president obama and vice president joe biden will meet with both senate democrats a house republicans at the white house. and house speaker john boehner is putting the kibosh, instead limiting the meeting to leadership. the white house issuing a statement saying that president obama is disappointed speaker boehner is preventing his members from coming to the white house. the debt ceiling deadline is coming up one week from today. tes jack lew saying default would be bad. very bad. >> if congress fails to meet its responsibility, it could deeply damage financial markets, the ongoing economic recovery and the jobs and savings of millions of americans. >> but some of the republican rank and file in both chambers still seem stuck in default denial. >> many nonpartisan economists even including some of the biggest banks of new york say if you fail to raise the debt limit, it would be a catastrophe for the world economy. that doesn't convince you enough? >> i'm not convinced that's

true. >> i think it's irresponsible for any leaders from washington to indicate that america would default and not pay our debt. in fact, i think it would be reinsuring if the president would come forward and say america has never defaulted on our debt and america won't. >> we shall see. joining me california democratic congresswoman jackie speier. congresswoman, great to have you here. and you were at the white house yesterday with your colleagues. and house republicans there headed there today. you tweeted that the president said that there are reasons to be optimistic in all of this. and a senior gop aide is telling nbc news that house republicans plan to unveil this new clean six-week debt ceiling increase. so are we looking at a deal brewing and being ready to be displayed within days? >> i think we are. and it's good news for the american workers. it's good news for the american economy, and hopefully it will keep us from doing the absolute worst thing that could happen to our country. so it's all good news. unfortunately, it's only six weeks, but we'll take six weeks

if it gives us the opportunity to compromise and negotiate with republicans on a long-term solution. >> and you know, congresswoman, everyone uses the phrase "kick the can down the road." why are we supposed to believe that six weeks is going to settle the deep, deep chasms that exist between both sides? >> well, you're right, thomas. we do tend to kick the can down the road. we can never do anything in a permanent fashion. but i do think that the stakes are so high here. the american people are so disgusted by the inaction by congress at both sides of the aisle that it's incumbent on us to find some meeting of the minds somewhere so that we can restore the confidence of the american people and in business, and the economy can keep moving, and we can create jobs because that's what we should be doing right now. >> you talk about a long-term plan. and we have the president now responding to house republicans considering this short-term kick the can down the road six-week cr. the president has made clear -- this is their statement -- that he will not pay a ransom for

congress doingity job and paying our bills. it's better for economic certainty for congress to take the threat of default off the table for as long as possible which is why we support the senate democrats' efforts to raise the debt limit for a year with no extraneous political strings attached. 12 months. i mean, that's a big ask considering the type of people that the president is dealing with. do you think that's even realistic? >> well, we need to extend the debt limit for a much longer period of time. but having said that, we need to come up with what is going to be acceptable to the republicans. i mean, they are holding the economy hostage right now. we can't let that go on. last time this happened, we lost over 200,000 jobs and $600 billion in lost 401(k)s to the american people. i mean, we owe it to the american public to find a way to come to the center. >> you talk about the 401(k)s for a lot of people.

if we can show the markets quickly because we're looking at a big surge with the dow jones up by 178 points right now. been flirting at almost 200 points before we came on the air. with the debt ceiling deadline just days away, a week from today, congresswoman, we have "the washington post" chris cilizza is saying every member of congress needs to see this chart. the last time the impact on consumer confidence was far greater thannant 11th and on par with the lehman collapse. do you think that people -- that that resonates? i mean, is short-term memory loss so common up there? >> well, the short-term memory loss and there's attention deficit disorder that plagues the members of congress. i will say this, though. they look at polls. and the polls are devastating. in terms of what the american people think of congress right now. we've got to get our act together. and i'm one that believes that we will come halfway. but we're not going to hold the economy hostage. we're not going to hold the

american people hostage, and we are not going to allow the republicans to obsess continuously about the affordable care act. that is not what this is about right now. >> there is some cracks in the unity, though, of democrats, division because yesterday eleanor holmes norton confronted the president about his opposition to piecemeal bills, one of which is to offer critical funding to her district. d.c. mayor vincent gray confronted senate majority leader harry reid over that issue to which reid replied, i'm on your side, don't screw it up, okay? that was during the immigration rally. "the washington post" opinion board bluntly put the collateral damage in d.c. on the democrats. do you agree with that? i mean, this whole lot of issues is embarrassing for all of our elected leaders. but do you think that everyone gets that? because american people are hurting, and we're really putting people out on an island, especially considering the outrage there's been over military death benefits and families not getting that

assured benefit for losing a loved one. >> right. we have passed a bill, and it certainly will be passed by the senate and signed by the president. it's pretty disgusting when you think about it. i mean, we are in a situation right now where the republicans shut down the government over the affordable care act. that didn't seem to work. so now they're moving on to the debt limit and the continuing resolution linked to that. i mean, the truth of the matter is we're losing $200 million a day by keeping the government closed. that's how much all of us as taxpayers are paying. this can't go on. and we need to get a reality check here. and come to some kind of an agreement. we can do that. we must do that. that's why we're elected. >> congresswoman jackie speier, thanks so much. i appreciate your time this morning. we'll let you get back to work. as the congresswoman pointed out, they voted on a bill in the house that will go on to the senate with the president's signature needed on that. but there's been so much outrage

over the people on capitol hill not being there for the fallen u.s. service members, not being there for their families, giving them emergency death benefits because of the government shutdown. and today u.s. military officials tell nbc news that those four american soldiers were killed in special ops missions to take down what is described as an ied and suicide vest bomb factory. as it turns out, the loss of military benefits for these families was not a surprise. the pentagon warned this would happen at a press conference in late september. and then several days before the shutdown actually happened. >> we would also be required to do some other bad things to our people. just some examples, we couldn't immediately pay death gratuities to those who die on active duty during the lapse. >> if lawmakers can't reach a deal on the debt ceiling, $12 billion pay in benefits for service members and vets due november 1st, that all hangs in the balance. joining me, nbc military analyst and retired four-star general barry mccaffrey.

there has been this short-term solution provided for some of the families caught in this mess. and i say the short-term solution that was provided is thanks to the fisher house charity stepping up until the government reopens. as we heard there from the congresswoman, the house has worked its efforts to a bill to pass over to the senate and then for the president's signature to make that happen so we don't have to rely on great organizations like the fisher house to step in when the government turns its back. but there's also jefferson's restaurant in belleville, illinois, this is a great example which according to its facebook page will donate all of its profits yesterday to families of the fallen. the special operations warrior foundation will present $20,000 to each family of the troops killed in afghanistan. what's your reaction to all of this and the shortsighted mentality that our elected officials are leading by? >> well, i think there's no question that this congress is shameful, embarrassing. under the constitution of article 1, their primary responsibility is funding the

government. neither the administration nor congress has done that successfully for six years. so between sequester and now the government shutdown, we have thousands of complex actions going wrong. intelligence agents who aren't working during the war on terror. veterans administration benefits. by the way, next week as you collectly poi ll lly correctly , we're one step short of actually exceeding the debt limit and stop paying social security veterans benefit administration. this is amateur hour on the ll. it's shameful behavior. >> general, i want to read just a couple of quotes to you. first from lance corporal jeremiah michael collins because he posted this on his facebook page just two days before he was killed in afghanistan, saying "i'm waiting for the moment they breach my contract, just waiting, get it together, obama, and not to mention congress. make up your minds. i will protect the being of my country with my life, but do not

go blank with the men and women that protect your sorry you know whats." and then we get this from randall patterson whose son, cody, was one of the soldiers who arrived home in a coffin yesterday. he said if congress were trapped in a car in the ocean, i would swim down and look them all in the eye and say "suck water." these are so heartfelt emotional reactions from grieving families there like mr. patterson. should congress at this point even be handling the budget anymore? >> well, of course, it's the fundamental aspect of our government. i mean, the only -- the most powerful tool that congress has is to approve money expenditures and to limit the -- you know, the amount of money the government can borrow. i think, though, you're making a major point here. that the trust of 2.3 million men and women in the armed forces is rapidly being eroded in their own government. you know, armies don't fight wars. countries fight wars. we've got these kids all over the face of the earth out there

defending us. and yet as we sit here, half the f-15 squadrons of the united states air force aren't training. you know, by the way, it's not just the defense department. you can't get a new license to export beer. you can't -- we've got faa safety inspectors that aren't working. this is incompetence in our governance. >> general barry mccaffrey, sir, thanks for your insight. >> good to be with you. you may not be able to swim in that river, but it's probably, i think, because of all the bodies floating around from shooting victims in your city. >> oh, my god. oh, my god. >> getting down and dirty in the garden state. the gloves, they came off in the race to be the next junior senator from new jersey. coming up next, i'm going to break down "the sopranos" style slugfest with our own steve kornacki. what would we be talking about if the government wasn't in this shutdown mode? the agenda panel is going to weigh in on what they would be saying is front-page political

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the u.s. senate in new jersey is heating up and getting pretty nasty. republican candidate steve lonegan went after newark mayor cory booker focusing on most of newark city and attack on it which lonegan called a big black coal. being boo booker telling reporters he was offended. >> we have the pullback of the epa, let fracking go on like many of the fraccers want to do, it could pollute our waters. >> you may not be able to swim in that river, but it's probably

i think from all the shooting victims floating around in the water in your city. >> oh, my god. >> joining us is steve kornacki. steve, it's great to have you here. we appreciate it. we're going to rattle your cage on this one because it really seemed like a slam dunk for booker in the polls. and now with this head-to-head matchup, it seems like lonegan had booker on the ropes a lot when it came to the crime situation. the latest quinnipiac poll puts lonegan ahead of booker. he had a 25-point lead back in august. he's been chipping away at the lead. do you think that approach, lonegan's approach, is what's making the drastic difference? >> there's always the risk with lonegan that's constantly present he's going to go too far. he gives his opponent ads that he can run against him. now you have the booker people running negative ads against lonegan. lonegan at a basic level is not a good fit for a state like new jersey. that said, there's sort of a

generic republican senate candidate in new jersey will typically get in the mid-40s. they don't win. it's been 41 years since they've won. they get up to the mid-40s. what you're starting to see it that movement down to 12 points down. lonegan has finally gotten up into the range of a generic senate candidate. the surprise is everybody looked at the start at cory booker and said this is not a generic democrat. this is a guy with rare sort of cross-party appeal. this is a guy who's going to use this election to make a statement about his arrival on the national stage as a different kind of democrat. he's going to get 65. he's going to get 70%. that was the promise of his campaign at the beginning. we're ending at a place where he's got to run negative ads. >> cory booker is coming in with a national profile which lonegan is turning on its heel as an achilles heel for booker and taking him to task for what he's been doing as mayor in the midst of what many consider to be a crisis in his own city. take a look. >> cory booker about a month ago

10-year-old ali henderson was shot on the streets of newark while he was on "the jimmy fallon show" telling people what a great job he's doing in newark. ten people in a row for ten days while my opponent was running around in hollywood and san francisco promoting himself. >> steve, these are easy jabs, and they also resonate because they're true. >> well, in terms of booker's time away from newark and one of the cases that booker would make is that being away, he's built this national network that's brought benefits from newark just from the friendships and ties he's built around the country. but no, that's right. it's a bit of a cheap shot on lonegan's part. at the same time, the role of newark in new jersey politics has always been, fair or not, sort of the punching bag for politicians from outside newark. political careers in new jersey have been made by suburban politicians, bashing the city of newark, riling up the suburbs against newark and basically saying hey, you suburban taxpayer, you're getting ripped off because your money is going into the city of newark. there's nothing to show for it. and that's what lonegan is trying to tap into here.

sort of this, again, cory booker's career, he was of the rare newark politician who was as popular if not more popular outside newark than he was inside newark. lonegan is clearly trying to change that. >> meanwhile, booker got a huge cash infusion from bloomberg, but it's an interesting mixed bag of people showing up for lonegan when we have sarah palin stumping for him, rand paul has campaigned for him and chris christie who's numbers are in the 60s. he's a likeable guy. what happens to a sarah palin in new jersey? >> yeah, if you look at sarah palin's individual numbers in new jersey, they're terrible. that's somebody you bring in if you're in a six had-way primary and you want to get 28%, you bring in sarah palin. that's why lonegan is such a rare republican candidate in new jersey because the typical republican candidate in new jersey recognizes that in association with sarah palin, in association with rand paul, with ted cruz is not going to help

you, runs away from it. what you've gotten from lonegan in this campaign -- and i think there is at a certain level, he just come as cross as blunt and authentic. again, he's saying things that don't resonate with voters in a lot of ways, but the consensus, but he's not trying to hide his views and that's different for a republican in new jersey. >> thanks very much. as always, you can watch "up with steve kornacki" weekends here on msnbc. remember, naps are your friends at all times. as i told you about at the top of the hour, we've got these dueling press conferences that are going to take place. pelosi and the democrats on one side. house gop on the other side. and this is the shot of john boehner's stakeout after the conference that they're holding. it's a closed-party conference that they're having right now. again, both sides are going to be holding their own -- is that reince? no. i don't think that is. steve, that's not reince priebus, is it? it's a reince priebus

look-alike. it was a look-alike. so it is not. but yeah, boehner's going to be out there in a second, as i said. nancy pelosi and democrats are going to be holding their own press availability, the progressive caucus has just met, and they're going to be coming out. steve, let me get your take on this while you're here. dueling press conferences at the same time. both sides, you know, there's really not a carrot and stick approach here. because the democrats, the president offering no carrots. just a stick. >> what's happening here, it's interesting. it looks like the strategy that's emerged on the republican side is they're going to try to go for this temporary four or six-week extension of the debt ceiling but not for reopening of the government at the same time. so the strategy here that boehner has is he wants to see if he can pass this with all republican votes in the house. because democrats will not sign off on anything that doesn't also reopen the government. and boehner's margin for error is is so small. if he loses 20 republicans, if 20 of those hardcore conservative tea partiers say that's still not enough, we're not with you, then boehner has

to start dealing with democrats and that changes the equation because democrats will say just lifting the debt ceiling is not enough. we have a government that's closed, and we want that open, too. boehner is really trying right now, my reading on this, he's bowing to the right here. and he's basically saying we're going to try to pass this just with you guys. >> what's his logic for the cover that he's been able to provide for the tea party? why? >> he's sort of assumed this hard hard-line posture. he's been trying to build himself up credibility that if it ever gets to a point where he comes out with a plan like this or he goes a step further and says we want to reopen the government, too, that he has the credibility with them internally where he can say, look, i fought the fight you wanted me to fight. i took it as far as i possibly could. basically don't depose me as speaker. i didn't sell you out. i did everything you wanted me to do. his hands have been tied like this for 2 1/2 years now. it's the story of his speakership. >> how badly does he want to parent bad children? how long does he want to be a speaker of such a fringy group

that is willing to dig in the sand like this and throw the government into a tailspin? the government that it proclaims that it loves so much, that they would go this far? >> i've been asking myself that same question since january 2011. why does he want to be speaker of this group? you can see as a lifelong goal of having the title of speaker, getting the gavel, the car that comes with it, he you can see the prestige that comes with the job. >> ulall the merlot you can dri. >> maybe the guy likes a challenge. he's gone from one crisis to another that's been forced on him by the rank and file of the republican side. at a certain level he's managed to survive is personally. you can't say it's been that great for the country, but he's managed to survive and find a way out of the box every single time. maybe there's something about that that has appeal to him. i've been asking that question since january '11. >> do you think that the appeal and luster is really going to wear off after that? that the luster is gone for him to have to deal with this? because in showing respect or trying to take the advice of the tea party, it gives into them. and you give them an inch, they're going to take two miles.

>> here's what i'm looking for. the most humiliating moment in john boehner's speakership so far came at the end of last december when he put this thing on the floor. it was called plan b. he was going to buy himself leverage and buy himself negotiating position with the democrats over the fiscal cliff. and he put a bill on the floor, and the plan was i'm going to have every republican vote for this no democrat and this is going to show that my conference is behind me. and he put it on the floor, and he couldn't get the votes. that might happen again here. that's what i'm looking for. >> so what do you think -- there we see boehner showing up, cantor right on his heels with the rest of the conference that he was just meeting with. what do you think they're going to come out and say because this -- it's been from, you know, the department of redundancy department, they haven't told us anything. you know, they've come out to say that we're nowhere. >> well, it's now apparently about, you know, it was originally about obama care. that was the idea to shut down the government over portions of obama care. now apparently the signals they're starting to send h we'll hear more in a minute, oh, this is actually about our fiscal

problems as the country. we're going to try to create space to have a negotiate the solution to fiscal problems. >> let's go ahead and listen in. thanks, steve. >> -- the government shutdown. and just today the president has invited the house republicans to have a discussion about the way forward. we're hopeful -- we're hopeful that this is the beginning of a meaningful dialogue with the president about the important issues that face this country. we are hopeful that these will be good-faith negotiations over the long-term debt drivers -- or the drivers of our debt, over the security that we need for this country as well as the pressing need to open up this government again. that's why we're going to offer legislation that will -- that will offer a temporary increase in the debt ceiling to allow us some time to continue this conversation because it is time for solutions. the democrats' unwillingness to

have this conversation has actually resulted in a delay and an ongoing government shutdown. and it's hurting the american people. it's gone on too long. we hope that the president will choose negotiation over crisis. leadership over inaction and dialogue over silence. it's time to solve our problems. >> you know, the president is fond of saying that no one gets everything they want in a negotiation. and frankly, i agree with that. nobody gets everything they want. but over the course of the last ten days, we've been trying to have conversations with our democrat colleagues. they don't want to talk. the president doesn't want to talk. we tried to offer bills that would reopen parts of the government only to have them rejected by our counterparts over in the united states senate. so what we want to do is to offer the president today the ability to move, a temporary increase in the debt ceiling in

agreement to go to conference on the budget for his willingness to sit down and discuss with us a way forward to reopen the government and to start to deal with america's pressing problems. listen, it's time for leadership. it's time for these negotiations, and this conversation to begin. and i would hope that the president would look at this as an opportunity and a good-faith effort on our part to move halfway -- halfway to what he's demanded in order to have these conversations begin. >> you know, the american people expect both sides to sit down and work out their differences when you're operating in divided government. so i'm pleased today that we've had an invitation from the white house to actually begin to do that. and, you know, we have seen now for ten days a government shutdown. it's not what we asked for. it is what was the result of the

two parties not being able to sit down and talk. and there is very little time left. we cannot waste any more time. and what we have discussed as a conference is a temporary extension of the debt ceiling in exchange for a real commitment by this president and the senate majority leader to sit down and talk about the pressing problems that are facing all the american people. and that includes a broad array of issues. and we look forward to that happening. and if you look throughout history, presidents who have governed in a divided government have all sat down and talked with the other side. it's about time this is happening. >> i'm very hopeful for today. this is something that republicans have been waiting quite some time for. we never wanted a shutdown. that's why our very last bill said let's go to conference. so that door has always been

open. and we're thankful that the president is willing to talk today. we're coming there with an idea of working together. we're coming there to find common ground. to find common ground that will deal with these economic drivers that harm the economy. the drivers that continue to add debt. so when we make an offer today for a temporary extension, we're looking for a structure that puts us on a path to get a budget, to take care of the debt, and move this economy in a stronger position and have all americans win. a little common sense for the rest of the country. >> i'll take a couple of questions. >> mr. speaker, now that you're undertaking this plan on the debt ceiling, what do you need in order to reopen the full government? >> that's a conversation that we're going to have with the president today. and i don't want to put anything on the table. i don't want to take anything off the table. that's why we want to have this conversation. >> mr. speaker, what is the disagreement that will prevent

us from being in the exact same place? >> clearly you could end up back in the same place, and we don't want to be there. you know, listen. i think the president wants to deal with america's pressing problems just as much as we do. but in order to deal with these pressing problems, we've got to sit down and have a conversation that leads to a negotiation that begins to solve these problems for the future and for frankly our kids and our grandkids. >> last question. >> speaker, will you reopen the government if the president doesn't agree to do anything to change obama care? >> if ands and buts were candy and nuts, every day would be christmas. >> awesome from speaker boehner. closing out. okay, steve kornacki is still here with me. it's so interesting, though, and here's where it gets good, steve, because he brings up kids and grandkids. and we have to have, you know, a stronger america for that. what they're talking about here

is a temporary ex-tension in the debt ceiling, the increase. what was talked about maybe six weeks. that's not really going to help our kids and grandkids. anyway, it's going to get us six weeks. but this is the carrot that the right is going to offer to the president to get him to the negotiation table to then talk shutdown mode. explain if this is going to be received at the white house well because they're invited over this afternoon, leadership. >> yeah. i mean, look. this is being framed right here by boehner and the republicans as a compromise, we're meeting in the middle. see, we had this shutdown and default thing, and we're taking the default off the table, but the shutdown is still active. and the position that the white house has taken and the position that democrats have taken is these are more fundamental questions. the fundamental question here is should a political party be able to use the threat of a default, be able to use shutting down the government, the threat of shutting down the government as lemplg to basically extort anything they want? they're thinking about -- first of all, they're saying in this present situation, that's unacceptable to us. they're saying as a matter of precedent, this is not healthy for any president of any party in the future for the opposition

party to be able to just shut things down and grind things to a halt like this. so i don't think they are going to look at this like a compromise at all. and as i was saying before we went to the press conference there, i think this sort of reiterates that the play here that boehner has decided to make at least for this moment is a play that's centered entirely around republicans. th this is not about trying to reach out and get some kind of bipartisan solution. this is about saying this is the absolute most i can get out of the republican conference. and he's going to try to get unanimous support, get that 218 vote, that magic 218 votes all from republicans so that they can then put the pressure on democrats and say, look. we passed in the house something that will end the threat of a debt default. it's now up to the democratic senate. it's now up to the democratic president if they want to accept that at least as a starting point. the question -- it's an open question because you can never be guaranteed to this when it comes to boehner and the house republicans is can they even get 218 republicans in the house? because everything i heard today, we'll see what comes out of this, but nothing i heard from them tells me that any democrat in the house is going to be interested in voting to are what they laid out.

>> meanwhile, we get this small-leverage real estate leasleas release, a little says bit of the steam lifted off. the president has said he would prefer that the senate democrats' plan of the debt ceiling being raised for one year be enacted. so the shutdown of the government remains the biggest -- the biggest leverage that the right has. so while we could get the debt ceiling increase for six weeks, it doesn't mean that the government shutdown is going to go away any time soon. >> there's two basic problems here. and the republicans still seem to want to be claiming the shutdown of the government as leverage for -- and that's the other issue -- as leverage for what? the shutdown was originally because all the republicans attached all this anti-obama care language. now it's oh, no. we're stopping the discussion about that. of course boehner wouldn't specify. what we're hearing from paul ryan and others is the grand bargain and sbientitlements. at a basic level, i think democrats are objecting to the idea that either of these things

should be a continuing point of lempl for republicans now or for any party in the future. again, i think that puts -- the onus is on boehner to see if he can get all the republicans in the who us to line up behind this. that's an open question because if he has to start dealing with democrats to get this through, their price is going to be a lot higher than this. >> steve kornacki, so great to have you here with me to roll with the punches. we have david corn from mother jones and msnbc political analyst, sabrina is a reporter for the huffington post and v viviana. i want to get you on record. david, let me start with you. your reaction to what you were able to hear from speaker boehner there and the rest of his republican colleagues talking about the fact that they are willing to offer the temporary extension of the debt ceiling, an increase. >> it's like he's going for whatever life line he can find at the moment. you know, it seems to me that he's made the calculation that he can sell his 30 to 40 tea partier extremists on the idea that hey, guys, we shouldn't bear the responsibility for default. we have to sort of put that

hostage aside. while at the same time saying okay, you want to hang on to the government shutdown? i'll let you do that for a while. but for what reasons, as steve kornacki just said, we don't know because he wasn't talking about obama care like paul ryan's op-ed yesterday. he didn't mention obama care. so he's still trying to threaten about what hostage they're going to focus on for the next couple of days or next couple of weeks. >> so sabrina, is this shifting into a shutdown over nothing? >> well, yes, i think a lot of people think at this point if the shutdown's no longer about obama care, then what is it about? and you've heard concerning comments from a number of house republicans implying that this is just about prize at this point. it's about not wanting to cave, you know, there was, of course, the one congressman who said we just need to get something out of this. and so, you know, we know that john boehner has the votes to reopen the entire government if he wanted to hold a vote on a clean cr, he still refusesed to. he's looking to hold on to any little piece of leverage he can get. and i think a lot of people at this point have accepted that

this shutdown is now entirely about not wanting to cave first, then republican pride. >> so viviana, explain with this -- and they're saying compromise, and their willingness to do so with the president and the left, what type of cracks does that display as we face the attention back to the shutdown, the reasons for it, and how ridiculous it really is? >> well, actually, thomas, i think what it really shows is how ungovernable this republican party has become, particularly for speaker boehner. what's interesting was the focus on compromise and negotiation in speaker boehner's comments as well as the other people who were featured. but as no point is it being -- is any kind of negotiation or compromise from the wingers in the party being discussed, and i don't think they're going to go for it. >> viviana, david and sabrina, thanks so much for being so patient. sorry for our abbreviated time. we want to go to our congressional correspondent,

luke russert. luke, one of the more interesting statements that was made there was one of the congress members saying we never wanted this shutdown. a lot of people and a lot of the facts would disagree with that. that they wanted this shutdown. they were angling for that all along with october 1st and the launch of obama care. how do you think the white house and congressional members on the left are going to react to knowing that they are willing to go with this temporary extension of the debt ceiling with the increase? >> reporter: well, it's a fascinating dynamic, thomas, because from my sources in the room who were at the house republican conference just now, they said the conference spoke up. there were some folks that were very uncomfortable with a clean six-week bill. there are others who were supportive of it. however, if john boehner can not get to that magic number, 217, for a clean six-week bill, democrats become empowered. they can say no. we want a debt limit that extends through 2014 like harry reid said. so the question now becomes, is can john boehner once again get a bill on the house floor that his own party will vote through?

and from where we stand right now, the answer is we do not know. there is a lot of consternation about this bill within that conference, thomas. and some folks even said to me -- one member goes, how does it look with the debt limit extension, with the government shutdown, that's the equivalent of bailing out wall street and not paying veterans benefit. there's a lot of worry in that conference room about this plan right now. >> you know, it is putting the cart before the horse. and so how do they save face and explain themselves at this point? >> reporter: what their idea is that is, look. we need to have something we can bring to the white house to say this is where our guys are. give us some more time to negotiate a large-scale deal. however, if you extend the debt limit, you avert the economic catastrophe. the government is still shut down. what is it shut down over? is it the fight over the health care law that is now admittedly by all of them now on the back burner. it's shut down to use as leverage with the president in some sort of overarching budget deal. and my goodness, if that is

really the leverage and you have a six-week limit, is the government shut down until november 22nd? is it shut down till thanksgiving? these are the questions they're having to figure out right now, especially ahead of this white house meeting. but i go back once again, thomas, there is no clear indicator that this plan, as it stands, can pass through the house gop conference and onto the house floor. which is once again a big problem for house republicans. they very well could. they could whip it hard over the next day. don't get me wrong, they've been able to prove themselves. they are capable sometimes. but as of right now, it's hard to see where their leverage is because this plan was not widely embraced within the conference. >> we continue to follow the bouncing ball. luke russert, thank you. much appreciated. we asked and you answered. we've been asking you to share your shutdown impact stories using #dontshutmedown. mike weighed in. "i was forced to suspend work for 200 plus construction workers. please let me go back to work now." "my grandma won't be able to pay

her house payment. no one wants to live on the streets." just head to twitter. use #dontshutmedown. cars. ted is trying to get a hold of his insurance agent. maxwell is not. he's on geico.com setting up an appointment with an adjuster. ted is now on hold with his insurance company. maxwell is not and just confirmed a 5:30 time for tuesday. ted, is still waiting. yes! maxwell is out and about... with ted's now ex-girlfriend. wheeeee! whoo! later ted! online claims appointments. just a click away on geico.com. and it feels like your lifeate revolves around your symptoms, ask your gastroenterologist about humira adalimumab. humira has been proven to work for adults who have tried other medications but still experience the symptoms of moderate to severe crohn's disease. in clinical studies, the majority of patients on humira saw significant symptom relief, and many achieved remission.

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i want to thank the fisher family. my gosh, what humiliation. we're the united states of america with the strongest and best military in the world, to honor its obligation to its own, has to borrow money for a death benefit. that is deadbeat. deadbeat, deadbeat, deadbeat. >> that was barbara mikulski on the senate floor. for millions of americans who don't know where they're getting their next meal, the government shutdown situation is about to make it even worse. newly furloughed workers near the grand canyon are getting consolation after a food bank donated hundreds of meal for them. many americans are facing the

frightening possibility of a food shortage. truckloads have been canceled until the government reopens. joining me now is gloria mcadam, president and ceo of food share. it distributes more than 3 million meals to 300 local food pantries and shelters. gloria, great to have you with me today. some of your donations come from federal programs like the emergency food assistance program. how exactly does the government shutdown immediately affect your food supply? >> thanks so much for having me with you this morning. the federal emergency food assistance program, we call it tefap, distribute about 20% each year. while we've been told that anything we ordered before september 30th from that program will still be delivered, we've also heard that some of those deliveries may be canceled. so it feels all up in the air. and we can't order anything new until the government reopens. so even if they make all the deliveries scheduled for the fourth quarter of the year, it

may mean next winter that we have a significant shortage of food. >> that's a really long time. i want to show everybody how programs like your own are affected by the government shutdown. we have snap continues, child nutrition programs continue and through a reallocation of usda funds, wic continues through october, but there's no additional funding for the emergency food assistance program. no additional funding for senior nutrition programs like meals on wheels. are the local food pantries, gloria, that you work with seeing an uptick in more families needing help? >> not huge numbers right now, but definitely a few calls each day from families needing help because some issue with their benefits or they're a furloughed worker. of course, it's not just federal workers but companies that contract with the federal government have had to furlough their workers as well. so we're seeing a little bit of that. and the reality is because since the beginning of the recession, demand has gone up by 30%. we can't meet all the demand now. so one pantry told me yes, i'm getting about two new calls a day. but we can't serve them.

we're referring them other places. and where they get referred to may not be able to serve them either. >> are you worried about the increase, though? because as we look at the calendar, a temporary increase in food stamps, that expires coming up october 31st. that means 47 million americans who get supplemental help will get a 5% cut. almost half turn out to be kids, teens. so does that mean, you know, that the influx, you're saying a couple calls now, are you worried about what you're going to be seeing in terms of the need by the end of the month? >> well, if we don't solve the shutdown, it will -- all snap will go away at the end of the month. so that's really frightening. i don't think people realize that the majority of food that low-income people get to help them out comes from government programs. here in connecticut, 90% of the food that gets free to low-income people comes from government programs. and only about 10% from the private charities. so those government programs all go away at the end of the month if this shutdown isn't solved, we're going to be in trouble. we can't feed that other 90%.

we can barely do what we're doing now. >> gloria mcadam, thanks for coming on. we wish you nothing but the best with the program and the work you guys do there in connecticut, so thank you. >> thank you. >> absolutely. on a different note and a much lighter note, congresswoman michele bachmann responding to a spoof of her on "saturday night live." bachmann says, quote, she's never done twerking and she won't be taking it up. miley cyrus played her in a spoof. bachmann says she got calls from lots of people who actually thought that was her in the skit. she says, quote, i'll tell you as a 57-year-old woman, it's been a long time since i've been confused for a 20-year-old. today's producer's pick comes from our executive producer. jimmy kimmel and kanye west settling their twitter feud on tv. kanye appearing on kimmel's show last night to talk about their dispute. kanye's response didn't exactly make a lot of sense. >> most people maybe even think this is some publicity stunt that you and i cooked up. but this isn't, right? >> yeah. i mean, everyone out there in tv world, real world, whatever world you stay in needs to know

that i've never done a publicity stunt in my life. anytime i went up and spoke my mind, whether it put my career in jeopardy or whatever, what someone so-called said, it's always what i thought was the truth whether i'm reading through a teleprompter, whatever i felt emotionally. i don't follow the rules of life with a celebity or what their publicist tells them to say. i don't do publicity stunts, period. so don't ever think that. >> yeah, me neither. >> you can read more by heading over to my facebook page. ♪ i'm living in a 21st century ♪ doing something mean to it ♪ do it better than anybody you ever seen do it ♪ cer ] campbell's homestyle. mmm! this is delicious katie. it's not bad for canned soup, right? pfft! [ laughs ] you nearly had us there. canned soup. [ male announcer ] they just might think it's homemade. try campbell's homestyle soup.

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♪ everybody, at this hour, just in the last 30 minutes we had the breaking news from john boehner and the republicans that they are going to be offering a temporary increase in the debt ceiling as we've been covering here, our debt ceiling will be

up by, or we need to increase, excuse me, by the 17th of the month. otherwise, we default on our debt. society right is offering this temporary meaningful dialogue, they're calling it. to get the president in a room with him and showing that they're willing to offer negotiable points on the debt ceiling. again, the president has said he would prefer the deal that the senate democrats are working on which would increase the debt ceiling for about 12 months. this is probably about a six-week extension deal. meanwhile, we continue to be in government shutdown mode. this afternoon meeting with the president and vice president. we'll keep you posted on that. in florida, advocates pushing to stand your ground laws change for victory. the bill comes in the aftermath of the not guilty verdict in the george zimmerman trial, a case which brought stand your ground laws to the forefront. now the bill would ensure that proper investigations are

conducted even when stand your ground is claimed, involving police and sheriff's departments and training neighborhood watch programs and tightening the use of the law when aggressors claim it. joining me now, philly agoenier of dream defenders. wee fear a battle going forward to achieve real change in our son's name. philip, are these the types of changes that your organization had in mind when you first started protesting outside of the florida state capital? >> well, the dream defenders agree with trayvon's mother. there's a lot more work that has to be done. one of the by-products of the merger of two bills was that it did not address the duty to retreat. and we feel like it's there. an opportunity to retreat, and the law should address that duty to retreat. so while the neighborhood watch program guidelines are good. and we appreciate the efforts that have been happening up in

tallahassee, there's a lot more work that needs to be done to ensure that this law doesn't encourage reckless behavior and shoot first mentality. >> as we've seen in the past we've got the late night comedy show "south park" that really takes on controversial issues. it tries to poke fun at them. and they took on stand your ground laws. george zimmerman in particular. take a look. >> hello, mr. zimmerman. your country needs you. >> what do you need from me? >> we need to you shoot a young african-american for us. >> i gave that up. something's wrong. >> look out! >> you did what you had to. you're a hero. >> that may be true, but i'll have to live with this the rest of my life. even though i'll be walking around a free man. >> hey, wait a minute, this kid isn't black, he's white. >> wait, what -- >> guilty! >> this is a small part from "south park."

philip, we know that show takes political satire to a whole new point. what's your reaction as this case continues to be discussed? >> i think that every day we see young black people being murdered. and i think that this case was one that highlighted that. and it highlights the fact that in florida, way before last week, our government shut down, and there's a lot more work that needs to be done to protect children. i don't think i appreciate poking fun at it. but i do appreciate anybody that wants to do some real work and address stand your ground. it's a bad law. it doesn't have ground to stand on. it has negative ramifications. and like i said, if it doesn't address the duty to retreat when there's an opportunity to retreat, you're encouraging a shoot first mentality based on feelings, based on racism, based on prejudices and encourages a lot of debt. >> from the dream defenders,

philip agnew. thank you. tomorrow, my guest is denny hoyer. alex wagner is coming your way next. alex, i think you're going to have a rocking hour. >> indeed we do, thomas. speaker boehner capitulates to reason and extends a six-weet debt extension. but will his own party buy what he's selling with jonathan shape and john grim and plus, we weigh in on the upcoming decisions on reproductive rights. and we'll talk to screen writer john riddlely about his new film "12 years a slave." all that when "now with alex wagner" starts right after this.

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