Page 3 - Appeasing Washington News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

We have to. >> reporter: at the pentagon and federal agencies across washington, senior managers have been consumed with preparing their departments. >> probably thousands of hours of employee time better spent on supporting national security. >> reporter: furloughed workers might have to come to work tuesday and have four hours to close up their office. >> shut down blackberrys, shut down equipment, and turn around and go home. >> reporter: a radio station popular with federal workers has been inundated with questions. what's been the reaction from your listeners? >> sudden panic. people are ...

I'm wolf blitzer, you're in "the situation room." he has broken important new ground with a dangerous adversary. he told the world about his phone call to iran's president during remarks that were expected to focus almost entirely on the potential government shutdown threat here in washington. we're following both breaking stories this hour. first, the historic phone call. just a little while ago the u.s. ambassador to the united nations, susan rice, spoke with our fareed zakaria, on how the phone call came about. >> susan, can you give us a sense of how this phone call happened? who called ...

Threat meals informally, have a handshake, a photo opportunities, if you will, didn't happen. the president of the united states wanted it to happen. the iranians said it was too complicated, they needed more time to prepared. there's a lot of spec thags that 9 hard liners didn't want the iranian president to meet with the leader of the evil empire. how will these rez susan rice just said it was hassan rowhani's idea for this phone call today? is it. >> reporter: obviously there are still a lot of anti-u.s. hawks here in iran, just as there are anti-iran hawks in washington. they are wary abou...

Bomb. others have speculated that maybe they're prepared to open up for broader inspections, maybe some military facilities, but they've made it clear that they're not going to back down to washington. they don't want to be viewed as appeasing to washington's demands, backing down to their demands, and that's why they say they want substantial gains in return. first and foremost, they want to be recognized as washington's equal. they want washington and western powers to recognize their right to have a peaceful nuclear program and enrich uranium based on international law, and they want some o...

Isolation, political isolation, the economic sanctions that iranians have suffered through for years. if this path continues, if washington and tehran improve relations, it could very well be ordinary iranians who benefit the most. many in america are not aware of this, but the iranian population is one of the most educated, cultured, sophisticated populations in the region. recent statistics showed that 60% of women in iran are educated. that's a sign of an advanced society, a society with lots of potential. but that potential has been blocked because in part, the rivalry with the u.s., they ...