question about our ability to order our own affairs. this is harmful to us. it will be much more harmful if we don't have an agreement by august 2nd. you can't have a default. i think this is going to get worked out, but it's hard to predict exactly how. the president may not get everything he wants, he may have to take it in increments, six months at a time, i think that if that's the only thing offered by congress, the president will accept it. >> martin frost, thanks for weighing in. for the latest on the debt deal negotiations from the nbc political unit head first to firstread.msnbc.com. an investigation under way in eastern china at the site where two high-speed trains collided. saturday a bullet train crashed into another high-speed train that stalled after being struck by lightning. this was the first derailment on the network since the country launched bullet trains in 2007.