first, kelly o'donnell joins us from capitol hill. >>> hi, there, ann. three times in 24 hours, the president, speaker boehner, and leader reed all in the same room, trying to strike a budget deal. a fight over money, the troops, and social issues like abortion. shuttling between the white house and capitol hill. >> all of us sincerely believe we can get to an agreement. >> we're going to continue to work to get this done. it's -- um, not easy to do, but it's doable. >> reporter: polite standing together, but earlier, open hostility over who is to blame. >> this is the time, we don't have the time to fight over the tea party's extreme social agenda. >> reporter: democrats claim this fight shifted away from the size of spending cuts to divisive social issues. >> there's a fight here about values. this is a fight about what you value. >> policy changes related to the abortion and environment, known

the one on capitol hill. federal government has operated without a budget for 183 days now and if it doesn't pass one in a week, government will shut down and nonessential workers would be locked out of their offices. >> they are haggling over where to cut, but democrats and republicans actually can't even agree on whether or not they have an agreement on that baseline number. next week, paul ryan is expected to roll out the budget for next year. the president has wroled out his. maryland congressman chris van hollen joins me now. let's start with the issue of whether there is or not an agreement on the baseline figure of how much to cut. the vice president suggested that at least the two sides had come together on how much to cut if not how to get there. where do you stand on this issue? >> well, we thought there was some agreement on an overall number to cut, but of course, we had the tea party movement here on capitol hill yesterday and they were telling speaker boehner and the republicans to stand firm, g

now today was a busy day on capitol hill will tell you about obama's plan for reducing the deficit over the next twelve years and we'll find out if that has any chance of going anywhere and the cia is having trouble when it comes to hiring and keeping the best and brightest for the government intelligence agency i'll tell you why there's a brain drain and where government employees are going for a more profitable job and then what's going on in afghanistan capitol hill hasn't been talking much about the war and the white house has said absolutely nothing on the schedule of troop withdrawal that's supposed to begin in july so we're turning to contractors who are on the ground to give us some insight and then think on this and the u.s. student loan debt has for the first time surpassed credit card debt shocking we thought so well could this encourage teens and young adults to avoid college and opt for a different option for their future and then it's a bipartisan effort to keep your privacy private we'll tell you about a proposed bill that's going to protect your online privacy from data

congressional correspondent nancy cordes is on capitol hill with the details. nancy, good evening. >> reporter: harry, good evening to you. congressional leaders are sounding slightly more optimistic tonight about their negotiations but time is almost up so the administration is finalizing its plans for a shutdown. >> well, i think we've made some progress, yes, but we are... we are not finished, not by a long shot. >> reporter: that wasn't good enough for president obama who told congressional leaders today to act like adults. >> we've agreed to a compromise but somehow we still don't have a deal because some folks are trying to inject politics. >> reporter: with 4.4 million workers here and abroad, the federal government employs more americans than the nation's ten largest companies combined. if there is a shutdown, about 80% of those workers would stay on the job without pay including air traffic controllers, the border patrol, the f.b.i., and the military, even troops in iraq and afghanistan would not get what they're owed until the government reopens. most

susan mcgines is on capitol hill. the clock is ticking, susan. >> reporter: it sure is, dana. negotiators are struggling at this hour on capitol hill to come to that agreement by that morning deadline that the president gave them otherwise the government shuts down in less than 22 hours. >> reporter: president obama turned up the heat again thursday evening. they emerged without a budget deal. >> we made some progress today. those differents have been narrowed. and so once again the staff is going to be working tonight around the clock. >> all those in favor say aye. >> aye. >> reporter: earlier house republicans passed a bill that would keep the government running for another week and fund the pentagon through september. but the white house threatened to veto it calling it a distraction from the real work of a budget compromise. >> senator reed, mr. president, what part of broke don't you understand. >> reporter: the budget showdown has become a blame game. >> this is not the appropriate vehicle to have items debated and voted on. >> reporter: funding for planned parenthood a

this is on capitol hill mckenna house office building at the veterans for rethinking afghanistan press conference today i'm joined by jake deliberate matt ho and scott dempsey gentlemen if you would take just a minute please to tell us a little bit about your service and why you think it's important to be here today and to kill a bird so i served with the marines that the invasion of both iraq and afghanistan probably serve love my country but unfortunately i think it's our politicians have gotten off track taken our military to places where we don't need to be with the wrong strategy and one of those press conferences to bring republicans and to get republicans and democrats together to reunify the both parties around a central mission to defeat al qaeda and protect america for the future and we're going to have members of both parties here i was in the press conference correct yeah that's right there's both republicans and democrats coming out saying thank you scott sure i served as a marine inflation two thousand and five the recent return home from home province in afghanistan imbe

starting on capitol hill, susan? >> budgets, are political documents by nature. paul ryan said this isn't a budget, this is a cause. you talk to democrats and they say what obama said this was the opening salvo in the 2012 presidential campaign. i think we're seeing the broader agents -- arguments we'll have in 2012. it's going to be about fiscal responsibility and health care. medicine care and our social safety net is probably going to be the biggest clash between the two parties and we're going to have another argument over tax cuts. the bush tax cuts and the president saying this week, i extended them once, i refuse to do it again and having republicans on capitol hill saying we're not raising taxes. >> both you and janet spent your week prowling the granite halls on capitol hill and one thing that john boehner, the speaker of the house said, said he's succeeded in shifting the debate into a debate about spending cuts, not about spending. is he right? >> the frame of the debate really has shifted in that direction, whether boehner is single-handedly responsib

and here's what's coming up tonight on live big picture unfortunately it's gridlock on capitol hill again as lawmakers duke it out over the budget and with less than fifty hours left before the government goes dark we're going to explore what's at stake for americans if a shutdown really takes place plus i think you're not footing the bill for afghanistan think again i want to break down the actual figures that you and i are shelling out and you warn anybody and if the war costs don't make you sick there's always seafood to do the job especially if it's coming from japan we're going to talk about how that country's radiation leak could hurt the global food chain for all of us. are right you need to know this when the clock strikes midnight on friday april eighth it is now all but certain that americans will experience their first federal government shutdown in fifteen years and president barack obama is meeting with congressional leaders this evening in a last ditch effort to come to a deal on the budget as both sides remain billions of dollars apart and odds over where to find savings th

let's begin with nbc's kelly o'donnell on capitol hill with the very latest. kelly, good evening. >> reporter: good evening. the final hours of the budget mess have been filled with hints of optimism and lots of finger pointing. there had been some discussion that democrats believed they had a deal for somewhere around $38 billion in cuts this year. republicans rejected that and it's been several hours since we have seen the leaders come forward. at the washington monument, the last tourists have filed out and the first signs to arrived that it's not business as usual. while only a few have been in the negotiating room, the fight belonged to everyone with news conferences all over capitol hill. >> frankly, it's an embarrassing moment for the congress of the united states. an embarrassing moment i think for the american people. >> it's not fair for the american public to be held hostage to a senate that is unwilling to work with us. >> reporter: today, democrats framed the budget disagreement with two words, women's health. >> what is this over? it's over women

hill to a halt. >> two hollywood actors are visiting capitol hill to press congress to preserve funding for the arts. hundreds of arts activists will join alec baldwin and kevin stacy. the actors were scheduled to testify today was cancelled. they are helping members discussions for budget negotiations, stacy says that it's a win-win. >> we have senators who are on the subcommittee that will decide on this appropriation who believe in the arts and believe that they are an important part of our lives, not just because of the economy but because of what they do for our nation's spirit and health. >> some republicans have called for a $40 million cut to the national endowment for the national endowment to the arts. >>> it is brisk. temperatures in the 50s downtown. 70 in antioch but everyone experiencing the cooling trend but this is just the preview. i'll explain coming up. >> plus, royal watchers are hoping new memorabilia is not of prince and kate. we'll explain. >>> we're seeing the cooling trend. >> it's on and off. it's really chilly here but it looks pretty nice with the high clouds

hill to a halt. >> two hollywood actors are visiting capitol hill to press congress to preserve funding for the arts. hundreds of arts activists will join alec baldwin and kevin stacy. the actors were scheduled to testify todayas cancelled. they are helping members discussions for budget negotiations, stacy says that it's a win-win. >> we have senators who are on the subcommittee that will decide on this appropriation who believe in the arts and believe that they are an important part of our lives, not just because of the economy but because of what they do for our nation's spirit and health. >> some republicans have called for a $40 million cut to the national endowment for the national endowment to the arts. >>> it is brisk. temperatures in the 50s downtown. 70 in antioch but everyone experiencing the cooling trend but this is just the preview. i'll explain coming up. >> plus, royal watchers are hoping new memorabilia is not of prince and kate. we'll expl are you trapped and don't know how to escape your addiction to cigarettes? one out of two regular smokers will die prematurely from

there are some good signs coming from capitol hill this time though. house republicans and senate democrats are both saying they want to reach a deal to avoid a shutdown. >> as i said from the beginning, our goal is to cut spending, not shut down the government. >> we're continuing to work very, very hard to avoid the terrible consequences. that would come with the government shutdown. >> lawmakers have until april 9th to reach a deal. they need to fund the government through september 30th. >>> while d.c. public schools investigate accusations of cheating on standardized tests, the woman tapped to be the new chancellor is underfire now. mayor vincent gray's choice interim leader kaya henderson. at a town hall meeting, d.c. council chair kwame brown got an earful about those who are mad about henderson's resume and that no other candidates were considered. >> i don't even know her. she's just a carbon copy of michelle rhee. >> they already had in their mind who they wanted to select for the chancellor. she was very close to michelle rhee. so, i think i

hill they just spent two hundred thirty thousand dollars in the first three months of twenty eleven to connect with members of congress and federal agencies but that pales in comparison to the googles in the microsoft of the world that spend millions of dollars just in a month not even yours i mean facebook is on track to potentially have its first million dollar lobbying quarter but you know if it still isn't at the level of some of these other companies where facebook has to its credit in part of the reason why it hasn't looked at a pac just gets is that it's able to connect with all five hundred thirty five members of congress and the president because they're using its tools you know when these politicians have facebook pages they have profiles and accounts and they interact with commenters they're using the technology and facebook that's sometimes been just to connect with the members. but that's exactly what makes me nervous and skeptical of this entire scenario is that i feel like they're going to be using their tools too much sure it's one thing they might you know in the pu

>>pam: turning to the budget battle brewing on capitol hill, a partial government shutdown is looking more likely. republicans and democrats continue the fight over cuts for this year's budget. cement the reports on what's at stake. >>reporter: the was the second day of budget talks scheduled at the white house wednesday as the president left for pennsylvania leaving congressional leaders to battle it out on capitol hill. >> democrats and republicans did to get together, work for their differences. >>reporter: at stake a living partial shutdown of the government by friday. this is it they don't agree on the budget. democrats rejected a proposal tuesday to cut an additional $12 billion and extend the deadline one week. >> every time we agreed to meet in the middle the move for the middle is. >>reporter: finger pointed out more on wednesday, they blame the democrats and the president. >> we been trying to go forward but the president and harry reid have been missing in action. >>reporter: among the sticking points proposed cuts to health care reform, for a girl funding for planned paren

contingency plans for the shutdown have been made we were all capitol hill appears to be in chaos. why is everyone moved into crisis mode we still don't know if a government shutdown will really happen so is the panic justified or is it just a lot of hype is if you're worried about the government's financial fallout possible the worst is yet to come here in the u.s. . and in portugal it appears already to be here the country crumbling under the weight of its debt is now saying it needs a bailout for bailouts in greece and ireland does this threaten the euro zone in the global economy which of the u.s. learned. and what if the u.s. can't get out can't get its books together what would happen if the u.s. lost its golden aaa credit rating and people started worrying uncle sam couldn't pay his debts back. all the variations of accidentally killed your family. and looking back at iraq that outrage of the toll of you as air strikes killing civilians hidden from american eyes are we seeing deja vu in libya. that evening it's wednesday april sixth seven pm here in washington d.c. i'm laure

hill how will the bill your take on the speech. well to begin with first of all thanks for having me i'd like to make a correction crank up the band terra he said metallica. i think that the. takeaway that i get is more of the same and listening to the left right paradigm. you know democrats want to cut this the republicans want to cut that but the real bottom line is that i'm that there's one cut that i'm not hearing any politician talk about making one cut that we need to make above all is that cut to the interest that we pay to the federal reserve separate a printer money. you know the. reserves and a lot of it we don't know exactly what they take and what they make but we estimate a billion dollars a day go to the coffers of the federal reserve simply in interest payments we pay them so they have the privilege to print our money if you cut out of the budget a lot of folks could be fed a lot of jobs you know a lot of infrastructure could be taken care of so no matter what the president talks about either obama or clinton or bush

contingency plans for the shutdown have been made capitol hill appears to be in chaos you heard or chaos why is everyone moved into crisis mode we still don't know if a government shutdown will really actually happen so is the panic justified or is it just a lot of hype because if you're worried about the government's financial fallout it's possible the worst is still yet to come. and did portugal it appears already to be here the country is crumbling under the weight of its debt is now saying it needs a bailout this after bailouts in greece and ireland does this threaten the eurozone stay on that little economy. and what is the u.s. can't get its books together what would happen if the u.s. lost its golden aaa credit rating people started worrying uncle sam couldn't pay his debts. all these americans accidentally killed your family. and looking back at a rocket outrage over the toll of u.s. air strikes killing civilians hidden from american view what are we seeing deja vu in libya. prime minister has made it official the country in the midst of a sovereign debt crisis is calling for a b

let's go now to your colleague and mine, jon karl, our man con capitol hill. the votes are still going on. let's talk about this planned parenthood rider. how much of a sticking point was that? was that the republicans playing tough poker or were they really committed to getting that through? >> reporter: well, it's a big priority for republicans. republicans hate the idea that planned parenthood gets more than $300 million a year in federal money. even though none of that money actually goes to abortion. they don't like the fact that it goes to an organization that provides abortion and they don't trust that the money is not fungible. so, it is a big issue. but about this, speaker boehner said, bill, over and over again, publicly and i am told priva privately, that this was all about the money, about the spending. he wanted to push this as far as he could to get the biggest number he could get. and he got a pretty big number. he certainly got a lot more than the democrats were orj nally offering. >> and what does it say that we came within minutes of a federa

>>reporter: on capitol hill planned parenthood supporters rallied to save federal funding if. the battle lines are drawn. if this thing they don't want federal tax dollars going to an organization that provides abortion services. if it is a lot of people who have more problems with that and i think it's difficult to force people to violate their conscious to send that money to planned parenthood. if since 1976 as an illegal for congress to provide funding to clinics and hospitals for abortions. if groups like planned parenthood to receive federal funding but specifically for other women's health services like cancer screenings, hiv test and had some years. the issue is whether that money should be struck which would mean a $300 million loss for planned parenthood and other women's health care centers. add to that with the group is calling this information from republicans. like senator john kyl. >> if you want an abortion in a planned parenthood and that's well over 90 percent of the planned parenthood does. >>reporter: false as planned parenthood, they say 3 percent of their

nancy cordes is on capitol hill with more on that. nancy, good evening. >> reporter: harry, these cuts are broader than anything either party has ever put forward. republicans say they are the key to the nation's fiscal health while democrats say they will tear apart the nation's safety net. >> this is the path to prosperity. >> reporter: making good on their chief campaign promise, house republicans unveiled a plan to dramatically shrink the size of government by overhauling the social programs at the root of the nation's debt crisis. >> it is time to stand up and do what is necessary to fix this country. we need to be honest with the american people about the problems we face. >> reporter: starting with medicare which they want to convert over time from a government-run insurance program to a subsidy. seniors could use it to help defray the cost of private insurance. >> no changes-- let me repeat, no changes-- are made that would affect those in or near retirement. >> reporter: then republicans want to put a cap on medicaid, food st

>> smith: nancy cordes on capitol hill tonight. thank you. let's go to the other side of pennsylvania avenue now. chip reid is our chief white house correspondent. chip, what are the folks there saying about the odds of getting a deal done? >> reporter: well, harry, if they moved things ahead in the meeting at the white house today it wasn't by much. they're saying it's about a 50- 50 chance at best of getting a deal at this point. the only good news today was that when john boehner and harry reid came out here to the microphones after meeting with the president, they came out together, so it appears that at least they're still on speaking terms. >> smith: chip, there's another meeting at the white house tonight and just over 24 hours to avert a government shutdown. can one more meeting make a difference? >> reporter: well, harry, i think it's clear that if there's going to be a deal it won't happen until both sides feel they absolutely have their backs up against a wall, and time is so short now that we may be at that point. when harry reid

you see on capitol hill what you know the current head of the cia leon panetta general petraeus who some say might actually be tapped to run for the presidency in two thousand and twelve let's talk about that two thousand and twelve could obama be reshuffling the furniture to try and woo woo voters that there is change actually happening on capitol hill because as we all know his whole campaign record was was about to change and also what the american public think about america being embroiled now in three wars iraq afghanistan and libya well the polls are showing that obama's popularity rating is taking a dramatic drop that americans are saying we need to be out of afghanistan and they were very upset that that secretary of defense gates was in iraq just a week ago saying to the iraqis if you want us to stay you've got to give us some lead time essentially you know putting it on the on the table we want to stay you've got to ask us and that's not what the american that's not the change the american public voted for for barack obama there's a lot of this satisfaction among those who work

jon karl spent the day on capitol hill getting answers. >> reporter: on capitol hill, a partisan meltdown. >> the reason we did not shut it down is because -- >> house will come to order. gentleman will suspend. >> cut spending to begin getting our fiscal house in order and to keep -- >> reporter: they even disagree about what they disagree about. democrats say they have agreement on $34.5 billion in spending cuts. but republicans say there is no agreement on how much to cut. and believe it or not, the issue of abortion could be what causes the government to shut down. democrats say republicans are trying to use the funding bill to force new restrictions on abortion rights. but republicans say they are simply trying to restrict public funding of abortion. one tea party freshman told us shutting down is better than rolling over. are we really serious that we could see a government shutdown when there are only a few billion dollars separating these two? >> yeah, it's possible. >> reporter: it's worth shutting it down? over those few billion? >> i will tell you, it's time for our side to sto

hill. that is not a vision of the america i know. the america i know is generous and compassionate. it is a land of opportunity and optimism. yes, we take responsibility for ourselves but we also take responsibility for each other. for the country we want and a future that we share. we are a nation that built a railroad across a continent and brought light to communities shredded in darkness. we sent a generation to college on the gi bill and save millions of seniors from poverty with medicare and medicaid. we have let the world and scientific research and technological breakthroughs that have transformed millions of lives. that is who we are. this is the america i know. we don't have to choose between a future of spiralling debt and one where we forfeit our investment in our people and our country. to meet our fiscal challenge, we will need to make reforms. we will all need to make sacrifices, but we don't have to sacrifice the america we believe in. as long as i am president, we won't. to

leadership do about the angry tea partiers who came out to protest on capitol hill today and how long until we have to see this entire game played out yet again here in the south with me as a reporter for talking points memo dot com and apparently a member of the tories d.c. brat pack ryan thanks so much for being on the show tonight ok so maybe we are going to see a government shutdown and it's all kind of speculative at the moment but for starters we just what is wrong with our government is a really that dysfunctional that is needs to happen over and over again they've already passed six of these temporary stopgap spending bills they always have to bring it down to the bottom with the wire i think that there's a there's real money for the g.o.p. in. these negotiations out the closer you get to that moment whether it's a government shutdown or a default on the debt the more leverage you have to do concessions from the other party and so we've seen this play out over and over again because it's not that they have such fundamental disagreements on spending it's what can they get out o

hill but today we have a rather surprising update for you remember when we explained the details of the budget bill we told you about some of the riders attached to the plan one which defunded obama stars well today the president had a change of heart when it came to section twenty two sixty two the part which defines a certain white house advisor positions as in the stars you see the republicans but they claim victory with this policy provision because they've argued for a while now that these unelected bureaucrats have too much power within the white house and of course remember that sars don't have to face senate approval like most other positions which allows the president to appoint them as he pleases now on a side note as he pointed out previously this writer would affect courts ours and three of them have already left there is our position and the fourth would be affected by this provision but now back to the part where obama changed his mind you see the president released a signing statement on friday explaining the rights that he has as commander in chief and he explained h

thank you very much, kelly o'donnell, live on capitol hill. thanks, kelly. >>> we've got an update on a story we brought you yesterday about a new drug designed to prevent premature births, which are the leading cause of deaths in infants worldwide. the manufacturer of a drug agreed to reduce the price which soared after the fda approved the drug recently. nbc news chief investigative correspondent lisa meyers joins us live from washington. lisa, you've been reporting on this for two days. the drug company's made a decision to lower the price but eyebrows are still raised at this point. >> reporter: yes, tamron. some say the reduction does not go far enough. first, recap what happened here. this drug known asth makena cou help 140,000 women. many have been take a hormone compound similar to the drug and paying $20 a dose. when the kv pharmaceutical announced the new drug would cost $1500 a dose, there was widespread outrage. today, the company relented and announced it would reduce its list price of makena by more than half to $690 per injecti

contingency plans for the shutdown have been made meanwhile capitol hill appears to be in chaos. why is everyone moved into crisis mode we don't know if a government shutdown will really happen so is this panic justified or is it just hot air blowing out of the mainstream media because if you're worried about the government's financial fallout it's possible you see nothing yet. and what if the u.s. can't get its books together what would happen if u.s. lost his golden aaa credit rating people started boring uncle sam couldn't pay his debts back. i'll be. have accidentally killed your family. looking back at iraq and outrage over the toll of u.s. airstrikes killing civilians patients from american eyes are we think deja vu with libya. it's wednesday april sixth four pm here in washington d.c. i'm lauren lyster you're watching r t now u.s. lawmakers and president obama continue to haggle over the two thousand and seven budget cuts they cannot agree and the government shutdown looms now this has been one of the talk doom and gloom stories on the mainstream media for days now and the

are you picking up the same vibrations on capitol hill that we are closer to a deal now than we were at the beginning of the day? >> reporter: absolutely. the expectation here, among democrats and republicans, is that they are so close that they can get a deal by midnight. of course, those last minute things can break this up. but they really believe both sides they can get a deal by midnight and that they can do it in a way that prevents the government from shutting down. but george, that clock is ticking. >> that's right. as you say, nothing would surprise any of the negotiators right now. >>> but if that shutdown comes, the shockwaves would hit americans here at home and onto the front lines in afghanistan, throwing, as we said, a wrench into everything from tax refunds and adoptions to that next paycheck most military families depend on. david wright spent the day finding out how americans are bracing for the impact, and he's in san diego tonight. david? >> reporter: good evening, george, from the aircraft carrier "midway" here in san diego bay. you know, when we hear the phrase

they are calling it a spending showdown up on capitol hill. >> effort that. time time running out to find common ground to avoid a government shutdown. >> full speed ahead with the door open. we are hearing from a city supervisor who was aboard this wild muni ride coming up. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, the defense will begin presenting its case in the barry bonds perj >>> let's take a look at today's top stories. the defense will begin presenting its case in the barry bonds perjury trial this morning. there is word that the slug core take the stand in his own did he -- slugger could take the stand in his own defense. the judge will also rule on dropping one count of making false statements. >>> the sex trial involving italy's premier is under way. and the first day in court lasted just seven minutes. silvio berlusconi accused of paying for sex with an underaged prostitute and then trying to use his influence to cover it up. berlusconi did not attend today's proceedings. that trial resumes next month. >>> a former congressman is in libya today. curt weldon from penns

on capitol hill yesterday republican senators john mccain and democrat senator john kerry came together to do something that the leadership of both parties wholeheartedly agree on taking away your freedom and put it in my sounding title on the bill is the two thousand and eleven commercial privacy bill of rights act intended to protect your personal information. there's just one catch it doesn't apply to the government that's right it only applies to private entities would apply but not to say the department of defense which already has a database of nearly every high school child in america for recruitment purposes. or the n.s.a. or the cia or the f.b.i. all of whom have committed violations of americans privacy and rights supposedly protected by the fourth amendment of the us constitution the real privacy bill of rights is already in the bill of rights so say to look at that fourth amendment the right of the people to be secure in their persons houses papers and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause

. >> defense secretary robert gates testifying on capitol hill on thursday. he's on the record saying that stopping the violence in libya is not a vital national interest to the united states. but america is now in the game. for how long and to what end? let's bring back retired general jim jones. welcome back again. on libya, secretary gates said on this program and several last week that it was not in the vital interests of the united states. do you agree? >> i agree with that. >> you agree that it's not in the vital interest? >> i agree. it's not a vital interest in the sense that it affects the vital security of the nation. but, we're part of an alliance. we're one of the global leaders, if not the global leader. and we have to -- we have to do -- it's more in the vital interest of europeans. when you consider the effects of massive immigration. the effects of terror. the effects of the oil market. >> so the united states is now in it. you can call it what you want. it's a third armed conflict. >> we're a part of it. we're transitioning to a supporting pa

. >> reporter: many on capitol hill hoped the tragedy would usher in a new era of bipartisanship and civility. >> i think the tone changed for about two weeks, and then i think after that we went back to the partisanship. >> reporter: karen bass, who went from speaker of the california house to the lone democratic freshman on the budget committee, says the feelings of unity after the tucson shooting are long gone. >> the tea party on your side-- as so often is the case... >> ( boos ) >> couric: efforts to tone down the rhetoric soon ran head first into a bitter fight over federal spending. >> we're not there yet. >> i think that's part of the combat that takes place in a legislative process. >> this is my life. this is my schedule. >> couric: florida's alan west, an iraq war veteran, walks the halls of congress with his trademark military satchel. he campaigned on the g.o.p.'s pledge to america, which included a promise of $100 billion in spending cuts this year. when the republican leadership wavered on that amount, west and many of his tea party compatriots demanded it stand firm.

. >> woodruff: to politics and some possible movement on capitol hill that might avert a government shutdown. the months-long battle over spending cuts appeared to edge closer to a resolution today as the white house announced that house republicans and senate democrats were moving toward compromise. the potential deal would reportedly trim $33 billion from current spending levels. senate majority leader harry reid said now the two sides have to figure out how to get there. >> this isn't just about dollars and deficits. it's about principles and priorities. what we cut is much more important than how much we cut. we'll continue talking and continue working to find a middle ground. i hope an agreement can be reached. but it will not come on the backs of middle-class families and the jobs they need. and it will not come if the other sidcontues to insist on unreasonable and unrealistic cuts. >> woodruff: after meeting with house and senate leaders on capitol hill wednesday night, vice president biden said both sides were, quote, "working off the same number now." but at a thursday morning news

budget talks on capitol hill continued through the night. ktvu's allison burns live in our washington d.c. newsroom where the big question is are we closer to seeing a federal government shutdown? allison. >> reporter: dave, the key negotiators appeared side by side after an evening meeting with president obama at the white house. but the latest word is they are still far enough apart on the budget that a shutdown is a real possibility at midnight tomorrow. >> we're not there yet. but hope lies eternal. >> we do have some honest differences, but i do think we made some progress. but i want to reiterate there's no agreement on a number. and there's no agreement on the policy writers. >> reporter: no so-called policy writers republicans are insisting stay in the budget defunding planned parenthood and cutting money for national public radio. president obama is keeping up the pressure to reach a deal. >> it would be inexcusable given the relatively narrow differences when it comes to numbers between the two parties that we can't get this done.

hill and frankly i mean i can't blame them obviously worked in two thousand and ten when the republicans gain control of the house but this is just a glaring example of how our society has changed how our government has changed and it's a sign of accepting this political ideology we're corporations really can't determine who ends up writing and in acting our laws in our country so if you weren't convinced before his know that citizens united really did change everything. now today congress passed the thirty eight billion dollar budget big region last week that's going to fund the government through the rest of two thousand and eleven but despite all the partisan turmoil in recent weeks that led us to the grief of a government shutdown that was the easy part the debt ceiling must be voted on soon as it's going to hit its limit on may sixteenth according to treasury secretary tim geithner and then comes the showdown on budget twenty twelve or you can see the clear lines being drawn between paul ryan's deficit reduction proposal and president obama's own which she unveiled just yesterday no

her of seven lawmakers pick to work on capitol hill and how their lives have changed by now what happens when lawmakers stop being bipartisan and start being. america it is really hard to be a congressman and only make one hundred seventy five thousand dollars every year please send your top hats and send your french cup shirts and send your monocles the needs of representative sean duffy really need your help today because he's not working a job that pays the american median income about thirty five to fifty thousand dollars you know what your heart is not what you say let's say this is what you have way to go on those we left out one important thing which is that he said he supported to cut and congressional salaries and he has six kids he has to live in two cities most people don't have to go you are asking for the right is the really hard i didn't say some really hard not so bad but why not have the whole quote which said and i'm fine with slashing my pay and it's really why would you leave that up do you know i mean i don't know i don't think it was time i slash is that if it was si

the budget battle on capitol hill keeps growing and it's getting here's your pie hole compromise at thirty three billion dollars last week it was supposedly reached yeah that went out the window and the g.o.p. has prepared another stop after after twelve billion which the president rejected today to add more fuel to the buyer paul ryan released his budget for two thousand and twelve today and ryan laid out his plan that he says would cut six point two trillion dollars in spending over the next ten years working spending below twenty percent of g.d.p. and reducing the deficit by four point four trillion dollars we've also got medicare and medicaid and leave defense spending pretty much on touched and revamp some tax cuts some people have called it political suicide others have said it's the most courageous political move they've ever seen so which one is it going to be to discuss it is a reporter and blogger a blogger for think progress dot org and the progress report the center for american progress and liz mair vice president of heinz communications and former communications director for