on this edition of sunday, september 29th, all signs are pointing to a federal government shutdown. we'll have the latest. >> there's not a whole lot happening behind the scenes. leadership in both parties are not really having conversations with the white house. all weekend this was more an issuing of statements back and forth. the president had a veto threat of what the house passed saturday night. >> in our signature segment, should undocumented immigrants benefit from lower in-state college tuition rates? >> we have people struggling that are hard-working citizens, new jersey citizens, where do they fit into this? and helping consumers make sense of the affordable care act. next on "pbs newshour weekend." >> "pbs newshour weekend" is

made possible by -- the miriam and ira dean wallach bernard and irene schwartz. roslyn p. walter. corporate funding is provided by -- mutual of america. designing customized individual and group retirement projects. that's why we're your retirement company. additional support is provided by -- and by -- the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. this is "pbs newshour weekend." >> good evening, i'm hari sreenivasan. thanks for joining us. the budget impasse continues and a federal government shutdown is now set to begin in a little more than 24 hours. today, a top democrat said the partial shutdown is all but certain.

>> we know what's going to happen. tomorrow the senate will come in session, the house position, which is basically the same one they sent us the last time, is going to be rejected again and we're going to face the prospect of the government shutting down come midnight monday night, tuesday morning. >> durbin warned a government cloture would create hardships and jeopardize the snags's economic recovery and blamed houmgs republicans for tying the fate of the budget to the health care reform. >> if there's to be a constructive conversation about the future of health care reform, it's going forward. i fully support that, but let's sit down in a bipartisan and calm way, not with the prospect of shutting down the government or shutting down the economy. >> the first portion of the divided question is adopted. >> this morning, the house once again passed a budget that would curb the affordable care act. the senate already rejected the idea friday and even before the

house restored it early this morning, harry reid said the house version of the bill had no chance in the senate. reid did not call the senate back into session today, a move ridiculed by house republican speaker john boehner. in a statement, boehner said, if the senate stalls until monday afternoon instead of working today, it would be an act of breathtaking arrogance by the senate democratic leadership. i call on the democratic leaders of the senate to act today on the measure passed by the house last night and urge senators on both sides. aisle to listen to the american people who do not want a shutdown or the president's health care law. texas republican senator ted cruz also blamed reid for the impending government shutdown. >> if harry reid causes a shutdown, that would be a mistake. but that is his position. >> so where's it go from here? we're joined from washington by christina.

while we've seen all the talk on the sunday morning shows, what's happening behind the scenes, if anything? >> there's not a whole lot happening behind the scenes. leadership in both parties are not really having conversations with the white house. all weekend this was more an issuing of statements back and forth. the president had a veto threat of what the house passed saturday night very late in the evening. and harry reid, the senate majority leader, said they would absolutely not accept what the house passed. so everybody is waiting for the senate to return to washington and come into session on monday at 2:00. >> what happens at 2:00? first, with the senate and then the house and maybe the white house. >> what harry reid will do is not accept any changes to the president's health care law. there were really three things that the house did on saturday night. the senate will be able to dispatch of those through a couple of procedural votes, even though there's republican support for a few and house republicans are saying some senate democrats might be able to support some of the changes to the health care law. that's not going to happen. so then you end up having the

senate pass a bill that would allow the troops to continue to get paychecks in the event of a government shutdown. everybody says that's likely to pass to protect the troops, then you'll have them probably send yet another bill to fund the government back to the house. meanwhile, the clock continues to tick. there will only be ten hours left until a shutdown when the senate comes in. >> say a shutdown happens. how does congress undo it or get over it and create some sort of a stopgap measure? >> well, there's not a lot they can do. they could pass a new bill to fund the government for a few days or a week. again, you keep hearing this term "clean continuing resolution," meaning it doesn't have policy attached to it, just a matter of funding the government to keep it going. there's not a lot of interest in doing that because there's so little time, so they want to work something out. again, it's a pretty short-term bill. right now, the house passed a measure to fund the government

through december 15th, on friday the bill funded through november 15th. >> also, how does this tie into the debt ceiling? we have that other deadline in mid-october, that's much earlier than these november and december deadlines these guys are talking about. >> what house speaker john boehner really wanted here was to use that argument, the debt ceiling argument, to negotiate with the president about a bigger series of cuts, about changes to the president's health care law, delaying it, and his conservative members really saw what senator ted cruz was able to do on the senate floor and generate a lot of national attention, really capitalize on the antihealth care sentiment in the nation, so they said this is our moment, let's have this fight here. they want to possibly shut the government down, as we're talking about, in this fight. in that debt ceiling fight, which will happen no matter what, the government will reach that debt ceiling on october 17th. they are trying to attach other things to it.

the president says he won't negotiate there. the republicans are trying to say, well, you negotiated with us previously on this same issue. >> it comes down to a couple of central characters. where does this leave the president and also john boehner? >> i think you'll probably hear from the president by monday. he's going to be, again, saying he doesn't support what the house has done, going to be saying the senate is the one that passed the bill that he supports that just funds the government and takes care of basic services. john boehner is going to have to make yet another decision, does he put this quote, unquote, clean continuing resolution to fund the government before his membership and hope that the democrats will join him in supporting this and avoid a government shutdown? it's not impossible for this to happen before midnight on monday, but it is less and less likely. >> and what are you hearing from staffers? are they optimistic something can be worked out? are they just enjoying a beautiful sunday and saying this is going to be a horrible monday? >> no, everybody's working around the clock on this. they are trying to have some

sort of solution, and there's a lot of talking points going back and forth. the bottom line, a lot of capital hill staffers won't be paid. they will be able to be forced on furloughs, a lot of things will happen in washington, d.c. to effect the way they try to do their jobs. >> all right, christina from washington, thanks so much. >> thank you. in what amounted to a bit of broadcast diplomacy, secretary of state john kerry sat down with "60 minutes" today to describe what it would take for iran to avert a military showdown over its nuclear program. kerry was in an interview with scott pelley, airing tonight. >> they could immediately show a secret facility, underground in the mountains, fortified and unquestionably not something that a peaceful program would be doing. they could offer to cease voluntarily, to take enrichment above a certain level, keep it

at a very low level, because there's no need to have it at a hire level for a peaceful program. a number of things, scott. >> the united states will not lift economic sanctions against iran until the iranians prove they are not developing nuclear weapons. the iranian minister said iran is prepared to make its nuclear program much more transparent. >> the best way to ensure that iran's nuclear program will always remain peaceful is to make sure these scientists operate in a facility or facilities that are observed by international observers, monitored by the international atomic energy agency -- >> including surprise inspect n inspections? >> oh, yeah. >> reports government officials missed warnings from their own intelligence agencies before the deadly terrorist attack last weekend. kenyan officials today urged the united states to lift a travel warning issued to u.s. citizens, fearing it will damage the country's billion-dollars a year

tourism industry. the attack led to 67 deaths, another 60 people are unaccounted for. muslim extremists responsible for another terror attack in nigeria. authorities say as many as 50 college students were shot dead as they slept in their dormitories. the attack occurred in a part of a country now in a state of emergency. nigeria is africa's most populous country, with nearly 175 million people. an important economic development today. in china, the opening of a free trade zone in shanghai. chinese officials say the move will expose some chinese businesses to foreign competition. among the two dozen companies approved to begin operations were microsoft and citi bank. important medical news from holland. a top oncologist says an experimental drug being used to treat lung cancer patients is

what she called, quote, a game changer. the drug is a form of immunotherapy that mobilizes the body's immune system to fight tumors. burke and meyers-squib are said to be developing similar drugs. finally, the olympic torch was lit today and on the way to sochi, russia. the torch was lit in the city of olympia, where the first olympic games were believed to have been staged in 776 b.c. ♪ of course, one of the big sticking points in the budget talks in washington is whether congress should fund the president's signature piece of legislation, the health care overhaul known as the affordable care act. tuesday, as you know, is when insurance exchanges are set to open across the nation, but

three and a half years after the bill became law, millions of americans say they are still confused by how the legislation will affect their lives. to try to help clarify, we're joined now by sara cliff. thanks for joining us. first of all, exchanges on tuesday, who does it effect? >> it's actually a very small group of americans. the white house expects that about 7 million people will buy insurance on these new exchanges where people who don't have insurance right now can go and compare plans and potentially purchase an option. and the people who are not affected are people who get insurance right now through their employer, people who are on medicare or medicaid or a number of other government programs. >> and that's the vast majority of americans. >> it is. we're actually talking about a pretty small segment of the population for all the debate we're having here in washington at their height, the budget forecasters estimate that about 7% of americans will use these exchanges. so we're talking about a sliver of the american population.

>> and this might be a question into sort of retail psychology, but are people likely to sign up and purchase something so far in advance, because they don't technically have to have insurance until next year, right? >> everyone i talk to says that they are not, although the exchanges open on tuesday, don't expect a wave of enrollment. the white house has been again and again in recent weeks saying this is a six-month open enrollment and october 1st is the very first day, but we're not expecting people to sign up until maybe december or march when open enrollment ends. >> so the administration has gone out and made these simple, easy to understand analogies, it's like comparing prices on kayak.com or expedia. is it as easy to compare health insurance and exchanges as it is to purchase a plane ticket? >> you know, i don't think it will be. and i think that makes sense. buying a health insurance policy is more complex in a bigger financial decision than buying a

plane ticket somewhere and you're dealing with complex terms like copayments and deductibles that the people i talk to on the grounds and the states that are setting this up, they sometimes worry when we compare it to a plane ticket that you're setting expectations too high. it might take a number of people a few visits to the website, they might need to find in-person help. the expectation is it will be more complex than buying a plane ticket. >> and what's behind a recent surge in corporations using the aca as a tool to reduce the amount of coverage they are providing their employees? >> you do see this a little bit. i wouldn't say it's a surge quite yet. but you see limited stories, trader joes, for example, the grocery store, decided its part-time employees will no longer get benefits. the calculus on the part of trader joes and other companies is that now people can get subsidized insurance from the federal government and no one will be denied coverage for a

preexisting condition and that means they can shift some of their costs towards the federal government. there's, obviously, a lot of frustration with the trader joes employees, other employees of companies that have done this, but i do think you'll see more companies moving in this direction now that the individual market doesn't have preexisting conditions or won't starting in january. it's a more appealing place for employers to move some of their workers. >> and is the exchange the place that people could go to get additional help if they need it or additional coverage? >> yes. so if you're buying insurance for yourself, say you don't have insurance right now or you're no longer going to get coverage, starting on tuesday individuals can go to the marketplace, they can create an account, and basically look at different insurance options. if you're below a federal income, the government might give you subsidies to help buy it to make insurance more affordable. >> thanks so much for joining us. >> thank you for having me.

check to see how affordable the affordable care act is in your state. use the online comparison at newshour.pbs.org. ♪ and now to our signature segment, original, in-depth stories about important but often underreported topics. this evening our focus is on education, on something known as tuition equity. it has to do with how much undocumented students should pay to go to college. should they get the same in-state tuition discount that their classmates receive? it is not part of education legislation now stalled in congress, so many states are tackling the issue on their own. new jersey is one of them. "newshour" correspondent rick carr reports. >> reporter: according to the

law, cynthia cruz is an undocumented immigrant, a mexican citizen living in the united states. according to cruz, new jersey is home because it's where her parents brought her when she wasn't even 2 years old, and mexico is very far away. >> i don't remember anything about it. i don't remember how it looks. i don't remember where i lived, where i was born, anything. all i know is the american culture. >> reporter: cruz says american culture taught her that the key to success is education. so after high school, she went to a law school community college, and then last fall to rutgers, new jersey's flagship public university. her goal was a degree in public policy, but after only one semester on campus, she had to dropout because she ran out of money. as an undocumented immigrant, she couldn't get financial aid from the state, and she had to pay higher tuition than other new jersey residents. if you're a resident of the state of new jersey, the tuition and fees for one year as a full-time undergraduate at

rutgers is just over $13,000. if you're not a resident, it's going to cost you twice as much, nearly $28,000. and that's the amount that students who are undocumented immigrants have to pay, even if they lived the vast majority of their lives as residents in the state of new jersey. they support a bill in the state legislature that would allow them to pay the in-state rate. the idea is called tuition equity. 14 states have passed similar laws, from connecticut to new york in the east, to california, washington, oregon, and most recently colorado in the west. but there's also been a backlash. indiana banned tuition equity. wisconsin repealed it. and the texas law that first provided tuition equity to undocumented students turned into a political liability for governor rick perry. >> i got to be honest with you, i don't see how it is that a state like texas, to go to the university of texas if you're an illegal alien, you get an

in-state tuition discount. do you know how much that is? it's $22,000 a year. and why should they be given preferential treatment as an illegal in this country? that's what we're saying. >> cynthia cruz says she isn't asking for preferential treatment. for awhile after she dropped out of school, she held down two jobs, including one at a catering hall near the home she shares with her parents. now it's only one job, but she's still saving money and hoping she can return to rutgers. what would tuition equity mean to you and people like you? >> it would mean so much. just filled me up with so much emotions, tuition equity. it would mean a whole lot, it would mean a whole generation would be able to attend higher education. they'll be making the step that their parents weren't able to do to afford school, to be able to have equal opportunities as everyone else, and it goes back to the history of mlk, rosa

parks, what they were fighting for. >> but they were fighting, rosa parks, mlk, they were fighting for american who were american citizens. >> yeah. >> people for whom there was no question that their parents had been citizens, their grandparents had been citizens. >> yeah. >> you're not. so why should you get those equal rights? >> it's like when you're 22 months and your parents make a decision, do we have the -- do we have the capacity to be able to tell our parents what's right from wrong? we're paying the consequences of actions our parents took. we have no say, nor choice. >> do i feel bad for that young person that's here since 22 months that's struggling? i feel bad for that person. but i also have to go back and say wait a second, i represent

240,000 people in my district. i've got people struggling that can't make tuition also that are hard-working new jersey citizens. where do they fit into this? every one of our public institutions have no openings. they are jam packed, so what am i doing for the new jersey resident who is a citizen of the united states, am i knocking them out? sort of my concerns are we're really taking that slot away from a new jersey student. >> his colleagues in the state legislature are debating two bills, one would let undocumented graduates of new jersey high school pay in-state tuition if they've lived in the state at least three years. the other would do that and make them eligible for state financial aid. but singer says those grants are barely able to keep up with the needs of students who are already eligible. >> now wait a second, by the way, there's an influx of undocumented we're now going to apply for the same grants and money you're getting, where you may not get it. i can't deal with this.

>> singer and ore other opponents say they'd support if it if there was a path to citizenship, so they'd pay more in taxes and that would help offset the cost of tuition equity. for the first time in her life, cynthia cruz is paying taxes in her own name. early this year she got a work permit through an obama administration program for undocumented immigrants who came to the u.s. as children. she wants to take the next step on the path to citizenship as soon as she can, but until that happens, she wants tuition equity, too. >> comprehensive immigration reform does not include in-state tuition. it does not. so while my application is processing, what am i supposed to do, not go to school? i'm still going to have to pay out of state tuition. ♪ this is "pbs newshour

weekend" sunday. finally tonight, challenges for wildlife conservationists. last week we carried a report from south africa by martin geistler of iptv. but as reports this week in neighboring zimbabwe, poachers are continuing their attack on elephants by poisoning them. >> this is the largest national park in zimbabwe and one of the few genuine tourist attractions the country has left. the herds of elephant which roam here should be protected, but instead they've been fallen prey to poaching gangs, who have poisoned them for their ivory. it's thought cyanide was poured into the waterholes the animals drink from. they didn't stand a chance. the poachers have come here more than once over recent weeks. more than 80 elephant carcasses lie rotting in the sun, each one

with its tusks removed. conservationists have been warning of this for years, some suspect zimbabwe's government may be involved. >> there's a lot of high-up people that are involved in this type of poaching that is actually taking place. there's a syndicate happening. >> the governing party denies any involvement. on a visit to the park this week, the environment minister promised to get tough, even though he conceded that won't be easy. >> then it's not just our local people, but they are some serious people behind it and we need to flush out those elements. >> cyanide could pollute the land, too, it could take decades to disappear. dozens of elephant have died so far, but in time the toll could be far greater than that. martin geistler, itv news. ♪

on "the newshour" tomorrow on air and online, the latest from washington as the government shutdown looms. a report on recent violence against christians in pakistan and israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu visits president obama at the white house. that's it for this edition of "pbs newshour weekend," i'm hari sreenivasan, thanks for "pbs newshour weekend," i'm hari sreenivasan, thanks for watching. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

>> announcer: "pbs newshour weekend" is made possible by -- that's why we're your retirement company. additional support is provided by -- and by -- the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪

female announcer: truly california is a kqed production presented in association with... [percussive rock music] ♪ next on truly california... they play a vital role in the horse racing industry. - believe me, if it were not for the mexican grooms, there would be no horse racing. announcer: and they came to the united states with hopes for a better life. - [speaking spanish] announcer: but as undocumented workers, they face risks on and off the racetrack. - [speaking spanish]