and mitch mcconnell is clearly the key man here. he's somebody that they believe can really bring along a senate majority, can put some pressure on some republicans in the house to go along with this. and so he's clearly the person that the white house has picked among all republicans to deal with. and mcconnell could not deal until the boehner bill had gotten through the house because he supported the boehner bill. so now i think they're entering negotiations in earnest. the question is -- where are the democrats in all of this? >> who else is on "state of the union" tomorrow? >> we have chuck schumer, the key message-man in the senate for the democrats. and we have gene sperling, one of the president's top economic advisers, to talk about where we are in these negotiations and whether we're going to get it done. >> 9:00 a.m. tomorrow, a live show. we'll be watching. gloria, thank you very much. >>> when we come back, jeanne moos finds some newsroom what's going on -- some humor in what's going on in this debt crisis. er. proper nu

we're waiting to hear from senator mitch mcconnell. we've already heard from the senate majority leader, harry reid, and it looks like things are moving along. didn't like high school. and then i met my teacher, mr. mccooey, and that click happened. i would never have even thought about going into the engineering field if it wasn't for these ap classes, these teachers and them helping me realize that this is a major calling in my life. ♪ i didn't always know that i would like math, but now i think it'll change my life. >>> the chief economist for moody's analytics was upbeat about how a deal would affect the economy and the marks. i spokeearlier. he was in san francisco. i have to ask you right off the bat, you've been listening this morning. what's your reaction to what you're hearing from mitch mcconnell and senator schumer? >> yeah. great news. i mean, this sounds like we're going to avoid a crisis. $3 trillion in deficit reduction over the next ten years is more than i would have expected. so if they actually follow through on th

you heard mitch mcconnell. he told you not only is he speaking with the vice president, former senator joe biden, also speaking with the president, former senator barack obama. they're having a good conversation. he told you, i like these guys. he was very upbeat, very positive. >> well, they're listening to him, wolf, which is why he likes them. he doesn't like them so much when they're not listening to them. >> he seems to like biden and the president more than he likes harry reid. >> i think mitch mcconnell -- don't forget, joe biden is essentially the chief congressional liaison for this white house. >> president of the senate, by the way. >> exactly, and a former senator in good standing with people on both sides of the aisle. what i've been told by some republican senators is that joe biden, contrary to popular belief, is actually a good listener and that he's easy to deal with and, as one republican senator said to me this week, he said, you know, joe biden knows how to close a deal. and that's what's ve

it's mitch mcconnell and byten that are doing a lot of talking. i've been told today. democrats are not as optimistic about what's happening, harry reid said they're no closer to a deal than they were four or five hours ago. you have to figure out how much of this is posturing, how much of it is reid trying to put pressure so he can say, hey, i can get my bill through. maybe i can pull this off? at the same time they're supposedly getting close to getting some sort of deal. i can tell you this, if they reach a compromise deal with mcconnell so you have eye big group of republicans on board. i don't think it's going to happen tonight. that deal may not happen until tomorrow. >> we were just watching mcconnell asking for a cloture vote at 6:30 and harry reid's objection? >> this has to do with, they want to get harry reid's bill, they want to be able to say, see, we killed it, see, harry reid's bill couldn't get through. reid's not ready to give up on his bill. he's not ready, because reid believes and democrats believe they could if they really wanted to, basically claw

we know he spoke with senate minority leader mitch mcconnell. he met with harry reid and nancy pelosi. he's putting pressure on behind-the-scenes. you heard luke talk about the fact that democrats would like to to see a deal that extends through 2012. well the president has said he won't sign anything less. in fact he wants to to see a deal that goes through the 2012 election up to 2013. individuals tell me they want to to see major progress by sunday. here's why. there are two reasons. first of all, the markets. as you know we saw the stocks dip to their lowest level in about a year showing their lowest weekly decline in about a year. we got some pretty negative news that economy grew by 1.3%. far lower than economists wanted to to see. so there's really an urgency to get this done before the markets open up on monday. the asian markets will open up our time on sunday. so some urgency there. president obama also putting pressure on publicly. he spoke on friday about this publicly. urging congressional leaders to compromise, urging people to con

mitch mcconnell and harry reid spoke on the senate floor back and forth. mitch mcconnell saying in order for there to be a compromise to raise the nation's debt limit there had to be participation from the president of the united states to understand what bill he would sign. listen how harry reid responded to that. >> the president knows way have put forward is good for the country, extends the debt saving, reduces the debt. i say to my friend the republican leader, the president will sign my legislation. my friend says he wants something the president would sign. he will sign this. he'll sign it. we could pass it tonight, get it through the house. woe sign it tomorrow. >> through have it from harry reid saying the president would sign his proposal. there seems to be this question of who is negotiating with whom right now. no one knows for certain. it is expected that harry required is do for example to have to reach out to some republicans to get this across the finish line. 43 senate republicans sent harry reid a letter saying they would not support his

are we close to working it out as mitch mcconnell said? harry reid said he didn't think so. >> i think this is dangerously close. it's not justice working out a bill that can pass the senate, it's got to go back to the house, pass the house, and be signed by the president. we've already seen how difficult the house of representatives can be. i think we -- i really do believe we'll get it done. but i tell you, we're at great risk. >> we certainly hope so, and the american people. thank you for coming on. again, don't mean to be disrespectful, you know, talking points -- we get so used to them, and i think people just want answers to straight talk. thank you very much, senator, appreciate it. >> good talking to you. >> all right. >>> when we come back, photo shopping causing problems in the u.k. we'll tell you what actress julia roberts has to do with it. [ female announcer ] sweet honey taste. 80 calories per serving. 40% daily value of fiber. i'm here in the downtown area where the crowd is growing. [ female announcer ] watching calories a

>> how do you get along with mitch mcconnell? >> mitch and i are friends. we talk every day. i consider him a fine man. he's a good saturday. he and i have a different political philosophy. we both believe the country needs some help and we're trying to do that. it's not easy. we have two distinct caucuses. but the problem is not mitch mcconnell. >> it's skonk as you have never seen it. trust me. don't miss the "dateline" special. taking the hill inside congress this sunday 7:00 eastern. you're watching "andrea mitchell you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. this is my band from the 80's, looker. hair and mascara, a lethal combo. i'm jon haber of alto music. i've been around music my entire life. this is the first alto music i opened when i was 24. my business is all about getting music into people's hands. letting someone discover how great music is, is just an awesome thing. and the plum card from american express open helps me do that. i use it for as much inventory as i possibly can. from picks...to maracas... to drums... to dj equipment... you name it,

we don't know -- we do know that mitch mcconnell, at least according to mitch mcconnell, he has spoken with the president. >> in effect. >> reporter: telephonically, tweeting. he hasn't been here face to face any time recently. the meeting that's ongoing now, i should check my blackberry for updates, is between the democratic leaders. we haven't talked about that a lot in the last -- of course, the last few minutes. very significant. we don't know what's going on inside that meeting. we do know that the last time the two democratic leaders came up here last weekend that there was something that they were talking to the president it. the outlines of a deal. they decided together that they couldn't go for it. that led to a, you know, even more bitterness, an escalation of the vitriol over the last week because republicans said we had a handshake we'll do harry reid and he pulled the rug out from under us because the president told us he couldn't go for it. that's in disputes, but that's what happened the last time the leaders were up here. so reason for optimism here. mitch mcconnell say

he's asked mitch mcconnell to support him, as well. mitch mcconnell so far hasn't at least publicly offered his support. but behind the scenes we know that harry reid is trying to rangle support among republicans. >> one of those votes is happening there in the house. i want to play what was senate by the democrat of illinois. take a listen at this. >> our soldiers in afghanistan repeatedly asked admiral mullen yesterday, will we get paid? will our families get their checks? shame on the republicans for making that happen. in battle, when you accidently shoot your own, it's called friendly fire. when you deliberately shoot your own, it's called fragging. republicans, stop fragging the american economy and the american people. >> richard, the perception is, nobody is getting along or making progress here. they're still fighting. >> first of all, that tells you how far the politics have come. that was the argument republicans and the bush white house used to make to get democrats to get in line on these kinds of votes on a whole range of

mitch mcconnell filibustering. if all these plans fail, the only possible options are a new round of votes. the 14th amendment or default. senator reid altered his plan to give republicans more of what they want. his latest proposals includes debt limit increase matched dollar for dollar by spending cuts. its spending cuts approved by the republicans. it includes no additional revenues and includes the mcconnell plan to allows congress to include debt inkraeses. senator brown joins us from ohio. you had long days. let's talk about specifically, do you think harry reid can get mitch mcconnell to sign on to anything at this point? >> i think thomas may not get mcconnell, but i think we'll get the number of republicans we need. it's not tomorrow. they'll probably start filibustering. it's pretty amazing. we've given up a lot of things in these negotiations. this is doing the right thing. we've got the guy, the speaker of the house and it's wasting time putting an agreement out there, a bill out there that would requir

does mitch mcconnell fight for this bill? fight for no cloture on the reid proposal, trying to say it's the only thing senate republicans will support or be open to some sweetener from harry reid to try and get the debt limit through 2012, like president obama wants somewhere boehner was open to that being a possibility. certainly he does not want to see it. his goal through this process is to jam the president, get this through to the weekend and it be the last proposal standing, however, he did not completely shut the door on further compromise. a significant point's in in a don't so rigid, folks not wanting to get out of their corner to leave the tiny window available says there's still a long way to go and we could go through the weekend. no one wants this the markets to open monday with this still on the table. however, it's a possibility to see this go through to tuesday. >> take your first scenario. say mitch mcconnell decides he'll hold fast. what happens? do we get to midnight? on august 2nd? what happens? >> reporte

mitch mcconnell is negotiating with the white house. democratic leaders met with the president earlier today, as well. also in the nation's capital, teachers rallying against standardized testing. >> this is what democracy looks like. >> they marched to the white house carrying signs with slogans like children are more important than test scores. and i am not the problem. the group says emphasizing testing takes the focus away from students. actor matt damon also joined in on that rally. >>> federal agents are appealing to the public for information about assault rifles stolen from ft. irwin in california. the atf is offering a $10,000 reward for information on 26 assault rifles and one sniper rifle stolen earlier this month from an army warehouse. one weapon has been recovered and some arrests have been made. >>> dna evidence is taking center stage as young american -- a young american woman appeals for her murder conviction in italy. amanda knox was convicted of killing meredith kercher in 2007 but insists she didn't do it. a forensic

it's harry reid and mitch mcconnell. whatever they pass in the senate they're anything to have to get, i would say, close to 100 democrats in house. they're going to lose half the republicans, boehner is. and to get them-- there have to be revenues in there. you might get 30 democrats to vote for it on basis it's the right thing to do. you're not going to get the necessary number of house democrats to vote for it without revenues in there somewhere, and that is going to be a real stumbling block for a lot of republicans and it's going to be tough work in the senate. >> i would only add that the big economic news of the week, the revision downward of the economic growth number, that is a long-term political problem for president obama. it makes the next set of jobs figures likely to be really disturbing. it also complicates the deficit problem in the future because all of these plans assume maybe 3% growth. we're not even at 2% growth in our economy. these are going to be a serious complicating factor in our politics movi

mitch mcconnell is negotiating with the white house. democratic leaders met with the president earlier today, as well. also in the nation's capital, teachers rallying against standardized testing. >> this is what democracy looks like. >> they marched to the white house carrying signs with slogans like children are more important than test scores. and i am not the problem. the group says emphasizing standardizing testing takes the focus away from students. actor matt damon also joined in on that rally. >>> federal agents are appealing to the public for information about assault rifles stolen from ft. irwin in california. the atf is offering a $10,000 reward for information on 26 assault rifles and one sniper rifle stolen earlier this month from an army warehouse. one weapon has been recovered and some arrests have been made. >>> dna evidence is taking center stage as young american -- a young american woman appeals for her murder conviction in italy. amanda knox was convicted of killing meredith kercher in 2007 but insists she didn't do

that, in fact, the talks between the white house and mitch mcconnell had picked up to a degree. folks on the republican side are also adamant that harry reid was not going to be able to reach cloture tonight on his plan, whatever which way he changed it up to try to republican members. one aide said, if harry reid were able to get cloture tonight, i would personally cut off my right hand on msnbc. so they were quite confident that was not going to occur. but what i'm hearing, maybe a white house meeting tomorrow between congressional leaders and somehow a way to figure out what exactly, what chuck was speaking about earlier, will be this trigger. obviously, with washington speak, to get a second extension of the debt ceiling through 2012. if this bipartisan commission is mentioned in the bill, which is supposed to come up to a solution to enact spending cuts can't reach it, what will be the painful trigger that would hurt both sides that would force them to try to cut spending before the next extension of the debt limit. now, thomas, assuming this deal gets done tomorrow, there

we know that senators mitch mcconnell had a lot to say. so did patrick leahy moments ago as well dick durbin. we have been hearing from all of them who have been debating this whole issue of trying to reach some compromise as the sparring continues, kate. while we wait for harry reid to speak, give us an idea of what is taking place. where are we as it pertains to these proposals? >> reporter: we're tracking a couple of things at this very moment, fredricka. one thing we're watching, we're waiting to hear from harry reid, who will be integral in reaching whatever compromise if there is a compromise, to be reached, he'll be integral in being part of those negotiations on the part of democrats here in congress. i think he's actually speaking, fredric fredricka. let's listen in for a second. >> be fairly quick. there has been a number of conversations as i walk in here about the letter i got from 43 republicans today. it is pretty interesting that the 43 republicans, a number of whom are in contact with me and others, one person who signed th

mitch mcconnell says that a deal is very close. and david plouffe, about the same time, said no agreement yet. we have agreements of what is on the table in terms of a possible agreement. let's couch it that way. if we learned one thing over the course of last week, nothing is done until it's done it would raise the debt ceiling by $2.8 trillion, get us through the next election, that's a condition president obama had all along. initial spending cuts of $1 trillion of discretionary spending would take place in the short term. there would be a clean vote in the senate on a balanced budget amendment, not agreement there, amendment. that is expected to go nowhere, but it's in there nonetheless to make some people happy. the super committee of members of congress that they are going to form is going to be meeting from now until thanksgiving. mandated to find $1.8 trillion in cuts, and you heard david plouffe say everything is on the table, including entitlement cuts, aka, social security, medicare, medicaid. as well as revenues, but re

tonight cnn has learned that mitch mcconnell is in direct contact with the white house and democratic leaders in congress met face to face with the president late this afternoon. but just a short time ago on the senate floor, senator harry reid insisted that claims a deal could be near are simply not true. >> today the speaker republican leader held a press conference to announce they're in talks with the president and that a bargain to raise the debt ceiling is in the works and is close. mr. president, members of the senate, that's not true. >> i just spent two hours with the president and vice president and leader pelosi. and it's fair for me to say that the engagement there is not in any meaningful way. the speaker and republican leader should know merely saying you have an agreement in front of a few television cameras doesn't make it so. >> the only way we're going to get an agreement before tuesday is to have an agreement with the president of the united states. the only person in america of the 307 million of us who can sign something into law. and i'm more optimistic than my f

kim, a lot of conservatives are saying that mitch mcconnell is selling out their principles and what's he really up to? >> well, what mitch mcconnell is actually up to is saying, look, we took a big bet on this debt ceiling thing opening to use the mefrj to make the president agree to spending cuts. what house republicans want. it's not working. everything he wants meager spending reform, wants higher taxes or he's saying he seems to be willing to go all the the way to shut down default. lets he' step back and let him take control of this and consequences of the action of not dealing with real spending reform. >> paul: dan, sellout. is this giving up too easily as a lot of right wing,are saying? >> no, i don't think so, paul. i think they overestimated their ability to leverage the president into big spending cuts. somehow, it seems to me, behind all this have is a misunderstanding about the power of the presidency, it is vast and getting into a big fight over big spending cuts and let's make it clear here, we're talking about reforming entitlement spending, medicare, medicaid spending

i think mitch mcconnell is the person to have in the hot seat this morning, don't you? >> yes, he seems like he -- i don't know, all these guys are power brokers. he seems to have become more of a power broker when he said i am going over here to the white house and going to talk over here. why was he insisting that the president got back in the mix in a major way? >> because the president is the only one that can give the final signoff on something. don't forget, it was the president that threatened to veto a short-term deal, and so he wanted to hear it directly from the president. mitch mcconnell had to wait until john boehner got his bill through the house, and that took a couple days if you recall, and he had to wait until that was done to start negotiating really full steam ahead, because, of course, he supported boehner's plan, and he couldn't look like he was undercutting him in any way shape your form. when that passed, then you saw the speaker and mitch mcconnell go out there and say, okay, folks, we need to have some serious discussions, and hopefully we will

that was mitch mcconnell saying they were close to raising the debt ceiling and we're hours away from a planned vote on harry reid's plan. they delayed the vote after the white house asked for more time to reach an agreement with the gop. the talks that have been taking place have done nothing to cool the bickering over which side is more committed to finding a compromise. >> i spent two hours with the president and vice president and leader pelosi. it's fair for me to say the engagement is not in a meaningful way. the leaders refuse to negotiate in good faith. >> i might say i cut short a conversation with the vice president to come out for this important vote on a live way. i want to get back to work and hopefully solve the problem. howard dean, former chairman of the democratic national committee. i have to tell you, in addition what we heard about that bickering between harry reid and mitch mcconnell and proceeded by mitch mcconnell saying we are close to a deal, we are monitoring "meet the press" and have white house adviser saying no, we don't have a deal yet. me what's going on

you can hear much more from mitch mcconnell. he's the guest on cnn's state of the union with gloria borger. also tonight, a cnn special report about finding a solution to this debt crisis. wolf blitzer and don lemon breaking down the obstacles and options. that's countdown to debt crisis, tonight at 9:00 on cnn. >>> turn to iran now where a last-minute pardon spares one man, the retaliatory eye for an eye sentence. literally. it was the change of heart behind this decision. you saw her picture just there. she was blinded when a man threw acid in her face. after he was convicted her attacker was sentenced to suffer the same fate in accordance with islamic law. but today, minutes before he was to have acid put in his eyes, blinding him, bahrami asked for the punishment to be stopped. the case got a lot of attention around the world that may have played a part in her decision. also in iran this morning, two american hikers held in tehran for the past two years are back in court today. this is the second hearing for josh fattal and

host: senator mitch mcconnell brought it up on the floor. here he is thursday. >> republicans will not be reduced to being the tax collectors for the obama economy. we will not call a bad deal a good deal. if the president wants to threaten seniors or rattle the world by attending that we cannot pay our bills, he can do that. he will not implicate republicans in these efforts. as a last result -- resort, i have a proposal. if the president would rather default than cut back, let him explain that. if he wants to preserve his vision of washington, let him explain that. if he wants to spend us into oblivion, he can do that. do not expect any more cover from republicans on it then you got on health care. none. host: your response? guest: republicans a implicated in all of this. it started under the bush administration. we are in a situationith the debt spiralling of control. we had to bail out an economy that was about to collapse in 2008. under who's watched did that occur? under whose watch did we have wars in afghanistan that we started? unde

the same discussion is had in mitch mcconnell's office. john boehner is the center of action as he's facing a rebellion in his own party. this is pretty darn surprising. one week out, the cbo score put john boehner back on the defensive. sam stein, he's moving quickly to shore up support. >> the cb score did him no favors. raise the debt ceiling and we want immediate cuts. he's got to pull back the plan, refigure it. resell it to the caucus. remember, republicans are devoted to not voting from any raise. >> this is like the french revolution, i think. after barack obama and harry reid, a lot of folks are after boehner and people they think are ka capitulators. if they don't give boehner a vehicle to send to the senate to say we raised the debt ceiling, no taxes, real cuts, maybe not as many as you want but here you go. we are doing the right thing, the responsible thing. >> we get a workable bill. >> let's turn to other news. good news as far as health goes. miracles still do happen. remember the guy that we heard only had three months to

mitch mcconnell plan. i am trivializing. congress tends to flat them down and if he raises the debt limit in ways, if they don't have the numbers to counter them. two-third and the debt limit gets passed. you wouldn't like that? >> not at all. i offered a letter and 87 of my colleagues said don't pass a mcconnell plan. it accedes our ability to deal with the issue. mr. president we disapprove and let's move on but raise it. >> presumably buying time to come up with a deal. i know how that goes. where do we go. in that event our debt is downgraded regardless. >> there is a decent chance it will be downgraded regardless. we pass cut, cap and balance last week, the credit rating said that was the only plan on the table that met the criteria. >> it went no where. senate tabled it as they tabled boehner last night. you guys are coming back and essentially shooting down a facsimile of the reed measure. it looks like we are playing tennis and keep batting balls. >> are they just wasting time. >> we missed our opportunity for real r

i think mitch mcconnell is clear here. he knows how to play the game very well. so i think over the next several hours, as we head into the night, that's going to be the critical time. >> so you see the democrats in the senate. let's go across and will we see the same here with boehner doing that with pelosi? >> you would think so. right now i think it's up to the senate side to come -- deliver something that they can propose to the house and bring them home. you're going to have to see a real coming together of a lot of interesting dynamics, because you're going to have to have bipartisan votes and voting blocs together. what we're hearing from everybody involved is there's an all-channels, vice president biden and his staff has been talking to lawmakers in both houses and it doesn't look right now very promising, but there's still a lot of discussion. >> part of that work, if that were to happen, as we were talking about the house there, the question is will speaker boehner leave tea party candidates in the cold for this next round. >> absolutely. as you say, t

mitch mcconnell, thank you for being with us. let me get to it. can you announce this morning that a plan has been reached and there's a deal? >> we are very close. we had a good day yesterday, both the president and vice president called me and the president talked to the speaker as well, and they understand with a republican majority in the house and a republican in the senate, and we made progress in that direction since april when the administration asked us to raise the debt ceiling with no reductions at all. i think i can confidently say this debt ceiling increase will avoid default, which is important for everybody in america to know we are not going to have a default for the first time, and we're not going to have job-killing tax increases in it, and we will deal with the problem, and that's that the government has been spending too much. we have not been taxing too little but spending too much. we're in a position where hopefully i can recommend to my members they take a serious look at it and support it. >> get it done when? >> soon. >>

mitch mcconnell is important. you have the republican house that is resisting a deal with the president and resisting raising the debt limit. you need republicans to move forward, but mitch mcconnell has shown a willingness much more f. he and a senior leader can make a deal t becomes more difficult for republicans to block it in the house. they will lose the republicans anyway. remember, john boehner passed the his plan that has no chance of going forward in the senate. it has debt limit increase on passage of a balanced budget amendment which is not going to happen. mitch connell can try to move that process along, but john boehner has to figure out how to get to a majority in the house. that's why nancy pelosi is relevant again as well as members of the caucus. >> this passage of a budget amendme amendment, if that's not put in there in some shape or form whether tied to raising the debt ceiling or a side bar, what does that say for the tea partiers who demanded this and have been relentless in demands for this

senate majority leader harry reid and minority leader mitch mcconnell. and so was my next guest, minority whip jonathan kyl, thanks for joining us you heard jack lew saying absolutely a deal will be done and this country will not default. are you there as well with that? >> the country will not default. whether or not there are savings retrieved in the process is the question. >> what kind of deal do you think is done. we heard resurrection of the ground bargain. do you think that's possible? >> unless the president gets off his absolute obsession with raising taxes, republicans are not going to agree to do anything that will harm our economy. and job killing taxes will harm our economy. there will not be a default. as to whether or not we can achieve savings in the process, again, depends on the president. >> let me quickly ask you, how willllhere not be a default? what do you believe will be the outcome? >> republican leaders have made it clear, if all else fail, if our efforts to adopt legislation to cut the deficit, put a straight jacket on it, balan

mitch mcconnell's office is vehemently denying this report. what's with the discrepancy here? >> well, listen, the president, vice president, members of our administration, are in constant contact with leaders in both parties. i'm not going to describe the specificity of any of those conversations. i think once the political theater of the boehner thing is done tonight it's clear it isn't going anywhere until senate, dead on arrival, hopefully you will begin to see more progress and energy in terms of finding where the common ground is so we can move on. obviously people are getting more and more concerned rightly and this is completely a function of washington inaction and politics and dysfunction. this is a correctable problem, let's get this over with, and let's move on. >> are you concerned, you're chief strategist in many ways, while you've won the argument about what the plan should look like, that everybody's looking at washington and say you know what, the president's in charge of washington, why can't he run that place? >> well, i think what's important is the america

, much like the deal he's striking now with mitch mcconnell. you heard harry reid say the deal is being negotiated at the white house. if the democrats have to vote on cuts to entitlement programs, you and david were talking about this -- they're already on the record as opposing any sort of dramatic change to medicare and social security. when they voted against that ryan plan, which would have been a dramatic overhaul of the medicare program. even though the president, the top democrat in our country, has already put it on the table publicly talking about reduced cost of living adjustments and social security in the run up to this and reduction in medicare benefits, possibly raising retirement age and some other adjustments to strengthen those programs, they're already on record against that in voting against the ryan plan. you take away all their cover if this is what comes out of this super committee, especially if it is due to the fact that republicans are unwilling to raise taxes. those bush tax cuts, this does not touch them. correct me

it is time for a daily call your chance to tell us what you think here is that is question is mitch mcconnell calling for an end to democracy with his request for the constitution to be changed and choices are yes it's a go where our ability to choose our will be governed or no he's just angry because this fellow conservatives went after him because he's ok with obama looking but that's you log on to. what you think the poll be open till tomorrow morning. after the break conservatives brian darling had his sermon to join me for a loan a liberal rumble. a new website twenty four seven live streaming news times what to do about the ongoing financial hardship unlimited free high quality videos for download. and stories you never find on mainstream news. to me that there's a new political. posting more on the artsy ducked. for. the. website it's twenty four seven live streaming news towns that can tell you about the ongoing financial hardship unlimited free hypo-t. videos for download. and stories you never find on mainstream news. in the me that will sell. all the political. posts in more aren't

part of this is just politics, and mitch mcconnell has nothing, if not a political animal, and it is sort of just saying it's the political answer, let's get the president to the table and make him be a leader. hopefully, my understanding is once the boehner bill is proven to die in the senate, the republicans will sit down and negotiate with harry reid, but they may not, and if not, then it may be a very strange weekend of, you know, demanding president obama come to the hill and see what happens. but i don't know how he helps here. he's not going to sway any votes. you need the votes in the house and the senate to pass this. the white house isn't voting on this, their only vote is the veto. >> ezra, the president has said he could accept the harry reid bill as he understands it, if you put the reid bill and the boehner bill on the table beside each other and you were trying to merge them in some sort of compromise form that democrats could accept and that enough republicans in the house could accept it, what would that look like? >> what we think it will look like is essentially th

and he's also already asked for mitch mcconnell's help. that's, of course, the republican leader of the senate, to help him get a plan that can pass through both the house and the senate, so we'll have to see what those developments are. we'll be monitoring them very closely. but as you mentioned, chris, we also got some very disappointing economic news. we learned that the economy grew just by 1.3% in the second quarter. that means that consumer spending really barely rose at all, so economists very worried about those figures, and all eyes or the markets today to see how they will react to what happened last night. we do expect the president to address the entire situation when he speaks in just about 20 minutes from now. and, again, chris, just to remind you, we only have about secretary timothy geithner has warned the nation will default on its loans for the first time in history if the lawmakers can't increase the debt ceiling by next tuesday. chris? >> thanks so much, kristen welker. >>> as she alluded to, speaker john boehner is in

here is senator mitch mcconnell. so what he is referring to is senator reid trying to move his plan on the senate floor trying to do it with 51 votes instead of 60 votes and i should note that the house today struck down the language of the reid bill in the house. governor? >> mike emanuel, thank you very much. reporting from capitol hill. >> sure. >> republican congressman david dreier from california is joining me for an exclusive interview. first of all, today you introduced the so-called reid lookalike bill. tell us what you were doing anded why you would introduce harry reid's bill as a republican in the house. >> it is great to be with you. in our quest to be bipartisan i would like to take your deer hunting cooking story and quote president truman and say if you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen. >> mike: our audience loves that. i think you nailed it. >> i don't care about them, do you like it, mike, is the question. >> mike: tell us about this bill. >> as you know, from the house we have passed two

where we have co ownership of a bad economy." >> i think mitch mcconnell deserves credit for candor. and in a murky washington were petty squabbling passes for serious rhetoric, he has been very blunt. what he is saying is to his own party, "if we let this happen, we say now that barack obama owns the economy politically, its president going into a reelection campaign, and our fingerprints are all over this disaster of the united states going into chapter 11, then we will on the economy with him. we will be co-owners. so, forget about it, folks." i think it was a very candid and grown-up piece of advice. >> let's look at how we got here. republicans were the ones who got with raising the debt ceiling to deep cuts. they were the ones who created the fiction and sold it to their supporters that somehow the two were tied together raising the debt ceiling with increased spending. in fact, there were no new authorizations in appeared faced with the prospect, mcconnell has no means to default. he wants to back away from it. but as he stepped up and say they want to share the sacrifice? he

mcconnell as we go through the process of the next two days and the weekend and will mitch mcconnell trying to get the republican vote or allowing in in any case the white house or democrats to go to get the republican votes to get this thing out of of the senate and on the way? >> well, mike, you will have the answers for us, because you as usual will be working over the weekend. >> you are absolutely correct. >> we will all be here, martin. we will all be here, buddy. >> and jim cramer of "mad money" fame tells us how mad wall street is about all of this. stay with us. ♪ dream on dream on dream on on. only one calcium supplement does that in one daily dose. new citracal slow release... continuously releases calcium plus d for the efficient absorption my body needs. citracal. plus the choice of every etf, 5-star research, and unmatched trading tools. there's price. there's value. don't confuse the two. e-trade. investing unleashed. don't confuse the two. diabetes testing? what else is new? you get the blood, hope it's enough, it's-- what's this? freestyle lite® blood glucose test

mitch mcconnell is negotiating with the white house. democratic leaders met with the president earlier today, as well. also in the nation's capital, teachers rallying against standardized testing. >> this is what democracy looks like. >> they marched to the white house carrying signs with slogans like children are more important than test scores. and i am not the problem. the group says emphasizing testing takes the focus away from students. actor matt damon also joined in on that rally. >>> federal agents are appealing to the public for information about assault rifles stolen from ft. irwin in california. the atf is offering a $10,000 reward for information on 26 assault rifles and one sniper rifle stolen earlier this month from an army warehouse. one weapon has been recovered and some arrests have been made. >>> dna evidence is taking center stage as young american -- a young american woman appeals for her murder conviction in italy. amanda knox was convicted of killing meredith kercher in 2007 but insists she didn't do it. a forensic

mitch mcconnell speaking now. the man who may hold the key to finishing this deal. >> the treasury said we'll be in a default situation, and the president of the united states is rolling out new mileage standards today. how about this? how about a plan from democrats in washington that can pass both chambers, prevent the crisis, and protect americans from a worsening economy? i would suggest to my friends on the other side this morning, they start taking their responsibilities as a majority party a little more seriously. because at this point, the only people who are disregarding the consequences of default are senate democrats, not the republicans in the house, but senate democrats. republicans have been doing the hard work of governing this week. it's about time our democratic friends joined us. mr. president, i yield the floor. >> president? mr. president? >> majority leader. >> i really appreciate my friend's statement. i haven't been here at all, but i certainly heard -- >> all right, that was mitch mcconnell

you had mitch mcconnell on the floor of the senate. basically shunning the leaders impatient to get with him and to come one a compromise and putting all the blame on the democrats. how do you get out of this impasse? >> well, if you look at leader reid's proposal it includes increasing the debt ceiling by as much. we reduce the debt itself. it includes no revenues as something to republicans have asked for. and all of the reductions in spending are those that the republicans have already agreed to. so i think we've gone pretty far in reaching out to the republicans. i know that leader reid is prepared to do more. he's meeting with leader mcconnell. if you want to compromise, we'll be able to reach a compromise. but if the tea party controls the actions in the house are able to block any types of compromises, then we're going to have a real problem. >> is there any way to reconcile you think what harry reid is proposing and what john boehner is proposing? >> absolutely. i think there's a lot of common ground there. what is important is

if boehner fails, then all of a sudden harry reid and mitch mcconnell put a deal together very quickly that's more weighted toward what the democrats want. they don't want a second vote on the debt ceiling in six months. that's the sticking point the whole time we've been here this week. >> back to kelly, briefly. democrats rung the white house and the senate. what are they going to get out of this when it's all over? >> reporter: for democrats, what they want to do is limit the damage to the programs they hold dear. when the cuts do happen, over time, that would be part of this package, they want to limit the chances that it's medicare, the social programs that would take the biggest brunt. they're just trying to hold the line on some of the things they consider important. up until now, it seemed republicans, especially tea party republicans had had such a disproportionate impact on this whole debate. >> all right. your government at work. some see it as why washington is badly, badly broken. kelly o'donnell, chuck todd. we'll keep watching, and thanks to you both. >>> of course, we a