>> good evening, from las angeles, i am tavis smiley. the u.s. government might be on the verge of the shutdown if they cannot agree on a budget resolution. the stakes are awfully high. first up, and look at what a government shutdown would mean from both parties and the president with chris cillizza, a reporter from "washington post." and professional surfer bethany hamilton. she lost her arm during a shark attack. remarkably, she is back in the water. she will be joined by actress annasophia robb. we are glad you have joined us, chris cillizza, bethany hamilton and annasophia robb coming up

right now. >> all i know is his name is james, and he needs extra help with his reading. >> i am james. >> yes. >> to everyone making a difference -- >> thank you. >> you help us all live better. >> nationwide insurance supports tavis smiley. with every question and every answer, nationwide insurance is proud to join tavis in working to improve financial literacy and remove obstacles to economic empowerment, one conversation at a time. >> nationwide is on your side >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning made possible by kcet public television] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- tavis: chris cillizza covers politics for "washington post."

it is also a web-based video blog. the $64,000 question in washington, who wins and a government shutdown? he joins us tonight from washington. good to have you on the program. let me start with the obvious, what is the day? we know tax day is april 15. what is the april date we should keep our eyes on? >> one week before, april 8 is the day that the federal government will run out of money. we have six continuing resolutions as a way to kick the can down the road a little bit rather than do a big budget proposal to give themselves a little bit more time to figure out that bigger budget. it looks like this is going to be the hard and fast deadline. we have seen some party-line votes that wanted to the small

packages. they want to do one big package of cuts. particularly in the house, remember, lots of those folks are lined with the tea party and they don't want short-term solutions. this one looks like a hard deadline, and that is why everyone is starting the position of a real government shutdown. >> there is a divide about how to move around this day? >> 100%. the speaker of the house proposed about $30 billion in cuts for the remainder of this year. the tea party, the conservative wing of the party, very into cutting, spending, that is not enough. the speaker came back and said we're going to do $61 billion. democrats seem to be ok with about $30 billion in cuts which

is what they originally proposed. the tea party is not ok with that. there are lots of moving parts here as he tries to cobble together a compromise solution that can win enough republicans and democrats to get the majority and get passage in the senate. there is a lot of moving parts and a lot of complexity. tavis: let me ask you, because i know you can answer this, a broad political strategy question. and we will talk more expressly about the budget. there are those that said many months ago that the tea party and their advances would become a nightmare for john boehner and the republican party. is this going to be an example of the tea party holding a news ck?und its own party's ne

>> in 2010, republicans were jubilant. be smart strategists said that this could be a potential problem. a lot of these got people -- a lot of these people got elected. this is one where they don't. the establishment in the party wants to get as much as they can and get the best compromise they can. if you do that, you never know what will happen. bill clinton won that fight with newt gingrich. the tea party says it is about principles, standing up for what we believe in. the root of what we are seeing right now, the seeds were planted during the election with so many people lighting with the tea party. thes: let's go inside budget battle. i will let you take them one at

a time with regard to winners and losers. first republicans, the democrats, then the president. first, the republicans. >> there is a nervousness for being blamed for shutting down the government. they are caught between that nervousness in satisfying their base. the base once more cuts and the government to shrink. that base of the party matters. they are the ones with the passion, the ones who helped republicans win in the house. shutting down the government might not be a smart or politically astute move for republicans. his standoff with bill clinton is shut it down back in 1995. bill clinton looks like a big figure. newt gingrich looked small. bill clinton was in the middle

of his second term. this will probably be my answer for all of them. there is a win-lose proposition here. tavis: democrats, what do they have at stake here? >> this is about president obama and his brand. he got elected in part by his ability to make washington work again. to be a big enough figure to heal these divides. if congress shut down, he runs the risk of having that tarnished. if you go back to the 1995 example, he is still at the bowling pulled a. if he wants to talk about where republicans shut down the coverage, -- and the government, it will get coverage. republicans are even a little bit more nervous than democrats at the moment. tavis: let me play devil's

advocate. the president may not want the government to shut down. the flip side is, if government does shut down, he will rail about how republicans are out of control and his grande may not be tarnished, but shine brighter? >> in some ways, if the president goes out to the american people and says this congress is not working, some democrats in congress might not like that, but it might actually make him look more presidential, make congress look small as an institution and make him look like the guy that is looking out for the average person. there are different demands. the president wants to get reelected and congress wants to figure out a deal. we don't know. this is one of those fascinating in huge events that we don't really know. that is what makes everybody

involved in nervous. when you have those unpredictable elements in the political equation, the politicians will get nervous. tavis: for these different groups, the american people, what is at stake if the government shuts down in the middle of the economic crisis? >> you can take this one out of the political realm. a government shutdown would be devastating. the government employs hundreds of thousands of workers, people not being able to work, it would be a huge deal. the other thing we have to think about is the impact on the broader economy. what does this say about the possibility of economic recovery? if washington looks and feels broken, it has a perception that

can become reality when you talk about the economy. it is a dangerous game that. the losers is the american people. that may ultimately be why politicians decide not to shut the government down. tavis: it appears to me from the outside of that the president wisely or unwisely is letting boehner and reid fighting this out. i have not seen the president of front and center every day, rustling with the budget. his speech was about libya, so is he deliberately standing back? >> i think you are exactly, 100% right. if he has been talking about anything, it is libya. he is essentially saying, i

can't negotiate this deal. you know your members, what they are willing to give up better than i do. try to get this done. to what we talked about earlier, if the government does shut down, you will see a lot of barack obama casting himself as the guy that is try to get it to work for the american people. tavis: i have 10 seconds. if the president has a hands-off approach, they are divided on this, he is fighting with reed in the senate, who can heal this divide? >> i do not know. you have to pay attention to what is being said by boehner and reid. i can't believe i am saying it, but i believe it is a real possibility at this point. tavis: chris, as always, good to

have you want. up next, the story of bethany hamilton. you recall the shark attack that took off her arm in a moment. tavis: bethany hamilton is a professional surfer that made headlines around the world when she was attacked by a 14 foot tiger shark when she was 13, losing her left arm in the ordeal. she survived the attack, and remarkably has resumed her professional career. in the new film about her story, she is played by actress annasophia robb. here are scenes from "soul surfer." ♪ >> can you believe we get to come out here every day?

>> call 911. >> shark attack. >> she is going into shock. ♪ >> and there are things you're going to have to learn to do differently. >> i can't do this anymore. >> what do we do now? >> take it day by day. >> i don't know why terrible things happen to us sometimes, but i have to believe that something good is going to come out of this. >> you resume your career. the obvious question is, why? why get back on the board again? why get back in the water ever again? >> surfing was a huge part of my family and my life.

i am so passionate about it. i guess my passion and love for surfing overpowered by fear of sharks or not being able to do it. i was kind of scared of charts, that i was even more scared that i wouldn't be able to do it. once i got back out there, all of that fear kind of disappeared once i got up on my first wave. >> i wonder which one he found the most challenging, finding your balance again to get back on the board, or getting over the fear of getting back in the water collects >> both were very challenging. i guess determination just took over and i worked hard at it. i worked hard to overcome that fear. i go out there to have fun and try not to look out in the water and be, like, constantly worried that is underneath.

and more focusing on, like, the way that i am going to catch. tavis: i assume with all of the technology, you could wear a prosthetic arm. you choose not to, since you don't have one on. >> when it first happened, i had a prospekt arm and there is a scene in the movie that is kind of funny because it is a quirky seen where i end up not liking the prosthetic arm that much. in real life, i kinda liked it, but it did not mean by lifestyle. i am happy with the way that i looked and i don't feel the need to have an arm to be beautiful. i shut it off and figured out how to do things with one arm. tavis: when you say it doesn't fit your lifestyle, what you mean? >> i am always running around and in and out of the water.

it is hard to find a prosthetic that will really be beneficial just to help me. tavis: the obvious question that came to mind to me, how an actress plays a role like this with your arm tied behind your back the entire time? how do you do it with an arm behind you? >> the prosthetic guys took a mold of bethany's arm. they modeled it to fit my size. i wore a process that every day that looked like that and i wore green sleeves. i would put my arm behind my back and you can see it, pretty much gone. we would have to do multiple takes, and the other one where i

was out of the scene so that they could put in the background when they were taking my arm out. it was a really long process. it is not distracting. i was a bit concerned if it was going to look weird, and it looks just like that. >> what do you take away from a project like this where you're playing someone that doesn't have an arm? i remember being at school many years ago, i did an exercise with a friend of mine where we blindfold ourselves for half of the day to try to get an understanding of what it is like to be blind. after an hour, i was undone. i couldn't even finish of the exercise. it troubled me so much that i could not see for an hour. what do you take away on a personal level for having the

feeling of only having one arm for a good part of that coming? >> bethany does more things with her one arm that i do with my eye to arms. i think what it made me realize is that you can conquer all things. it as adoesn't look at disability. she looks at as this catalyst that she can share her story will inspire people. what it made me realize is that it depends on the individual and what they do with their circumstances. it could be a challenge for this unfortunate event that you can turn into a positive thing for you can go, this is ruining my life. why am i not like everyone else? the beautiful thing is, she is

not like everyone else. >> looking at my life, it seems like such a terrible thing. why would god allows something like this to happen to a 13- year-old girl that has these dreams that are beautiful? and all of a sudden, it seems as if it is shattered. looking at my life, so much good has come out of it and i can encourage people with my story. i travel six months of the year just competing and going on trips. with the movie coming out, it has been incredible. tavis: faith is an important part of this movie. how has faith played an important part of your process? >> when i was 5, i gave my heart to jesus christ. it has been a stronghold in my life.

all of the hard times my family and i went through, it gave us unity and perseverance to push through this crazy stuff that we never knew was going to happen. just being able to have a good outlook on life and have a positive perspective on things has been really encouraging to share with other people. >> you mentioned that many people have asked you how god allowed something like this to happen. let me ask you, honestly. did you question got? if you did, i'm ok with that. when jesus was in the garden, he does not want to go to the cross. let this cut pass from me, i don't want to go to the cross. jesus christ himself is questioning got. i say all that to ask whether or not if at any point in time, given the strength of your faith, did you question got?

-- god? was able to go to him, i did question him. my question was more like, how did you allow this to happen? what are we going to do from here? and not dwell on what happened and have a pity party or whatever. it has been an amazing journey. >> in the movie you, we had to tone it down because in the hospital, she was outgoing ready to get back in the water, i am not going to make this a bad thing. most people would say that this is the time you are in the hospital and you should be feeling that for yourself. i was actually doing the day, playing with balloons. >> but we have to make it a little bit stronger so you have

that arc. tavis: we need some grief. just a little grief. you've used this word catalyst, something that was a springboard for you. it was a catalyst for what? >> it has given me so many opportunities to go on amazing trips, like the went to thailand and got to encourage -- help these young group of kids overcome their fear of the ocean, and after the tsunami, it was an amazing opportunity. now the book is reaching some many people more than i ever could have imagined. it has been amazing just to be able to touch people in ways i never would have thought of myself. tavis: i am fascinated by actors

the play roles of people that are alive. bethany is very much alive. how'd you embody this person on the set watching what you're doing? >> before we started pre- production, i went down to serve with bethany. i had her books. i had a two-hour search lesson with my dad in california. that is not really anything. so i went down and i had her blood. it tripled in size because i have annotated it, notes, questions, i wanted to study her and get into her mind. and just become bethany and do my best. i realize that she is a real person, a good friend, and that

the key to it was just hanging out with her and getting her vibe. also, developing a love for the ocean which is at her heart. that is what she puts out because of surfing and training, we trained for six weeks before we started filming, i have such a love for the ocean. i will not be a pro surfer, but i love getting out there. i think it is a love for something greater than yourself. it is a moment where you are focused on one thing. it is not even what you're doing, it is what the earth is doing in the ocean around you. >> how is the -- tavis: how is the professional career coming along? >> the movie was a bit of a distraction, but i am excited to

move on with my surfing and keep doing my best to be the best i can be. tavis: i love helen hunt. when you see her again, tell her i said hello. get back i the water as soon as you can. that is our show for tonight. until next time, keep the faith. >> for more information on today's show, visit tavis smiley at pbs.org tavis: join me next time on with her new best-seller, "the dressmaker." that is next time. we will see you then terry -- and then. >> all i know is his name is james, and he needs extra help with his reading.

>> i am james. >> yes. >> to everyone making a difference -- >> thank you. >> you help us all live better. >> nationwide insurance supports tavis smiley. with every question and every answer, nationwide insurance is proud to join tavis in working to improve financial literacy and remove obstacles to economic empowerment, one conversation at a time. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> be more. >> be more.