what is unquestionably the case is when people talk about prioritization, they are talking about default by another name. when people talk about paying some bills but not others, they are talking about entering a realm that this country and this government has never been in, which is picking and choosing who gets paid. and when they get paid, and that has tremendous negative consequences for our economy, not all of which are noble beyond the fact we know they're bad. >> do you have a game plan? obviously this is no longer hypothetical. there's a real possibility congress doesn't act whatever the deadline exactly is. do you have a game plan what to do? >> this is something that the treasury department would have jurisdiction over so i would rier you to treasury. >> one specific question, this idea of suspending the medical device tax, i believe it's been referred to as a ransom payment and part of this deal. the speaker's office is saying that this idea was actually proposed by white house staff in negotiations last week. is that true or not?

>> that is not true. what we have always said is that discussions of the medical device tax or other elements within the affordable care act that lawmakers want to talking about in an effort to improve the affordableable care act we are willing to have. but not as in. the context of or as ran some for opening the government. that is why a provision like that appears in latest proposal that seems to be going nowhere from house republicans because it's an effort to try to buy votes from tea party republican who's shut this government down in the first place. >> they're not telling the truth about that? >> again, the conversations that have been had here and capitol hill about the medical device tax as far as we're concerned have been about our willingness as the president said and others in a broader context, not ran some for opening the government, not ran some for congress doing its job to pay our bills but within the context of the president's willingness to hear ideas about ways we can improve

supposed to ways to dismantle or defund obama care. we're willing to have that. the president is not going to pay ran some you know, from the american people to the tea party in order to open the government. >> reporter: pin you down a little more closely. thursday, the speaker's spokesman says specifically that a white house official asked or refor repeal of the medical devices tax. >> that's just not the case. >> not saying it's in connection with any other part of the plan but simply that it was asked for by the white house. >> you're saying that separate from anything the white house proposed a change to the affordable care act? obviously that's not the case. the issue of the medical device tax has been obviously in the air for the last several weeks. and when i've had this question and others have taken this question, we have made clear that we would be willing to talk

about lawmakers who want to address that position, that provision as well as other ideas that lawmakers might have about making changes to the affordable care act that strengthen it or improve it. when it comes to the medical device tax it's very important to note that those who portray themselves as paragons of fiscal responsibility and discipline often propose making that change without acknowledging the packet that it would raise the deficit. so that's an important point to acknowledge too, but again, we have never said that and we would agree to paying ran some you know, making changes to the affordable care act simply to placate tea party republicans who shut this government down over their opposition to the affordable care act. >> thursday's meeting -- >> i think i've answered this three times. >> no one asked for repeal of the medical device tax? >> correct. >> what about -- >> go ahead. >> there are people on wall

street and in washington who speak openly about the real crunch point being november 1st supposed to thursday, the 17th. >> as was made clear to congress in a letter from the treasury secretary, on october 17th, we cease toef have borrowing authority. we only have cash on hand. as everyone knows who understands how the process, would, that means we do not -- there is a scenario by which we will not be able to pay all our bills because of the fact that we need to borrow money in order to pay our bills. these are bills congress has incurred, obligations congress has made. this is not new debt or new spending. there's a lot of misrepresentation of that by those who claim that they came to congress with a mandate never to raise the debt ceiling. because that has nothing 20 do with spending.

okay? it is just. >> it does have to do with the feeling the obligations like social security and other payments come due on november 1st. >> what i can tell you is that we have a huge number of payments as a country that need to be made every day. and that there's a series of obligations that the united states government has to fulfill. for details how that process, would, i refer to you the treasury department. but if anybody -- we've seen a lot of talk from deficit -- not deficit but debt limit deniers and default deniers. they have been roundly shot down that talk has been by experts in the field, including ceos and financial industry experts including many of whom i think tend to have the ear of republican lawmakers. it is absolutely not the responsible thing to doing to allow us as a nation to enter --

to enter territory we've never been in before which is to not have the authority to pay our bills. >> jay, thank you. nice to talk to you. >> reporter: i wanted to ask you about the president's role in the final hours. yed, there was supposed to be a meeting with leaders in both parties. today his schedule just has house democratic leaders, not both parties. senator mccain has been. critical in recent days of his own party and said they need to come to a deal. a short time ago, he said it's a mistake for democrats to reject speaker boehner's latest proposal. he said said a serious proposal. so my question is, does the president plan top, a, let the congressal leaders work this out in the final hours or does he see his role in the final hours because this is so critical as you say, that heal play some direct role in trying to force a deal? >> i have no doubt the president will be in contact with congressal leaders of both

parties as this continues. we postponed the meeting yesterday because of the progress that was being made in the senate. so the -- it is the president's intention and it's reflected by the meetings and conversations he's been having with leaders as well as the fact that he invited every member of congress to the white house last week for discussions on this issue to engage directly with lawmakers as they try to resolve this issue and try to do it in a way that hopefully reflects the bipartisan spirit that we've seen in the senate process and we continue to hope that that will bear fruit and will produce something that can in the end lead to a resolution that opens the government, provides the authority to the treasury for the united states to pay its bills so that we can then focus on some of the bigger issues that we face as a country instead of getting distracted by these manufactured crises that

only do harm to the economy, only do harm to the american people and apparently according to a lot of republican commentators do a lot of harm to the republican party. we need to get beyond this for the sake of the country. >> two other quick topics on some of the big issues you're talking about. nsa, "washington post" has another revelation saying the nsa is collecting e-mail contact lists not just of foreigners but americans. how do you justify that you? >> as you know, i'm not in a position to discuss specific tools or processes. as you know, the national security agency is focused on discovering and developing intelligence about valid foreign intelligence targets such as terrorists, human traffickers and drug smugglers. they are not interested in personal information about ordinary americans. moreover, they operate in accordance with rules either approved by the attorney general or the foreign intelligence surveillance court as appropriate designed to minimize the acwhich question

significance, use and dissemination of any such information. so again the purpose here is to discover and develop intelligence about foreign intelligence targets. that is the mission and the purpose of the various methods that the nsa employs. >> but part of what you just said, they're not interested in the private information of americans except "the washington post" says they collect the telephone numbers of americans, street addresses, business information, family information. so doesn't that contradict what you're saying? >> now they've moved on to in over important issue. we'll monitor what they say about the nsa and the latest report in the "washington post" about the nsa going ahead and monitoring some u.s. phone lists, chat rooms, other stuff like that. we'll have much more on that part of the story. but the most important story here in washington right now clearly what's going on as far as the debt ceiling needed to be raised. and the partial government

shutdown is concerned. now in day 15. you just heard jay carney say the white house likes basically what they're hearing from senate democrats and republicans but doesn't like be what they're hearing from the republican leadership in the house of representatives. looks like there's some serious problems under way right now, just 4 hours or so until this deadline is reached when the nation's debt ceiling needs to be raised. and nap navarro is a cnn political commentator who is joining us right now. you see light at the end of this tunnel over the next 48 hours, anna, or is this gloom and doom? >> you know, i don't feel it's optimistic it's going to be a quick resolution as i did yesterday. i do see some light at the end of the tunnel. i do think it is a serious proposal by boehner. i think the senate also put up a serious proposal. i'm not hearing the white house say dead on arrival. they're continuing to say we need to analyze the bill. we haven't seen the language. so it's not the flat no. we have definitely come a very

long way from where we started 15, 16, 17 days ago, would ef. >> do you think that john boehner is under enormous pressure from the tea party supporters in his republican caucus, do you think he at the end of the day, let's say the senate passes something and it's september over to the house. he would allow it to come up for a yes or a no vote without net additional strings attached and see what the majority in the house of representatives is willing to do even if that irritates some more conservative tea party supporters in his caucus? >> i don't know. what i do know is that today, john boehner can say to that tea party caucus what he couldn't say two weeks ago, three weeks ago which is look, guys, we've tried it your way. we've gone around in circles trying this over and over again. and we haven't gotten anywhere. it's time to try something else. he can say that because he has bent over backwards and he has

tried tactic after tactic for the last two weeks. he can also say this is buying time for a bigger negotiation. this is not the last time we're going to bat, you know, these are short-term fixes. the government, the budget until january, the debt ceiling until february. so it requires further negotiation. or, wolf, he can say to the white house and to the senate, look, this is my last and best offer. you'll either take it or not. i think the white house, the senate would be smart to meet john boehner halfway. and then let's buy the time, let's avoid the debt ceiling default. and let's have more negotiation. but if john boehner is asking for two years of the medical device tax for the love of god, give him one. we're talking about something that's 79 senators agreed with. the repeal of that tax. john bane ser not asking for the repeal of that tax. he's asking for two years delay.

does that sound irrational? i don't see why we have to continue this posturing. both sides aid need to come to the table and need to be rationale about a real solution and do it quickly. >> thanks very much, and nap navarro assessing for us what's going on based on our latest reporting i should say. ana, thanks very, very much. less than 35 hours till the debt see skoog deadline. is there real progress today on what's going on? deal or no deal? we'll have live reports from the white house and capital right after this. when we land, but i am so stuffed up, i can't rest. [ male announcer ] nyquil cold and flu liquid gels don't unstuff your nose. they don't? alka seltzer plus night fights your worst cold symptoms, plus has a decongestant. [ inhales deeply ] oh. what a relief it is. [ inhales deeply ] make my mark i wawith pride.ork. create moments of value. build character through quality. and earn the right to be called a classic. the lands' end no iron dress shirt.

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so i know how important that is. nthat's why they deserve... aer anbrake dance. get 50% off new brake pads and shoes. the clock is ticking the pressure building to break the fiscal stalemate here in washington. right now there are competing plans in the works to try to resolve the crisis. harry reid says he's confident a senate deal can be reached this week. but the house is working on a counter proposal right now. the plan by reid and the minority leader mitch mcconnell would fund the government through january 15th. budget negotiations would take place by december. it would raise the nation's debt ceiling through february 7th and it could include some minor tweaks to obama care. the house proposal would include much of what's in the senate

plan with even bigger changes to obama care. it would for example, suspend the tax on medical devices for two years and remove health care subsidies for the president and members of congress. just a little while ago, oo the house speaker john boehner said he's trying to find a way forward that avoids a government default. >> there are a lot of opinions about what will direction to go. there have been no decisions about what exactly we will do. but we're going to continue to work with our members on both sides of the aisle to try to make sure that there's no issue of default and to get our government reopened. >> all right. so that's just part of the story. let's fill in some of the blanks right now. senior white house correspondent jim acosta and chief congressional correspondent dana bash standing by. dana, let's start with you. the senate deal, the house deal, they're on the table right now. any votes coming up as far as we can tell any time soon either in

the house or the senate to deal with these pieces of legislation? >> nothing is scheduled right now, but all eyes are on the house first. let me just tell you what is going on as we speak. i'm in the senate side of the capitol. behind me, there are two lunches, weekly lunches going on, the democrats are meeting in one room, republicans in another room. republicans were supposed to get a fill and they probably still are from the republican leader mitch mcconnell on the deal that -- at least of the framework of the deal he worked out with the democratic leader harry reid late yesterday. this was where the action is. but as you just mentioned this morning, the house speaker and his republican leadership came out and said that they or at least they didn't come out but it was telegraphed to us they were telling rank and file in a private meeting that they were going to have their own competing plan, but it hit a snag. that's where we are right now, very much in a holding pattern. the snag is that the house

republican leadership right now the is struggling to find the votes from within its own caucus. they don't have 217 votes locked up from republicans which is what they would need to pass this version of a plan, which is to fund the government through january 15th to raise the debt ceiling till february 7th and also as you said, deal a little bit more robustly with changes in obama care, conservatives are saying that's not good enough. what we are told is that they're trying to figure out inside the walls of john boehner's office right now how to placate those conservatives, whether to try to placate those conservatives or just put it on the floor and hope it pass. the earlier word was that the house was going to vote tonight. it is now up in the air whether or not that's going to happen and more specifically, secretary what they are going to vote on. but just in terms of process which is really, really important now that we're just two days away from this deadline of october 17th when the u.s. treasury says it going to

default, having the house go first now senate sources are saying in both parties is really critical because it can move faster. the process just allows for it to move faster. starts in the house and comes to the senate. if it starts in the senate, we are told it is just more likely we'll blow through the thursday deadline, not entirely sure, but it is more likely. that's why waiting on the house, seeing if they can cop up with the 217 votes, even if it's something democrats are blasting on the senate floor might be procedurally something that benefits everybody. that's what we're waiting to find out right now. >> we'll know soon enough. thanks very much. don't go too far away. jim acosta is over at the white house. jim, if it the white house is ready to accept some relatively modest tweaks in obama care that the senate republican and democratic leadership apparently have come up with, the house wants 0 go a little bit further, but in principle, is the white house ready to accept some changes to obama care no matter

how moderate, how reasonable they might be in order toet go the government fully operational and raise the nation's debt ceiling for a few months? >> i think that's right, wolf. one thing you heard during the briefing with jay carney a few minutes ago is that the president is pleased with what is coming out of the senate right now, but they were willing to heap all sorts of scorn and criticism what was coming out of the house. listen to what jay carney just said about the plan coming out of the house. >> we cannot engage in a process here that then becomes normalized where a minority in congress, a faction of one party in one house can threaten the full faith and credit of the united states if it does not get what it could not get through the normal legislative process or through elections. so you know, those are the stakes when it comes to the

essential responsibility of congress to ensure that the department of treasury can pay our bills. >> so interesting to note the juxtaposition, wolf. we haven't seen the final details of the senate plan, but the president is pleased with the progress in the senate plan. the white house has also not seen the details in the house plan but they see some of the elements as trying to extract some sort of ran some from the president. i think just to boil town to the brass tackles here, wolf, i think what is going on here is the white house is just saying no to the medical device tax. that was not in the senate plan. as it came out yesterday evening, at least the boiler plate framework of the senate plan, but it is in the house plan. the senate plan doesn't extract ran some according to this white house. the house plan does. i think that is the crux of the issue. if the house can dispense with a delay of that tax, we might be heading towards some sort of deal. also interesting to note what we

also heard from jay carney during an briefing when it comes to the debt ceiling, jay carney said during that briefing the i'm for unsent has passed. basically, what the white house is signaling at had point and something that harry reid said on the senate floor earlier today is that we may be in sort of this danger zone, this red zone now. we've gotten too close to the debt ceilinging to avoid any kind of ramifications in the short term, a credit downgrade, what have you. it was curious to note jay carney using that sort of language. he was kicking everything over to the treasury department in terms of prioritizationsization. jay would only say prioritizationsization, picking and choosing which bills to pay after the debt ceiling when they've run out of borrowing authority, priorization equals default. he wouldn't say which bills would get paid without the bottom really falling out. interesting to note he said the time for uncertainty has passed. that is not good language to come out of the white house

right now. >> the harry reid had a very ominous statement. i'm going to play it for viewers when we come back about a possible downgrading of the xwrus credit rating. much more of our coverage right after this. ♪ norfolk southern what's your function? ♪ ♪ hooking up the country helping business run ♪ ♪ build! we're investing big to keep our country in the lead. ♪ load! we keep moving to deliver what you need. and that means growth, lots of cargo going all around the globe. cars and parts, fuel and steel, peas and rice, hey that's nice! ♪ norfolk southern what's your function? ♪ ♪ helping this big country move ahead as one ♪ ♪ norfolk southern how's that function? ♪

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still have about a day and a half until we hit the debt ceiling according to the u.s. treasury department. that timetable got a jolt on the senate floor today. listen to this. >> mr. president, the debt is here. the deadline is looming. rating agencies are talking about downgrading us as early as tonight. >> as early as tonight. so harry reid says this could be an all of all of situation as early as tonight. let's talk about that very ominous statement with our own richard quest who is joining us from new york. is he right? coo there be a downgrading of the u.s. credit rating as early

as tonight, richard? >> i don't know whether it could be as early as tonight but it's certainly true if you look back at 2011, one of the reasons that the u.s. was downgraded from its aaa was not just because the debt ceiling became very close, the deadline, but because of the political paralysis. if you look back at what the rating agency said, it was the inability to reach compromise that took it to the edge that was one of the principal reasons. indeed, in hindsight that was justified because the great committee that was put together failed to reach an agreement, and if you listen to what they're talking about now, the idea of coming to some long-term budget or fiscal agreement, the rating agencies would say, well you didn't do it last time. why should we have any doubt or belief you'll do it this time. i've been looking at numbers which makes the point very clear. if you look at the u.s. treasury's website and some

numbers aren't updated because of the shutdown but you do see on the daily cash management list that the treasure treasury is now running $20 billion, $30 billion a day it has. it closes the account at the end of the day. compare that to last year, wolf, the treasury was closing the day with $60 billion, $70 billion a day. what's happened is they have pulled down and down and down. this is exactly what jack lieu was warning about. they have been moving the money around. they have been robbing peter to pay paul and now crunch time has arrived. the treasury will have roughly $20 billion to $30 billion a day and that won't be enough by the end of the week. >> they downgraded the u.s. credit rating in 2011 after a similar showdown between the obama administration and congress. the republicans in congress specifically. even if a deal gets done in time, let's say in the next day

or two or even three, would you anticipate that the rating agencies might also once again further downgrade the u.s. credit worthiness? >> for those that didn't come off the aaa, yes, i would think there's a very strong chance because you can't mess around. i mean -- let's be clear, i'm not sitting here forecasting that moody's and the others will immediately come off and say the the aaa is gone. for those who held the line and didn't move off, they would certainly be looking at it engo, not because they believe there's any long-term default opportunity. this is a case of won't pay, not can't pay. and there's a big difference from the rating agency's point of view. you're not going to get a d and default but you are going to pay a price. there will be a spike in bond yields. there will be a spike in

mortgage rates. everything that's interest rate related will eventually feel the effects of what's take agplace. >> richard quest, thanks very much for that will analysis. it's a tire situation right now. they've got to do something, these house and senate members. appreciate it very much. a new plan from house republicans not well received right now by the white house or some democrats in the senate and some republicans at the same time. so where exactly does the speaker, john boehner, go from here? gloria borger is here to discuss the next steps when we come back. those dreams, there's justo way we're going to let them die. ♪ like they helped millions of others. by listening. planning. working one on one. that's what ameriprise financial does. that's what they can do with you. that's how ameriprise puts more within reach. ♪

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washington is a city that often runs on power struggles, especially on capitol hill. now with the senate closing in on a possible deal, house republicans have stepped in with their own proposal. let's discuss what's going on with our chief political analyst gloria borger. speaker boehner, he's still got some major problems with his more conservative tea party supporters. they're not exactly thrilled with this latest offer that he has put forward. >> they think it's too soft. they think it doesn't contain enough on obama care, for example, which is why they waged this entire fight. and i think you know, the hell know caucus said hell no to the speaker. he's got a decision to make. does he try and strengthen it? send it back to the senate knowing full well it's going to be stripped to make those guys happy or does he call a vote? hoping he can actually cobble

together enough republicans and democrats to make it pass? i mean, you know, these things tend to fall apart a couple times before they come together in my experience, but the clock is ticking. there isn't a lot of time. public opinion headed in the wrong direction. people are appalled what they're seeing in the congress and so the speaker's got a really tough decision to make, but i suspect this will go back and forth a couple times before resolution. and could continue late into the evening and throughout the night. >> it looks like the republicans in the house they just want something to be able to show their constituent ancy i 15 days of a government shutdown, this whole fight they got something involving obama care, if you will. they're saying at least give us a delay for two years in the medical devices tax which a lot of democrats support as well. 79 senators, democrats and republicans voted for it in the senate. >> my administration sources tell me that the medical device tax right now is a nonstarter. at some point down the road if

people want to discuss what 20 do with the medical devicetach, that's fine. but not tached to any of these -- >> but they are willing to attach some other minor tweaks in obama care. >> the minor tweak would be that lawmakers and elected officials would not get subsidies to buy into obama care. that's kind of hard 0 vote against, wolf. you know, it's sort of like a lawmaker saying okay, it's made for a campaign ad. he voted for his own subsidies that you don't get for obama care. you could see it. so it's kind of hard to deal with. and some will clearly vote against it because they don't want to touch obama care, but that's the one area that i might see there could be some agreement on, and it's hard for me to see how the white house would object to that because it doesn't really do anything to what they call the integrity of the affordable care act. it just says that lawmakers would not be given subsidies to

buy into it. >> if it boils down to the government is shutdown because the president is refusing to budge a little bit on these medical devices, a tax on that, the whole country is going to explode because what so many democrats themselves would like to see go away, that tax on medical devices? >> right. they would eventually, and i guarantee you, wolf, they're going to come back to it at some point because it does have a lot of support from democrats in states particularly where those medical devices are made. but i think on then particular measure, the president has said no budging. you may be right. we'll have to see. in the end, i think that there are lots of republicans, particularly in the senate, who are saying after 15 days of this, what have we gotten? what have we gotten here? >> they want something and they're basically saying to the president, give us a little something. >> but they're also saying we've

dropped 20 points in the polls. we -- people don't trust us. and we're not getting much out of it anyway. so get it over with because it hasn't done the republican party as a whole any good, wolf. i would argue that it's done them some real harm. >> all right, we'll see what happens these negotiations coming down to the wire. i should say. >> stay with us tonight. >> we'll be watching. you'll be back in "the situation room" later today, as well. the house speaker john boehner got some support today from the arizona republican senator john mccain inra, on the senate floor, senator mccain called boehner courageous. he blasted democrats and the obama administration for rejecting the house plan. the final house plan to resolve this fiscal standoff. >> for the majority leader and the democrats in the house and the white house to say absolutely categorically not we will not consider what the republicans in the house of representatives are doing in my view is piling on.

it's piling on and it's not right. so i urge my democratic colleagues let's sit down and work this out. you've got a proposal from the house. we have a proposal between the two leaders. and let's get this resolved. to categorically reject what the house of representatives and the speaker is doing and i think it's pretty courageous qua what he's doing in my view is not serving the american people. so let's stop this. sit down, consider the speaker's proposal, get our proposal done, and then get this resolved which we could do in the next 24 hours. >> senator mccain urged the white house and democrats to stop the condemnation, his words, and consider the republican plan. he says it's a serious plan. certainly he says it's a basis for some sort of deal. we'll see what happens. investors are weighing in once again today on what they think

of this debt ceiling talk situation here in washington. their impatience clearly growing. we're going to check the markets when we come back.

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as the stalemate here in washington continues, the markets reflecting that frustration. the rally we've seen in the last few sessions has ground to a halt. there you see the dow right now. take a look at it, dow jones industrials down 60 points or so right now. zain asher is over at the new york stock exchange. so zain, are investors reacting to the lack of a deal, fears that a deal might not be coming forward? what's the mood up there. >> the mood is a lot of people can't believe we only have a day and a half left and estill have nothing concrete to go on. there's a lot of frustration when you talk to people downstairs, traders are telling

me they feel as though they have their hands tied and the market is being held hostage. investors are scared to make decisions. no one wants to be caught off guard. things are volatile. lows last week, highs last week, today the dow fell 85 points at one point. it moved into the plus column. yesterday the dow fell 100 points and ended higher. there really is only one story on wall street. nothing, not even earnings from big names like citigroup is driving trading. traders are telling me they're having trouble concentrating on anything else till all of this is over. >> we've also been hearing a lot of warnings from major ceos up in new york how problematic washington gridlock is turning out to be for them. is there an indication already that it's affecting business, big businesses hiring people to come to work for them, expanding, investing? is there any indication along those lines?

>> well, listen, uncertainty is never good for business. like investors, companies are also feeling the need to play it safe. companies are sitting on $1.8 trillion in cash, basically $500 billion more than five years ago during the height of the recession. all of this uncertainty in washington and with this idea of continuous short-term fixes a lot of people are asking how on earth are businesses that depend on government contracts like lockheed martin and united technologies supposed to make hiring decisions when they know they'll come up against another brick wall in a few months? i think it is certainly having an impact on business and consumer confidence, as well. >> zain monitoring what's going on on wall street for us. zain asher, thanks very much. while time is of the essence for a deal on the debt ceiling, even if a deal is reached, still a long way to go. we're taking a closer look at the road ahead when we come back. when you're merging onto u.s. cover your ears...

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so there's a lot going on here in washington right now. the road ahead could be particularly complicated and frustrating. prine todd is here watching what's going on. brian, give us a little sense of what lies ahead. >> we're hearing today even if a deal is reached today, which it may happen, that getting that grand bargain between president obama and the republicans for a budget deal that's really kind of going to last for a while, not very likely. president obama actually relayed some of this frustrations self days ago about kicking the can down the road. he's blaming republicans for that. here's what he had to say about that. >> house republicans need to stop careening from one crisis to another in everything they do. have you noticed that? since they've taken over the house of representatives, be we have one of these crises every three months.

have you noticed? and you keep on thinking, all right, well this is going to be the last one. they're not going to do this again and then they do it again. >> so president obama blaming the house republicans in particular for one crisis after another. but about objective be analysts you speak to say there's plenty of blame to go around. the democrats dig in, president obama saying he won't negotiate. what we're hearing is even with a deal reisached today, you've t house republicans who are dug into this no new tax pledge. that's the key here. you're not going to get the grand bargain on the budget because they're going to refuse to raise taxes because they know conservatives in their home districts will work against them in their next primary challenges. on the democratic side again, the democrats and harry reid and the president think they've got the upper hand on the republicans as far as the overall political scope of the country and so they are less likely to negotiate. a lot of analysts are saying

deal or no deal today, you'll still have the crises down the road. >> you've been speaking to a lot of experts. is there a long-term way out of this crisis situation. >> david gergen respected on both sides of the aisle told me today it's going to take, after this deal is reached just recede for about a week then really start to negotiate. president obama and joe biden have to be involved actively. he says house and senate republicans have to be at the same table. is that going to happen, though? some people believe it's not going to. again, when you've got some of these conservatives in these safe districts who are just -- have to stick to their pledge not to raise taxes or they could be fearful of re-election, that's going to be tough down the road. >> todd, thank you very much. dozens of veterans meanwhile very angry about the partial government shutdown. they rallied at the national world war ii memorial here in washington earlier today. the group wanted to draw attention to what veterans will

face if there's no deal. the department of veterans affairs says it won't be sending out more than $5 million in benefits checks starting november 1st. here's what one veteran who attended the rally thinks about that. >> just crazy is what it is. >> politics. >> absolute politics. >> all politic. >> they forgot about the people. i had buddies that are -- i got buddies names on that wall over there. this is ridiculous. >> the amount of that pay and benefits for veterans adds up to more than $6 billion. two weeks after its launch, the obama care website still plagued with serious problems. when we come back, we'll hear about how there were plenty of warnings out there that the site wouldn't be ready for action. i'm beth...

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risk includes possible loss of principal. former san diego mayor bob filner pleaded guilty to three charges today, all related to sexual harassment allegations that drove him out of office. filner admitted to one felony count of false imprisonment and two misdemeanor battery charges. the pleas were part of an agreement with prosecutors. filner, also a former nine-term democratic congressman, resigned from the mayor's post in august after at least 19 women accused him of sexual harassment. since it was launched more than two weeks ago, the obama care website has been plagued by serious problems. some people are still having trouble signing up for an account, even getting on the site. today we're expecting an update from the federal government on how healthcare.gov is doing. in the meantime, our drew griffin explains there are serious warnings that the site would have a big problem. >> since day one, cnn's senior

medical correspondent elizabeth cohen has tried day after day, night after night, even in the wee hours of the morning to sign up for obama care. it was not until day 14 she could finally log in. >> you know, even with your own computer, you have to be incredibly diligent. i mean, i sat there and tried to log in three times and failed and had to create three new accounts in order to get success. it took a lot. not everyone is going to want to game the game the way that i did. it took a huge amount to get in today. this was on day 14. >> what's troubling here is that the failed rollout wasn't a surprise to anyone involved with it. >> insurance executives have been warning the administration bluntly that this whole system is not ready for primetime. >> bob laszewski heads a group that tries to help physicians in the changes. >> they didn't seem to understand the seriousness of

it. they continued to assure the industry that there weren't going to be any problems. >> back in june, two more alarms. the government's own accounting office found the rollout was having technical problems, critical deadlines not met. one report concluded that despite the $394 million spent, nevertheless much remains to be accomplished within a relatively short amount of time. in fact, even before the rollout, the obama administration behind the scenes was warning there would be glitches. no big deal. a theme even the president himself repeated once the rollout got off to a troubled start. >> consider that just a couple weeks ago apple rolled out a new mobile operating system. within days they found a glitch. so they fixed it. i don't remember anybody suggesting apple should stop selling iphones or ipads or threatening to shut down the company if they didn't. >> the main problem with the system, according to the administration, is it is just

overloaded, suffering from its own popularity, too many people in need of health care rushing to sign on all at once, even though they have until march 31st to sign up. that sounds good, but is it what's really going on? short answer, it's impossible to tell because the administration won't tell us how many people have signed up and have changed their story in the process. at first the administration said it didn't know. >> 48 hours, no, we don't have that data. >> then we were told to ask someone else. >> you should ask hhs. i don't have a number. >> a few days later, wait a month. >> i want to clear this up. we will release data on regular monthly intervals just like was done in massachusetts and just like what was and is done when it comes to medicare part d. >> so while we can't get the national numbers, we got a hint by calling individual states. as of this monday in the 14

states in the district of columbia that have their own state health care run exchanges, we were able to get the actual numbers of people who have signed up and paid for obama care. that number, 20,994. there are another 96,980 signed up who have not yet paid. drew griffin, cnn, atlanta. >> we're going to continue to watch this story as well. later here in "the situation room," a major debate coming up. congressman steve israel, a democrat from new york, will debate daryl issa, a republican from california. that debate coming up at 5:00 p.m. eastern in "the situation room." in the meantime, we're watching all of this news. i'll be back later today. thanks very much for watching. "newsroom" continues right now with brooke baldwin. >> wolf, thank you very muff. i'm brooke baldwin. thank you for being with me. in just a couple minutes, some inspiring news out o