abc's jonathan karl tried to find out if the u.s. friendly nations. >> reporter: we're listening in on the phone conversations of friendly heads of state? >> again, jon, i'm not going to speak about alleged reported intelligence gathering operations. >> no answer on if the program is ongoing. the head of nsa denied reports of the u.s. spying on french and spanish citizens. those nations were collecting the phone records, not the u.s. >>> the delta airlines pilot due in federal court today to face sexual misconduct charges. the alleged incident took place last weekend on a flight from detroit to salt lake city. michael james pascal was a passenger on the flight. he was seated next to a 14-year-old girl. when he woke up from a nap, he was groping her backside. he claims his hand fell into the seat. the airline says, it's fully cooperating with law enforcement in this matter. >>> we have some breaking news overnight from south carolina. four adults and two children have been found dead in an apparent murder/suicide. the tragedy unfolded

jonathan karl, abc news, the white house. >>> and all those house members make those trips back home. president obama will also be at home. the white house has announced last night that president obama will skip his planned trip to asia next week. >> the president had hoped to attend two economic summits. but he decided to remain in washington. a spokesman says it's a missed opportunity to increase u.s. exports because of the shutdown. >>> we want to know what you want to say to lawmakers about the shutdown. send us an instagram video with the #tellwashington. >>> nebraska, one tornado overnight. one likely twister was spotted near lincoln. it may have been on the ground for as much as 30 miles. police say one home was destroyed. >>> people along the gulf coast are bracing for tropical storm karen. they taking boats out of the water, tying anything that could blow away. and shock stocking up on supplies. jim dickey. jim? >> karen, drifting off to the north. it's fighting off dry air, fighting shear. not all that likely it becomes a hurricane. if it does, a minimal hurricane. before it

abc's jonathan karl has more on the fallout. >> reporter: the stock market slid further. the dow dropping nearly 700 points in just 2 weeks. as washington's dysfunction spooks investors. and for good reason. the treasury department warned of an unprecedented and catastrophic financial crisis and recession that could echo the events of 2008 or worse. if congress fails to raise the so-called debt ceiling to allow the government to borrow money to pay its bills. >> the longer this goes on, the worse it will be. and it makes no sense. >> reporter: at a campaign-style event, president obama lashed out at republicans in the house, demanding they vote on a bill to fund the government with no strings attached. >> if the speaker of the house, john boehner, simply lets the bill get on the floor for an up or down vote, the shutdown would end today. the only thing that is keeping the government shut down. >> reporter: republicans have voted to reopen parts of the government, including national parks and cancer research. but they continue to demand at least some changes to the health

here's abc news chief white house correspondent jonathan karl. >> reporter: president obama today placed blame for the shutdown entirely on speaker of the house john boehner. >> the reason that speaker boehner hasn't called a vote on it is because he doesn't apparently want to see the government shutdown end at the moment. >> reporter: speaker boehner told george stephanopoulos a bill to fund the government cannot pass unless it includes changes to obama care. >> there are not the votes in the house to pass. >> reporter: by abc news news's count there are enough votes. with 217 needed to pass, all 200 house democrats plus 18 republicans have said publicly they would vote to fund the government with no strings attached. but in just ten days, congress faces an even more frightening deadline. it must raise the amount the government can borrow, or america will go into default. on that the two sides are as far apart as ever. >> we are not going to pass a clean debt limit increase. i told the president there is no way we're going to pass when the votes are not in the house to pass a clean debt

the clock is running out. >> with a minute by minute, jonathan karl at the white house, thank you. even as we hear news about those negotiations, we are also hearing more stories about suffering inflicted by the shutdown on american people. abc's senior national correspondent jim avila with an outrageous reality. >> reporter: meet maddie major, she is 8 years old and suffers from a rare form of leukemia, her battle for life threatened each day by the lingering shutdown. >> it's the most devastating thing in the world to know that there could potentially be a cure for her, but because of a stalemate in the government, we can't research those options, it's mind blowing. >> reporter: maddie and 400 of the sickest americans can't get cutting edge experimental care at the national institutes of health, because the government shutdown prevents nih from accepting new patients. maddie's mom has a message for congress. >> spend a day with a family like me. and see if you still think that your agenda is appropriate for what we are dealing with. >> reporter: this is maddie. she is 8 years old

neither one of them willing to budge. >> jonathan karl at the white house again tonight. now we want to bring you up to date on the first week of obama care. the government website giving americans insurance options. the department of health and human services secretary said today the average wait time has now been cut in half and hundreds of thousands of americans have gone online to create new accounts even if they have not yet chosen a plan. >>> tonight the u.s. says it is trying to learn the secrets held by an al qaeda terrorist held on a u.s. battle ship at sea. the man seized in that bold raid in libya. martha raddatz has been talking to our sources she's here with the latest. >> reporter: the most urgent information they want to get from liby is whether there are anymore attacks planned. right now a team of interrogators is on the ship with him. they cannot use torture or degrade him but they can play good cop bad cop, threaten him with very serious legal action and try to wear him down, although they have to give him four hours' sleep every 24 hours. but meanwhile

>> jonathan karl reporting at the white house tonight. >>> and we want to turn next to some very lateing news right now. a verdict in the michael jackson trial, a civil trial asking the question what is to blame for jackson's death, his private demons or pressure from the company behind his concert. david wright is standing by. >> reporter: this trial dragged out five months, more than 50 witnesses heard from and in the end it took the jury less than 14 hours to decide and they decided essentially in favor of aeg ruling that while aeg did hire michael jackson's doctor, jackson's death. this evening the jury rejected the jackson family's claim that aeg live was somehow responsible for the king of pop's death. >> we of course are not happy with the result as it stands now. >> reporter: the jury foreman said it wasn't an easy decision. it was a battle over what happened in thek rehearsals, the last of michael jackson's career. he was trying to dance his way out of debt, under serious pressure and strug out on instructions administered by his doctor, conrad murray. >> we the jury find the

he's looking to get the problem fixed. >> jonathan karl, thank you, jon. >>> another note from today, a strange moment during the president's event. keep your eye on the woman in red. 24 minutes and 53 seconds into the speech she begins to sway, seems to be taking deep breaths and then -- >> i got you. you're okay. this happens when i talk too long. >> the woman said she's pregnant, not feeling well, but she is fine tonight. >>> and we move next to the sky, to the white knuckle moment on a united airlines flight hitting turbulence so powerful some of the passengers were injured. here is abc's david kerley. >> reporter: a frightening finish to a flight. >> united 23, we hit a pretty bad downdraft and we have some passengers hurt so we need some ambulance to meet the flight. >> reporter: on decent from newark to dublin, ireland, the flight with 129 passengers was rocked by turbulence. >> united 23, do you recon one or more ambulances needed? >> it might be a couple ambulances. >> reporter: we've seen the pictures from nasa and passengers of the strong jostling during turbulence that can

abc's chief washington correspondent jonathan karl there, and tracking this day of chaos and confusion. jon? >> reporter: diane, tonight, the obama administration is saying that looming credit downgrade shows just how urgent it is that congress act right away. as one senior white house official just told me, if congress does not move by tomorrow, we are, quote, taking a very big risk. audrey morrison, who was injured in a training accident while serving in the michigan national guard, drove all night to deliver a message to washington. end the government shutdown now. >> it's kind of getting kicked while you're already down. >> reporter: she's worried her disability checks will stop, and so is disabled marine veteran gary benanatti. >> we don't need the bandage ripped off our wounds. that's what this is. it's the bandage being ripped off our wounds. >> reporter: it's nearing zero hour. the house is making one last ditch effort to pass a bill the senate has already declared dead on arrival. and amidst all the last-minute scrambling, president obama tonight, in an interview with wabc, sa

abc's chief white house correspondent jonathan karl now. >> reporter: d-day for default is nine days away but already the markets are spooked. the dow down 900 points over the past three weeks. it could get a whole lot worse by the middle of next week. just look at what happened the last time congress flirted with default. america's credit was downgraded and the dow had its 6th biggest drop ever, over 600 points in a single day, a huge hit to 401(k)s and college savings plans. economists are also warning that as we inch closer, you're likely to see higher interest rates on new mortgages and car loans. nobody knows exactly when economic disaster will strike but the pain would begin with the fear of default before it actually happens. >> insane, catastrophic, chaos, these are some of the more polite words. warren buffett likened default to a nuclear bomb. a weapon too horrible to use. >> reporter: some house republicans say the warnings are exaggerated. >> it's a big deal but it is not an economic collapse. >> reporter: most economists disagree, warning congress is playing with fire. a

jonathan karl, abc news, the white house. >>> we want to know what you want to say to lawmakers.stagram video with the hashtag tell washington. >>> tropical storm karen is threatening the gulf coast to the new orleans panhandle. the storm will bring heavy rain, even if it is not a hurricane when it comes ashore. the go r governors of louisiana, mississippi and florida declared states of emergency. >>> dangerous winds and heavy downpours could make a mess out of this weekend. >> jim dickey has the latest on tropical storm karen. good morning, jim. >> reporter: good morning, john and diana. we are tracking a tropical system here. karen sitting over the central gulf of mexico drifting off to the north. now it is fighting off dry air, fighting sheer. not that likely it becomes a hurricane. if it does, a minimal hurricane and likely downgrading to a tropical storm before it makes landfall early sunday morning. the impacts much the same. regardless, we will see soaking, flooding rainfall along the gulf coast as it moves inland. flooding rain inland in to georgia, as well. john and dian

we begin with abc's chief white house correspondent jonathan karl in washington on the outrage and what comes next. >> reporter: we are one day in th

the clock is running out. >> with a minute by minute, jonathan karl at the white house, thank you.ven as we hear news about those negotiations, we are also hearing more stories about suffering inflicted by the shutdown on american people. abc's senior national correspondent jim avila with an outrageous reality. >> reporter: meet maddy major, she is 8 years old and suffers from a rare form of leukemia, her battle for life threatened during the shutdown. >> it's the most devastating thing in the world to know that there could potentially be a cure for her, but because of a stalemate in the government, we can't research those options, it's mind blowing. >> reporter: maddie and 400 of the sickest americans can't get cutting edge experimental karat the national institutes of health, because the government shutdown prevents nih from accepting new patients. maddie's mom has a message for congress. >> spend a day with a family like me. and see if you still think that your agenda is appropriate for what we are dealing with. >> reporter: this is maddie. she is 8 years old. she's trying to ge

abc's jonathan karl reports on the damage control. >> reporter: listening to the president, you mightcare rollout has been a smashing success. >> thousands of people are signing up and saving money as we speak. >> reporter: he acknowledged after three weeks, problems with the website continue. >> there's no sugar coating it. the website has been too slow and there's no excuse for the problems. >> reporter: the president suggested applying by phone saying it would take those looking for an individual plan only about 25 minutes. so far, robert shlora is having no luck. >> you would be able to take the application over the phone? >> reporter: he was on the phone an hour and a half. a total of 4.5 hours since october 1st. he also has spent five hours on the website and live chatted with a representative for three hours. after all of that -- >> i have no idea whether or not i will be offered a better plan. whether or not the government will help to subsidize it. >> the white house is promising a tech surge, reaching out to who they are calling the best and the brightest. but who? we asked

abc's chief washington correspondent jonathan karl there, tracking that day of chaos and confusion.on? >> reporter: diane, tonight, the obama administration is saying that looming credit downgrade showing just how urgent it is that congress act right away. as one senior white house official just told me, if congress does not move by tomorrow, we are, quote, taking a very big risk. audrey morrison, who was injured in a training accident while serving in the michigan national guard, drove all night to deliver a message to washington. end the government shutdown now. >> it's kind of getting kicked while you're already down. >> reporter: she's worried her disability checks will stop, and so is disabled veteran gary benanatti. >> we don't need the bandage ripped off our wounds. that's what this is. >> reporter: it's nearing zero hour. the house is making one last ditch effort to pass a bill the senate has already declared dead on arrival. and amid all the last-minute scrambling, president obama tonight, in an interview with wabc, says he doesn't even know if he can negotiate with john bo

white house correspondent jonathan karl now. >> reporter: d day for default is nine days away but already the markets are spooked, the dow down 900 points over the past three weeks. it could get a whole lot worse by the middle of next week. just look at what happened the last time congress flirtd with default. america's credit was downgraded and the dow had its 6th biggest drop ever, over 600 points in a single day. a huge hit to 401(k)'s and college savings plans. economist warn that as we inch closer you're likely to see higher interest rates on new mortgages and car loans. nobody knows exactly when economic disaster would strike but the pain would begin with the fear of default before it actually happens. >> insane, catastrophic, chaos. those are some of the more polite words. warren buffett likened it to a nuclear bomb. >> reporter: some republicans say the warnings are exaggerated. >> it's a big deal but it's not an economic

he's looking to get the problem fixed. >> jonathan karl, thank you, jon. >>> another note from today, a strange moment during the president's event. keep your eye on the woman in red. 24 minutes and 53 seconds into the speech she begins to sway, seems to be taking deep breaths and then -- >> i got you. you're okay. this happens when i talk too long. >> the woman said she's pregnant, not feeling well, but she's fine tonight. >>> and we move next to the sk to the white knuckle moment on a united airlines flight hitting turbulence so powerful some of the passengers were injured. here is abc's david kerley. >> reporter: a frightening finish to a flight. >> united 23, we hit a pretty bad downdraft and we have some passengers hurt so we need some ambulance to meet the flight. >> reporter: from newark to dublin, ireland, the flight was rocked by turbulence. >> united 23, do you recon one or more ambulances needed? >> it might be a couple ambulances. >> reporter: we've seen the pictures from nasa and passengers of the strog jostling that tossed people all around the cabin, this from a jet blu

american people are tired of it and rightly so. >> reporter: jonathan karl, abc news, the white househe deal done there will be financial impact from wall street to your street. our coverage continues -- sorry, diana. >> continues now live on capitol hill. karen travers, some markets are up this morning. what are you hearing from investors? >> they were looking at a rocky day on wall street today after a big day yesterday. the dow finished up 200 points. the s&p finished near a record close as wall street celebrated and rejoiced over the deal in washington. that was before it was even voted on. it is interesting if you look at the last couple of days. there have been some down days and selloffs on wall street but hasn't been any major day of panic and the sense we were getting from talking to investor and analysts is that wall street was confident that washington was going to work this out. that some deal was going to be come up with by the 11th hour and sure enough congress came through. i don't think that everyone was as confident as wall street was. >> talk about the political fall

we begin with abc's chief white house correspondent jonathan karl in washington on the outrage and whatomes next. >> reporter: we are one day in this shutdown and not a single step closer to resolving the impasse. today the presidenaccused republicans of lodging a crusade against obama care while he rejected their latest offer to re-open part of the government. a world war ii veteran made the trek from mississippi to washington only to see this, the memorial dedicated to their service closed. world war ii infantriman james nations had no idea. >> we didn't know anything about it being shut down. we didn't watch the news this morning. >> reporter: somebody, not clear who, got the barricade lifted long enough that they could get in. the shutdown hit 800,000 federal workers around the country the hardest, no work, no pay. >> i life from paycheck to paycheck unfortunately. >> these are real people's lives being affected and ruined. >> i'm getting tired of feeling like a ping-pong ball. >> reporter: the whole mess started with a twisted game of political ping-pong, the first volley a week ag

. >>> let's get more from jonathan karl. jon, no surprise, the disgust with washington just keeps piling up. >> reporter: that's right. and republicans are taking most of the blame. but the president isn't doing that well, either. take a look at the latest poll from the associated press. the president's approval rating at 37%. that matches his lowest ever. as for congress, look at this. 5% approve of congress'sob performance. george, with the margin of error, that could be as low as 1%. >> you'd think they'll be scrambling for a solution. >> reporter: that's right. i am hearing more talk of proposals about a short-term increase in the debt ceiling, just really delaying all of this, but george, the president in

jonathan karl, abc news, the white house. >>> it leads us to our facebook question of the day.own? add your voice to the debate at wnnfans.com. >>> the government shutdown could be the grinch that steals this year's christmas. economic analysts say retailers now expect lower profit margins and higher advertising costs to get shoppers in the mood this season. one consumer confidence index fell to a seven-month low now. 67 days before christmas and 40 days before hanukkah. >>> a consumer alert as toyota recalls 1 million cars due to dangerous defects. the automaker is recalling 803,000 cars in the u.s. because the air bags or power steering could stop working. owners of late-model toyota camry, avalon and venza models will be contacted soon. toyota needs to repair an air conditioner leak in order to fix those failures. >>> here's a gamble in las vegas we bet not many people would be up for. it happened 500 feet above the vegas strip. yikes. that's a slack liner, andy lewis, ignoring planes taking off from the nearby airport. that has to be distracting, walking 380-feet on a one-i

here's abc news chief white house correspondent jonathan karl. >> reporter: president obama today placedme for the shutdown entirely on speaker of the house john boehner. >> the reason that speaker boehner hasn't called a vote on it is because he doesn't apparently want to see

we go straight to jonathan karl

jonathan karl, abc news, the white house. >>> the suspected terrorist grabbed by the u.s.ork. abu al liby expected to be arraigned later today. he was brought to the u.s. earlier than expected because he was suffering from a severe case of hepatitis c and needs medical treatment. t >>> the report revealing the nsa collected millions of emails and personal messages looking for terror links. the "washington post" saying the spy agency intercepted hundreds of thousands of e-mail address books every day from private accounts on yahoo!, gmail, facebook, and hotmail. it learned of the activity because of documents leaked by edward snowden. >>> in the philippines, a deadly earthquake striking overnight. the powerful 7.2-magnitude quake collapsed buildings and is responsible for at least 20 deaths. the number is expected to rise. one man captured his chandelier swaying as the quake hit. and a 17th century stone church crumbled to pieces because of all the shaking. luckily today's a national holiday in the philippines. offices and schools were closed. that may lower the casualty nu

we begin our coverage with abc's jonathan karl. >> reporter: nearly 100 world war ii veterans made thesissippi to washington only to see this. the memorial dedicated to their service closed. world war ii infantryman james nation had no idea. >> we didn't know anything about it being shut down. we didn't watch the news this morning. >> reporter: but somebody, not clear who, got the barricade lifted just long enough so they could get in. a shutdown hit 800,000 federal workers around the country the hardest. no work, no pay. >> i live paycheck to paycheck unfortunately. >> these are real people's lives being affected and ruined and thrown into chaos. >> i'm getting tired of feeling like a ping-pong ball. >> reporter: the mess started with a twisted game of political ping-pong. the first volley a week ago. the house passed a government funding bill that defunded obama care. a week later, the senate rejected it, sending its own bill back to the house. the house tried a different version on sunday. the senate rejected and back and forth twice more. republicans sat across from empty chairs sa

jonathan karl, abc news, the white house. >>> and now to those health care issues.the person in charge of the botched health care rollout, is testifying on capitol hill today. she's expected to blame the contractors who built the problem-plagued website. yesterday, for the first time, the obama administration issued a direct apology for healthcare.gov. >> i want to apologize to you that the website has not worked as well as it should. >> she was also grilled about a wave of cancellation notices hitting small businesses and individuals who buy their own insurance. she said people who get those notices will be able to find better replacement plans on the web site and, in some cases, for cheaper. >>> on the other side of the capitol, another high-profile hearing. the senate judiciary committee heard testimony on the state's controversial stand your ground laws. sabrina fulton, trayvon martin's mother, told the panel the laws don't work and their purpose should be clarified. she said florida's stand your ground law emboldened george zimmerman to kill her son, when was n

jonathan karl, abc news, the white house. >> that brings us to our facebook question of the day, what now end to the government shutdown? we look forward to your responses. >>> in legal news, attorneys for jahar are asking that his conditions in sgral be eased. he is confined to a cell except for limited access to a small outdoor space and his lawyers say that the prosecutors have not presented evidence showing such conditions are necessary. no word when a ruling could be made. southwest airlines has fired the captain at the controls of the plane that made a hard landing at la guardia international airport july. the jet came down too far forward which violates the company procedures. the nose gear snapped. 16 people were hurt when the plane skidded to a landing. the first officer will keep his job but get additional training. >>> new york city police made an arrest in a wild confrontation between a motorcyclist and driver of an suv. cruz is charged with reckless driving for slowing down his motorcycle in front of a car and set off the violence in motion. >>> a church bus blew a tire o

jonathan karl, abc news, the white house. >>> as the shutdown is felt coast to coast the big question the lawmakers. >> for answers to that question and more we will go back to capitol hill. karen travers is there. what can we expect later today as the government remains at a halt. >> reporter: john, we have tricky legislative maneuverings we are expecting later today. the bills the house failed to pass yesterday that would have funded veterans and national parks that will be brought back to the floor again today. yesterday they needed a two-thirds majority to pass. that's why they failed. due to some tricky maneuvering house speaker boehner will bring them back to the floor. all they need is a simple majority. that boxes in some democrats in to a corner. if they keep their vote from yesterday which is a yes, today they could be helping republicans with more of a process to get rid of the shutdown and they certainly do not want to do that because they are trying to keep a hard line. we will keep an eye on this and how this goes the next couple of hours. it certainly seems like john bo

here's abc's jonathan karl. >> reporter: d-day for default is days away.arkets are spooked. the dow down 900 points over the last three weeks and it could get worse by the middle of next week. just look at what happened the last time congress flirted with default. america's credit was downgraded and the dow had the sixth biggest drop ever. over 600 points in a single day. a huge hit to 401(k)s and college savings plans. economists are also warning as we inch closer you are likely to see higher interest rates on new mortgages and car loans. nobody knows exactly when economic disaster will strike, but the pain would begin with the fear of default before it actually happened. >> insane, catastrophic, chaos. these are some of the more polite words. warren buffett likened the default to a nuclear bomb a weapon too horrible to use. >> reporter: some house republicans say the warnings are exaggerated. >> it's a big deal but not an economic collapse. >> reporter: most economists disagree, warning congress is playing with fire and the impasse has already caught the

white house press secretary jay carney told abc's jonathan karl there's no need to delay the penaltiesple are enrolling every day. >> reporter: the administration says the problems will be fixed in plenty of time. steven portnoy, abc news, washington. >>> we are tracking a developing story overnight. injuries after a ride malfunction at the north carolina state fair. at least five people were hurt. witness say the vortex ride started up suddenly as riders were getting off, throwing them to the ground. the operator also fell. we're told, two of the injured have had serious injuries. fair officials say rides are inspected three times a day. >>> the fbi is treating the kidnapping of two americans off the coast of nigeria as a ransom plot and not terrorism. according to the state department, they boarded the ship and sorted the crew by nationality and took only two americans. the ship's captain and engineer. it is believed they are on land in nigeria now. >>> extra security when danvers high school reopens this morning. still no answers as to why a student allegedly killed a popular young

let's bring in abc's chief white house correspondent jonathan karl right now. where does everything stand. >> reporter: on ending the government shutdown there is no sign of progress anywhere but speaker of the house john boehner fs privately assuring colleagues that the worst case scenario will not happen. he is saying he will not allow this steal mate to trigger a catastrophic government default. >> reporter: the stock market slid further today. the dow dropping nearly 700 points in just two weeks as washington's dysfunction spooks investors, and for good reason. today the treasury. department warned, "unprecedented" and "catastrophic financial crisis and recession that could echo the events of 2008 or worse" if congress falls to raise the so-called debt ceiling to allow the government to borrow money to pay its bills. >> the longer this goes on, the worse it will be. and it makes no sense. >> reporter: at a campaign-style event today, president obama lashed out at republicans in the house, demanding they vote on a bill to fund the government with no strings

jonathan karl with the latest on what he's hearing. >> reporter: the president declared himself exasperatedday and although he has summoned the congressional leaders here for a meeting, none of them arrived expecting a break through. just a couple of hours before congressional leaders arrived here at the white house, the president sounded more frustrated than ever. >> am i exasperated, absolutely i am because this is entirely unnecessary. >> reporter: he said he's been the reasonable one. >> during the course of my presidency, i have bent over backwards to work with the republican party. >> reporter: now the white house says there is nothing to negotiate until the republicans agree to fund the government with no strings attached. >> we should not consider today's meeting a negotiations? >> not in the sense that the president would make any demands on congress in return for their willingness to simply do their jobs. >> reporter: it looks like the standoff could go on until october 17th. that's when the government faces default if congress does not raise the so called debt ceiling. >> as for

abc's jonathan karl tried to find out if the u.s. is still spying on the leaders of friendly nations. >> reporter: we're listening in on the phone conversations of friendly heads of state? >> again, jon, i'm not going to talk about specific alleged or reported intelligence gathering operations. >> so, no direct answer if the program is ongoing. the president has ordered a thorough review of nsa spy activities. the head of nsa also denied reports of the u.s. spying on french and spanish citizens. in fact, those nations were collecting the phone records, not the u.s. >>> the delta airlines pilot due in federal court today to face sexual misconduct charges. the alleged incident took place last weekend on a flight from detroit to salt lake city. michael james pascal was a passenger on the flight. he was seated next to a 14-year-old girl. she claims when she woke up from a nap, he was groping her backside. pascal claims he fell asleep and somehow his hand fell into the girl's seat. since pascal works as a delta connection pilot, the airli

. >>> let's get more from jonathan karl. jon, no surprise, the disgust with washington just keeps piling up. >> reporter: that's right. and republicans are taking most of the blame. but the president isn't doing that well, either. take a look at the latest poll from the associated press. the president's approval rating at 37%. that matches his lowest ever. as for congress, look at this. 5% approve of congress's job performance. george, with the margin of error, that could be as low as 1%. >> you'd think they'll be scrambling for a solution. >> reporter: that's right. i am hearing more talk of proposals about a short-term increase in the debt ceiling, just really delaying all of this, but george, the president invited all of the house republicans to the white house tomorrow. they refused, said they would only send the leaders. that prompted a sharp response from the press secretary, saying the president thought it was important to talk directly to the members who forced this economic crisis on the country. this does not sound

. >> all right, thank you, jonathan karl. the latest on the shutdown. >>> next tonight, there has been an arrest in the road rage incident that has riveted so many americans, the swarm of bikers and a young family in the car. also tonight an exclusive interview with the young man who was reportedly at the center when the whole thing started. tonight he walks abc's dan harris through that tape. >> reporter: tonight, a new arrest in the attack in alexian lien and his family. craig white is the first person to be accused of the actual beating. it come amid a widening police investigation into whether off duty cops riding with the group witnessed the violence but did nothing to stop it. one undercover detective has been placed on desk duty. meanwhile, we sat down for an exclusive interview with the biker accused of kicking off the whole thing by pulling in front of the suv and slowing down to provoke a fender bender, which led to the initial confrontation in which alexian lien pulled out, seriously injured one biker and then was

jonathan karl covering it from the white house. leaders went to the white house last night. but not much seemed to happen. >> reporter: that's right, george. day three. the president had that meeting. but there's no end in sight. even after spending over an hour talking with the president in the oval office, speaker of the house john boehner, simply, the president refused to negotiate. >> the president reiterated one more time tonight that he will not negotiate. i would hope that the president and my democrat colleagues in the senate would listen to the american people and sit down and

abc's chief white house correspondent jonathan karl was there. >> reporter: today even democrats joined the outrage over the disastrous launch of the obama care website. >> this is unacceptable. it needs to be fixed. >> amazon and ebay don't crash the week before christmas, and pro flowers doesn't crash on valentine's day. >> reporter: with the contractors who built the website in the hot seat, we learned more about just how much it all costs. the two largest contracts alone, $375 million. for a comparison, that's over twice as much as apple spent developing the iphone. after footing the bill, the american people deserve something that works or start over. >> reporter: the contractors place some of the blame on the administration for last minute changes. the contractors also said they only had a matter of days to test the site before it launched. >> months would be nice. >> reporter: they said they warned the administration of potential problems. despite it all, the white house insisted today there has never been a reason to delay the health law. >> delay this by a couple months, had it

abc's chief white house correspondent jonathan karl starts us off. >> reporter: under fire for allegedly spying on americans and america's friends, the nation's spy chief made no apologies. >> we do not spy on anyone except for valid foreign intelligence purposes, and we only work within the law. >> reporter: we confirmed u.s. intelligence has listened on the phone conversations of the leaders of 35 american allies, reports that today drew sharp criticism from top members of congress in both parties. >> the reports are very disturbing. friends don't spy on friends. >> reporter: or do we? is the spying on friends still going on? >> is the united states now listening in on the phone conversations of friendly presidents and prime ministers? >> jon, i'm not going to get into a discussion of specific reported activities, intelligence gathering activities. >> reporter: are we listening in on the phone conversations of friendly heads of state? >> again, jon, i'm not going to talk about specific alleged or reported intelligence gathering operations. >> reporter: but the head of the nsa warned th

we begin with abc's chief white house correspondent jonathan karl in washington on the shutdown, the outrage, and what comes next. jon? >> reporter: we are one day in this shutdown and not a single step closer to resolving the impasse. today the president accused republicans of waging an ideological crusade against obama care while he rejected their latest offer to re-open just part of the government. a world war ii veteran made the trek from mississippi to washington only to see this, the memorial dedicated to their service closed. world war ii infantryman james nations had no idea. >> we didn't know anything about it being shut down. we didn't watch the news this morning. >> reporter: somebody, not clear who, got the barricade lifted long enough that they could get in. the shutdown hit 800,000 federal workers around the country the hardest, no work, no pay. >> i live from paycheck to paycheck unfortunately. >> these are real people's lives that are being affected and ruined and getting thrown into chaos. >> i'm getting tired of feeling like a ping-pong ball. >> reporter: the whole

we go straight to jonathan karl on the latest right now. jon? >> reporter: diane, the top republican leaders just left the white house about 30 minutes ago. they had met with the president for over an hour and an extraordinary development, they left without saying anything. now, what we're just hearing in the last few minutes is that the talks will continue through night. and the rue morse of progress before the meeting had given wall street its biggest day all year long. returning to capitol hill the house majority leader sounded optimistic. >> we had a very useful meeting. it was clarifying, i think, for both sides as to where we are. and the take away from the meeting was our teams are going to be talking further tonight. >> reporter: earlier in the day, speaker boehner made an offer that would at least postpone the worse-case scenario. a u.s. government default. >> temporary increase in the debt ceiling for his willingness to sit down and discuss with us a way to reopen the government. >> reporter: the temporary increase would delay the d. d