sometimes the conversation doesn't end when we go to commercials and sometimes it gets heated and not ready for primetime. but we want to hear an exchange overheard in the break about vice president joe biden and harry reid. >> there is no reason to believe that harry reid will screw this up. when he has the power back in his hands -- >> and he is found in negotiating these things ever. >> i have been saying that biden disappeared and now we find out reid won't let him in the building. >> he cut a bad deal the first two times around. >> andrew was talking about something two weeks ago. i cannot get it out of my mind. i want to thank our panel. that does it for this edition of "ac360 later." shutdown showdown with jake tapper starts right now. tonight, a cnn special. >> very optimistic.

>> i share his optimism. >> >> after two weeks of paralysis. >> there's a deal to be had here. >> there's finally movement. but the clock is still running down. >> if we don't start making real progress in the house and the senate we stand a good chance of defaulting. >> will the house rank and file play ball? don't count on it. >> if there are no systemic changes to the debt i would vote no. >> our guest a republican lawmaker from a swing district. >> jeff denham shut down our government. >> jeff denham joins us live and fires back. this is "shutdown showdown." good evening, everyone. i'm jake tapper almost to this special half hour of shutdown showdown. we are closing in on the 48 hour

mark before we set off a to terrible default on the country's sprawling national debt. we are approaching day 15 of the partial government shutdown not to mention the hundreds of thousands working without pay and all of the individuals whose lives have been impacted whether in the tourism industries or low-income mothers who need w.i.c. money to feed their babies. today, a hint of optimism on the senate floor, harry reid channelled jimmy cliff saying that tomorrow could be a bright day, a slew of back and forth negotiations were supposed to end with congressional leaders and the president meeting at the white house this afternoon. but that never happened. that means that negotiations are intensifying and the rough structure of this deal is starting to take shape.

it hinges on extending the ability to borrow money to pay our bills through february 7th and the reopening of the government january 15th. but we have to clear a high par in the house before there is a bright sun shiny day to sing about. we are happy to be joined by jeff denham of california. and our political analyst gloria borger and dana bash. i know it's only 8:00 where you're from. so it's not that much of a hardship to be up this late. but thanks so much. but dana, get us up to speed on where the senate negotiations are. and congressman i want to see if it's anything you can live with. >> they are pretty much almost there. the question is whether senate republicans agree to it and the gist is that the government will be reopened and funded until the

middle of january. the debt ceiling will be raised until probably the first week in february. and you know, the idea is that democrats gave a little bit, they think a lot because they wanted the debt ceiling to be raised through the end of 2014. it's going to be earlier. and the republicans think they gave a little bit. they wanted to have the government open and move all the way into next year because you know, the sequester levels, another round of cuts happen in 2014. but that's not going to happen now. >> they would keep the level of funding at the lower sequester now but not the lower level that kicks in next year. what about obama care? >> they say at this point they are -- i guess nibble around the edges, not anything big like defunding or delaying or the other things that you voted for that didn't go in the senate

like making sure that there is verification of people's income levels they are getting subsidies. >> i thought that was in it, actually. >> the white house says there is something in there already. but they want to make sure. >> and another tax that might be delayed. >> for -- which actually it's an employee fee which unions hate. that is something the democrats -- >> congressman, can you live with that? would that be enough for you to vote to open the government? >> i am hopeful it will be a brighter day tomorrow. certainly i think it's good news to hear there may be an agreement in the senate. but really, it's going to depend on the details. you know, i'm somebody who strongly believes that we have to get this 17, going to 18 trillion dollars in debt under control. i want to see a long-term plan. we haven't had a budget for five years now. absent a budget or appropriations bills that continue to sit over in the senate we have to have a

blueprint to show the american people what our priorities are. >> but what about the whole strategy of originally tying this to defunding of obama care, effect effectively promising something you couldn't deliver. if you had to do it all over again would you do it that way? >> we anticipated the debt ceiling would be coming up first. we would be dealing with spending -- >> that's a no? >> that's a no. >> the timing got structured on us. >> you wouldn't have done it this way. you look at the polls. you know, you're being targeted in your district. 2/3 of the public blames republicans. >> there are not a lot of swing districts left in this country. you are in one of them. this is a new poll from "washington post" abc news showing how the disapproval over how republicans in congress are

handling negotiation, now it's 74%. the pick is turning against republicans. numbers are for democrats are in the 60s and for president obama above 50%. >> even lower for members of congress. yeah. we're at an all time low right now. that's horrible for us and worse for the country. we have to find ways to work together. and on a retire of issues, including this we have got democrats to come together with republicans and start working on no labels types of ways to solve this problem. getting rid of the party and focusing on solutions. >> i was in the hallway tonight. john mccain was holding a copy of that poll you just read and a reporter asked do you think the republicans are going to give on this? and he said of course. and someone said why?

he said because 74% of americans are blaming republicans. do you feel like enough already? >> we should never have got to this point. >> it was a republican strategy in the house. >> it was a strategy to get both sides to talk. that's why we passed the funding bills. w.i.c. we passed a funding bill for that. but the opportunity was to get both houses and the president engaged on negotiations on this stuff. >> but isn't that like saying you knocked humity -- humpity dumpity off the wall and now are trying to put him back together? what is going to happen tomorrow? >> is there a -- i guess the big question right now in washington is not whether mitch mcconnell and harry reid are going to be able to strike a deal. i think people think that is going to happen and could pass

the senate fairly overwhelming. will house republicans go for it? >> i think it's in the details. when i say the details it's not so much what are the different pieces that each party may contribute to the negotiation but what is the long term solution? is there a guarantee that both parties are going to work together? >> they say yes. >> there should be teeth in there. >> what are the teeth? >> things that would force them to come together. we have to get not just both houses but the parties to work together. >> in they don't have that would you not vote for it? or do you feel the pressure to -- >> my concern is with the debt that my kids have to take on. it's a big issue for me. >> let's talk about that right after this break. when we return now it's getting

personal. congressman denham is sticking around. i'll ask about a targeted ad in his district back home. will the shutdown cost him his job. weekdays are for rising to the challenge. they're the days to take care of business. when possibilities become reality. with centurylink as your trusted partner, our visionary cloud infrastructure and global broadband network free you to focus on what matters. with custom communications solutions and responsive, dedicated support, we constantly evolve to meet your needs. every day of the week. centurylink® your link to what's next.

we're now just over 48 hours away from the federal government not being able to pay all its bills and the clock continues to tick down.

the big question are members of congress more concerned about saving their jobs or your retirement savings? when we made our commitment to the gulf, bp had two big goals: help the gulf recover and learn from what happened so we could be a better, safer energy company. i can tell you - safety is at the heart of everything we do. we've added cutting-edge technology, like a new deepwater well cap and a state-of-the-art monitoring center, where experts watch over all drilling activity twenty-four-seven. and we're sharing what we've learned, so we can all produce energy more safely.

our commitment has never been stronger. a body at rest tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammation. plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function so moving is easier. celebrex can be taken with or without food. and it's not a narcotic. you and your doctor should balance the benefits with the risks. all prescription nsaids, like celebrex, ibuprofen, naproxen and meloxicam have the same cardiovascular warning. they all may increase the chance of heart attack or stroke, which can lead to death. this chance increases if you have heart disease or risk factors such as high blood pressure or when nsaids are taken for long periods. nsaids, like celebrex,

increase the chance of serious skin or allergic reactions or stomach and intestine problems, such as bleeding and ulcers, which can occur without warning and may cause death. patients also taking aspirin and the elderly are at increased risk for stomach bleeding and ulcers. don't take celebrex if you have bleeding in the stomach or intestine, or had an asthma attack, hives, other allergies to aspirin, nsaids or sulfonamides. get help right away if you have swelling of the face or throat, or trouble breathing. tell your doctor your medical history. and find an arthritis treatment for you. visit celebrex.com and ask your doctor about celebrex. for a body in motion. welcome back to "shutdown showdown." we are back with congressman jeff denham. you have a message for your mom who just got out of the hospital. >> welcome home, mom. sorry i couldn't be there this weekend. >> you are one of ten republicans targeted in a new

round of ads that blame the g.o.p. for the government shutdown. >> jeff denham joined with the tea party and shut down our government. put hundreds of thousands of americans out of work. >> joining us is jeff harris and gloria borger and dana bash. these ads paint you as a tea party republican and have a picture of ted cruz. this could hurt you in fall of 2014 or not? >> i'm not concerned about it. my job is to represent the people of my district. i go home and we hold the town halls. e we have a job to do here. >> john, you want to get in here? >> there is no question that democrats are going to try to make your -- even though you are not a primary support try to make you pay.

so even your mother will be saying i'm not sure about this guy. i mean, that's -- >> she'll never change her mind. >> you must be frustrated that members of your own party don't have a sensitivity to people like you in your situation in california. >> you know, a lot of people go out there and say a lot of difficult things and that gets frustrating. the most frustrating thing is you can't get both parties to work together at a time -- this is not republican or democrat. this is america and our jobs. our full faith and credit to other nations. this is something that is a worldwide issue. >> so many of your colleagues don't want to work together or have to work together. their pressure is not to work together. they're most concerned being primaried by a republican. >> there are few blue dogs left. and that creates a challenging dynamic. >> can i ask you and we can talk about this as this moment john

boehner is having. i mean, tonight, he might be worried about what happens in his caucus tomorrow. but john boehner is not a guy who seems to carry his problems around with him. he is low key and smokes a cigarette when he gets nervous. but could this be sort of a moment that defines him? do you think? particularly if he decides to go without a majority of his own republicans? >> when you are speaker there are a lot of issues that will come up -- >> not a lot bigger than this. >> this is a big deal. the amount of our debt is a big deal. that's something we'll have to explain tomorrow. and if this is going to be a short-term agreement what is going to happen to make sure we are in a different place four months ago. >> should he bring this up even if it only will pass because of democrats and not because of

republicans? >> i think it's a discussion we have to have. again -- >> how responsibility is it to you that it get the majority of the majority as opposed to the majority of the house? >> it's extremely important that we shot the shutdown and avoid the debt ceiling cliff. we have to have discussions about that. it's unfortunately that finally after over two weeks of the shutdown we are finally engaging in those conversations. >> but a crisis and government shutdown would be one thing if it led to a resolution and clarified the issues or settled the issues. what is frustrating about this is at best the resolution is let's kick the can for two months. >> that will be the biggest frustration in our conference tomorrow. we want long-term resolution. we want a path -- >> how about guaranteed

negotiations. we're going to negotiate and get done by december -- >> that's what is allegedly in this deal is to say that the budget negotiations have to start and finish by december 13th. >> you are up there all the time. is there any dynamic. i feel like from afar as an editor it looks like there should be a deal and if you could get the parties in a room with no cameras it would take 30 minutes. but how many times can we be tricked by this? time after time after time there would be a grand bargain. when is it going to change? >> i mean, you would think that it would change relatively soon because barack obama's time is running out for his legacy. but he might want to wait until after the 2014 election and immigration reform.

>> thank you for coming to visit with us, jeffrey denham. tomorrow's play book and what is going through john boehner's head right now. a new reporting on what the speaker of the house may or may not accept. coming up next. thank you, sir. [ male announcer] surprise -- you're having triplets. [ babies crying ] surprise -- your house was built on an ancient burial ground. [ ghosts moaning ] surprise -- your car needs a new transmission. [ coyote howls ] how about no more surprises? now you can get all the online trading tools you need without any surprise fees. ♪ it's not rocket science.

it's just common sense. from td ameritrade. ♪ [ male announcer ] the parking lot helps by letting us know who's coming. the carts keep everyone on the right track. the power tools introduce themselves. all the bits and bulbs keep themselves stocked. and the doors even handle the checkout so we can work on that thing that's stuck in the thing. [ female announcer ] today, cisco is connecting the internet of everything. so everyone goes home happy. [ female announcer ] today, cisco is connecting the internet of everything. ♪ for a store near you go to benjaminmoore.com/bayarea.

for a store near you go to benjaminmoore.com/bayarea.

we're just over two days away from the debt ceiling deadline and although leaders on both sides say they are optimistic, what will it take to get us there. we have a sneak peek on where the debate will go tomorrow. that's coming up next. ♪ norfolk southern what's your function? ♪ ♪ hooking up the country helping business run ♪ ♪ trains! they haul everything, safely and on time. ♪ tracks! they connect the factories built along the lines. and that means jobs, lots of people, making lots and lots of things. let's get your business rolling now, everybody sing. ♪ norfolk southern what's your function? ♪ ♪ helping this big country move ahead as one ♪ ♪ norfolk southern how's that function? ♪

peace of mind is important when so we provide it services you bucan rely on. with centurylink as your trusted it partner, you'll experience reliable uptime for the network and services you depend on. multi-layered security solutions keep your information safe, and secure.

and responsive dedicated support meets your needs, and eases your mind. centurylink. your link to what's next. ♪ [ male announcer ] united is rolling out global, satellite-fed wi-fi to connect you even 35,000 feet over the ocean. ♪ that's...wifi friendly. ♪ welcome back to "shutdown showdown" i'm jake tapper. give us a sneak peek at what politico has planned tomorrow morning? >> we put the sneak peek up a

few minutes ago it's a look at john boehner and his choice, what we were talking about earlier on this show. jo the senate will come forward with a compromise that most conservative house members will hate. the choice for boehner is, look, do we say no to this or try to amend it and send it back to prove once again that he is giving up very reluctantly to the imperative of a deal or say it's time to fold our hands. if he does the amendment route there is not much time. >> and the bottom line is that he has built a lot of goodwill. if he would have said i'm going to just try to pass someone with democratic votes three weeks ago it would have been hard. and now, no. i mean there are a lot of people who said you took us down this

road because we wanted you to. we fought the good fight and we know that two plus two equals four. we're not going to win. thank you for trying. i think he has more support and trust as a leader than he did before. >> so he could say i gave you enough rope and you hung yourself and now it's time to kind of move on and get the deal done here? >> yeah. >> but the clock is ticking. as you know, ted cruz could hold this up if -- a lot is going to depend on unanimous consent and there may not be unanimous consent. >> the markets said it looks like they are going to get this done which would go into panic again. >> as it did in 2011. >> and if ted cruz did that, john mccain would be beyond wha whacko bird. >> but he doesn't care about

annoying john mccain. >> that's it for us. thank you so much for coming in. thank you for watching. "cross fire" starts now. >> tonight on "crossfire" the pressure is on. there are optimistic signs. but what if they can't make a deal? >> we stand a good chance of defaulting. >> on the left, stephanie cutter and on the right newt gingrich. in the crossfire carly fiorina, can they get a deal? are both sides demanding too much? tonight on "crossfire." >> welcome to crossfire i'm newt gingrich on the right. >> and i'm stephanie cutter on the left. tonight it seems clear, cooler heads are prevailing.

the adults are stepping in which means that ted cruz has the been benched and john boehner has been bypassed and the veterans are trying to prevent the country from defaulting. newt, i'm glad we are on the verge of a deal. there is a report earlier today by an economic forecasting that these self inflicted wounds, the cause crises in washington has cost the country 900,000 jobs. >> it's a pity that the president has shown leadership and tried to bring people together. but anyone who thinks that john boehner has been bypassed continues to misread the constitution. it's just a press conference. but second after all the weeks owe we have been here debating about whether or not the president should negotiate, the number one thing that is happening today is they're negotiating. now i think that's good for america. i'm delighted that finally we

are seeing some negotiations and i hope they will in the next 24 hours get a deal. >> it's not all or nothing and let's close the government unless we can defund obama care. it's not let the country default unless we can cut spending by record levels. >> we're going to clearly disagree this evening. and we have help. in the cross fire tonight, austin goulsby and carly fiorina. doesn't it trouble you as an economist to see a country with $17 trillion in debt artificially low interest payments right now because the interest late rates are below the long term historic average and nothing being done to fix it? >> that sounds like a trick question. after the love in at the

beginning where you guys agreed with each other, look, the thing is, the long-run fiscal challenge facing the country we have known about for a long time is rooted absolutely in the aging of the population and the growth of health care costs. we have got good news about that. the congressional budget office report is saying our debt to gdp ratio is shrinking and the government spending and deficit are falling faster than they either have ever fallen or possibly with one exception of the year that world war ii ended and the debt to gdp ratio for the country, our debt level won't return to the levels it is now for more than a decade. we know there is a long-run fiscal issue. but that is overwhelming not the thing that we should be focused on right now and shutting down the government and threatening that we might have to default on

the domestic obligations or on the bonds is a total welcome to crazy town. we should absolutely not be doing that. that is going to tank the economy at best. >> so you think trying to get an extension of the debt ceiling would have been a good thing. >> i understand that's -- >> that's not trick question. >> i understand that maybe they will come up with a short term extension. >> i'm just curious. speaker boehner offered a six-week extension all he was requesting was to negotiate. >> look, here's my view. the guy from u.p.s. brings the package to your house, he has the ability to run over your package or throw it away. that doesn't mean you should given him a tip because he did not run over your package or throw it away, the debt ceiling has to be raised. we should not negotiate policy content on something that is

just the job of congress to do. we should be negotiating about the grand bargain, about the budget, about all of the issues that face the country, though i have a feeling that we will flounder on the same rocks we have in the past like revenue versus cuts and things like that. but i think it's misleading to say that's what boehner was doing. he was asking to negotiate on the debt ceiling. >> for a crisis he created. carly i want to bring you in here. we were just having a -- i would call that a substantive conversation. nothing says this have a substantive debate like a tea party rally with sarah palin and ted cruz and a confederate flag like we saw yesterday. this crisis that ted cruz led us down. hundreds of thousands of people not getting a paycheck and not

talking about the small businesses that are dependent on the government across the country. consumer confidence at a an all time low and a new poll showing republicans at a record low, handling a budget negotiations, republicans are at 21%. one out of five americans approve of what republicans are doing. that means they are even losing republicans. so if you were in the senate and you were advising mitch mcconnell what would you tell him to do here? what's the way out of this? >> first, i have been public in seeing the tactic of trying to link the resolution of the government with defunding obama care was foolish. it was inevitably going to fail. but here's what the american people think. they think it's reasonable to associate a discussion about limiting or reducing federal spending to an increase in the debt ceiling. and the reason they think that is they understand what credit

means. if you are an american with a credit card and you have a limit of $2,000 and you want to spend $3,000 next month you go to the bank and say would you increase my credit limit. that's different than defaulting on your payments. what we're talking about here is raising the debt ceiling for the government and 70-plus percent of americans think it's common sense to associate a debt ceiling increase with a substantive discussion about lowering federal spending. the problem that the republicans have is the lack of leadership on behalf of this president is ever since simpson bowles three years ago there has not been a single substantive proposal by this administration on tax reform, a key component of simpson bowles, entitlement reform and now you have democrats saying a continuing resolution shouldn't include

lower sequester limits. one of the reasons the debt to gdp ratio is lower is because the republicans lowered the level of government by sequester. >> carly and i are friends and debated many times. i thought it is april's fool's day? that is not true. the president's budget is the only budget put forward by either of the parties, which proposed both new revenues and entitlement cuts and brought the deficit to a level that would stabilize debt to gdp. >> and that's why his party rejected it and didn't push forward debate. >> the president put forward these proposals and let us remember what happened, when the president said here as part of a grand bargain i'm willing to put the following on the table, the republicans turned around and began condemning him.

the president proposed to cut medicare. >> when the republicans put $900 billion of additional tax revenue on the table and the president accepted it it was like, what have you done for me lately? there hasn't been simpson and bowles would tell you how disappoints they are that there has not been a single substantive discussion about how to lower the debt to gdp ratio and get entitlements reformed and get tax reforms going. that's the conversation we should have. if there is a deal tonight which i hope there is a deal tonight it's a content free deal, fine but let's at least have a process for having a substantive discussion about these substantive issues. and in that regard the president must lead. >> do you think that republicans should also lead. what has shut down these talks is not the unwillingness of the

president or democrats to talk about entitlement reform it's republicans talking about revenue. they are drawing a lean on revenue. you can't have a balanced -- >> that's the thing -- >> i find that so fascinating. >> the increase in tax revenues that the republicans put on the table and agreed to -- >> which is a fraction -- >> less than 10 months ago doesn't count -- >> my own view is let's lower the rates and broaden the base. it would raise revenue. >> we're going to come back to this in a minute. but i want to suggest that we are watching here in washington is something between a meltdown and pathetic. i'll explain why in a minute. >> i agree with that.

woman: everyone in the nicu -- all the nurses wanted to watch him when he was there 118 days. everything that you thought was important to you changes in light of having a child that needs you every moment. i wouldn't trade him for the world. who matters most to you says the most about you. at massmutual we're owned by our policyowners, and they matter most to us. if you're caring for a child with special needs, our innovative special care program offers strategies that can help. so, if you're sleeping in your contact lenses, what you wear to bed is your business. ask about the air optix® contacts

so breathable they're approved for up to 30 nights of continuous wear. serious eye problems may occur. ask your doctor and visit airoptix.com for safety information and a free one-month trial. ido more with less with buless energy. hp is helping ups do just that. soon, the world's most intelligent servers, designed by hp, will give ups over twice the performance, using forty percent less energy. multiply that across over a thousand locations, and they'll provide the same benefit to the environment as over 60,000 trees. that's a trend we can all get behind.

even turn night into day.ing. now she could use a hand. comfort keepers provides a variety of in-home services while truly connecting. comfort keepers. keeping the comforts of home. call now to learn more. help the gulf when we made recover and learn the gulf, bp from what happened so we could be a better, safer energy company. i can tell you - safety is at the heart of everything we do. we've added cutting-edge technology, like a new deepwater well cap and a state-of-the-art monitoring center, where experts watch over all drilling activity twenty-four-seven. and we're sharing what we've learned, so we can all produce energy more safely. our commitment has never been stronger.

nthat's why they deserve... aer anbrake dance. get 50% off new brake pads and shoes. . welcome baa back -- back to "crossfire." washington and the country are waiting a debt limit deal. however, there is zero possibility that senators harry reid and mitch mcconnell will achieve anything significant. what we are really watching here is something between a meltdown and pathetic. the meltdown would be a default. but what is pathetic is on a

bipartisan basis this city has failed to deal with the big problems facing america and the world is noticing. i found it very chilly today that the china's government news agency is pointing to our continuing crisis and basically saying the u.s. fiscal failure warrants a de-americanized world. i think we should take that as a serious warning that in fact we need to get our house in order to remain the leading country in the world. >> we do. and with we have to stop doing those self inflicted wounds i brought up at the beginning. what they're really saying is don't shut down the government. don't threaten default because you are not getting what you want. these should not be a hostage taking situation. they should extend the debt limit. they have a responsibility to

fund the federal government. so that's china's propaganda agency. but i think you and i are agreeing on how the world sees us right now but not agreeing on how we got there. >> i agree we look foolish to the rest of the world. i came back from an international trip this weekend and the rest of the world is saying what are we doing? and for a moment, if we can, to take it out of the immediate term and the partisan bickering in washington, i think the reality is that people are worried, whether it's business people or consumers, regardless of their party, or observers overseas are worried that the issue is not time and the issue is not deadlines. in other words it's not our government and congress people or administration don't have the time to fix these problems. it's not that we're up against a deadline it's that we don't have the will. we don't have the processes to come together and find

reasonable solutions. the reality is that when our credit rating was dropped for the first time in our history they weren't just talking about a failure to meet a deadline they were talking about an unsustainable debt to gdp ratio and no observable process in how that was going to be solved. and it hasn't changed. >> if you look at the downgrade. they made an accounting mistake when they did it. but they said the reason they were downgrading it was not based on an unsustainable debt to gdp but on unsustainable politics that they didn't think that the political system could do anything. if you look at simpson bowles we have as a country partly through good fortune that health care cost inflation has been lower than they predicted, partly from

sequester and new revenues we have done 3/4 of the amount of deficit reduction that simpson bowles said we needed to do and the government sending and deficit levels are shrinking at the fastest they have shrunk in 70 years. why is it you think the most important think we should do right now is go figure out how to cut the deficit farther? >> are you really arguing -- >> we need to stop with this. >> are you arguing that the country is on a sound economic footing? the most important thing is growth here. we might disagree on how to get growth. clearly printing money is not working. >> threatening default isn't working either. >> i agree with you. but i think the point is without more robust economic growth and tax reform which is part of growth, without entitlement

reform and regulatory reform to get the government off the back of small business we are not on a sustainable economic footing. i think that the democrats and republicans agree with that. what is disspiriting to consumers and business people and the rest of the world is why can't they talk about this? >> i think the polling is quite clear on what america is dissatisfied with and that is they view -- even republicans, independents and democrats overwhelmingly view that some segment of the republican party has -- i don't want to use the inflammatory language of hijack, a small group of republicans has taken this into a heavily confrontational way that is undermining the economy and "a" almost a majority of republicans think that. >> that's this week's poll at this moment. >> but it's -- >> this was a planned thing.

they spent the summer announcing that they intended to try to extract concessions by threatening to hit the debt limit. and they wanted the defunding of obama care. they wanted the cutting of short term spending and put in cuts on medicare and social security. how is that reasonable? >> after weeks of your party screaming about hostage taking. >> over the debt ceiling. >> over the weekend, senator harry reid says i want to change the sequester rules and won't move a bill unless it changes -- isn't reid now hostage taking? >> i don't think so. that was in private. my understanding was that was an argument about what date would the government restart. and if you restarted it on a certain date then technically it would not abide by what was in the sequester. >> but i think what harry reid absolutely did do this weekend -- here you have susan

collins, not a tea party flame thrower who comes together with six republicans and six democrats and puts forward a proposal. a compromise proposal that had broad bipartisan support and harry reid rejects it out of hand. but let's get off the immediate term for a second. i think that was exceedingly unreasonable on harry reid's part. let's stipulate. i think i have over and over again. let's stipulate that threatening to defund obama care and shutting down the government is a poor tactic and the republicans are suffering for that. i'm willing to stipulate that. okay. now let's, however, move on and say this, i've negotiated a lot of deals in my life and i'm sure you have. when you are actually wanting to make progress, you have to empower your opponent. when president obama -- we've

talked a lot about all the things that republicans have done wrong. president obama is the leader of the free world and his party controls washington right now. when the leader of the free world over and over and over at every opportunity castigates republicans and tells them they are poorly motivated that they don't care about america, et cetera, et cetera, and then declares over and over and over, i will not negotiate, i will not negotiate, i will not negotiate. he is empowering the flame throwers. it's bad negotiating strategy. it's not good leadership. and unless he steps forward and says, i want to reach a resolution on tax reform, here is my proposal on entitlement reform, a serious proposal that could gain bipartisan support, it's not going to happen. >> i would make two points. the first is, he stated from the

beginning the totally reasonable position that we cannot commence negotiating over the debt ceiling. that we do not attack -- >> other presidents have. >> of course they have. >> not with the same debt. >> americans think we should negotiate spending -- >> they do not. >> you may be a good economist. but you are a terrible historian. >> they attached debt ceiling increases to budgets but there was never a time -- mr. speaker i know you like to stir it up but you never threatened if you do not give me what i want i will default the government. >> but that's not different from saying there has never been a negotiation in the increase in the debt ceiling. >> that's what the relationships are doing today. >> traditional republicans if they are coming together with

the unanimous democrats to get us away from a thing in which we are going to negotiate about the debt ceiling i'm -- >> harry reid should have accepted susan colins' deal. >> tied it to the debt ceiling. we cannot set that as a precedent. >> starting in 1953, under dwight eisenhower we have used the debt ceiling and attached conditions to the debt ceiling. graham rudman was attached to the debt ceiling. this is something that white house has invented. >> name to me ever a single democratic congressperson that has ever said if you do not give us x we will -- >> you have changed the argument. you said there has -- >> over the debt ceiling and you cannot name for me a -- >> okay.

all right. >> barack obama and senator reid voted against raising the debt ceiling. >> that's different. >> we have to go to break. we've got to go to break. >> like mitch mcconnell -- they should be able to have it. >> a show boat is one thing but threatening default -- >> we are talking about increasing the debt ceiling. you as an economist know the difference. we will talk about this when we come back from break. we will cease fire and see if there is anything you can agree on. we want you to weigh in on the fire back question. are you optimistic a deal will pass congress this week, tweet yes or no using the #crossfire. we'll have the results after the break. customer erin swenson ordered shoes from us online

but they didn't fit. customer's not happy, i'm not happy. sales go down, i'm not happy. merch comes back, i'm not happy. use ups. they make returns easy. unhappy customer becomes happy customer. then, repeat customer. easy returns, i'm happy. repeat customers, i'm happy. sales go up, i'm happy. i ordered another pair. i'm happy. (both) i'm happy. i'm happy. happy. happy. happy. happy. happy happy. i love logistics.

20 years with the company.hool. thousands of presentations. and one hard earned partnership. it took a lot of work to get this far. so now i'm supposed to take a back seat when it comes to my investments? there's zero chance of that happening. avo: when you work with a schwab financial consultant, you'll get the guidance you need with the control you want. talk to us today. and better is so easy withrning you cabenefiber.o something better for yourself. fiber that's taste-free, grit-free and dissolves completely. so you can feel free to add it to anything. and feel better about doing it. better it with benefiber.

we're back. now, we're going to call a cease fire. is there anything that you two can agree on? i think i know the answer to that, but. >> i think we frequently agree on a lot of things. i would say that we probably agree that growth is the most important thing. we might differ on some of them or make a pack ageof whether regulatory tax, investment in skills, education, economic infrastructure. >> i think we great agree that growth is the most important thing and a substantive

conversation that includes regulatory reform and tax reform is necessary for growth. and there may be other things as well that we wouldn't agree on. i think whatever deal comes through this week. i believe there will be a deal that will be content free and kick the can down the road. but whatever deal comes this week i hope we can step back from the blame game on both sides and have the adults get many a room and say can we finally have a substantive conversation about how to get this country on a sound fiscal footing that encourages growth and stop being the laughing stock of the world? >> i do agree with that. >> that sounds good to me. what do you think? >> the only thing i would suggest because of the way our system does work is a lot of that conversation has to be in public. the american people have to buy into it. it's very hard to get very large change if the american people don't understand.

>> i agree with that. >> go to facebook or twitter to weigh in on the fireback question. right now 39% of you say yes and 61% of you say no. the debate continues online at cnn.com/crossfire. >> join us tomorrow for another edition of "crossfire." this is "piers morgan live." and breaking news, the senate is close to a deal. close but not yet done, the clock, as you can see, is ticking, here is what we know, it would raise the debt ceiling until february 7th. can congress learn how to play nice? we'll see, on the left, deborah wasserman schultz, on the right, and suzie orman has more on the