that's it for me in washington and all of us in new york. coverage on the debt ceiling showdown, carol costello continues our coverage. >> thanks guys, have a great day. "newsroom" starts now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good morning. i'm carol costello. thanks so much for being here. well, here we are, it's october 16th and the nation is on the edge of default, in other words, we're staring down the very debt crisis that lawmakers told us not to worry about. i wonder what the reassurances and promises congress could come together at crunch time and not

risk an economic disaster. as you can see from the countdown clock the deadline is less than 15 hours away, the debt ceiling closes in, the partial government shutdown drags on and washington's dysfunction is shaming even the lawmakers. >> it's not a big thing or don't worry about it, that's ridiculous. this is a big thing and going to harm not just this economy but economies all over the world. and we're not going to do that. if we do, i think they should all ask for our resignation. they should ask for all of our resignations if we can't come together for the good of our country. >> okay, let's get the latest from cnn's jim acosta at the white house this morning. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, carol. senators harry reid and mitch mcconnell are working on a deal how this gets out of the senate and the house and over to the president's desk before the nation hits the debt ceiling at midnight tonight is still a mystery but in the words of one

top gop senate source, fear not. time is running out. the debt ceiling is within sight and the last hope of dashing a default rests with senator harry reid and mitch mcconnell, back to work, working on a last-minute deal. >> john boehner will likely be in a position where he will have to essentially pass the bill that is negotiated between senators mcconnell and reid, and i believe that the house would first pass it and send it to the senate. >> reporter: president obama called for quick action. >> we don't have a lot of time and so what i'm suggesting to the congressional leaders is let's not do any posturing, let's not try to save face. >> reporter: the president appeared to put the blame on house speaker john boehner's inability to car roll tea party-backed republicans. >> there have been repeated situations where we have agreements and he goes back and it turns out that he can't control his caucus. >> reporter: that caucus is once again up in arms, despite boehner's tough talk.

>> i have made clear for months and months that the idea of default is wrong, and we shouldn't be anywhere close to it. >> reporter: the speaker failed to convince house conservatives to line up behind republican proposals to lift the debt ceiling and end the shutdown. it didn't matter anyway, as reid said the gop's plans were dead on arrival in the senate. >> extremist republicans in the house of representatives are attempting to torpedo the senate's bipartisan progress with a bill that can't pass the senate. >> reporter: that portrait of washington dysfunction was all the respected fitch ratings agency needed to see, it issued a warning it may downgrade the nation's aaa credit rating. a potential repeat of what standard & poor's did in 2011. fitch continues to believe that the debt ceiling will be raised soon, the agency said, the political brinksmanship could increase the risk of a u.s. default. some house conservatives were brushing off talk of dire consequences to come. >> most folks understand october 17th is not the drop dead date, there nor payments due for a couple weeks.

>> reporter: according to top senate republican and democratic sources here is how the deal looks now, the government would be reopened according to the senate deal as it stands right now through january 15th, and funded through january 15th. the debt ceiling would be raised until february 7th. budget conference of republicans and democrats would be put through for the budget issues, that date was set for december 13th last night but that is up in the air at this point and the income verification requirements and obama care republicans want that appears to be in the deal right now but carol, of course we can't guarantee that anything that we're talking about right now will actually be in the final deal because things have been changing so much but that's sort of where things stand right now, the big question is how does it all get passed, does harry reid send a piece of paper over with the details in it to house speaker john boehner and he tries to get it through the house and then send it to the senate, but to be really honest with everybody, we just don't

know how it's going to develop over the course of the next several hours. >> as things stand now this is a senate deal that will likely go to the house of representatives for a vote because the house of representatives can't come up with its own bill as you know jim this is not the way it's supposed to work. i know that. we know that. hasn't anybody watched schoolhouse rock? >> you sure got to climb a lot of steps to get to the capitol building here in washington. i wonder who that scrap of paper is. ♪ i'm just a bill, yes i'm only a bill ♪ ♪ and i'm sitting here on capitol hill ♪ ♪ well, it's a long, long journey to the capitol city ♪ ♪ it's a long, long wait while i'm sitting in committee ♪ ♪ but i know i'll be a law someday ♪ ♪ at least i hope and pray that i will but today i am still just a bill ♪ >> but sadly, jim, in the house

of representatives it's not even a bill yet. >> reporter: yes. well to paraphrase schoolhouse rock i think we're at dysfunction junction instead. let's see how it works out today, i don't think we're at end times. i've been exchanging e-mails with a top republican source as for the idea they might take the senate bill on a piece of paper and try to get it through the house they're not at that stage just yet. they'll make that call as they see what the senate has to offer but not exactly schoolhouse rock as you pointed out. >> no. jim acosta many thanks. washington's brinksmanship has angered other countries knowing the u.s. economy is vital to their own well-being but investors seem to have mustered some confidence in a deal getting done. ftse and dax each down less than 0.5%. the nikkei closed up albeit

slightly. wall street opens later this hour, cnn's chief business correspondent christine romans joins us from washington with that. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. futures are higher, sharply higher here because okay you had schoolhouse rock. i will i guess channel "war games" what investors are telling you is that there will not be mutually assured destruction on capitol hill that they are not stupid enough to not raise the debt ceiling so investors are betting that they are going to do something and they're going to do something soon. let me give you a little bit of timing. first of all no, one wins. no one wins if you don't raise the debt ceiling. i'm going to be wracking my brain to figure out who could win if you don't raise the debt ceiling, that's what washington is about, who is going to win. no one wins so what happens next, if they don't raise the debt ceiling? i don't think the lights go out on october 17th, you have a couple of days while the treasury figures out which bills to pay and slowly the momentum would continue after that and you start to see the cracks in

the financial system, you'd see yields spike and the stock market come unclud, just when that would happen no one knows for sure but today right now, a half hour before the market closes investors around the world are betting that washington will not be that stupid. carol? >> i hope they're right. i really hope they're right. what about the action that fitch took? what should we read into that? >> you know, fitch essentially is warning the u.s. and telling us what we already know the congress doesn't know how to run a business. it should have raised the debt ceiling by now, that's what fitch said. fitch said it assumes there will be some sort of deal in the days to come. they don't think we'll default on obligations to investors, that's important that you have to pay the interest on your loans, on your bonds, no indication fitch says that we wouldn't do that but look, every day that we don't raise the debt ceiling and get a real agreement

here, comprehensive agreement to end the budget battles is a wasted day in washington and these days just keep wasting away, carol, and i don't think you can count on the optimism in the markets and the stability in the market to continue forever if you don't have any kind of coherent strategy just this warfare in washington, so there are so many risks still for your money and interest rates, for your mortgage and credit card bills, for the availability of loans, for your stock investments and portfolio, it's still scary here. >> yes it is. especially for those late on in life with 401(k)s. christine romans thanks so much. just ahead in "the newsroom," calls from republicans in congress to investigate the obama care website glitches and the president's response, next.

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launch of the obama care website and for the second morning in a row the government still isn't telling us how many people have been able to successfully sign up or when those problems will be fixed. the "miami herald" says house republicans plan to investigate the launch. the paper says the house energy and dmers committee will ask health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius and federal contractors to explain exactly why things went so wrong, after their earlier testimony which they said the site would run smoothly. tuesday president obama expressed his frustration with the disastrous launch. >> i am the first to acknowledge that the website that was supposed to do this all in a seamless seamless way has had way more glitches than i think are acceptable and we've got people working around the clock to do that and we've seen some significant progress but until it's 100% i'm not going to be satisfied. >> the president went on to say people are still able to sign up

for programs by phone and by mail, with little or no problems at all. but there are clearly problems with obama care and guess what? those big glitches are not addressed in the senate's deal, potential deal to reopen the government, but let's move on from that for now. the senate might or might not pass a bill that funds the government through january 15th and extends the debt limit until february 7th. in other words, at best this is a temporary fix and aren't you sick of hearing that? so is david walker, former comptroller general for the united states or put more simply he was the nation's top independent account under president clinton and supported mitt romney in the last election. welcome, david. >> good to be with you, carol. >> so you kept the books for the government? >> no, no, i didn't keep the books for the government. i was not responsible for this accounting because it's atrocious, i can tell you. >> i totally get while you're explaining more carefully. so it astounds me the number of people who don't believe

anything will happen if the debt limit isn't raised. >> well, something will happen, but we have more than enough revenue to service our debt, only about 10% of our revenue is necessary to service our debt, there's one thing guaranteed in the constitution of the united states, that's bondholders and u.s. debt. now the treasury is admitting they have well maybe it's not october 17, maybe a few days past october 17th. look we shouldn't be in a position to decide what bills we're going to pay and not. >> this is a bad thing. >> it's a bad thing. they should not keep on moving the ball. they lose credibility. if you say this is what the deadline is, at a minimum you can say it's going to be around there, we don't know the exact date. here's the real thing we need to get it done before this, the deadline is november 1 because november 1 social security payments, payments to medicare providers are supposed to go out and right now social security and medicare are negative cash flow and the only thing they can pay benefits out of is what's in the trust fund.

>> we hear lawmakers say we can pick and choose what we want to pay out. >> most of them don't know how to do math. look, here's the problem. the treasury does have visibility over bond holders of u.s. debt, they're going to get paid on time. what they don't have advivisibi over is the ongoing day-to-day payables so they'd have to prioritize and end up paying certain mandatory payments, discretionary payments and the sad thing is we would end up paying more penalties and interest because the paymeof th payment act. the senate will pass it and the house will ultimately pass what the senate does. it may not happen by the so-called deadline but i think it will happen by the beginning of the week. >> but still this plan that the senate is thinking of passing is just a temporary fix. we have to go through all this again next year. >> what we need to do is to have substantive negotiations to deal with the three things we haven't

dealt with needed to restore fiscal responsibility. we haven't had a budget in five years, we need social insurance reforms, rationalize our health care promises and comprehensive tax reform. they're not going to do all of that december 13th. maybe they can come up with a framework we can begin implementing in installments over time, as that's what it takes to deal with the fiscal cancer we're stricken with. >> everybody agrees this fiscal cancer exists but has this been such a terrible experience for lawmakers, do you think, that we won't ever be at least, that we won't be be in this position again? >> my parents taught me you never say never and they're right. the fact is the american people frankly have a very short term area and if they can get through this and the next election is not until next november so people are largely forgetting, but we need to get through this.

the other thing is the polls came out basically giving the president, the democrats and the republicans all an f. some got a lower f than others but they all got an f. the people are disgusted with what's going on in washington. we have a republic that's not representative of or poresponsi to the public. we need political reforms and a state-led constitutional convention to focus on fiscal electoral and states rights reforms. >> the odds on whether that will happen? >> better than you know, better than some other things happening in d.c. but we'll see. the founders gave us this. >> thank you so much for joining us. >> good to be here. >> we appreciate it, david walker. still to come, edward snowden's father reunites with his son in russia. >> certainly very emotional to know that my son is safe, secure and is he free. >> lon snowden tells cnn about the nsa leaker's life in russia,

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checking our top stories at 22 minutes past the hour, police arrested a suspect in connection with two dry ice explosions at los angeles international airport. 28-year-old bennett dekaare low was booked on possession of an explosive device. two bottles with dry ice exploded in restricted areas. >> i think it does reveal a vulnerability that we're going to shore up and that is that you have cameras in public access areas, we should also have cameras in restricted access areas to maintain the integrity of the security system. >> decarlo is being held on $1 million bond. the 75-year-old mother of cal ripken jr. managed to thwart a gunman threatening to steal her car. the suspect was arrested two hours later. at tempted carjacking is not related to her abduction last year taken at gunpoint from her

home in maryland and found the next day. oreos are just as addictive as cocaine according to a study from connecticut college. eating oreos activated more neurons in the pleasure center of rats brains an cocaine or morphine. rats like to eat the oreo cookies creamy middle first like most humans. a cable failure in detroit's electical grid knocked out stadium lights in alcs three. the power to comerica park took 15 minutes for the lights to fully reset. the game was delayed though it was still daylight and i don't want to read the next part so we'll skip over it the tigers lost. et ward snow snowden's fathe described the emotional reunion.

>> it was, you know, enormous and the first hug that i gave him wasn't simply for me. it was for the entire family, and it was much in the way that i last saw him, in april. i hugged him. it was, "i love you son. i love you, dad." we hugged a little longer, a little harder and it was certainly, it was an important moment because on june 7th, two days before this story broke i wasn't certain my son was alive. in mid-june i didn't know if i was going to see him again. it's emotional to know my son is safe, secure and free. >> phil black is on the phone from moscow. hi, phil. >> reporter: hi, carol. you can see he was emotional when he was describing that reunion. he was also much relieved,

different lon snowden. about a week ago he flew in for the first time we spoke to him then, hadn't seen him son, worried about what he was going to find. he said having been here for a week now he is much relieved, is he satisfied that his son edward has a comfortable life, that he is free, safe, independent and in his words he said he is absolutely committed to the decision that he made. he said that edward has a very strong support network of people here in russia and he hinted at others he said in the support network, crosses international borders as well. because of that he says his son doesn't have to work at the moment but that might change in the future in his view having been here for a week now, is that this is the place for edward to be because he believes that he is safe and to paraphrase he doesn't have to worry about an individual or groups affiliated with the united states trying to snatch him and return him to the u.s. government. >> phil black reporting live

from moscow, thanks. still to come, the stock markets on edge with a default deadline hours away, opening bell in just about four minutes. we'll be back. [ male announcer] surprise -- you're having triplets.

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good morning, i'm carol costello. ringing the bell, investors on edge waiting to see if congress members can agree on a last-minute deal. christine romans is on assignment in washington. let's start with you alison and the opening bell. so far so good. >> so far so good. when it comes down to it what you're seeing are investors hopeful, they're optimistic that lawmakers are going to come to their senses and come up with some sort of solution to the debt ceiling. they say as embarrassing as it is, they think something will happen. because congress knows all too well what will happen if it doesn't come up with a solution. one trader putting it this way saying look at wall street like a voting booth and they've shown their displeasure by showing

several sell-offs over the past couple of weeks or so since the government shut down. that is wall street's way of giving washington a nice strong message to get its act together. we will see if that happens. today is going to be quite the day though on wall street, where you're going to see investors really pay attention to the headlines and all the rhetoric coming out of capitol hill. >> speaking of rhetoric and christine i want to ask you about this, spoetzedly the senate, somebody from the senate is going to come out and say something that will calm the markets further, so they're playing a game with one another. >> it is all one very big and dangerous game no question and from outside washington i'm here now but from outside washington the view is each day has been utterly wasted. we're right where we started two weeks ago. as far as i can tell we're not any closer to getting this done. there is this sense everyone knows the debt ceiling is too dangerous to mess around with. warren buffett is speaking

behind me, the most famous world officer and he says it's folly, stupid, crazy, these are the words he used to describe talking about the debt ceiling as a tool for a political fight. this is what he said a moment ago. >> it becomes this political weapon of mass destruction. it really is like a nuclear bomb. >> he said it could cause an economic pearl harbor. these are the metaphors he's using talking about not raising the debt ceiling and putting the full faith and credit of the united states on the line here. he says the solution from warren buffett is both parties need to step back and say the debt ceiling is not a tool, a weapon that we're going to use in political and budget negotiations. the debt ceiling is not part of that process pop from warren buffett's lips to their ears. so far they have fighting and using the debt ceilings for the past couple years. the most famous investor is saying this is too dangerous to

mess around with, they have to stop immediately. >> we'll see if anyone listens. christine romans reporting live from washington, alison kosik in new york thanks so you both. the partial government shutdown brought out some of the worst in our lawmakers. >> park service should be ashamed of themselves. >> i'm not ashamed. >> you should be. >> a trip down memory lane looking at the ugliest moments of the shutdown, next. at university of phoenix, we know you can't afford wrong turns on the road to your future. that's why we build tools like our career guidance system. it's kind of like gps, you know, for your career. it walks you through different degree possibilities and even lets you explore local job market conditions, helping you map a clear course from the job you want, back to you. go to phoenix.edu and get started today. ...amelia... neil and buzz:

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so here we are, 15 hours before the possibly possibly defaults. an ugly road up to this point, downright embarrassing, do our elected officials have any dig rit, class or true love of country? the ugliest moments on the road to possible default. >> hello america!

>> reporter: let's begin with perhaps the ugliest politicians capitalizing on world war ii vets trying to visit their memorial. protesters tore down the barricades and piled them up in the white house. >> this is the people's memorial. why is the federal government spending money to erect barricades to keep veterans out of this recommend reel in our veterans should be above politics. enough games. >> reporter: but senator ted cruz did not address confederate flags and hate. >> i call upon all of you to wage a second american nonviolent revolution, to use civil disobedience and to demand that this president leave town, to get up, to put the koran down, to get up off his knees and to figuratively come one his hands out. >> reporter: actually there were a lot of ugly moments

surrounding the nage's monument to our heroes, park rangers following orders to close the monument experienced the naisiness themselves. >> park service should be ashamed of themselves. >> i'm not ashamed. >> you should be. never mind it was congress who caused the government to shut down and the park ranger was working for free because technically she had been furloughed, which sets us up nicely for congressman steve pierce's idea, he writes on his facebook page, "if you are a furloughed government employee, we encourage to you reach out to your financial institution as soon as you worry you may miss a payche paycheck." financial institutions offer short term loans and other resources, don't wait until you're behind on a bill, call now and explore your options. things got uglier when lawmakers blamed one another for not funding nih clinical trials for children a mess annual delivered in yes white lab coats. >> let us help people. let us help children, please. >> reporter: democrats said they

were outraged by all of this ugliness but not angry enough to stop them from using it to raise money, the democratic national committee raised $850,000 the first day of the shut down at a fund-raiser for charlie rangel of knock new york, accord torg the hill. at least our elected leaders get to workout as democrat bruce braylee pointed out there's no towel service, we're doing our own laundry down there and we pay a fee to belong to a house gym. this is no different than if you're working for an employer that offers a wellness program." maybe he forgot taxpayers pay for his extracurricular crunches. senators insist they will avert a crisis today. of course they said that before when we'll believe it when we see it. in the next hour of newsroom a soldier injured but what happened next made this hospital

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excessive speed to inboa insubordination. a plane's engine exploded after takeoff filling the cabin in w smoke. people thought they were going to die, one man texted "we're on fire, love you." >> explosion, bam, we saw the flames come up the side of the plane which lit up the whole inside of the plane. it was on the outsigh engine and plane started shaking violently. the plane filled up with smoke. >> all you have the vents were pouring smoke, this white smoke and you couldn't see, that's when everyone got really scared. >> plane made it safely back to dallas and passengers got aboard another plane and headed off to atlanta. twitter is headed to the new york stock exchange, the company announced its decision tuesday in a filing with the sec and will list under the letters

twtr. the company hasn't yet turned a profit the initial public offering is slated for $1 billion. as washington inches closer to that debt ceiling deadline congress may also be facing a different kind of crisis, a crisis of confident as voter approval plummets to all-time lows, frustrations soar to new highs. joining me is democratic congressman peter welch of vermont. good morning, sir. >> good morning. i'm glad you're here but respectfully i don't want to play the blame game, we've had 16 days of that. i want to talk about something with far greater implications, that would be trust in government. congressman, why should americans have any trust at all in congress, in you? >> on the basis of what we've done the last several weeks they shouldn't. that's in fact you're right, the casualty here aside from who's responsible is that the institution was created to serve the american people and it has to make decisions that help people be successful in their

own lives back home, and what we've witnessed is the last severa weeks and months, really, is a debate where the premise was it was okay to not pay your bills and that's bizarre amongst americans. you owe your plumber, you don't stiff your electrician. you pay your mortgage. we have done a lot of damage with this debate and in fact my hope when we get this behind us and we finally do raise the debt ceiling and reopen government we're going to get down to the basic issue that we have, having a budget that's sustainable, helps bring down the debt and rebuild the middle class of this country but it's serious damage we've done. >> but that all sounds great but the house of representatives cannot come up with a compromise to end the shutdown, they can't even come up with a bill everybody can agree on. in negotiations to come, which will be difficult because after all the senate plan, potential senate deal kicks the can down the road you have to sit down again and compromise and you can't do it.

>> well, you're right, but let me put it in perspective the things that i think are good that are coming out of this, even though we never should have had this fight. the health care battle has been going on for years, it's over. we're not fighting whether it will be the law of the land. we'll struggle how to implement it in a way that works. number two the president and harry reid held firm on the notion that we have to pay our bills and that cannot be a hostage by a faction of congress. by putting that behind us, i think you're going to not see this extreme tactical use of the debt ceiling going forward. but you are right, i mean there is a battle of primarily within the republican conference, that conference dragged john boehner through the nine circles of hell on this thing, and my hope is that the practicigmatists in th party as well as ours get down to business on making progress

on things that alludeds us. >> democrats still have to sit down with republicans and talk. how do you repair the damage done over the next few weeks, do you have a summit, team building exercises, what do you do? >> you are right about that and the mistake the democrats can make is to see this as a victory and overplay our hands. bottom line american people are throwing up their hands in dismay at the dysfunction of this institution so we democrats have a responsibility and the republicans have a point about sustainable spending and getting the debt down but there's ways the democrats can meet them that do it in a way that build the economy, so you know, there's no victors here, i mean, bottom line, we're going to reopen government, we're not going to default. that's like very low expectations, but there really has to be a willingness on the part of both of us to get back to work. there's a lot of members of this house, republican and democrat, who would be much preferred at the end of the day to make some

progress rather than be in this food fight. >> i hope you're right. congressman peter welch of vermont thank you for joining me this morning. >> thank you. still to come in the newsroom the cardinals find themselves in a familiar position, they're like a machine. they are one game away from the world series. ido more with less with buless energy. hp is helping ups do just that. soon, the world's most intelligent servers, designed by hp, will give ups over twice the performance, using forty percent less energy. multiply that across over a thousand locations, and they'll provide the same benefit to the environment as over 60,000 trees. that's a trend we can all get behind.

i don't want to talk about the tigers. how about them charles? >> we were talking about the dodgers how they got the big win and back in the series. took just one game to change all of that. last night, mats holliday, the cardinals' slugger, a two-run shot in the third inning. the dodgers had a great chance to tie it up in the ninth inning, but they ground into a double play.

st. louis wins 4-2. one win away from going to the world series. in the alcs, the tigers, carol, justin verlander. >> he was fantastic. >> but the lights actually wept out. it caused a 17-minute delay. when they started playing again, one swing of the pat from napoli homer sd off verlander. but the red sox pumped up. they win 1-0. and the alcs assumes tonight at 8:00 eastern. the cardinals can punch their ticket to the world series this afternoon. first pitch at 4:00 eastern on tbs. turning right now. "bleacher report".com. will ferrell is there leading the band in a performance. wielding the sword and showing off his gunned. the event was to raise money so kids with cancer can afford

treatment. [ chanting ] >> that was the scene last night in mexico city. mexican fans chanting, usa, usa. why were they chanting that? team use baled out the national team in epic fashion. they scored two goals in time to beat panama and that saved mexico from being eliminated from world cup contention. they were so excited they said, god bless america. really, really funny moment. and team usa's twitter feed, they twittered afterward the game, #you're welcome mexico. >> glad we were able to help out. thanks so much. still to come in the "newsroom," are you concerned about what exactly congress needs to do to end the shutdown

or divert a default on the national debt? well -- >> i know i'll be a law some day, as least i hope and pray that i will, but today, i am still just a bill. ♪ ♪ >> a little musical refresher course in civics. after a break. great. this is the last thing i need.) seriously? let's take this puppy over to midas and get you some of the good 'ol midas touch. hey you know what? i'll drive! i really didn't think this through. brakes, tires, oil, everything. (whistling)

all we've heard from the

last few weeks is about the back and forth in washington on a debt deal. it kind of takes you back to your civics class, doesn't it. we thought we would help you understand the way out of this mess, abc's schoolhouse rock. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> boy, you sure got to climb a lot of steps to get to this capitol building in washington. i wonder who that sad paper is? ♪ i'm just a bill, i'm only a bill. i'm sitting here on capitol hill. well, it's a long, long journey to the capitol city. it's a long, long wait while i'm sitting in committee. but i know i'll be a law some day, at least i i hope and pray that i will, but today, i am still just a bill ♪ ♪ ♪ >> gee, bill, you certainly have a lot of patience and courage. >> well, i got this far.

when ier started i wasn't even a bill. i was just an idea. some folks back home decided they wanted a law passed so they called their local congressman and said, you're right, there ought to be a law. and he introduced me to congress and i became a bill. and i'll remain a bill until they decide to make me a law. snoechlt yes, i'm just a bill and i got as far as capitol h l hill. i'm stuck in committee and i'll sit here and wait. while a few key congressmen discuss and debate whether they should let me be a law. how i hope and pray that they will, but today i am still just a bill ♪ ♪ ♪ >> listen to those congressmen arguing. is that all discussion and debate about you? >> yeah, i'm one of the lucky

ones. most bills don't ever even get this far. i hope they report on my favorably. otherwise i may die. >> die? >> yeah in committee. now i go to the house of representatives and they vote on me. and then i go to the senate and the whole thing starts all over again. >> oh, no. >> oh, yes. snoechlt i'm just a bill and if they vote for me on capitol hill. then i'm off to the white house where i waited in line, with a lot of other bills for the president to sign. and if he signs me, then i'll be a law. snoechlt how i hope and pray that he will, but today i am still just a bill snoechlt. >> you mean even if the whole congress says you should be a law, the president can still say no? >> yes. that's calmed a veto. if he vetoes me, i have to go by to congress and -- >> by that time it's unlikely that you'll become a law. it's not easy to become a law,

is it? >> no. snoechlt but how i hope and pray that i will. but today, i am still just a bill snoechlt. >> he signed you bill. now you're a law. >> oh, yes. >> good morning, everyone. i'm carol costello. a little refresher course for you and especially our members of congress. here we are and it's october 16th and the nation is on the edge of default. in other words, we're staring down the very debt crisis that the lawmakers told us not to worry about. remember all the reassurances and not risk an economic disaster? that deadline is now less than 15 hours away. and washington's dysfunction is shaming even the lawmakers. >> anybody that thinks that's not a big thing or don't worry about it, that's ridiculous. this is a big thing and it's going to harm, not just this economy, but economies all over

the world. and we're not going to do that. if we do, i think they should all ask for our resignation. they should ask for all of our resignations if we can't come together for the good of our country. >> and even this 11th hour, the blame game continues. listen to this shot from the president. >> speaker boehner, for example, him negotiating with me isn't necessarily good for the extreme faction in his caucus. there are been repeated situations where we have agreement and then he goes back and it turns out that he can't control his caucus. >> so supposedly the senate is sworking on a deal. let's look at specifics taking shape in that plan. the federal government would be funded through january 15th and the debt limit extended through february 7th. there would have to be a detailed tax and spending deal for the next decade by mid-december. and the only issue related to

obama care would be the anti-fraud provision to verify income. let's bring in wolf blitzer. have we ever been at such a point before? >> i'm sure we have. but let's -- off the top of my head, i don't remember. but it's a very serious situation. it looks like they're going to resolve it today. they're going to punt, as you point out, to january and february and move the ball down the road. it looks like when all is said and done, except for the relatively modest tweak to obama care, it's going to be a clean bill in the senate and house of representatives -- >> so this was all for nothing? >> a lot of republicans are saying that as well. if you listen to, you know, congressman peter king, he's a republican from new york, he's been pointing it out from day one. they started off and wanted to defund obama care. that wasn't going to go

anywhere. certainly didn't have the votes in the senate. then they said, delay it. that didn't have the votes. then they wanted to make more significant changes in. the end this anti-fraud provision is something very few people can give a quarrel with. nobody wants that down the road. and in the end, it's going to be a clean bill in the senate and house for all practical purposes. but in january and february, we maybe going through this one more time. if you think that by the middle of december, carol, that even is going to come together on the grand bargain as far as entitlement reform and tax reform and balanced budget and that all stuff, maybe they can do it but they've -- >> it doesn't sound promises. the house cannot even come up with its own deal. john boehner can't even get republicans to agree on a compromise. it's frightening, actually.

>> well, republicans were agreeing on all sorts of proposals that they sent to the senate, which never even came up for a real vote. they were tabled procedurally in the senate. they were pretty unified in terms of obama care and earlier over the past 15, 16 days that they sent trying to avert a government shutdown. but yesterday they weren't united add he couldn't get the 217 nearly all republican votes that he needed to pass what was a relatively modest proposal when you take a look at what the republicans were pitching only a few weeks earlier. but he couldn't do it. the ball is in the senate court. let's see what they do. i assume that harry reid and mitch mcconnell have worked a deal out. it will pass the senate, and maybe even it will pass the house first. and that will make it easier. and that will allow the lawmakers to go back to their districts and get out of d.c.

time to fly out, make if they can resolve it all today. you'll see them running to the reagan national airport to get out of dodge. >> i'm sure skroeters will be thrilled to see that. thanks for your insight. as we reach the deadline for default, it's hard to find anybody with a positive view of the way they're handling this. a recent poll found 74% of americans disapprove of the way the republicans are dealing with this mess. democrats disapproval is 61%. and the president is at 53%. but the feelings might be just as strong across the globe. the australian newspaper says it is hard not to believe that lunatics have taken charge of the asylum in washington. we're in brazil with more on how our shutdown and debt deadline is affecting south america. we're in beijing. but we begin in london. >> reporter: we're comparing the

crisis that we're seeing in washington to a bit of a season opera, where you see politicians fighting with each other. by the time they realize we're over the cliff and that's the concerns they have. this is not on for the world's biggest economy to be acting this way. they need to get their act together and come to a solution before we have impact across the globe in the stock markets. >> reporter: the economy will have enormous exposure to default. this country owns more than a trillion dollars of u.s. treasury bills. and the officials at the people's bank of china are preparing for a dooms day scenario. >> reporter: there's no doubt that a u.s. default would have a negative impact on the economy here. and the ire any of the situation is not lost. in the short-term, they've

gotten a boost on speculation and the united states will continue to buy back bonds and sending -- >> now some are comparing the united states to greece. one teacher said, quote, we've been held hostage by the reckless politicians and the interest they serve for more than three years. i guess our american friends are getting a taste of the same medicine. knowing that the u.s. economy is vital to their own well-being, investors seem to have mustered some confidence in a deal getting done. all of these are pretty much flat on this critical day. what about wall street? more from new york. >> reporter: good morning. as you can see, as we look at the dow, we're in rally mode in the u.s. it sort of defies logic. but traders absolutely in the short-term are betting on the

fact that politicians are not crazy enough to push what they call the nuclear button and push us into default. they still think they're going to get a deal done. and very important to remember, traders keep telling us, this is not an issue of solvency, this is an issue of stub earness and stupidity. this is political theater that they think is ultimately going to be resolved. very different than what we saw back in 2008. traders are banking on the senate getting a deal done even though we're getting uncomfortably close. be careful. these gains can evaporate quickly if there seems like there's any kind of delay. people say this is no way to run a country, no way to run your fiscal affairs. and congress looks like they are unable to deal with these

affairs. those are going to be lasting effects that we're going to have to evaluate. >> still to come in the "newsroom." the senates could be close to announcing a debt ceiling deal. there's the hope for you. but it will only set the stage for another fight in a few months. former republican senator chud greg joins me next to talk about that. and on time. jchud greg joins me next to talk about that. uchud greg joins me next to talk about that. judchud greg joins me next talk about that. dchud greg join talk about that. judd greg joins me next to talk about that. business rolling now, everybody sing. ♪ norfolk southern what's your function? ♪ ♪ helping this big country move ahead as one ♪ ♪ norfolk southern how's that function? ♪

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get 50% off new brake pads and shoes. shopping for insurance. have you been on health care.gov? did it work? it's been two weeks since the launch. and for the second morning in a row, the government is still not stelg telg us how many people have been able to successfully sign up or when problems will be fixed. the miami -- they'll ask them to explain why things went so rock after the earlier testimony which they said the site would run smoothly. on tuesday, president palm further expressed his frustration with the disastrous launch. >> i'm the first to acknowledge that the website that was supposed to do this all in a seamless way has had way more

glitches than i think are acceptable. and we've got people working around the clock to do that. and we've seen -- seen some significant progress. but until it's 100%, i'm not going to be satisfied. >> the president went on to say people are still abe to sign up for programs by phone and snail mail with little or no problems at all. my next guests calls a republican strategy to take down obama care, quote, dysfunctional and foolish. judd gregg joins me now from new york. good morning. >> good morning. how are you? >> i'm good. thank you for being with me. senator john mccain says that republicans need to understand they lost the obama care battle. now one house committee plans a probe of the house's distas truss launch. why is this a focus of your party? >> well, there's no question that the obama care has serious

problems and going through significant changed as a moves forward. the congress should stay on top of that. the original tactic which was proposed by a small group within the party that they would hold the debt ceiling and the government hostage to the full repeal of obama care never had a chance. we have a divided government. the president is not going to repeal his signature public policy initiative and the senate is not about to repeal it. it didn't have a chance. >> what's behind their strategy? because they were told by many fellow republicans that the strategy would not work, and yet they persisted. why do they hate this law so much? >> well, i don't think it's about the law, to be honest with you. i think it's about a few members who wanted to raise the visibility within a group of folks tho feel very strongly about the issue of obama care. and it also raised a lot of money for their political action committees. >> so they did it all for

selfish reasons just to put themselves in the spotlight and raise money for another political run? >> i think they genuinely believes in their position. but it doesn't get to the core issues, which is getting our deficit and debt under control. if you want to get that under control, you've got to make proposals that will actually adjust the way our entitlements are growing and reduce the rate in which they're growing. the good news is we're no longer talking about the issue of whether or not you're going to kill obama care of a condition of opening the government orring a debt ceiling. we're talking about the bigger issue of how you get the deficit and debt under control. >> let's go to that just a second. these are difficult issues too. and people have different ideas about how to fix our debt

problem, deficit problem. members in the house of representatives can't even come up with a bill to get ourselves out of this government shutdown. they're going to depend on the senate to do that. what do you say to the american people that will make them believe that members of the house of representatives can actually sit down and come up with solutions to our deficit crisis? >> well, you know, there's been significant process. as a member of simpson bowls we identified that we needed to reduce the debt. but we've done about half of what's needed done through the debt and budget balancing act of 2011 and half of it was done with the fiscal cliff. we've got about another 2.5 trillion. but in the context of the amount of money that the federal government spends over ten years, it's only about 5%. and the way you do that, put people in a room and say, let's

reach a agreement on the big issues. and the only positive thing that's come out of what's going on today is that they may set up a process to do exactly that. get people in a room and start talking substantively about how to get it under control. >> let's go back to the current crisis. the debt ceiling now less than 14 hours away. do you think congress will make a deal? >> they have to make a deal. it would be inexcusable and it would be total malfeasance if they were to defau and bring into question the full faith and credit of the united states. just in the last two days, it's costing the american taxpayer in about $200 million in the increased interest cost as a result of this zis eruption. and that number will increase if we were to actually have a default. whether a technical default or absolute default. they really do have to come

together here. i can't imagine that they won't. it would be total incomprehensible, that our country, the strongest and most vibrant and prosperous in the world will not pay its debts. >> thank you for being with me this morning. >> thank you. >> still to come in the "newsroom," an injured soldier's absolute goes viral. >> he's the epitome of what a man and american soldier is. >> you've got to hear more of this story. that's next. pcid® presents: the burns family dinner. why would i take one pepcid® when i could take tums® throughout the day when my heartburn comes back? 'cause you only have to take one... [ male announcer ] don't be like the burns. just one pepcid® complete works fast and lasts.

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join today.

checking top stories at 22 minutes past the hour. police have arrested a suspect in connection with the two dry ice explosion at the los angeles international airport. this 22-year-old was booked with possession of -- two bottles filled with dry ice exploded in restricts areas. >> it does reveal a vulnerability that we're going

to shore up. we should have cameras in restricted access areas to maintain the integrity of the security system. >> de carlo is being held on $100 million bond. pleaded guilty to felony false imprison mmt. under a plea deal he'll forfeit his right to vote and hold public office. filner's sentencing is set for december 9th. cal rip kin's jr.'s mother used a button or her key ring to scare away an attempted carjacking. she was taken last year at gunpoint from her home in maryland and found the next day. take a look at this picture. this is 24-year-old corporal josh hargis.

he was seriously injured in an ied attack in afghanistan. he saluted his commander. and in the midst of this back and forth in washington, he might not get paid because of the partial shutdown. his wife spoke about her brave husband. >> the commander leaned over to thank him for his service and sacrifice. my husband, who everyone thought was unconscious, raised his hand to salute him. i think of how proud i am. he is a bad [ bleep ] and strong and epitome of what a man and american and soldier is. >> four of josh's fellow soldiers were killed in the attack. they call his salute from the hospital bed, quote, the most amazing thing he's seen in ten years in the army.

well, the army is reported the reviewing of the medal of honor resip yapts request to return to active duty. president obama awarded this honor to william swenson. he's been reportedly unemployed since he left the military in 2011. reporting to active duty is rare for a medal of honor recipient. still to come, lawmakers bicker. american's farmers are suffering. we'll tell you how it's costing them, and you.

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time is running out in washington and there is just a little tiny bit of hope in sight

for beating the deadline to avoid default on our debt. now one of the more outspoken members of the house hopes his colleagues in the senate can save the game. >> the game is over. we have to get this done. and john boehner has tried everything he can. and there's people in our party that no matter what he tries to do, they won't go along. hopefully we'll get adult supervision from the senate. >> athena jones joins us from capitol hill this morning. is that possible? >> reporter: that's the question we're watching to see. this deal looks like it's close to be finalized and announces. but it's still unclear where it's going to start. will the senate go first and send it over to the house or will the house go first. you heard from congressman peter king. and i have a clip from congressman steve king a republican out of iowa who sounds like he might be standing

in the way. >> i don't believe it's a hard break tomorrow. it's just a date they picked on the calendar. and we expected this to come maybe as far back as last may -- >> all the way to this point to -- >> seriously, delayed enough. we are where we are today and i don't think it's a hard break. i'm more concerned about market reaction than i am default itself. >> reporter: now you're hearing him talk about how he doesn't think that this deadline tomorrow is such a hard deadline when it come to do so raising the debt ceiling. and told us that he's not prepared to vote for anything presented in the next 36 hours. on the senate side, we haven't heard a final decision from senator ted cruz. he's going to wait and see what is put on the floor.

but mike reid says it all depends on what is put on the floor. >> let me say what steve king just said, he's waiting for the markets to tank so he can have prove that it will have an effect if they don't raise the debt ceiling? >> reporter: we know that there's likely to be strong market reaction if this isn't solved soon. but i should tell you, even the white house has said that tomorrow's deadline, october 17th, isn't necessarily a drop-dead date as long as it looks like a bill is going to be passed. an that's really the big if. you've got a deal. they're still working out where it's going to start. we'll have to see how quickly it can get through. the thinking is if it startness the house, it might expedite things. no decisions have been made. >> so the answer for steve king is, wall street, i mean the markets just have to dip and then they'll do something?

that's just weird. i know athena jones, you cover that every day. thank you so much. i appreciate it. the threat of hitting the nation's debt ceiling could be a second blow in a vicious one-two punch with american's farmers. many of us are seeing food prices on the rise. and washington warnings that milk could be twice as expensive if congress cannot pass a farm bill. more on that in a minute. we can see meat prices go volatile as the government shutdown has stopped the feds from measuring supply and demand. and farmers are not getting loans processed making it tough to harvest current plants and plant next years crops. they're still reeling from last year's distoric drought. thank you for joining us, sir. >> thank you for having me. >> ron, what's your level of

anger this morning? >> it's probably at a 10.5. the last two years, the livestock producers in this area, first we go through the worst drought in the history of the united states. we had less rainfall last year than we did in 1936. we turn around and have the worst october blizzard ever in this part of the united states. devastating losses. the stories you see on facebook and cnn and fox news and places like that, i mean it's phenomenal. you can't even imagine until you see it with your own eyes. and here we are, we have the shut down. the sfa offices are shut down. we have no idea how many losses with he do have because the sfa offices are the ones who track those. and the state is doing the best job they can in trying to get the losses reported. with no farm bill, we can report our losses and we're still not going to get any help. >> let's talk more about the snowstorm. it killed 100,000 head of

cattle? >> that's the estimates. >> how are you dealing with that? >> we deal with it like anything else. we put our overbooted and car hearts on and go out and clean it up. we don't sit son the sidelines and wait for the government to come in and clean it up. we're getting the fences fixed ourselves. we're running generators. people without power. they're going to be without power for another two weeks. 1500 poles down in our area yet. >> there's only so much you can do. you in part depend on the federal government to help you through natural disaster. and that's not happening, right? >> i guess i agree with that to a point. last year we got through the disaster. we stood on our own two feet and did it ourselves. should we be able to be helped? yeah. these people deserve help. sooner or later you will have a natural disaster in your

backyard. we don't want a handout. we just want back on our feet. be lost everything. the factory is gone. the cow is gone. our ability to make income is gone. if we could get back on our feet and get a little bit of a shove, we haven't heard anything besides our local senators and representatives from our state and the adjoining states are the only ones talking. nobody else is talking. >> so do you have any use at all for your federal representatives? >> oh, you know, our representatives and our senators have both been out and flown over the area. they have been on the house of the -- the floor of the senate and been on the floor of the house. they have tried to get people to understand how important it is to get a farm bill passed. we do have disaster aid in the arm bill. that's where our disaster comes from, that's where our aid comes from. if we don't have that, we don't have anything. we'll do it again, we'll do it again ourselves. and we don't think that's right.

like i said, these people deserve help. they don't want any help, but they deserve to get the help. >> absolutely you're right. because they do pay taxes, and a lot of taxes at that. thank you so much for joining us this morning. >> thank you very much for having me on. >> we'll be right back. google, what is glossophobia? glossophobia, is the fear of public speaking. ♪ ♪ the only thing we have to fear is... fear itself. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] eeny, meeny, miny, go. ♪

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we scored a bonus for you. at least poby harlow scored a bonus for us this morning. war r warren buffett is weighing in. let's head over there. >> good morning everyone. let's get right to it. warren buffett, thank you for joining us. today is a day i think a lot of us didn't think we would get to. what happens if we do not see a

deal in washington today? >> it will be one of the most stupid things that's ever happened. the idea that we should take years up a reputation and blow it, it's insanity. but i do think it will get resolved. >> in the next 16 hours? >> i think it's likely to, yeah. >> what tells you that? >> i think people play games sometimes. but it is totally asinine to have a debt ceiling at all and to use it as a means to try and get your way out of anything else. whether it's abortion, gun control, obama care, you name it. it's a political weapon of mass destruction that shouldn't be used. and i think it's -- i think it will get resolved. but i think it never should be used again. i think both parties should say, this is ridiculous. why worry the world and the american people.

it's unthinkable, basically. >> i want to talk about main street. all of the people outside of the bell way and outside of the washington, i wonder as a businessman who runs 70-plus companies, and the implication on jobs and hiring, do you think that the politicians that are dealing with this right now really understand the implications of what this means for the average person in their life? >> some of them don't. i mean, this is not being done by all 535. >> but the ones that are making the headlines. >> they are playing games. while millions of people, hundreds of millions of people are wondering how it's going to affect them. they don't have any business doing that. the debt ceiling shut not be used as a weapon. if you want to argue about gun control, abortion, immigration, argue about those matters. but to hold the american -- to hold the full faith and credit, of the united states, something we've spent 237 years building up a reputation on, hold that up

in jeopardy is nuts. >> but also the to the argument, you're just kicking the can down the road. we're not going to write a blank check to the president. we have to solve this. aren't we kicking the can down the road by raising the debt ceiling again? >> congress isn't -- congress appropriates money. it isn't the president of the united states. it's congress that can argue about how much to tax and spend and awful that. and the president signs bills when they come to him or he doesn't. but it's not the president that's spending money. it's the congress that's spending money. >> you're not concerned about kicking the can down the road? >> i am concerned -- >> but you're not concerned about the immediate -- >> but the can should disappear. i mean in terms of the debt ceiling. you can argue about budgets, that's the job of congress. but the idea that you're going to reenact this present scenario just two months from now is crazy. >> i want to read comments to you. these came from representative

steve king. he said, quote, i'm not worried with this thing, they -- i'm concerned that the president's remarked will scare the markets. saying that a default is a date on the calendar and that the rhetoric is what's concerning right now. >> if you builds a reputation for 237 years like the united states has for being the greatness of soundness, we're the reserve currency of the world. it's not the president causing the problem. simply an act -- get rid of the debt ceiling would be the best thing. enact a long-term debt ceiling with a big number and then get back to the other thing. >> how worried should we be about this thing we quote here? >> you certainly have to worry if there's 535 seats, that's for sure. but i personally think a majority will do the right thing before very long. if they don't, i think they're out of their minds. i think they'll do the right

thing. but i don't think steve king will. >> i want to talk about the arguments that we're hearing it from some on the right saying that if this country's goes ahead and appeases the interest on the bonds, that nothing is going to happen. >> you either pay your bills or you don't pay your bills. you're either a dead beat or somebody whose credit can be counted on. and to have these people blow our reputation will be a terrible disstake. >> we know you're a democrat and a big supporter of the president. have you had discussions with him in the last two or three weeks? >> i had one very short phone call. >> and can you tell us about it? >> no. >> i will ask you this. you've told me that you've been getting sent talking points from some folks in washington. who -- don't bring your talking points on this show. >> i don't even look at them. >> but you are getting them from -- from whom? one party? >> yeah. well, i'm not sure whether it's

from the party. but i don't read them. >> you don't read them? >> no. >> delete. >> absolutely. i never read talking points. >> i want to talk about the potential downgrade. 2011 seems like yesterday. here we are, the perfect credit rating of the united states is downgraded by s&p, the market falls and that was in a very different time when europe was really in crisis. so the u.s. in terms of investment was still like the cleanest shirt in a dirty laundry bag. but i'm wondering if we do is see another default, what does that mean for our economy? >> as long as we pay our bills on time, it doesn't mean anything. >> it doesn't mean anything? >> no. the u.s. is aaa no matter what. >> no matter what they say? >> absolutely. as long as we pay our bills. and i think we're going to. but if we don't, then it's a new game. >> do you think it matters for our reputation and standing?

>> it matters enormously for our reputation. but if we pay our bills, no i i think united states is still a remarkable country. and i don't really think 535 people can screw up what 315 million people are doing. >> stay with us. we're going to go to a quick break. we'll be right back with more. it's a growing trend in business: do more with less with less energy. hp is helping ups do just that. soon, the world's most intelligent servers, designed by hp, will give ups over twice the performance, using forty percent less energy. multiply that across over a thousand locations, and they'll provide the same benefit to the environment as over 60,000 trees. that's a trend we can all get behind. great. this is the last thing i need.) seriously? the last thing you need is some guy giving you a new catalytic converter when all you got is a loose gas cap.

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so all morning long we've been hoping and praying that the senate would come up with a deal to get us out of this fiscal mess that we're in right now. dana bash covers coming like no other. news for us this morning. >> reporter: good morning. it appears that the ts are crossed and is are dotted. that's according to both parties in the senate on a deal to fund the government and raise the debt ceiling. the issue now is how are they going to announce it. they, meaning the democratic leader and republican leader. i'm told that it could come sooner than when the senate comes in or maybe we will wait until they formally announce it on the senate floor. but the republicans in the senate are meeting in ten minutes. and some republican senators were walking in to a meeting and told us that she understands that they are going to be briefed on the details of this

deal. now, we already have a sense, from our sources, of what the parameters of this deal are. and it is, to re-open the government immediately and fund it until january 15th. to raise the debt ceiling. and extend that until february 7th. to appoint budget negotiators or known around here as confer reese to start having discussions about what should be going on here, which is real budget talks for the long-term and rest of the fiscal year and beyond. and then the one item with regard to obama care that republicans seem to have gotten is income verification for obama care. meaning anti-fraud measures, to make sure people who are getting subsidiaries are at an appropriate income level. those are the outlines of the dee as we understand it. then the obvious question is what happens? how are they actually going to vote on this? the prevailing thought here

among the democratic and republican sources is that the house would actually take up the senate deal. that's right. john boehner would put the senate deal on the house floor for a vote there first. because it would expedite the process. we are warned that that is not 100%. as we speak, carol, john boehner is in with house republican leaders to try and figure out if that's the way they're going to go. things are moving pretty fast this morning. but that is the headline. >> i'm going to let you get back to work. thank you so much. i want to head back to washington to poppy harlow. she's standing by with warren buffett. let's get his reaction to this possible deal, poppy. >> reporter: you just heard from our dana bash reporting the outlines of what appears is a potential deal that will now go for a vote. what is your reaction to that? fubd the government until january 15th, extend the debt

ceiling until february 7th. >> i think the first thing should be done after -- assuming it passes, i think the first thing that should be done is both sides say we will not use the debt limit as a -- as a weapon anymore. in fact, we should get rid of it entirely. we can't just keep playing this sort of game. and it's detrimental to the economy and worries people unnecessarily. if they want to keep the debt down, just don't spend more than they raise in revenue. >> what does the short-term deal do in terms of the confidences of businesses? sta starbucks ceo says it's foolish and don't help in the businesses or hiring. >> i think they said they would not use it as a weapon anymore, if both sides said that, that would be terrific. >> do you think they will?

>> they should. but i have no insight as to whether they will. i will say this, our business is continuing as usual. we announced a $1.1 billion acquisition this morning. we're going to close it whenever it closes. we're going to hire people -- >> but you're a multi billion dollar business. mom and pop shops are or the brink. >> some are and some aren't. but i think it's terrible to put people through unnecessary worry in any respect. and to do it like this, which almost becomes a game, i shi it should be beneath the level of our congress. >> i want to ask you one more question. there are comments out of china, the official chinese news vance in recent days, it talked about given what this government is going through right now and the situation it's putting this country in, we should look to a

de-americanized world. but that news agency, china saying that it should be a de-americanized world that we should look away from the united states right now. >> the rest of the world will look at us and my guess is the u.s. dollar will be the reserve currency of the world for a very, very long time. >> appreciate your time. carol, back to you. >> thank you, mr. buffett. we appreciate it. and thank you, poppy. let's go to washington again and check in with wolf blitzer. and talk about what warren buffett said many, many times that the debt ceiling should be eliminated as a political weapon. as we all know, this plan developed by the senate puts things off until next year. do you think lawmakers will again use the dealt ceiling at that time? >> probably they will. some of them -- i don't know how far they'll get the next time. but they've been doing it since

the eisenhower administration. they say, you know what, we can raise the debt ceiling but went something in exchange. we want promises that you'll be more fiscally responsible and work harder to balance the budget. that has come up repeatedly over the years. and a lot of those democrats in fairness right now, who say that republicans are playing with fire, vote immediately and unconditionably to raise the debt ceiling, they themselves during the bush administration, they voted against raising the debt ceiling. as all of us know, president obama back in 2006 when he was the u.s. senator from illinois, he voted against raising the debt ceiling. he later said he regretted that vote and it was a mistake on his part. but he did do that back in 2006. and a lot of these other democrats who now rail against the republicans, they voted against raising the debt ceiling in earlier times. maybe people will learn lessons out of this.

i sort of agree with warren buffett. i'm basically an optimist by nature. if i take a look at the span of american history, see where we've been and what we've gone through, and where we are today, i think they'll sort themselves out. but don't be surprised if in january and february we go through this ordeal once again. >> we'll think positively in the now. shall we? >> yes. >> thank you so much. we've got to take a break. much more coming up. ít1ñp

so here we are less than 14 hours before the country possibly defaults. it has been an ugly road up to this point. at times, embarrassing. come on, after this do americans really believe that our elected officials have dig any, class, or true love of country? this morning we present the ugliest moments along the road to possible defaults. >> hello, america. >> let's begin with perhaps the

ugliest. politicians capitalizing on world war xii vets trying to visit their memorial. they were met with barricades so they tore them down and piled them up in front of the white house. >> this is the people's memorial. why is the federal government spending money to erect barricaded to keep veterans out of this memorial. our veterans should be above politics. enough games. >> but senator ted cruz did not address what came after. confederate flags and hate. >> i call upon all of you to wage a second american nonviolent revolution, to use civil disobedience and to demand that this president leave town. to get out. to put the corrupt -- to put the ka rain down and get off off his knees and figuratively come up with his handed out. >> actually, there were a lot of

ugly moments surrounding the nation's monument to our he rows. >> spark service should be a145i78d. >> i'm not say shamed. >> you should be. >> never mind. it was congress that caused the government to shut down. and she was working for free because she had been furloughed. quote, if you are a furloughed government employee, we encourage you to work out to your financial institution as soon as you worry you may miss a paycheck. financial institutions offer short-term lopes and other resources. don't wait until you're behind on a bill, call now and ex-spor your options, that was a quote from steve pearce. and a message delivered in, yes, white lab coats. >> let us help people. let us help children, please. >> democrats said they were