disappointing because i had such an identity in being eva parker and being a wife. when that's taken away from you, you go, who am i? so it's hard. >> that's all for tonight. here's my colleague anderson cooper with "ac 360." breaking news. good evening, everyone, from the white house, where an emergency budget meeting is going on right now between president obama, vice president biden, house speaker john boehner, and senate majority leader harry reid. they've been trying to come up with an agreement that will keep the government running. we're watching a live shot location. we believe the participants might speak after this meeting. without a budget deal, parts of the federal government will shut down about 50 hours from now. the meeting started about 45 minutes ago. we anticipate hearing from some of the players tonight, maybe even the president we're told. we're watching those microphones very carefully.

dana bash joins us live. dana, what is the likelihood of a deal coming out of this tonight? >> reporter: going into this, i was told by forces in both parties, don't look for it, it is not that likely. miracles do happen, they have been in this room for about 50 minutes and i was just told by sources i was e-mailing with, the meeting is still going on. there was we were told some progress made here on capitol hill with democratic and republican leadership aides who were trying to find -- come closer to an agreement on really the key issues we're talking about, which is how much spending to cut, where to cut from, and some very big differences over social policy and economic policy. they had to figure out how to bring all of that together and they have to do it in the next two days. so they needed the president, they needed these leaders to sit down face to face to try to get closer together on it. but we're told probably not going to be a deal tonight. we could be surprised. >> dana, we'll have more with you and others coming up.

a lot more in the program tonight and the possible shutdown. more breaking news out of libya. apparently, upset with some of the media coverage the gadhafi regime is getting, they are planning on expelling a number of reporters from tripoli. initially 27 were identified by gadhafi officials. those 27 were told they would have to leave the country. that number was apparently cut to eight. the regime obviously not transparent and never has been. another sign of that, former gop congressman curt wheldon is still waiting to meet with gadhafi in tripoli. he said he came to urge him to give up power. after waiting to speak with him, he's been offered a meeting with the prime minister but not with gadhafi. mr. wheldon has met gadhafi a number of times in 2004. as for gadhafi himself, he sent

a letter today to president obama. it is rambling, barely coherent and shot through with typos which we're showing for you on the screen. we endeavor and hope, he writes, that you will gain victory in the new election campaigne. you are a man who have enough courage to annul a wrong and mistaken action. our dear son, baracka hussein abu oumama. your intervention is the name of the usa is a must, so that nato would withdraw from the libyan affair. apparently nobody has the guts to proofread the libyan dictator. a lot of moving parts to the story tonight. joining us is nic robertson, fareed sa carria. nic, what is the latest with

former congressman wheldon? the meeting didn't happen. is he just sitting, cooling his heels? >> reporter: i think cooling his heels is perhaps all he can do at the moment. it's certainly understandable that he's frustrated he didn't get this meeting. invarietied here by moammar gadhafi's chief of staff, but it hasn't translated. and it puts him in a very, very awkward position. there's some sense that maybe the op-ed he wrote in "the new york times" before he wrote here could have had something to do with it. but this is moammar gadhafi, perhaps the way that many people remember him, completely unpredictable. >> ann marie, are congressman wheldon's proposals even plausible?

how likely is something would come out of this? >> there are different positions coming out of different people. the gadhafi regime itself has presented a position both through saif and the deputy foreign minister in athens. their starting position is essentially that gadhafi and saif will preside over a democratic transition. the details of the proposal that congressman wheldon has actually says no, maybe saif would be part of some kind of council, but it would be the rebels in charge of elections and u.n. involvement. you have to see both of these as opening bids in a negotiation that has not yet actually kind of gotten going. >> fareed, when you look at sort of this big rambling letter that he sent to president obama, what do you make of what's going on in libya? where do you see this going now?

>> my sense, anderson, is the big picture is gadhafi is feeling the pressure. there is no way, think rabbit the alternative. there's no way that if he felt the military balance was strengthening, he would be making any of these overtures. even the conversation about what kind of post gadhafi era, none of this would be happening. >> you don't think this could be gamesmanship? >> no, no, time is not on his side in that sense. clearly the sense -- one of the things that's happened here is it really is an international effort. so the noose is tightening. they're running out of funds. of course they have lots of money, but there's only so many places you can by weaponry from. all of those things are closing in on them and they're trying to find ways to come up with a workable exit. now, the plans they have are pretty good for the gadhafi family.

so it's understandable that they're trying to make the best of it. i think congressman wheldon is making a huge mistake. he should not be engaged in this. >> he's in over his head? >> he's in over his head, frankly. there are elements of the u.s. law he might be violating. this should be done with the u.s. government, appointed emissaries of the white house. the most important thing is clearly the libyan regime is feeling the pressure. it is all the more reason why the white house should stay the course, not do much more or less than they're doing. >> ann marie, do you agree that they are feeling the pressure? >> i completely agree with the analysis that he's feeling the pressure, absolutely. what you saw initially was, you know, we stopped him, nato stopped him militarily. you've got the military situation to a place where now the diplomacy can really kick in and absolutely he's feeling the pressure. i'm not sure i agree that

congressman wheldon being there is such a bad thing. we have sent an official emissary to the rebels. that's good. you now have somebody there talking to them. but overall, if the white house were to send an official envoy to gadhafi, you undercut the efforts that the turks and maybe the greeks are making. the white house position has been we want other nations involved. even the indonesians have been making noises. so i'm not sure it hurts to get some firsthand sense of what gadhafi is thinking, if indeed he gets the meeting. if the white house wanted to call off this meeting or undercut it, they could certainly say so and we haven't heard anything from them. >> fareed? >> i don't dispute this is a complicated negotiation. what strikes me that is more significant, and i would love to hear from ann marie, the chief

prosecutor of the international criminal court came out with a very tough statement about gadhafi. mainly because of the kind of images that have come out. >> the shooting of protesters, they had evidence that was a deliberate policy. >> precisely. if that's the case, they rarely come out with these kind of statements when they are not preparing to indict. when they do not have a criminal case, they're going to make a case for war crimes against gadhafi. if that's the case, it complicates our negotiations, because it means there isn't an easy exit for gadhafi, there isn't a quiet retirement home in maui that he can go to. it means he's going to be pursued by the criminal court. so there isn't a plea bargain strategy here. if that's the case, in a strange way it makes it more difficult to dislodge him from power. or at least that's my initial hypothesis. >> ann marie, do you agree with that this >> this is the absolute paradox

or dilemma of peace versus justice. you can't have peace without justice. clearly the rebels and the world is saying look what this guy has done. you can't let him off the hook. that's why we have an international criminal court. at the same time, what is most important right now is to get the fighting ended, so the libyans can start rebuilding their country. for that, fareed's right, this makes things more difficult. there are ways out if he goes to an african company that won't extradite him or is not subject to the jurisdiction of the court. then you can bring the indictme indictment, but he's effectively prisoner in that country. it's a straightforward conflict between the demands of peace and justice. >> nic, what do we know about the reporters that are going to be expelled, have some already left, have some already been expelled? >> reporter: it won't happen for another few hours, and then it

will perhaps become clear who actually has to leave, who may be able to get a stay of execution, if you will, and stay on a little longer. it's a very sort of a looking glass operation here. one person, one government official will tell you one thing, another will tell you another thing. you think you have been able to extend with one person, yet somebody else will call you up, as many journalists who have been forced out of the country over the past few weeks will tell you, you get a call in the middle of the night and you have to leave. i saw one journalist who was forced out with a phone call, sunday night into monday morning. back in the hotel here again, forced out by one official and allowed back in by another one. it's a looking glass situation here, anderson. >> fascinating. fareed, thank you. nic, stay with us. i know you have more to report. nic robertson sat down today with eman al obeidy, the regime actually allowed that interview to take place. then apparently didn't like what she was saying and things got

heated in the room. i'm going to talk to nic about that interview after the break. also, more on the showdown. we're watching that live shot position outside of the white house and why this had to go down to the wire at all.

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tonight, more on what the gadhafi regime is up to right now in tripoli. as we mentioned earlier in the program, in an interview with nick nic and eman al obeidy, the woman whose allegations of gang rape got her hauled off and her life repeatedly threatened. that's a photo from the interview today. we'll talk with nic about it in a moment. eman al obeidy has been repeatedly smeared on libyan state television. and just yesterday when we spoke with her and her mother, she told us about this.

>> eman al obeidy talking to her mother yesterday. nic robertson joins us once again, along with reza sayha. nic, you were able to talk with her today. how is she?

>> reporter: she seems much better than she was. she showed me the remain ins ofr scars and the bruising on her wrist, which is still there after almost two weeks after she was tied up and gang raped. she said physically she was beginning to recover, but her experiences here in tripoli, she's harassed when she goes out of the house. this is a very, very strong lady who i saw stand up to government officials, stand up to say what she wanted to say. this is a lady who clearly has a lot of fire inside her. a lady who really wants to get her story, the true, accurate story of what happened to her out. she said she wanted to thank all the people who supported her over this time, including cnn. but everyone she said, the thousands of people outside of the country who supported her. but she seemed more composed than we've seen her and heard

her in recent days. this, again, i have to say she came across as a very strong and courageous lady, anderson. >> we've been getting so many tweets and e-mails from people asking is there any way for her to get out of tripoli? i just pass that question to you. >> reporter: it's a very good question. i mean, it seems to be that there might be, this might be the logical thing for the government to do. and the impression that we get is, there is still some people here who would like to see that happen. but it may take more time than some people would wish. again, as i think i said to you a little earlier, this is a very looking glass world here. and one gets contradictory information almost by the hour. i simply believe that there are some influential people here who will be pushing for her to be allowed to leave.

but i think there's a lot of people in this country who see what's happened to her as an internal issue and will want her to stay. but i do understand there are influential people who will try to get her out of the country, but we don't know for sure they will win out on this by any stretch of the imagination, anderson. >> reza, you were with her family in eastern libya. i want to watch some of the interview you did with eman's mom. >> you finally spoke to your daughter, eman. what was that like? >> translator: it was a feeling any mother would have after talking to her daughter. >> did it make you feel better or worse? >> translator: of course i felt worse. >> why did it make you feel worse? >> translator: because she was crying. i couldn't understand a word because she was crying. she even made me cry. >> are eman's parents aware how much attention her story is getting around the world? >> reporter: i think they know

it's getting attention, anderson, but i don't think they know it's getting the type of attention that it is getting. but this is a very conservative family, a modest family. they're not wealthy. but it's very interesting, it's clear that they are aware, that without this attention from the international media, international community, they may not have a chance of getting their daughter back home, seeing their daughter return home safely. so i think it's clear that they're using this international attention. much like their daughter eman did to get their daughter back home. but they're aware it's going around the world. they're not very comfortable with it. >> nic, do -- at this point, i mean, are there still strikes going on in tripoli? >> reporter: there was a huge amount of anti-aircraft gunfire this evening at one point not

long after we finished meeting earlier today. that was the most sustained anti-aircraft gunfire from multiple positions from around the city that we've heard for perhaps almost two weeks here. but we didn't hear any bombs or missiles falling here and we haven't really heard any in this city for about six days i would say. again, going back to the interview with eman al obeidy, this was an interview where i describe this lady as strong and courageous for standing up for her views, but it was also i would say calm, controlled, dignified. it didn't get out of hand, if you will, with the officials who were present there. and she portrayed and came across here as a very dignified person. somebody who wants to be seen

and understood as a serious person, as reza says, i said to her how would you like the world to understand you? she said, well, i'm a muslim. i'm a libyan. i'm from a conservative family. i'm not crazy like the government says. show really feels passionately that all the officials here that she comes in contact with should help clear her name. that's something that frustrates her. she needs the government here. she needs officials to help clear her name at this time. but she was doing this in a dignified but passionate way, and this is a lady much more in control of herself, obviously overcoming some of the mental torture of having gone through that multiple rape, anderson. >> nic robertson, appreciate it, reza as well. a special hour this friday, featuring an exclusive interview with four "new york times" journalists. we played parts of the interview last week but we talked for a good hour. you'll hear them describe their ordeal in horrifying detail at

the hands of pro-gadhafi forces and hear what their families went through. we talked to two of their spouses. they waited to hear word from their loved ones for days. that's friday on "ac 360." still ahead, the breaking news out of washington. an emergency meeting over the budget impasse. both sides say they want to hammer out a deal. we could hear from the parties involved, including possibly the president. we'll bring that to you live when it happens.

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more on the breaking news out of washington. right now president obama, vice president biden are in an emergency meeting over the budget impasse that could shut down the government in about 50 hours. we're waiting to hear from them. the meeting started about an hour ago. how did we get here? let's look at that. republicans and democrats insist they want an agreement. president obama says he wants an agreement, too. so keeping them honest, what's going on here? two words, hot air. with a little theater thrown in for good measure. take a look. >> when government shuts down, it means that small business owner waiting to get a loan suddenly nobody is there to process it and he may not get that loan. >> the vast majority of americans don't want to see the government partially shut down. they would like to see the

institutions functioning. >> so we clearly do not want to shut down. we take leaders of the congress, speaker of the house, senate minority leader at their word. >> if you shut the government down, it will cost you more than you save, because you interrupt contracts. a lot of problems with the idea of shutting the government down. it is not the goal. >> sure seems like they don't want a shutdown. and most american don't want a shutdown either. 59% said it would be bad for the country if the federal government shut down. so what's being done to prevent the shutdown? with a deadline of midnight friday, there are meetings. there's tonight's meeting at the white house and meetings between budget negotiators on both sides behind closed doors. but you know what they say about meetings. when all is said and done, a lot has been said and little done.

>> liberals in the senate would rather play political games and force a government shutdown instead of accepting a modest down payment on fiscal discipline and reform, i say shut it down! >> it's between republicans and republicans. so the speaker has a choice to make, and not much time to make it. he can either do what the tea party wants or what the country needs. >> i think they're doing this for political purposes. i think think started trying to get nancy pelosi speaker and re-elect obama next year and they believe in a socialistic government that tells everybody what what to do. >> perhathe president of the un

states has just said the least we can do is pass a budget, and we went to pennsylvania apparently to work on his campaign budget. >> the tea party just continues to pull senator -- speaker boehner further back and back and back. they say they don't want compromise. they say they relish a shutdown. >> the fact is, both republicans and democrats share plenty to blame here. let's start with the democrats. president obama first proposed a budget for the 2011 fiscal year february 1st, 2010. that's more than a year ago. five months after that, the house passed a few bills but didn't get through the senate. that's the big question, why? at the time, democrats controlled the house and the senate, and this could have been settled before they lost that chance. now here we are, six short term spending measures later, still no agreement. president obama has been mostly mia on this issue until recently. he met with boehner and others yesterday that yielded some grownup lecturing after he was asked what the american people

want from him as a leader. >> i think what they're looking for from me is the same they're looking for from everybody else, and that is we act like grownups. >> boehner responded to that with this statement. if he wants to have an adult conversation about solving our fiscal challenges, he needs to lead instead of sitting on the sidelines. republicans have proposed $61 billion in spending cuts. sounds like a compromise, right? the republicans say they aren't going for it. boehner says that's just smoke and mirrors. americans say they want to see compromise in washington. they want washington to get something done. and time and time again politicians promise they're going to give it to them. but tonight, 430 todays after the budget was first proposed, time is wasting. joining us now is david gergen, gloria borger and dana bash.

i also want to bring in dan lothian. dan, we're watching that live shot location. any sense how long this meeting might go on? >> no sense at all. i heard from a white house official who told me that meeting is still going on, more than an hour and 15 minutes or so, and we have no information as to when this will end. but certainly there is a lot of concern here at the white house, because earlier in the day, there was some optimism that there was some good progress that was being made. that's why when the president wanted to meet with these congressional leaders earlier this morning, he was told that there was no need for the president to be involved. the white house had been monitoring the situation throughout the day and late into the evening it became clear to aides at the white house, the president himself that not enough progress was being made. so that's why the president called this meeting tonight. we don't have any idea whether or not they'll be able to reach any agreement, but that's what they're shooting for.

>> david, both sides are accusing the other of playing politics of this. they both can't be right, can they? >> oh, yes they can. both sides are playing politics with this, anderson. it's classic. but i think there is some indications as they get closer to a cliff, that both sides are a little weary of taking us over it. and so i think there's some signs tonight that both sides do want a deal. the tea party is more ready to accept a deal than it was. i think partly because paul ryan came forward with that blockbuster plan about long-term spending cuts. that gives them some confidence that this is not going to be the end of the game if they vote for a compromise now. of course, the country, and the economists are saying shut down the government for a week it costs you $8 billion a week in government spending in terms of the kind of support you have for the economy. over time, that cost you a lot of jobs. >> you know, anderson, here's

john boehner's dilemma. he was around for the 1995 shutdown, and he knows personally how much it hurt the new republican majority in the house. but he's got a new caucus. 87 new members. 34 of whom have never even held elected office before. tea party, no tea party, they're just new and they came to congress promising to do business differently. promising to start cutting the budget, cutting the deficit. and this is kind of the first big vote they have. lots of republicans i talked to say you want to make your point, make it on lifting -- raising the debt ceiling or make it in this next big budget round be congressman ryan's budget, take your stand there. but these new members are saying you know what? this is what we promised to do and we're going to do it. if it means shutting down the government, they don't have any memory of what it was like the last time for republicans. >> dana, what would it mean for a shutdown of the government? you hear that the first couple

of days, like the smithsonian would shut down, so tourists would notice. but would people notice around the country? >> people would notice, like for example people in the military. we heard from a senior administration official who tried to walk reporters through this, that checks would not go out to troops in the field. it just wouldn't happen. they would be getting paid but not getting their checks. everything from that to the irs. if you are filing your tax return by paper, you can't do that. so there are going to be effects, no question across the board. people will feel it but more importantly i think politically they'll also see it. the images of the statue of liberty closed, not going to national parks or come here to washington to go to the cherry blossom parade because it will be closed. republicans have it sered in their memories, the ones who

were here, that they were the ones who got the blame. >> david, as you mentioned, you have paul ryan who has come out with a vision of budget cuts down the road. is it now -- i mean, where is president obama been on this? because he had a bipartisan commission which was much heralded long ago, which seems to have kind of put out this report by had some controversial proposals. he does seem to have embraced his own report very much. >> he has not. anderson, what we're seeing i think in president obama now is a different kind of leadership. it's very troubling to many of us. we would like to see our president out front and carrying the banner, follow me. but he leads in a different way. he likes to let others sort of take the lead from him and then step in at the last minute and put a gentle touch on it, as he's doing with this. he's intervened at the last minute in these budget negotiations. i do think now -- look, we've

had a bipartisan commission he appointed coming in with a dramatic proposal for $4 trillion worth of reductions in deficits. we've got a group of six senators who are working on their plan to come out of the senate. we now have the house republican budget leader coming out with a plan for $6 trillion in cuts. all of that -- who's the silent player in that? it's the president. i think there's a growing pressure on the white house now, where is your plan? what would you like to see done, mr. president? how would you shape this? paul ryan has given you an invitation to come in. for a long time people in the white house said we don't want to go first, let the republicans. now the republicans have played their card. where is the white house on this? >> you know, in many ways whether the white house wants it or not, it's going to define the domestic policy debate for the next presidential election. so president obama is now being forced to deal with this one way or the other, whether he wants to or not. so he's going to have to put some cards on the table at some

point. it's kind of ironic that he says we've got to get rid of this small budget deal so we can get to the bigger issue. that's true. but he hasn't put anything on the table yet. >> dana, any word from the white house if he is going to come up with any plan? >> that's the multitrillion dollar question, anderson. they're waiting to see that here, both from the democratic and republican side. >> what about congressional democrats, is there a paul ryan on the democratic side who is going to come up with some plan? they have been pointing fingers now, the republicans, for a very long time saying you're not giving us any specifics. there's some now clear specifics. you can agree with them or not, but at least they're out there. >> no question about it. and this plan that paul ryan put forward for next year's budget, lit be voted on in the house of representatives next week. and along with that, with the vote on the republican plan, we will see a vote on a democratic alternative we are told.

we haven't seen it yet, but we expect to get one. look, we expect it to go right along the philosophical lines from the democrats is we saw paul ryan's budget on the republican side. for example, paul ryan does -- certainly it's beyond what we have seen before in terms of changing programs like medicare and medicaid. but he also keeps taxes low. it's not a surprise. it's a republican credo. it's hard to believe the democrats won't do from their perspective what they think is the best to do, which is not necessarily dismantle those programs. and to deal with the tax rate in a different way. >> we've got to leave it there, david gergen, gloria borger, dan lothian, dana bash, thank you. we're waiting for principals to come out and talk. we'll bring it to you if the do. also coming up, glenn beck's days at fox news are coming to a close.

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breaking news. we just received word president obama is about to speak at the

white house. he has been meeting for about an hour or so with john boehner. congressman boehner as well as senator harry reid. and here comes the president right now, as well as vice president biden. let's listen in. >> good evening, everybody. i'm just going to have a few quick remarks. we just had a productive meeting with speaker boehner, as well as majority leader reid. we discussed the impasse that we're firmly at with respect to the budget. and i thought the meetings were frank. they were constructive and what they did was narrow the issues and clarify the issues that are still outstanding. i remain confident that if we're serious about getting something done, we should be able to complete a deal and get it passed and avert a shutdown. but it's going to require a

sufficient sense of urgency from all parties involved. it means that people have to recognize that a government shutdown has real consequences for real people. there was an interview that was done tonight on one of the nightly news networks. a man from kentucky named j.t. henderson, he said he's counting on his tax rebate because his family has been scraping by and he might not get it if the government shuts down. so j.t. said, if you can speak directly to all of us in washington, he would tell us that all of this political grandstanding has effects, as it trickles down to normal, everyday americans. i could not have said it better myself. a shutdown could have real effects on everyday americans. it means that small business owners who are counting on that loan to open their business, to make payroll, to expand,

suddenly they can't do it. it means folks who are potentially processing a mortgage, they may not be able to get it. it means that hundreds of thousands of workers across the country suddenly are without a paycheck. their families are counting on them being able to go to work and do a good job. there are ramifications all across this economy and at a time when the economy is still coming out of an extraordinarily deep recession, it would be inexcusable, given the relatively narrow differences when it comes to numbers between the two parties that we can't get this done. so my expectation is that folks are going to work through the night. in the morning, i will check in with the respective staffs of

the speaker and the majority leader, as well as my team here. if we haven't made progress, we're going to go back at it again. and we're going to keep on pounding away at this thing, because i'm absolutely convinced that we can get this done. there's no reason why we should not be able to complete a deal. there's no reason why we should have a government shutdown. unless we've made a decision that politics is more important than folks like j.t. henderson. that's not why we were elected. that's not why we were sent here. and i want to meet the expectations of the american people in terms of delivering to them. thank you very much, everybody. >> you just heard president obama after meeting with vice president biden, house speaker john boehner, as well as senator harry reid. let's go back to our senior political analyst, david gergen,

gloria borger, and correspondent dana bash is with us, as well. david, what do you make of the president's statement, saying it would be inexcusable if they were not able to come up with a deal and avoid a shutdown. >> well, we didn't get the breakthrough we were hoping for, anderson, that's clear. and i continue to think we're likely to get it here in the next day or two, they're very close. what's so unusual about this, the president is keeping some heat on through the bully pulpit, but ordinarily in these kinds of negotiations, the white house is in the room helping to drive the negotiations. and in this case, as he did in the health care bill, the president is leaving a lot more responsibility to leaders of congress to cut the deal than he is coming in with, here's our view, let's drive it, let's keep going. >> he's done that, david, and gloria, he's done that pretty much his entire time in office. and on many issues, leaving it up to congress. it is a very different style of leadership. we may be getting john boehner

and harry reid coming up to a microphone. so we'll jump in if they do. >> he did it that way in health care, but white house aides say they were specifically disinvited to meetings on the hill, that the budget director asked to go to the budget meetings on the hill and the house speaker said, no, we want to do this ourselves on the hill. house speaker's office said no, no, we didn't disinvite them. so there is disagreement there, this being the 9th grade and all and who was invited to the meeting and who wasn't. now, i think the white house is actually trying to sort of be portrayed, and you saw the president be the grownup here, who wants to get the kids to the table to finally do their homework. so if his own white house is at that table, it's not as easy for him to kind of sail above it, right? >> dana, just for those who

aren't following this as closely as everyone in washington and everyone in the media is following this, the president has said there are relatively narrow differences between both sides. how relatively narrow are these differences? what are we talking about here? >> just to give you a little context. on sunday and monday, i would told by sources negotiating they were about $8 billion or $10 billion apart. we're talking about trillions of dollars and 8 billion is not that much. that's not so much the issue. it's what are they going to cut? what programs, what agencies are they going to cut? that's where you see the philosophical divide. you played the sound bites before and it is true, republicans say the democrats want to cut smoke and mirrors and not real cuts from the budget. and democrats say, republicans are cutting too deep and it's too harsh, the kinds of spending they're cutting, whether it's for education programming or housing, things like that. so there are those philosophical

differences. that's been the major stumbling block, not so much $8 billion or $10 billion. i was also told that harry reid and john boehner are expected at the microphones together. this is first. this is telling that we are going to see these two men standing together. i've been told that they have been getting along quite well, and that they respect each other, believe it or not, and they have been somewhat -- they trusted each other in these negotiations and it has broken down recently, but the fact they're coming out together i think depending on what they say, it almost doesn't matter, it speaks volumes to image. >> go ahead, gloria. >> it's so interesting to me, because i actually covered the government shutdown in 1995. nothing's changed. it's the same kind of idealogical -- >> here they are, gloria. let's listen. >> we've narrowed the issues significantly and we're going to

continue working. our staffs are going to work through the night. the speaker and i will get back to the others tomorrow morning and see how they did and continue. i have confidence that we can get this done. we're not there yet, but hope lies eternal. >> we did have a productive conversation this evening. we do have some differences, but i do think we've made some progress. but i want to reiterate there's no agreement on a number and there's no agreement on the policy. but there's an intent on both sides to continue to work together to try to resolve this. no one wants the government to shut down. and we're going to continue to work throughout the night and tomorrow. thank you. >> again, just reiterating what the president said about their staffs working through the night. dana, was that the monumental joint appearance that you thought? >> i know, i know. my expectations were a lit t bit

warped here. what i was trying to say is the image of those two men together really speaks volumes, it really does. the fact that they both came out and said that they're working together instead of what we saw, you know, all day today, which is each of them launching public grenades across the capital rotunda at one another. >> david, this goes on, this crisis is averted, say the shutdown doesn't occur. but there are real philosophical differences and you also have differences within the republican party. you have the this new blood in the republican party, tea party groups, who have come, who are talking about cutting deficits, getting more fiscal responsibility. so where does this battle go, even if the shutdown doesn't occur? >> well, anderson, i do think dana was right about one thing

and that the two of them coming out together. the most reassuring signal we've had that an agreement will be reached before the shutdown deadline and things will go on. having said that, the big battles obviously are still ahead. we're talking about a tiny piece of the budget that's at stake here. the big battle is going to be over next year, the 2012 budget. with paul ryan throwing down the gauntlet this week, saying we want to go big, we want to go deep. that's going to -- there's an enormous rift between what the republicans are putting down there and what the democrats believe. you know, it's good news. i think what we just saw tonight, but let's not mistake, we've got huge, huge challenges to overcome. even the paul ryan budget, as big as it is, as controversial as it is, it doesn't balance the budget until 2040. so we're talking about huge sums commony compared to the trivial

amounts at stake in the current battle. >> and you have the election looming. >> oh, of course. i think that paul ryan is actually set the agenda. nobody can run for president right now without talking about what was in the paul ryan budget. so if you want to have vouchers for medicare in the future, or you don't, you're going to have to discuss it. and if you're barack obama, you're going to have to put out an alternative and clearly on the tax side, you're going to say let's get rid of the tax cuts for the wealthy. you're going to do it in a different way. but you are going to have to engage. the hope of a lot of democrats is they wouldn't have to directly engage on this before 2012. but i think now the entitlement fight is going to be there and it's going to be a large part of the campaign. >> we got to leave it there. still ahead, the latest from

japan, including the discovery of a second american body. some good news about the amount of radiation leaking from the fukushima plant. and a small plane making an emergency landing on a new york city beach. you have to hear it to believe it. we'll be right back. [ female announcer ] why choose between delicious or 100 calories? with yoplait delights, now you can finally have both. two indulgently rich layers of chocolate and raspberry yogurt... and only 100 calories. >> it brings your best minds and their brightest ideas

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[♪...] >> male announcer: book now, save up to 65%. call 1-800-sandals. let's get the latest from isha sesay with a "360" news and business bulletin. late word that the body of a second american has been found in japan. 26-year-old monte dixon was an english teacher from alaska. a senior government official says secretary of state hillary clinton will travel to japan next week. no details yet on the visit. today, the confirmed death toll from the quake and tsunami

climbed to 12,554. more than 15,000 people are still missing. meantime, radiation levels are falling in the seawater around the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant, according to tepco the plant owner. workers yesterday finally topped a leak at reactor number two that was gushing radioactive watder into the pacific ocean. if a judge grows, bp could face a maximum of $4.9 million instead of as much as $20 billion. a justice department lawsuit accused bp of willful negligence, which it denies. a congressional hearing, the faa said it's taking steps to fine the air traffic controller who slept for five hours during his shift at a knoxville, tennessee airport. during the nap, a fellow

controller landed seven aircraft all safely. the incident happened in february. according to reports, a 24-year-old pilot who landed a single engine plane on a new york city beach two nights ago was rushed to the hospital today for seizure. he told air traffic controllers one of his passengers was sick and he needed to land. but authorities say he told them he got the idea from a reality tv show. a recording of his conversation with air traffic controllers has been released.

>> yeah, that's a lot of crazy. >> wow. all right, dude. >> whoa. >> a lot more at the top of the hour, starting with breaking news on the budget standoff. we'll be right back.

a high level, high stakes meeting wrapped up at the white house. president obama, vice president biden, harry reid and john boehner trying to hammer out a deal to avoid a government shutdown. barring something unexpected, a shutdown could begin midnight friday. but it's possible a deal will be decided on before then. joining us now is dana bash, david gergen and gloria borger and at the white house, dan lothian. dan, no surprises coming from

the white house, though we didn't see a joint appearance by reid and boehner. >> that's right. you know, it was very quick. they came out and made those statements. the good news is that they believe they have narrowed the gap. the bad news is that there's still no deal. what we're hearing from both the president and also the lawmakers is that the white house teams and the hill team also be working through the night to pick up or continue on from this meeting tonight to try and hammer out a deal. from the president, what we heard was a real sense of urgency, and he's using sort of the american people and what could happen to them as the motivation for getting a deal done. also, the white house very concerned about what a government shutdown could mean for the economy. they believe here that the economy is in a very positive trajectory, and there's a lot of concern if the government does shut down, that could stall things. >> i'll show in a moment what president obama said and speaker

boehner and harry reid had to say. david, how likely do you think at this point a shutdown is? >> i think the chances of a shutdown are going down. i think they're less than 50% right now. the fact that they met for two hours, that reid and boehner could come out and speak together as they did. dana bash has been pointing this out. they're going to have their staffs work all night. even though they don't have a deal, they're in unity at one point, they don't want to shut down. the white house, the democrats and the republicans on the hill. >> gloria, you agree with that? >> i do. >> not all republicans, maybe. >> i think they're also in unity on another point, which is nobody wants to glet the blame for a shutdown. i think that john boehner is particularly aware of this, because he was around in 1995. he knows how the republicans suffered as a result of that shutdown when newt gingrich was the speaker of the house. so he doesn't want to get the blame for it, although i must

say when you look at all the polling, republicans are less concerned about a shutdown than democrats are. democrats want a compromise. republican voters say it wouldn't be so bad if we made our point and shut the government down. >> some tea party rallies, you had some folks on the ground saying "shut it down." >> they were outside the capitol just today with signs saying shut it down and some republican members of congress egging them on. but everybody who has spoken is right, there seems to be less of a desire, even among the most ardent supporters of doing whatever you need to do to stick to principle, to shut the government down. just to gloria's point, i was told that john boehner, the house speaker in a meeting with republicans, stood up earlier this week and said, i had a front row seat to the shutdown last time, you don't want that to happen, making it clear he means both in terms of what it means for the country, for the economy, and maybe politically

for republicans. it was very bad. democrats, though, they are worried about it, because they are not sure that things aren't different now and perhaps they could get the blame, as well. >> let's show what president obama said about 15 minutes or so ago. let's watch. >> i remain confident that if we're serious about getting something done, we should be able to complete a deal and get it passed and avert a shutdown. but it's going to require a sufficient sense of urgency from all parties involved. it means that people have to recognize that a government shutdown has real consequences. >> we did have a productive conversation this evening. we do have some differences, but i do think we've made some progress. but i want to reiterate there's no agreement on a number and there's no agreement on the

policy. but there's an intent on both sides to continue to work together to try to resolve this. no one wants the government to shut down. and we're going to continue to work throughout the night and tomorrow. thank you. >> again, dana, in terms of actual money, how far apart are they? >> we don't know exactly how far apart they are. they're keeping that close to the vest, but we are talking less than $10 billion. in the grand scheme of things, that is, forgive me, but peanuts. and it's not really necessarily the money. it's symbolically the level of spending, but it's much more about what they can cut, how they can come to an agreement on the philosophical differences over where in the budget what hams, what agencies, that is really a big issue. the other thing is, policy issues. policy writers as they're called that the house republicans passed, like cutting off funding for planned parenthood and

having directors at the epa that can't deal with greenhouse gases. and it all fits into a bigger puzzling. >> it was interesting because when a lot of the tea party folks, kind of the new blood in the republican party came to washington, i asked them on the program is socompromise okay? a lot of them were saying there's been too much compromise. but it comes down to compromise in terms of getting stuff done in the end. >> it does, anderson. and they clearly are very conflicted within the congressional caucus. but i thought it was symbolic today or important than when john boehner apparently when he met with his caucus, he got a standing ovation from him when he reported on the budget negotiations. >> and he got choked up. >> he got choked up?

>> i was at that meeting and i heard the applause and i talked to lawmakers and i said what was the applause about? they said just as you reported, david, he was getting choked up because of the support he was getting from his conference because he has been standing the ground that they want him to stand. >> i talked to a republican senator yesterday who said, look, if i'm talking to house republicans, what i'm saying to them is, is this the issue you really want to stake everything on? last year's budget relatively small sum, as dana points out, although it is a lot of money, wouldn't you rather make your large philosophical points about spending on raising the debt limit or on the big idealogical battles to come, the budget that's been proposed by the republican budget chairman, congressman ryan, wouldn't you rather make it on those issues than on these smaller issues? because you have larger points to make.

republican senators are talking to their house brethren and saying, hold off. >> david, dan, gloria, dana, thank you very much. the gadhafi regime kicking reporters out of the country. we'll tell you how many we've heard so far. we could've gone a more traditional route... ... but it wouldn't have been nearly as memorable. ♪ when we turn lobster into irresistible creations like our new lobster-and-shrimp trio with a parmesan lobster bake, our decadent lobster lover's dream and eleven more choices. right now at red lobster. before i started taking abilify, i was taking an antidepressant alone.

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more breaking news out of libya. apparently, upset with some of the media coverage the gadhafi regime is getting, they are planning on expelling a number of reporters from tripoli. initially 27 were identified by gadhafi officials. those 27 were told they would have to leave the country. then that number was apparently cut to eight. we're not certain who the eight are nor is it clear why 27 suddenly became 8 or why those 8 were chosen. the regime obviously not transparent and never has been. another sign of that, former gop congressman curt wheldon is still waiting to meet with gadhafi in tripoli. that's him on the right of your screen. he was invited to meet with gadhafi. he said he came to urge him to give up power. after waiting to speak with him, he's been offered a meeting with the prime minister but not with gadhafi. mr. wheldon has met gadhafi a number of time, was part of a congressional delegation to libya in 2004. as for gadhafi himself, he sent a letter today to president obama.

it is rambling, barely coherent and shot through with typos which we're showing for you on the screen. we endeavor and hope, he writes, that you will gain victory in the new election campaigne. that's with on e at the end of campaign. you are a man who have enough courage to annul a wrong and mistaken action. he goes on -- our dear son, baracka hussein abu oumama. your intervention is the name of the usa is a must, so that nato would withdraw from the libyan affair. apparently nobody has the guts to proofread the libyan dictator. as we said, a lot happening. a lot of moving parts to the story tonight. joining us is nic robertson, here in new york, fareed zakaria. and princeton university's ann marie slaughter. she served as director of policy planning at the state department. nic, what is the latest with former congressman wheldon? the meeting didn't happen. he flew all the way thinking he

was going to meet with gadhafi. is he just sitting, cooling his heels? >> reporter: i think cooling his heels is perhaps all he can do at the moment. it's certainly understandable that he's frustrated he didn't get this meeting. invited here to meet with the government chief of staff or at least moammar gadhafi's chief of staff, a very senior government official here, but it hasn't translated into that meeting he was expecting. and it puts him in a very, very awkward position. there's some sense that maybe the op-ed he wrote in "the new york times" before he arrived here could have something to do with it. but this is moammar gadhafi, perhaps the way that many people remember him, completely unpredictable. and mr. wheldon isn't the first person that this leader has kept waiting, anderson. >> ann marie, are congressman wheldon's proposals even plausible? how likely is something would come out of this? >> i think you have to see it as

an opening bargaining position. there are different positions coming out of different people. the gadhafi regime itself has presented a position both through saif and the deputy foreign minister in athens. their starting position is essentially that gadhafi and saif will preside over a democratic transition. the details of the proposal that congressman wheldon has actually says no, maybe saif would be part of some kind of council, but it would be the rebels in charge leading to elections and there would be u.n. involvement. you have to see both of these as opening bids in a negotiation that has not yet actually kind of gotten going. >> fareed, when you look at sort of this big rambling letter that he sent to president obama, what do you make of what's going on in libya? where do you see this going now? >> my sense, anderson, is the big picture is gadhafi is

feeling the pressure. there is no way, think about the alternative. there's no way that if he felt the military balance was moving in his favor or was strengthening, he would be making any of these overtures. the let tore the president, the invitation to wheldon, the overtures that they have made, even the conversation about what kind of post gadhafi era, none of this would be happening. >> you don't think this could be gamesmanship? >> no, no, i don't think that. there's no point. time is not on his side in that sense. clearly the sense -- one of the things that's happened here is it really is an international effort. so the noose is tightening. they're running out of funds. of course they have lots of money, but at the end of the day, there's only so many places you can by weaponry from. there's only so many places you can sell oil to. all of those things are closing in on them and they're trying to find ways to come up with a workable exit. now, the plans they have are pretty good for the gadhafi family. so it's understandable that they're trying to make the best

of it. i think congressman wheldon is making a huge mistake. he should not be engaged in this. >> he's in over his head? >> he's in over his head, frankly. there are elements of the u.s. law he might be violating. this should be conducted by the u.s. government, this should be done with appointed emissaries of the white house. it is not appropriate for him to be there. the most important thing is clearly the libyan regime is feeling the pressure. it is all the more reason why the white house should stay the course, not do much more or less than they're doing. >> ann marie, do you agree that they are feeling the pressure? >> i completely agree with the analysis that he's feeling the pressure, absolutely. what you saw initially was, you know, we stopped him, nato stopped him militarily. you've got the military situation to a place where now the diplomacy can really kick in and absolutely he's feeling the pressure. i'm not sure i agree that congressman wheldon being there

is such a bad thing. we have sent an official emissary to the rebels. that's good. you now have somebody there talking to them. but overall, if the white house were to send an official envoy to gadhafi, you undercut the efforts that the turks are making, maybe the greeks are making. the white house position has been we want other nations involved. even the indonesians have been making noises. so i'm not sure it hurts to get some firsthand sense of what gadhafi is thinking, if indeed he gets the meeting. if the white house wanted to call off this meeting or undercut it, they could certainly say so and we haven't heard anything from them. >> fareed? >> i don't dispute this is a complicated negotiation. what strikes me that is more significant, and i would love to hear from ann marie, because she

is my training in international law, but the chief prosecutor of the international criminal court came out with a very tough statement about gadhafi. mainly because of the kind of images that have come out. >> the shooting of protesters, they said that was a deliberate -- they had evidence that was a deliberate policy. >> precisely. if that's the case, they rarely come out with these kind of statements when they are not preparing to indict. when they do not have a criminal case, they're going to make a case for war crimes against gadhafi. if that's the case, it complicates our negotiations, because it means there isn't an easy exit for gadhafi, there isn't a quiet retirement home in maui that he can go to. or some other african country. it means he's going to be pursued by the criminal court. so there isn't a plea bargain strategy here. if that's the case, in a strange way it makes it more difficult to dislodge him from power. or at least that's my initial hypothesis. >> ann marie, do you agree with that? >> this is the absolute paradox or dilemma of peace versus justice.

you can't have peace without justice. clearly the rebels and the world is saying look what this guy has done. you can't let him off the hook. that's why we have an international criminal court. at the same time, what is most important right now is to get the fighting ended, so the libyans can start rebuilding their country. for that, fareed's right, this makes things more difficult. there are ways out if he goes to an african country that won't extradite him or is not subject to the jurisdiction of the court. then you can bring the indictment, but he's effectively then prisoner in that country. but there are -- there's a little bit of wiggle room. it's a straightforward conflict between the demands of peace and justice. >> nic, what do we know about the reporters that are going to be expelled, have some already left, have some already been expelled? >> reporter: it won't happen for another few hours, and then it will perhaps become clear who actually has to leave, who may

be able to get a stay of execution, if you will, and stay on a little longer. it's a very sort of a looking glass operation here. one person, one government official will tell you one thing, another will tell you another thing. you think you have been able to extend with one person, yet somebody else will call you up, as many journalists who have been forced out of the country over the past few weeks will tell you, you get a call in the middle of the night and you have to leave. i saw one journalist who was forced out with a phone call, i think it was sunday night into monday morning. back in the hotel here again, forced out by one official and allowed back in by another one. it's a looking glass situation here, anderson. >> fascinating. fareed, thank you. professor slaughter, thanks, as well. nic, stay with us. still ahead, nic sat down with eman al obeidy. we'll talk about that after the break.

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tonight, more on what the gadhafi regime is up to right now in tripoli. as we mentioned earlier in the program, in an interview with nic robertson and eman al obeidy, the woman whose allegations of gang rape by gadhafi fighters got her hauled off and her life repeatedly threatened. that's a photo from the interview today. we'll talk with nic about it in a moment. eman al obeidy has been repeatedly smeared on libyan state television.

called a traitor, a prostitute. and just yesterday when we spoke with her and her mother, she told us about this.

>> eman al obeidy talking to her mother yesterday. nic robertson joins us once again, along with reza sayha. nic, you were able to talk with her today. what happened? how was she? >> reporter: she seems much better than she was. she showed me the remains of her scars and the bruising on her wrist, which is still there after almost two weeks after she was tied up and repeatedly gang raped. she said physically she was beginning to recover, but her experiences here in tripoli, she's harassed wherever she goes out of the house. this is a very, very strong lady who i saw stand up to government officials, stand up to say what

she wanted to say. this is a lady who clearly has a lot of fire inside her. a lady who really wants to get her story, the true, accurate story of what happened to her out. she said she wanted to thank all the people who supported her over this time, including cnn. but everyone she said, the thousands of people outside of the country who supported her. but she seemed more composed than we've seen her and heard her in recent days. this, again, i have to say she came across as a very strong and courageous lady, anderson. >> we've been getting so many tweets and e-mails from people asking is there any way for her to get out of tripoli? i just pass that question to you. >> reporter: it's a very good question. i mean, it seems to be that there might be, this might be the logical thing for the government to do. and the impression that we get

is, there is still some people here who would like to see that happen. but it may take more time than some people would wish. again, as i think i said to you a little earlier, this is a very looking glass world here. and one gets contradictory information almost by the hour. i certainly believe there are some influential people here who will be pushing for her to be allowed to leave. but i think there's a lot of people in this country who see what's happened to her as an internal issue and will want her to stay. but i do understand there are influential people who will try to get her out of the country, but we don't know for sure they will win out on this by any stretch of the imagination, anderson. >> reza, you were with her family in eastern libya. i want to watch some of the interview you did with eman's mom. >> you finally spoke to your daughter, eman. what was that like? >> translator: it was a feeling any mother would have after

talking to her daughter. after a very long time. >> did it make you feel better or worse? >> translator: of course i felt worse. >> why did it make you feel worse? >> translator: because she was crying. i couldn't understand a word because she was crying. she even made me cry. >> are eman's parents aware how much attention her story is getting around the world? >> reporter: i think they know it's getting attention, anderson, but i don't think they know it's getting the type of attention that it is getting. but this is a very conservative family, a modest family. they're not wealthy. they're uncomfortable with the attention. but it's very interesting, it's clear that they are aware, that without this attention from the international media, international community, they may not have a chance of getting their daughter back home, seeing their daughter return home safely. so i think it's clear that they're using this international attention.

much like their daughter eman did to get their daughter back home. but they're aware it's going around the world. they're not very comfortable with it. they're exhausted. but they're aware of it. >> nic, do -- at this point, i mean, are there still strikes going on in tripoli? >> reporter: there was a huge amount of anti-aircraft gunfire this evening at one point not long after we finished meeting earlier today. what that gunfire was shooting at, we don't know, but that was the most sustained anti-aircraft gunfire from multiple positions from around the city that we've heard for perhaps almost two weeks here. but we didn't hear any bombs or missiles falling here and we haven't really heard any in this city for about six days i would say. again, going back to the interview with eman al obeidy,

this was an interview where i describe this lady as strong and courageous for standing up for her views, but it was also i would say calm, controlled, dignified. it didn't get out of hand, if you will, with the officials who were present there. and she portrayed and came across here as a very dignified person. somebody who wants to be seen and understood as a serious person, as reza says, i said to her how would you like the world to understand you? she said, well, i'm a muslim. i'm a libyan. i'm from a conservative family. i'm not crazy like the government says. she really feels passionately that all the officials here that she comes in contact with should help clear her name. that's something that frustrates her. she needs the government here. she needs officials to help clear her name at this time. but she was doing this in a

dignified but passionate way, and this is a lady much more in control of herself, obviously overcoming some of the mental torture of having gone through that multiple rape, anderson. >> nic robertson, appreciate it, reza as well. thanks. a special hour this friday, featuring an exclusive interview with four "new york times" journalists held captive for six days in libya. we played parts of the interview last week but we talked for a good hour. you'll hear them describe their ordeal in horrifying detail at the hands of pro-gadhafi forces and you'll hear what their families went through. we talked to two of their spouses. they waited to hear word from their loved ones for days. that's friday at 11:00 p.m. eastern. [ male announcer ] if you've been to the hospital

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glenn beck announced today

he'll be leaving fox news late they are year. here's how he explained it. >> i'm not sure if you seen the news yet today, but i want to verify something that is true. i am going to leave this program later this year. paul revere did not get up on the horse and say, i'm going to do this for the rest of my life, he didn't do it. he got off the horse at some point and fought in the revolution, and then he went back to silver smithing. we will find each other. i'm developing other content for fox, through specials and other things. on television and beyond. >> in a joint statement, beck and his employer said beck would transition off his program but stressed they reached a new deal. neither are commenting beyond their statements today. a lot of other people are talking about it. i spoke to howard curts, washington bureau chief for "newsweek" and host of cnn's "reliable sources." howard, i think most people who hear that glenn beck is leaving fox news are going to be

surprised. people who weren't following the tv business religiously, you know, he's got huge name recognition, huge audience numbers, he's really defined that network in many ways and brought people in and created a great lineup and great huge numbers for everybody who follows him. so why is he leaving? >> when you say he defined the network, anderson, that is part of the problem. glenn beck became so huge, such a cultural phenomena, and so radioactive in my view, that he almost overshadowed the fox brand. so the disagreements between the two sides, become wasn't happy with fox. ands to was increasingly uncomfortable dealing with his conspiracy theories and apologies for statements going over the top. this is a divorce brewing for months. >> ratings go up and down, it ebbs and flows. you say it's more about branding and impact on the network it was having. >> even been the standards of

fox, glenn beck who compared reform judaism to radical islam, he apologized for that, but it didn't help that his ratings were down about 40%. but he still almost at 2 million viewers at 5:00, that's a phenomenal number. i would like to have that number. >> at any hour of the day, that's an incredible number. >> but i think there was a sense among executives that he was getting deeper into darker conspiracy theorys that were turning off some of his audience, and at the same time, many of the journalists at fox, the straight reporters, they didn't want to be associated with beck. so there was a lot of internal pressure for them to part ways. >> internally, you said this has been coming for a while. >> well, even ailes told me he had asked beck to tone it down. he said you're trashing everyone. clearly fox tolerates some of the controversies.

but when he starts talking about a middle east caliphate that is in the mold of left wing groups in america, that's pretty heavy duty stuff. and as pure tv, yes, he was a phenomena, he would stand up there at that chalk board and spin these dark tales. but after a while, he was sort of repeating himself, and i think even beck came to realize that. >> do we know what he does now? >> he has a passionate following, he's not going on food stamps any time soon. he gives speeches, you remember the big crowds at the lincoln memorial that he drew. and he has a new website called the blaze. so he has plenty of ways to reach his followers, but he'll have to do it now without the platform of fox news, by built him up into this cultural superstar, whether he likes to admit it or not. >> do you think, though, he loses his influence, his power? >> there is no substitute for having a daily cable show.

so i don't think the beck phenom that that we've witnessed as a white hot comet streaking across the land scape, i don't think a year from now it will burn as brightly. fox will do just fine, but i do think that fox is getting very uncomfortable with having glenn beck be the face of the network. that will no longer be a problem. >> beyond what he's saying, whether you agree with him or not, just as a broadcaster, you know, to make standing in front of a black board compelling television is an extraordinarily difficult thing and he's done that. i'm trying to think of somebody to compare him to and i can't. >> he's very, very talented broadcaster. he can be very funny. and it was odd, because once he went from hln to fox news, he not only seemed to become more inflammatory and to say things that sometimes he had to walk

back, but he seemed to almost be seeing himself as a spokesman who talked more about religion, who talked more about the dire threats facing america, and i think in a way he became less interesting as he became this sort of spokesman for this dark view of america. but put that guy in front of a camera and he knows what he's doing. >> thanks, howard. >> thanks, anderson. the latest from japan, including the discovery of a second american in the tsunami rubble. and good news about the amount of radiation leaking from the fukushima plant. and a small plane makes an emergency landing on a new york city beach and you have to hear the conversation between the air traffic controller and the pilot. hey susie, why don't you use this ?

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>> female announcer: where everything is included, sometimes the greatest luxury of all is doing nothing at all. save up to 65%. call 1-800-sandals. let's get the latest from isha sesay with a "360" news and business bulletin. late word that the body of a second american has been found in japan. 26-year-old monte dixon was an english teacher from alaska. a senior government official says secretary of state hillary clinton will travel to japan next week. no details yet on the visit. today, the confirmed death toll from the quake and tsunami climbed to 12,554. more than 15,000 people are still missing. meantime, radiation levels are falling in the seawater around the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant, according to tepco the plant owner.

workers yesterday finally stopped a leak at reactor number two that was gushing radioactive water into the pacific ocean. upi is reporting that bp is trying to get its fine calculated on how many days the oil flowed, and not how much. if a judge agrees, bp could face a maximum of $4.9 million instead of as much as $20 billion. a justice department lawsuit accused bp of willful negligence, which it denies. a congressional hearing, the faa said it's taking steps to fine the air traffic controller who slept for five hours during his shift at a knoxville, tennessee airport. during the nap, a fellow controller working alone landed seven aircraft, all safely. the incident happened in february. according to reports, a 24-year-old pilot who landed a single engine plane on a new york city beach two nights ago was rushed to the hospital today for seizure. jason maloney told air traffic

controllers one of his passengers was sick and he needed to land. but authorities say he told them he got the idea from a reality tv show. a recording of his conversation with air traffic controllers has been released. >> yeah, that's a lot of crazy. >> wow. up next, the connection, how to cash in on your creativity online. we'll take you inside one of the hottest companies that can help you sell your own t-shirts and much more. a spark might come from -- a touch, a glance --

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we simply know that online shopping is a booming business. the department of commerce estimates there was $165 billion in online sales last year. that's up nearly 15% from 2009. in tonight's "connection," we look at an online retailer that's kind of redefining e-commerce. >> reporter: vinnie was in a rut. her 9:00 to 5:00 job wasn't stimulating or lucrative. she just needed a change. >> and i heard through a friend they had started this t-shirt store online. and i thought, hmmm, maybe i could try that. >> reporter: designing a t-shirt may not sound like a calling, but it changed her life. this is zazle. it's a piz that allows anyone to customize dozens of products, from posters to shoes. users then have the option of ordering someone else's design.

for her, it began on her laptop. she looked to her indian heritage and humor for her first creation. >> you say potato, i say alu. >> reporter: thousands sold with her getting a healthy cut of the profits. >> every time i would get an e-mail, i made a sale. it's different than getting a paycheck. it's something that you actually created. >> reporter: what percentage of the sale does the creator get? >> more than you would expect. you can make anywhere from 20% to 50% to 60% of a sale without ever touching it. >> reporter: it's a formula that's served jeff beaver well. he launched a website in 2005 with his father and brother. he says zazzle creates about 150,000 products every day.

new designs are being uploaded and from there the machines take over, building products exactly to your specifications. the unique business model calls for only raw materials. no actual products until someone places an order. >> what we decided to do is kind of combine the best aspects of an ebay market place and what dell was doing at the time that was compelling, mass customization for electronics. we thought if we can create a market place where users can design products and put them up for sale, if we can figure out how to make these products on demand, that's cool. >> i thought, oh, my gosh, what am i doing? art isn't something people make money off of. >> reporter: she's now a full 46 time artist, selling her work on and off line