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jeanne, first question, is it time to simply say, let's go for the possible in washington? everybody has grand ideas about what they want to do. nobody, nobody can get the support to get one of those through. do we have to look for just the possible? >> i think the mission of everyone in congress is to absolutely raise the debt ceiling. they cannot get away without doing that. the s&p has been the strongest credit rating agency. they said, we're going to downgrade you if you don't come up with a plan. but they say f you raise the ceiling but give us indication that you're on the road...

You've got two other ratings agencies, they're still giving the united states the aaa rating. how can standard & poor's have this great an effect on this country and those who invest in it? >> reporter: because it's cascading down. you start with the downgrade on friday afternoon of american treasury securities. uncle sam itself. today come down a notch, and you have downgraded what's called agency debt, fannie and freddie, housing agency debt. they've been downgraded. that's a cascade coming down the food chain. is the next step going to be towns and cities across america? could we see bankru...