ridiculous that our lawmakers can't come to a consensus on what's best for the country. >> this morning a delayed vote provides a glimmer of hope and cooperation and compromise to avoid a crippling national default. good morning. i'm alex witt. welcome to msnbc sunday where it's 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. out west. lawmakers are on a mad dash to avoid sending our country downward. with the stakes higher than ever, the out come is anything but clear. the gop is talking with the president because he is the only person who can sign a bill into law. >> i'm confident and optimistic that we will get an agreement and resolve this in the best interest of the american people. >> they are scheduled to vote on that bill and it was supposed to

be cast earlier this morning as they give the white house and the gop more time to harsh out details. >> i'm glad to see this moved. i hope it bears fruit. these know people from both parties. they should be able to reach an agreement. i believe we should give them time to do so. >> it starts at noon today. we will see if all this good will makes it to the floor. live on capitol hill, good morning to you. did you get any sleep? >> a little bit. >> i'm looking at something our colleague has been sending out. a couple of words edging closer, tentative frameworks and things like that are being bandered about. do you hear that as well and are lawmakers close to a deal? >> certainly they are a lot closer than they were yesterday or at any time during this process. given how partisan the process.

late last night, there was a glimmer of hope, if you will. what the plan leaking out should be. $2.8 billion to get through 2012, the president's biggest, 1.8 trillion on the second raising, but the second raising would go forward. what would need to occur by christmas in spending cuts. that would be on the backs of the special. if they weren't able to come up with a deal by christmas, you would see across the board cuts in the united states government to medicare and the pentagon included. the idea there being two sacred cows and one for the republican pentagon and the medicare getting cut. >> okay. thank you so much. i know you will be gathering

more info. see you next hour. >> a great day. >> here we go with it. any deal they work outville to pass both the senate and the house. john boehner said an agreement can be reached. >> in spite of our differences i think we are dealing with reasonable responsible people who want this crisis to end as quickly as possible and i'm confident that we will. >> joining me now is our democratic strategist. thank you very much for joining us. you heard speaker boehner. do you agree this will happen? >> i don't know. as of yesterday when we left, it didn't look like it would happen and i hear reports now, but i don't know what they are negotiating. we made it clear in the caucus in the house yesterday that anything that moves to the right of the bill we voted on would not be acceptable. >> when you say you don't know,

you do know as do your colleagues. does anyone think we will let this nation default and not raise the debt ceiling? the answer comes in one form or another. either or. >> i thought that might very well happen and i heard the president use his authority on the 14th amendment to prevent it from happening. the republicans have behaved so irresponsibly by creating this crisis, in effect, normally the process is if you top the do something and you think you can renegotiate that, instead what they have done is they have put this on to the debt ceiling increase which is a normal increase every year or two with the debt ceiling to account for bills that occurred because they made three and five seven years ago. should we pay our bills?

they would allow it not to decrease and default on the debt. what they are saying is if they don't do what they want, we will hold the economy hostage like a bunch of gangsters saying this is the economy. given that behavior and the behavior of the absurd, i thought it's possible that they would let it go. >> what are they telling you? >> they are saying don't let it go over the cliff, but innocent don't touch the security and medicare and give in too much. >> do you think the president is giving too much? >> kwleen the new deal is, but certainly if it includes reducing the cost of living increases for social security so that seniors fall further behind the rate of inflation and cuttings to medicare beyond the cuts made last year, yes, that would be too much.

>> gerald nadler of new york who high tailed it up here last night. thank you so much. >> you are quite welcome. >> senate majority leader just said they are "very close ". to a deal. we have a republican and we will hear from her around 11:30 eastern time. the debt crisis is causing a crisis as the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff discovered for himself this weekend. here in southern afghanistan, soldiers and marines are dodging bullets. when they had a chance to throw questions at the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, their number one concern was the ongoing debate back home over the debt ceiling. >> the checkbook is not

unlimited. >> they told soldiers if the talks fail they have to fight, but they may not get paid. >> there plenty of you living paycheck to paycheck. if paychecks were to stop it can have a devastating impact and a devastating impact pretty quickly. >> mullen told marines given the state of the u.s. economy, all the services they said cut back in the size of the force and maybe even military benefits. >> we will have to tighten our belt and prioritize and make hard decisions. >> in the middle of a war zone like many americans, these service members are worried about their jobs and asking what the heck is going on back in washington? >> here's a look at today's schedule. the senate will be in at sdmoon the vote will be set for 1:00 p.m. we will bring you live coverage of all the news on the hill.

he will pick up coverage at 1:00. >> the fate of the two jailed hikers in iran will be announced in coming days. two years ago today, shane bahher and josh fattel were arrested for arrested for trespassing. we will have a live look from tehran with the latest on this story. a new twist in the disappearance of an 11-year-old girl in new hampshire. the fbi is offering a $25,000 reward. there is no trace of her since she was last seen monday night at her home. they are hoping the reward money will lead to information about what happened to this young girl. >> this reward should not be read into that we are transitioning in this investigation. we want to put it out there because of the vigilance of the

public, the recent successful cases of missing children that had been recovered as a result of that vigilance from the public. >> and her family returned home yesterday after police searched the property not far from the canadian border. no indication she ran away or someone took her. investigators knocked on about 300 doors in the area for clues in the case. police in ohio said four people were shot and headlined by george clinton. the dealer said two of the people shot are in critical condition and two others are stable. they do not have a description of the suspect and don't have anyone in custody. ominous clouds of thick smoke filled the skies. a fierce fire at a bioenergy plant southeast of nashville unleashed the suffocating plumes as fuel burned inside. one worker was hurt and several homes were evacuated as a precaution.

no word on the cause. >> let's take a live look at sometime square in new york city where much of the northeast will be cooler and had a chance of showers and storms. we will have the rest of the sunday forecast. good sunday morning to you, ray. >> northeast should be good. all eyes continuing to be on the tropics as don went into texas as a tropical storm and became more of a tropical depression. for a lot of people as it didn't bring the rain they hoped. watch it through the weekend. this could be a depression today and possibly the next named storm. this would be emily, but well away from the islands. something to watch in the tropics. we are getting into august and things heat up into august. the story had been heat all summer. you mention places like dallas. you are going on your second most 100 degree temperatures at any given summer and 29 in a row most days in a row.

the heat is going to continue to build 105 today. 105 tomorrow. more warm temperatures in new york city at 92. look at dallas later in the week. 110. this big ridge stays in place and the dry weather is going nowhere. heading up through the lakes, off towards the east. showers and thunderstorms through virginia and the carolinas. that will bring thorps with locally heavy rainfall and spotty showers here for the southern parts of missouri and parts of mississippi early on a sunday morning. a big area of high pressure in the east should keep most of us dry and showers pushing through western new york state for the most part that were dry as we go through the afternoon. sunshine and temperatures above average in the east. we will continue to see the numbers even down near d.c. at 96. further down towards the south, this is afternoon stuff. throw heat on the atmosphere to get us wet weather.

showers and showers increase, but mainly dry and sticky in the southern plains. dallas with another 100 degree day. it will continue today, but on through most of the week and out across the midwest. the front coming through with a few showers in places like chicago. >> thanks for the comprehensive report. it was a flight that began in new york and ended in a miracle when the plane overshoots the runway and breaks apart. we will take a look. how can the evidence used to convict amanda knox be used to free her. straight hate, can bitter partisanship get ready to compromise. we will talk to howard dean on msnbc sunday.

i think i can confidently say this debt increase will avoid default. we are not going to have a default for the first time in our 235 year history. we are close to being in a position hopefully that i can recommend we take a serious look at it and support it. >> there you have it. that was mitch mcconnell saying they were close to raising the debt ceiling and we're hours away from a planned vote on harry reid's plan. they delayed the vote after the white house asked for more time to reach an agreement with the gop. the talks that have been taking place have done nothing to cool the bickering over which side is

more committed to finding a compromise. >> i spent two hours with the president and vice president and leader pelosi. it's fair for me to say the engagement is not in a meaningful way. the leaders refuse to negotiate in good faith. >> i might say i cut short a conversation with the vice president to come out for this important vote on a live way. i want to get back to work and hopefully solve the problem. howard dean, former chairman of the democratic national committee. i have to tell you, in addition what we heard about that bickering between harry reid and mitch mcconnell and proceeded by mitch mcconnell saying we are close to a deal, we are monitoring "meet the press" and have white house adviser saying no, we don't have a deal yet.

me what's going on right now politically speaking. democrats and republicans seem to be just side stepping each other to try it get a deal with the white house. what's happening. >> what you have is a committed extreme right wing who are not going to give in on anything. the challenge is to put it together without them. he will have to risk his speakership in order to do what is right for the country. that's the biggest problem. >> okay. howard, all of these reports have a nugget at the center of them that save us a tentative agreement on a framework of a deal. that would cut over a trillion in spending. medicare is exposed to deeper cuts. what's your reaction? >> we can't ask middle class people to take it on the chin

without letting the billionaire that is the republicans are supporting take heat too. it's only fair that everybody sacrifice here. we are all in this together. we will see what the deal is. you heard so many rumors and you heard them comment. >> but with regard to the president, he has been taking heat from his base, a lot of progressives are saying he is giving too much ground. does he have to in the art of compromise and getting something done, is it not possible to get the increases on the rich that the democrats want in order to get the debt ceiling raised within 48 plus hours? >> the definition of a compromise is that everybody gets something. as a democrat i would be willing to give something to get stability, but i would like to see the republicans put their billionaire friends on the line too. everybody ought to be able to put something in. in you ask for sacrifices from

medicare recipientsin, you haveo ask for the corporations and the billionaires that the republicans represent. i have not criticized the president because most of what's coming out of the white house and washington are rumors. we don't know what's in the deal and i think it's hard to criticize it until you know what's in it. >> good point. there is another way this could happen. i want to play a clip of the independent from vermont speaking on air last night. let's listen. >> using the 14th amendment is getting the job done. to protect the faith of the american people and make sure seniors get their social security checks and our soldiers who are putting their lives on the line get paid. i believe given the choice between defaulting boehner or reid, using the 14th amendment is the most sensible approach. >> do you think the president should consider the 14th amendment if whatever plan is brought in doesn't pass?

>> the president is doing what he needs to do right now to get congress to do its job which they have not yet done. to get congress to do it in a balanced and fairway which the republicans are decided they don't want a part of. is that an option? of course it's an option. we need to give congress an opportunity to do its job and the sands have not run out of the hour glass. let's see what happens. >> give me a sense of how you see it playing out. >> it's difficult. i have not seen the courage to stand up and do what's right. the way to pass is getting 115 votes on the republican side and the democratic side and get this done in a bipartisan way. in order to do that, the speaker has to talk to the democrats in a serious way. talking to the democrats and saying no way, no how is not serious. let's see what happens. a week ago, i thought the

speaker was doing a great job. he folded under pressure from the right. a week ago i thought connell was doing an awful job and today he thinks a deal is nearby. let's see. this is not played out yet. we will find out who the winners and losers are, but i don't think we will default. that i do not think. >> let's hope you are absolutely right and you usually are, howard dean. >> thanks for having me on. >> what are banks doing to prepare for a possible default and how might customers being affected? a near tragedy that ended in triumph. the persons that survived this unbelievable crash landing. ♪ [ male announcer ] how could a luminous protein in jellyfish, impact life expectancy in the u.s., real estate in hong kong, and the optics industry in germany? at t. rowe price,

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taking a look on capitol hill. senators will start arriving in the next hour or two and the entire economy hangs in the

balance of the debt ceiling deadline. there is a vote scheduled for 1:00 p.m. eastern and intense negotiations between congressional leaders and the white house. more on an agreement in washington coming up shortly. >> you usually don't hear plane crashes described as a miracle, but that's what officials are saying after a passenger jet broke into two pieces in georgetown. live with these incredible details. mi rackuous, jeff. >> when you see the pictures, no doubt about it. it originated here in new york and overshot the runway as it attempted to land in the capital city. everyone survived. persons are speaking out about the terrifying experience. as paramedics arrived, the jet ripped in two off the runway. it looks like another airline tragedy. >> this is one of the worst mishaps in recorded memory in guyana.

>> passengers would emerge, all of them alive. >> we had to jump out of the plane and my shoulder is messed up. >> after deparing new york, they stopped in trinidad and flew on to guyana. it touched down and skidded off the runway, stopping 200 feet short of a ravine. thinking it was over, passengers clapped, and it broke in half. >> i said man, we're going to die. the plane doesn't have enough runway to stop. >> everyone was screaming. pa. >> there were 163 people on board. dozens were injured and most have already been released from the hospital. >> it's amazing to leave an aircraft in that shape with a handful of very small injuries. >> while it's rare, planes have

broken with no deaths. two years ago this american airlines 737 slammed into the runway in jamaica, breaking apart. all 154 people survived. >> the seats have been increased in strength so they will with stand 16 times the force of gravity before they depart the floor. >> this weekend the ntsb is sending a team to the crash site, looking not only for what went wrong, but what went right. >> officials in guyana say 100 people received medical treatment and four were taken to the hospital with serious injuries. that is miraculous when you see that plane that broke in two. they were cheering thinking everything was fine and suddenly it cracks apart. it's interesting about how the seats are reinforced to stay against the fuselage to make

sure -- that's how people die. when seats fly around. >> it is a miracle. you proved it with your story. a powerful earthquake today rocking north eastern japan. a 6.5 magnitude struck off the coast of fukushima. the area devastated in march. it left seven people injured. ♪

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secondly strong enough to compel folks to act. >> white house correspondent at the white house, good sunday morning to you. >> we have been reporting with mitch mcconnell with the words that were close to a deal. that doesn't sound like a deal. >> they are very close to a deal. the two sides are being very careful about how they phrase that. there may be a couple more twists in the road here. david put his finger on this all along. the triggering mechanism, i hate to get into the explanations, but have to. the outlines of the deal, they cut a trillion dollars in spending off the top. they want to cut another $2 trillion. they will form the committee to look at everything under the sun to come up with a bold proposal supposedly and everything is going to be on the table. what if the committee can't come to an agreement.

how is that going to get cut? there has to be a sword that is being held over the necks to force them to do something that would automatically cut spending and that's what they refer to as the trigger. what they agreed to is across the board spending cuts. if there can be no agreement by thanksgiving of this year, that's the agreement that is emerging, defense would not be spent and discretionary and defense spending. republicans are insisting that there be no tax raises. i have to say, when chuck schumer, the democrat from new york and the venturing of the partisan wars, a warrior for the party said the mood on the capitol hill is one of relief. you can take that as a sign that they are close, but deep their eyes glued. there could be rapid developments if you are looking

for washington to make a deal. obviously everything is doing that. mitch mcconnell, here's what he had to say. >> we are still working on the parameters that were very, very close to recommend to my members that this is something they ought to be able to support. >> the other shoe would drop by thanksgiving. if not the triggering mechanism and across the federal budget. that appears to be what they agreed on. they may come as they head into the early afternoon, but that is the deal that's on the table. >> a long day yet to come. >> as you heard mike pointing out with the key sticking points. the same one all over again. the 2012 elections.

i am joined by eleanor. good morning. >> good morning, alex. >> tele me if you see it this way. does it appear the democrats may strike a deal that takes them through 2012, but overall how has the debt ceiling debate and washington spending into 2012? >> i think the democrats will win on extending the debt limit so we don't have to have this fight again over christmas or period cally next year. they are backing for that really comes from the credit marks and the business community. they do see this as a debilitating exercise. how this goes into 2012, it's hard to see that president obama comes out with a victory here because all of that was on the republican side these last 10 days or so.

they electric like the one who have been blocking things. i think the president comes outlooking more reasonable, but in the end the 2012 election will hinge on the economy. >> politically speaking, can you assess his permoermance for us? many progressives sat i president is giving away too much to strike a deal. >> progressives felt that about the president from the beginning. independents think he is being reasonable and fighting up on capitol hill and acting like a bunch of children. politically, the president comes out a little bit ahead in the context of this fight. but his overall future really depends on the economy. when you have unemployment at 9.2%, it will be a tough sell to

reelect this president. again, the other side has not picked anybody yet. i don't see any giants on the horizon there. they are very competitive in the election. >> we will have you back next hour. >> thanks. >> we remind you at 2:00 eastern, we will bring "meet the press" with our special guest david plouffe. >> a verdict on the two jailed american hikers will be announced in coming days. shane bauer and josh fattel were hiking and iranians charged them with trespassing and spying. joining me live from tehran now with the latest, good morning to you. in essence, we don't have anything definitive as a result of this long court appearance? >> that's right. what we have that is definitive is this is the last court case.

the judge said he will reach a verdict and deliberate over the next week and decide what to do. i have to tell you although it's speculation, all indications are that they may be released because of the month of ramadan and all the people i have spoken to that are in the know said in all probability they will be charged with espionage or entering iran illegally, but because of time served and good behavior, they may be lead go. not all is lost even though they haven't reached a decision today. over the course of the next few days, we should hear what the judge will say and with any luck they will be on the way back home. >> with any luck at all. we will get another update later, thank you. for the first time the u.s. is accusing iran with forming an alliance with al qaeda. the pact allows the group to use it as a transit point for moving money and fighters to the bases in pakistan and afghanistan.

let's get to part of what the "wall street journal" said. the quote reads they outlined what they said was a fund-raising operation that uses iran-based operatives and draws from donors in persian gulf companies. the treasury said they sanctioned six for allegedly overseeing this network. >> how concerned are you when you hear this report and what does this mean? >> it's difficult to understand at first. you look at what happens and you see militias confronting al qaeda and a lot of people die. it's difficult to imagine the allies. what's amazing is there has been evidence and through other sources that does tend to confirm the fact that iran is a major location from money laundering and cross transit into afghanistan. it is operating as a portal for

the taliban and al qaeda. why is iran doing this? probably not for idea logical reasons. they wanted to reach a deal and ever since then they have been holding this issue. there have been high ranking members that are allowed to live in iran. the question is what games do they want to play? >> they have different approaches and what does iran stand to gain by giving this safe passage to al qaeda? >> this is not idea logical. they are looking at the situation and maybe saying in terms of existential threats to the existence of the rezeem in tehran, what is the biggest threat? is it al qaeda or the united states? in the minds of the leadership right now, they see the u.s. as a greater threat than they do al qaeda. they can deal with it.

the u.s. is a real threat. >> more next hour. many thanks. >> the syrian government is ratching up the crack down on activists ahead of the holy month of ramadan. syrian troops and tanks stormed the city before dawn today, killing at least 45 people in a borage of shelling and gunfire. they have seen some of the largest protests in recent weeks as the up rising against the president's regime gains momentum. the family of amanda knox are confident she will be freed. what makes her optimistic?

a debta agreement appears to be right around the corner, but lawmakers in the white house are short of calling it 100% done. senators should be ahead of their session. we will have more live reporting for washington coming up.

the appeal trial for amanda knox reached a turning point in italy. they battled it out with forensics experts and said some of the ke evidence to convict the american of murder was unreliable and contaminated. she was sentenced to 26 years after being convicted of killing her british roommate in 2007. candace dempsey is the author of the book and good morning. thanks for joining me. >> good morning, alex. >> we talk about these experts and what they said in court this weekend, but they are talking about 50 different thing that is the prosecution and those that gathering the evidence did to make what they have so far. something they shouldn't be depending on in court. 50 different pieces of flawed evidence?

>> they caught a lot of it on film because they photographed themselves taking the evidence. you can watch them and it caused laughter in the courtroom when they showed cops handling evidence like it was a cheeseburger, droping it on the floor and photographing it and sending it off for testing. this was an object that was there for 46 days. people already went through the house. you can imagine the contamination possibilities there. >> it sounds like a bunch of keystone cops, invoking laughter over a serious matter. you have been following this case from the finger and you heard a amanda is doing and how he is holding up. >> it was interesting to see her in court with all the smiling because we were see her looking downcast and her codefendant was smiling the entire time does and so were her parents on the defense side. on the prosecution side it was not a happy week.

>> you can imagine. is this because of the smiles on a mappeda and her family appears confident that she will win and be set free? i know her mom said she expects amanda to be home for christmas, but are you concerned the family is overconfident? >> i don't think so. the press and there saying she has a good chance of acquittal. the law requires that you can't convict on flimsy evidence. these are the judge's own empty experts who are saying this. these are not defense experts, but the hand picked experts and they think that this evidence is unreliable. it was at the center of the conviction, this particular evidence. >> they have a summer recess to go through, but her next appearance is early september. we will find out then. thank you so much for joining us. appreciate you live from

seattle. with a potential default a couple days away, how are banks preparing and how might you be affected? that is next on msnbc sunday. bl

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you can count senate minority leader mitch mcconnell as one who is confident that a debt deal can we reached by tuesday's deadline. there have been ongoing talks with president obama and vice president biden. senate majority reid was so encouraged that he put off last night's vote on debt reduction bill until this afternoon at 1:00 eastern, which is why we'll carry it live here on msnbc sunday. banks across the country are preparing for the possibility that millions of federal checks will be delayed if congress fails to raise the debt ceiling by tuesday. a u.s. credit default could delay social security checks, federal employees' salaries, military checks, food subsidies to low-income families, and many

banks are offering customers emergency loans or waived fees should checks not arrive on time. however, some of the largest u.s. banks have yet to announce a plan for customers in the event of a u.s. shotdown. joining me now is a reporter from "the washington post" nice to see you. >> nice to see you too, alex. >> give me a sense of panic, if there has been one, among consumers. >> there is a lot of frustration, particularly among military families and those who work for the federal government and are waiting to find out, what, if anything, will happen to them. one woman whose husband is in the navy, if anyone is not going to be paid next week, she hopes the president and his team are first in line to take the cut. anger and resentment is coming out. that's part of what is striving banks and credit unions to offer emergency programs to customers. some will be advancing customers their pay in the event of a

partial government shutdown or perhaps waiving certain fees, expediting approval for credit limit increases. a lot of things they are doing now in order to prepare for what may happen next week. >> the navy credit union is on board. but bank of america and wells fargo have yet to say anything. their defense being, what, that they don't want to have to cross that bridge before they get to it? is that basically it? >> that's basically it. i think seven sort of preparing for the worst and hoping for the best and certainly as you reported earlier there, are some signs today we may have good news later on, even in the day. but i think one of the challenges for banks, they don't want to increase panic. obviously we've seen customers be worried. they don't want to feed that fear, but at the same time they want to serve customers. you have to remember that the banking regulators have yet to issue any type of guidance, we are told they are working on it, looking at some ways wish ch to

encourage banks to help out customers, but they haven't put out guidance yet. that may be what banks are waiting for. >> thank you so much. >> thank you. in a moment, top stories, including why harry reid's decision to delay a vote last night signifies progress in the debt reduction bill. stay with us. i love that my daughter's part fish. but when she got asthma, all i could do was worry ! specialists, lots of doctors, lots of advice... and my hands were full. i couldn't sort through it all. with unitedhealthcare, it's different. we have access to great specialists, and our pediatrician gets all the information. everyone works as a team. and i only need to talk to one person about her care. we're more than 78,000 people looking out for 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare.

right now on msnbc sunday, down to the wire in washington. new word this morning that the senate is cloese to a deal according to some. but there's still a sticking point at the white house. >> we don't have a deal. there's general agreement that we'll have debt reduction on tuesday. the first will be something that the parties largely agree on about a trillion deficit reduction. the second is the trickier elements of entitlements and tax reform. >> can an agreement be reached

in time? who will come out looking like a winner? i'm alex witt. welcome to "msnbc sunday." let's go first to new word this morning that the debt deal is close to being a done deal, but by monno means over. the gop and the white house are making progress. >> we're still working on the parameters of it, very, very close to being able to recommend to our members that this is something they ought to be able to support. >> lawmakers have two more days to raise the nation's debt ceiling and avert an economic catastrophe that would have global ripple effects. the senate will be in session at noon eastern today. senior white house adviser david plouffe says the clock is ticking. >> in the coming hours and we're literally talking in the coming hours, it's incumbent for congressional leaders to compromise that last bit. >> lawmakers will cast a test vote on a senate bill at