Transcripts For MSNBC Weekends With Alex Witt 20131012

Specific thing, how unusual was this scene . Across america from mainstreet to the smoky mountains, the Government Shutdown misery index is growing, but some iconic sites may be open for business soon. And the most and least affordable places in america to buy a house. Hello, everyone. Its high noon here in the east, 9 00 a. M. Out west. Welcome to weekends with alex witt. A rare saturday session for the house and senate as lawmakers try to reopen the government and raise the debt cerealing to avoid default. Heres part of the back and forth in the house from a short time ago. We need to fund all of the federal government. Its long past time for this shutdown to end, so lets release all the federal employees that have been taken hostage, lets reopen the peoples government. For the past 11 days, the house has been attempting to reopen parts of the government without further delay and without trying to extract any further concessions from the senate or the president. Mr. Speaker, you cant go wrong by trying to do the right thing. Well, several democrats took their turn demanding the government to be reopened. I ask unanimous consent to bring up the amendment to h159 to open the government and go to conference on a budget so that we end this republican Government Shutdown. I, too, ask unanimous consent. If the house bring up the Senate Amendment house joint resolution 59 to open the government. And open the government without further delay. The chair is constrained not to entertain the request unless it has been cleared by the bipartisan floor and committee leadership. A few National Treasures are reopening today. They include the statue of liberty, the grand canyon, Mount Rushmore and Rocky Mountain National Park. The National Parks agreed to use private funds or private donations. Lets go to capitol hill with luke russert standing by for us. What kind of details are you hearing from todays house and Senate Sessions . Reporter good day, alex. What you just saw on the floor was the democratic protest they have been doing this week to try to get a government funding bill on the floor. Republicans have blocked that, so they do those protests and hoot and holler, its kind the normal occurrence over the last week, but a very busy day here on capitol hill. The rare weekend session, as you mentioned. New details out of the house, new details coming out at 9 00 a. M. Within that meeting, the house gop leadership, john boehner and eric cantor told hair member that the president has rejected their latest offer, the sixweek extension of the debt limit. Now all eyes are on the senate gop. They must Stay Together firmly at the House Republican congress and hope that the Senate Republicans stand up and are firm and strong. Some sources of mine in the room said it was an implied joke at ted cruz who is so routinely called upon House Republicans to stay strong, sort of put your money where your mouth is, senator cruz from the house gop leadership. Now the eyes are over to the senate gop and their negotiations with harry reid and the white house. What will come out of those . Weve heard rumblings of a possible deal manufactured by Susan Collins, a senator from maine along with joe manchin, the senator from west virginia. This deal could possibly be a sixmonth extension of the debt limit as well as a yearlong government funding bill. Within it there would be repeal of a medical device tax for two years in the Health Care Bill as well as other sort of fig leaves that the republicans could bring back to their members and say, aha, this is what we got in exchange for funding the government and extending the debt limit. These are changes to the Health Care Law or some drivers of our debt. We dont know what that deal looks like. There are senators coming out of the meeting there in the senate chamber. Senate mccowski said she liked the deal. We have a scenario where you could presumably see a vote out of the United States senate over the next few days that would have a number of bipartisan supported bills to fund the government, extend the debt limit and then it is up to whether or not the house will pass that next week as recreep up to that october 17th debt deadline for default. Theres no guarantee the house will take that up. Theres a lot of angst between the House Republicans and Senate Republicans saying paul ryan is expressing his anger at Senate Republicans saying they were not informing them enough of what was happening at the white house. This is a fluid situation, but were seeing daytime at the end of the tunnel, but still a long way to go before we have an agreement before the nation defaults on thursday. Okay. Luke russert, thank you so much. They ended that meeting with senators coming out, now well go from inside the negotiations to democratic senator, ben carden, welcome, senator, im glad to have you join me, sir. I want to ask about the collins deal, does that have legs to it . Quite frankly what we want to see is the government open, turn on the lights and pay our bills and negotiate a budget for next year. Senate collins brought forth a proposal thats a longer term continuation of funding for agencies, the level is though below what would be a fair compromise between the democrats and republicans. The challenge is how do you negotiate on the basic keeping government open . Thats our responsibility and what its all about. We are looking for any opportunity to end this selfinflicted crisis. So were going to listen to every suggestion thats made. But quite frankly, government has to open, we have to pay our bills. But, sir, the ball appears to be in the senates court right now, so what do you do today to move it forward . Well, we passed the opening of government that the house has not. We will try, we have a vote going on as we speak to make sure we pay our bills. Well be trying to bring some reason to this process. I think there is goodwill among democrats and republicans in the senate to try to get a longer term commitment to fund government, to pay our bills and perhaps to deal a framework for the budget next year in a way to negotiate some of these issues. So i do think there is hope in the senate that we will find a formula that could be acceptable to the house. In terms of that formula, sir, i want to get your take on something from the New York Times this morning in which they write, quote, among some democrats, especially mr. Reid, there was a growing concern that the white house would be willing to bargain away too much, as one democratic senior aid put it, that history was repeating itself. Many liberals were angry after the white house cut budget at tax deals in the past that gave in too much to conservative demands. Most recently over the physical cliffs talks late last year. Are you one of those concerned democrats . I want to negotiate a budget, i know it wont be the budget that i want, but in those negotiations, i want us to be talking about creating jobs. How do we invest more in roads and in transit systems and Energy Systems and research . How do we do a better job in preparing america for the future . That needs to be part of the budget debate. Unfortunately what were talking about here is keeping the government open and paying our bills. Yes, lets do that, take the what i say is Speaker Boehner to put the gun down from this nation causing so much harm. Yes, we want to make sure we negotiate. We know were not going to get everything we want, but government has to be open and we have to pay our bills. Senator, im looking at your email from earlier this month which is entitled, gridlock shouldnt be the norm in washington, to which i say amen are. You and your fellow democrats emboldened by the negotiations out this week by nbc that show the majority of americans blame the republicans for the shutdown. Did that come up in the negotiations . Were concerned about whats been done to our country. I visited Small Business owners in baltimore restaurants that are half the number of customers because the federal employees arent coming in for lunch. I met with federal contractors who had to lay off employees. Our country is hurting. Our objective is to open government, pay our bills and, yes, lets negotiate an agreement on a budget that wont be what the democrats want or the republicans want. Lets not use a blame game here on spin game here, lets get this thing done. Despite these sage words right here, sir, back to the nbc news poll, it also found that a full 60 of americans think that the entire u. S. Congress should be fired. How do you respond to that . Well, congress has not done its job. The fundamental job is to keep government open and pay our bills. I can explain why we are in the position we are in, but the bottom line is we all have a responsibility. Thats why i said its not a matter of casting blame. My objective is to get government open to pay our bills. You know, every time we think, okay, government has settled this, our elected officials have settled this, they are not possibly going to do this again, it seems like theres another government crisis. How do we stop this psych . Well, we need longterm solutions and we need a budgetment for six months the democrats have been trying to set up a Conference Committee on the budget. The republicans, particularly in the house, want one thing, the democrats and the president want something else. Compromise in the middle, thats what we need to do. Maryland democratic senator, ben cardin, thank you so much. More on the shutdown and the debt deadline with california senator Barbara Boxer. Shell be on the air at 1 30 eastern time. Meantime, new video out of Edward Snowden saying massive surveillance efforts in the u. S. Are making us less safe. This video provided by wikileaks shows him getting an award from a group of National Security officer that is are retired. People all over the world are realizing that theseprograms dont make us more safe. They hurt our economy, they hurt our country, they limit our ability to think and live and be creative, to have relationships to associate freely. And theyre going, this doesnt make us more safe, it makes us less safe. It puts us at risk of coming into conflict with our own government. In August Snowden was granted temporary asylum in russia after spending a month at moscows airport. Partly cloudy skies in the new york area. Showers and wind expected to linger throughout the weekend, though it looks pretty nice right now. Heavy rain is apparently possible at times, but lets check out a picture of atlantic city, or close to it. The Energy Source is getting a break from the worst of it for now. We are told the boardwalk is slick with rain. There you can see the dark clouds to the right of your screen. Dylan dryer has the forecast. Hi, dylan. It is sad seeing nobody on the beaches. We are just racing through the seasons here, but that big storm that was moving through the midatlantic is finally weakening. Its starting to pull away a little bit. So we are not seeing as much rain in areas like southern new jersey into philadelphia and baltimore where we did end up with recordbreaking rainfall yesterday. But we also have this pretty strong cold front thats moving through the midwest right now. More on that in a second, but i want to show you that were going to hang on to some clouds as moisture streams in off the atlantic here. But you can see the heavier rain and the showers are becoming more fewer and far between. So were not going to see a whole lot of rain, though the opposite of that across eastern parts of missouri and into northeastern arkansas moving into western kentucky and tennessee, thats where were going to see most of our rain today. Out ahead of this cold front, that is really dividing the temperatures across the country. 71 in chicago, but 61 in kansas city. 43 degrees right now in denver. That cool air is going to continue to work into the rockies as that cold front moves to the east. So well top out near 71 today in chicago. With an isolated shower or storm. Any of the clouds and the showers up and down the east coast will be scattered. We will still squeeze out a little bit of sunshine, but its breezy to make it feel a little cool in some spots. Tomorrow for the marathon in chicago, it should be in the 40s in the morning. So its one of those races where you want to definitely layer up because during the afternoon it should be nice and sunny with temperatures around 66 degrees. Good luck to all the runners tomorrow morning. Alex . Thank you. We echo those sentiments. A star of one of the most popular reality shows says the Government Shutdown is hurting his business. And later in Office Politics, surviving a massive car bomb. The lastminute decision that likely saved the life of that woman, kimberly dosier. Her story is riveting. But hed wait for her forever and would always be there with the biggest welcome home. For a love this strong, dawn only feeds him iams. Compared to other leading brands, it has 50 more animal protein. To help keep rockys body as strong as a love that never fades. Iams. Keep love strong. Now you can keep love fun with new shakeables meaty treats. Oh, my parents will be here any minute. Canned soup . No way. Mmm this is delicious katie. Its not bad for canned soup, right . Pfft [ laughs ] you nearly had us there. Canned soup. [ laughter ] [ male announcer ] so good, theyll think its homemade. Try campbells homestyle soup. Mm mm good. [ male announcer ] may your lights always be green. [ tires screech ] [ beeping ] may you never be stuck behind a stinky truck. [ beeping ] may things always go your way. But its good to be prepared. Just in case they dont. Toyota. Lets go places, safely. It is day 12 of the Government Shutdown, but there you seem some elected officials at work. On the left of the screen is the floor of the senate. On the right is the floor of the house where one representative after another is taking to the podium to express their opinions on what should happen next. Of course, well keeping you apprised of all that. Meanwhile, the captain from the deadliest catch went to capitol hill to make a plea to end the Government Shutdown. Captain Keith Colburn said this has left american fishermen stuck in port. The wizard is one of many small Family Businesses that makes up the crab fleet. My wife manages the short side of the business. My brother is on the boat with me. My crew depends on me to feed their families. Weve been racking up bills to get ready to go fishing. If were tied to the docks, waiting for the government, we cant pay those bills. On half of all fishermen, im asking congress to end the shutdown now. As i just mentioned, the house and senate are meeting today as lawmakers look to reach a deal and raise the debt ceiling. Joining me is david mcnamara. David, ill begin with you, the president had a flurry of meetings over the last few days and spoke to john boehner by phone on friday. What are you hearing about these conversations . What is the president saying to lawmakers . Whats interesting, alex, as you say, even though hes having a lot of these conversations, the white house continues to say theyre not going to negotiate. As you saw yesterday, there seemed to be progress, but already this morning, john boehner is telling folk that is the white house is rejecting the offer. The white house feels like they have a winning hand here and have seen whats happened recently with some of the polling thats come out that the republicans are taking the blame. So they have no reason to move from their position, which they want a longer term on the debt limit and the budget to reopen the government. Right now it looks like the white house is probably going to be talking more with the Senate Republicans over the next day or two and see if the Senate Republicans and the senate can come to an agreement to put more pressure on the house. And you saw the fishermen there talking about the crab industry, the white house is also working with business groups. You saw them meeting yesterday with business groups to try to continue to put pressure on. The white house feels like they have the upper hand right now and will keep the public pressure on. Lisa, earlier i spoke to representative adam shift, a democrat from california, and heres what he told me. Most of the main stream gop members in the house have recognized from the beginning that there was no end game, that the Tea Party Members that were forcing this on them really hadnt thought it through, didnt know where this was going to leave. Increasingly, i think the mainstream members of the gop have said or about to say, enough is enough. Is that the sense youre getting, elise, from your sources there in washington . Enoughs enough . Some centrist republicans are tiring of this shutdown. Theyre hearing from constituents suffering, they are concerned about the possibility of a default this week. So i think well have to see, i was talking with someone, peter king, a republican from new york, who has spoken to a lot of press in the last couple of days, and hes someone who would back a clean raise of the debt ceiling at this point. So i think well have to see this week as we draw closer to that crucial deadline. I imagine that a lot of republicans would ultimately back that clean raise in order to just make sure that the economy stays stable. David, a lot of constituents are making their voices heard. Also numbers from polls are saying something, the latest nbc wall street journal poll shows the public largely blames the gop for the shutdown. Does this make it easier for the president to reject republican offers . Absolutely. As i was saying earlier, thats whats going on here. The white house believed that would happen and now they are proven right. That doesnt make it easier for the president looking forward to thursday when you have this deadline. For that, the stock market could hit. If the government defaults, it would be the first time that the u. S. Would have this hit. And economists warn it may not be overnight, but there could be dramatic impacts and that could boomerang back on the white house. All of washington could take a blame and the public frustration would grow. For now it is day to day. It is likely well see it keep going like this, but indeed the white house is holding a hard line. They dont want to roll back obama care and give some of the thing that is the republicans in the house are still demanding. It is up to what can joan boehner deliver to look like a victory here and also to get it through the house floor. Elise, your conversation with peter king not withstanding, how much remains rigid on reopening the house and raising the debt ceiling . And what are their sticking points, because obama care, the Affordable Care act, that is off the table, right . More or less off the table according to most washington sources, but we heard this morning that House Republicans are actually livid with Senate Republicans because they feel like obama is about to maybe negotiate a deal that doesnt ultimately undercut the Affordable Care act in a substantive way. The House Budget Committee chairman paul ryan told reporters this morning hes headed back to wisconsin. Hes sick of this. He thinks that obama essentially pulled the plug on negotiating with republicans and you still have people like ted cruz saying we need to undercut the Health Care Law in these negotiations, even though thats becoming increasingly unlikely. So i think that it really remains to be seen whether boehner can gather enough republican votes to pass a deal that Senate Republicans could negotiate with president obama. We could be in another situation where members of the gop conference in the house are not willing to get behind a deal. And that could create a crisis. Okay. So, david, then how close are we to a deal that ends the shutdown and raises the debt ceiling . Well, i dont think we are that close, really. There was probably some false optimism yesterday. We were hearing tuesday, maybe wednesday. Ahead of thursdays deadline. I think it still could happen, but will john boehner be willing, if he cant get the votes in his caucus, to bring something to the floor at the last minute that would have, you know, a sort of bipartisan support to get by and rely on democratic votes. Hes done that before but its hurt him. Obviously hes concerned very much and it doesnt look like hes willing to risk his own speakership of the Republican Caucus to do that. So i think as you get closer to the deadline, the pressures change. Maybe they will find other ways to sort of add something here or there to get more votes, but right now we dont see a path to that. Elise, i want to look at your article about the obama enrollment website that got off to a rocky start. The health and Human Services gave an update on friday, what are they saying . 14. 6 Million People accessed that site in ten days, which is an enormous amount of traffic, they are happy with that, but the thing the Obama Administration wont release is the number of people who have successfully purchased coverage through health. Gov. We expect the numbers to be in the low to midten thousands, maybe, which would not be a lot given the Obama Administration wants to sign up 7 Million People over the next six months. The website is working better as of this weekend. I was on there browsing around and looking at some of the glitches, and they have been fixed, the wait times are down, but the Obama Administration has to look for a lift that many will return to the site and purchase coverage rather than browse around. Elise and david, thanks, guys. The state where most home buyers get the most for their money, next. In the nation, we know how you feel about your car. So when coverage really counts, count on nationwide insurance. Because whats precious to you is precious to us. Love, love is strange just another way we put members first. Because we dont have shareholders. Join the nation. Baby. Nationwide is on your side life could be hectic. As a working mom of two young boys angies list saves me a lot of time. After reading all the reviews i know im making the right choice. Online or on the phone, we help you hire right the first time. With honest reviews on over 720 local services. Keeping up with these two is more than a full time job, and i dont have time for unreliable companies. Angies list definitely saves me time and money. For over 18 years weve helped people take care of the things that matter most. Join today. Im bethand im michelle. And we own the paper cottage. Its a stationery and gifts store. Anything we purchase for the paper cottage goes on our ink card. So you can manage your business expenses and access them online instantly with the Game Changing app from ink. We didnt get into business to spend time managing receipts, thats why we have ink. We like being in business because we like being creative, we like interacting with people. So you have time to focus on the things you love. Ink from chase. So you can. Tech watch now here on weekends with alex witt. Twitter is top amongst teens. 26 in a new survey say twitter is their favorite top website. And why sales of tablets keep rising, desktop computer sales keep falling. Global shipments fell 9 last quarter from a year ago to the lowest level in five years. Making moolah and lots of it tops todays number one. A new study finds the u. S. Added 1. 7 millionaires over the last year while the rest of the world produced 100,000 new millionaires. Overall, the u. S. Has 13. 2 Million People in the sevenfigure or more club, which is six times as many as secondplace france, and germany is in third. And the Buckeye State is where homeopeners get the most bang for their buck. Akron, dayton and toledo are the most affordable markets for middle class. California leads the least affordable category with San Francisco the worst, followed by Orange County and los angeles. No surprise there. Oklahoma city tops the u. S. News list of best cities to find a job since its the state capital. There are plenty of government jobs. And the jobless rate of 4. 1 is the best of all the cities on the list. Salt lake is second and minneapolis is third. Finally, hats off to norman, a french sheepdog going in the Guinness Record book for riding his scooter 100 feet in 20 seconds. That is awesome. The 3yearold accomplished that feat in georgia back in july. Norman can also ride a skateboard and a bike with training wheels. Thats the kind of news you can use. Those are your number ones. Mom. Aww. Whatd she say . Anthony. How you doing . Are you busy studying . Nope. Yes mom. I know you got a lot going on. These tide pods will save you some time. Just throw one in the wash and theyll keep your lucky sweatshirt looking great. Thanks, mom. I also sent some new. Oooh Tighty Whities guess youll be using your tide pods on these, huh . Least i dont sleep with the lights on. Dude, that was once. It was a storm. [ female announcer ] tide pods. Three chambers. Three times the stainremoval power. [ man ] thats my tide. Whats yours . Afghanistan in 2009. On the u. S. S. Saratoga in 1982. [ male announcer ] once its earned, usaa Auto Insurance is often handed down from generation to generation because it offers a superior level of protection and because usaas commitment to serve current and former military members and their families is without equal. Begin your legacy. Get an Auto Insurance quote. Usaa. We know what it means to serve. Jcron im sorry, who are you . Nt we all like . Jc im your coworker cmon guys. Im driving. Hey, you guys comfortable . Its bestinclass rear legroom. And with a turbo engine that gets 35 highway mpg. You know j. D. Power ranked passat the most appealing midsize car two years in a row . I bet, uh, dan here wishes somebody found him most appealing two years in a row. Ron its ron jc ron. Exactly. Vo get 0 down, 0 due at signing, 0 deposit, and 0 first months payment on passat or any new 2014 volkswagen. Welcome back to weekends with alex witt. Police have identified Scott Chandler in the case of nine teenager boys who were abducted from a rehabilitation ranch in new mexico. An amber alert was issued and since the alert came out, one or more of the missing boys have been returned to their parents. Police are not able to confirm their wellbeing. The ranch is being investigated for allegedly abusing teen boys. A log truck driver is dead after colliding with a train full of sight seers in west virginia. Two dozen people were hurt in the crash. That train was taking passengers on the scenic tour of fall foliage at the time of the crash. A third player for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers has been diagnosed with a bug. The team did not want to identify the third player, but this comes days after the team admitted carl nicks had a mrsa infection that returned. Lawrence heinz was diagnosed back in august. They still plan to host the Philadelphia Eagles on sunday. Capitol hill is buzzing with activity right now. It seems the big question is, can the senate gop strike a deal with majority leader harry reid and the white house . Lets go now to Kristen Welker at the white house for us. With a good saturday to you, what is the white house strategy over this Holiday Weekend as we enter now the third week of the Government Shutdown . Reporter well, alex, i can tell you that Senior Administration officials are gathering here at the white house. There will be meetings throughout the weekend and certainly discussions with lawmakers on capitol hill. As you point out, those negotiations are underway right now on the hill. And all the focus is on the senate with essentially the house deal, the house had put forward a potential deal that would have extended the debt limit and also reopened the government, but only for a short period of time. And reopening the government would have been tied to budget negotiations. President obama said it wasnt good enough because the deal wasnt long enough. Essentially, it would have put the nation right back in the middle of the Holiday Season for having to renegotiate all of this. So right now the focus is on the senate with a deal coming together there. The parameters of it seems to be a longerterm deal coming together, potentially six months. It would extend the debt limit and would also open up the government, but there will be some concessions. Of course, thats where the sticking points are, thats where the details are right now and where the big question marks are as the white house sort of awaits what the senate comes up with. Basically they are trying to figure out what they can get passed through the senate and the house and also have the white house agree to. One possible concession would be to delay a tax that is related to the president s Health Care Law. Its called the medical device tax, but it seems like at this point republicans have abandoned their calls to delay or defund the president s Health Care Law, which the president said would be a nonstarter. Okay. Thank you very much, appreciate that, kristen wellinger. In this 12th day of the shutdown, 60 of americans now saying that all of congress should be fired. But are the nations lawmakers getting the message . Joining me former Republican Congress steve lauteret. Ill go to you first, is this going to fix it all . I retired in january when the parking attendant told me i should quit. Its not the solution, obviously. The 535 men and women that serve in the congress, i mean, almost all of them are doing what they think is right in their heart. And its not its not the fault of the vast majority but the fringes that continue to feed red meat to the extremes of the party to keep this from working. On the heels of that, one more question to you, because obama care according to the nbc news wall street journal poll has gained seven points from a month ago. Does this suggest that the approach of trying to defund it has boomeranged and had the opposite effect . Well, ive said for months now, the only thing thats less popular than obama care is the way the House Republicans have dealt with the issue. So i guess then you say yes to that. Okay. Heres something from politico with the government shut down firmly in its second week and the debt limit projected to be met next thursday, the top house and Senate Republicans are publicly moving away from gutting the Health Care Law. You heard Kristen Welker report that as well. A practical move to help resolve the stalemate and appear more reasonable in the eyes of frustrated voters. Why has the gop backed away from defund on obama care in this fight . This is to you, representative sestak . They see we are about to go into an abusiness. We are facing financial catastrophe, and families dont want that. When you see13 million americans trying to get on a website, which the administration should have made sure was working well, i can see that tying this Affordable Care act and trying to defund it isnt the way to resolve the debt issue. I think people need to remember what Samuel Johnson said a few centuries ago. Theres nothing like the prospect of a hanging to focus your mind. So im hoping Susan Collins and others are starting to come together and say, look, we dont want to kick this down the road, but we have to. And then maybe both parties can come together and in a bipartisan compromise do some entitlement reform, spending reductions as well as raise revenues like the bipartisan National Debt commission did. Lets hope that while the fringes are holding many hostages, that a few of the other individuals begin to stand up and be titans and be willing to take the heat for whats right. Congressman, some republicans were saying not raising the debt ceiling is okay, that its not going to do any damage, lets take a listen to what was said. Many nonpartisan economists, including the biggest banks in new york, say if you fail to raise the debt limit it would be a catastrophe for the world economy. That doesnt convince you enough . Im not convinced thats true. I think it is irresponsible for any leaders in washington to indicate that america would default and not pay our debt. In fact, i think it would be reassuring if the president would come forward to say america has never defaulted on our debt, america wont. I think all this talk about a default has been a lot of false demagoguery. Theres no thing as a debt cerealing in this country. I would dispel the rumor going around that you hear on every newscast, if we dont raise the debt ceiling, we will default on our debt. We wont. First of all, do you agree to that . And secondly, lets say it technically does not immediately cause default. Arent the markets driven by psychology . Well, i think its the second point thats the critical point. I think what the folks are talking about and dont happen to endorse it, and this was not John Boehners strategy, is that the constitution clearly says whatever revenue is available needs to be used to pay the debts first. And theres going to be enough money to pay the debts, but not anything else. So i think technically theyre right, but thats the dumbest thing i have heard in my life. The second thing is wall street is already jittery. You saw the market dive and go up 300 points. And the entire prospect of even getting to the brink of this cliff, i think is terrifying people that are making investments and moving the economy. And its not a game of chicken as the folks want to characterize it that we should be engaged in. Representative sestak, theres a growing sense among democrats at the white house thatry will give away too much. Is this perceived as a loss . I dont think it should be. We all know we cant permit this country to approach the debt ceiling. This is the dumbest thing we could ever do. That would mean that 1 out of every 3 that we owe isnt going to be able to be done. So youre not going to pay soldiers, youre not going to pay the fbi to hunt terrorists, you really begin to have challenges. I think what Susan Collins laid out is a pretty descecent templ for a compromise. The president doesnt want to approach the debt ceiling but doesnt want to have to deal with it again in six weeks. This will move us off until january. This medical tax device, look, the medical tax industry was there at the table with the hospitals, with the insurance companies, and it said, were going to give you 40 million new customers and you make 90 corrects on the dollar for every new device you make. Youll be making a lot of money out of this. How about ponying up some stuff . If we delay that for having corporations by some gimmick to come to a better resolution on the whole problem, i think the president would be doing the right thing. Representative sestak said moderate republicans have to step up here and have to voice their opinions and that has to be the direction the party goes. Why isnt that happening . The republicans are in the majority with 233 seats, give or take, and it takes 218 votes to move things forward. Whats happened ever since the elections of 2010 is that 30, 40, 50 republicans have denied Speaker Boehner that magic 218. And the only way you get legislation is if you go across and talk to mrs. Pelosi and come up with democratic votes violating the hasturd rule. The republicans want to reopen the government, but at the end of the day, i do endorse the theory and i think joe would, too, that if the president and the democrats want to have another trillion dollars of borrowing authority, you should have a conversation as to why we need to borrow another trillion dollars. And if the president was willing to do that in a meaningful way, this thing would be over. May i ask you both quickly, lets look ahead to the midterms, 2014, what you think the likelihood of the house going democratic is in the majority there, give me a one to ten, do you think thats going to happen . I think it becoming democrat is a three or a four. And i think theres also moderate democrats, alex, if i could say who need to step up and do what steve just said. We need to come to a great good negotiation on our debt issue together. And to you, sir . I cant do one to ten, its the chance a snowball has in a microwave oven. That says it right there. That was good. Thank you, gentlemen, appreciate your time. Thank you. War correspondent Kimberly Dozier on the day that changed her life forever. Its in Office Politics next. [ male announcer ] this is jim, a man who doesnt stand still. But jim has afib, Atrial Fibrillation an irregular heartbeat, not caused by a heart valve problem. That puts jim at a greater risk of stroke. For years, jims medicine tied him to a monthly trip to the clinic to get his blood tested. But now, with onceaday xarelto®, jims on the move. Jims doctor recommended xarelto®. Like warfarin, xarelto® is proven effective to reduce afibrelated stroke risk. But xarelto® is the first and only onceaday prescription blood thinner for patients with afib not caused by a heart valve problem. That doesnt require routine blood monitoring. So jims not tied to that monitoring routine. [ gps ] proceed to the designated route. Not today. [ male announcer ] for patients currently well managed on warfarin, there is limited information on how xarelto® and warfarin compare in reducing the risk of stroke. Xarelto® is just one pill a day taken with the evening meal. Plus, with no known dietary restrictions, jim can eat the Healthy Foods he likes. Do not stop taking xarelto®, rivaroxaban, without talking to the doctor who prescribes it as this may increase the risk of having a stroke. Get help right away if you develop any symptoms like bleeding, unusual bruising, or tingling. You may have a higher risk of bleeding if you take xarelto® with aspirin products, nsaids or blood thinners. Talk to your doctor before taking xarelto® if you have abnormal bleeding. Xarelto® can cause bleeding, which can be serious, and rarely may lead to death. You are likely to bruise more easily on xarelto® and it may take longer for bleeding to stop. Tell your doctors you are taking xarelto® before any planned medical or dental procedures. Before starting xarelto®, tell your doctor about any conditions such as kidney, liver, or bleeding problems. Xarelto® is not for patients with artificial heart valves. Jim changed his routine. Ask your doctor about xarelto®. Once a day xarelto® means no regular blood monitoring no known dietary restrictions. For more information and savings options, call 1888xarelto or visit goxarelto. Com. For more information and savings options, [ mthat if you wear a partial,w youre almost twice as likely to lose your supporting teeth . Try poligrip for partials. Poligrip helps minimize stress which may damage supporting teeth by stabilizing your partial. Care for your partial. Help protect your natural teeth. In todays Office Politics, Kimberly Dozier, intelligence and special operations reporter for the associated press, kims based in d. C. But shes open to returning to correspondent work overseas. Given what happened to her on memorial day 2006 you might be surprised to hear that. While covering the iraq war for cbs, kim was nearly killed by a car bomb and bears the repercussions of that attack every day. I was a cbs news correspondent in baghdad. Been there for about three years, and our friend, a friend of the bureau, everyone in the bureau knew abcs bob woodruff, and he and his cameraman, doug vogue, were hit by a roadside bomb four months to the day before we went out. And this was the First Network television shoot since then. All sorts of generals had to give permission for this. And we were nervous. I talked to my crew, paula james, paul douglas, before the shoot, and they said, i explained were meeting the troops at 8 00. Well be back by 1 00 to be on the early show 2 30 baghdad time, 7 30 in the states. Their assessment was and my assessment was in that span of time, we couldnt even reach any of the dangerous neighborhoods in baghdad. We must be staying close to the green zone, because the troops couldnt tell us where we were going. We all worked under the assumption that our Telephone Communications were monitored by the insurgents. So all i knew was i was supposed to go to the green zone from the red zone with my team and meet these troops that we would be out with that day. We would be filming for a couple of hours, it was a training story, the u. S. Troops were training iraqi troops and handing over checkpoints in a certain neighborhood. And that is how we ended up with captain james alex funkouser and his team on a quiet baghdad street, wide avenue residential area. He said, im going to take you to see the iraqi troops that were training, but first i want to show you where a roadside bomb went off yesterday. The iraqi troops are spooked, they wont go back there. We have to lead by example. And we want to talk to iraqis on that street and see if they saw anyone plant that bomb. Because they wont lie to us eyeball to eyeball, face to face. Thats how we ended up parked, everyone outside of the humvees, essentially, a foot patrol, walking up and down the street trying to find someone to talk to. We walked into an ambush. We found a tee stand with a bunch of iraqis out of it and around it, and captain funkhouser saw his translator had reached them and was talking to them. The captain and i were further down the street, and the captain just said, see that bombed out villa next to us, im trying to look without looking at it, he said, we think an insurgent cell may have moved in there. They could be watching us right now. And they were. It turns out from another building nearby. The bombers waited until we were basically, the whole patrol was in or around or near that tstand. But i had hung back because i saw paul and james filming this way, and thought, great, they are going to see the captain walking up to this group of iraqis glaring at him. And hes going to reach out his hand and their faces are going to involuntarily dissolve into smiles. I had seen it dozens of times before. And so i just hung back a little bit. And the captain had totally ignored me, like i was hanging on to his every word, and his translator was there with the guy and he just jackrabbited ahead, too, so that delay probably saved my life. The insurgents waited until he was just up, just about to reach out his hand, at least thats what it looked like to me from behind, and the command detonated approximately a 500pound car bomb through us. So it sent this wall of shrapnel through the team. It killed paul and james, killed the captain, killed the translator, sam, we never knew his real name to protect his family, and it left four of the soldiers and me fighting for our lives. Those two purple hearts, you take with you . Yeah. When i was in the hospital, one lady sent three purple hearts for me, for paul and for james. And she said, they earned it. They were with u. S. Troops, both were british citizens and telling the story of this war. So i keep it to remind me of them. Because im still here, so i have to pay it forward. You can all check out fisher house, wounded wear and Naval Special war fair kids, all groups that support Navy Personnel and their families. Tomorrow kim and i talk about the focus of special ops overseas and the dangers many Face Covering those stories. Joe ddi arias is back in th news for what she tweetedful well tell you what that was just ahead. Whoo yes it was the best day it was the best day yeah it was the best day because of you [sigh] [echoing] we make a great pair. Huh . Progressive and the Great Outdoors we make a great pair. Right, totally, uh. Thats what i was thinking. Covering the things that make the outdoors great. Now, thats progressive. Call or click today. So but there ar24 7. Branches . Im sorry, im just really reluctant to try new things. Really . Whats wrong with trying new things . Look mommys new vacuum cat screech you feel that in your muscles . I do. Drink water. Its a long story. Well, not having branches lets us give you great rates and service. Id like that. A new way to bank. A better way to save. Ally bank. Your money needs an ally. 55 past with live pictures of capitol hill as the debt negotiations turn to the senate. House republicans stepped back from talks today leaving the senate to take the lead. The house wrapped up votes today on piecemeal bills to fund parts of the government. There are no votes scheduled for tomorrow. Heres what we have been asking you today. What frustrates you most about the Government Shutdown . Peter says, 4 5 of my income is military pension and v. A. Benefit. Both stopped and Congress Still gets paid. That bugs me. And annmariepoli tweets, the fact that gop didnt vow to second end it for fallen heroes, vet or kids with cancer, just their pad poll numbers. Well have more in our next hour. Senator Barbara Boxer joins me on the debt ceiling and shutdown talks. Verizon innovators are combining a network of underwater sensors and artificial reefs that actually make our water cleaner. Giving sea life new life. Because the worlds Biggest Challenges deserve even bigger solutions. Powerful answers. Verizon. [ male announcer ] lets go places. But lets be ready. Lets do our homework. Lets look out for each other. Lets look both ways before crossing. Lets remember whats important. Lets be optimistic. But just in case lets be ready. Toyota. Lets go places, safely. But just in case lets be ready. With an innovative showerhead plus wireless speaker, kohler is the proud sponsor of singing in the shower. I have a big meeting when we land, but i am so stuffed up, i cant rest. [ male announcer ] nyquil cold and flu liquid gels dont unstuff your nose. They dont . Alka seltzer plus night fights your worst cold symptoms, plus has a decongestant. [ inhales deeply ] oh. What a relief it is. [ female announcer ] with five perfectly sweetened whole grains. You cant help but see the good. Whole grains. If youve got it, you know how hard it can be to breathe and man, you know how that feels. Copd includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Spiriva is a oncedaily inhaled copd maintenance treatment that helps open my obstructed airways for a full 24 hours. You know, spiriva helps me breathe easier. Spiriva handihaler tiotropium bromide inhalation powder does not replace fastacting inhalers for sudden symptoms. Tell your doctor if you have kidney problems, glaucoma, trouble urinating, or an enlarged prostate. These may worsen with spiriva. Discuss all medicines you take, even eye drops. Stop taking spiriva and seek immediate medical help if your breathing suddenly worsens, your throat or tongue swells, you get hives, vision changes or eye pain, or problems passing urine. Other side effects include dry mouth and constipation. Nothing can reverse copd. Spiriva helps me breathe better. Does breathing with copd weigh you down . Dont wait to ask your doctor about spiriva. Government shutdown day 12. Lawmakers spending another saturday on the hill, but what are they accomplishing . Dire prediction. The warning from former president jimmy Carter Congress needs to hear. Opening acts, a welcoming sign today at some National Parks. Also ahead, tweets from prison. Whats jodi arias saying now and why should anyone care . Good day to all of you. Welcome to weekends with alex witt. Its approaching 1 00 p. M. Here in the east. House lawmakers taking to the floor today demanding that the government reopen. I ask unanimous consent that the house bring up the Senate Amendment. Open the government and go to conference on a budget. End the republican government shut down. Open this government. End this republican shutdown. Open the government without further delay. End this republican Government Shutdown. Just moments ago the senate rejected a procedural motion to continue considering a democratic clean debt limit extension until december of 2014. That was by the way expected. We have two reports from Kristen Welker at the white house and luke russert on capitol hill. Where do things stand right now . Reporter well, its a fluid situation, alex, but i can tell you this morning at 9 00 a. M. That the house gop conference meeting, House Speaker skron boehner and majority leader eric cantor informed the Republican Congress that the white house rejected their sixweek debt limit offer. Then they i formed their members all eyes were on Senate Republicans of what they could come one harry reid and white house negotiators. And the speaker said to his House Republican congress, stay strong and see you back here on monday. They are looking into rejecting a bipartisan deal from the senate, but now its a question of timing, alex. Whatever the senate comes up to, whether they agree to it with the two bodies there, it doesnt leave the house a lot of time to reject it and to do their own thing when the white house wont negotiate with them anymore. What can we see out of this . Democrats are rejected a plan that would have extended government funding through march and pushed the debt limit to january 31st. Theres been democratic reservations because of the timing. They say its too close of a debt ceiling extension coming up january 31st, 2014. They want the government to be funded longer than march 31st of 2014. They are having lunch right now, theres a republican lunch and a senate lunch. Well know more at 2 00 once they are out of that. They are pingponging ideas back and forth, but it looks like the senate wants to be a bipartisan agreement that would fund the government and extend the debt limit. We dont know what its going to look like, but they want to get something they hope by tonight, at least announced, and then well move to a procedural process forward. The way the senate works, it is ted cruise or mike lee or rand paul, if those guys want to derail this deal because they dont like it, they can put up some sort of a fight. I talked to one aid, if you have a longdrawn out fight could push this all the way to thursday, the day of default. Its a fluid situation with a lot of things going on. As of right now, any deal to fund the government and extend the debt limit will come out of negotiations between republicans and democrats within the United States senate. Yikes on that possible thursday push, luke. One thing were hearing a lot from democrats today, the house dems spoke in front of their session, the House Republicans did not. Why is that, whats going on . Well, i think theres a lot of consternation within the house of republicans and Senate Republicans because they know theyre going to have to agree to a deal that a lot of the members arent going to like. This has been the byproduct of going down the rabbit hole with the ted cruz strategy of defunding the government if the president s Health Care Law was still part of the equation. So youre sort of seeing now democrats, they have read the polling and saw our own nbc wall street journal poll and know they have won this round of the argument. Theyre saying, lets fund the government and education tend the debt limit, they are in defense mode. Republicans have to internize to limit their damage and live to fight another day. Harry reid is showing no signs of backing down. He wants to get the best deal he can. Joe biden is in camp david this weekend seemingly being locked away. A lot of House Democrats and Senate Democrats are happy about that because they dont want him talking to Mitch Mcconnell to give away too much of the cover. So youre seeing the negotiations happen in the senate, and democrats are taking somewhat of an early victory lap because of the polling that is automatically or overwhelmingly on their side right now. Okay. Thank you for that little nugget about joe biden. Appreciate that. Lets go to kristen wellingwellinker at the white house. Reporter i can tell you Senior Administration officials are in meetings right now as we speak. In terms of next steps, they will certainly be having discussions with lawmakers on capitol hill. But theyre also in a bit of a Holding Pattern because they need to let harry reid, Mitch Mcconnell, try to negotiate something to work its way through the senate. So the white house wants to let that process play out, doesnt want to mud by that process at all. So i think youll see the white house take a little bit of a step back while these negotiations unfold on this saturday afternoon. The president has been very clear that hes not going to negotiate over a deal to increase the debt limit or open up the government. But the white house also knows that at this point they will probably have to give a little bit. So the question becomes, what will that concession look like . I can tell you that based on my conversations here over the past several weeks, the thing to watch is that medical device tax, luke has mentioned it, sort of repealing or delaying it for two years. This is a tax related to the president s Health Care Law, but the president doesnt see it as sort of essential or critical to his Health Care Law. Certainly not the same as defunding or delaying. Republicans have sort of abandoned the calls for that. So right now as luke said, democrats feel like they have the upper hand. The white house feels like they have the upper hand. Majority leader harry reid certainly sort of put that sentiment forward when he spoke earlier today. Take a listen to what he had to say. The problem is the conversations went away. The republicans are not interested, it appears at this stage, of doing any constructive to extend the debt ceiling and open the government later. Thats what they always say. To have any hope of solving the challenges before us, if theres a shutdown or debt crisis, the democrats have to be willing to work together. Divided government demands bipartisan solutions. We can open up the government in 15 minutes and Speaker Boehner needs to put a continuing resolution on the floor right now. Lets get it done. So there you have republican virginia fox and Keith Ellison as well. All sides digging in publicly. But privately i think that there is a bipartisan desire to get something done because the anger is mounting. As we have been saying, alex, the pressure is mounting on republicans based on our latest nbc news wall street journal poll showing the majority of americans putting the blame on republicans. A little bit of good news on this columbus day weekend that the statue of liberty is going to open back up. So is the grand canyon based on a deal between the state and federal government. They have worked out a way to have both those places open up so that folks can go back and start visiting them. So thats one small bright spot while this Government Shutdown and impasse continues. That would be nice on this Holiday Weekend with the kids having monday off from school. Lets bring in dana millbank, good to have you here. What is the biggest obstacle for the republicans and democrats . Two things, one is whether the republicans can deal with their right flank and finally pacify these guys or ignore them enough. But theres also an obstacle on the democratic side and the risk of overplaying their hand. Look, they won the shutdown battle in terms of public opinion. Now the question is do they want to humiliate the republicans and just drive for a maximum deal and drag this out . Or do they want to give up something . Obviously, obama care is no longer on the table, but a smaller piece is. So it could be the shrewdest thing to give up a Little Something now, get a shortterm deal, at least with the possibility of a more substantial longer term deal. Timing is an issue here because one senior democratic senator was telling msnbc news, look where this plays out . It would be the same fight over thanksgiving and christmas to kill Consumer Confidence going into the big shopping season. How big of a factor is that as lawmakers work to reach a deal . Well, certainly the administration has been very strong on saying thats not acceptable and the republicans seem to be answering this morning by saying, well, the debt ceiling into next year isnt acceptable. But a shortterm deal that also has some sort of a framework for a larger solution that they can negotiate over these terms in theory could appeal to both sides. But at least what we see now is there are people in the middle that are beginning to talk, particularly on the senate side. And the Senate Leaders are beginning to talk. We all know what a deal can look like and its readily achievable, its just whether theyll be Strong Enough to defy the conservatives now who have been derailing this so far. Im taking a look at the latest column, the cruzification of the gop. What do you mean by that . Really the conservatives wanted to have this battle, and in some ways maybe it was necessary for them to go through this and see what actually happens when they took their effort to get rid of obama care to its logical extreme. I think the nbc polls show exactly where they got. And now maybe some of the more sensible mainstream established republicans can say, we are not going to be afraid of the tea party guys anymore. We let them call the shots and they drove us right into this ditch. So maybe, finally, business interests, what remain of moderate republicans l stand up to the tea party to say, youve had your shot, now we are going to take over. You mentioned the other moderate republicans, i spoke to adam schiff earlier. Lets listen to what he said. There was no end game, that the Tea Party Members that were forcing them on then really hadnt thought this through, didnt know where this was going to lead. Increasingly the main members of the gop have said or are about to say enough is enough. Is that what youre hearing . I think thats right. If you look at the Republican Caucus in the house and similar in the senate. A quarter are the real true believers, the ted cruz characters, or at least posing as true believers. Then you have the other threequarters who really would like to workout deals, keep the government functioning, but are scared to death of a primary challenge from these tea party republicans. And i think finally theyre saying, you know what . Well take that risk because the alternative that the guys have shown us is unacceptable. If you look at the numbers, what kind of impact does this have on next years midterm elections . Its impossible to say because that poll is a snapshot in time. Obviously, if the election were held today it would be a blood bath for the republicans. Theres a lot of time to recover, we dont know what the economy will be doing, but it definitely shows them that they need to pursue some other avenue other than the one they have been going down. Dana milbank, thank you so much. In just a moment, everything you wanted to know about the debt ceiling but were afraid to ask. All right, lets go shimmy, shimmy chocolate shimmy, shimmy chocolate we, we chocolate cross over yeah, we chocolate cross over [ male announcer ] fiber one 80 calorie chocolate cereal. Chocolate at any minute. You could be a victim of fraud. Most people dont even know it. Fraud could mean lower credit scores, higher loan rates. And maybe not getting the car you want. Its a problem waiting to happen. Check your credit score, check your credit report, at experian. Com americas number one provider of online credit reports and scores. Dont take chances. Go to experian. Com. There should be some way to make it easier. [ doorbell rings ] what is a wetjet . Some kind of a mopping device. Morty, theres a lot of dirt on here. Its almost like dancing. [ both humming ] the swiffer dance. I ask unanimous consent that the house bring up the Senate Amendment to hresolution 59 to open up the government and go to conference on a budget so that we end this republican Government Shutdown. I would like to ask unanimous consent. That the house bring up the Senate Amendment. House joint resolution 59, to open the government. Open the government without further delay. The chair is constrained not to entertain the request unless it has been cleared by the bipartisan floor and committee leadership. That was democrats on the house floor asking for unanimous consent to end the shutdown. That did not happen. And if congress in the white house dont agree to raise the debt ceiling by thursday, the u. S. Government will no longer have enough money to pay its bills. Its a scenario that has threatened regularly now, but do you know how the debt limit really works . Joining me is the washington posts brad plumer who knows everything about the debt ceiling. Brad, a welcome to you. I first want to start with the simple stuff here, explain for our viewers what exactly the debt ceiling is and why october 17th is the deadline. Thank you. Basically the government only has enough tax revenue to only pay about 80 of its bills this year. So it has to borrow the rest to pay for all the spending that congress has approved. And congress has set a limit for how much borrowing it can actually do, and we basically have reached that point. We have reached that point back in may and since then the Treasury Department has been taking a bunch of extraordinary measures to scrounge up extra cash. Okay. So what exactly happens, does the clock stride midnight and we are all tapped out . Right. So on october 17th, what the Treasury Department has said is we only have a little bit of cash left, about 30 billion, which for the government is not really that much. And theyve said, we have a bunch of bills coming, and we dont know if we can pay them all in full unless we can borrow more money. And then what happens to the overall economy if the government cant pay its bills . Right. So thats the big question. If the government doesnt have enough cash to pay all its bills, which bills get stiffed . Which still get paid . What the Treasury Department has said is basically, we cant pick and choose. Our Payment Systems arent set up to do that. Well just have to start missing payments. What happens if we miss an Interest Payment for people we owe money . And thats a scenario that has a lot of people on wall street and financial people scared because the effects are unpredictable. That could create panic in the markets, it could seize up various Payment Systems, you could see mutual funds because of various legal requirements start to freeze or run on banks. Its a little unknown what exactly will happen. And most financial people say we shouldnt find out. Thats not an experiment to run firsthand. Ill ask my director to put the graphic back up again because i want to show how this affects americans. On october 23 you have 12 billion in Social Security payments due. Thats to all the people whos livelihood depends on Social Security. On october 31 you have 6 billion in debt interest. November 1, what is that . 58 billion in Social Security, disability, medicare, employee pay, i mean, if those things are not paid, thats a problem. I mean, i know you can talk about a global ripple, economic effect certainly, but look at the individuals as a result of those things not being paid. Right. So thats one thing a number of republicans have certainly said is, look, we dont have to default on the debt. We have more than enough money to pay the Interest Payments. We dont have to have the financial calamity. The only problem is if you do that, what are you not paying . Are you going to delay Social Security checks or not going to pay Health Care Providers for medicare . Are you going to miss Veterans Benefits . There are all these things that the government has to pay out. And if its making Interest Payments on the debt to try to avoid a crisis, it has to stop paying a bunch of other things. Thats the second part, a lot of economists say sucking that much out instantly would create economic problems and create a recession of sorts if it goes on for too long. So theres really no great option here. Okay. Brad, its a really great article and i would ask everyone interested to read it in with the washington post. It is just yellow highlighted everywhere. Thank you for joining me. Appreciate it. Meantime, towns that were part of the republican government is a big topic of frustration. It puts people out of work in this economy to solve their problems. Ill tell you the truth, i have voted republican my whole life, but this time i dont care who is ready, im voting for somebody who didnt have the job. I blame everybody, capitol hill all the way to the white house. Has this affected your pocketbook . Are you seeing fewer customers in here right now . This is a friday, and i have never seen a friday in my business like this. A bit later on this hour, ill talk to senator Barbara Boxer as well as reverend al sharpton and hear from former president jimmy carter coming up. Well also hear from jodi arias tweeting from prison. What now . Thats next. 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Public skating begins on monday. Convicted Killer Jodi Arias is tweeting again. This time about her finances. Nbcs Kristen Dahlgren shows us what arias said and what it means. Reporter she is the convicted murderer whos trial captivated the nation. Guilty. Reporter now jodi arias is back in the spotlight speaking out from behind bars. In two tweets from her official account, arias tried to defend herself against accusations she is making money off her climb. Writing, that rumor that somehow my family profited from my trial, absurd. Adding, im filing for bankruptcy, if i can ever afford to do so. You dont need bankruptcy if youre going to be in prison the rest of your life. Reporter since her conviction, arias has been selling her artwork online. Something she talked about with nbc. Its just one area i feel like i have excelled in my life. So its a part of me, a part of my life, part of my existence. Reporter it is unclear how much she may have earned. Then there was this sensational movie. But under arizonas socalled son of sam law, convicted criminals cant profit from movie or book deals. So arias couldnt make a cent off the movie portraying the crime. Arias was convicted of stabbing, shooting and slitting the throat of boyfriend travis alexander. At the trial she claimed abuse. He was screaming that i was a stupid idiot, and he bodyslammed me again on the tile. Reporter the jury didnt believe her and now some legal experts are accusing arias at another attempt of manipulation with her latest tweets. They say perfectly timed before this months hearing which could save arias from the death penalty. Jodi arias is not predictable and certainly not very credible at all. So whatever she tweets, we take with a grain of salt and we look, how does it benefit jodi arias . Reporter Kristen Dahlgren, nbc news, los angeles. On capitol hill, new developments this hour. Are we any closer to a resolution today . Senator Barbara Boxer will join us, as will reverend al sharpton and former president jimmy carter who has an ominous warning, coming your way next. Who has 11 major brands to choose from . Your ford dealer. Whos offering a rebate . Your ford dealer. Who has the low price tire guarantee, affording peace of mind to anyone who might be in the market for a new set of tires . Your ford dealer. Im beginning to sense a pattern. Get up to 140 in mailin rebates when you buy four select tires with the Ford Service Credit card. Whered you get that sweater vest . Your ford dealer. Welcome back to weekends with alex witt. 29 past the hour. Lets go to the shutdown stalemate in its 12th day. No new proposal is on the table to reopen the government or raise the debt ceiling, but the House Democrats kept the pressure up on the floor to end this mess. I move that the house take from the speakers table, the Senate Amendment to the house joint resolution 59, receive from its amendment and concur in the Senate Amendment to open the government now. House members are now heading back to their districts and it could be monday evening before they reconvene. The house is now looking to the senate for bipartisan resolutions. This has turned conversations between majority leader harry reid, majority leader Mitch Mcconnell having these oneonone conversations. The statue of liberty, the grand canyon and Mount Rushmore and Rocky Mountain National Park are reopening today. They reached an agreement with the states will pay to recall the furloughed workers. So what will a deal look like . Joining me now, democratic senator Barbara Boxer. Maam, thank you for joining us. It is a busy day and we appreciate your time. One thing we have reported here is that senator Susan Collins proposal, what is your stance on that to cut the medical device tax and require income for medical subsidies . Let me explain something, any deal that comes forward is from the Senate Leadership. Im very grateful to susan and we have all been talking together. We just had a little clash on the senate floor, the proposal is a bit in flux. And im willing to look at, you know, anything that they put on the table, but i think whats really important is to understand this, and you didnt mention it in your reporting. We just had a vote for a clean debt ceiling. In other words, a vote to make sure america doesnt default on its bills. And not run republican in the United States senate voted to proceed to that. They filibustered it. So even though we had a majority to move forward and start discussing it, they all voted no. This is a terrible signal to the markets. We just received a letter from big business, the chamber of commerce, Nonprofit Sector and labor. An unusual coalition. Theyre demanding a clean debt ceili ceiling. And where are we now around the proposals . I will say this, there are so many things i can tell you, one of the things i want to tell you is the house had the opportunity to vote on a bill to open up the government and Speaker Boehner will not bring it up for a vote. He sent everyone home. And this thing drags on. A selfinflicted wound on our nation. Open up the doors for the american people, pay our bills and then well negotiate over how to move forward. Obama care, that was the big stumbling block you dont hear them talk about anymore. Now its something new. We can talk about everything, but open up the government. Pay our bills. Then well all negotiate. Senator boxer, given what you just described, that this clean bill went through with everything, the voting completely on party lines, we were hearing yesterday that things could be resolved tuesday, maybe wednesday before the debt ceiling deadline on thursday. But the tenor of things, if what youre saying is true, republicans are not crossing the aisle, theres no sense of collaboration here, compromise, are you confident that we are going to reach something to raise the debt ceiling by thursday . I didnt say there was no collaboration. What i said was true. That not one republican voted for a clean extension of the debt ceiling so we can pay the bills weve already incurred and not default. Yes, there are conversations going on. But effective ones . Well, a party that says that theyre physically responsible and then they filibuster a motion to just discuss making sure we pair our bills is disturbing. But i do think the grownups are moving in and filling a void here in the senate. And so, of course i have great hopes. And i do commend Susan Collins for this. And i commend the republicans and democrats that have gotten together and were all talking to one another. And, of course, having our leaders talk is critical, absolutely critical. And it is happening. So, you know, im just a little stunned at this vote we just had, but i always have hope. And im just being honest with you. Theres anxiety that you hear in my voice. Theres concern. We are in the 12th day of the Government Shutdown. People are not getting paid. Families, i dont know what theyre going to do here. And all boehner has to do is open up the government and lets pay our bills and make sure the people have their government. They need their government. Weve got real serious problems. I have one little town called University Park in california, kids are getting nosebleeds because they live near some kind of an Industrial Site thats causing them problems. The epa was going to deal with it, they were called off. I could go on. Chemical explosions, the investigations have stopped, this isnt a way to run the greatest nation in the world. Senator boxer, is there anything that you could ask the president to do that would be effective today on this saturday afternoon to move the ball forward . Listen, i have to say, ive spent two hours with the president , as did my colleagues, they all went up there. Boehner wouldnt bring all his people. They were invited and he brought 20 colleagues. The president was asked to have a conversation. Hes had conversations, literally, he offered it to every member of congress. He understands what hes doing now. He doesnt want the country held hostage. We need to keep the doors of government open. We need to pay our bills. And he is willing to negotiate about everything. And hes of course talking to everyone. These are the conversations john boehner wanted, but a conversation doesnt mean that youre going to be held hostage, that the country is going to be held hostage. Hes making that point, not just for himself but for future president s, republican and democratic. There are certain things you need to do as a nation. Ronald reagan said the thought of default is calamitous. Ronald reagan is beloved by the republicans and many democrats. Why dont we listen to him . He was very clear. We raised the debt ceiling when Ronald Reagan was president 18 times. So lets do the basic things we have to do, open up the government, pay our bills, and as far as negotiating around the budget, which seems to be their latest demand, we have been asking to go to the budget conference. Democrats, patty murray, our chairman, literally 21 times and ted cruz has objected to going to the budget conference. So theres a path forward. And by the way, it could happen in 15 minutes. Am i optimistic . I would say always and ever hopeful. Otherwise i wouldnt have done this job for as long as ive done it. Senator boxer, can you see how this will end . Can you envision the final bill . Yeah. And that would be yes, i think that senators reid and mcconnell will work hard to set up a framework to get this government open, to pay our bills, and then move on to the budget and a conference. And thats the solution. Regular order, regular order. This is i cant explain enough to your viewers how selfinflicted this is. They are worried about the deficit, weve got the deficit cut in half since president obama took over. In half. And we are willing to do more. Democrats, we balanced the budget with bill clinton. We want to reach that balanced budget so we can have those negotiations. It isnt necessary to shut down the government and to threaten default when you have every Major Business group, every major labor group, every major Nonprofit Group begging us to do our job. And we should listen to them. I dont like to see the Republican Party tank like this. Theres a reason for it, though. And they need to stop this selfinflicted wounds on the nation. Its just its just absolutely unnecessary. And they can walk away from this with a win. And we all can, but lets open up this government and stop the pain and the suffering thats being inflicted on so many people around this country, including in my home state of california. My home state as well. But i thank you for your representation from our state. Thank you so much, senator Barbara Boxer. Joining me now in studio is my colleague, the reverend al sharpton, and author of a new book the rejected stone al sharpton and the american path to leadership. Good to have you here. I know you heard the senator there, give me your thoughts in raising the debt limit, opening up the government, when do you think all that will go down . What will have to happen to have that happen . I think it is anyones guess when, but the fact theres been a tremendous rising public pressure has changed the whole attitude of some of the republican leadership. But clearly not the tea party or the far right, because when youre getting out of record low poll numbers, 24 in favorability, which is unheard of, for one of the leading parties of a twoparty political system. They cant ignore this much longer. If it keeps going south in terms of the numbers, i think that the responsible leadership and i never thought i would live to see the day i would call people like john mccain and them responsible, but i think they have to come forward and break this cycle. It takes a little courage now for somebody to stand up and say, wait a minute, this is a lot of nonsense. You know whats interesting, you have to think of what the idealogy was for republicans, this could end in 15 minutes to get this done, but was the strategy to keep the mud fight going on long enough to muddy both sides and the gop thought they would come out, mace takingly now, we see, the victors . I think that could be one strategy or it could be they had a planned strategy that they would bringtous the bring and the president would bring. And when he didnt blink as they perceived he has in the past, there was no plan b. And they didnt have a strategy now. And i tend to think that some felt that if we pressure him, well make him break a little and bend a little our way, then we claim a huge victory and take it into the midterm elections. And when the president refused to do this, i think they didnt know what to do. And i think the president didnt do it for good reason. If with this kind of hostagetaking negotiation, the president bows, it affects the presidency, not just him. Because we, from now on l have people say, we dont care for laws passed, we dont care if a general election is held and you win on that. We dont care if the Supreme Court upholds it, we will use defunding to decide what will be law or not. Whether its democratically passed or not. That precedent underminds the whole concept the country was built on. Since i know you will spend every hour talking about this coming up, i want to get to your book. The first one in a decade you have written called the rejected stone al sharpton on the path of american leadership. I loved reading about the fact that you behaved as if you were a preacher when you were just 4 years old and drove your teachers crazy because you would write at the top of the papers, instead of writing alfred sharpton, you would write reverend alfred sharpton. They didnt take too kindly to that. No, they didnt. And, in fact, they had to explain to them i was a junior minister in my church. I was the kind of person that defined myself, which made me reject it in some circles. Thats hard socially, yeah . Its very hard socially with your friends. Im 7, 8 years old playing with playmates and their parents actually come hear me preach. Try becoming a teenager and getting a date. Its a little weird. But not only do i talk about that, i talk about my father who abandoned us. And a lot of the complexes you have to go through of rejection. Then the broader rejection, if youre black, if youre gay, if youre a woman, if youre and how we get by these rejections in society, and i use anecdotes throughout the book called my relationship with president obama and now that happened and Michael Jackson and james brown and mohommad ali. And what i learned about rejection and how you define yourself. What you say now is that Society Today should better understand that black success has always derived from community, not the family. Really . Right. I think when we talk about the family, and lets be realistic in the 21st century, we are in 2013, family is different than what we define it. We have same sex marriages now. The whole definition of family, when we talk about family, what kind of family are we talking about . And in the black community, we always had communities, so that everybody on my block would or was responsible for us and would chastise you. And there was the relationship between the teacher, the church and the home. So weve always had an unfortunately lot of single parents. We never had the disconnect in the community. So i was raised by my church, by school and my mother, and i never saw that as strange. Whats strange is we dont have that community and have to return to the connected community. A couple chapters in your book. I love them. I feel like the titles should be offered up to capitol hill. You need to know when to quit it. And the other one, dont be afraid to change and evolve. I talk in the book about dont be afraid, you have to know i talk about adam clayton powell, and knowing if you have done all you can do, unfortunately, a lot of people stay beyond their usefulness and effectiveness. Dont be afraid to say, you know what . Let me help a young person or somebody else do something. Ive done our best shot. And in terms of the other chapter where you talk about dont be afraid to evolve, a lot of people get stuck and want to keep the same thoughts, same line. Dont be afraid to be exposed to new things and embrace them and grow and update an upgrade where youre at. A lot of people say you are a different kind of activist you are today than you were 20 years ago. I hope so, its a different society. If you havent evolved and society has evolved, if my activism is the same under obama that it was under reagan, theres something wrong with me. And something wrong with me evolving, dont be afraid to grow and to broaden your perspective. It is called the rejected stone. We love you here, well never reject you. And for all of you, catch politics in this case at 6 00 p. M. Monday through friday right here on msnbc. [ mainframe ] located. Ge deepsea fuel technology. A 50,000pound, ingeniously wired machine that optimizes raw data to help safely discover and maximize resources in extreme conditions. Our Current Situation seems rather extreme. Why cant we maximize our. Ready. Brilliant. Lets get out of here. Warp speed. [ male announcer ] rocky had no idea why dawn was gone for so long. But hed wait for her forever and would always be there with the biggest welcome home. For a love this strong, dawn only feeds him iams. Compared to other leading brands, it has 50 more animal protein. To help keep rockys body as strong as a love that never fades. Iams. Keep love strong. Now you can keep love fun with new shakeables meaty treats. Now you can keep love fun seasonal. Doesnt begin to describe it. 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I recognize the problem and realize harry reid recognizes the problem as well. I think boehner is going to show hes not a coward and a capable, courageous, respectable person. Our 39th president is right here in new York Building a habitat for humanity home in partnership with the carter foundation. He talked to richard lou about the shutdown of the government. Richard is joining me to share more from that interview. Good morning to you, alex. When i was speaking with the president , he was saying, look, when were looking aed the negotiations happening in washington, d. C. , hes looking at all three parties, the two in congress as well as the president up able to get something together. As he looks forward, well look at whats happening in the house. He understands it is very difficult for the speaker and what he has to do right now. A take a listen about what he says about that. I know john boehner and hes got a difficult fragmented Republican Party. I recognize the problem and know that harry reid recognizes the problem as well. I think that boehner is going to show that hes not a coward and a capable, courageous, respectable person. He also mentioned in the tha happen, this default, it would be a tragedy. Those were his words. Although he does not expect it to happen here, alex. Whats great to see is after some six decades of marriage, they still pull up those drills, still work together. It is their 30th anniversary doing this together. They do it because they still feel here that there is a need for more houses. 100,000, they say they are building this year. Dont you love him . 60something years of marriage. Last year, this year, they do not slow down. Makes you and me look slow. Yeah, well. Ill take it. The Government Shutdown and a surprise about obama care, the big three is next. Its time for the big three. Todays topics, gop backlash, poll position and best week, worst week. Lets bring in the panel. Goldie taylor, morris reid and susan derl percio. Susan, heres what i was told about the gop earlier today. The republicans see their numbers going into the basement and they realize that it puts their majority in the house in jeopardy and any hope they have in the senate in jeopardy. So i think certainly both parties recognize that this has been an unmitigated disaster for the country but also for the gop. Your reaction, susan . Its pretty much spoton. Its also going to start having an effect on the democrats as well. In a recent nbc poll, turns out that 60 of the people out there want to get rid of their congressman right away. So were at the throw the bums out stage. Speaking of that poll, goldie, it shows a majority of americans blame the gop for the shutdown. Could the gops majority in the house be threatened . Actually, i dont think that it will be threatened. I believe the gop is wholly responsible for this shutdown and to get it open, maybe well get a repeal or delay in the medical device tax. I dont think that their majority is threatened there. I think that the Senate Majority will become stronger in favor of democrats because of this. You think they can behave with impunity there . Isnt the way people deal with things, they get to the polling booths and pull a different lever . Because of gerrymandering and because of the rules, gop legislators have drawn themselves into the safest seats that we have seen to date. If theyre going to run against anybody competitively, its going to be another republican. I dont think that were going to see a monumental shift in the balance between republicans and democrats in the house come 2014. What do you think on that, morris, 2014 . I think shes right. I think this thing has been so rigged. But it may be the republicans problem today. If the democrats dont solve the problem, it will be their problem tomorrow. Its in everyones best interest to get this done. Guys, i dont have too much time yet. I think im going to ask for your best week and worst week. Susan collins, worst week, republican gop, the brand is soiled. Morris . My best week is my mom, its her birthday today. Happy birthday, mom. I never thought i would say the European Congress is doing more than the u. S. Congress. Its a sad situation. Worst week is the heritage lobby arm. Theyre going to rule the day they did what theyve done. Goldie . Best week is malala who has certainly inspired millions around the world to seek the face of peace. My loser is joey patterson, a 27yearold who beat to death the young child of Adrian Peterson from the minnesota vikings. Thats a wrap. Thank you all so much. Craig melvin is never going to let me hear the end of it. See you guys tomorrow. Have a good one. When we land, but i am so stuffed up, i cant rest. 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