other on the cheek. apparently tit was too much for the ref. he called a double technical. that's it for "the lead." you can see more of my interview with mitt romney in the 6:00 p.m. eastern hour. i turn you over to wolf blitzer in "the situation room." wolf? >> jake, thank you. happening now, breaking news. a surprise announcement, a potentially watershed conversation. president obama details his phone call to the president of iran. we're covering all angles of this major historic development, including reaction from tehran. we'll go live to the iranian capital this hour. plus, the looming government shutdown. the ball is now back in the house of representatives' court, with only three days remaining. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. er you're in "the situation room." let's get on the breaking news. it's really a phone call with

potentially huge ramifications. president obama announced he spoke this afternoon by phone with the new iranian president, hassan rouhani, and discussed his country's controversial nuclear program. this is the first such contact in more than three decades. watch this. >> i spoke on the phone with president rouhani of the islamic republic of iran. the two of us discussed our ongoing efforts to reach an agreement over iran's nuclear program. i reiterated to president rouhani what i said in new york. while there will surely be important obstacles to moving forward, and success is by no means guaranteed, i believe we can reach a comprehensive solution. i've directed secretary kerry to continue pursuing this diplomatic effort with the iranian government. we had constructive discussions yesterday in new york with our partners, the european union,

the united kingdom, france, germany, russia and china, together with the iranian foreign minister. going forward, president rouhani and i have directed our teams to continue working expeditiously in cooperation with the p-5 plus 1 to pursue an agreement. throughout this process we will stay in touch with our friends and allies in the region, including israel. we're mindful of all the challenges ahead. the very fact that this was the first communication between an american and iranian president since 1979 underscores the deep mistrust between our countries, but it also indicates the prospect of moving beyond that difficult history. >> let's go straight to our senior white house correspondent, brianna keilar, who was in the briefing room when the president made that historic announcement. brianna, take us a little bit behind the scenes, because it's not every day, in fact, it's more than three decades since an american president and an iranian president have actually spoken.

>> reporter: that's right, wolf. and if progress is made on an agreement about iran's alleged nuclear weapons program, this is a phone call that will be committed to history. and we do know a few details about that. we heard from iranian sources that president rouhani was actually in the car on the way to the airport in new york because he was there for the u.n. general assembly when he spoke with president obama today. now, we heard from a senior administration official that this is a phone call that took place about two and a half hours ago, at 2:30 p.m. eastern. it lasted 15 minutes, so a pretty lengthy phone call, and that they mostly discussed the nuclear issue. we're told, however, that it did open with president obama congratulating rouhani on his win in the election which as you know happened back in june, but of course, the men hadn't spoken since that had happened and that it was quite cordial in tone, we're told, but that there was also a discussion of urgency. we've heard from the iranians,

iranian sources, that they discussed there needing to be a will, a political will to move forward with something but we're also told from a senior administration official, wolf, especially because i think people are dissecting earlier this week, when president obama was at the u.n. general assembly and the white house had really left open the possibility of some sort of informal meeting, although very significant meeting between obama and rouhani, that never happened, a lot of folks are wondering well, why now. a senior administration official says it's because in part, a meeting that took place last night between secretary of state john kerry along with allies with the foreign minister of iran, and that this was a meeting that went really well, so on the heels of president obama in his address to the u.n. general assembly on tuesday being open to some sort of agreement with iran and also hearing rouhani make very positive sounds to different outlets and in different venues during his trip to new york,

that all of these things kind of coalesced to create an environment where this phone call could take place. >> because as you know, the president really wanted to meet, at least have some sort of encounter, a handshake, photo opportunity, something with rouhani when they were both at the united nations on tuesday. the u.s. wanted that meeting, the iranians apparently decided not to have it. rouhani later explaining, including today, that it was just too complicated, they needed more time to prepare. so it didn't happen and there was a lot of interpretation that here the iranians were actually snubbing the president of the united states. what are they saying at the white house about that suggestion? >> reporter: well, they're saying that there were complications on the part of the iranians and it's hard exactly to dissect what that means, but obviously, you know rouhani, a very different leader than his predecessor, ahmadinejad, seen as a more moderate. he's definitely struck a more moderate tone. but he's also walking a fine line and he has obviously his interests at home, which are not

necessarily entirely to negotiate with america or certainly as they're looking, as iranians are looking towards this and as the supreme leader looks towards it, that there's some suspicion of that. i think they felt between these meetings that happened last night with secretary kerry that it sort of paved the way and put everything in place so that they could have this discussion today. >> brianna keilar at the white house, history being made. thanks very much. let's dig a little deeper right now on the president's phone call to the president of iran. our chief national security correspondent jim sciutto is here. the iranians actually broke the news first. didn't just break the news, they started tweeting, specifically at hassan rouhani, a twitter account that the president of iran has. >> i saw this tweet, and it was right before the president came out and of course, i started calling everybody i knew and at that moment, the president comes out so the irony of ironies, the iranian president scooped the american president on this. not only in terms of telling people that the conversation

took place, but in giving us the content of the conversation. so he went on to tweet that here's what he said to president obama. in regards to the nuclear issue with political will, there is a way to rapidly solve the matter. he says we're hopeful about what we will see from the p-5 plus 1 process and your government in particular in the coming weeks. so immediately just as the president said getting right to that nuclear issue. the president and the white house actually didn't give so much detail on what they said to rouhani, so rouhani again via his twitter account told us what the president said to him. he said barack obama said to me i expressed my respect for you and the people of iran. i'm convinced that relations between iran and the u.s. will greatly affect the region and if we can make progress on the nuclear issue, other issues such as syria will certainly be positively affected. so 34 years later, we haven't since 1979, and just to prove that we're in the 21st century, we get the full account from it by twitter, although there's an

irony there. this is something we discussed before in the last couple of weeks. the president of iran has a twitter account but the iranian people are blocked from twitter, one of the many controls, restrictions, placed by the iranian government on political discourse in iran. that's one thing, actually i spoke to the iranian vice president today. he was part of the delegation and i asked him, i said are you going to be lifting these restrictions in light of the fact that your president is so liberally using twitter. he said he thinks it's going to happen. he said that that ban is a policy of a past administration, not the current administration. >> interesting reaction. we have a statement also from the iranian mission to the united nations. let me read it. the two presidents talked over the phone as president rouhani was in a car heading towards the new york international airport. president rouhani and president obama discussed different issues during their phone conversation. the iranian and u.s. presidents underlined the need for political will for expediting resolution of west standoff with iran over the latter's nuclear program. president rouhani and president

obama stressed the necessity for mutual cooperation on different regional issues. >> presumably syria being a huge regional issue, where these two countries strongly disagree. >> absolutely. but there are issues, and you see this very quickly, where all of this window dressing, though important and particularly this direct contact between the presidents, extremely important today, and promises the possibility of real progress, you still have other issues where we don't agree. the iranian president was asked this morning about iran's support for terrorist groups, and he didn't back off from that support. groups like hezbollah, that the u.s. blames for attacks for instance, one that killed 50, 60 some odd people. as you're starting this process, you know we have an opening here but you still have many disagreements that are going to take -- that may not be settled, frankly, as we're watching this progress move forward. >> a handshake didn't happen on tuesday but john kerry meets with the iranian foreign minister on thursday and today, the president makes a phone call to a departing president of

iran. history unfolding. >> 15 minute phone call, 34 years in the making. >> 15 minutes, i don't know if they were speaking through a translator or speaking through a transla translator, that will be half the time they have to translate. we'll see. rouhani does speak some english. maybe they spoke in english. we'll find out. jim sciutto, thank you. still ahead, we will get reaction from iran. cnn's reza sayah is in iran right now. a government shutdown only three days away with no end to the politicical standoff in sig. i'm kind of seeing a... some kind of... this is... an alien species. reality check: a lot of 4g lte coverage maps don't really look like much at all. i see the aleutian islands. looks like a duck. it looks like... america... ish.

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the federal government shutdown only three days away now, and the bill that can prevent it is back in the house of representatives. but the law makers there aren't even in session, at least not now. it's a high stakes game of political chicken sparked by a house republican effort to defund obama care. the president talked about that as well after announcing his historic phone call to the

iranian president. >> past shutdowns have disrupted the economy and this shutdown would as well. it would throw a wrench into the gears of our economy at a time when those gears have gained some traction. that's why many republican senators and many republican governors have urged republicans to knock it off, pass a budget and move on. let's get this done. >> let's bring in our chief congressional correspondent, dana bash. dana, the house, they are going to come back into session tomorrow but what's the latest? >> reporter: well, the speaker didn't come out and respond to the president. he did so through a spokesman and i will read you what he said. he said the house will take action that reflects the fundamental fact that americans don't want a government shutdown and they don't want the train wreck that is obama care. grandstanding from the president who refuses to even be part of the process won't bring congress any closer to a resolution. now, a reference there to him refusing to be part of the

process, that just is color about what is or maybe what is not going on here. no negotiation at any level. three days before a potential government shutdown. on party line votes, the senate passed a bill funding the government without defunding obama care. >> the yeas are 54. the nays are 44. the amendment is agreed to. >> reporter: on that, republicans stuck together. but earlier, they were deeply divided on what ted cruz called the critical procedural vote. >> it is not easy to disagree with your political party, but at the end of the day, what we're doing here is bigger than partisan politics. >> reporter: more than half the gop caucus defied him, including fellow texan and number two republican, john cornyn. >> i say to my friends who say we ought to shut the government down to get rid of obama care that it won't work. >> reporter: a rare moment where the majority of republicans and democrats agreed. >> shutting down the government

for obama care is like canceling the world series because your team didn't make it. >> reporter: cruz isn't giving up. he's pressuring the house to once again defund obama care. >> it is unfortunate that there has been republican division on this issue. >> reporter: so what is next for the house? it's unclear. house gop leaders have no plan. in fact, when the senate passed a bill keeping the government open, the house was already done with business for the day. cars filled the capitol parking lot to whisk house members away since they're not required to return until saturday, two days before the deadline. >> it's a waste of taxpayers' money for me to sit here doing nothing. >> reporter: senior gop sources privately admit to cnn house gop leaders are in a bind because many rank and file republicans want them to make changes to the senate bill, keep fighting. is it worth it to you to shut the government down? >> you know, you keep saying shut the government down. the press keeps saying it. that's the president's line. the fact is, the house has every right to determine what they will spend. >> reporter: the senate democratic leader had some

colorful words for house conservatives. >> some of these people are part of the weird caucus over there who want to shut the government down. >> reporter: harry reid warned any house changes would be unacceptable. why? >> because it's obvious that that would shut down the government. >> reporter: why wouldn't it be your fault, then? >> are you using weird caucus math. >> reporter: meanwhile, wolf, the senate is also now adjourned and they are not coming back until monday, just hours before the deadline for the government to shut down. i got to tell you, for a place that is supposed to be in crisis, it is eerily quiet here. the halls are pretty much empty. everyone is gone. >> a week ago, the speaker john boehner said next weekend, meaning tomorrow and sunday, will be very, very busy weekends for members of the house and guess what? he's obviously right. they got to make a major decision right now. do they let the government stay open, do they shut it down by

including a demand that they know the senate won't accept, certainly the president won't accept. these are tough decisions that the speaker and his republican caucus have to make right now. they've got tomorrow and sunday to make up their mind. dana, thanks very much. let's get a little bit more with our chief political analyst, gloria borger and our chief political correspondent, candy crowley, the host of cnn's "state of the union." gloria, listen to another sound bite from what the president said today. >> the house republicans are so concerned with appeasing the tea party that they have threatened a government shutdown or worse unless i gut or repeal the affordable care act. i said this yesterday, let me repeat it. that's not going to happen. >> as far as we know, as far as you know and candy, is there any back channel effort now by quote, adults, representatives of the president, representatives of the speaker, the democrats in the senate, to say you know what, let's just resolve this temporarily, the

government should not shut down with all the ramifications that that means. >> you know, as dana points out on the continuing resolution which is the crisis at hand, there's another crisis that will be coming up on the debt ceiling. maybe there is some conversations going on about that because the administration says and lots of economists say that that would be catastrophic to the economy. on the government shutdown, i think what you see is what you get here. i don't really see how either side comes to any kind of conclusion here unless they come up with some kind of immaculate conception and decide here's another solution and we can kick this down the road. >> i would be really surprised if there were back channel things going on with the debt ceiling because that's the one thing the president is out there going i'm not going to negotiate. maybe they're doing it some place up on capitol hill but i don't think the white house is a part of that. this is and has been a fight within the republican caucus and the house, and john boehner is

in the unenviable situation where he'll have to figure out whether he puts this thing on the floor and lets a minority of republicans and a minority of democrats form a majority and pass it, whether he's going to send it back to the senate and they're not going to have time to do it. now, i have seen them do a one-day -- >> they can do it if they want to do it. they can do it in a few hours. >> they can also extend it for a day or two days if they wanted to. it is almost, you know, nobody at this point can see a way out which is really, i think the reason that we can't figure out a way out is i don't think the leadership can. >> the easy way out, the legislation that today passed the senate, 54-44, the legislation that allows the government to stay open for the time being, does not include the defunding of obama care. the speaker, john boehner, can say all right, put it up for a

vote, let 435 representatives in the house of representatives vote yea or nay on what just passed the senate. >> there could be some kind of coalition but that would be of democrats and some republicans and not the hard liners. but i don't think we can overstate how -- what kind of a defining moment this is for speaker boehner. it really is. because he's got some tough decisions to make about how he's going to lead this caucus or how he's going to step back and let the caucus lead him. >> they were going for the republicans, this was not something that he wanted to do with a coalition. he's had a lot of defining moments with this caucus. >> let's talk about a bipartisan coalition. so you will a'll have tea party activiacts activist thas will vote against it but you will have some who say it's too important to the country and the economy. >> the conservatives will say you're not our speaker.

>> yeah. i think he could do that. it throws, you know, it gives him 35 to 40 and maybe more, we don't know, folks who will be furious with him because they feel -- and here's why it's difficult. none of them want obama care at this point. none of them want the affordable care act to pass. so they're in this position, many republicans in the position of saying look, i don't like obama care. i just don't think this is the way to go about it. they just made it difficult. >> we have to wrap it up. the affordable care act, obama care, is the law. doesn't have to pass anymore. that is the law. if they want to defund it, change the law. they don't have the votes. they don't have the votes. so they can't do it. they've got to make a decision right now, the house republicans, and it's a tough decision. i'm not saying it's an easy decision. but if they don't want the government to shut down and they say they don't, the only way that i see is if they accept the senate legislation, they let the up or down vote happen in the house of representatives and see what happens next. >> here's the point. those republicans who will vote

against this will not have any hell to pay at home, because they're playing to their constituents and their constituents agree with them, and so there's no punishment for them. they can do this -- >> let's see if john boehner is a profile in courage right now, decides to do what is right as opposed to what might be politically a little more acceptable, because nobody wants the government to shut down. there's going to be too much pain. >> dana had a good question. if they send it back to the senate, why isn't the senate equally responsible. you can say this side won't give but let's face it, neither will the other side. >> even if the senate would have defunded obama care, the president would have vetoed it. there's no two-thirds override. look, you got to deal with reality. you got to deal with what's there. >> presidential leadership comes in in the end. >> speaker's leadership as well. let's see if he's really the speaker or is just playing to political opportunities out there, shall we say. guys, thanks very much. coming up, we will have much more on the breaking news we're

following here in "the situation room." cnn's reza sayah is right now in tehran, the iranian capital, getting reaction to the historic phone call between the new iranian president and president obama. the president called him today while he was in his car driving to the airport in new york. we're going live to the iranian capital. plus, the warnings are going out. we're taking a closer look at what happens to hundreds of thousands of federal workers if the government shuts down. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] some things are designed to draw crowds. ♪ ♪ others are designed to leave them behind. ♪ the all-new 2014 lexus is. it's your move.

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just getting the first picture of president obama in that historic phone call with the iranian president, hassan rouhani. there you see the white house photo, it's just been released. the president in the oval office, shirt and tie, speaking with hassan rouhani. the first time an american president has spoken with an iranian president since 1979. that's when the iranian revolution took place. remember, american diplomats were held hostage at the u.s. embassy in tehran, they were taken from the u.s. embassy in tehran, held hostage for 444 days.

the u.s./iranian relationship has been awful ever since. but today, a breakthrough of sorts when the president of the united states and the president of iran spoke by phone, and the president of the united states, president obama, initiated that phone call. let's get some reaction from inside iran right now. our cnn's reza sayah is on the ground in tehran and is joining us now. any reaction? are you getting official reaction, unofficial reaction? what are the folks there saying, reza? >> reporter: they're thrilled, wolf. they're ecstatic. it's 1:00 a.m. here tehran time. we got the news about a couple hours ago. we were away from our hotel so we tried to talk to as many ordinary iranians as possible on the phone in person and every single person we talked to told us they love it that this happened. our cab driver on the way here said that anything, anything that it takes for us to get out of this difficult situation, he was referring to iran's economic

isolation, political isolation, the economic sanctions that iranians have suffered through for years. if this path continues, if washington and tehran improve relations, it could very well be ordinary iranians who benefit the most. many in america are not aware of this, but the iranian population is one of the most educated, cultured, sophisticated populations in the region. recent statistics showed that 60% of women in iran are educated. that's a sign of an advanced society, a society with lots of potential. but that potential has been blocked because in part, the rivalry with the u.s., they simply haven't been able to get out of the country, take advantage of their education, and they believe that if iranian/u.s. relations improve, this will be a golden opportunity for them. but despite the optimism, we should point out that the core

issues when it comes to the nuclear program, president rouhani hasn't indicated that he's going to move from iran's position, a position that they've held for a very long time. and that position is that we're not going to back down from our nuclear program, that we're going to continue to enrich uranium, it is our right, according to international law. so again, despite this phone call, despite the conciliatory overtures or the tone that president rouhani is bringing to the u.s., still some major obstacles remain. but everybody happy with this phone call. they believe, iranians believe that this is the start of what could be a golden opportunity for both countries. >> you're absolutely right, in the end the iranians are going to have to start making some substantive concession on their nuclear program and in exchange presumably the u.s. and the west would ease some of those very painful sanctions that have been imposed on iran if this relationship is really going to

develop, potentially as it could. so what are you saying, that as far as iran's nuclear program, will they open it up, will they take steps to reassure the west as president rouhani says, they have no desire to build a nuclear bomb? >> reporter: that's not clear at this point. it's not clear what kind of concessions iran is ready to make. but what we've observed here from our vantage point here in tehran is that there are parallel realities. there's one reality in washington and there's one reality here in tehran. in tehran, their narrative, their question is will washington make concessions. in washington, it's the opposite. their narrative, their question is will iran make concessions. what's made people optimistic is that iran is signaling they're prepared to make concessions. it's not clear what that's going to be. some have said they are prepared to suspend uranium enrichment at 20%. if they would do that, that would seemingly make it impossible for them to produce

the fuel necessary to build a bomb. others have speculated that maybe they're prepared to open up for broader inspections, maybe some military facilities, but they've made it clear that they're not going to back down to washington. they don't want to be viewed as appeasing to washington's demands, backing down to their demands, and that's why they say they want substantial gains in return. first and foremost, they want to be recognized as washington's equal. they want washington and western powers to recognize their right to have a peaceful nuclear program and enrich uranium based on international law, and they want some of those economic sanctions eased. >> reza sayah in the iranian capital of tehran, thank you very much. let's get some more now on that historic phone call between the presidents of the united states and iran. our senior international correspondent nick paton walsh is standing by over at the united nations. it's very interesting, what the president actually said on this sensitive issue potentially that could lead to a breakthrough.

he said i've made clear that we respect the right of the iranian people to access peaceful nuclear energy in the context of iran meeting its obligations so the test will be meaningful transparent and verifiable actions which can also bring relief from the comprehensive international sanctions that are currently in place. i assume that was the subject at hand when the foreign minister of iran met with the secretary of state of the united states at the united nations yesterday. a conversation presumably that convinced the president to make that phone call to rouhani today. >> reporter: it's almost unimaginable that there hasn't been some sort of detail or nuggets laid out by iran or the u.s. as to how this process will move forward. what barack obama said was quite detailed in many ways and those comments will come back to haunt him if they were simply speculation, particularly given the policy of many hawks towards this particular area. so you must imagine during that discussion, something was laid out that gave them the confidence to allow this phone call to happen. just to let you know, we have

now received via twitter, where so much of this diplomacy seems to have begun, a picture of hassan rouhani aboard his plane heading back to tehran, looking reasonably jovial and relaxed. you can just see it there. i think very much they trying to put a positive spin on this discussion as well. but that actual phone call was probably the only way the contact could have occurred. if you look at the sequencing of diplomacy during this week, it would have been highly unlikely that handshake could have occurred before hassan rouhani spoke at the united nations. they wouldn't have taken the risk of whatever he would say in the sfeepeech coming back to ha them and obama would have wanted to wait for that historic meeting. so the phone call does make an enormous amount more sense now but it's unlikely such a discussion would have occurred if some details weren't already on the table. that reference to bringing relief from the sanctions that are currently in place does seem to suggest that some sort of tit for tat may be on the table.

it actually hasn't leaked out from either side yet. >> that looks like the deal. the iranians stopping the effort they may be doing to stop a nuclear bomb, the u.s. easing some of those painful economic sanctions on iran. we'll see what happens on that front. meanwhile, syria. the president also spoke about syria. there's a u.n. security council meeting supposed to convene at 8:00 p.m. later tonight. nick, tell us what's going on as far as this u.s./russian agreement to deal with syria's chemical weapons. >> reporter: well, there's been an unexpected snag at the last minute. it might not derail anything but it certainly could delay it. the meeting that was supposed to happen in the hague with the u.n. monitoring group, the opcw who would rubber stamp the framework agreed in geneva was supposed to happen at 4:00 new york time. it's now been rescheduled for 6:30. there's been some problem in one of the sponsoring states and needs further instructions, all unexpected according to an opcw official i have spoken to. if it isn't rescheduled for 6:30 new york time, that's past

midnight in the hague, it will have to move to tomorrow and that will cause delays. the resolution, though, til tomorrow as well. >> we'll see what happens, see if that meeting actually takes place, if they can figure it out or not. obviously an important issue as well. nick paton walsh at the united nations. he will be busy all weekend. coming up, shut down your blackberry and go home. why those are the words some federal workers could be hearing if the federal government shuts down only three days from now.

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with the federal government's fate in the hands of congress right now, federal agencies are already rolling out plans for how they plan to handle a possible government shutdown on tuesday. our pentagon correspondent chris lawrence is up on capitol hill. he's got a closer look right now at what could happen only three days from now. what are you seeing, what are you hearing? >> reporter: well, wolf, first of all, right off the bat, shut off your laptops and government-issued blackberrys because it is illegal for federal workers to use them or do work of any kind while furloughed. federal employees head home for the weekend with no idea how much longer they can work. thousands of them are already receiving notices like these, warning you will be furloughed from your position and will be in a nonpay, nonduty status. >> i'm in triage mode, helping to coordinate getting the

department ready to shut down if we have to. >> reporter: at the pentagon and federal agencies across washington, senior managers have been consumed with preparing their departments. >> probably thousands of hours of employee time better spent on supporting national security. >> reporter: furloughed workers might have to come to work tuesday and have four hours to close up their office. >> shut down blackberrys, shut down equipment, and turn around and go home. >> reporter: a radio station popular with federal workers has been inundated with questions. what's been the reaction from your listeners? >> sudden panic. people are thinking about how long is this going to last, if it happens. how am i going to pay my bills. >> reporter: there is still time to avert a shutdown. >> here we are, i guess this is like the movie "high noon." >> as soon as you walk through that door, come on, i'll hold my fire. >> reporter: but right now, it's the employees being held hostage to negotiations. >> these folks don't make a lot of money. they're by and large middle class workers. and many of them are living paycheck to paycheck.

a lot of those workers have already lost a week of pay due to government furloughs earlier in the year and all the indications we're getting from congress is they probably won't authorize back pay for any days missed. you could see why there's such a great concern. >> huge concern. thanks very much. let's hope the government does not shut down. just ahead, controversial ads designed to scare young people away from obama care. we're taking a closer look at who's behind them. just by talking to a helmet. it grabbed the patient's record before we even picked him up. it found out the doctor we needed was at st. anne's. wiggle your toes. [ driver ] and it got his okay on treatment from miles away. it even pulled strings with the stoplights. my ambulance talks with smoke alarms and pilots and stadiums. but, of course, it's a good listener too. [ female announcer ] today cisco is connecting the internet of everything. so everything works like never before. hearty cheeseburger.

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here's a look at some of the

other top stories we're monitoring here in "the situation room." the former president george w. bush tells abc's "good morning america" he's doing fine after having a stent placed in his heart last month. he also weighed in on being a new grandfather and says he's completely captured. his words. completely captured. the city of detroit is getting federal help dealing with the largest municipal bankruptcy in u.s. history. obama administration cabinet secretaries are there today with more than $300 million in government aid. it's not considered a bailout since most of the the city is already eligible for. more bad news for blackberry, which officially announced dis mall quarterly results, have you a $965 quarterly loss. the struggling tech giant, announcing plan to lay off 4500 employees by the end of the year. coming up at the top of the hour, a "the situation room" special report on today's two huge breaking stories. president obama's historic phone

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here's a look at this hour's hot shots. in south korea, jets perform for the 65th anniversary of the republic of korea's armed forces. in assistance nia, a fisherman heads for the store. a base jumper leaps off a tower. in india, a woman celebrates at a religious festival. hot shots, coming from from you're i-reporters around the world. we'll be right back.

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♪ they've been called creepy and definitely controversial, so who's behind the ads encouraging young people out there to op out of obama care? cnn's brian todd has been investigating. what have you been finding out snimplts we've gotten the only tv interview with a maker of

these ads. there are likely more powerful player behind these controversial videos that have drawn the wrath of the white house. the president was fired up over an attack on his health care law. >> some of the tea party's biggest donors, some of the wealthiest men in america are funding a cynical ad campaign trying to convince young people not to buy health care at all. >> reporter: here's what he's apparently talking about. >> take your pants off. >> reporter: two internet ads depicting young customers at the doctor's office for exams. in this one called "the glove." a young guy doesn't see a rectal exam from a creepy uncle sam coming. in another, an examiner gets a young woman into stirrups. >> okay. let's have a look. >> reporter: then slips out, leaving the woman at the mercy of creepy uncle sam. each ends with don't let the government play doctor. opt out of obama care. the videos have got viral.

cnn's gone the first tv interview with the maker of the ads. i spoke with its president evan fineberg. many calls these creepy and scary. senator patty murray calls they deplorable and sexist. what's your response? i want well, frankly obama care is creepy and scary for my generation. >> reporter: feinberg also says the health exchanges where people go to buy private policies will get too much of customers' private data. >> that information will span from private information such as tax information and personal financial information, but it's going to also be health status pieces of information, such as whether or not i'm sexually active. >> reporter: senior administration officials have told cnn the exchanges will get some financial information, but not your medical history, except your age and whether you smoke. feinberg says countered to president obama's remark, generations opportunities -- but there's also controversy over

who's backing these ads. >> these are billionaires several times over. >> reporter: the president implies and democratic senator patty murray says flat-out that it's the koch brothers, strongly conservative mysterious billionaires who are behind the ads. >> tax records show that generation opportunity got about $5 million from a group called freedom partners, between late 2011 and late 2012. we've also found that three out of the five directors of freedom partners are current or former executives of the kochs' firm. an official of freedom -- said they rely on that expertise from different areas. koch industries said it operates independently, so we pressed feinberg. >> is the money coming from directly or indirectly from the koch brothers. >> we have a variety of donors,

and we protect their confidentiality. they're free to talk about their donations to us anytime. as you know, in an era where i.r.s. is targeting opponents of the administration all the time, i can understand why some of our donors want to keep the information confidential. >> reporter: the total money is about $750,000, and generation opportunity is getting bang for its buck. so far the videos have gotten over 3 million hits on the web in about a week. >> and about to get a lot more after seeing your report probably. >> right. let's talk about what may be a broader strategy to try to underfund obama care by convincing young people not to sign up. >> that appears to be the strategy behind all the this "the washington post" reporting that about 7 million people are expected to sign up for the obama health care plan to buy health care at those exchanges. out of those 7 million, about 2.7 million of those need to be young healthy adults for the whole thing to work. if enough young healthy adults

don't buy the private insurance, then the insurance firms will not have enough money to pay out the claims for older, sicker patients, so the strategy appears to be to get the younger people not to buy in. >> brian todd reporting, thank you. happens now, a special report on two breaking stories. >> i spoke on the phone with president rowhani f. >> president obama reveals his historic outreach to iran. could his phone call with the president of iran be a game changer for the united states, indeed for the world? the president warns republicans who are trying to gut republicans to knock it off, his words, and pass a new budget. the new line in the sand three days before a possible government shutdown. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and

around the world. i'm wolf blitzer, you're in "the situation room." he has broken important new ground with a dangerous adversary. he told the world about his phone call to iran's president during remarks that were expected to focus almost entirely on the potential government shutdown threat here in washington. we're following both breaking stories this hour. first, the historic phone call. just a little while ago the u.s. ambassador to the united nations, susan rice, spoke with our fareed zakaria, on how the phone call came about. >> susan, can you give us a sense of how this phone call happened? who called whom? >> well, fareed, i think as many people know, we had indicated earlier in the week, an openness to a brief informal encounter when president obama was in new

york at the general assembly. while -- so it didn't occur. today, somewhat surprisingly we were contacted by them to say that president rowhani would like to speak to president obama by telephone on his way out of town, and we were able to make that call come together, and it did, and it was a constructive discussion. >> how long was the call? >> about 15 minutes, but of course with translation, so it was a brief call. but sufficient to convey the messages from both sides. >> was it friendly or being like? >> i would say cordial and constructive. obviously, when you have two leaders from two countries that have not communicated at that level for almost 35 years, it's -- it's something of a

groundbreaking event, but they both conveyed their commitment to trying to explore in a constructive manner the diplomatic path. we've made very clear, and the president has long reiterated, including this week at the general assembly, that the united states will not tolerate iran with a nuclear weapon, but our strong preference is that this problem be resolved through diplomatic means. obviously as a congress of international pressure, of course, the sanctions in the economic pressure, and the election of president rowhani, there is an opportunity now to test the proposition of that diplomatic settlement. susan rice is the president's national security adviser, she was the uss ambassador to the united nations. fareed's full interview with susan rice airs sunday morning, that's at 10:00 a.m. eastern. also at 1:00 p.m. eastern.

you'll want to see it. let's bring in our chief national security correspondent jim sciutto. this is historic dramatic stuff we're seeing. >> no question. after all the disappointment earlier in the week about the handshake that wasn't, now we have the surprise phone call. it truly was a surprise. we only got word via president rowhani's twitter feed even before the president was able to announce it. it came at the last moment, the president calling president rowhani on the way to the airport, the first communication of its kind since 1979. it was just a 15-minute phone call, but one that was 34 years in the making. >> the very fact that this was the first communication between an american and iranian president since 1979 underscores the deep ms. trust between our countries, but also indicates

the prospect of moving beyond that difficult history. >> reporter: the prospect of reaching an agreement on iran's nuclear program seemed out of reach just weeks ago. >> while there will surely be important obstacles to moving forward and success is by no means guaranteed, i believe we can reach a comprehensive solution. >> reporter: a sentiment echo the by president rowhani, who tweeted word of his call with obama before the president confirmed it. rowhani ended a week-long charm offensive in new york with the promise to submit a plan on iran's nuclear program by next month. >> i assure you on the iranian side, this will is there fully 100% that in a very short period of time there will be a settlement on the nuclear issue. >> reporter: where there is not settlement is syria, but the u.s. can tout diplomatic progress on that front as well. tonight, the u.n. security council is expected to vote on a

resolution to remove or destroy all of syria's chemical weapons, a developopment president obama today called, quote, a huge victory. >> this binding resolution will ensure that the assad regime must keep its commitments or face consequences. >> reporter: military action, however, is not part of the u.n. resolution. in fact, no specific sanctions. if syria does not comply, the security council would have to vote again, or the u.s. act on its own, a step president obama has so far avoided. the two presidents spoke through an interpreter, though president rowhani bid farewell in english, say have a nice day, and president obama said good-bye with a farsi farewell. all of these details through rowhani's twitter feed. the next meeting will be next month at the political director level, but a senior administration official said don't expect regular interaction between the presidents.

clearly a special day. >> earlier they exchanged letters, now a phone call. we'll see what happens. it's interesting that susan rice said it was an iranian initiative, they sent word through a channel that the president of iran would like to speak with the president of the united states on his way to the airport, and the president of the united states said, okay, i'll call him. >> i think it's possible that the iranian president said all the disappointment to the handshake not happening and the questions, really does he have the backing? can he deliver on these promises? he said probably said i can even talk to an american president. thank you very much, jim scuitto. back in a debate he said he would agree to speak to other leaders. listen to this. >> i would. and the reason is this -- that the notion that somehow not talking to countries is

punishment to them, which has been the guiden diplomatic principle of this administration, is ridiculous. ronald reagan and democratic presidents like jfk constantly spoke to soviet union at a time when ronald reagan called them an evil empire. the reason is because they understood that we may not trust them. they may pose an extraordinary danger to this country, but we have the obligation to find areas where we can potential move forward. it was in that same debate, by the way, that the other democratic candidate, hillary clinton, offered a different response. listen to this. >> well, i will not promise to meet with the leaders of these countries during my first year. i will promise a very vigorous diplomatic effort, because i think it is not that you promise the meeting at that high a level before you know what the intentions of. i don't want to be used for propaganda purposes. i don't want to make a situation even worse, but i certainly

agree that we need to get back to diplomacy, which has been turned into a bad word by this administration. i will pursue very vigorous diplomacy. let's go to iran right now, get some reaction to this historic contact today. cnn's reza sayah joins you from the capital right now. folks there seem to be pretty happy, pretty excited that potentially there could be a breakthrough in this relationship. >> reporter: yeah, wolf, the reaction has been overwhelmingly positive. it's about 1:45 a.m. saturday morning. world same saturday that president obama and president rowhani had spoken on the phone late friday night. we tried to talk to as many as possible. every single iranian was ecstatic, thrilled. they loved the fact these two presidents had made contact. they view this as a golden

opportunity for washington and tehran to improve relations. one iranian i spoke with told us he wants his president, president rowhani to do whatever it takes to improve relations and get iranians out of this difficult situation. with that, he was referring too 34 years of economic, political isolation, the economic sanctions that iranians have suffered through. if this path continues, and if these two countries improve relations, obviously the iranian people have a lot to gain, but it's important to point out, it's important to remind everyone that 34 years of mistrust, of conflict, of bluster and finger pointing on both sides by politicians and leaders, is tough to overcome. there's going to be major obstacles ahead, but certainly a good start here, a positive start. presidents rowhani and president obama speaking on the phone the first time this has happened in more than a generation, wolf. >> on tuesday when they were both in new york, there was a

lot of speculation they would threat meals informally, have a handshake, a photo opportunities, if you will, didn't happen. the president of the united states wanted it to happen. the iranians said it was too complicated, they needed more time to prepared. there's a lot of spec thags that 9 hard liners didn't want the iranian president to meet with the leader of the evil empire. how will these rez susan rice just said it was hassan rowhani's idea for this phone call today? is it. >> reporter: obviously there are still a lot of anti-u.s. hawks here in iran, just as there are anti-iran hawks in washington. they are wary about the new moderate, centrist strategy. what's remarkable is the hard-line factions have been

relatively silent. we haven't seen any faction here in iran be critical of rowhani. some say that's an indication that the supreme leader behind the scenes had gathered the factions and told them to say united, essentially telling rowhani that this is your campaign, and do what you can, and we're going to back you. so hard-line factions remaining silent. wolf, what's critical to point out is that despied the opt such, iran's core issues when it comes to the nuclear program have remained the same. first and foremost, they are not going to stop what they call a peaceful nuclear program. they're not going to stop uranium enrichment. there's speculation they may suspend uranium enrichment at 70% or open up some of their militaries to perhaps broader inspections, but they have made it clear in these negotiations, whatever happens, they don't

want to be viewed as appeasing washington or backing down to demands. whatever they do, they want something substantial in return. they want to be treated as equals. they want their nuclear program to be recognized, maybe most importantly for iranians, they want some of those tough economic sanctions to be eased. >> reza sayah, thanks very much. up next in our "the situation room" special report is iran's president realy serious about better relations with the united states? i'll talk to a man who spend hours with president rowhani this weeks in new york. and the latest on the federal government shundown threat here in washington, the president's news warning to republicans, as the fight moves back to the house of representatives. i'm a careful investor. when you do what i do, you think about risk. i don't like the ups and downs of the market, but i can't just sit on my cash. i want to be prepared for the long haul. ishares minimum volatility etfs. investments designed for a smoother ride.

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so all you notice is relief. aspercreme. the presidents of the units and iran made contact in a historic phone call today, even though they never met face-to-face at the united nations this week. let's discuss what's going on with jim walsh. he attended four hours of meetings with president rowhani in new york this week. also colin call, a senior fellow at the center for new american security here in washington. all right, jim, four hours you spent with him? what do you think? is this guy for real? is it fake? what's your bottom line? >> i think, you know, actions speak louder than words. we'll have to see where it goes. we don't want the expectations too high, but what impressed me was not the phone call, which would be in the history books, probably, but what each

president said. president obama really puts it out there and says he expects, wants a comprehensive agreement. then president rowhani say the same thing in a private dinner event with me saying, he wants an agreement, he wants it quick, he wants to move, something to take back to the electoral there. that's both presidents say we want something. that's important when the top person makes that a priority. >> you recently worked, colin, as the depend assistant secretary to defense. do you believe the hard-liners in iran will be willing to give up any ambitions to have a nuclear bomb? >> i think that rowhani believes he has the leeway at the moment from the supreme leader. there hasn't been a lot of vocal criticism yet, but i say yet,

because the devil will be in the details. obviously the united states is going to expect some pretty stringent restrictions and pretty full transparency if we're ever going to move past this impasse. any restrictions would put them pretty far away, so it remains to be seen whether hard-liners would accept a deal like that, and whether -- >> if the supreme leader, jim, says it's okay to go forward on a more moderate, reasonable path in part to ease some of those painful international sanctions led by the united states again iran, then the hardliners will follow whatever the supreme leader tells them, right? >> i think that's right. i think the early indications that we've gotten is that the supreme leader is giving rowhani the chance here. that's what this is about. both sides want to move quickly. you know, let's have no delusions here, you know, colin is right to want to wait and see what the details are. i've been at this for more than

ten years. i've seen this movie before. there have been periods in the past when there was an opportunity to put things on a different direction, and one side or the other. both of them, one side or the other has missed that opportunity. that could yet happen. i must say -- i don't want to layer expectations on them right now, but i think the iranians are willing to do something on 20%, and on some of the other issues in meetings they mentioned a number of different things they would be flexible on, and so, you know -- this is as good a shot as we've had in a long time, so the main thing is let's not do anything to mess this up. let's follow this and see how far it goes. >> it's interesting when the president made the announcement, among other things he said throughout this process we'll stay in close touch with our "friends" and allies in the region, including israel. you know the prime minister benjamin netanyahu will be at the white house on monday. he addresses the united states on tuesday. i'm sure the israelis are pretty

nervous when they see what's going on in the beginning of a reparch moi. >> i think the israeli view -- there is no one israeli view, but to the degree twlz a dominant view, they have a lot of skepticism. i think the obama administration has the eyes wide open, too. a lot of effort has been put in to change the tone of the conversation to maximize the chances of diplomacy, but what we're not going to lessen the pressure on iran to move away from the nuclear weapons ambitions just through fancy words. they're going to have to agree to a meaningful agreement that puts substantial limits on their nuclear program. i think if they do that and the obama administration can communication that it's real, that the obama administration can walk netanyahu and others

off the ledge on this. >> thank you very much. good insight from both of you. when our special report continues, the other breaking story we're following, the loom ing i'll talk to a republican who was mocked by or for his words. michaela pereira is first. decades in the spotlight has given roger daltrey a lot of opportunities to work with charities, but after talking to his own doctor, daltrey found a unique need. hey. recognize that teenagers with cancer, there's kind of no provision for them. it has nothing to do with mod sin, but the environment. there's fabulous children's hospital, there's fabulous things for adults, but when you actually look at what a teenager is, which is neither a child or an adult, there's nothing.

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republican congressman who's also making some pretty brash statements claiming obama care is the most dangerous legislation ever, ever passed by congress.

welcome back to our "the situation room" special report. i'm wolf blitzer in washington. "crossfi "crossfire" won't be seen tonight so we can bring you the breaking news coversage of the historic phone call as well as the looming government shutdown. the president went in the briefing room to announce that phone call and deliver this warning to republicans here at home.