good morning. when you look at the photos, it all seems so normal. aaron alexis on a trip to thailand last year. he was just posing for pictures with friends, but also new this morning, disturbing clues that in the weeks before the killing, before he killed a dozen innocent people, the 34-year-old seemed to be losing his grip on reality. just last month, alexis called police while staying at this rhode island hotel, complaining he was hearing voices. he claimed people were following him using a microwave machine using vibrations, hoping to harm him. he later sought treatment for a nearby va hospital. now, lawmakers are asking how someone with his issues and trowelled past could have gotten clearance to military facilities. >> it is time to start at the bottom. and really revamp our background check system, especially in our military, national intelligence and military facilities.

>> the defense security has ordered a review of all facilities worldwide and will hold a briefing about an hour from now. president obama has ordered a broader look for contractors and employees. i want to bring in pete williams and that's the question really everybody has today, pete, how was alexis given security clearance to enter these facilities. >> that's a pretty straightforward answer. the how part. he got the clearance when he was still in the naval reserves and active reservist. that was 2008. and he wouldn't leave the reserves for another three years. now, he received a low level, secret clearance. that's good for ten years. the navy did realize he had been in an altercation, a brush with police, a couple of years before that in seattle when he shot the cars out of a tire that he didn't like it was parking near his house, but that wasn't considered disqualifying, but

this subsequent reviews, none other were considered either. there's a subsequent question about his mental problems. very disturbing report from the newport police that he was hearing voices and thought people were following him, that waves were being beamed at him that was interfering with his sleep. it's not clear he ever told the va about that, but the newport police did pass that on to the navy. the question is, what did the navy do with that. that's something the navy and fbi are looking at. >> thank you so much. you'll remember that after newtown, it was so close, the president fell just six votes short of a background check bill, now, president obama is again calling on congress to do something about guns. >> taking steps that are within my control. the next phase now for congress to go ahead and move. the overwhelming majority of the

american people understand there's some common sense gun safety laws that we can put in place. that could prevent some of this tragedy from happening. it's not going to prevent all violence. >> this is just one more thing to add to the president's second term crowded agenda including rolling out his signature health care law, keeping the government running and immigration reform. he hit on most of those topics with a friend of the show, jose. i want to bring in matt welch, bob herbert, a distinguished senior fellow and former columnist at "the new york times." lots to get to. start with guns because harry reid yesterday said point-blank, i just don't have the votes on background checks. then you have ron barber, one of the victims of the shooting in tucson. he's proposing the bill to increase public awareness about mental health. anything get done on that?

>> the only thing that can possibly get done with gun control in this country on the national level is something having to do with background checks. that's about the only area that's broadly popular among the public. it's really difficult on the details of it. who exactly does it cover. which sales does it cover. in this particular case sh you have to according to the current law, but involuntarily committed or declareded unfit by some kind of body to have your mental issues declared disqualifying, so i think maybe people will look at expanding what that is. that's a lot more difficult in practice to do than just waving your hand and making it so. >> the president sort of lumped a lot of things together when talking to jose yesterday. let me play what he had to say, blaming republicans. >> this is an example of where what we've seen again and again

on immigration reform, on gun control, on common sense budget. you have the majority of the american people, even republicans who are ready to move the country forward, yet we keep on getting blocked edbloc. it's a challenge i'm speaking out orngs but ultimately, we're going to need pressure from the public to change how we do business. >> is is it the republicans blocking the agenda? is it as the republicans charge, the president's lack of leadership? in any case, i don't know when we've seen anything like this when we have all of these major items and nobody's sure anything's going to get down. >> i think both are in play here. republican obstructionism, but also, obama has not been a strong leader on a number of issues, but if you're talking about gun control, i agree that the only thing you might get and that's unlikely, is strengthened background checks, but i don't

think that would do very much to stop these kinds of tragedies. you will still have this tremendous number of guns out there in the society and you'll still have this obsession with violence that we have in this country and until you start to do something about both of those things, which is unlikely anytime soon, you're going to continue to have these tragedies. >> i think one of the underappreciated parts of obstruction isn't really about republicans. it's about democrats and what's happened over the last couple of months. we've seen democrats join the libertarian republicans like funning the nsa and opposing syria, those types of democrats and also opposing the larry summers nomination. so, you have people realizing there's not a big penalty to pay by opposing the president on signature issues. >> or maybe they don't feel like they get anything out of it. not just a penalty, but there's no positive for them. >> i think that goes to obama's

leadership. one, you don't punish the opposition. if you're not a strong leader, you don't punish the opposition, so the opposition doesn't pay a price for its obstructionism, and two, you don't take care of your supporters so that the supporters are in the tightly bound to you because there's so much in it for them. that's a toxic combination for someone who's a president. >> i want to bring in congressman chris van hollen, democrat from maryland and ranking member on the budget committee. good to see you. you have really these two sets of criticisms of the president. one, that he has not been reaching out to congress and some members of your party have criticized him for that and maureen dowd writing today the man who connected in 2008, causing americans to overlook his thin resume, cannot seem to connect anymore. when you look at what's going on in congress and it's easy not to like congress, the american public will show you in polls they don't, is there a problem

with the president's leadership? >> no, i don't think so at all, chris. the president has tried to engage with congress. he has engaged with the american people on all these issues that you've talked about that deal with domestic policy. whether it's on gun safety legislation and universal background checks, comprehensive immigration reform. the president is on the side of the country and you've got the house of representatives, the tea party caucus, tieing everything down. the immigration bill is a perfect example. it passed the united states senate with a large majority. we could actually pass it today. the next 24 hours. >> he talked about immigration specifically with jose yesterday and i want to play that. >> the only thing holding it back right now is john boehner calling it to the floor because we've got a majority of members of congress, democrats and some republicans in the house of representatives who would vote

for it right now if it hits, so this is really a question that should be directed to mr. john boehner. what's stopping him from calling that bill? >> do you agree with that, john boehner, does the president indeed have the votes? >> absolutely, he does. if the speaker of the house brought up the comprehensive immigration bill that's pass ed the senate, he brought that up today, it would pass. so, it's a perfect example of where you've got this determined minority in the house blocking action and the speaker deciding not to let the people's house have a vote, but letting control of the house go into the hands of this small faction. because if the people's house, if this house had a vote today on comprehensive immigration reform, absolutely, it would pass. >> also getting ready to take their 42nd vote in the house to defund obama care and i want to play what mitch mcconnell said

yesterday. >> well, one thing all republicans agree on is we think obama care was the worst piece of legislation the last 50 years. all of us who voted to delay it, we know it's reeki inin ining h the economy. we have a record number of part time employees as a result of obama care. insurance premiums are spiking. i think it's safe to say everyone republican thinks it's a huge mistake and would like to get rid of it. >> we know the republicans plan on a bill to keep defunding obama care, so if these are the republican's terms, are we headed for a government shutdown? >> well, if they're determined to take us in that direction, that's what's going to happen. as mitch mcconnell said and as the house republicans who just emerged from their caucus a little while ago here are saying -- >> can you and the president stop that from happening?

>> excuse me? >> can democrats and the president stop that from happ happeni happening? >> republicans are the majority in the house, so the way to stop that from happening is for the speaker of the house to allow the entire house to work its wheel and not hand the keys of control of the house over to what is even a small faction within the republican party. he's allowing that very small faction to hold the entire house, republicans and democrats, hostage. and they are now taking the position as you said, that unless you turn the health insurance, unless you turn health care back to the health insurance industry, they're going to shut down the united states government or make sure we don't pay our bills on time. those are all wreckless things and the speaker has to exert some leadership. he's got to allow the full house to work its wheel. this is supposedly a democratic house, but he has imposed an artificial rule that says he won't allow us to vote on

anything in the house unless a majority of republicans in the house support it. not a majority of the full house, but just a majority of republicans and what that does, chris, is it gives the most radical and extreme members of the tea party caucus, a veto over any progress in this country and that's just wrong. >> it's always good to see you. thank you. >> good to be with you. >> last week, high ranking democrat in this studio and we were talking about this and he said, i wouldn't say this publicly, but i think a lot of us feel sorry for john boehner because he can't corral the tea party. you saw the first line in nbc's first read today, it says if obama is having a bad run, just look at the house gop. >> i agree with my former colleague, maureen dowd. the house gop is obama's secret weapon. so, you know, they can't control themselves. if they go ahead and shut down the government, that would be politically, wouldn't be good

for the country. it would be bad for the country, but politically, the best thing that could happen for obama. >> if you take the politics out of it and you want to get something done here, matt, is the problem john boehner? would anyone be able to do any better with the republican caucus than he has? >> right now, no, i don't think so because there's a legitimate split philosophically and mentally among republican factions. you have sort of the ted cruz bomb throwers here who want to always defund obama care and lead to a series of kind of showdowns and you have john boehner, cantor, they want to work with the president on syria, all these kinds of things. this plit has been going on for a long time. you have back bencher libertarian republicans who want to cut government, which the john boehner republicans never has been enthusiastic about. that's an important split, so he can't really control faction because the faction does not agree with itself.

>> so, does the government shut down, bob? does immigration reform get done? anything on gun control? >> i don't think anything real on gun control. i'm skeptical about anything getting done on immigration reform and i worry, i don't know what will happen with the government shutdown, but i worry that will come to pass. >> bob, matt, great to see you guys. thanks so much for coming in. today, kids are going back to school in boulder, colorado, after almost a week of punishing rains causing historic floods. it could take up to a year before roads and bridges are repaired. but while thipgs are improving, there are still more than 300 people unaccounted for. kate snow spoke with the bolen family, whose dad, jerry, is one of missing. he left a shelter to find his wife of 54 years and he hasn't been seen since. >> so, you went back looking for him. >> i started to, then i had to

be rescued at the other edge of town. anybody that ever had him in school has been out looking for him. so and i thank everybody so much. >> we are just swollen with pride for him, i just can't say enough about how proud i am to be his daughter and how proud i am that he did all the right things in the end. >> officials found jerry's overturned pick-up in the river, but the family says they're not giving up hope. [ female announcer ] we lowered her fever. you raise her spirits. we tackled your shoulder pain. you make him rookie of the year. we took care of your cold symptoms. you take him on an adventure. tylenol® has been the number 1 doctor recommended brand of pain reliever for over 20 years. but for everything we do, we know you do so much more. tylenol®.

♪ turn around ♪ every now and then i get a little bit hungry ♪ ♪ and there's nothing really good around ♪ ♪ turn around ♪ every now and then i get a little bit tired ♪ ♪ of living off the taste of the air ♪ ♪ turn around, barry

♪ i finally found the right snack ♪ ♪ with our new, improved peanut butter chewy bars. your financial advisor should focus on your long-term goals, not their short-term agenda. [ male announcer ] join the nearly 7 million investors who think like you do. face time and think time make a difference. at edward jones, it's how we make sense of investing.

within the next half hour, president obama will try dwen to pivot to the economy when he meets with corporate executives at the business round table, but it will be hard to get as much traction today as ben bernanke. he's set to announce the biggest

shift in u.s. monetary policy in nearly five years. the fed expected to ease the model designed to prop up the economy during the financial meltdown. here to explain what this means for us as well as the economy, university of maryland economist, peter marisi and greg, gentlemen, good morning. >> good morning. >> let's set the bar where we are with the economy. this is kind of a snapshot that we have. unemployment steadily declining. 7.3%. home sales up 17% from a year ago. inflation seems to be staying in check. the dow is up more than 18% this year so far. but peter, the economy is growing at an anemic 2.5%. what are you looking for from the fed? why should we care? >> to start to ease back on quantitative easing. >> nobody knows who that means.

i shouldn't say that. people smarter than me know. but quantitative easing means -- >> the fed is buying $85 billion worth of treasury securityies ad agency bonds, each month to help lower interest rates on long-term debt, mortgages and so forth. it can ease back to 80, then 75, then 65 that way. while this is good for you in the short-term and it's helpful, longer term, it creates distortions and problems in the economy that themselves create problems down the road. it's like giving someone a painkiller after a tooth ache. you don't want them to decide they'd like to be on painkillers forever. >> let me do the small part of this, then the bigger overall global economy of this. so, greg, if i'm looking to get a mortgage or worry about my credit card rates or if i'm getting near retirement and worried about what kind of interest rates i'm going to be

getting on money i've put in the bank, what's the real world impact on that level? >> first thing, there's a bit of bad news. it's probably too late to make a change. markets are always forward looking and ben bernanke began hinting he was going to take his foot a little bit off the gas pedal in may and markets responded by jacking up long-term interest rates including on mortgages, by a whole percentage point, so perhaps inadverteninadvertentlys actions have already exercised a gentle bit of pressure on the economy. we've seen the housing market lose steam. we've seen the enthusiasm of people to refinance their mortgages, that has come off a little bit. the big question today is what does the fed tell us about what comes next. assuming they pull back a little bit, do they couple that with the message that by the way, this does not mean we're going to continue pulling back on our efforts.

what i expect the fed to tell us, it depends on the economy getting better. if it gets better and unemployment rate drops, then investors, you should anticipate there will be less support on interest rates and long-term rates will dpo up. >> and when's going to happen with the replacement for ben bernanke? janet yellin, his wife, is seen as the front-runner. is there a dark horse out there? a general agreement that yellin is the pick? >> there's certainly a lot of support for janet yellin, but however, there is some interest in folks on the short list like mr. khan. my feeling is the president is going to be looking at those other people because this is such an important position and unlike the secretary of the treasury, you can't find the chairman for four years once you've got him there. he was so focused on summers and

there's also the issue he mishandled this summers nomination by letting him basically campaign for himself. so i think he's going to give this some serious thought. look at alternatives, but at the end of the day, i think he's going to pick yellin. >> good to see you. we will watch to see what ben bernanke has to say. we have some breaking news from ottawa and the pictures have been pretty dramatic. multiple people have been reported killed after a passenger train collided with a city bus. this is in ottawa and it happened during the morning rush hour. the front end of the double decker bus was absolutely ripped off with the impact of the train. rescue crews swarmed all over the wreckage. the injured from a bus who could walk were taken to a second bus nearby to be treated by paramedics. we'll be back with more after this. the humble back seat.

we believe it can be the most valuable real estate on earth. ♪ that's why we designed the subaru forester from the back seat forward. the intelligently designed, responsibly built, completely restyled subaru forester. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. seasonal... doesn't begin to describe it. running a bike shop has it's ups and downs. my cashflow can literally change with the weather. anything that gives me some breathing room makes a big difference. the plum card from american express gives your business flexibility. get 1.5% discount for paying early, or up to 60 days to pay without interest, or both each month. i'm nelson gutierrez and i'm a member of the smarter money. this is what membership is. this is what membership does. before mike could see his banking

and investing accounts on one page... before he could easily transfer funds between the two in real time... before he could even think about planning for his daughters' future... mike opened a merrill edge investment account and linked it to his bank of america bank account to help free up plenty of time for the here and now. that's the wonder of streamlined connections. that's merrill edge and bank of america. we need a new recipe. hmmm. let us consult the scroll of infinite deliciousness. ♪ oh! perfect. [ wisest kid ] campbell's has the recipes kids love. like easy chicken and cheese enchiladas. so good! can i keep this? you already have it at campbellskitchen.com. nice. [ blows ] [ gong ] m'm! m'm! good!

to prove to you that aleve is the better choice for her, she's agreed to give it up. that's today? [ male announcer ] we'll be with her all day to see how it goes. [ claira ] after the deliveries, i was okay. now the ciabatta is done and the pain is starting again. more pills? seriously? seriously. [ groans ] all these stops to take more pills can be a pain. can i get my aleve back? ♪ for my pain, i want my aleve. [ male announcer ] look for the easy-open red arthritis cap. humans. even when we cross our t's and dot our i's, we still run into problems. namely, other humans. which is why at liberty mutual insurance, auto policies come with new car replacement and accident forgiveness if you qualify. see what else comes standard at libertymutual.com. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy?

to politics now. we have a political ad you have to watch. openly gay candidate for congress, carl shortino, comes out to his dad. >> i'm carl and i'll never forget that conversation with my dad. >> that's me. >> where i had to come out and tell him -- >> wait for this. >> i was a massachusetts liberal. >> and he's proud of it. >> dad's in the tea party. >> damn right. >> that's why aapprove this message. >> you too, son. hillary clinton gave her first big interview to new york magazine. politico has a great headline. hello, congressman, this is bill clinton.

i wish i could do his accent. it's all about the close connections president clinton keeps with members of congress, including often picking up the telephone. sometimes, he just wants to get the scoop on congressal races or di bills or a local restaurant recommendation. a new law in france bans child beauty pageants and if you organize one, they can lock you away for a couple of years. check out the reason and let me know, do you think we need one he here? it's up on our facebook page. co, please? thank you. that's three new paper shredders. [ boris ] put 'em on my spark card. [ garth ] boris' small business earns 2% cash back on every purchase every day. great businesses deserve unlimited rewards. read back the chicken's testimony, please. "buk, buk, bukka!" [ male announcer ] get the spark business card from capital one and earn unlimited rewards. choose 2% cash back or double miles on every purchase every day.

told you i'd get half. what's in your wallet? told you i'd get half. the california teachers association.

150 years of making a difference that lasts a lifetime.

she was a picky eater. well now i'm her dietitian... ...and last year, she wasn't eating so well. so i recommended boost complete nutritional drink to help her get the nutrition she was missing. and now she drinks it every day. well, it tastes great! [ male announcer ] boost drink has 26 essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin d to support strong bones, and 10 grams of protein to help maintain muscle. and now boost comes in two delicious, new bars. look for them next to boost drinks. [ dietitian ] now, nothing keeps mom from doing what she loves... ...being my mom. expect a huge battle on the hill over a republican bill that would reauthorize the foot stamp program. it would make it a lot harder to get food stamps. a new report predicts as my at 3.8 million people would lose their benefits.

it would save the government an estimates $39 billion over the next decade, but angry democrats are asking at what cost. >> they want to gouge deeply into our nation's most important and successful antihunger program. they want to take food out of the mouths of hungry men, women and children all over america. >> i'm joined by alice stewart, gop strategist and radio talk show host. jason stanford. good morning, both of you. >> morning. >> so, let me play for you what congressman mcgovern had to say about this proposed bill. >> what's happening here is that the republicans are coming forward with a bill to punish poor people. >> there was a recent survey that showed one out of five americans, 20%, struggled in any given month to just be able to put food on the table, so alice, how do republicans justify millions of people, most of them

children, losing food stamp benefits? >> well, the key so this is is a serious problem in this country and food and security is a serious problem, but the fact remains is that we have the lowest amount of food and security and hunger in this country. back in the early 2000s, 1995 to 2003, when the jobs were sufficient for single moms and working families and they had jobs with incomes that allowed them to put food on the table and what the republicans want to do with this nutrition program and work and strengthening the work requirements here is to cut back on those who receive these benefits that don't need them. able-bodied people that can get to work. strengthen the work requirements so that those who need these programs can get them and as we said, this is a tremendous benefit to the budget, saving $40 billion over ten year. the key is cutting out those who don't need it, strengthening the work requirements. >> jason, is that the problem

here? that there are people on this program who don't need to be. >> oh, god, no. this is a hunger problem and they're hungry. this is a problem between congressional leadership and good american values of feeding the hungry. republicans have confused the method of carrot and stick approach. the reason those people are on food stamps is because they lost jobs. just telling them to get a job isn't going to fix it. you want to fix it? pass the president's jobs plan. raise the minimum wage and fund universal pre-k. that don't go well in republican primaries. >> it seems like you understand this food insecurity is a real problem. if we do this, are we putting the cart before the horse? do we need congress to come together, get a jobs bill, bring unemployment down further, then maybe we start to look at cutting back on some of the other programs? >> certainly, job creation is

something that should have been done from day one of this administration, but has been put on the back burner so he can have large programs like obama care, which has been a debacle. but the key is what people who need assistance need more than anything is a job. that's what's going to be the key and what has happened is this administration, this entitlement philosophy and mind set has created a society where they can get things for free, they'll do that as opposed to getting a job, as eric cantor mentioned, an unemployed surfer in california who laughs at getting a job because the government is giving him food stamps to go out and buy sushi and lobster. what's important is to reenforce the need to get a job and to work and to strengthen the workforce requirements to allow those to get the assistance and get out and get a job and make

things even better for their families. >> she is right that eric cantor has been the driving force behind this bill even at the risk of the larger farm bill. and in fact, the se ver verity e cuts is causing some with low incomes in rural districts. what's going to go on? >> no, what they want to do is being able to brag to republican primary audiences that they cut back on welfare and on food stamps. even though this isn't really welfare. they want to do that, but don't really want to pass the bill because the people that are hungry are in places like louisiana and arkansas, which are represented by republicans. this thing's never going to get through a democratic senate and would probably never in a million years be signed by the white house. this is pure politics. like we heard earlier on msnbc, the leadership is is worried about losing their tea party base. this is an attempt to get them back. >> thanks to both of you. >> checking the news feed this morning, today, kidnappers are

reportedly demanding $10,000 in ransom for the return of a 14-year-old girl. two gunmen kidnapped her from her home during a robbery yesterday and the suspects did not know the family. elementary schools in l.a. l's st. bernard parish have turned off water fountains and a pool has been closed. a rare but deadly ameeb has been found in the water supply and take b the life of -- the water went up his nose. this is the third death in louisiana since 2011. they are flushing water lines with additional chlorine and state officials are looking into whether this could be connected to hurricane katrina. opening statements in the so-called hiccup girl. maybe you remember her.

she had uncontrollable hiccups that would cause her to hiccup 50 times in minute. in 2010, she was charged with first degree murder after she lured a man into an ambush robbery where her roommates shot and killed him. her lawyers say she was recently diagnosed with schizophrenia. just when miley cyrus thought critics are probably done ripping my raunchy performance, listen to what cher tells "usa today." it just doesn't done well. she can't dance. her pbody looked like hell and chic, don't stick out your tongue. the 67-year-old will perform for the first time on "today" on monday. a day before her new album is released. starbucks asking customers to leave the guns home. mandy drury is here with what's

moving your money. what's going on now? >> it's not an outright ban, but guns are no longer welcome in starbucks cafes. most states allow people to carry licensed guns in some way and many companies do not have rules banning firearms in their stores, but the decision by starbucks came as a growing frequency of appreciation days, when owners turned up with their firearms and the ceo felt these events didn't represent starbucks' view on guns. this is what he said in an open letter. he said in recent months, starbucks stores have been thrust unwillingly into the debate. we are respectfully requesting that customers not bring their guns in unless they're authorized law enforcement

personnel. if you do come along with your gun, you will not be asked to leave, but this is encouraging you to do as they say. >> just weeks before the rollout of obama care, stated changes coming october 1st, big announcement from walgreens. >> it is a huge employer, but health care costs are continuing to climb, so apparently, walgreen is shifting more responsibility for insurance. it's going to send workers to a private insurance change where they can pick from 25 plans instead of the company just giving them two or four plans. employers, while they pay most of the cost, will not change. that's important. but you know what? they're not the only ones. employers have been struggling for years with those health care costs that climb a lot faster than inflation and this switch can make the costs just more predictable by giving the employee a set amount of money and saying okay, you've got this

money, you go and find the best coverage that suits your needs. >> thank you. >> thank you. we have breaking news in the navy yard shooting. moments ago, we heard from the mother of suspect aaron alexis. rehema is outside the apartment. what can you tell us about what just happened there. >> a pool reporter went into the apartment building where the shooter's mother lives and she provideded a statement. i think we might have some audio of that for you if not, i can read what the statement said and. but i think we do have that statement. you might want to listen to it. what i understand, she was very emotional and had to hold back tears as she read the statement. >> our son, aaron alexis, has murdered 12 people and wounded several others. his actions have had a profound and ever lasting effect on

families of the victims. i don't know why he did what he did and i'll never be able to ask him why. aaron is now in a place where he can no longer do harm to anyone, and for that, i am glad. to the families of the victims, i am so, so very sorry that has happened. my heart is broken. >> the bishop who was in the apartment with aaron's mother as she read the statement mentioned to her she has also been hurt by his actions, but she, according to the bishop, would not hear that. what she said is that her heart is broken for the families of victims whose lives were taken through the actions of her son. she did not want to express any concern about her son. she did say that she has been in the apartment since she came home from work on monday. has not been able to come out. again, chris, that her heart is broken by all of this. >> rehema ellis, thank you so much for that report and we'll be right back. re othings at home

is just a tap away. ♪ introducing at&t digital life... ♪ ...personalized home security and automation... [ lock clicks ] ...that lets you be closer to home. that's so cool. [ male announcer ] get $100 in instant savings when you order digital life smart security. limited availability in select markets. ♪ i've got a big date, but my sinuses are acting up. it's time for advil cold and sinus. [ male announcer ] truth is that won't relieve all your symptoms. new alka seltzer plus-d relieves more sinus symptoms than any other behind the counter liquid gel. oh, what a relief it is. side-by-side, so you get the same coverage, often for less. that's one smart board -- what else does it do, reverse gravity? [ laughs ] split atoms? [ flo chuckles ] [ whirring ] hey, how's that atom-splitting thing going?

oh! a smarter way to shop around -- now that's progressive. call or click today. ♪ [ male announcer ] 1.21 gigawatts. today, that's easy. ge is revolutionizing power. supercharging turbines with advanced hardware and innovative software. using data predictively to help power entire cities. so the turbines of today...

will power us all... into the future. ♪ [ dog ] we found it together.upbeat ] on a walk, walk, walk. love to walk. yeah, we found that wonderful thing. and you smiled. and threw it. and i decided i would never, ever leave it anywhere. because that wonderful, bouncy, roll-around thing... had made you play. and that... had made you smile. [ announcer ] beneful. play. it's good for you. still running in the morning? yeah. getting your vegetables every day? when i can. [ bop ] [ male announcer ] could've had a v8. two full servings of vegetables for only 50 delicious calories.

live pictures from washington, d.c. president obama preparing to speak to chief executives from the nation's largest corporations. he's going to try to get their help in putting pressure on republicans to avoid a financial crisis. we've been talking throughout the day today about intransigence in congress, about a possibility of a government shutdown, so the president has been spending the week to try to get his message out to win over support in the public and congress. as you can see, from executives, let's listen in to the business round table. >> we think we are a part of the solution. it's about to economy. it's about jobs. and it's about doing it in a way that is balanced across the political spectrum. and so, we look forward to some of your ideas and we'd like to have an exchange on some of the

budgetary, fiscal and economic questions confronting our country and again, thank you for joining us and let me get out of the way. thank you very much. >> thank you. thank you, everybody. well, jim, thank you for the introduction. thanks to dave and andrew and john and all of the men and women. i've had a chance to not only present before this body, but many of you have been doing wonderful work with the administration on a whole range of issues and the point that jim just made about the commitment some of the companies here have made in hiring and promoting our returning veterans is extraordinary. we're very, very grateful for that. last time i was here in december, i told you once the mikes were working, that i'm usually invested in your success

because because this room represents not only an enormous amount of economic output, but also represents the hopes and dreams of people who are working very hard, trying to make a living. small businesses who are supplying large companies like yours, doing well, competitive at a global scale and america can do well, also. so, we want to be a consistent partner with you. on a whole range of issues and we have. you know, if you think about where we were five years ago, obviously, we're marking the fifth anniversary of the collapse of lehmans that triggered the worst economic crisis in our lifetimes. i think it's fair to say we've come a long way. at that point, the auto industry

was flat lining. you had the entire financial sector locked up. a number of banks were in deep trouble. and most acutely for ordinary families across this country, they were losing jobs, losing home, losing their life savings and there was a genuine fear that we might not be able to pull our way out of it and we have. thanks to the great resilience of the american people. thanks to some outstanding work that's been done by many of your companies. we are in a much stronger position now than we were then. we've created 7.5 million new jobs in the private sector. many of your companies have added to your payrolls and that's made a huge difference. we've seen quarters of consecutive growth that are still too slow, not as fast as we'd like, but relative to other

developed countries around the world, we've faired a lot better. the. >> howard: ing market has begun to recover. exports are at record highs. we're producing more energy than ever before and although in a world energy market for us to say we're entirely energy independent is a little bit of a misnomer. what's true is that the geopolitics of energy have shifted and that's strengthening our manufacturing base here and made it a more attractive place for us to invest. the deficits. have been coming down at the fastest rate since world war ii. the deficit's been cut in half since i came into office. health care costs, which were and continue to be a major source of concern, are increasing at the slowest rate in 50 years. and for many of you in terms of

your bottom lines, employer based health care plans have gone up at about a third of what they were going up when i first took office. and so, there's a lot of bright spots in the economy. a lot of progress has been made and a lot of good news to report. but i think what we all recognize is we're not where we need to be at. we've still got a lot of work to do. and we know what it is that we need to do. we know that if we implement immigration reform, that that can add potentially a million doll lars to our economy and we will continue to attract the best and brightest talent around the world. we know we can do more when it comes to exports, which is why i'm out there negotiating a transatlantic partnership that will arollow us to create a hig

standard, meaningful trade agreement with two-thirds of the world markets, which is going to be incredibly powerful for american companies who up until this point, have been locked out of those markets. we know we've still got to make a lot of progress when it comes to our education system and i want to thank the vrt because you've worked with us on issues like creating a common cause, a common -- which ensures that every young person in the america has the chance to get prepared and i'm going to talk about making college much more affordable. because just as we've had to take a hard look at what we can do to start bringing down health care costs, we've got to look at what we can do to bring down education costs. we have over a trillion dollars

of student loan debt, which is hampering the economy, preventing young people from buying home, starting families and spending money buying your products. the good news is that every one of the challenges we find, the barrierses, immigration, infrastructure, that prevent us from being as competitive as we could be, they're all solvable. we have good ideas. there's actually pretty good consensus in terms of how we might move forward. the problem is right now, this town, washington, is locked up. and we are not seeing the kind of progress that we should on these issues. so, immigration is the most obvious example. we had bipartisan agreement. we got a bill passed out of the senate. it's sitting there in the house and if speaker boehner called

that bill today, it would pass. we've got a majority of the house of representatives that's prepared to vote for it and we could transform our immigration system in a way that would be really good for your companies and really good for our economy. the reason it's not happening is because there's a small faction that insists that our tradition as a nation of laws, but also a nation of immigrants, somehow is un-american and they oppose it. and that duplicates itself on a whole range of these issues and now, in the next several weeks, it's going to manifest itself in what is going to be probably the most critical debate about our economy over the next several months, and that is what we do about our budget. so, let me just speak very briere briefly to that issue. as i said before, our deficits are coming down fast. in fact, the imf and other

international organizations that had cautioned us previously about our deficits, are actually now concerned we're bringing our deficits down too fast. that's the assessment of the economists. on the current trajectory we're on and if we were to pass the budget that i put forward, our deficits would continue to go down and we would have a deficit to gdp ratio below 3%, which is typically the standard at which it's sustainable. now, in order for us to do that, we've got to do a couple of things. number one, we've got to continue to be tight fisted when it comes to spending on things we don't need. we've got to continue to streamline government. got to continue to cut out waste and there's waste to be had and there's programs that don't work and prabs that are obsolete and we should eliminate. we've identified a whole range

of programs we want to eliminate and programs we'd like to consolidate. but what is also true is that if we're going to be honest about our debt and deficits, our real problem is the long-term, not the short-term. we're not overspending on educati education, on research and development. we're not overspending on helping the disabled. those things have all been flat for a long time or are coming down. our challenge has to do with our long-term entitlement programs and mostly our health care costs, so the fact that the affordable care act has been put into place and that many of you are taking steps within your own company, we're seeing health care costs come down. we're still going to have to do more because the population's ageing and demographics means that people are going to be using more health care costs and the government's going to have to grapple with it. that's the long-term challenge. the budget i put forward

actually proposes some smart fixes on medicare, some smart fixes on medicaid and creates a sustainable path where we can continue to invest in the things we need, education, infrastructure, research and development, deals with our long-term structural deficits that arise out of entitlements and put us in a strong position for decades to come. the problem we have right now is again that same faction in congress. is no longer talking investments -- initially, this was an argument about how much we spend on discretionary spending, defense. you could sit down across the table, try to negotiate some numbers. that's no longer the argument. what we now have is a idea

logical fight that's been mounted in the house of representatives that says we're not going to pass a budget that would threaten a government shutdown unless we repeal the affordable care act. we have not seen this in the past, that a budget is contingent on us eliminating a program that was voted on, passpass ed by both chambers of congress, is two weeks from being fully implements and helps 2 million people get health coverage. we've never seen that become the issue in the budget battle and so, that's a right now, the primary roadblock to resolving the budget. what's worse that same faction has said if we can't succeed in

shutting down the government and leveraging that, the affordable care act, we may be prepared to let the government default on our debt. this debt ceiling, i just want to remind people, in case you haven't been keeping up, raising the debt ceiling does not increase our debt. it does not somehow promote -- all it does is it says you've got to pay the bills you've racked up, congress. it's a basic function of making sure that the full faith and credit of the united states is preserved. and i've heard people say, well, in the past, there have been negotiations around raising the debt ceiling. it's always a tough vote because the average person thinks raising the debt ceiling must

mean running up our debt, so people don't like to vote on it and typically, there's some guns in terms of making the president's party shoulder the burden and then there's some political campaign later that smacks around for saying, joe smith voted to raise the debt ceiling by $2 trillion and it soupds terrible and it's a fun talking point for politics, but it always gets done. if there is a budget package that includes the debt ceiling vote, it's not the debt ceiling that is driving the negotiations, it's stick into the budget negotiations because if you're going to take a bunch of votes any way, you might as well go ahead and stick that in there. you have never seen in the history of the united states, the debt ceiling or the threat of not raising the debt ceiling being youzed to extort a