's some of what he said. >> not only is it untenable for us to continue this shutdown, this week if we don't start making some real progress both in the house and senate, and if republicans aren't willing to set aside some of their partisan concerns in order to do what's right for the country, we stand a good chance of defaulting. >> now, wolf, white ouse officials still insist their stance is that the president is

not negotiating on obama care when it comes to increasing the debt ceiling or reopening the government. however, in the same breath, they won't really dismiss out of hand some of these ideas that we're hearing come from the senate negotiations. one example would be that inkim verification. republicans say you verify the income of folks who are applying for these subsidies to stop fraud. the white house really just saying in discussions, they would want to know what the mechanism is for doing that. they don't want to discourage people from getting those subsidies. not completely dismissing it, wolf. >> brianna keilar, thank you. still ahead, potentially defective cars on american roads, and guess what? there's no one to order a recall because of the government shutdown. are republicans losing the public relations war? i'll talk about that and a whole lot more with congressman darrell issa of california. he's standing by. i'm tony siragusa and i'm training guys who leak a little,

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day 14 of the government shutdown, only a couple or so days away from a possible u.s. dealt default. the world war ii memorial has become a key battlefield in the public relations war between democrats and republicans over this fiscal crisis. cnn's erin mcpike is joins us. what's the latest? >> a brand-new poll from abc and "the washington post" today shows three quarters of those questioned disapproved of how congressional republicans are handling this budget fight. perhaps the most interesting finding in this poll is even self-described republicans are torn about how republicans in congress are doing and about half of the republican questions-day-old approve. that seems to be the becoming a trend. the rhetoric is washington has boiled out of. protesters garded, longtime

activist larry claimen issued this message. >> demand that this president leave town, to get out, to put the koran down, to get up off his knees and figuretively come up with his hands up. >> it was billed as a march for veteran, but it had a hint of a political rally, with some surprise guests, like senator ted cruz. >> why is the federal government spending money to erect barricades to keep veld ran out? >> and firebrand sarah palin. >> we will not be timid in calling out anyone who would use our military, our vets as pawns in a political game. >> reporter: some of the veterans took to facebook to complain. meanwhile, on capitol hill, more republicans are starting to feel that way about the far right in general. >> certainly republicans have been in a place that was not

going to lead to success for, you know, the last six weeks or so. >> all of this is taking a toll on the party's image. this week's "new yorker" hosts the ghosts of boehner and cruz hasn'ting the capitol. strat jill says this time it isn't working. >> we've shut down the government basically for nothing. it hasn't made a lot of sense strategically. republicans in washington are frustrated, but the tea party, it has not been helpful delaying or defunding obama care to shutting down the government. >> reporter: democrats can't resi resist. >> when you start acting, you've got a problem. i love you, dear, but -- you know, i'm shutting down your entire government. >> now, we reached out to

senator cruz' office to see how he took larry klayman's rorkts yet, his spokesperson told me it's unfortunate that the media has -- to really in d.c., to urge their government, to fund veterans, which senator cruz continues fighting for. >> meanwhile, the effects of the government shutdown, they are spreading and spreading. many people are feeling the pain. cnn's renay marsh is working this part of the story. what are you learns? >> you said it at the top, 14 days and counting here. some furloughed workers say they can't feel their families without help. some in the heartland say they can't get the federal disaster help that they need. we are talking about the ripple effect of an ongoing government shutdown. >> i'm not essential. >> reporter: the day before the gov shutdown, cnn med dee

alexander, a secretary at the department of agriculture. >> you don't know how long it's going to last. >> reporter: two weeks later, the shutdown is still in effect and alexander has stopped paying her car loan. >> you decide that i'm going to have somewhere to live ought or do you decide to pay your car note? and you also have to figure out what about for a? >> reporter: on saturday she received the last paycheck she'll get until the government reopens, $600 less than usual. some of furloughed have turn to food banks for help, like this one in maryland. >> i keep hearing over and over, i never thought i would need a food pantry, but here i am. >> reporter: the ripple effect also means no more car recalls. the national highway traffic saved at mrgs has stopped looking for automobile defects. the centers for disease control has stopped tracking infectious diseases like the flu, something the agency's former director

says could have dire consequences. quote -- i can attest to the very real potential for unnecessary pain, suffering and death when the work of public health officials is curtail he wrote. >> and in south dakota, ranchers digging out after an unexpected blizzards are dealing with tens of thousands of dead cattle. call the u.s. department of agriculture for disaster assistance, these all they hear -- the offices are currently closed due to the lapse of federal government funding. the office will reopen once conrestores funding. >> reporter: at that one food pantry, roughly 200 people received foot on top of the food that the group passed out to families last week. clearly after receiving that final skimpy paycheck in the mail, some families are now beginning to feel the pinch nchts they certainly are. up next we'll get reaction to all of this from republican congressman darrell issa.

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massive global consequences from a u.s. debt default, not only just two days or so away, the head of the international monetary fund says the world is watching. listen to what christine la guard told cnn's richard quest. >> i've jest spent the last two days with representatives of about 188 countries from around the world. i would wouldn't say they are confident. i would say they are concerned and they are very anxious to see this crisis resolved. >> so will there about el a deal? i'll ask darrell issa. right after this. & dumplings. hearty cheeseburger. creamy thai style chicken with rice. mexican-style chicken tortilla. if you think campbell's 26 new soups sound good,

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entering its third week. we're only just 54 hours away. possibly defaulting on its financial obligation at home and around the world. the senate is said to be close to a deal that would reopen is the government. let's talk about this with congressman darrell issa. thanks for coming in. thank you, wolf. and i look forward to -- >> let's talk about some of these issues. we asked some of our twitter followers to send some suggested questions. i'll p ultimate one on the screen. will house republicans pass a deal that will not have changes to obama care?

>> i think they need to vote for something that deals with entitlement. that's what sequestration was about. so i think as long as we're dealing with entitlement, obama care being an entitlement, but there's a lot of waste in government that we keep showing, but not deal with. would you support it? if you fund the government through january 15th, you have house/senate budget conferrees meet to try to deal with some long-term budget issues by september 13th you raised ceiling until february 15th. if that's the deal, are you ready to go along with it? >> wolf, as you know, you have to read the whole deal. we have a 124-page law called obama care as a result of people not reeling some of the details, but the basic idea of creating a breathing room, a cooling-off period, going into negotiation not on the budget number, but on

really dealing with the entitlement and other excesses so we can intelligently cut waste in government, absolutely. i think you'll find overwhelming support if the deal is defined in a way we know it will happen. >> that's pretty encouraging. then at least as you point out there will be some xwreeting room. but i'm going to play this clip. the president was a little gloomy as far as what would happen if you don't pass this deal. this week if we don't start -- willing to set asigh some of our -- we stand a good chance of defaulting. >> does he have a point out there? >> he misses point at a time.

to use their own money, and the president issued a vetoed threat saying he wouldn't do it. both sides can be unreasonable at times. obviously the president has to meet the congress halfway. where we can and should agree, like letting the district of columbia spend their own money, some of which is, by the way, picking up trash on government property -- then the president need -- hopefully the president is not playing games with the district and not playing games with republicans intending on holding him to had is promise that we'll make real entitlement reform, and drive down the budget bush something other than huge increases. >> everybody seems to be suffering politically, but republicans a little more. this has disapproval -- 74% disapprove of republicans in

congress. 61% disapprove. 53% but the republicans, as you see here, are suffering more about the democrats or the president. what do you think about that? >> wolf, when the majority of americans disapprove of the house, the senate, republicans, democrats and the president, that says we're not doing the right thing in washington. i don't think you nuanced the difference between 60, 50 and 70/60 and 50-some percent negative. i think you say the president should be an adult at the table. he has huge power, and has the power, as one person, to offer counter-proposals, which he hasn't done. the senate with marry reid repeatedly essentially doing nothing, not allows the negotiation process to go forward -- wrong. we in the house as republicans, we have to deal with the fact that we have a divided caucus of

republicans, some want much more than what's being talked about. some, of course, would vote for less than what is talked about, but i think if you look at the eternal problems i deal with. by definition it's small in comparison to a president who won't even allow the things we agree on to go forward who closes the world war ii memorials, closes parks that are not even one federal penny is being spent. those are where the president is driving down his numbers, but i'm saying for a moment that republicans in the house don't deserve some blame. we should have been better in handling this. >> well, if there wouldn't have been a government shut downall those things would be open, but we can discuss that down the road. unfortunately we're out of the time. thanks for joining us. >> and remember under sequestration they closed a lot of things that should have been opened well. >> that's another matter we can discuss at at time. >> thank you, woful. that's it for me. thanks for watching. "crossfire" starts right now.

tonight on "crossfire", the appreciate is on. there are hopeful signsivities i'm very optimist. >> i share his optimism. >> what if they can't make a deal? >> we stand a good chance of defaulting. on the left stephanie cutter, on the right newt gingrich. in the fire, austan goolsbee, one of the president obama's top economic advisers, and carly fiorina, a former ceo and republican senate candidate. can they get a deal? are both sides demanding too much? tonight on "crossfire." welcome to "crossfire." i'm newt gingrich on the right. >> i'm stephanie cutter on the left. the senate has been abuzz all day, and tonight it seems clear, cooler heads are prevailing, the dulles are stepping in. they're trying to prevent the company from defaulting, and

newt, i'm sorry that it has come to this, but i'm glad we're on the verge of a deal. there's a report out earlier today by an economic forecasting make rho economic advisers that these self-inflicted wounds, cause crises in washington, has cost the country about 900,000 jobs. >> first of all, it's a pity the president hasn't shown leadership and tried to bring people together, but, hey, anybody who thinks john boehner has been bypassed continues to misread the constitution. if the senate doesn't pass something that boehner can pass in the house, it's just a press conference. but second, after all the week you and i have been here, debating about whether or not the president should negotiate, the number one things happening today is they're negotiating. now, i think that's good for america. i'm delighted that finally we are seeing some negotiation, and i hope they will in the next 24 hours get a deal. >> you k