9:00 am on the east coast, 6:00 am out west. marathon talks lead to a new debt deal. at least in theory. the president backs it. so do leaders of both parties. still, no reason to celebrate just yet. in syria, a violent crackdown on anti-government protests. more than 7 0 people killed and counting. and new this morning, a big change to health coverage. the federal government will require insurers who provide birth control without co-payments. now, in just a few hours, we could see the beginning of the end of the debt crisis. it s been the issue in washington for weeks. and you re probably tired of the finger pointing and doomsday predictions. today, that could all come to an end if the house and senate approve a compromised plan. the deal identifies about $1 trillion in spending cuts over ten years and raises the debt ceiling by about the same amount. bipartisan committee must find ways to trim another trillion a, a so-called deficit posse. the president and house spea
trillion in cuts over ten years, raises the debt ceiling about about the same amount, sets up a bipartisan committee to find other ways to trim another trillion and change from the deficit. think of it as a deficit posse. it calls for both chamber of commerce eventually to pass a balanced budget amendment to the constitution. they don t actually have to pass it, they just have to vote on it. and the president and house speaker admit that the plan is not perfect, but hey, there s a deadline tomorrow. here s what the president said, then you ll hear from a freshman republican who, by the way, is dressed casually. give him a break, it was late on sunday night. now, is this the deal i would have preferred? no. but this compromise does make a serious downpayment on the deficit reduction we need and gives each party a strong incentive to get a balanced plan done before the end of the year. and to have bold changes to something so systematically broken is going to take time. i u