The city may invoke Eminent Domain, seizing the loans, and then working with owners to try to refinance their homes at todays lower price. Woodruff good evening. Im judy woodruff. Ifill and im gwen ifill. Those are just some of the stories were covering on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by moving our economy for 160 years. Bnsf, the engine that connects us. And by the alfred p. Sloan foundation. Supporting science, technology, and improved Economic Performance and Financial Literacy in the 21st century. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. And. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Ifill our lead story tonight republicans and democrats were locked in a standoff over the president S Health Care law and federal spending. The test of wills played out, with just eleven days until a potential Government Shutdown. Well deliver a big victory in the house tomorrow, then the fight will move over to the senate, where it belongs. In case theres any shred of doubt in the minds of our house counterparts, i want to be absolutely Crystal Clear any bill that defunds obamacare is dead. Dead. Ifill on capitol hill today, neither side ready to blink. The president is digging his heels in too, vowing to veto any attempt to eliminate funding for the health care law. But House Republicans plan to try to kill obamacare tomorrow anyway, as part of a spending bill that would keep the government running past october 1. Speaker boehner said the house will pass the bill, and his counterparts across the capitol should too. I expect my Senate Colleagues to do everything they can to defund this law, just like the house is going to do. Ifill whether they will, remains unclear. Texas republican senator ted cruz, a driving force behind the effort in the house and the senate, said he will not back down. I will do everything necessary and Anything Possible to defund obamacare. Filibuster . Yes. And anything else. Any procedural means necessary. Ifill but some republicans are reluctant. Tennessee republican bob corker dismissed the entire strategy via twitter. He wrote democrats were happy to highlight republican disagreement. Majority leader harry reid theres really some wrangling among the ranks. Not orepublicans in the house, but now we have battles going among republicans in the house and republicans in the senate. So lets just wait and see if they have a stomach for closing the government. Ifill after tomorrows vote, House Republicans are preparing to move right on to the next fiscal fight this time over raising the National Debt limit. This time, they are working to link its passage to implementing a oneyear delay in the health care law. But White House Press secretary jay carney suggested any such proposal is not worth discussing. Its unconscionable to imagine that there are those in the congress and now apparently because he couldnt persuade them otherwise, the speaker of the house has joined them who believe that it is the right thing to do to threaten another recession, threaten economic calamity in this country and the globe over their desire to defund or delay the Affordable Care act. Ifill the treasury now estimates the government will reach its borrowing limit, which would mean defaulting on its debts, sometime between late october and early november. Woodruff and, in the other news of this day a warning from pope francis that the Roman Catholic churchs moral authority is likely to fall like a house of cards, unless it becomes more welcoming. He told an italian jesuit magazine that, the church sometimes has locked itself up in small things, in smallminded rules. The pontiff said doctrines against abortion, gays and contraception must be balanced against the need to be more merciful. Well have more on this, later in the program. The u. S. House of representatives has debated a bill to slash food stamps by some 40 billion over the next decade. Republicans argued today the measure provides muchneeded reforms to a program thats expanded to one in seven americans. Democrats countered with pictures of hungry americans, and argued the cuts would do great harm, as the two sides battled on the house floor. These 40 billion in cuts go against decades of bipartisan support for the fight against hunger in the United States. They will hurt our economy and they are, in a word, immoral. If this cruel legislation were to become law, at least four million of the nations poorest citizens would lose access to the food that they need. Republicans arent trying to take food out of babies mouths or make our seniors go hungry. Dont believe the scare tactics from my colleagues who oppose the bill. This is a common sense reform that cuts waste, fraud, and abuse leaving more money for the americans who truly need help in time of need. Woodruff the democraticrun senate opposes the house bill, and the white house has threatened a veto, if the measure ever makes it to the president. A Texas Appeals Court today tossed out the moneylaundering conviction of former House Majority leader tom delay. In 2010, he was found guilty of illegally channeling 190,000 in corporate donations to republicans running for the state legislature. The Appeals Court ruled the state never proved the money was illegally obtained. Prosecutors plan to appeal. J. P. Morgan chase will pay one of the largest fines ever, for one of the largest trading losses ever. The fines total 920 million. U. S. And british financial regulators said the bank is also admitting that weak oversight allowed london traders to lose 6 billion. More on this, in a moment. The death toll in mexicos disastrous flooding hit 97 today, amid major new destruction. A massive mudslide buried much of a village, located deep in the countrys southern mountains. Officials said 58 people are missing there. One survivor told a harrowing story. translated i was walking down the street, near a store, when i heard a loud noise and i just stood there. I saw how the dirt and dust began to billow up. It was like black smoke and it turned like a windmill. When i saw that it was coming down to the field, i left running. I didnt see anymore. Woodruff the flooding and mudslides were triggered by a pair of tropical storms that struck last weekend. One devastated acapulco, then grew into hurricane manuel and battered the northwest state of sinaloa today. New fighting has erupted in syria between islamist gunmen and westernbacked rebels. Activists confirmed today that an alqaeda offshoot seized a northern town near the turkish border, driving out fighters with the free syrian army. It was the latest sign of growing infighting in rebel ranks. U. S. Senator john mccain fired back today at russian president vladimir putin. Last week, in the new york times, putin strongly criticized the u. S. And its policy on syria. Today, on a russian news website, mccain wrote that putin rules, quote,. By corruption, repression and violence. He rules for himself. The Arizona Republican also accused putin of siding with a tyrant in syria. In egypt, Security Forces stormed an islamist stronghold near the great pyramids, on the outskirts of cairo. They went door to door, hunting down armed supporters of ousted president mohammed morsi. The soldiers were backed by Armored Vehicles and helicopters as gunmen fired down on them from the rooftops. The Egyptian Security chief vowed today to keep up the pressure. translated the 55 people who were arrested are those who burned the churches, paraded with the bodies of the policemen, scared the people and formed the criminal hideouts in kerdasa. This is just the beginning and we will continue our operation. Woodruff islamists seized the town after Security Forces cracked down on promorsi protesters in cairo, killing hundreds of people. The washington, d. C. Navy yard reopened today for the First Time Since a gunman killed 12 people there on monday. The 16block walled complex had been closed to all but essential personnel as the f. B. I. Investigated. As thousands of employees streamed back to work, vice admiral William French said theres counseling for anyone who wants it. To the people that are in the military, and buy things so were interested in opening people up and making sure we can get to them and get them the help they need woodruff the navy yards building 197, where the shootings occurred, remains closed. Wall street mostly took a breather today after wednesdays rally. The Dow Jones Industrial average lost 40 points to close at 15,636. The nasdaq rose five points to close at 3,789. The man who spent more than 50 years at the helm of videogame pioneer nintendo has died. Hiroshi yamauchi ran the Japanese Company from 1949 to 2002. During that time, it grew from a playingcard maker to one of the most popular Gaming Companies in the world. Yamauchi died today of pneumonia at a hospital in central japan. He was 85 years old. Woodruff still ahead on the newshour goodwill gestures to and from iran; over a billion dollars in penalties and refunds levied on j. P. Morgan; a unique approach to help troubled homeowners; the pope faults the Catholic Church for being obsessed with abortion and homosexuality and what will healthcare reform mean for the premiums you pay. Ifill now to iran and what looks like a Charm Offensive not seen in more than three decades. Ever since Hasan Rouhani was elected president of iran in june, hes been sending signals that he is more open, more moderate than his predecessors. Perhaps his most overt olive branch was delivered last night during an interview with nbc news, in which he signaled a possible diplomatic opening on his countrys disputed nuclear program. translated we have never pursued or sought a nuclear bomb, and we are not going to do so. In its nuclear program, this government enters with full power and has complete authority. We have sufficient political latitude to solve this problem. Ifill rouhani also said hed had a positive and Constructive Exchange of letters with president obama on the issue, which the white house confirmed. The iranian leader has already transferred responsibility for Nuclear Negotiations from irans conservative military to the foreign ministry. And, on monday, the countrys new Atomic Energy head pledged increased cooperation with u. N. Inspectors. During an interview on telemundo this week, president obama said he welcomes the apparent diplomatic thaw. There are indications that rouhani, the new president , is somebody who is looking to open dialogue with the west and with the United States, in a way that we havent seen in the past. And so we should test it. Ifill other signs of defrosting iranian authorities unexpectedly released 11 prominent Political Prisoners yesterday, including nasrin sotoudeh, a prominent human rights lawyer. And earlier this month, in a tweet, rouhani wished the worlds jews a happy rosh hashanah. Rouhanis change in tone, at least, stands in stark contrast to the heated rhetoric of mahmoud ahmadiniejad, the previous president , who routinely attacked the west and denied the holocaust. But Israeli Government leaders remain deeply skeptical about rouhanis nuclear plans. Ifill although rouhani will attend the u. N. General assembly next week, there are no announced plans for him to meet with president obama. So, what do president rouhanis overtures to the United States mean . And how much change is actually happening inside iran . For those answers, im joined by haleh esfandiari, director of the middle east program at the wilson center. And karim sadjadpour, a senior associate at the carnegie endowments middle east program. What is rouhani up to, karim sadjadpour. As you said, queen, this is the most significant event they have launched since 1979 and it has been significant. I think the big question is whether this is merely a tactical compromise in order to stave off economic pressure and reduce sanctions 0 is this a strategic shift by iran to alter its relationship with the outside world, in particular with the United States, and i think only time will tell. Were going to have to test that as president obama said. What do you think about that, haleh esfandiari. I think its strategic. I think that the economic shardship that the people of iran are feeling and have been sensing for the last eight years finally res natured with the supreme leader. Because of the sankions. Because of the sankions, of course, and i think thats why he gave at least a lot of leeway to president rouhani to see if he can do something that you know, he can sense that he has quite a lot of authority to be able to at least start a set of negotiations. Ifill when president rouhani won and was installed in office there was much discussion about how he was a moderate or centrist. What dud that mean in iran. With the bar of Public Diplomacy was set very low by the previous president so as long as rouhani comes in and doesnt deny the holocaust and call for israel to be wiped off the map he is seen as a moderate. But historically he has been a constant regime inside ever. But his Foreign Policy and National Security focus, in that respect he has shown himself as someone putting irans National Interests ahead of revolution or ideological interests and for the Obama Administration which is looking a the middle east and every country seems to be unraveling, syria, egypt, bahrain, a lot of negative examples there, and i think that iran, ironically, is perhaps one of the few sources of hope for obama to leave a positive diplomatic regularly. Ifill so so curious about one part of ann currys interview at nbc about whether he denied the holocaust. His answer was im a politician not a historyion. That seem like a missed opportunity. Yes, i know. I think he felt he could not come out straight and say, no, i think my predecessor made this horrendous mistake by saying that. So he got away with this answer because he thought that his foreign minister who is equally a savvy politician had already taken care of the holocaust issue when he left on his facebook or in his twitter in answer to a question that happened to be from daughter that the people of iran never denied the holocaust and the person who that person is no longer president. So i think rouhani that that that took care of the holocaust so he tried to wiggle his way around sphwhriefl he is a politician. He is a politician, compared to his predecessor and the others. Karim, what do you say to people who wonder if all of this olivebranch waving isnt a ploy to get sankions lifted . Anything is possible, gwen, but we wont know until we test it. I dont doubt rouhanis desire to pursue de taunt with the United States. What is in question is whether he has the authority to carry out that da taunt with the United States. And we really dont know. I have to say im someone who didnt allow for rouhani to be elected in the first place. And the supreme right has looked at resistance towards america as one of the strategic pillars, idealogical pillars for three decades and im confident that he is prepared to abandon those pillars . I dont think so. But i think we wont know until we try to test it. Ifill against that backdrop, in 2007, haleh esfandiari, you were released from being held in iran. And you watched this prisoner released yesterday with special interest. How significant is it . I think its very significant and i felt very emotional when i saw the reunion of the young woman that was freed. But there are a whole list of people that were released, by the foreign minister and i think it was very significant because it happened also on the eve of the trip of president rouhani, who im sure would be asked about the other presenters, political prirches, including so at least we have something to show. Ifill but there are dozens of others . There are numbers, they say, you know, around 800 Political Prisoners and different degrees but maybe that is the first step. But just to give you an example that nothing is as simple as one sees in iran. Already today, if you see the press comments that say, well, these people had served their terms and had nothing to do, which is ridiculous. Everybody knew the sentence. But they want to try and cover it up. Ifill this mutual outrage going on between the u. S. And iran, does it help the president of the United States to square the circle on syria at all . Possibly. At the moment, the u. S. And iran are basically embroiled in a zero sum game in syria, bashar alassads biggest backer is iran and obviously the u. S. Wants us to go. The irony is, theyre locked in the game but when theres a fault theres going to be an overlapping interest between washington, iran and syria which is mutual concerns about radical islamists who hate shiites as much as the United States. What do you think will happen at the u. N. General assembly, is this all a build up to that moment . I believe so. But my sense is that he is going to give a speech which is very modera