acosta. the president said he's responsible for obama care's flaws, but he also said that romney care also had a slow start. >> reporter: that's right. as you said, the president traveled up to boston to make those comparisons between his health care plan and mitt romney's health care plan. he was talking about the bumpy rollout. there were some bumps, but not

jim acosta following the shut down story here. as i understand, jim, the president is actually going to go to visit fema to actually -- >> that's right. >> -- make a statement there. what do we know about his trip, first of all? >> i can tell you, suzanne, he's there right now. apparently, he's talking to the fema employees working on tropical storm karen. he may be thanking those employees. they called it kerry back to the white house. we'll be able to put that on the air. as of right now, they only has the traveling press pool with him. that is what the president is going to be talking about, not only fema but the government shutdown and how congress should pass a continuing resolution to get the government back open again. he's also going to be talking about this debt ceiling increase. you heard house republicans and this white house going back and forth over the last 24 hours over that. house speaker john boehner saying that they don't essentially have the votes for a clean debt ceiling increase. white house saying calling bac

let's bring in our senior white house correspondent jim acosta. he's standing by at the white house in the briefing room. it was pretty hastily organized, today's news conference. only a couple hours or so ago they announced the president would do this. >> twhhat's right, wolf. as you know, he canceled that trip to asia. the president has had some time on his hands. the white house usually provides a week ahead. what you've seen the president do over the last several

senior white house correspondent jim acosta is here. jim, take us inside last night's meeting. what was the purpose? >> reporter: well, the purpose was really, candy, to get democrats on the same page, and they have been very united through all of this. you have seen some of the fracturing inside the republican party. that has not really been the case with democrats, and the sense that we're getting today, as you know, senate majority leader harry reid and top senate democratic leaders were here at the white house, but that followed a very important meeting that occurred yesterday between senate majority leader harry reid and senate minority leader mitch mb konl. that's essentially the first time these two leaders have met over these negotiations to reopen the government and to raise the nation's debt ceiling. there is another meeting expected later today, although one is not damascheduled at at point. one new development, we're hearing from senate republican sources that senate majority leader harry reid is insisting on changes to the sequester as part of a larger deem to reop

jim acosta. has been been any reaction at this point to this notion -- and my guess is, we're not the first ones to know that there's a deal in the works. but are they saying anything publicly? >> reporter: no public official grand statement out of the white house yet into what they're seeing. one thing we can point out and talk to, an official this morning said, we'll see. as to what will develop after the senate deal. they feel like they've seen this movie before. earlier this week there were times when it looked like they had deal up on capitol hill only for the deal to get blown up. they are proceeding with caution at this point and that is understandable. one thing went to point out, as dana was mentioning, there are the four items in the senate deal. and one of those items deals with obama care. income verification requirements that republicans would like to see beefed up to make sure people who are getting subsidiaries deserve to get those subsidiaries as part of hemth care reform. and i t

let's go to jim acosta. any hint whatsoever of even a little progress? >> reporter: maybe just a smij. no price at this news conference president obama came out swinging at republicans, then as he was almost finished taking questions, he seemed to crack the door open just a bit to a potential breakthrough. it wasn't long after president obama walked to the podium that it sounded as if the standoff was once again at a stand still. >> let's stop the excuses. let's take a vote in the house. let's end this shut down right now. let's put people back to work. >> reporter: but as president obama moved his way through the final moments of a one how muur press conference, he said he would agree to a short-term debt ceiling increase. but only after the government is reopened and a default is avoided. >> they can attach some process to that. that gives them some certainty that in fact things they're concerned about will be topics of consideration. >> reporter: it came a few hours after a phone conversation between the president and house speaker john boehner who co

thanks very much, jim acosta, for that. joining us now, one of the republican senators inside that meeting with the president today, senator bob corker of tennessee. senator, thanks very much for coming in. >> wolf, good to be with you. >> so what's your assessment following that nearly two-hour meeting with the president? deal or no deal? >> well, look, certainly it wasn't the kind of forum for a deal to be had, but it was a good conversation. i have to say i wasn't expecting much, but i was pleasantly surprised. i do think there is areas of commonality and my sense is over the next few days or week, there will be something that's worked out. there is no reason that i can see that that wouldn't be the case. >> give us an example of what made you pleased. what did you hear from the president that you liked? >> well, i think again, most of our conversation was not about the tactics of how short term, how long term, those kind of things, but more about the bigger policy issues. i think the thing that's interesting is finally,

want to bring in senior white house correspondent, jim acosta and dan ta bash on capitol hill. we heard the president saying there are no winners here that america's standing in the world damaged. how does the republican party, particularly those in the house, how are they responding to this today? >> reporter: well, they certainly heard him say that there are no winners and losers. but they are not feeling that that was really his message, because he took the time to scold republicans for, as you heard, the damage that they did to the economy, from his perspective, to the u.s. image around the world and, of course, to the political difficulties that already existed in country making them much worse. the response that i'm getting from some members of the senior republican sources, members of the house leadership, is not very good. they just think that he's -- he had a chance to unite the country and instead he did the opposite with his message there. now on the substance of what he was asking for, that is a whole different question. first and foremost, on what got this country,

and harry reid, you heard jim acosta talk about something crucial. we are locked in tight on obama care. not moving a millimeter on the democrat side. harry reid talked about this motor significant event and that's the debt ceiling. >> we have the debt ceiling staring us in the face. he wants to talk about a short term cr? i thought they were center about the long term affairs of this country. and we said we are, too. let's talk about it. my friend john boehner, i repeat, cannot take yes for an answer. >> and nancy pelosi also weighed in. expressing her frustration in what she believed was a kraigt concession in term of a major spending cap that republicans wanted. which now doesn't seem to be enough. hear is the former speaker. >> for six months, they have avoided going to congress. now they come one their suggestion of 986 or 988. the figure varies. 988. which is a figure that our members in the house do not like. we think it is far too long and the chairman of the appropriations committee says it does not everybody able to government to provide fo

jim acosta reporting live from the white house this morning. thank you. >>> the weeks of maneuvering and bickers have meant long hours and lots of stress for people who work on the edges of congress. those who really do the people's business without fanfare or hidden motives. for one woman, the house stenographer, that stress may have been too much. that's her in the highlighted circle as she marches to the podium. what happens after that is truly sad and admittedly bizarre. >> the constitution would not have been written by freemasons! they go against god. you cannot serve two masters. you cannot serve two masters. praise be to god! lord jesus christ! >> lawmakers who witnessed the apparent unraveling of their colleague were shaken and baffled. >> i don't know what she was talking about. when the person started screaming i thought it was somebody telling us we had a minute to vote or two minutes to vote, some official person. the sergeant in arms didn't try to stop her. >> because she works there. >> that's where she's situated. she actually w

first let's go to our senior white house correspondent jim acosta with the very latest. >> reporter: here officials believe the president took ownership of the messups, that they feel like he for the first time addressed this issue of millions of cancellation letters going around, informing people they 345i lose coverage. it was part photo op, part flashback as the president stood in boston's historic faneuil hall. why he won caddied the plan's website is not working. >> there's not denying it, right now the website is too slow, too many people have gotten stuck, and i am not happy about it. i take full responsibility for making sure it gets fixed asap. >> reporter: mr. obama argued romney karat wasn't perfect at first, either. >> enrollment was extremely slow. within a month, only about 100 people had signed up. >> reporter: but there are also big differences. former romney aides are disgusted with the comparisons. what do you make of that? >> i think it's pathetic. >> reporter: williams noted romney had the late senator kennedy by his side, a bipartisan achievement that obama faile

jim acosta is live at the white house. jim, is the president taking part in any of these talks? >> reporter: not that the white house has announced. what they have said so far is that the president is being kept up to speed by his staff on basically the effects of this shutdown. white house put out a statement earlier this morning to that effect. there was some excitement outside the fence of the north lawn of the white house earlier today, miguel, when a few hundred protesters who were protesting outside of the monuments here in the nation's capital decided to remove some of the barricades around the world war ii memorial and dump them in front of the white house. that drew the response from the u.s. park police who came out, some in riot gear, to disperse that crowd. everybody left peacefully but there was some pushing and shoving. harry reid and mitch mcconnell may be talking again later today. reid said that to some extent on the senate floor just a little while ago, about you at this point there really is no -- any prospect at this point for any kind of deal. just isn't at

let's bring in our senior white house correspondent jim acosta and chief political reporter dana bash. they are all watching what is going on. jim, i was confused earlier. the vice president joe biden, a lot of people are suggesting he is missing in these discussions involving the government shutdown and hasn't been visible publicly but i assume playing a role behind the scenes. the meeting the president had with the four leaders in the house and senate and republicans, was he there? >> reporter: he was there. it's interesting to talk about the vice president's role in all of this. he was instrumental in brokering a deal to avert physical catastrophe the last time this came up in 2011. he was apparently talking behind the scenes with the senate majority leader mitchell mcconnell extensively. one thing i heard from a democratic sort who would have some knowledge as to what is going on here at the white house and thesenegotiations, these discussions with congress, the way it was explained to me, wolf, is that because mitch mcconnell has also been very silent through much of this, he is

>> jim acosta, thanks. don't go too far away. as soon as we learn anything that's going on in that meeting we'll go back to you. we first learned of the possibility of the talks at the white house between both sides at "the situation room" 24 hours ago during my interview with the number two democrat in the senate, dick durbin. here's a question, senator -- why doesn't the president of the united states do that, call the speaker, call senate minority leader, call the democratic leaders, bring them over to the white house, go to camp david, and make sure that the u.s. government is not shut down? >> i think that'll probably happen. >> you say the president's going to make that call and invite them to all get together. when do you think that's going to happen? >> i think it will be soon. i don't have any special insight into it, but i would imagine it will be soon. the president has made it clear he is not going to negotiate on the debt ceiling. he wants this government open. they're not doing him a favor by opening the government.

jim acosta at the white house, don't go too far away. much more coming up. >>> the breaking news we're following, we anticipate to hear from the speaker fairly soon, we're told, as soon as he walks to those microphones. we'll have live coverage. when we come back, what does all this mean as far as default is concerned? you might get different answers depending on whom you ask. we are breaking it all down. >>> plus, he's one of the most outspoken debt ceiling deniers, as they're called, in the house of representatives. the gop freshman congressman is vowing not to raise the debt ceiling and will debate a democratic congressman. that will happen here within a few moments. tweet us your suggested questions for both of them. don't forget to use the hash tag sitroom. ♪ [ male announcer ] may your lights always be green. [ tires screech ] ♪ [ beeping ] ♪ may you never be stuck behind a stinky truck. [ beeping ] ♪ may things always go your way. but it's good to be prepared... just in case they don't. toyota. let's go places, safely. ♪

senior white house correspondent jim acosta jonejoins us now. do we see what may be to come, more fighting? >> i think so, chris. just about all of washington was expecting the president to strike a bipartisan tone in the hours after the shutdown. instead republicans got a stern lecture, a sign that the shutdown may be over but there are more battles to come.

dana bash, jim acosta joining us. another day of talks between the president and republicans, still no deal. are the sides closer? do we know? >> they certainly don't appear that way. the house speaker left the capitol but had some dinner on the first floor of the capitol with some of his maybe call it his kitchen cabinet, some of his closest confidence in the republican caucus. you can small the smoke coming out and the takeout food according to our producer. she was down there. just because they were here semi late doesn't mean that there are real fruitful discussions going on. i could tell you just kind of the vibe that we had last night, which was much more positive than we had heard in weeks and weeks has subsided a lot as the day has worn on here and there has been no real movement between house republicans and the white house, anderson. >> is it fair to say senate republicans are getting i'm patient with house colleagues? >> it is fair to say that. i've spoken to several senators on the republican side who have

jim acosta hat latest. >> at present, we know it's been a difficult time for everyone. >> reporter: lo and behold two experienced capitol hill brawlers and senate majority leader harry reid and senate minority leader rich mcconnoll may have found the path to budget piece in california. >> wernts there yet and tremendous progress and everyone needs to be patient. >> reporter: both men shared the news on the senate floor they are close to a deal that would reopen the government and raise the nation's debt ceiling before a potential default in less than two days. >> i think it's safe to say we have made substantial progress and we look forward to making more progress in the near future. >> is there a deal? >> reporter: but as vice president joe biden indicated by staying mum on the subject, it's not over yet. here is how the deal would work. the government funded through mid january. the debt ceiling extended to early february. in a nongop opposition to obama care changes to that law are also under consideration including new income verification for health care subsidies. those are tweak

we get more from senior white house correspondent jim acosta. >>er hoot at fema for a couple of reasons. >> reporter: in the eye of a shoutdown dorm, the president is stopping by fema. it will accuse house speaker john boehner of blocking a vote that would reopen the government. >> my very strong suspicion there are enough folks there and the reason speaker boehner hasn't called a vote on is because he doesn't apparently want to see the government shutdown end at the moment. >> reporter: there could be a few breaks in the clouds over washington. the president promised to work with republicans on health care and the budget if they end the shutdown and raise the nation's debt ceiling. >> i am eager and ready to sit down and negotiate with republicans on a whole range of issues. >> reporter: another hopeful sign? with a potential default on october 17th fast approaching, white house officials said the president is willing to accept a short-term increase in the debt limit instead of raising it for one year as most democrats prefer. >> are you saying

we get more from jim acosta. >> reporter: the president recorded this video message for the post campaign volunteer team to spread the message of patience. >> by now you probably heard that the website has not worked as smoothly as it was supposed to. >> reporter: the obama administration has now employed jeff zients to be the mr. fix-it to go after the problems. >> i think they're providing management advice and come tags. but for more details about his rules because he's being brought on by hhs, i'd refer to you hhs. >> reporter: the white house is offering a few deals about the details. >> i'd refer to you hhs for that. >> reporter: republicans want more oversight. calling for weekly reports on the website's progress and the delay on the individual mandate to buy insurance if the tech issues continue. >> president put politics ahead of his own program working effectively and easily for hundreds of thousands of americans. >> reporter: former vice president candidate paul ryan is the latest to call on health and human services secretary is kathleen sebelius to step down saying i republic

our jim acosta begins our coverage. >> the motion is adopted. >> reporter: just as the nation was on the brink, the house of representatives blinked. and passed the better senate compromise to raise the nation's debt ceiling. after a 16-day shutdown, the federal government will come back to life. thousands of employees returning to work in washington to critical medical research programs, to national parks, even the panda cam and the national zoo. >> we will begin reopening our government immediately. >> reporter: the president said he willing to work with both parties in the future. >> i'm eager to work with anybody. democrat, republican, house or senate members on any idea that will grow our economy and create new jobs and strengthen the middle class and get our physical house in order. >> reporter: john boehner grave the green light to the deal after he dropped changes for obama care in exchange for an end to the standoff. >> we have been locked in a fight over here trying to bring government down to size and trying to do our best to stop obama care and we fought the good fight bu

. >> reporter: jim acosta, cnn, washington. >>> federal workers are now getting back to work today that the shutdown is over. many have returned but, of course, being gone for more than two weeks means there is quite a backlog to catch up on. >> there's a lot of e-mails and a lot of things i have to do as far as closing out last year performance wise and starting up the new year. quite a few things we have to do to get back to order. it will probably take a week where we should be and then take care of the new stuff we have to handle. >> tourists are said to be flocking back to the national park and museums now that they are open. some report their traffic ka down a lot by the shutdown. they too are ecstatic this whole thing is over. >> a as jim acosta mentioned one person pledged to continue to fight is ted cruz. he was a proponent of the shutdown arguing it was the right tool to help bring an end to obama care. his popularity among tea party supporters is soaring. but in texas, the feeling is decidedly more mixed. ed lavandera has that. >> reporter: ted cruz is either a gallant fighte

let's get the latest from jim acosta, at the white house this morning. good morning, jim. >> good morning, carol. president obama appears to be quietly working the phones in search of a deal. a gop source confirms to cnn that the president called senate minority leader mitch mcconnell yesterday about this compromise agreement. one thing we should also point out is that the white house is also signaling that the president does support this budget deal that's been worked out by the senate leaders. in part because it includes a debt ceiling increase potentially for four months. that would give both sides, democrats and republicans some time to work through this budget nightmar nightmare. >> mr. president, we know it's been a difficult time for everyone. >> lo and behold, two experienced capitol hill brawlers, senate majority leader harry reid and minority leader mitch mcconnell may have found the path to budget peace in washington. >> we are not there yet, but tremendous progress and everyone just needs to be patient. >> reporter: both men shared the news o

jim acosta, senior white house correspondent for cnn is on the lawn. jim, i didn't hear anything from the president that was new other than i did hear him reaffirm this new language we're hearing, instead of a pathway to citizenship, a pathway to earn citizenship, new-ish terminology, talking about how those who get in line, this imfwrags reform that was passed in the senate would have to learn english and get in the back of the line. was this just an attempt to put pressure on the house or is there something more substantive that will come out of the white house today? >> reporter: i don't think anything more substantive. i would expect you have heard him say this before as well. what we did hear from the president is laying out the political case, some of the political arguments we'll hear in the next several months. essentially, he is putting it on house republicans, which sounds like the debate over the shutdown and the potential debt default. it's not really the senate's fault. they passed an immigration bill. they got it out of the senate by a bi

dana bash, jim acosta covering it all for us tonight. dana bash first on capitol hill. are the sides any closer do we know? >> reporter: they certainly don't appear that way. i can tell you the house speaker has now left the capitol, but he did have some dinner on the first floor of the capitol with some of his maybe call it his kitchen cabinet, some of his closest confidantes in the republican caucus. i think we know for several reasons you can see all the smoke coming out and smell the takeout food according to our congressional producer who is down there. but just because they were here semilate doesn't mean that there are any real fruitful discussions going on. i can tell you just kind of the vibe that we had last night, which was much more positive than we'd heard in weeks and weeks has subsided a lot as the day has worn on here. and there has been no real movement between house republicans and the white house, anderson. is it fair to say senate republicans are getting impatient with their house colleagues? >> reporter: it is fair to say that. i've spoken to severa

jim acosta is joining us, one of our senior white house correspondents. what are you seeing, what are you hearing? >> i'm on the north lawn of the white house where we typically do our live shots and we're going to do something we don't normally do when we stand here reporting live. if we could just pan over to pennsylvania avenue. wolf, we can show you right now that pennsylvania avenue in front of the white house, which is basically a pedestrian area, wolf, is closed off to the public. you cannot walk up and down pennsylvania avenue. for a brief period, maybe 20 minutes, members of the press here at the white house were told they could not leave the grounds. they were being held back just a few moments ago, they were told you can leave, but you might not be able to get back in easily. you could see the general public, folks who were just coming here to look at the white house, the tourists, they have been pushed back to the other side of pennsylvania avenue. you can hear various sirens and so forth. one thing our photojournalist also saw as they were st

we have this meeting as jim acosta just said. grenades were not tossed in terms of words from one side or the other and they said they would work will you the night to see if there is a deal. do you think we're on the verge of a dale? >> here's what i believe. i've probably been in seven, eight, anybody meetings with the president. i would characterize this as probably the host constructive but i don't want to could not because the progress with success. the president, we republicans said we're happy to appoint people to talk about all of these issues. we want some breathing space. we'll increase the debt ceiling for six weeks but we have got to address the debt crisis that we have. and the president didn't say yes but he didn't say no. to some extent, i guess it is the first time as republicans, we did not hear no, i refuse to negotiate. so this is a discussion that hasn't led to negotiation yet. we were there an hour and a half and i would say there was at least understanding of each other's position. it is sad that it took so

our chief national security reporter and jim acosta is joining us now. jim, first to you, a tough statement from the chairman, dianne feinstein. what is the white house reaction? >> the white house reaction in part, wolf, is that the senator is correct that the president did not know about this foreign surveillance program aimed at world leaders. but they are taking issue, wolf, with one thing that the senator did say in that statement and that these collection activities aimed at foreign leaders will not continue. i talked to a senior administration official earlier this evening who says that part of the statement is inaccurate. they are being changed on that basis. and in large part these policies and programs are continuing for the time being while all of this is being reviewed. as you mentioned, wolf, the folks on capitol hill want to take a look at this. but the white house maintains they are conducting their own internal review right now. there may be changes by the end of the year. >> the white house is adamant that the president didn't know about

let's bring in jim acosta. millions of americans are now being told they can't keep their current health care policies. what the white house response? >> reporter: white house officials have been fighting back on twitter, arguing back that the people being affected right now represent a tiny fraction, 5% of the insurance market as we stand right now. but still, those changes that are happening for millions of americans do call into question a key selling point the president made about the health care law, one the white house says was not misleading. it's a presidential sales pitch. >> if you like your plan, keep your plan. >> reporter: millions of americans aren't buying any more. >> if you like your plan, you can keep your plan. if you like your private health insurance plan, you can keep it. >> reporter: but as obama care becomes reality, construction workers like ryan are finding they cannot keep their plan. >> i'm stomping mad. the guys i work with have gotten the same letters. and when we call blue cross b

jim acosta is at the white house. a few things breaking in the last few minutes. tell us about the phone calls, first of all. >> the phone call happened around 10:45 on the east coast on in the united states. the president called john boehner and a fairly one-sided call if you listen the various accounts according to white house officials. the president said what he has been saying all along he is not going to negotiate on a debt ceiling or continuing resolution to reopen the federal government with strings attached. so he urged the speaker to get something passed out of the house that would reopen the government and raise the nation's debt ceiling. but the memo from white house officials about this call goes on to say that the president is willing to talk about some of these priorities that republicans have. he is willing to talk about the budget. he is willing to talk about health care reform, but he wants to do it outside of this threat of a government shutdown and of a debt default. now one thing we do want to pass on, the president is holding a news conferenc