hot potato, the game of deal or no deal started in the hse then pinged to the senate, then knocked back to the house. and today it's back to the senate's corner. they have got until midnight tomorrow to get this all done and according to reports, house speaker john boehner may be prepared to bring any plan that comes out of the senate today to a vote in the house and having to rely on democratic votes to get it passed. the huffington post asked this morning whether now is the time for boehner to bow. >> we have sadly, and it pains me to say this, sadly have a republican party at war with itself, and it basically has suspended government, it's suspended our democracy, it's suspended almost any kind of order. and they don't know what they want. >> all right, so far today it appears america's markets are hopeful that today is the day. we're seeing green arrows across the board. the dow jones up 194 points. joining me with the very latest, we've got nbc white house

correspondent kristen welker and capitol hill correspondent kelly o'donnell. i feel like we're doing sideline reporting of a major football game or something. kelly, let me start with you because i know in the last hour there have been a lot of fluid motions going on behind the scenes, but break it down, the expected plays we'll see through this hour. >> well, there are some critical nuggets to report, thomas. i've been able to report in the last half hour that house speaker john boehner has signalled to fellow republicans that he is prepared to rely on democratic votes if necessary to pass something. now, that means the senate has to come to a deal, and we expect that could be announced within the hour. right now senate republicans have been going into their own team meeting. i was able to talk to a number of them as they were headed into that meeting. they expect to sort of get the lay of the land and find out what the next steps will be. i'm also told that at least going into that meeting there had not been a final decision made on a key sort of procedural step, does it begin in the house, does it begin in the senate. that stuff is deep in the political weeds, but it's important because it dictates

the clock of how things unfold in the hours to come. the real headline is this idea that speaker boehner is prepared to rely on democrats. so what happens then is that senator harry reid, mitch mcconnell worked late into the evening, had their staffs continuing to work. their intention is to have a plan acceptable to both democrats and republicans. and with that blessing of democrats, then nancy pelosi is able to have her house members vote in support of something, so it really changes the numbers game in the house and makes it far easier for something to be passed. but these are all the expected steps. we have to actually see it happen. thomas. >> okay, so kristen, pivot off of what kelly said. these are the expected steps, we need to see it happen, but obviously the white house has been trying to process all the different machinations that can happen on the hill. explain if this 11th hour deal doesn't go through, what's the white house's b plan? >> the white house keeping their cards close to the vest at this hour, that is by design.

they want to keep the pressure up on republicans to act and to pass something if the house in fact passes something. but what we won't see, thomas, we won't see the president act unilaterally. the white house has said they don't believe the president has the authority to unilaterally increase the debt limit. i wouldn't be surprised if we saw president obama come out and speak and potentially a flurry of activity between the white house and capitol hill. and just to look at the president's strategy to this point, he's sort of stayed in the background. that's in part to break the precedent that he set back in 2011 when he did negotiate with house speaker john boehner and also the white house thinks they're winning this. they think that ultimately republicans are going to cave. if you look at the polls, the majority of americans are blaming republicans for this. one white house official tells me at this hour they are hopeful. they believe the deal that's coming together in the senate is in line with the principles that they have laid out so there is some optimism at this hour. thomas. >> we'll have to go on optimism right now.

i think we're running on optimistic fumes at this point. >> i am for sure. >> ladies, we'll let you get back to work. thanks so much. keep us posted for any new nuggets that you get. joining me right now is republican north carolina congressman robert pittenger. you initially tried to tell your skpit yan constituents that it was a bad idea but you voted for it anyway so now you are going down by not standing up. do you regret that decision? >> well, sir, i said in the summertime at six town hall meetings that i felt like it was a noble effort but an ill-fated strategy. i feel like that president obama would stick by his signature legislation, which he's done. sometimes you need to be careful what you wish for. the impact of obama care has been clear. premiums are going up. you know, the jobs are down.

cbo says it's unsustainable in spending. i really felt like it was the wrong strategy. but when we address the need for taking care of our military, i just couldn't imagine not sending a check for families of those fighting in afghanistan or defending us around the world. but when that was addressed, i felt that this was an effort that the american people needed us to fight for. >> at this point -- >> so to that end we addressed it. >> with the government shutdown, the debt ceiling looming, with any movement that comes out of the senate, would you vote for it if john boehner brings it to the floor? >> well, speaker boehner will bring it to the floor. he has said all along he will not allow there not to be an increase in the debt ceiling. that is something that is prudent. he's concerned about the markets, as we all are. i think the real issue at the table is what goes beyond this. this is a temporary fix. we need to be addressing the longer issue and that's the out

of control spending. if you're taking in two and a half trillion but spending three and a half trillion, you have a problem. we have a $60 trillion unfunded mandates. this has to be addressed. >> why isn't anybody addressing it, though? why is everybody so hamstrung over the aca, a law that was vetted by both houses of congress, that was sent up and vetted by the supreme court, that the president was re-elected on. it seems like the republicans have backed themselves into a corner over something that the people have spoken out that they are in favor for over and over again. that's why we're in the shutdown. but now we get pushed up as hostages, american hostages get pushed up to the debt ceiling and now we're getting warnings from wall street that we may go down like we did a credit rating grade in 2011 because of the same foolishness that went on. >> well, obama care is his legacy and that's what he's chosen. he'll have to live with that. the impact of it will be felt. we're hearing responses from folks all over the district and all over the country.

but clearly mr. obama has not addressed the single biggest issue in this country and that is out of control spending. it is a $17 trillion debt. when he came to speak at our conference, he didn't bring it up. when he did his inauguration, he never brought it up. when he did a state of the union, he never brought it up. >> when we talk about this, the debt ceiling is -- we need to pay off our bills. this is something that you have already guaranteed the money for. already stuff that you have voted on to approve and now you're going to let us default on that because we're already in the shutdown mess. it's two calamities rolling into one. but this is not as if we're letting more money go out. this is promissory money that we've already spent. so how can we default on that? >> what's the lesson to be learned here? the lesson to be learned is we cannot continue in the trajectory that we're on. if you talk to peter orzak,ers

k -- erskine bowles, paul ryan, they're all saying the same thing. >> how can the republican party continue on the trajectory that it is on? you have unprecedentedly low numbers across the country for the work that's been done right now. it seems like everyone has stockholm syndrome to the tea party members and i know that when you got to washington, d.c., you thought you were going to be able to do something original and break some of the stalemates of what the tea party was trying to do, but it seems as if everybody has become a hostage of them within your own party. why is that? >> washington is a mess. i don't question that whatsoever. we have to talk to each other, we have to sit down. i've been a businessman for 40 years. i knew when to make adjustments. i knew when to sit down with people. we have to do that. we tried valiantly. we tried 17 different times we went to the house and the senate with different appropriations and different proposals. we didn't meet with much favor. so i think it takes two parties

at the table. at a late hour they started talking, it was a little late to start talking. we have to address these fiscal issues. unless we address the spiraling out of control spending in this country, we will fiscally collapse like greece. >> but the other reason to get back up and running to the sequester negotiated cuts that both sides agreed on, although items for the aca had to be wedged in there, that's where the sticking pin goes and now here we are up against the debt ceiling. sir, i know you said when you got to washington, d.c., you were going to make a change so we hope that you can. i know it's tough. the waters are sharky there. but we'll get you let back to work. thank you so much, congressman robert pittenger from north carolina. when a 12-year-old baby jumps off of top of a cement plant for any reason, that's a terrible event. that's a tragic event. >> bullied to death. a 12-year-old girl takes her own life by jumping from a tower. now two young girls who allegedly tormented her are under arrest.

and today we're going to learn whether cory booker gets to go to the senate from the state new jersey. can he beat back a late surge from tea party conservative steve lonegan. first, warren buffett calls not raising the debt ceiling a political weapon of mass destruction. will it send the markets into a full-on panic mode? although we're seeing the dow jones up by 200 points. that leads to our big question for you today. countdown to a self-made catastrophe. is it time to clean out the house, as in the house of representatives? weigh in on facebook and twitter. the conversation is always going on there.

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all right, so we've got a market alert for you right now. the dow up more than 200 points. look at this, yesterday the dow dropped 133 points as the credit

ratings agency fitch put the u.s. on a negative ratings watch blaming d.c. brinksmanship. now we're getting word of a possible deal soon, it appears the markets are soaring. investors and others are sounding the alarm and warren buffett said failing to raise the limit are like unleashing gas. >> there are certain weapons that are improper to use against humanity. to use this against the american public it is a political weapon of mass destruction and both sides should say we're not going to touch it, just like poison gas. >> joining me jerry bernstein and ron insana. ron, let me start with you. we're luooking at the markets, let's follow the money. they think a deal is in fact done. as we reported the house speaker will indeed bring this up for a

vote. wall street is looking through the potential for catastrophe and looking at an outcome that is obviously more benign. we've been up five of the last six days. yesterday was the only down day so they're betting on a positive outcome. >> jared, brief us on what it means for fitch to come out and say we're on the precipice of a downgrade. back to where we were in 2011, where we were downgraded. that was through a different agency but what does it mean from fitch. >> that was from standard & poor's. it's an interesting question because if you actually look at the last time they took us down a notch, it really didn't have any impact on markets at all. they kind of shook it off. this time it's actually more serious. and if you read the fitch report, it's quite interesting. what they tell you is the underlying -- even the debt fundamentals, the debt and deficit in fitch's view in the u.s. economy are quite good. the deficit has been cut by

half. if you look at least in the near term, our fiscal situation looks pretty good to fitch. what they're saying is we have deep political dysfunction and it's threatening the markets. frankly, who could possibly disagree with that? they're right. >> congressman steve king said this morning that he's not worried about what's going on. i just want him to explain why. take a look. >> i'm not worried about this thing that they term default because we are going to service our debt. we're going to pay the interest first and we'll roll the principal over. >> all right. so, ron, it sounds like he's got a plan there, in your professional opinion? get the laughing out. what does that mean? >> what it means, i actually think that now that the theater is coming to an end we're actually going to make our payments on time, we're not going to default even in a technical way and that's why wall street has grown so confident. one of the things that has been scary has jared indicated the last couple of times where we've come up against this issue,

there have been billions of dollars of treasury instruments, bills, bonds and notes sold by investors who did not want to hold them this close to the possibility of default. a one month, a three month, three-month t bills were being sold. we've never seen that before where short-term debt instruments have dumped because investors feared they were unsafe to hold. that was a very big statement and something that people should pay attention to for future debates. because if they ever start dumping real amounts of short-term t bills, the safest debt that's out there guaranteed by the full faith and credit of the u.s. government, that is a major, major problem. >> guys, i just want to show the green arrows across the board so everybody can drink that in exactly where we are. jared, go ahead with your point. >> two points on ron's, i think, very interesting analysis there. first of all, what happens in global economic markets when there is some kind of a shock or when people are worried, investors get worried about something going badly?

they invest in the dollar, they invest in u.s. treasuries which has for literally decades, if not centuries, been the safest bet you could make in global markets. so if -- if treasuries become dangerous, you can imagine what it does to the global economy. now, ron was talking about the very short-term paper. by the way, that congressman who was speaking was absolutely wrong, let's be clear about that. if cash flow in any given day is not suitable to pay the interest payment or roll over the debt, then we default. so he's wrong about that. >> all right, gentlemen, thanks so much. again, it's about following the money. every action has a reaction, so look at the markets. 200-point rally. jared bernstein, ron insana. we'll continue to watch as we expect some movement this hour. former governor will richardson knows a thing or two about swimming in shark-infested waters. can his rules of engagement apply to what we're seeing in

washington right now? we'll talk to him about the lessons that he has learned that he's sharing with all of us in his new bok. countdown to 2016. is hillary clinton already taking political jabs at vice president joe biden. for seeing your business in a whole new way. for seeing what cash is coming in and going out... so you can understand every angle of your cash flow- last week, this month, and even next year. for seeing your business's cash flow like never before, introducing cash flow insight powered by pnc cfo. a suite of online tools that lets you turn insight into action. your husband left his cell phone on. and you're not necessarily proud of that. but tonight, he made the pizza. ...with johnsonville italian sausage. the premium cuts of pork

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is damaging inflammation? for help getting the answers you need, talk to your doctor and visit crohnsandcolitisadvocates.com to connect with a patient advocate from abbvie for one-to-one support and education. at the end of the day, polls don't matter, people do. polls don't vote, people do. and today is really the day that matters. >> i've had a wonderful opportunity to culminate my political career today and be able to do something that people think we weren't able to do, and that makes this -- and that was by making this a competitive race. >> so that was new jersey's cory booker and steve lonegan both speaking to the press after casting their ballots in the garden state's special election. when all of this started, a lot of people expected cory booker to easily coast to victory in this heavily democratic state. that plooichhasn't proven to be case. booker's lead had narrowed to just ten points. 52 to lonegan's 42%.

joining me is the art of "chris christie, his rise to power." cory booker has not been ahead in the poll bus in fund-raising. he raised $11.5 million to lonegan's $1.4 million. a million of that came from bloomberg to cory booker's coffers but lonegan was fast and furious with the attacks on booker. >> actually that's what he's using against him. he's saying cory booker spent too much time raising money in hollywood and he's just going to be a hollywood-type when he gets to washington. they're both calling each other extremists. he's going to be an extremist according to lonegan that's going to support everything obama wants and booker says lonegan is a tea party extremist who will gum up the works. >> msnbc.com political reporter jessica taylor wrote this about booker saying many democrats

have grumbled that missteps including some self-inflicted wounds have opened up opportunities that lonegan has exploited. so there were tweets with a stripper, talk with somebody about t-bone were made up. do you think that the campaign did inflict some lasting political damage? >> i think it was a terrible campaign. we were surprised that book e, who has for all intents and purposes been running for something for years would get right down to it and run a campaign that was so dysfunctional. >> do you think that all the stuff that's going on in washington, d.c., has really taken a lot of the media's attention of a of this race and that buys cory booker a little more cover? and lonegan too. his camp suffered losing an aide because they chastised cory booker because his tweets weren't masochistic enough. so instead of being chatting with a stripper, they weren't

hard enough hits. if you have a stripper on the line, he should be hitting on her and he didn't so he's got to be gay. >> that makes a lot of sense, right? particularly in new jersey where a majority of people just don't think like that. >> he resigned, he did resign. >> he was fired actually. >> right. well, sometimes they get to say they resigned. he did make his apologies to lonegan but going down like a true -- he took a swipe at obama and booker. >> but here's the thing about it. rick shafton, he's been with lonegan forever. he couldn't have been surprised at his opinions of anything. come on. >> we'll keep watching this and know later some of these results. great to have you on, bob. here's a look at some of the stories topping the news. police arrested a 28-year-old airport baggage handler in connection with back-to-back dry ice devices at l.a.x. one device went off in an employee bathroom, another was on the tarmac monday night. nobody was injured. two young girls from florida have been arrested. police say they bullied a

student so viciously and relentlessly that that student committed suicide. rebecca sedgwick jumped out of a tower at a cement plant last month and police say the girls that bullied her showed no remorse, even allegedly posting about it on facebook. >> when we saw that cavalier attitu attitude, when we saw despite rebecca jumps to her death and she's back on facebook, she can be taunting and bullying another child. >> the 14-year-old and 12-year-old girls both facing felony charges of stalking a minor. in massachusetts, a 17-year-old girl is in trouble for being a designated driver. erin cox says she picked up a friend who drank too much at a party. even though kaux wasn't drinking, her school removed her as captain of the school volleyball team and suspended her five games because of its no tolerance policy for drugs and alcohol. a former army captain awa awarded the medal of honor yesterday isn't done. will swenson submitted a formal

request to return to active duty. he was rewarded the highest award after risking a seven-hour deadly firefight with the taliban. and a monster from the deep, look at this, hauled ashore off the coast of southern california. that's the body of an 18-foot orr fish. they are rarely ever seen, dead or alive. get this, they can grow as big as 50 feet.

for the first question let's just do a show of hands. are you confident that we will get a deal in time for this deadline? >> yes. >> okay. >> we have to. >> we will, as democrats, we will provide the votes necessary to reopen the government and to avoid default. >> harry reid and mitch mcconnell are going to work out a deal today. it's going to come to the house and more than likely it will pass. >> so we're watching some very fast-moving developments in the final hours on capitol hill. we're seeing a senate deal on

the debt ceiling could be announced any deal now honestly. senate republicans are meeting behind closed doors. they could unveil a deal coming up at noon, but nbc's casey hunt is reporting that ted cruz would not answer questions about whether he plans to hold up the emerging senate deal. meanwhile house speaker john boehner says he will put it to a vote on the house floor and rely on democratic votes to pass it. an aide to speaker boehner says no decision has been made about how or when a potential agreement could be voted on in the house. joining me now is independent senator from vermont, bernie sanders. sir, what are your thoughts on the potential that they could emerge and do so within a matter of minutes. >> we are cautiously optimistic that we have the support now in the senate to pass a piece of legislation that pays our bills and reopens the government. i hope it's not wishful thinking, but we are beginning to hear that in the house, finally, finally, finally boehner will allow democrats to participate in the process. if he does that, then i think

the legislation will pass and will be -- this nightmare will end. >> is it your gut feeling that ted cruz is going to try to muck up the works? >> i have no idea. all i can say is that the right wing extremists like cruz have already done this country irreparable harm, all over the world. people are looking at the strongest economy in the world, at the international leader and they are saying what is going on in this country? and i think it's going to take us many, many years on the international level to recover from this fiasco. >> we're on the precipice of going over and not paying our bills. we have been in government shutdown mode and speaker boehner could be bowing and bucking continually to the conservative wing of his caucus. to this not getting to the floor and has been dragging his feet to do this. what type -- and i use this phrase because it just seems to be so apropos but it's a stockholm syndrome, he almost has to buy cover for the tea party wing, and they know that

this is a losing battle when it comes to the aca. >> you know, i don't want to get into personalities, but it's very clear that what boehner has done ul -- up until this point is say that it is more important that he works with extreme right wing people and satisfy their needs rather than become the speaker of the united states house of representatives and do what's right for the american people. and i think that that is very, very unfortunate. and, thomas, let me tell you something else, which people don't perceive. we have spent the last two weeks fixated on whether or not the united states government remains shut down or whether it opens and whether we pay our bills. meanwhile, there are enormous issues facing this country. the middle class is disappearing, poverty is at an all-time high, we're not even beginning, beginning to address the international crisis of global warming, our crumbling infrastructure, extremely high unemployment. so while we're talking about whether or not we pay our bills,

this country continues to face enormous problems that we are not even beginning to look at. that is very, very tragic. >> a great point about the tremendous waste of time and energy that has gone into this. senator bernie sanders, always great to have you on. thank you. so a house divided. is john boehner a speaker in name only? and mia, where are ted cruz and mike lee? do they still plan to derail this deal. irin carmon is a national reporter for msnbc.com and susie kim is also with msnbc and igor volsky is the managing editor of think progress. all right, gang, it's great to have you all here. again, it's been a very fluid morning. suz. why, first to you. what can you tell us about the developments over the last hour or so? and if we look at the markets, the markets would seem to indicate this is a done deal. >> yeah. that is the overwhelming feeling on capitol hill right now. i was just on the senate side where you did see republican senators walk into this meeting. they will emerge any moment,

it's presumed, with a deal that's basically giving republicans nothing. it will reopen the government and lift the debt ceiling and basically concede nothing except for income verification, which was already in obama care itself. that seems to be the mood right now. i know obviously very expected things can happen but there is a sense right now on the hill this is a done deal. >> as you say, suzy, this could be giving nothing to republicans but it could be exposing a great impotency of the speaker. do you think this is a swan song for him and he's in danger? >> it's remarkable, thomas, because we are exactly where we started. the way out of this crisis has always been clear. the people who started it didn't have a strategy to get us out of it except for the democrats and obama buckling, which they said from the beginning they weren't going to do. as it stands, the way out of the

crisis is still what it always was, which is john boehner bringing a clean cr to the floor and bringing an extension of the debt limit and doing so with democratic votes. he has not been able to stand up to the extremists in the party. now he realizes that the entire confidence and the country's economy is resting on his decision, so he can choose. does he want to keep his nominal speakership or does he want to maintain the stability of this country. >> igor, do you think that ted cruz still remains a viable character to mess up the works here, being that he is truly the granddaddy of the original situation, which is the shutdown that's now dragged us all the way up to the debt ceiling deadline? >> ted cruz is really the wild card here. if there's any good news in the situation is that it seems that he's getting some push back, back home. just this morning the houston chronicle yanked its endorsement of cruz saying he's not there to solve problems, he's not working across the aisle, he's just looking out for himself. his poll numbers are dropping.

so maybe he stays out of this fight and uses another crisis down the road to kind of continue this crusade. >> he's already gotten elected so he's going to say no take-backs. irin carmon of msnbc, igor volsky and suzy khimm, thanks so much. for more check out our newly redesigned website, tv.msnbc.com. if you haven't checked it out, it's really cool. you can click and follow the link to my name. for all the stuff, the crazy stuff, meet the team, all good things behind the scenes. we give you a live look at capitol hill where it seems like these days compromise is truly a dirty word but maybe they can learn something from our next guest. former governor bill richardson joins us next to talk about his new book, "how to sweet talk a shark." couldn't be more timely. also ahead. >> god is gay. >> so a provocative performance

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caramel nut protein bar. so we asked and you answered. the question being countdown to this self-made washington catastrophe is a time to clean out the house. ruth tweeted clean the house, restock the senate with more dems. our vote in 2014 is crucial. our country depends on it. dan weighed in saying that's exactly what will happen but will gerrymandering keep the tea party in the driver's seat. and from christine it is beyond belief that a group of people elected by the keep could turn on us and our nation. all right. so we have been hearing a lot of talk about negotiations and deal making in washington, d.c., over the last couple of weeks. a lot of deal making has been going on without a lot of results. when it comes to negotiating with some of the world's most infamous dictators from cuba to venezuela, afghanistan and korea, only one man was known as the undersecretary of thugs. in fact he's gathered so much

experience navigating these shark-infested waters, he's written a new book "how to sweet talk a shark." former new mexico governor and former ambassador to the u.n., bill richardson joins me now. sir, it's great to have you here. the book is a fun read and a great cover with the shark fin right there and good timing on your part. right now we've got all this mess going on in washington, d.c., and it doesn't seem like either side knows how to really negotiate. at least picking the right things to negotiate over. explain the observation you have, and as we stand on the potential of a deal coming out of the senate over to the house. >> well, deals negotiations are made on the brink, on the last day usually. that's what happens when pressure is so intense. so that's number one. number two, i think for the future, thomas, what might the congress consider, because there's going to be more of these brinks, is possible mediation. some actors that are not members of congress that might be

helpful. secondly, find ways to get all sides in one room and say you can't leave until you make a deal. keep the press out, all due respect, keep talking to your -- don't talk to your caucus. and lastly, i think, try to outline the shaping of a deal that is emerging today. but i would go one step forward. the congress right now is not looking good. i would say, okay, we're going to make a deal on the debt limit, we're going to make a deal on tax reform, on spending cuts, on the shutdown. look at other issues that they may look down the road, like economic growth issues, like immigration reform. so now we're going to step forward, now that we have this crisis ending, and do the business of the country. >> now that the crisis is ending, we can see that there is a hamstrung ak spent to john boehner's leadership which is going to make him look weak on points, especially for advocates of immigration reform. they're going to see this as an opportunity to seize.

for people out there, for trying to negotiate you say humor is key. don't ask for a yes, assume a yes and you've got the hard sell versus the soft sell. these are all what seems to be personality traits and some of our elected officials may not have these god-given gifts. >> that's right. and you have to use humor, i believe. you have to have personal -- and this is something that is not there. in other words, a personal connection. in other words, that there not be such bitterness. i think you also have to let the other side save face. and actually i know people are tough on boehner right now and i'm a democrat, but he is actually doing what any negotiator does on the end. let the housework his will. yeah, it's probably going to pass with democratic votes but he also has a sizeable group of moderate republicans that want him to get out of this crisis. now, the 30 to 40 tea party

members, they're probably going to stay in congress, but it's possible that the next congress and the reaction, there will be more moderate republicans and more democrats, so these crises possibly will lessen in terms of frequency. >> i want to get you on the record about this because you were secretary of energy under president clinton. we know in 2008, though, you did not support hillary clinton for the presidency, you supported barack obama. you're rig-- you write about th in the book, that relationship with the clintons. how do you feel about hillary clinton and the viability of her candidacy in 2016. >> well, she's going to be a formidable candidate, but i'm going to keep my powder dry. there's a good democratic bench out there. i don't know if she's going to run. you know, my relationship with the clintons is strained, no question about it. i regret that because with president clinton we were close. and i detail in the book, i say, you know, i made a mistake in having that big super bowl event where he came and tried to twist

my arm. i should have said, no, we shouldn't have had it because it really raised expectations. so the book talks about the pluses of negotiating, what you should do, but also what you shouldn't do. >> what does your gut say about 2016 when it comes to hillary. >> that she'll run. 150% that she'll run. >> we happened to see her last night at the founderers award at the elton john aids foundation. i was live tweeting it. she did not say anything political. she kept it pretty straight down the line on human rights and aids work going on around the country for an aids-free generation. you hold the guinness world record for handshaking. i'm going to get on the record here. the book is called "how to sweet talk a shark." governor bill richardson, great to have you here and now we're going to put you on a train to d.c. to sweet talk some sharks. it must be time for the p y poly side bar.

former secretary of state hillary clinton is apparently starting to take some swipes at vice president biden for opposing that raid. the atlanta journal constitution reports she was asked about the raid in a recent address saying she strongly supported the raid but that vice president biden advised against it. now, last night didn't hear anything political out of her. meanwhile, there's no diplomacy, no way to avoid a parking ticket. hillary clinton was slapped with a citation after a bold british traffic cop noticed her car was parked illegally youd side an awards ceremony she attended. here's how president obama responded when he was asked about what he likes most about being the most powerful man in the world. >> for me, i think the coolest thing is that if there's somebody interesting who's doing anything, a scientist, a sports figure, you know, a writer, anybody in the world, if i want to call them up -- >> they'll pick up the phone and talk to you? >> they will answer my phone

call. that's a pretty cool name. you remember the name rielle hunter, the woman who had a child and secret affair with john edwards. she is back to say she's sorry and she's saying it in a revised and annotated version of her 2012 memoir. she now writes for years i was so viciously attacked by the media and the world that i felt like a victim. i now realize that the attacks are actually beside the point. the point is i behaved badly. i'm very sorry for my wrong, selfish behavior. is this the bacon and cheese diet? this is the creamy chicken corn chowder. i mean, look at it. so indulgent. did i tell you i am on the... [ both ] chicken pot pie diet! me too! [ male announcer ] so indulgent, you'll never believe they're light. 100-calorie progresso light soups.

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all right. so we continue to follow the breaking news out of washington, d.c. and the capitol. the full senate is expected to convene in a matter of minutes coming up at noon. that's when we could potentially hear details of the deal that could avert a default. senate republicans are meeting at this hour. house speaker boehner will offer the bill up for a vote on the house floor. fast-moving developments we're going to keep our eye on. we're going to talk to alex

wagner, host of "now." she's joining me early so we can kick the ball around. it has been like watching a football game between the house and senate. we're going to make you a sideline reporter. >> yeah, we've been rewriting scripts all morning, thomas, literally. the house is going to do it. the house isn't going to do it. ted cruz is going to lean back. who knows what ted cruz is going to do. certainly saying it's a fluid situation is an understatement at this point. with everything related to the gop these day, it's not over until the fat lady sings. that fat lady may or may not look like ted cruz. we have no idea what he's going to do. it sounds like there is a deal in the works, thomas. >> when it comes to what this will ultimately reveal is the fact that the republicans are not going to get anything but what's going to be exposed it the impotency of john boehner. >> there are two things. one is spiking the football and being too glee about this makes the far right retrench.

i'm not sure it's a good thing for national politics to say, you got nothing. that said, i think there are probably a lot of folks on the left who are very happy about the contours of this deal. another big question, thomas, is what does this mean measurably for the grand old party and for the republican party? is this an end to the tea party style hostage taking? is this a resurgence of the moderate wing of the republican party? i think there's a lot of lessons that are going to come out of this. right now, as you mentioned, we are very much still in the game. i think the implications for this are pretty massive. >> but if there's a political carrot that's offered, because we all know what goes around comes around, so the left can be on the other side of this in no time at all, but is there any way an exit strategy where john boehner can seek a sort of victory or anything that doesn't look like it's just a loss total? >> i think a lot of folks on the right will say, look, john boehner held these two warring factions together.

he knitted together a party that is frayed for as long as was humanly possible an certainly politically possible. in that way, i think he has still the confidence of some members of his party who have said he's done a pretty good job given how fractious this landscape is. beyond that, i don't know that anybody wants that job. i know that eric cantor looks at what happened and says, you know what, i want to try my hand on the captain's wheel. it's a tough job being speaker of the house given the way the republican party is currently organized. heritage action swept in last night and effectively took the gavel from speaker boehner's hand. i don't know there's anyone else in the republican party that is necessarily lining up for that gig. >> right now it's a thankless job for sure. if you were a betting woman, what time do you think we're going to hear something? >> 12:01, which is why everybody should keep their televisions on and tuned in to msnbc. >> they should never change the channel. that's going to wrap things up for me today.

i'm going to send it down to you. we'll see everybody tomorrow. we'll digest whatever comes our way tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. "now" with alex wagner comes your way next. 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?

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trust the midas touch. for brakes, tires, oil, everything. (whistling) it appears that the republican party may finally be facing reality. it is wednesday, october 16th, and this is "now" live from washington, d.c. any minute now the senate is expected to unveil a deal brokered by party leaders harry reid and mitch mcconnell to reopen the u.s. government and stall a breach of the nation's debt limit. as it stands now, the deal would increase the borrowing limit until february 7th of next year and fund the government until january 15th. house and senate negotiators would also be required to agree on a ten-year budget blueprint by december 13th. in order to avoid defaulting on

the nation's credit tomorrow, speaker boehner may concede to first pass the bill through the house before gaining approval from the senate and the white house. the fate of the american economy, however, ultimately rests in the senate where a single senator and especially a single senator from texas whose last name is cruz, can hold up the process for another 30 hours. for a party that has proven to be terrible at basic math, even republicans know that another 30 hours is time that the country just doesn't have. joining me today, "washington post" columnist jonathan capehart, sam stein, and editor of "the new republic," frank for. also joining us is luke russert, and for a look in the upper chamber, kelly o'donnell. luke, let us go to you first. it has been a tit for tat.