good morning. i m diana perez. i m john muller. here s the top stories this morning on world news now. the president of iran says he brings a message of peace and friendship to the american people. he tells the general assembly that the u.s. is open to talks with the u.s. we will have the latest from the u.n. in just a moment. the senate takes a key vote on efforts to prevent a government shutdown starting tuesday. the house has passed a bill that funds the government but removes the president s health care plans. attorneys from michael jackson s have made a last-ditch effort to convince the jury that aeg was responsible for the pop
president obama is back in washington after a packed day of foreign diplomacy and a missed opportunity here. president obama addressing the united nations general assembly, urging world leaders to take risks to secure peace in the middle east and cautiously opening up to the possibility of mending relations with iran. the roadblocks may prove to be too great, but i firmly believe the diplomatic path must be tested. reporter: despite early hints that iran s newly elected president rouhani could meet with president obama, iran backed out. officials saying such a meeting would make things too complicated back in iran. it would have been the first face to face between u.s. and iranian leaders since the 79 iranian hostage crisis. a chance to work toward a nuclear agreement. they say iran wants to continue nuclear enrichment for peaceful purposes.
translator: nuclear weapon and other weapons of mass destruction have no place in iran s security and defense doctrine. reporter: iranian talks now in the hands of secretary of state john kerry who will meet with iran s foreign minister on thursday. president obama remained focused on other pressing issues in the region including helping to broker peace between israel and palestine meeting one on one with mahmoud abbas. none of us are under the illusion this will be easy. reporter: president obama s speech focused on on syria, calling on the u.n. security council to enforce consequences if assad s regime doesn t hand over all of its chemical weapons. john and diana? thank you very much. now to the looming government shutdown. the senate has its first test vote as it takes up the continuing resolution to fund the government delaying tactics could push a vote in to the weekend, days before the fiscal a year begins on october 1st. days away from the rollout of the health car
star s death. defense attorneys will present their closing arguments today. tea party conservative senator ted cruz promises to speak out against obama care until he can no longer st the texas republican s protest started yay he filled the time overnight by reading the book green eggs and ham. those are the top stories on this wednesday, september 25th. announcer: from abc news, this is world news now with john muller and diana perez. good wednesday morning. we begin this half hour with first steps toward change between iran and u.s. relations. the new president of iran says he brings peace and friendship to the american people. quite a departure from the former iranian lead the current preidenew reporter: white house officials say the iranians turned down the handshake president obama saying it would be too complicated back in iran
john kerry will meet with his, the foreign minister over in iran soon. it s really just a matter of wait and see what this turns into. the fact the tone is different is a good step away from the can t hurt. away from what the previous leader was bringing. a beginning for sure. president obama is bringing out the big guns to convince skeptics that the new system will be cheaper and healthier. two presidents introduced by possible future one. the more i thought about it, the more i realized how much they have in common. bill clinton to the rescue. with one week to go before people line up for obama care, the president turns to the man he calls his secretary of explaining stuff. when you have universal enrollment, you can manage costs better and cut inflation down. i want you to know one thing, inflation and health care costs dropped 4% three years in a row for the first time in 50 years. reporter: for bill and hillary a familiar fight. 20 years ago their push failed. no