good morning, i'm chris jansing and things are moving fast and furious in washington. we have a number of breaking developments. could this be d-day in the debt talks? well, in a late decision, the president is going to speak just

20 minutes from now on the status of those down-to-the-wire debt ceiling talks. in addition we just heard from senate majority leader harry reid, he said after there was no vote on the house side late last night, that they will move forward with their own plan, and that announcement comes just moments after the commerce department issued some terrible numbers on the ó health of the economy, worse than expected. nbc's kricht kristen welker is white house this morning for us. so much going on, but let's start about this decision about president obama to speak now less than 20 minutes from now. what are we expecting to hear? >> reporter: hi there, chris, we're not expecting a large announcement today. we do expect him, though, to put the pressure on here to say that time has run out. we all watched last night the drama that unfolded on capitol hill when speaker boehner tried to wrangle the votes so that he could get his bill through the house. that never happened. they didn't have the vote last

night, so he's going to be back trying to wrangle some more votes this morning, but we expect president obama to argue, look, the time has run out. we've got to get something done here. now, because of what happened on the hill last night, a lot of people are arguing that the president and democrats really have the leverage this morning, really have the leverage to say done, and senator reid's plan may just be the best way to do it. as you said, chris, senator reid is going to be moving forward with his plan. and he's also already asked for mitch mcconnell's help. that's, of course, the republican leader of the senate, to help him get a plan that can pass through both the house and the senate, so we'll have to see what those developments are. we'll be monitoring them very closely. but as you mentioned, chris, we also got some very disappointing economic news. we learned that the economy grew just by 1.3% in the second quarter. that means that consumer spending really barely rose at all, so economists very worried

about those figures, and all eyes or the markets today to see how they will react to what happened last night. we do expect the president to address the entire situation when he speaks in just about 20 minutes from now. and, again, chris, just to remind you, we only have about secretary timothy geithner has warned the nation will default on its loans for the first time in history if the lawmakers can't increase the debt ceiling by next tuesday. chris? >> thanks so much, kristen welker. as she alluded to, speaker john boehner is in the middle of a lot of arm twisting right now. with last-minute negotiations going on this morning on the gop side because he couldn't get the votes he needed to pass this bill last night. so, now, the speaker literally might have just a couple of hours to get something done. >> as we all know, we were expecting a vote this evening, and the vote's obviously --

we're not there. >> the party of no is saying no to their own deal. >> we are determined to find a way to pay the nation's bills, but to do that in a fiscally responsible way. >> we've been waiting for the house to conduct their business, and they're having trouble conducting it. >> nbc's luke russert is on capitol hill, where this is really moving very quickly. two big developments on both the house and the senate side. let's start at thb[at house, because we heard all these reports about members of the tea party coming out last night looking like they'd been pretty battered and most of them making the decision that they would not vote for the boehner bill. so, what's going on in the speaker's office this morning? >> reporter: as we speak now, chris, speaker john boehner and the rest of the gop leadership are meeting with the house republican conference over in the basement of the capitol, expected to be a very spirited meeting. the last three have been, trying to rally support, trying to garner support for this bill. obviously there wasn't enough of it last night, but from a gop aides that i've spoken to over the last few hours, we really

expect this to be the full-on press thing, if we cannot pass this bill out of the united states house of representatives with only republican support, we lose all our leverage. we have no seat at the bargaining table, and as you saw over the united states senate today, harry reid now moving filing cloture on his plan. and the challenge that john boehner has nowkjiçø6p can he convince the tea-party backed republicans, the freshmen guys, the guys who have been around a long time, the ideological conservatives, can he convince them for the good of the republican party they need to support him on this debt limit bill? it remains an open question. now, there's more confidence today that they believe this is going to pass for them, but, remember, chris, yesterday john boehner pretty much guaranteed at his press conference saying by the time the night is over, we will have passed two debt limit-raising bills out of the united states house. they've only done one so far. they weren't able to get the other one, so there's still a long way to go on exactly what will happen with this vote. we expect it to be close.

there's a lot of folks honestly, chris, are not persuaded anymore, because the first thing the house gop did when they came into power is get rid of earmarks, so no longer can you offer someone an airport in their district or a new highway or something of that nature. there's not a lot of leverage the speaker has in negotiating besides saying, please, come on turmoil. >> we mentioned that we just so from harry reid that they're going to move forward. let me play a little bit of what he had to say. >> we cannot wait for the house any longer. it's time for the republicans to stop the political games and repeat, hours, to act. that's why by the end of the day, today, i must take action on the senate's compromise legislation. >> last night you had what was arguably an embarrassment for the speaker because after the promises, he was not able to garner the votes that he needed. and then this morning we heard what you heard from harry reid,

the president is about to come out and speak to the american people. any doubt what they're doing is putting more pressure on john boehner right now frankly at a time when some people are questioning whether or not his speakership is at stake? >> absolutely. if anyone benefitted from the events of last night, it was but mitch mcconnell went to the senate floor and doubled down on speaker boehner's bill. but it looks like now if boehner cannot get this through today, it will be a huge issue in which mcconnell and reid would figure out some sort of compromise. but now the question becomes timing. reid file ed cloture, and the earliest the vote could be would be sunday night, monday, if you cannot get a compromise exped e expedited on sunday or monday, the tuesday limit, the markets have dropped an amazing amount the last few days, how long can they keep delaying this, the house was supposed to vote on wednesday, it didn't happen, it was thursday and it didn't

happen. the bill in the house has been changed three times. it will garner no democratic support. where is the next step in boehner passes a bill out of there. they have some sort of compromise on that, essentially what we're waiting for is a bill to pass out of the house which protects john boehner's leverage, and then it somehow is transformed in a way which is a compromise which will most likely lose 100 republicans when it comes back over to the house because it will be to the left of what gets passed today, presumably. it's a real question mark on how this ends. nobody knows. the markets reflect that. the voices of the politicians reflect that. and when you have steny hoyer, the house minority whip, the 9ay you know what president obama might look at the 14th amendment the idea which seemed unthinkable weeks ago, now starting to gain traction among some democrats because the clock is ticking and there's nothing they can do about it. >> it's ticking louder and louder. luke russert, thank you so much. i know you'll be standing by for us. again, i think it's worth

pointing out where we are right now. first of all, you have john boehner in a meeting. you have harry reid saying he's going to move forward, and you can see we're waiting for the president, that is the diplomatic room, and we have no indication he's going to take questions, but he is going to talk about the ongoing debt negotiations. it was just yesterday that "the new york times" suggested that the president really risked being a bystander in one of the most critical moments of his presidency. well, clearly, after holding all those meetings in the white house, now he's back front and center in the =!]$uz of ë%uthis. and also as luke just suggested, we've got two huge pieces of economic news. one, the numbers on the gdp, which basically mark the economic progress that we're making, much worse than expected. the dow -- do we have those numbers? can we put up where the markets are right now? they were down more than 100 points -- well, they are 84 now. a lot of suggestions if the markets really start to react negatively, that will add even

more from the pressure. i want to bring in congressman john yarmuth, democrat from kentucky. he's a member of the house budget committee. good morning, congressman. give me a sense of where you feel this stands right now. >> well, i think luke had it described pretty accurately. i think the republicans in the house have proven that they can't advance any plans. i think speaker boehner's lost most of his leverage. i don't know how one of these tea party members after holding out to this point then changes his or her mind. that's going to be a tough one. but they might do it. but i think he's right. i think all of this brings to the fore this 14th amendment possibility. the president has taken it off the table, but i think he had to do that, because otherwise the tea party types can deal with -- or can vote their principles with impunity, because there's not going to be any damage to the economy. and i think -- so -- but i think the president has to consider that now, because the odds are nothing is going to move. >> let's talk about what might happen this morning in terms of

john boehner, because obviously he's trying to, again, put pressure on some of the members of the tea party, and it's not just obviously the leadership in the house that's working it. there's a lot of prominent conservative voices out there from the editorial board of the "wall street journal" today to david brooks to charles krautheimer who have written basically they need to get on board with john boehner. if he is able to get the votes, then what happens next, congressman? >> well, again, that bill, the boehner plan's dead on arrival in the senate. i know the president's not%fgq g to accept it, because we're not going to go through it again in six months. and so i think they'll dipose of it, the way they dipoed of the constitutional amendment, the balanced budget amendment in the senate, and then the question will become whether they can craft anything, get 60 votes and get something that will pass over here. i think the reid plan probably would get almost every democratic vote, and so we'd need 50 votes, maybe 40 votes,

from republicans to pass it. that's a viable possibility, but i'm really not sure that right now if mitch mcconnell stands firm and is able to keep his members in line, that's going to be a tough sell in the senate. and that leads the president alone to come to the rescue, and i'm one of those among the democrats here who think he ought to exercise that option. >> congressman john jyarmuth on taking the time to join us on a consequential morning on capitol hill. there you see where the íeñcoycsmyñ are happening in this debt debate. we're going to take a quick break, but andrea mitchell will join me, emily hile of "roll call." we get double miles every time we use our card... i'll take these two... ...no matter what we're buying. ...and all of those. and since double miles add up fast,

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as we keep our eye on the debt developments in washington, let's get you caught up on other political headlines. new jersey's governor chris christie back at work today after a health scare. he had an asthma attack that was serious enough to send the republican rising star to the emergency room. ñ ristie says he's fine now ande and he cracked jokes about his health at a news conference. >> i think you probably all got the tip i was okay when, you know, either i was fine or dead, one or the other. so, you know, you would have heard about the latter. a wisconsin mayor is refusing to resign after a three-day bender. sheboygan mayor bob ryan has been under scrutiny for his drinking when a youtube video was posted. john boehner is scoring points with the ladies of the house because finally there's a ladies restroom near the

speaker's lobby. donna f. edwards was so excited, she tweeted, love the new ladies room off the floor of the house, three cheers to speaker boehner. well, you know, at least democrats and republicans agree on something. but we know what they don't agree on right now continues to be what to do about the and the "slate" political reporter. good to see you. >> hi, chris. >> dave, what's going on with the president, he only announced an hour ago he would speak in just a few minutes?

authority. % itld)át would be too myñ' a ris suit me. >> given what he just had to say, emily, given what happened last night with john boehner not being able to wrangle the votes.

the option of the president going it alone, and that's something you didn't hear too many calls about it. but now you're hearing it from several different corners and it looks like more of at least an option given the chaos and uncertainty on capitol hill. >> well, let me ask you about the position of john boehner right now. where is he in all of this, emily? >> well, he's in a tough spot for sure. and i know that after this is over, there's going to be quite a bit of autopsying of this situation, and we'll get to really what this means for his speakership. he's at a very crucial point right now. he couldn't muster the votes within his own party. he didn't corral those tea party-backed freshmen in particular, and urge them to put aside those concerns and that allegiance and for the good of the republican party and for the good of the house republicans'

leadership, and their ability to govern to go ahead and vote for this boehner plan. so, he has a very wily caucus to deal with. and so he's having trouble corralling this, and i think this will be a test of his speakership. and it remains to be seen how this resolves, you know, this morning. he's talking to some of these very conservative members and trying to tweak the bill a little bit to get them to vote for it. but what that's going to do is create a bill that's even more conservative, and you already had 53 democratic senators saying no way they'd vote for the old boehner bill, so if the boehner bill gets any more conservative, you know, it doesn't do anything for its chances in the senate. so, this is a very tricky time for boehner, and it's a tricky time for lawmakers across capitol hill. >> and what do you think we are going to hear from the president, dave? >> i think we'll hear something similar to what we heard earlier in the week. he has not provided a ton of details. it would be news if he swung even harder behind harry reid's plan. but the president benefits from

congress hashing this out and making the sausage while he's in the other room ready to serve it later. he really does. the president got nowhere. the president also polarizes whenever he enters a situation. this was a problem with health care. this is -- it didn't work so well with that. but whenever the president got behind any plan fully, that would make it tougher for it to eventually pass the house. i think he's going to lead from behind again. to use the phrase that one of his advisers used describing foreign policy. look, the best situation for them is almost what's happening right now, where republicans don't quite have the votes to do something on their own. democrats can save the day later on. it's easier for him to do that if it looks like they're negotiating this on their own and he will eventually sign the deal they come up with. >> one of the things we've been watching very closely, especially, dave, after the worse-than-expected gdp numbers came out, it's the markets, and

if the markets really starts to react and the market really starts to tank and it's back down to 102 in the red right now, that that will really put pressure on everybody and move things. is that the sense you get there? >> that might not actually be as big a factor as the politics. i mean, republicans will bring up t.a.r.p. kind of unbidden, and remember that in september, 2008, they were told they had to get behind the speaker -- well, at that point leader boehner. they had to get behind henry paulson and support t.a.r.p. or the country would collapse. they were blamed for the dow collapsing. one, they haven't seen the markets suffering the way it did in september, 2008. two, the lesson they took from that was that they shouldn't compromise. they -- they don't think t.a.r.p. was successful, so it's not really a good argument for them this time. the better argument is if they don't get behind john boehner now, they will have to choke something even worse down later. no, look, and if they're savvy, that might be something they

have to do ga, gianyway, given votes. and the stock market doesn't hold the sway that it usually does. >> let's talk about henry reid, he said he's going to file cloture on his bill. give us a sense of the timing. how quickly could this bill, again, given the fact that the clock is ticking towards default? >> if he files cloture today, that pushes the vote out at least two days. >> so sunday. >> right. i don't know what the senate schedule is looking like. i know that both chambers are planning to be in all weekend long. and what happens with the bill is that once he files cloture, i'm assuming there's going to be some sort of negotiations going on with senator mcconnell. again, you had 53 democratic senators saying that they would not vote for the boehner plan. it's unclear how many of them are actually behind the reid plan as-is. i don't know what the support is for that, and i think that's a little bit unclear right now, too. if reid and mcconnell can get together and come up with some

sort of language that could bring, you know, some republicans on to this bill through the amendment process, that might be an avenue for compromise, but that remains to be seen. the timing is very tricky, because once you pass this bill through the senate, you have to see what's passed through the house and the two has to be merged and there has to be votes in both chambers again. so, you know, this is not schoolhouse rock, this is not the ideal way of moving bills through each chamber, but there is a process that has to happen. and with that clock ticking, it's unclear, you know, how that actually gets done. >> let me bring in and andrea mitchell, who you see every day here at 1:00, as emily suggests there might be some sort of deal made between mitch mcconnell and harry reid, and as i understand it mcconnell didn't accept reid's invy thation itation to

and talk, so what does that mean right now? >> senate republicans even though they have so much leverage right now and a deal will be negotiated with mcconnell and reid if one is to be negotiated, they are hanging back because they don't want to crowd john boehner as he tries to whip his reluctant house caucus members into shape. so, they don't want to muddy the waters or take anything away from whatever leverage boehner has right now. they know boehner at least has to get through this process and try to get a vote, get that out of the way. the boehner bill per se is not going to succeed in the senate, but that's one step that has to take place. what reid did in starting the clock today, senator reid, the majority leader, is at least start the process for the senate to consider all weekend their plan, which will be amended. so, this will all be discussed and debated in back rooms, that's the way the process is going to work, based on whether boehner does deliver anything, the leverage -- >> what i'm trying to figure out, andrea, how that happens. >> sure. >> the reports last night,

obviously i wasn't there, but when you read the reports this morning about how bloodied and battered essentially these tea party republicans looked and spoke coming out of that meeting with john boehner, and yet in spite of all that pressure, weren't changing their minds, i'm trying to figure out how that gets done. >> well, at some point enough votes have to be persuaded to switch. and if -- if anything's going to be delivered. and it really is true that john boehner's leverage, his speakership is on the mat. everything's on the line right now. whatever metaphor you want to use. and what he is saying to them is that you are empowering barack obama. you're helping re-elect barack obama because you're giving him the excuse of blaming the house caucus and blaming the tea party members in particular for blocking any kind of resolution, if this does lead to an economic catastrophe. what will happen, and you see the door beginning to crack and we expect the president to be coming in in any moment in the

diplomatic room at the white house, the diplomatic reception room, downstairs, the first floor, the ground floor, we've seen the room many times. it's the doors that open to the south grounds where diplomats and foreign dignitaries are received, heads of state. but what the president's leverage now is growing as boehner's is receding. and what boehner is saying to his caucus at this moment is, you guys are killing me. my speakership is on the line. we are on the line. everything that you want is going to be lost if you let harry reid basically negotiate with himself or negotiate with fellow senators, republicans as well as democrats. for the house to be in the game, we have to pass something and get it over to the senate. and then that becomes part of the mix. >> and i was talking to a congressman, a democratic congressman from kentucky earlier, and when you look at, it's not just the pressure from john boehner on the members of the tea party, "the wall street journal" editorial board, charles krautheimer and david

brooks and grover norquist, i mean, you have to wonder at what point they might want to, you know, step back and look at the bigger picture. but, you know, moving on from this, andrea, let me ask you, what you would expect to hear from the president coming up in the next couple of minutes. >> i think he will lay out what the stakes are. i was with a group from around the world last night, international business leaders. and people around the world are simply stunned by this -- what they perceive as a self-inflicted wound. you have countries far smaller, greece and other countries, who have contributed to their own economic problems over the years, over the decades, and are now reaping, you know, the seeds of that. but this is something that they perceive, at least from around the world, that we've done to ourselves. and the economic beneficiaries in many ways will be our competitors. >> all right, you know, andrea, i just happen to have on set with me jim amos who is the ceo of the tasty delight company, and i've seen you nodding as you

hear what she had to say. give me your take from a businessman's perspective. not only as someone who has been very successful with a couple of big companies, but also knows the struggles of the small businessperson, because of some of the folks who franchise from you. give us your sense of what's going on. >> you know, what initially comes to mind to me, chris, is that i think disgust is still a valid emotion. and that's kind of the way i'm viewing this. and i think it is in many i was a self-inflicted wound. i think the intensity of this debate is driven obviously by the deadline. but i think it clouds a larger issue. behind the debate, which is why it's occurring the way it is, and that's largely a completely different world view of what needs to take place. if you are ideological driven on

the view that the public sector and government can solve these issues, then you're going to make a certain set of decisions. if your view is that the private sector can participate, you will make a different set of decisions and i think our country in the beginning was founded on principles that supported economic and political freedom or liberty. if you look at the -- in modern history, the greatest growth rates that we've had economically in the '80s and '90s, they were driven, for whatever reason, by limited government intervention. >> well, you know, here's the point, dave weigel, we've talked really since the president took office and this new congress took office that this was always going to be about jobs. and i wonder if you sense the members of congress sense that if this does go to default, that they might as well just hang it up. i mean, based on the polls and certainly based on the

responses, the e-mails, the phone calls to congressional offices, americans have pretty much had it. they're fed up. >> right. and according to a lot of good studies and the bipartisan policy center, other studies, just downgrade would end up putting real downward pressure on employment, maybe 700,000 jobs lost. but the crucial bloc of republicans who need to be bent on this don't really believe that. again, we might see a solution where democrats and republicans come together, but for now the republicans who are going to -- who are pulled out don't think that the spending cuts that we passed a few months ago were going to put downward pressure on unemployment when studies say they might. they don't think this is a problem. they don't trust timothy geithner. they believe a different set of reality than the bond buyers believe. the bond buyers have been perplexed. we're lucky, it's taken them a while to figure out that the last holdouts to this stage of

the process don't believe this set of facts that they believe. >> andrea mitching, give us some inside baseball, we saw a folder brought out that we assume holds the president's remarks. the president was scheduled to speak 11 minutes ago, 12 minutes a go ago. >> he may be getting last-minute instructions, you saw the remarks being put on the podium. it may be one of the situations where he may be making last-minute calls, he may be talking to harry reid to get the latest information on the state of play before we see him come through the doors and come outside. you know, the -- you asked earlier what could have been happening last night. and what is so interesting, what dave was just referring to, is that the old rules don't apply. in the past, you would have arm twisting with threats and promises, and as some have reported, it could have covet, you know, tens, $20 billion last

night to get the couple of last votes. >> i know you've been wanting to take a trip to the middle east, or i know you've been wanting to be on the missions to afghanistan, and that would turn a corner. >> or something with a base in their district. that does not work with this tea party caucus. that according to jeff blake, republican, was saying last night. that is refreshing in a lot of regards. this is the reform that a lot of people want. but the question is, has it gone too far. does it go beyond the limits of what is reasonable and what is gettable. and are they going to, you know, give up the goods trying to get the perfect here because they do have the offer of cuts, the trillion -- up to a trillion dollars in the boehner bill and more that they gave up in the earlier compromise that was rejected last week. and, you know, they could have gotten up to $4 trillion. now it will be a lot less. they could get $4 trillion just by giving up the bush tax cuts. there are a lot of options here, but they're not willing to

concede -- that group is not willing to concede any kind of revenue changes and that has been one of the sticking points. the other sticking point is they just want more from the spending side than even conservatives think is possible. >> emily heil, if the old rules don't apply and they clearly seem not to with members of the tea party, one thing we've always known about washington is that the house and the senate are great self-preservation societies. do you get the sense in talking to members of the tea party that they're going to hold firm, and if that means for some reason they get blamed for default, if that means that their constituents vote them out of office, so be it, that's the price they pay, or are they convinced that they're doing exactly what's going to get them re-elected? >> well, these people are not institutionalists, first of all, the sort of new batch. there's a very, very large freshmen class. you're talking about a very new house of representatives, or at least a very new house republican caucus. and this is the new reality for house republican leaders, is

that they can't twist arms. for so many years house republicans marched in lockstep. there was an incredible amount of discipline, and now you have this new crop of tea party-influenced or allied freshmen members and they don't feel the alliances or allegiances to the things that house republicans used to feel allegiances to. they're not scared by "wall street journal" op-eds. they're not worried about, you know, getting a rebuke from their leader. that's not what influences them. and i think to some extent many of them ran on this idea that, you know, whatever the costs were to them, then so be it, you know. and they haven't been around long enough to get that sense of self-preservation. i think that sort of sets in the longer that you're in congress. you know, so you are talking about a new animal. and they're not institutionalists. >> and, andrea mitchell, as we wait for the president, he could be coming out any second now. there was obviously a high level

of frustration. the president tried to hold the two meetings and it didn't work. he sent both sides into their corners to try to figure it out. what's your sense of the white house, what the mood is, the expectation? >> i think they are legitimately worried about the substance of this, the economic crisis that could evolve. for all we know, they may have had some private warnings. i'm sure they've been in conversation with the rating agencies and with people in the market markets, so they did have that letter both to yesterday the president and the congress which i'm sure was ginned up by the treasury and others reaching out to them, please write to us and tell us what you think and what the ceos of all the leading banks said is this is really serious, don't play games with this, that you're playing with fire. so, i'm sure they're talking privately about the substance of this. but they also are looking at the political calculus. and as the house collapses under the weight of this problem -- we see the president coming in, chris. clearly the president and the

white house feel that they've gained politically. >> let's listen. >> think about the ongoing and increasingly urgent efforts to avoid default and reduce our deficit. right now the house of representatives is still trying to pass a bill that a majority of republicans and democrats in the senate have already said they won't vote for. it's a plan that would force us to relive this crisis in just a few short months. holding our economy captive to washington politics once again. in other words, it does not solve the problem. and it has no chance of becoming law. what's clear now is that any solution to avoid default must be bipartisan. it must have the support of both parties that were sent here to represent the american people. not just one faction. it will have to have the support of both the house and the senate. and there are multiple ways to resolve this problem. senator reid, a democrat, has

introduced a plan in the senate that contains cuts agreed upon by both parties. senator mcconnell, a republican, offered a solution that could get us through this. there are plenty of modifications we can make to either of these plans in order to get them passed through both the house and the senate and would allow me to sign them into law. and today i urge democrats and republicans in the senate to find common ground on a plan they can get support -- that can get support from both parties in the house, a plan that i can sign by tuesday. keep in mind, this is not a situation where the two parties are miles apart. we're in rough agreement about how much spending can be cut responsibly as a first step toward reducing our deficit. we agree on a process, where the next step is a debate in the coming months on tax reform and entitlement reform. and i'm ready and willing to have that debate.

and if we need to put in place some kind of enforcement mechanism to hold us all accountable to making these reforms, i'll support that, too, if it's done in a smart and balanced way. so, there are plenty of ways out of this mess. but we are almost out of time. we need to reach a compromise by tuesday so that our country will have the ability to pay its bills on time, as we always have. bills that include monthly social security checks, veterans' benefits and the government contracts we've signed with thousands of businesses. keep in mind, if we don't do that, if we don't come to an agreement, we could lose our countries aaa credit rating. not because we didn't have the capacity to pay our bills, we do. but because we didn't have a aaa political system to match our aaa credit rating. and make no mistake, for those who say they oppose tax increases on anyone, a lower credit rating would result potentially in a tax increase on everyone in the form of higher

interest rates on their mortgages, their car loans, their credit cards. and that's inexcusable. there are a lot of crises in the world we can't always predict or avoid, hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, terrorist attacks. this isn't one of those crises. the power to solve this is in our hands. and on a day when we've been reminded how fragile the economy already is, this is one burden we can lift ourselves. we can end it with a simple vote. a vote that democrats and republicans have been taking for decades. a vote that the leaders in congress have taken for decades. it's not a vote that allows congress to spend more money. raising the debt ceiling simply gives our country the ability to pay the bills that congress has already racked up.

i want to emfaciphasize that. the debt ceiling does not determine how much more money we can spend. it simply authorizes us to pay the bills we already have racked up. it gives the united states of america the ability to keep its word. now, on monday night i asked the american people to make their voice heard in this debate, and the response was overwhelming. so, please, to all the american people, keep it up. if you want to see a bipartisan compromise, a bill that could pass both houses of congress and that i can sign, let your members of congress know. make a phone call. send an e-mail. tweet. keep the pressure on washington, and we can get past this. and for my part, my administration will continue to be working with democrats and republicans all weekend long until we find a solution. the time for putting party first is over. the time for compromise on behalf of the american people is now. and i'm confident that we can solve this problem. i'm confident that we will solve

this problem. for all the intrigue and all the drama that's taking place on capitol hill right now, i'm confident that -- but as i said earlier, we are now running out of time. it's important for everybody to step up and show the leadership that the american people expect. thank you. >> the president of the united states making a call to keep the pressure up on washington and calling for a bipartisan compromise. he says the time is now. andrea mitchell, your headline out of that? >> i thought it was a strong push as far as it went. but at that last sentence, if he wants a bipartisan agreement, i think some might ask why call for more pressure, more calls and tweets and messages and pressure on congress. that is going to get the backs up of a lot of republicans in the senate, whom he needs right now to be working with harry

reid. so, he made an urgent call, and he pointed out that this is simply to pay the bills that have been racked up, that this is a self-inflicted crisis that we can resolve. but in calling for the pressure on congress, he took one step which some might say would create a political backlash potentially among the negotiators. >> let's do a little bit of fact check, andrea, because his suggestion early on was that this can get done because the two sides are not that far apart. is that an accurate assessment? >> i think it is an accurate assessment. i think if you look at the terms of the reid bill, of what mcconnell has originally proposed, and what -- what is in the boehner bill, they're not that far apart on the outlines of an agreement. it's only the final number. they have to get a little bit more specific than harry reid and have the enforcement mechanism. he said he is willing to consider, if it is a balanced and fair enforcement trigger or

mechanism at the end of the road. i think the big difference is the extent, the time. and he didn't mention that in this, so he's no longer safe yi that it has to get us past 2012. that is also one of the big sticking points is how long will the debt ceiling extension be. >> all right. we're just getting a note here from the associated press. do we still have dave weigel there and emily? >> still here, chris. >> all right, i don't know if either of you heard this, but the house gop is said now that it's going to change the stalled bill and the vote could come as soon as sometime today. what would you expect that to be, dave? >> if they actually hold a vote, that means they won a few people over. there were a couple of problems, some members had, with the pell grant payments in this bill. and if they change that, then they get a bill that can at least move out of the house. but we're talking about real kabuki here. if they end up changing that component to get a few more of

those votes, that's the kind of thing that might be tweaked again later for when this returns to the house in a form the democrats can support. and if democrats support it, they can scrap that and bring in 100 or so democrats and make the conservatives irrelevant. >> what do you make of it, emily? >> if there's a vote scheduled, i'm going to assume they have the votes. because certainly they do not, house leaders, do not want a repeat of last night's chaos, where they had a bill on the floor and they were guaranteeing practically that it would pass and sail through and that republicans would stay in lockstep. and that didn't happen. so, i can only madimagine if there's a vote scheduled, it can likely pass. what happened between the vote and this morning, if there are tweaks, it's only going to get moved slightly in the direction of conservatives which is going to make it even deader on arrival in the senate. and i think the senate is clearly moving on its own track, knowing that no matter what comes out of the house, they're not going to like it and they're not going to be able to pass it.

>> emily heil, thanks to you, and to dave weigel. andrea mitchell, who, of course, will be with her program at 1:00 this afternoon. but the president of the united states reinserting himself at this critical time, trying to avoid default with the clock ticking. looks now, at least by this initial report, after failing last night, john boehner may actually bring a house bill to the floor, but we have the head on the senate side, harry reid, saying he's calling for cloture. the reid bill is moving forward. will they be able to come together and find compromise? our coverage continues. we'll take you to the white house, have more, right after this short break. will roam the earth. that's seven devices per person. this will change how we work in ways we've never before imagined. what do you need to secure your people, their devices, and your business? a network that can evolve and grow to protect your human network. jeff, lunch!

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just moments ago the president of the united states saying that the u.s. could lose its top credit rating, and he asked the american people to put pressure on members of congress. he said, look, the two sides are not that far apart. they need to compromise and put politics aside. we've got you covered from all angles. we've got david gregory standing

by, luke russert on capitol hill, kristen welker is at the white house for us. david, we need to start with you. you may be in rolling coverage on "meet the press" this weekend. as you see it, what happens next? >> well, i think luke is closest to this on the hill, but it looks like there's a lot of maneuverings within the house gop conference to get a vote today on the boehner bill. they're making adjustments there to bring the recalcitrant republican members, a lot of them freshmen, conservatives, tea party folks, bring them back on board. the president alluded to this, because that is not a bell that could pass the senate, and so the senate is moving on its own accord with senator reid moving forward on legislation. i think that's, again, what the president was referring to, where he says that, too, could be adjusted. from the white house point of view, it's this, they're hopeful that senate republicans start to bend, that they start recoiling in reaction to what the house republicans are doing and that ultimately the senate bill is what prevails sooner rather than

later. meantime, the house moves full speed ahead, tries to get that bill out and forces that confrontation. the president trying to apply that outside pressure, urging americans to tweet. i don't think i've heard him say that before. but he wants as much public pressure as possible to try to move the needle, which says something, which is the game right now has got to be on capitol hill. the president is an involved bystander, but he is not actively involved in the negotiation as you listen to him. >> yeah, so let's go to capitol hill. luke russert, i know this just happened in the last couple of minutes, literally, but what are you hearing about john boehner bringing a bill to the floor? >> reporter: it's going to happen today, chris, and the meeting just happened, started at 10:00 a.m., john boehner and the house gop leadership announced they will attach a balanced budget amendment to the current boehner debt limit bill, and with the balanced budget amendment would do is in the second tranche of spending that would have to occur after this

committee of 12 people recommends what they should do to cut down the debt, that, in fact, would happen around christmas, there would be a balanced budget amendment attached. and only if that was passed and ratified would the debt limit be able to be extended again. now, this is something that will go now senate.no desire for a balanced amendment at this point, and it makes the bill even more partisan than it was yesterday when not one single democrat said they would support it. now, this, in fact, will attract a lot of tea party support. the balanced budget amendment was a centerpiece of the cap and balance plan that the house passed last week, so the idea is that we attach this to it and we'll garner these votes and it will, and it will pass out of the house later today. for all intents and purposes reports from colleagues outside the meeting said that just guys that were no yesterday, jeff blake from arizona as an example is now a yes. so, expect this to pass the

house today. the bill will have a balanced budget amendment, it makes it even more inclined to go nowhere in the united states senate, the question becomes does mitch mcconnell double down on the boehner bill which is problematic for the white house and the senate democrats, or do hear reid strong-arm and mitch mcconnell and him put pressure on the boehner bill. it has to be ratified by state constitutions around the country, does it completely water down the boehner bill to the sense that it's not even a vehicle anymore to try and raise the debt limit, because it's not amendable enough. it's impossible to do. so, we are now i think, chris, in an area of where there are a lot more questions than answers. this new news coming out today from the house gop conference makes the boehner bill plan, the idea they were going to try to jam the president, to be the last one standing, well democrats are not going to allow a balanced budget amendment be

on the last bill standing. >> they've made it clear, the president has made it clear. kristen welker at the house, as this moves forward over the weekend, there has been criticism over the last several days has the president backed off after speaking to the american people monday night. what role do you see the white house playing in this? >> reporter: well, today, chris, this is an indication the president is getting back into this front and center. as you heard, one of his big messages today was about compromise. you heard luke just question, what's mcconnell going to do now. and one thing that was interesting about the president's remarks, he said senator reid had a good plan, and you heard him bring up the mcconnell plan, which allows the president to increase the debt ceiling in three increments without approval, and he was subtly saying it's time for these two work together, senate democrats and republican to work together, because we know what is happening in the house will just not pass muster in the senate. it was really a call for action, and you can expect the president

to be, of course, working throughout the weekend. what will be interesting to see is if he actually calls congressional leaders, again, here to the white house. of course, a week ago he was doing that quite regularly. that sort of petered off this week as the action really turned to the hill, so we'll be watching for that. but this speech was about putting the pressure on for compromise between reid and mcconnell. >> let me go back to david gregory in our last 30 seconds. let me ask you the unanswerable question, if it will get done before default, what's the most likely path? >> well, the real question is who pliblinks on short term ver long term in terms of a debt extension. and what will democrats in the white house have to give up to get an extension through 2012. as luke suggested, it's not a balanced budget amendment, but how much more will they include, whether oit's the legal of overall spending cuts over the next ten years or a way to hold

congress' feet to the fire to make sure they keep cutting in future congresses. that's where the pressure might come from. >> david gregory, and luke russert, who will have a long weekend, as well as kristen welker at the white house. this is a fast-moving story throughout the day. we're expecting a lot of developments. waiting to hear after hearing from the president, from john boehner, when will he bring the bill for a vote, what exactly will be the shape of that bill. we'll be following that throughout the day and keep you posted all through the weekend here on msnbc. i'm chris jansing, thanks so much for being with "jansing & co." that's why there's purina puppy chow... with all the essential nutrients your growing puppy needs. purina puppy chow.

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