when it comes to infrastructure? well, it s just the logistics. everything has to be done. there has to be an ironclad. are you close to an agreement? i think we re finally talking. which is important so this is all the backdrop to some democrats getting antsy with president biden s relatively hands off approach considering everything that is on the line here we re going to see if he says anything about that when he speaks again sometime in the next couple minutes. we expect it at the top of the hour we re keep ang eye on the live shot as soon as we get it from the white house. we ll bring it to you whenever we can in the meantime, i want to bring in lee ann caldwell on capitol hill nbc s shannon petty piece also waiting for president biden outside the white house. a it s great to be with you all of you. here we are, a monday with a monster megacliff set up speaker pelosi bought herself a little bit of time, but talk about what s going on behind the
it will be $3.5 trillion. that s the compromise that s already been made. and there s also major policy fights in the house where three moderate democrats on the energy and commerce committee voted against a proposal that would let hhs negotiate prescription drug prices for medicare recipients, a cornerstone democratic priority on the campaign trail. on top of all this, congressional leaders are staring down government funding deadline at the end of the month and debt ceiling limit expiration in october. a crisis republicans say they have no interest in helping avert. to pass their agenda and keep the economy afloat, democrats need to get the most out of the narrow congressional majorities. that means figuring out a way to get the whole caucus on the same page. sahil kapur is on capitol hill, shannon petty piece outside the white house. the president s economic speech is supposed to happen this hour, one he probably wanted to give weeks ago before afghanistan and
at least 27 died in new jersey alone because of hurricane ida, and four people are still missing. that major disaster declaration signed by the president will help six counties in new jersey, but the governor here, other local officials say more counties need to be included, more people need help. when the president is on the ground, things you ll see that you cannot look away are places like this, homes that have been completely reduced to ashes. chris? allison barber, thank you. and shannon, president biden visited louisiana last week and used it as an opportunity to talk about infrastructure and need to get in front of climate change. do we expect that again today and does the white house believe that this raft of destructive weather we have seen this year, including fires in california, will give some momentum to his political agenda? reporter: it is certainly a recurring theme. we continue to hear from the president and the white house
white house, headed for the northeast to get a firsthand look at the damage left by hurricane ida. elsie huge parts of new jersey and new york remain decimated by deadly flooding. ida killing at least 45 people in those two states. some swept away by cars, others drowning in their own homes. new disaster declarations mean parts of both states are eligible for federal aid, but even that is fraught with complaints from counties left off the list of those eligible for aid. and down in louisiana which got hit by ida first, more than 400,000 homes are still in the dark, nine days after the storm rolled through, and high temperatures continue to raise the misery and risk. all three regions are at risk of more severe weather in the coming days. we have all of the angles covered. shannon petty piece at the white house, allison barber in new jersey, and some brock in louisiana outside new orleans.
benefit in their state. plus, after his visit to the storm zone and louisiana, president biden is now turning his attention to weather weary new jersey and new york where the cleanup is starting after record rainfall flooded out several communities. look at the images. 51 people in the northeast were killed in all. in louisiana, you have hundreds of thousands of people that do not have power, who do not have water to drink, just a week after ida made landfall. it is not just me, it is all my neighbors. i love these people. these people are my family and they re all suffering. they re all suffering. i am hallie jackson with you this morning in washington along with our news team on this labor day monday. emily is following unemployment developments. shannon petty piece is at the white house, gabe gutierrez, and josh jefferson in louisiana.