and this Friday we are starting with a pair of articlesthat are driving up tension between the UnitedStates and Russia.
Last week Russian President Vladimir Putin wrote an opinion piece for "The New York Times."
He was critical of the U.S. government for threatening a military strike against Syria.
This week, long time U.S. Senator John McCain responded, McCain has been a big supporter ofU.S. military action in Syria.
But his opinion piece for the Russian Website "Pravda" was more focused on Russia'spresident.
It was titled Russians deserve better than Putin.
He accused the Russian governmentof imprisoning opponents, rigging elections and controlling the country's media.
Yesterday, President Putin said he wasn't aware of the article.
But Russia's did have some criticism for United Nations' report about chemical weapons in Syria.
Russian officials called the report "bias, distorted, and built on insufficient information."
Russia says the inspectors need to go back to Syria to finish their investigation.
U.N. Representatives say the report stands for itself.
Back in the United States there is a deadline looming in the nation's Capitol and the possibilityof parts of the U.S. government going dark.
President Obama and members of Congress have until the end of this month to work at a dealon the federal government's budget.
If they can't reach an agreement over the next ten days, a government shutdown will kick in onOctober 1st.
There are several issues involved here, like the country's debt limit, and President Obama'shealth care reform law.
We'll look more closely at those as this story develops.
If the government shuts down, it won't shuts down completely.
Functions that are considered essential will still run, things like air traffic control and disasterassistance.
But many government offices would likely close, museums and parks would stop operating.
Thousands of federal employees could be sent home and not paid.
It's happened before, there were two government shutdown in the mid 1990s.
The longest one lasted 21 days.
Is the U.S. government heading for another?
The clock is ticking.
It's time for you to shout out.
Howard Schultz is the CEO of what major company?
If you think you know it, then shout it out!
Is it Starbucks, Facebook, Wal-Mart or Apple?
You've got three seconds, go!
Schultz is the chief executive officer for Starbucks, which has nearly 18,000 stores worldwide.
That's your answer and that's your "Shoutout."
