>> they did it against a bay area team, not turf. oh, my goodness. see you soon. two days to go now until the deadline to pay the nation's bills, and the government still shut down. tonight a boiling point as americans face dire warnings of a potential economic catastrophe. also, the real-life impact. mortgages, retirement accounts with b and the markets. d advice on how to survive it from suze orman. heart scare. what we're learning about the condition of president george w. bush that led to surgery and was apparently worse than first thought. and a day to remember in boston. a pair of comebacks for the ages, but the most courageous of all happened before the game started. "nightly news" begins now. good evening.

after weeks of paralysis, tonight there are signs that progress is being made toward a deal to get the government going again. still, that's been said before. the government remains shut down tonight. aside from all the talk, nothing has been done, and the big deadline is now just over two days away. that's when america loses its ability to pay all of its bills on time. that's the deadline the world is watching. even by washington standards, the anger and anxiousness are building tonight, as we begin here with nbc's kelly o'donnell on capitol hill. kelly, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. late developments. sources are telling me this is the closest that congress has been to resolving this issue. senate leaders have reached a framework of a deal that would put the government back in business through january 15th and let the federal government borrow money for another four months. but this is a senate deal so far. they'll sleep on it tonight. more finishing touches tomorrow. so it is not a done deal yet. on day 14, caution tape and

barricades did not keep out frustrated visitors at the national monuments. >> peanut butter and jelly sandwiches? >> reporter: while the president used the backdrop of a local food pantry to deliver a dire warning about what could happen if congress fails to let the federal government reopen and borrow more money by the thursday deadline. >> we stand a good chance of defaulting. and defaulting would have a potentially devastating effect on our economy. >> reporter: an unexpected twist. today the white house called, but then abruptly postponed a meeting with congressional leaders, who had signaled they were getting close to a deal. but away from washington, on the columbus day federal holiday, anger has grown. >> get back to work and make a decision and fix it. >> it's a disgrace. i think they should dismiss all of the elected officials, start from scratch. >> reporter: senators in both parties admit some damage to the economy is already done. >> i will just tell you, i'm

embarrassed. >> reporter: you're embarrassed? tennessee republican bob corker says this shutdown pain is partly because conservatives focused on the wrong issue. stopping obama care instead of reducing government spending. >> we missed the opportunity, two months of time went by while the wrong subject was being focused on. and to me, yeah, that's an embarrassment. >> reporter: minnesota democrat amy klobuchar. is it too late to stop some of these negative effects? >> i think you have already seen some of the negative effects. but it's not too late. the world is watching us. you can see the international market is jittery. you can see problems coming up. >> reporter: while in places like coral, west virginia, the consequences are here for furloughed worker kim thomas. >> yeah, that will put us behind. it will put us very behind as far as trying to catch up with bills, you know, because -- once you start that cycle of being behind. >> reporter: and so the breakthrough we're talking about is just a senate tentative agreement. we still have to hear from the

house. so far sources close to speaker boehner say they will wait to see the senate actually vote before they take any next steps. brian? >> kelly o'donnell, thanks. okay, so that's congress. the other component in this is the white house, of course. let's go to our political director and chief white house correspondent chuck todd. chuck, what do you have to report from that end of pennsylvania avenue? >> reporter: brian, the white house is sort of a bystander today. they really are allowing harry reid to do the work on the president's behalf. harry reid, the leader of the senate democrats. so right now this is a senate show. john boehner, the speaker of the house, is a bystander, and the president of the united states is somewhat of a bystander to see can the senate create a bipartisan deal. and brian, i feel like i'm being repetitive here. but this is going to look -- this feels like it's looking a lot like what happened at the end of 2012 when that big tax deal where the white house and the speaker of the house couldn't come to an agreement, and they had to let the senate do the work. now, if this senate deal goes into effect, realize this, brian.

it only keeps the government open until january 15th. the debt limit until february 15th. so what does that really mean? you and i both know that it's very possible on january 14th we're having the same conversation about wondering whether the government is going to shut down again, whether these republicans and the white house can get on the same page and do a big, large budget. and there is no proof even in this deal that they can pull that off. >> after two weeks of this, we all feel a little bit repetitive. chuck todd at the white house tonight. chuck, thanks. we touched on this earlier. this current showdown and this current government shutdown traces its history back to a determined core of gop house members who are vehemently against obama care and were willing to shut down the government because of it. these members happen to be from very conservative districts where they won by big margins, and their jobs are secure more or less. and in both parties, there are congressional districts that are set up by the states to keep the parties in power. but some believe if the system

stays this way, our politics will kind of stay this way. our report on all of it tonight from nbc's kevin tibbles. >> you're willing to bring this country to its knees! >> reporter: ever wonder how we got here? >> we did not elect a dictator. we elected a president. >> reporter: a good many fingers are pointing at this guy, founding father and massachusetts governor elbridge gerry drew this contorted district to ensure his party's victory in 1812. one political cartoonist likened it to a salamander. from that day on the practice of redrawing maps to find friendly voters has been known as gerrymandering. north carolina's 12th district looks like spilled coffee. pennsylvania's 16th is flexing its muscles. and one commentator compared maryland's third to a broken-winged pterodactyl. and then there is this. they call it the earmuffs. you may think i'm zipping along an eight-lane highway, when in

fact i'm traveling a single thread that links the two halves of the illinois fourth congressional district. >> the control of the house of representatives would switch from the democratic party to the republicans. >> reporter: when republicans won the majority of state houses in 2010, it ensured they would be redrawing the maps in those states. and lo and behold, it paid off in 2012. nationwide, democrats running for congress got 1.1 million more votes, but republicans sent 33 more members to the house. but it's not just republicans who draw safe districts. democrats do it too. in 2012, both republicans and democrats had a paltry 15% approval rating, and yet 90% of house members were re-elected. >> we have now created a system where politicians are choosing their voters more than voters are choosing their politicians. >> reporter: mathematicians using algorithms have proposed creating electoral maps based on geography and population to

eliminate the politics. >> if we continue to have a system which allows ridiculous folks to be elected, then we're going to have a situation where government actually just literally does not function. >> reporter: and on day 14 of the government shutdown, some may argue that's exactly what has happened. kevin tibbles, nbc news, hillside, illinois. now to some surprising revelations about the health of former president george w. bush. when news broke this past summer he had received a stent to unclog a blocked artery found during a routine physical exam, a lot of folks wondered openly whether or not he had been overtreated. well, tonight we know the answer is no. nbc news has confirmed a report in "the national journal" that the former president's heart problems were much more serious than previously reported, and he was, quote, very lucky that they caught it when they did. our report tonight from nbc's andrea mitchell. ♪ >> reporter: he was one of our most athletic presidents,

working out in the white house gym, jogging. >> sorry you can't join me! >> reporter: mountain biking both in and out of office. just this past memorial day weekend, leading wounded warriors on a 62-mile bike race in the texas heat at his crawford ranch. >> mountain biking is awesome. >> reporter: a month later he was in zambia on an african tour, all the while not knowing he was suffering from a silent killer, heart disease, until a routine physical in august just after he turned 67. mark mckinnon was riding with him in that bike race. >> frankly, i was shocked because he is ten years older than i am, and in a three-hour mountain bike ride, he left me in the dust and i'm in pretty good shape. >> reporter: what was described at the time as a routine procedure was a lot more serious. a coronary artery that was severely blocked and potentially life threatening before a stent was inserted to open it up. the lesson, other factors including years of unhealthy food choices can lead to heart disease, say doctors not involved in bush's care. >> exercise is not a guarantee

against developing heart disease. therefore, it's very important to keep in touch with our doctors to make sure our blood pressure, blood sugar, and blood cholesterol are regularly monitored and checked. >> reporter: bill clinton jogged, but even he had quadruple coronary bypass surgery in 2004, and two stents in one of his arteries in 2010. dick cheney, after decades of heart trouble, had a heart transplant last year. george w. bush has bounced back quickly after a surprising health scare. andrea mitchell, nbc news, washington. tonight just over a week after his dramatic capture in libya, one of the world's most wanted al qaeda leaders is on american soil here in new york, in fact. abu anas al libi, who was just snatched up in the special forces raid in tripoli is one of the alleged plotters of the deadly bombings of two u.s. embassies in africa back in '98. he had been on the run ever since. he is expected to appear in federal court tomorrow. well, the following scene

took place this weekend on iraqi tv. the man on the right of your screen is a political commentator taking questions from a panel. he is live in damascus, syria, when just behind him a car bomb goes off. he takes a moment, gathers himself before continuing. 27 seconds later on the broadcast, a second massive blast goes off. it was only after that one that he chose to end the interview and sign off from damascus, syria. weather is in the news in this country. after drenching and flooding rains in texas, organizers were forced to cancel the last day of the austin city limits music festival in austin, texas. the main venue at zilker park was flooded and vendor stands collapsed. the rain's also washed away homes in the area and led to evacuatio evacuations. south dakota continues to deal with a record-breaking early snowstorm that left ranchers dealing with catastrophic losses to cattle herds. the storm started with 12 hours of rain.

many of the animals could then not survive the 48 hours of snow, winds up to 60 miles an hour across the plain. many ranchers have lost half of their herds. a huge part of the economy, especially in the western part of that state. the lost aggravated by the fact that a government program to help them recover from loss has expired without a new farm bill to renew it. and over the weekend, that giant cyclone came on shore in india, as big as any hurricane to hit the u.s. in recent years. while the death toll stands at 21, there were millions of people in its path. the government there is being credited with a hugely successful evacuation plan that spared a much greater loss of life in india. still ahead for us tonight on a monday night, suze orman will be with us with the real life impact of this mess we're all dealing with from washington. and later, they're competing like cats and dogs for your movie dollars, and yet there they were coming together for a rare collaboration over the weekend. ♪

we are back now as promised with some answers concerning the justifiable fears a lot of americans have over their money right about now. unless there is a deal on this debt limit this week, 401(k)s, mutual funds, any money in the stock market could take a big hit. that's why we have asked the personal finance expert suze orman to join us tonight with some guidance. suze, the tentacles of this, when you stop and think about it, reach all the way down through american society. >> you betcha' it does. so everybody needs to be prepared, because what is important to understand here, brian, even if they have a deal, they have just kicked this can down the road to january or february. so you might as well use this advice to prepare for then, because it's going to happen at that time if not now. if you are younger, you have time on your side and you're invested in the stock market within your 401(k), can you just do me a favor and do nothing and stay there and keep putting your money in every single month.

if you think about it, when this happened in 2008, we went down considerably. if you had stayed in at that time, you would have quadrupled right back up here. so don't make the mistake that many people made in 2008. if you are older, however, retired, you have been forced into the stock market because interest rates are so low. where are you going get the income on your money? if you are in the stock market in high-yielding dividend-paying stocks or exchange-traded funds, you're getting income from your investments, stay put as well. because all you care about is the income. however, if you are in a bond mutual fund, a mutual fund that buys bonds, i would be getting out of that if i were you and going into either individual bonds or dividend-paying stocks. >> we've had a lot of furloughed folks watching us. i know that because we hear from them. today the department of energy put out a memo that said to all the furloughed employees, you can go ahead, and they recommend finding positions with coffee houses, book shops, clothing,

department stores, this is to make money as a second job. teaching things like yoga or foreign languages, and creative writing. for the folks who don't have the time or ability or the openings, what should furloughed workers, people affected by this know? >> you need to prioritize your debts and your bills. what should you pay and what should you not pay? obviously, keep paying your student loan debt, if you have it, if you're younger, because that cannot be discharged in bankruptcy. but if you are older and you really have -- you don't have that emergency fund that i've been asking you to have forever, look at your debts. look at your bills. and if the one bill that has to be sacrificed, because you can't pay it, it should be your credit cards, believe it or not. keep paying your rent. keep paying your mortgage. keep paying your car payment, but also understand that you have the ability to withdraw money from a roth ira if you have it at any time you want in your original contributions without taxes or penalties. so there are ways for you to get

money. >> now we have you on tape telling people to put things on credit cards. suze orman, good to see you, even under these circumstances. we'll take a break. we'll be back in a moment with a very close encounter in the state of texas.

showed you this before the break. take a look again. a fisherman on a lake in texas posted this video on the web. this is about as close as you want the bow of your boat to come. the lightning dancing on the surface of the water. we were only startled by the absence, the total absence of any profanity or even verbal exclamation in the background on the video. it's called holiday creep, and it stands for the earlier and earlier arrival of the christmas shopping season and stunts by retailers to bring in more shoppers. it appears macy's is about to break a 155-year tradition by being open on thanksgiving. at least some of its stores are apparently planning opening thanksgiving evening and staying

open for 24 hours straight. tom hanks may be captain phillips these days, but he is not too big to forget where he came from. he was a guest on the jonathan ross show, a talk show in the uk, and then the host unveiled the giant keyboard, which hanks just took to like in the movie 26 years ago. he was joined on the giant ivories by sandra bullock, who was on the show promoting her movie, "gravity." no more calls, please, we have a winner, and here it is. the loudest recorded stadium crowd in all of sports, arrowhead stadium in kansas city. those chiefs fans reached 137.7 decibels during this weekend's game against oakland. that is roughly the noise a jet engine makes at 100 feet away. seahawks fans were the proud holders of the earlier record. and this weekend's profile in courage was maickel melamed,

a 38-year-old venezuelan with a rare medical condition limiting his physical strength. he finished the chicago marathon after 16 hours, 46 minutes, crossing the line after 1:00 a.m., a full six hours after the last of the 40,000 runners crossed the line. about 100 people stayed up to cheer him on. by the time he finished the race, each the timing mechanism had been dismantled at the finish line. when we come back here after a break, a better than average sunday in new england. three comebacks in all, and all in one day.

finally tonight, though it might be tough for some of us new york sports fans to take, this was a great weekend to be a sports fan in new england. specifically in boston, where the major league baseball playoffs are in full swing. and it was a better than average weekend in and around that city. a lot of folks are still smiling tonight because of it after a pair of comebacks for the ages just hours apart. but as nbc's anne thompson reports, the biggest comeback of them all came right before one of those games. >> reporter: on sunday, when the patriots --

>> brady to the end zone and thompkins with a touchdown! >> reporter: -- and the red sox -- >> hard hit into right, back at the wall. >> reporter: -- staged improbable comebacks that today have the whole sports world talking, a little girl made a comeback of her own. 7-year-old jane richard walked to the fenway park infield to lead st. anne's church youth choir in singing the national anthem before game two of the american league championship series. ♪ o say can you see >> reporter: jane is now part of one of boston's best days after surviving one of its worst. on april 15th, jane and her family stood on boylston street, watching the finish of the boston marathon, just feet away from where the deadly bomb was planted. the explosion killed her 8-year-old brother martin, left her mom denise with a head injury and sight in only one eye.

her dad bill suffered shrapnel wounds, burns, and hearing loss. and jane lost her left leg. in the red sox first home game after the bombing, david ortiz, big papi to red sox nation, rallied a shattered but defiant crowd. >> this is our [ bleep ] city. and nobody going to dictate. >> reporter: last night they put the big man and the little girl in the spotlight again. with the bases full, ortiz unloaded, hitting a grand slam home run to tie the game. even one of boston's finest couldn't help himself. and jane richards stood on her prosthetic leg, lifted her voice, proclaiming this the home of the brave. anne thompson, nbc news, new york. >> again, sports is one thing. that was something else entirely. and that is our broadcast on this monday night. thank you for being here with

us. i'm brian williams. we, of course, hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night. right now at 6:00, we're following developing news that could cripple the bay area commute. tonight, two transit agencies are threatening to walk off the job. first b.a.r.t. and now ac transit. thanks for joining us on this monday. i'm raj matthai. i'm jessica aguirre. a developing story, the gloves are off and the behind the scenes negotiations appear to be stalled. with only six hours to go before a possible b.a.r.t. strike, officials are venting their frustrations, both announcing they're standing their ground. making matters worse, before 5:00, ac transit workers gave a

72 hour strike notice. that strike could begin thursday if a deal isn't reached by midnight wednesday. i want to show you what the rush hour traffic looks like on bay area freeways. it's not bad now, but can you imagine what that will look like by thursday if the agencies both are on strike? we go straight to nbc bay area's cheryl hurd tracking the negotiations and they both came out and started talking. >> reporter: yes, they did. it was a little bit shocking. everything that was said this afternoon has been said before, but what it all means is anyone's guess. just before 5:00 this afternoon, b.a.r.t.'s board of directors president had a prepared statement and he made it at the top of our newscast. he just wanted to make it clear that yesterday's final offer is just that. it was apparent that wrunions didn't want to be outdone. let's take a listen to both sides. >> we've been at this in total, though, for 150