♪ >> following the developing standoff on capitol hill over the -- >> the clock is ticking, but there's still no deal. >> six days to go before el reloj sigue contando los deadline day on the hill. >> hey, mr. speaker. >> brian. >> good morning. >> welcome to the capitol. >> just what you always wanted. to walk in the office and see us bright and early. >> mr. leader, how are you? good to see you. what is job one today as you come to work? >> we're going to try to find a way to keep the american people

from defaulting. >> this woman says, just get it done. work it out. >> we need to just get along. >> that's right. >> you're going to be on tv. >> they're trying to figure out how to thread the needle here. >> all right. you're out of here. >> what state do you represent? >> california. ♪ captions paid for by nbc-universal television welcome to the united states capitol where george washington laid the cornerstone of this building 218 years ago and where the great dome above us was still being worked on during the civil war and where this week you would have to say congress looked like it's still a work in progress. we received permission to do

this months ago, to come here and flood the hill with nbc news cameras and journalists, unprecedented access. this had never been done before. we did not know that our day to come here and shoot it all would coincide with this titanic battle and this toxic atmosphere over the fight over raising the debt ceiling of the united states, so what you're about to see from behind the scenes shows how congress works and how it doesn't work. we can guarantee there's never been a view of any of it like this before. here now, a day in the life of the united states congress. dawn's early light, wednesday, july 27th, 2011. ♪ it's a beautiful morning ♪cc1: and a small army of caretakers begins its appointed rounds before the guests arrive. slowly the volume of the day picks up. you begin to hear the first

telling clicks on the polished marble. the u.s. capitol is coming to life. >> hold on a second. >> today will be a bit crazed again. >> hey, are we going to do that again today? >> during our day-long visit, we will hear it all from the patriotic strings of a marine band concert on the back lawn. >> the house will be in order. >> to the sounds of the nation's business being conducted. at least what passes for it. >> political cat fight. >> the president is not as relevant as he was before. >> they ought to joust scrap the boehner plan. >> i'm not liking it. >> what are the president's plans? >> that simply just isn't right. >> it's an embarrassment. >> out of control. >> it's bizarro. >> i have had kidney stones that is are easier to pass than this. thank you, mr. speaker. i have a pain in my side. >> we're in for another day of fighting, finger-pointing, and fumbling as the clock ticks down to a national default, and these

men and women are playing with house money, and it's our house and senate. another day of anger for the american people. the focus of attention today, the office of speaker of the house john boehner where the headlines and the papers tell part of the story. >> we're told they are retooling their bill. >> a planned vote on the speaker's republican debt limit bill has been put on hold. the math is flawed, it turns out, and the speaker has to find more items to cut. >> try to get to yes. >> reporter: for democrats this opens the door for senate majority leader harry reid's competing bill. it sets up a clash of the d.c. titans. our cameras catch up with senator reid during his daily early morning power walk. at least that's how he refers to his workouts. a few blocks away in what could easily be mistaken for a capitol hill frat house -- ♪ come and knock on our door ♪ -- some of his top deputies are looking for a way to bring the democrats' plan back into the

picture. democratic senator chuck schumer of new york and george miller of california are roomies, sharing a home as a lot of people do here to save on rent. >> did you close up the cereal before you left? >> reporter: their other housemate, dick durbin of illinois is already at work. he got up early to talk to matt to throw cold water on speak boehner's revised debt limit bill. >> we've got to be careful that we don't fall into the fold. >> reporter: it's a deeply drived congress. republicans control the house. democrats control the senate, and nothing gets done until both chambers agree on what to do.

in the speaker's office spokesman michael steel makes the first of many pots of coffee. >> this is the best coffee in the capitol. the speaker is very, very particular about it. >> reporter: they need the jet fuel just to deal with the phones. they've been lighting up ever since president obama urged americans to call congress and complain. >> speaker boehner's office, how may i help you? >> reporter: a nice guy named tom andrews has the terrible job of phone supervisor in the speaker's office. >> there are 203 people currently on hold. they've been waiting to talk to mr. boehner. the longest person has been waiting 45 minutes. >> reporter: and in the speaker's political bat cave they follow twitter real-time. and they monitor every word coming from the white house. it's all part of the atmosphere that greets the speaker along with us as he arrives at the capitol to face his fellow republicans in an all-important meeting. you're going into your caucus

directly into your caucus meeting? >> oh, yeah. hello, everybody. >> reporter: wherever the speaker walks today and in the capitol you walk forever, he doesn't appear to be his usual self. ♪ big bad john ♪ john boehner, the plain-spoken man from ohio is under intense pressure to line up every republican vote he can get to get his revised bill through congress. by all accounts, the big meeting with his fellow republicans is tense. in no uncertain terms, the speaker tells hard-line conservatives who are in no mood to compromise to get in line behind his bill. ♪ everybody knew you didn't give no lip to big john ♪ mr. speaker, is it fair to say you have a bit of a rebellion on your hands, or do you feel -- >> i have a little bit of rebellion on my hands every day. it comes with the territory. >> you're not worried? >> never let them see you sweat. >> you don't look happy on the front page of the "new york times." it says "boehner's grip on his

caucus is put to test in standoff." feel like you're being tested? >> it is a test. this is a big step trying to get control of our deficit and our debt and trying to do it by the august 2nd deadline, so it's a big test. >> your job is to run your party, but there's another party in there too. you have this tea party caucus that didn't come to washington with the same values. >> no, it's not the tea party caucus. it would be more what i would describe as hard-line conservatives who want more. i don't blame them. i want more too. >> reporter: across the capitol in the senate, the top democrat says he is concerned about john boehner's leadership, and senator harry reid lays it on pretty thick. >> i'm disappointed. i care about john boehner. i think he is a good person. i have been disappointed that he has painted himself into this corner that the house of representatives is being run by

this tea party right wing, very conservative who are going around saying they want us to default on our debt. >> reporter: and the democrats are keeping up the pressure. >> all right. we'll get on the phone. okay? we're going to get on the phone. >> we're fighting mad, and we're fighting all the way for the american people. >> see if boehner gets the numbers right. >> i got to talk to you. >> reporter: senator schumer will talk to harry reid, his majority leader, 22 times before the day is out. >> harry wants to talk to me before lunch. >> reporter: including three so-called emergency meetings. ♪ yeah, yeah, yeah ♪ after the republican meeting the speaker's number two, majority leader eric cantor, insists the caucus is united and strong. >> we just had a very good conference.

the leaders are rallying around the speaker's plan. >> reporter: he has to get other >> we are doing well. freshmen if his bill it going to survive. we caught up with freshman kristi noem of south dakota in the house cafeteria. >> you go home to south dakota. what do you tell them because you know how disgusted and angry americans all seem right now? >> they are. we tell them that this is the fight that they sent us here for. you know, there are 87 new freshmen that came, and we came to change the way that washington, d.c. does business. i would love to tell them i'm working at it. >> compromise sometimes means compromise. >> it's not just compromise. it's common ground. >> reporter: she's due in the speaker's office later today. she'll be looking for common ground. he will be looking for her vote. among the chandeliers and the priceless works of art, for all the talk of reform from the newcomers around here, changing an institution as old as the congress is easier said than done. for one thing, the sheer size and scope of the place. if you move the white house from

across town, you would see it's easily dwarfed by the capitol and the surrounding office buildings for all the members, and the place is filled with 30,000 plus people who work here, whose loyalty is not only to the lawmakers, but to the rules, the routines, and traditions that have survived over the centuries. you might be happy to know there is one point of agreement in this house divided. it's this man, the embodiment of bipartisanship. the house sergeant at arms, bill livingood, appointed by democratic and republican speakers. >> here's the sergeant at arms. >> mr. speaker, the president of the united states. >> the old andy warhol quote about 15 minutes of fame, you get about five seconds. you probably had a total of 15 minutes, but you get about five seconds a year. >> that's correct. >> reporter: it's livingood who

carries the ceremonial silver and ebony mace into the house of representatives in the start of every day's session. it's always in the chamber when the house is in session. he is a retired secret service agent. he was on duty in dallas the day kennedy was shot. he has seen the house through 9/11 and the whole new world of terrorist threats. >> i really believe in my heart that it's my family, and i honor and i protect him. not only the members and the senators and the constituents and the visitors, and that's a passion i have. almost a mission. >> reporter: the problem is if you ask the american people right about now, the place sure seems to be going to the dogs. >> are you being well taken care of? >> reporter: coming up, we'll t meethe 101st senator. meet the 101st senator.

look at where we're entering now, flanked by washington and jefferson.cc1: this is the center of it all. we're beneath the capitol dome,

the most visible manifestation of government in washington. this is the rotunda, 180 feet from top to bottom. this spot is the center of the u.s. capitol, the neutral zone, the switzerland of this building because when we pass from the house chamber into the senate chamber, we are passing into a different world entirely. ♪ the capitol may be one building, but it's two very different institutions. where the house is rough and tumble -- >> i will not yield to the government! >> hell no, you can't! >> reporter: the senate prides itself on collegiality. and decorum. >> mr. president -- >> mr. senator. >> i say as respectfully as i can to my senior fellow from kentucky. >> i thank the presiding officer. >> congratulations. >> reporter: representatives

have two-year terms. senators are elected for six. bills in the house can pass by a margin of a single vote. >> the yeas are 60. >> reporter: in the senate anything of substance requires 60 out of 100 to sign off. and this divided congress has never seemed more divided than it does today. >> this place is functional at this point. >> reporter: senator joe lieberman, a democrat turned independent, who has announced he is in his last term, doesn't think there will be a debt ceiling deal today. >> right now i don't see a clearcc1: path to avoiding default. >> reporter: in fact, by mid-morning on this wednesday it's all anyone is talking about across the senate. >> perhaps it's coming to a pivotal moment. >> mcconnell wants to have a vote maybe. >> reporter: and across the airwaves. >> remember that there will be just a few days or hours left. >> i would prefer that we would cc1:

just raise the debt ceiling clear. >> either way the man of the hour is mitch mcconnell. >> reporter: and this is mitch mcconnell. >> good morning. how are you? >> reporter: you may recognize him from his unsmiling, unyielding, on-message appearances before the microphone of these past few days. >> playing with fire here. >> reporter: mitch mcconnell of kentucky is the republican leader in the senate. >> what a lovely suite of offices. >> reporter: nothing gets through the senate without bipartisan support. in order to get the debt ceilingcc1: plan or any other bill to the president's desk, it's got to get through this man who has quite a reputation. >> so the media portrait of mitch mcconnell is the guy says no a lot, stays on message, he keeps his politics pretty close to his vest, and he doesn't waste a word if he doesn't have to. do we have you pretty accurately? >> sounds pretty accurate to me. >> all right then. ♪

but pursuing an agreement in this vast complex isn't just politically tough. it's physically punishing. >> there are also more marble steps in this city than seemingly anywhere else on earth. >> reporter: the building favors natural climbers and house majority leader eric cantor may be one of them. >> reporter: on a normal day he makes his way up and down the same 36 steps to the speaker's office easily a dozen times, but this is no ordinary day. the speaker's plan still hangs in the balance. ♪ >> reporter: cantor is just one of 535 elected members of congress, but anybody here will tell you it's the staffers that keep this engine running. every day thousands of them motor through these marble halls often teetering on footwear better suited a fashion runway than it is the real world.

♪ nothing so to see here, people. go back to your lives and your lunches. and budget battles are fought daily. especially in the cafeteria. $5? that's federally subsidized lettuce? >> lunch and dinner. >> reporter: there's barely time to eat as staffer rs keep busy ushering their bosses to and from meetings, often briefing them on the fly. one thing they lot of here are meetings, and meetings can break out like flash mobs any time, anywhere, in hallways flanked by steam pipes. >> that's the only other option. >> in offices. >> it's hoping on the floor. >> reporter: and on the phone. this is probably a good time to introduce the one individual widely recognized as the senate's unofficial 101st member. this bichon belongs to the chairman of the budget committee, north dakota senator kent conrad, and is he aptly named dakota.

♪ >> who is better dressed, dakota or kent? >> dakota. >> dakota. ♪ >> that's a beautiful dog. it really is. >> reporter: those bells we hear all day are part of an elaborate system of alarm clocks and buzzers around the building designed to keep members on track to vote. >> dakota, welcome. come on in, dakota. kent, you stay out. >> reporter: when the buzzer goes on, members hustle to the floor. congressional gridlock all along the route and in the elevators. an underground rail system was first installed a century ago to expedite their journey. >> the subway is more like a quaint, antique toy train. it's more disneyworld than it is new york, more mr. rogers than buck rogers, but there's no fare, trains run all the time, and it gets you there. it does the job. >> reporter: on the day of our visit, no one is going anywhere

in the house to vote on the debt ceiling. >> it's going to be much later than i thought. >> reporter: the speaker has yet to win enough support to get his bill passed. coming up, so how can republicans whip their caucus into line? >> you don't have a water >> no. >> no.

>> it's going to be much later

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good use. he told me about his bunkmates and how he signs up for every activity. ♪ ♪ he even hangs out with the camp director. just like that. [ male announcer ] the new citi thankyou premier card gives you more ways to earn points. what's your story? citi can help you write it.cc1: de muchas maneras nuestro di >> reporter: in a lot of ways our day on the hill ilot of others. there are hear meetings and newnces, but we happen to be here during e most toxic standoffs of the modern era, and the stakes co >> nice to see you. >> reporter: it's been said democratic senator chuck schumer has never met a television camera

he didn't like, and today just before noon he makes his way he senate preo make some news. how many times does he have to the extreme is caucus to please them? >> reporter: word has gotten that the house republicans at their members only meeting the night before showed a movie clip as a motivational tool. it was from the gritty and violent ben affleck movie "the town" and it eventually volumes hockey masks and baseball bats and tons of bullets. >> i need your help. >> literally in the movie the protagonists say people are going to get hurt, but they have to go ahead ladies and gentlemen, this is your house republican majority. the knit picking has got to stop. >> reporter: the man who showed the clip is california

congressman kevin mccarthy. >> italy while ago senator schumer took you to task for a movie clip you showed to your caucus meeting. you're smiling. why? >> because we're sitting in the middle of a debt limit, of a jobless crisis, and he spends his time to go after a movie clip in a meeting he was never even in. that's what's wrong with washington. >> reporter: mccarthy says he has no regrets about showing the movi would do it again. >> you may be a republican. rat. you are an amirst sxushgs ought to stand up, and it may take a little f get it done. >> repore years in the house mccarthy has made a meteoric rise to the critical leadership position of majority whip. >> so this is the whip, and you are the whip. >> that's right. ften.>> reporter: it's his job to keep republican members in line, to line up the votes and count the votes and that includes the cc1: new wave of freshmen tea party members. >> if i'm on the fence, what do you have to offer me? >> all the information and why ood

policy. >> but, i mean, what do you have? >>nged. in the old days they offered a lot of different things. earmarks. that world changed when we took the majority. >> ya water project to offer me or -- >> no. >> no dam or nice highway o >> the world oare gone. >> reporter: today his schedule is filled with a steady stream cc1: of members filing past his staff and the meetings.cc1: the republicans know time is running out to get boehner's bill passed. every vote counts. >> thank you. >> reporter: the whip needs to know what's on t member and one of them wants to give us a piece of his mind. >> so about 50 minutes ago we got a tweet from congressman brian billbray of california. it reastop by rayburn 2410 to learn about what my constituents have to say

since the president's speech."cc1: this would be the office of cc1:cc senator bilbray who tweeted we should stop by. brian williams.cc1: nice to see we're not ambushing. the congressman tweeted us to is he in? >> yes. excel >> how area. >> do you have a second? n in. >> we asked for an earful, and we get it. >> thank you for your tweet. all right. ll me what they're saying in the land of surf boards. >> they want us to -- want to take care of the prob the problem is not just single facet for the first time. >> reporter: it pretty much goz from there, but bilbray isn't one of the problem children for what about those mccarthy needs to >> we have the floor just work its will. >>umber he needs to reach? 216. he is confident he will get there.

mccarthy's o the republican party of old with a definite nod to the new. behind his desk a photo young guns, as they're called, the new leaders -- cantor, mccarthy, and house budget committee chairman paul ryan. they're marketed as young and brash and they have maiden mys and at times that has included the president. > good for this economy nding that barack obama's programs are >> how heated has it got news 10 your time with the preside >> it's gotten heated. i mean, i think that we always have a cordiality present. obviously, you know, the coerves a lot ne. his agenda is focused on his d his party's view. obviously, i have different views. >> reporter: and sometimes during this crisis those views have caused friction with speaker boehner as well. but americans are exhausted by

all of it, always the back and forth, and they just want to see both parties arrive at a deal. the speaker's staff is working get one thing. they know it's going to mean more heavy lift and by lunchtime they're already hunkering down for a long night ahead. >> i think we're ahead of ourselves. >> reporter: for another top cc1:cc1:cc1: aide to the speaker, a momentary break in the action allows time to call home and talk to his wife. >> i haven't seen ellen for about a week because she's always in bed when i leave and cc1: again when i get home. >> reporter: for these staffers life has become groundhog day. >> we're looking at another late one tonight, i'm sorry to say. >> reporter: coming up, we learn thlobbyists can come in all shapes and sizes.

>> reporter: in a place like congress where change comes slowly, shelly moore capito is very proud of one thing. because men still way outnumber women in this institution and because she was tired of walking halfway across the building to use the bathroom, she points to this as a big victory. it's a bathr the house. >> the big difference, of course, is right here. four stalls. >> reporter: while it is just a bathroom, it's also a big deal, and the male speaker john boehner helped make it happen. and if nothing else, the bathroom may be one of the few places on capitol hill where a ber of congress won't be button holed by a lobbyist. there are 11,000 registered lobbyists in washington. that's roughly 22 for every

the hill is positively crawling with them, and the lobbying business in this congress has been good for business interests and billionaires. on the day of our visit members of congress and their staff members are treated to a free lunch courtesy of the american meat institute, serving up what they know best to an audience hungry put out. we also learned that lobbyists come in all shapes and sizes. my own business in the house cafeteria, i am amazed at how much the little kid who approaches me in the darth vaderfit looks like the little kid in the darth vader vw super bowl ad who uses his powers and his tiny little hands to car, or so he thinks. then i learn this is the little kid from the commercial. >> get out of town. that was i saw on tv? the people yo

capitol hill. >> reporter: his name is max page. he is 6 years old, and to millions of people he is the little darth vader. >> oh, i'm getting your autograph. is that what's happening here?etting your autograph. what are you? are you lobbying congress? what's the deal? >> i'm here to fight -- to fight 's hos >> reporter: max had a congenital heart defect. ith a pacemaker, and he is here lobbying for children's hospitals o of other kids. >> oh, you're very welcome. >> reporter: we later see him in congressional o same day. >> all right. it's even signed by you. >> reporter: he is a small part of an enduring right ofcitizenship. >> hi, senator. >> reporter: the american people can come here to petition their overnment representatives for whatever cause they like.nd out while walking these halls with house ratic leader nancy pelosi, for the folks who

just come here to see the place with no cause in particular, it sure helps t be in the right place at the >> we should turn around and ene. >> i oking at >> no, they're not looking at me. >> where are you from? >> texas. >> texas. what's your name? >> oh, my -- >>k around. >> reporter: not far away congressman john lewis is showing constituents around his office as he has been doing for he has anw of all the new folks who have arrived in congress. as a young man, john lewis was beaten tf his life during t struggle. that fight, he has been in congress a quarter century and feels he has learned a lot of lessons unlike many of those arriving now. >> elected to city council,

school board, and some of them are still going through those moments and days of believing that they d a revolution and to get something accomplished you got to be willing to compromise. >> reporter: lewis is talking about the tea party freshmen on capitol hill. many o came to washington by running against washington. some of whom are worried about getting re-elected, but changing washington while they're here. >> every day we get closer and closer to a cri >> reporter: 12:00 noon in the hot sun. republican senator ram paul and others in the tea party speak to a small rally, but big enough to make cable news. their message? no compromise. the gop goal of 216 votes is g tough. >> certainly will be more informaembers. >> reporter: back in pelosi's office, she's already talking

about what the impact ultimate deal will be. >> a liberal member said to me his fear is the poor are going to get hurt and the rich are going to get by without harm in this. is that your fear? >> well, my concern is for the great middle class, and we want to have a resolution of this that is for 100% of the american people. the reo have a resolution that is for the 2%.r: it's now 1:15. the house and senate have been in session for more than three hours. the house republicans who walked >> reporter: the speeches go on c-span, but the real work is ne off the floor in various offices. >> it definitely has a sense of momentum heading in >> reporter: it's been a hard uphill slide, but by the time john boehner and eric cantor convene a weekly meeting of gop house freshmen, their mood has lightened considerably. there is still serious horse trading

to be done with these members to secure their support, but our cameras won't be allowed to see that. >> all right. get out of here. >> reporter: meanwhile, on the e capitol, democrats huddle with harry reid just off the senate floor to plot their next move in pushing their plan for avoiding a government default. at 2:30 p.m. two white house emicaries, budget director jack lou and rob neighbors arriv the senate majority leader's office for a strategy session and once again the doors are closed to us. ♪ >> reporter: the stakes are high. now cnbc is reporting this idlock seeing is rattling nerves on wall street. >> now a sharp selloff of amidst uncertainty washington. >> reporter: the dow is down nearly 200 points. the mood in the room is grim.

coming up, the senate sends the speaker of the house a dear joher.

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>> reporter: as our wednesday on the hill starts to wind down, mientras nuestro mie both sides in the capitol's epic fight over this debt limit seem more entrenched than ever. speaker boehner pays a visit to the top republican in the senate to give him an update. the two big questions hanging in the air -- will house

republicans whip enough votes to bring their bill to the floor, and how will democrats in the senate respond? illinois senator dick durbin, the senate's number two democrat, spends his afternoon shuttling between his office and the majority leader harry reid's suite. durbin seems to know how all this looks to the american people. >> it looks like we're not acting as grown-ups. ♪ >> together again. the band. >> reporter: there are three senators that are proud of their grown-up relationship. they jokingly call themselves the three amigos. john mccain, joe lieberman, and lindsay graham. two republicans and a democratic leaning independent from connecticut. they thoroughly bonded over the years, and they bemoan the sorry state of this place. tell me why and what we've seen today and what we've seen in this debate over the debt ceiling this city, this institution isn't flat busted

broken? anybody want to make that case? >> well, it is, but here's what happens. you get here, you got to raise money, sign pledges. if you're not independently wealthy, you wind up signing your discretion away, and when cc1: you get here and reach across that aisle, you'll come back with a nub. >> reporter: with only six day togs go before the deadline, these three mostly watch from the sidelines. but on the day of our visit, cc1: mccain decide he has had enough with the tea party members in his own party and he heads to the senate floor to say so. >> to hold out and say we won't agree to raising the debt limit until we pass a balanced budget amendment to the institution. it's unfair. it's bizarro. >> reporter: back with the democrats, their number two, senator durbin, is still working the stairs and strategy on a bill. >> it's changed four, five times today, and it's going to change some more before the end of the day. >> you're going to be on tv. >> reporter: at this point in

the day dakota, the dog, may have the best read on where all this is headed. he has clocked as much time in meetings as any senator, including the committee chairman he is tethered to. in senator harry reid's office the democrats have cooked up a plan to try to make a big statement. senators are summoned to the leader's office to sign their names to a letter telling the republican speaker of the house they have the votes to kill the bill when it gets to the senate. all 53 members of the democratic caucus sign on. that's rare, and it's very rare to get to witness it. and for all the americans clambering for congress to get together and compromise, there's nothing for them here. what will the united states senate do today, this day, wednesday, in july of 2011 for the american people? >> well, let's hope that in the next many hours, not very many

hours from now, that we're able to announce that we've worked something out. >> reporter: it doesn't happen. back on the other side of the rotunda republican leaders are selling hard trying to win conservative support for boehner's plan. with each passing hour they grow more confident, but any bill the speaker manages to pass is still going to need the president's signature. >> when we last spoke, i asked you about your relationship with the president, and you were -- you were honest. you almost seemed to lament that it wasn't closer, and you mentioned your shared passion, your love of golf. well, that has changed. you had what looked like a pretty good outing that day and probably it wasn't a moment too soon. what's your relationship like with the president now? >> clearly it's closer now than it was at the first of the year when i was a brand new speaker. frankly, we get along fine, but the disagreements are clearly there. we're able to talk about our differences.

>> reporter: except when they aren't. as the president famously complained to the nation just days earlier boehner didn't return his phone call to talk about the debt crisis. >> i have been left at the altar now a couple of times. >> reporter: the speaker knows how closely he is being watched while trying to suppress a rebellion in his own ranks, and he clearly has his game face on for our visiting cameras. >> it's been a tough week. as i told my members yesterday and today, i'm a happy warrior. i am a happy warrior. >> reporter: cue the delivery from another warrior on the other side of the capitol. there goes the letter from the democratic leader signed by all the democratic senators and hand delivered in an envelope to the speaker's office by senator reid's closest aide. it's now 7:00 p.m. wednesday evening, nine hours after the

house was gavelled to order. majority leader cantor is upbeat. >> i'm feeling very good about where we are. >> reporter: but should he be? >> boy, we're making a mess of this place. >> reporter: coming up next, lessons we learned at the capitol. >> try the chicken wrap. it's fantastic. it's fantastic.

>> reporter: so what have we learned?3 our visit was on wednesday. that boehner bill we tracked all day never made it to a vote. then just hours ago tonight, the two leaders of the senate took to the floor and announced the frame work of a deal. the president entered the white house briefing room and sounded relieved and optimistic. >> it will allow us to avoid default and end the crisis that washington imposed on the rest of america. >> we have not learned with serenity when the votes will be. other things we did learn on our day on the hill.

first off, it's a young person's game. someone once called washington an office of student council presidents and ha is true. flocks of young people come here for little or no pay as pages, interns and aides and sometimes they run for office. they blow off steam at night at bars called the hawk and dove. the lawmakers offices are a reflection of them. some of them feel you are walking into e allen. and some of them have things from their home state. and there are the terps, from maryland. to an outside visitor from this place and to the americans watching, one word coming to mind. >> broken.

>> broken. >> broken. >> busted. >> this place appears broken. >> busted. >> but at least the coffee makers work. >> would you like coffee? >> this place runs on coffee. gallons of it in every office. lanchly because there is no time to make a starbucks run. house speaker john boehner's smoking habit continues to fascinate and confound -- >> are they editing out all the smoking? >> reporter: an increasingly health conscious nation's capitol, the rare smell of cigarette smoke greets you the moment you enter his suite of fiss. and listen to how boehner's senate nemesis finds a way to casually mention it while showing off a painting of mark twain in his office. >> be careful with it. for example, speaker boehner can have none of the pictures in his office. why do you think that is? >> i have no idea. >> he smokes. >> oh, my goodness.

had to work that in here. ♪ why is everybody always picking on me ♪ >> reporter: and with smoking at an all-time low, it is interesting that the pillars of two branches of our government have a history of smoking in common. and where there's smoke, there's fire, and some things need to be burned. while walking with the sergeant at arms, bill livingood, i saw a familiar sight from my washington days.cc1: >> i know a government burn bag when i see one. this is for all the secrets. so secret, can't go out in the trash. it gets burned at the end of the day. >> reporter: we also learned doors are highly important to the folks around here. we were told our shot through the house chamber doors was the first time such a thing has been allowed. and one is never allowed to shoot pictures of the senate chamber doors, though those just might be them in the background.

>> excuse me, senator conrad.cc1: i have my own camera. >> reporter: no one had ever attempted to bring 30 television cameras on the hill at once, andcc1: while we were largely welcomed, not always. it's clear they are used to doing business here outside of camera range. >> oh, sure. can we -- >> reporter: of all the offices we wanted to be sure to make a stop here, congressman gabby giffords. while her desk is empty as she recovers in houston, her office is up and running. her staff is here and during our visit they were teleconferencing with the field office in arizona. then there's the architecture of this place that can be seen not yet finished in the time of lincoln. we learned this is where the supreme court used to meet. this is where samuel morse sent out his first telegraph message. there are blood stains still on the stairs from when a reporter

shot a former congressman in 1890. then there are the hallways themselves. miles of marble. they never stop. >> a half mile walk every time. >> reporter: nor does our own kelly o'donnell who long ago learned the trick to covering the hill. >> i have to change my shoes over and over. the marble floors are so tough. i'm constantly switching to flats, and it isn't just me. members of congress do it all the time too. >> reporter: and while the american people are disgusted with congress these days, they can't wait to get here. tourists pack the place every day from every state and every country on earth, and they leave here impressed with the building at least. ♪ and with the free concerts on the lawn by the marine band, music beautiful enough to distract you from what's going on in the building behind them. ♪ and so that is our look at a day in the life of this institution. there's more on the web, by the