Government Shutdown Possible; Clinton Weighs Run for President
WHITFIELD: We're expecting to hear from President Obama in the next 90 minutes or so. He's going to honor the victims of last week's Navy Yard massacre at the Marine barracks in Washington. Let's bring in CNN chief political correspondent, Candy Crowley. So, Candy, it seems that it's really becoming the norm more than the exception for this president, having to help heal the nation with all these mass shootings. What can we expect from him today? He'll be at the Marine barracks, even though that shooting took place at that Navy Yard.</s>CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. I think this is always a bit of the same thing. The president somehow needs to capture the emotions of a nation, speak to the deep loss of the people present that he's talking to, and somehow also try to bottle a lot of the anger that will be in that crowd, as well as elsewhere, without becoming too political. The president has certainly, in these previous incidents in Newtown and in Colorado, has been very easy with scriptures and has no problem at all with that. So he's kind of a preacher and a consoler and it's just, it's a very hard line to walk, particularly after you've done it so many times. I think that we are increasingly sort of seeing with the president a little more push in these sermons or talks or whatever you want to call them, to say, we've got to do something about weapons and keeping them out of the hands of the mentally ill and the criminals, et cetera.</s>WHITFIELD: And of course the president has an awful lot on his plate. There's that today, and then later on this week, he'll be going to the U.N. to talk more about Syria, perhaps, even, meet with the Iranian president. The White House is saying that's not scheduled, but it's a possibility, it hangs out there. So --</s>CROWLEY: They may share an elevator, who knows.</s>WHITFIELD: Who knows? Is this something the White House wants to push for? Particularly since this president said very early on in his presidency and during his run, why not the president meet up with the Iranian leader and meet face to face and talk?</s>CROWLEY: Of course, but there is a, you know, there is a difference between, yes, actually, I spoke with him. We mentioned that we have many things in common, that our nations have not seen eye to eye for three decades. And it was a very nice five-minute chat. And then having a, let's just sit down and talk. Presidents of any country don't tend to just sit down and wing it. These meetings like this take months to plan. So I don't expect some big, let's change the world as we know it meeting. And -- but, certainly, some kind of, you know, hello, how are you; we disagree, we should continue to move toward, you know, talks. You know, there's a lot of diplomacy involved. Neither one would surprise me if he did or he didn't, but I can assure you, it's not going to be some big, groundbreaking policy wise meeting between the two of them.</s>WHITFIELD: It will be, indeed, an interesting week. All while what also hangs in the balance is the potential government shutdown and then talk of the debt ceiling. A whole lot on the president's plate and on America's plate. Candy Crowley, thanks so much for joining us from Washington.</s>CROWLEY: Thanks!</s>WHITFIELD: So with only eight days before that deadline for that government shutdown, who are Americans holding most accountable? As our political editor Paul Steinhauser finds out, both sides have reason to be concerned.</s>PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Hey, Fred. In the battle over a government shutdown, public opinion seems to be giving both sides plenty of ammunition. If the government runs out of money at the end of the month, President Obama says some in the GOP who are pushing to defund the health care law will be blamed.</s>BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You have some Republicans in the House of Representatives who are promising to shut down the government at the end of this month if they can't shut down the Affordable Care Act.</s>STEINHAUSER: So who would you blame if there's a government shutdown? Half of those questioned in our recent CNN ORC poll say congressional Republicans with a third pointing fingers at the president. The health care law is front and center in this political game of chicken.</s>JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: And the law's a train wreck. And it's going to raise costs. It's destroying American jobs and it must go.</s>REP. ERIC CANTOR (R-VA), HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER: We aim to put a stop to ObamaCare before it costs one more job or raises a family's out-of- pocket expenses one more dollar.</s>STEINHAUSER: Our survey finds that support for the measure is dropping; 39 percent say they favor most or all of the provisions in the law, down 12 points from the beginning of the year. With polls bolstering each side's arguments, there may be even less incentive to compromise. Fred?</s>WHITFIELD: Thanks so much, Paul Steinhauser. A photojournalist gets some of the first images of that horrible massacre in Kenya. He documents all of it. The images will simply shock you and break your heart. The photographer shares his story, next.