. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. >>> the word of the day in washington, closed. the federal government is shutting its door. now the congress has been unable to reach a deal to keep it government. the government has been shutdown 4 1/2 hours. the clock is ticking as we are on the air and there is an impasse here. joe johns is live in washington with us this morning. joe, we haven't seen this in 17 years. you've been you believe, i believe, about 24 hours following it all for us. give us a little synopsis of what happened. >> reporter: hope springs eternal that this will not take too long to resolve, but it could. house and senate and white house could not agree on a spending proposal to keep the government operating because a faction of republicans in the house want to undermine president obama's health care law. this back and forth on capitol hill went slightly past midnight to about 1:00 a.m., ended with the house approving a request

ism zoraida sambolin. mr. john berman is very excited this morning! he is inside fenway park! >> reporter: yes i'm inside fenway park, the home of the world champion boston red sox. >> look, berman, i got to tell you. >> they won the world series! >> i'm very excited for you and super excited for boston because they really deserve it. i have to pick you i picked the lock to your office this morning and i stole -- can you see? i stole this. big papi now belongs to me so i was wondering, because i know you love this guy very much and he is essential, right, for the boston red sox in order to have won the world series. can i open up the fox finally and have him sit nix to me all morning? >> absolutely not! the value of that just increased exponentially. that man is a legend in this town and he walked four times last night. they wouldn't pitch to him they were so scared of him. an amazing night in boston to be sure. this city is feeling boston strong this morning. as i said, the red sox they are the world champions for the third time since 2004 knocking off the st. louis cardinals

she is zoraida sambolin. i'm john berman. find us #earlystart.hat is going on with the jonas brothers? what is our world coming to? "early start" continues right now. >>> a real simple solution. the speaker of the house could solve this today. >> our message in the house has been pretty clear. we want to reopen our government and provide fairness to all americans under the president's health care law. this morning, there are small, tiny signs of progress, maybe, that might at least keep the country from defaulting on its debt. >>> money flowing to military families whose loved ones made the ultimate sacrifice. why a private foundation had to step in to add to this injustice. >> that is shameful. >>> breaking news overnight. libya's prime minister taken from a hotel by an armed militia. we are live with the latest on these developments. >>> good morning. happy you're with us. i'm zoraida sambolin. >> i'm john berman. >>> it is thursday, october 10th, 5:00 a.m. in the east. >>> we may have good news or progress in washington where cnn that learned

. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. there's other news this morning. >>> this morning, the financial markets are showing the first real signs of upheaval. the stock market is beyond jittery. veterans' families not getting benefits and the clock keeps on tick, tick, ticking to what could be economic calamity. the shutdown is just days away. and the u.s. will not be able to pay its bill. in the last 24 hour there are a lot of nasty words, ransom, extortion, dead least, noer is rende no surrender. will is work? not clear. what is clear. >> reporter: day knew, the families of troops is getting real. $100 thoushlg to help cover funeral costs and travel to dover air force base to witness the dignified transfer of their loved ones remains. in north carolina be food assistance for poor women and children cut off. and 27,000 furloughed government workers have signed up for unemployment as they go without pay. just eight days until the united states could default, president obama phoned house speaker john boehner. both sides indi

. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. >> i'm john berman. it is tuesday, october 1st. 4:00 a.m. in the east. welcome to the wonderful world of the shutdown. actually it's not wonderful at all. frankly it is embarrassing and a lot of people are being hurt. it was a late night in washington with the house and senate each voting an each passing their own plans to keep the government running. but the republicans in the house refused to pass a version that did not, in some way, derail or delay the affordable care act and, instead, democrats refused to talk about it at all and now the federal is closed for business for the first time in 17 years. keep an eye on the clock on the right part of your screen. four hours now. we are four hours into the shutdown. the question is how much longer will this go on? are we talking hours? are we talking days? even possibly weeks and how badly will it hurt? joe johns is live for us in washington this morning. joe, give us the grisly details here. what happened? >> the house and senate and white house could not agree on a spending proposal to keep the government

i'm zoraida sambolin. >>> we have more on our top story. a pair of raids in sfrik nabbing a top al qaeda fugitive abu anas al libi. what does a u.s. have in store for this suspect and could the raids prompt retaliation? we turn to cnn's nic robertson. he is live in london. what is the latest? >> reporter: al libi is on a u.s. naval in the mediterranean. al qaeda is sending operatives to libya to build established camps so does he have information about that. will there be retaliation? his wife says, look, he got out of al qaeda in the mid '90s. yes, he knew osama bin laden and worked for him. it gives you an indication he doesn't have an active al qaeda cell around him so potentially that level, no retaliation. the message that these strikes show, these arrests show is to al qaeda and libya and elsewhere is the united states is on the offensive. so i think in the initial faces, al qaeda operatives will hide where they can hide. will there be retaliation further down the line? there is always the potential for that and you got to be cautious

. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. it is 4:00 a.m. in the east on tuesday, october 15th, 2013. >> >>> news in washington because it seems different than what we have been saying. there might be actually be good news this morning. it might actually be happening. fingers crossed. congress actually getting a little bit of something done. the top men in the senate working overtime to build a compromise plan that would reopen the government and raise the debt ceiling and thanks to women in the senate who worked hard behind closed doors to make this possible. the deal we should point out not done yet and it still could fall apart. come on, guys, this is washington. there is optimism on capitol hill maybe we could get out of this mess without imploding the economy. jim acosta hat latest. >> at present, we know it's been a difficult time for everyone. >> reporter: lo and behold two experienced capitol hill brawlers and senate majority leader harry reid and senate minority leader rich mcconnoll may have found the path to budget piece in califo

. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. it is 4:01 this morning. >>> this morning, washington is waking up to what is next. the shutdown is over. the government is operating again and congress and the president have work to do but after the intense fighting over the last few weeks with they find common ground to work for the people again? jim akos to tells us the road ahead may not be easy one. >> reporter: listening to president obama chatting with the italian prime minister it sounded as if he was ready for a vacation in tuscany. >> you don't have to twist my arm to come to tuscany sometime in the near future. >> reporter: the president doesn't have room on his plate for pasta not after passing a budget for immigration and farm bill in less than 90 days. >> we could get them done by the end of the year if our focus is on what is good for the american people. >> reporter: a task the president may have made more difficult for himself after railing against republicans over the shutdown. >> you don't like a particular policy

i'm zoraida sambolin. >> and i'm john berman. it's wednesday, october 30th. it is 5:00 a.m. in the east. >>> we're going to begin with health and human services, kathleen sebelius, 9:00 a.m., sebelius will be facing off with republicans who have been call for her head. all this, folks, after a dark night for the health care. the website facing another outage making it impossible for anyone to sign up. we gotbryani brianna keilar. >> reporter: a highlighted potential problems. raising redding flags like we don't have access to monitoring tools. not enough time and schedule to perform adequate performance testing and hub systems are intermittently unavailable. meaning the site quits working at times. yet, they weren't passed along to president obama. he didn't know there were problems until the site launched. >> well, i think it became clear fairly early on, the first couple of days? >> but not before that? >> reporter: when kathleen sebelius takes the stand today she will report a subset of those contracts have not met expectations she said in her prepared remarks which she w

i'm zoraida sambolin. >> i'm john berman.t's friday. 31 minutes after the hour. >>> dramatic new developments from keeping this country defaulting on its debt. did i call them dramatic? we can finally say something we haven't been able to say for more than a week. they are talking and they are apparently making progress, john! >> reportedly working through the night, in fact, and white house and republican and congress holding discussions over raising the debt ceiling. now it is a little bit amazing that just talking is considered progress but in d.c. terms these days it really has been a big turning point in the stalemate that has been going on now now in its 11th day. last night that president obama met at the white house with a group of some 20 top house republicans. they talked for about 0e minutes. the discussion was about a republican proposal to increase the debt ceiling for about six weeks. that would give both sides time to work on a longer term deal. they promised to keep talking ahead of the debt ceiling deadline w

i'm zoraida sambolin. >> i'm john berman. it is 5:00 a.m.>> the sound you hear this morning from washington is a big monday ejts si monumental sigh of leaf. reopening the government and staving off the debt crisis that could have led to economic disaster. the president signed it into law just after midnight. here are the details for you this morning. the deal will fund the government through mid january and extend the debt ceiling into early february. federal workers will receive pay dating back to the start of the shutdown, although in that bill it says will it take a little time for that on-to-happen. negotiations begin between the house and the senate on a longer term budget deal. 81-18 and those who voted against were all republicans. many of their gop colleagues did say yes. the house approved the deal. voting after 10:00 p.m., the result there much closer with most republicans saying no. jim acosta begins our coverage. >> the motion is adopted. >> reporter: just as the nation was on the brink, the house of representatives blinked. and

i'm zoraida sambolin. >> and i'm john berman. great to see you, wednesday, october 16th, 5:00 a.m.. >> the big question at 5:00 in the morning, will they finish in time. we're just hours away from hitting this debt ceiling, and there's no deal yet despite a day of feverish discussions and now the attention is back on the senate leadership who are trying to reach a compromise. cnn's senior correspondent jim acosta has the very latest. >> reporter: time is running out, the debt ceiling is in sight and the last best hope avenue voiding a potential default once again rests with senate leaders harry reid and mitch mcconnell. we're back to working on a last-minute deal. >> john boehner will likely be in a situation where he will have to pass the bill between house leaders reid and mccall. >> reporter: the president called for quick action. >> we don't have a whole lot of time so what i'm suggesting to the congressional leaders let's not do any posturing. let's not try to save face. >> reporter: the president appeared to put the blame on john bane's inability to corral the tea-party backe

i'm zoraida sambolin. >> i'm john berman. great to see you. tuesday, october 8th, 5:00 a.m.t. >> we begin with what is happening in washington. >>> of the partial government shutdown in its eighth day and deadline for raising the debt ceiling is fast approaching. the obama administration warns not democrats plan to take a step to avoiding that. here is brianna keilar. >> reporter: ramping up the pressure on house republicans, senate democrats will introduce a bill today that would increase the debt ceiling for more than a year. the goal, push this hot potato issue beyond the 2014 midterm elections. the bill has no strings attached. no agreement to change obama care. no budgetary bartering. >> i cannot do that under the threat that if republicans don't get 100% of their way, they will either shut down the government or they are going to default on america's debt. >> reporter: the president still says he won't bargain with the country's ability to pay its bills. >> the president's refusal to negotiate is hurting our economy and putting our country at risk. >> reporter: house s

i'm john berman. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. it is thursday, october 3rd. 5:00 a.m.st. >>> shutdown day three and miracle of miracles, they had a conversation! they talked! with our economy hanging in the balance with the recovery at stake and with most americans frustrated beyond belief, the nation's leaders actually got into a room and had a discussion. didn't go anywhere but, at this point, maybe we should take anything we can get. senior white house correspondent brianna keilar begins our discussion. >> reporter: for the first time since the government shutdown, congressional leaders met face-to-face with president obama at the white house wednesday night. both sides emerging with no deal and no signs of progress to end the stalemate. >> the president reiterated one more time tonight that he will not negotiate. >> we are through playing these little games. >> reporter: republicans still demanding president obama accept a delay to his signature health care program. >> all we are asking for is a discussion and fairness for the american people under obama care. aspe

. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. it is 4:00 a.m. in the east. >> we would like to tell you that washington worked all weekend and the economy will be saved and we will be all right but we can't tell you that because three days left until the u.s. can no longer pay its bills, no deal to raise the debt ceiling or open the government. this morning, there is new confusion over just where talks stand. what is clear this morning and what is new this morning is that all of the focus in almost all of the hope for a solution rests with these two men. two men who honestly hardly seem to agree on anything almost ever. senior white house correspondent jim acosta has the story. >> reporter: with the clock ticking down to debt ceiling day, it's come down to senate majority leader and minority leader mitch mcconnell. >> i've had a discussion with the republican leader this afternoon. >> reporter: the question is whether they can get there in time. >> both leaders realize how difficult default would be, the devastation it would cause to america. >>

i'm zoraida sambolin. >> and i'm john berman.inutes past the hour, that hour 4:00 a.m. on the east. >> there's plenty of heat, right, but there's no light in washington. as the federal government enters the shutdown two day. they have 800,000 federal employees off the job. >> one faction of one party in one house of congress, in one branch of government shut down major parts of the government, all because they didn't like one law. >> neither the senate democratic majority or the president of the united states have any interest whatsoever into entering into any discussions about how to resolve this impasse. >> my goodness, they won't even sit down and have a discussion about this. >> house republicans tried but failed to pass bills that would have funded portions of the government. >> meantime, uncertainty looms for the families of some 800,000 federal workers facing furloughs. people will inspect our airplanes, our cars, our food, all facing the prospect of being told to go home unsure when they will be paid again. >> i don't get

. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. welcome our viewers from the united states and around the world. >>> we begin with the chaos in the nation's capital. a woman ramming her call in the white house barricade. now investigators are trying to determine what drove a connecticut with him to use her car as a weapon. joe johns picks up the story. >> reporter: a heart stomping scene unfolding outside the u.s. capitol. cameras watch as a reported reportedly 44 years old speed away in a luxury car. careening through the streets with police in hot pursuit. >> on capitol hill. shelter in place. >> reporter: officers, politicians, staffers and by-standers sent running. hunking behind whatever they could find. secret service says the incident began at 2:14 after a verbal exchange with one of their uniformed officers. the woman ramming her black infinity sedan into a security barrier a block from the white house. after police asked her to get out of the car she drove away leading them to a high-speed chase down pennsylvania avenue al

. >> zoraida sambolin, do tell. >> very sad but true. all right, so that's right. to the pressure? we may never actually know but his departure has many wondering what will happen to the other film star, dakota johnson. he was supposed to play billionaire christian grey in the film adaptation of "fifty shades of grey." but the 33-year-old star of the hit series "sons of anarchy" is bowing out, in a statement universal pictures said, "the filmmakers of "fifty shades of grey" and charlie hunnam agreed to find another male lead giving hunnam's impercentive tv schedule which is not allowing him to adequately prepare for the role of christian grey." not too long after, e.l. james the author of the erotic best seller tweeted "i wish charlie all the best." but was scheduling the real reason for the surprise exit? >> what the real speculation was that the tension he was getting for taking on this role, both negative and positive was just too much for him to handle and he had to get out of it. >> reporter: in a recent interview with "entertainment weekly," the actor admits

. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. it is 5:00 a.m. in the east. >>> so many people perplexed this morning is it really possible the u.s. was eavesdropping on ally world leaders for years and president obama didn't know? no one told him? phone conversations from u.s. friends like german chancellor angela merkel. the administration insists the president did not know. now he is ordering a full review of the nsa surveillance operations and the foreign relations fallout. here is more from our chief national security correspondent jim sciutto. >> reporter: president obama would not confirm the nsa was spying on the phone calls of u.s. allies like germany's chancellor angela merkel. >> the national security operations generally have one purpose and that is to make sure that the american people are safe. i'm making a review to make sure what they are able to do doesn't necessarily mean what they should be doing. >> reporter: senior administration officials tell cnn president obama did not know about the nsa surveillance of merkel and other al

i'm zoraida sambolin. do you want to talk about the red sox? >> i can't! i haven't slept in three days and barely can speak at all. >> good morning. i'm john berman. i got to say this is a frightening way to start your week. >>> a statewide manhunt for four escaped inmates that could be armed and dangerous and happening in oklahoma. they broke out of jail 70 miles west of oklahoma city. the inmates were able to break a lock and enter a trapped door above the shower early sunday morning and made their way to freedom through a tiny crawl space beneath the roof. he. >> would got officers checking all of the abandoned vehicles and checking the residences where we might know they have relatives are living. you got to think they might be dangerous when you know they wouldn't when they left but we don't know where they are. >> four inmates and four orange prison suits have been discarded a few blocks from the prison. neighbors around the area are trying not to panic. >> a small town and this stuff is not supposed to happen, right? it can happen anywhere. i hope t

. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. >> it's a different mng

. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. >> i'm john berman. it is tuesday, october 1st. 4:00 a.m. in the east.elcome to the wonderful world of the shutdown. actually it's not wonderful at all. frankly it is embarrassing and a lot of people are being hurt. it was a late night in washington with the house and panate each voting an each

. >> i'm michaela pereira in for zoraida sambolin. >> welcome to the wondrous world of 4:00 a.m. >> a long time since i've seen you. >>> we are learning more about the few moments of terror inside a nevada classroom killing a teacher before the student took his own life. was there a history of bullying? classes at the middle school has been canceled as the community grieves. >> reporter: trying to make sense of a senseless killing. the small community of sparksburg, nevada, came together. >> they have one victory in the cafeteria, one in the hall. >> reporter: students were waiting for the more than bell to ring and then shots fired. >> people started running and screaming so i started running and we heard another gunshot. >> the kit started getting mad and he pulled out a gun and shoots my friend. >> reporter: the shooter, a 13-year-old student, allegedly using his parents' gun, wounded two fellow students. a teacher rushed to their aid. >> he walked up to a teacher and says, "back up." the teacher started backing up. he pulled the trigger. >> the teacher was trying to make him put i

zoraida sambolin is here with more. >> you were pointing to chris. >> i was just banging him on the shoulder. the only spec indication isn't about finding a new christian gray. charlie hunnam's departure has many wondering what will happen to dakota johnson? he was supposed to play billionaire christian grey in the film adaptation of "fifty shades of grey." but the 33-year-old star of the hit series "sons of anarchy" is bowing out, in a statement universal pictures said, "the filmmakers of "fifty shades of grey" and charlie hunnam agreed to find another male lead giving hunnam's tv immersal. e.l. james the author of the erotic best seller tweeted "i wish charlie all the best." but was scheduling the real reason for the surprise exit? >> what the real speculation was that the tension he was getting for taking on this role, both negative and positive was just too much for him to handle and he had to get out of it. >> reporter: in a recent interview with "entertainment weekly" the actor admits there are so many fans of that book and i know on the surface i'm probably not what everybody imagined

"early start" anchor zoraida sambolin is here with more on this. it looks terrible, doesn't it? >> yes. >> the accident happening in albuquerque on wednesday. 59-year-old mark kilgore and 66-year-old daniel lavoto are being treated for burns. a ball of flames lights the sky outside of albuquerque, new mexico wednesday as a hot air balloon catches fire midflight at the international balloon fiesta festival. two men are trapped inside. the balloon ignited after hitting a power line. >> at that point there was an explosion, shot flames out about 20 feet to the side. i saw him slump. i didn't know about the condition. at that point the gondola really started to drop. >> reporter: both victims must be dragged out of the burning balloon. they are now in the hospital, suffering severe burns. frightening ballooning accidents like this one are extremely rare. the national transportation safety board has investigated only 760 accidents in the united states since 1964. and 67 of those have been fatal. in january, an entire wedding party survived crash landing

cnn's zoraida sambolin is here with more.that nobody thought to help this poor man. >> it is at the center of the story that is most shocking. philadelphia police identified a 29-year-old man. he's wanted for aggravated assault. why no one stepped in to save this helpless victim remains a mystery. the pictures are horrifying, a blind man seen here on police surveillance video being savagely beaten on a philadelphia street. police have now released pictures of a suspect, mustafa guyton. officers say he lived near the intersection where that beating took place. they say the 33-year-old victim was walking down the block when the suspect approaches him. though the camera panned away, you can see in the next shot, the suspect kicking the victim and stomping on him, injuring his face and head. police say after the brutal attack, the suspect picked up a backpack and walked away. police did not indicate any possible motive for the attack. even more shocking, is that it appears that three people walked by, witnessed it, and seemingly