in the east. no compromise has been reached to avoid the shutdown of the federal government of the united states. this is the first time it had has happened in recent memory. our coverage continues now with rachel maddow in washington, d.c. >> thank you, chris. good evening. >> thanks to you at home for being with us on this momentous night. it is now exactly midnight here on the east coast. for the first time in 17 years, the american federal government is as of right now in the process of shutting down. we are coming to you live from washington, d.c. this hour where house republicans have essentially just thrown in the towel and forced the federal government to shut down. what was expected to be a drama-filled night with negotiations going up until the last moment, did not exactly turn out that way. there's been talking right up until the last moment, but nothing that looks like working to stop this from happening. we have known for the better part of an hour now that house republicans have decided to just let this government shutdown

happen. there does not seem to be a plan for what to do next. close your eyes, jump, see what happens. most of the day today, most of last week has been consumed bay strange political theeter where house republicans made funding for the government contingent on killing or delaying the president's health reform law. then the senate would say no anden send a straight up government bill and they would try again and again up until the bitter end. tonight, as of this hour, we have no deal. house republicans attempted one last-minute maneuver to try to get the senate to negotiate over their demands to kill obama care as a precondition for funding the go. the senate rejected that maneuver. >> i'd like to say good evening, but it isn't a very good one. as we gather here, right near statuary hall, i'm reminded that

of president washington when he was leaving office cautioned against political parties at war with their own government. and here we are tonight. >> now the shutdown is in effect as of now. we are advised the office of management and budget ordered federal government departments to begin to execute plans for shutting down at midnight. midnight is now passed. the execution of the government shutdown is underway. we're also told to expect sometime within the next 30 minutes, possibly, more voting in the house of representatives. now, if the house of representatives decides to change its attack. if the house republicans decide they are going to do something now the government has been shut down, now they have conveyed their message that they want to do something different now, conceivably the shutdown could be understowound after it is st. but at this point we have no specific fisty.

harry reid is on the floor of the senate talking about his views of the subject. i want to dmip to a live feed. >> on embarrassing our president, president of the united states. they think an election is coming this november, it happened last november. he was elected by 5 million votes over what romney got. 5 million votes. wasn't too close. so it is really too bad. madam president, i'm going to ask this consent, but i would ask that we're going to go out tonight. come back at 9:30 in the morning. so the consent is that we're

going to recess from 12:30 to 2:15 -- i'm sorry, we will recess until 9:30 tomorrow morning but i want the senators here to talk for five minutes each. i ask when the senate completes that following deemed proceedings at that time i'd be recognized 9:30 senate recess from 12:30 to 2:15 to allow for weekly caucus meetings. i ask before this is implemented that everyone understands when we receive that message from the house, i hope we have it in the morning when we come in. i will make a motion, table it as we have done to two other things in the last few hours. if there is no further business

to come before the senate, i ask following the statements of senator menendez, durbin, murray, that -- >> just a question. >> sure. >> i just asked the leader. the government's shutdown and there's nothing we can do to keep it open. the only way to keep the government open would be for the house to pass the resolution we have already sent them, is that correct? >> yes. it keeps the government funded, and they have had that for days now. they could do it -- the way they vote in a matter of ten minutes. >> right. but nothing we can do with this resolution. >> nothing we can do. >> they intend to send us until -- >> they are over there now negotiating with themselves, i guess. >> yeah, because isn't it true, leader, that until they vote for that resolution the government will remain shut. >> absolutely. >> they can send us a hundred do

dads, giz moos and other things but the ball is in their court and we hope and wish they would, it is our wish, isn't that true, sir, that they pass our resolution and that would keep the government open. >> it's in their court and has been in their court. >> thank you, leader. >> is there objection to the unanimous consent request? hearing no objection. without objection so ordered. >> madam president . >> the senator from new jersey. >> mama dam president. >> what harry reid has just done he said the senate will adjourn until 9:30 tomorrow morning. there are a number of senators who are at the senate right now. he asked for each to be recognized for five minutes in they so choose. now in terms of what is going on in the house right now, you heard reference between schumer and reid when they were

discussing it. the advice we have from the house is that sometime between 12:30 and 12:45 a.m., house republicans will schedule some sort of next vote on what they consider to still be live. they had -- before we just heard, what we just heard from harry reid, the house plan had been the house would then vote for a second time on whatever the senate sent back to them, sometime between 2 on cl and 2:15 this morning. the senate will be inned adjournment until 9:30, i would assume they are off. they are planning a vote in the house in the next 22 -- 20 to 30 minutes it looks like. joining us is chuck todd, chief

correspondent and host of the daily rundown. interesting stoimt developments that are getting arcane to follow in terms of what is important and what is procedure. what's going on right now? >> harry reid just announced -- by the way when he says he comes in at 9:30 and wants to be recognized and he sort of said in passing, and whatever message the house sends over,ly table that. he is saying if the house sends over the idea of the vote to go to conference or the house says we will vote conference committee and take this dispute about how to fund the government for the next 55 to 75 days, 45 to 75 days if you are going by november or december 15th, the house and senate have two different end dates on this. he's going to strip it out and say, no, we are not going to do that. the ball is back in your court. that's why schumer did that little thing to enforce that. the house still plans to do

this. this is another ask of the conservative wing of the house republican caucus. they are the ones that are suggesting to go to conference. this is not a boehner idea. this was coming -- i first heard about this at about 5:00 this afternoon. coming from some of the conservative side of the house, republican conference. this is again going on that front. what i wonder is, does what reid said on the floor right now make the house leaders decide, you know what, maybe we ought to just throw in the towel? we will have to throw in the towel at some point. do we throw it in tonight, at 2:00 in the morning, just keep it going or cave sometime tomorrow afternoon or when wednesday afternoon or thursday afternoon. because i can't figure out an end game here. what their end game here is on this and i know there are some house republicans that don't know what the end game is. >> you are saying the harry reid comments we just aired, what he said is essentially telling the

house if you tried anything else like you have been trying including the let's take it to conference committee idea, no matter what you do, anything other than just a bill to cleanly fund the government will be over as soon as it gets here. so don't bother. >> right. that's the power he has as majority leader. it is not subject to filibuster. he can table it and move on and send it back. they have been -- i think alex wagner and i were joking it is ping-pong or hot potato. they have been referring to it as a hot potato. no one wants it in their lap as the government strikes 12:00. back in the house's lap. they were trying to get it in reid's lap and he is like, huh-uh. i think the idea of making harry reid the boogie man, he won't negotiate. look at that bad harry reid and the senate democrats, i think that has gotten lost in translation after the last couple of days when that wasn't their focus for the last say

week. this has been their focus for all of about, what, 90 minutes. >> chuck, when you were talking about how the republicans react to what harry reid just said. when they think of do we throw in the towel tonight, on wednesday or try to hold on to the towel as long as we can before we have to throw it in, do you have any sense of how their strategy changes or what their plans are once the shut down happens, now the government shutdown has happened. were they always planning to have to give up once it happened or could the shut down go on for a long time? >> it could on a long time. boehner's original move was he wanted to shift it away from the budget. from shut down talk and lump it in to debt ceiling. six hours ago i thought that is where it was headed where they would pass a three-week resolution and avoid the shut down tonight. but lo and behold it would

expire at the same time as the debt ceiling. they are trying to find a way to force the president to negotiate over the debt ceiling while he will say he won't do it. they figure if you put it together he has to negotiate over something and debt ceiling is in there too. that was the original boehner strategy. now, and this is where i think what boehner has supposedly what he was telling some republicans quietly, you have to pick one. if you are going to -- you have to pick your poison. either try to shut down the government and make the last stand on health care or try to do the debt ceiling and make that the last stand on health care. you can't do both. you try to do both. it is politically risky to do one. you try to do both and suddenly they could turn to 2014 conventional wisdom upside down in a way that they haven't anticipated. it is something they are concerned about. no, i don't know what the end game is here. maybe they get out of this and in the next 12 to 15 hours, before the close of business

tomorrow, suddenly there's a short-term funding resolution. if they don't get it done tomorrow, then, maybe it does last the week. wow. >> chuck todd, nbc chief white house political correspondent director and host of "the daily rundown." which is 9 a.m. on msnbc, even though chuck has to get up way earlier. >> i am getting up earlier. >> this just in actually. one of the questions coming in to the final day of negotiations is what would happen to the united states military members if they shut down. if they could be asked to continue to serve without the paychecks they and their families depend on. the pentagon said as recently as this weekend that is what would happen in the event of a shutdown. today congress passed a bill to ensure that servicemen and women will get paid even as most civilian pentagon personnel will not get paid and as congress cannot agree on how to keep the broader u.s. government going.

president obama signed that bill on military pay just hours ahead of the midnight shutdown tonight. now, just moments ago, this is just in, the white house has released this message from president obama that is a message from president obama as commander in chief directly to the troops. it is a video message. here it is in full. >> hi, everybody. as president and as your commander in chief, i've worked to make sure you have the strategy, the resources and the support you need to complete the missions our nation asks of you. every time you have met your responsibilities and performed with extraordinary professionalism, skill and courage. unfortunately, congress has not fulfilled its responsibility. it's failed to pass a budget and as a result much of our government must shut down until congress funds it again. secretary hagel, general dempsey and your commanders will have

more information on how this effects you and your families. today i want to speak directly to you about what happens next. those of you in uniform will remain on your normal duty status. the threats to our national security have not changed, and we need you to be ready for any contingency. ongoing military operations, like our efforts in afghanistan, will continue. if you are serving in harm's way, we're going to make sure you have what you need to succeed in your missions. congress has passed, and i'm signing in to law, legislation to make sure you get your paychecks on time. and we will don't work to address any impact this shutdown has on you and your family. to our d.o.d. civilians, i know the days ahead could mean more sun uncertainty including possible dpur lows and i know this comes on top of the furloughs that many of you endured already this summer. you and your families deserve better than the dysfunction we have seeing in congress. your talents and dedication help to keep our military the best in

the world. that's why i will keep working to get congress to reopen our government and get you back to work as soon as possible. finally, i know the shut down occurs against the background of broader changes. the war in iraq is over. the war in afghanistan will end next year. after more than a decade of unprecedented operations, we're moving off a war footing. yes, our military will be leaner. as a nation we face difficult budget choices going forward, but here's what i want you to know. i'm going to keep fighting to get rid of those across-the-board budget cuts the sequester which are hurting our mflt and our economy. we need a responsibility approach that deals with our fiscal challenges and keeps our military and our economy strong. i'm going to make sure you stay the greatest military in the world bar none. that's what i'm fighting for. that's what you and your families deserve. on behalf of the american people, thank you for your service, which keeps us free.

and thank you for your sacrifice, which keeps our nation and our military the greatest force for freedom that the world has ever known. god bless you and your families, and god bless the united states of america. >> president obama tonight thanking the nation's servicemen and women in a video message released that will be shown on military bases a message released directly to the troops from him as commander in chief. essentially the president trying to reassure servicemen and women as the federal government shuts down. he said quote if you are serving in harm's way we're going to make sure you have what you need to succeed in your missions. we're in unchartered waters as of 17 1/2 minutes ago them united states federal government is shut down for the first time in nearly two decades. it is indefinite and there's no plan for how to restart. ready to run your lines? okay, who helps you focus on your recovery? yo, yo, yo. aflac. wow. [ under his breath ] that was horrible. pays you cash when you're sick or hurt?

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it's official your federal

government has been shut down or as house republicans may say mission accomplished because this was their mission from way back. details ahead. [ cheering ] ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] build anything with the new toyota tundra. toyota. let's go places. wiat...you could be aundra. victim of fraud.

most people don't even know it. fraud could mean lower credit scores, higher loan rates... ...and maybe not getting the car you want. it's a problem waiting to happen. check your score, check your report, at experian.com america's number one provider of online credit reports and scores. don't take chances. go to experian.com. >> think reason we are here today is the speaker of the house refused to name budget negotiators. the senate blocked budget negotiations whiechl would they do that? because you have to compromise when you go to a budget negotiation. you have to compromise on the budget. they didn't want to do that. >> democrats have been saying for weeks they would place the blame for a government shutdown at the feet of the republicans. well, here we are. as of right now, the federal

government is closed for business. what happens next? can republicans actually be publicly shamed in to allowing the government to come back on-line? or are we living in a post-shame political world where we need a different strategy? joining me is congressman from illinois. thank you for being with us so late tonight. >> i would say it is my pleasure but we passed the bewitching hour now. >> let me ask you, obviously exhausted is part of what is going on and upset, at least in half of the house, at least. what would you say that the mood is like right now in the house? is there any expectation of any continued forward movement or does it just feel like it is done? >> well, i don't see it. harry reid said tlls unless there is a vote on a clean cr, continuing resolution, that he is not going to negotiate or appoint confer rhees.

i don't see how it happens. i really don't see how it happens. >> in terms of the continued votes that are planned tonight in the house. obviously senator reid said unless there is a clean vote, don't bother. it will be tabled as soon as the session comes back in tomorrow at 9:30. it seems like the republicans are planning to go ahead with further votes tonight, potentially proposing a conference committee with the senate to work on differences between the bills. what's your take on that? >> well, you know, as you played in the clip, six months ago, we called the bluff of the republicans and the senate passed a budget. the republicans have failed for six months to apint conference committee. at this moment, 17, 18 minutes after the government has already shut down, now they are saying they want to go to conference. for what? i mean, if we don't have some sort of assurance that the

government is going to stay open, it absolutely makes no sense. harry reid, for better or worse, said we're not going to have a conference with a gun pointed at our head. so that's not -- that's simply not going to happen. you know the thing breaking my heart tonight, this is completely unnecessary. it is completely unnecessary. i was talking to some of the guards at the capitol as i was coming in, the capitol police. they said, well, we have to be here tomorrow, but we don't know -- we're not going to get paid until after the shutdown is over. we're talking about gs-2, gs-3. people who make 20, 30, maybe $40,000 every year and these people are going to be furloughed. they are not going to get paid, up to 600,000 people? this is a disaster for them. you were talking about the military, rachel, about 72% of the civilians who work for the

intelligence community are going to be furloughed. you know who will be furloughed? we're not going to be able to supply the kind of personnel protection for diplomates overseas in dangerous situations. does that ratz the benghazi question? these are the kinds of real things. people that want passports, it's going to cost, it is estimated, let's see, $150 million a day to shutdown the government. it's absolutely crazy. >> do you think there's any nugsal memory in the last shutdown. anything about the previous time this was tried, particularly 17 years ago the longest shutdown in history and the last shutdown we had.

any nu institutional memory? >> we have got the people that are driving this shutdown are people who don't have any institutional memory and many of them have no legislative experience whatsoever. the legislative memory. so they came here on a mission. that was to shut down the government. a couple of them bragged about it early on. for what? you know, the other thing that breaks my heart at this hour is this is a moment where our economy actually could be leaping forward. we are at a point where we could be creating jobs. we could be in a great position right now, and instead we are going to be seeing, i think, really tragic consequences in terms of the economy and individual american families. >> congresswoman jan schakowsky

from illinois. thank you for being with us tonight. >>. >> thank you rachel. for some republicans failure is not only an option it is a strategy. what the congresswoman was talking about there, about people coming to congress for the first time bragging they were going to shut down the government and that was their goal as a new member of congress. we have the evidence on that next. ♪ [ male announcer ] 1.21 gigawatts. today, that's easy. ge is revolutionizing power. supercharging turbines with advanced hardware and innovative software. using data predictively to help power entire cities. so the turbines of today... will power us all... into the future. ♪

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there are still procedural in the house of representatives at this hour. the u.s. government is officially shut down as of midnight, but in the house one more vote, at least, is still scheduled for tonight or this morning, whatever you want to call it. speaker john boehner will have the house vote on whether to suggest a conference committee with the senate. that's something that republicans had said no to for months. there is time for debate after the vote. the house of representatives may well be in session far in to this early tuesday morning, maybe even toward dawn. whatever the results of that vote in the house, senate majority leader harry reid said the senate is done for the night and adjourned for the night. so no resolution until at least the morning. the senate adjourned nth until

9:30 a.m. eastern time. as you saw there the house is still working and the federal government is shut down. more to come. stay with us. 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. we don't have time for stuff like laundry. we're too busy having fun. we get everything perfectly clean

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president obama was elected in 2008 he came to washington with a democratic-controlled house and a democratic-controlled senate n. the two years where that held true in washington we got wall street reform, student loan reform, credit card reform, health care reform obviously. the fair pay act, expanding g.i. bill, reauthorized the children's health insurance program. expanded national service programs they fixed sentencing disparity for crack versus powder cocaine. the first responders bill p hate crimes act, the stark treaty between us and russia, repealed don't ask, don't tell, cash for clunkers and largest middle-class tax cuts ever. that was done in two years by the congress elected at the same time as president obama. then in the midterms republicans did well in 2010 and they took control of the house and john boehner became the speaker instead of nancy pelosi. since then, not a single

significant piece of action has been enacted in to law. not one. republicans got control of the house. they were sworn in january 2011. since then zero legislative accomplishment because they have been otherwise occupied. after sworn in january by april theythy threatened to shut down the government. by july, republicans forced the first ever debt ceiling crisis in american history. by september of the same year they were threatening another government shut down. april the next year, more threats of another government shutdown. by december, this past december, republicans were pushing us over the fiscal cliff. by january, this past january, congressional republicans were talking about forcing another debt ceiling crisis before they backed down. now they have caused a government shutdown. at long last. this is not an accident. we are deep in to year three of them running the house. that's what they control in

washington. in year three of them running the house we have had zip from them in terms of law or policy. at the same time we are seven and counting when it comes to can't keep the lights on basic failures of govern nance. that is not a mistake. that's how they planned it. in september 2010, a few weeks before the mid-term elections where the house republicans won the majority and won back control of the house a republican congressman from georgia spoke to a conservative audience at a christian coalition even at the faith and freedom conference. he extorted the republicans would need their support when the republicans shut down the government, which he indicated they were already planning on doing even before they got elected in 2010. he said republicans would do it again like last time they took power in the house after the 1994 elections.

if we hold the line. if we get those courageous men and women to be part of our majority and if we say look, we're in partnership with the american people. we're listening to the american people. this is what we are going to do. if the government shuts down, we want you with us. we want you with us. [ applause ] look, i didn't get my check. daddy can't go to the v.a., you know national parks are closed. we need to make sure you are going to be with us. >> we need to make sure you will be with us when the national parks get closed and people are complaining. that was before the 2010 election. when we get the majority, we're going to shut down the government. we need you to be with us.

that was the plan from the beginning. that is what they were promising their own base what they would do if if they got the majority. pundits were predicting a gop takeover of the house in the election and predicting that would mean there is a government shut down once republicans got the gavel. i'm almost giddy thinking of a government shutdown. i cannot wait. that's what the base was expecting from them and they did get the majority and then they went for it. of course they did. >> we will do what we have to do to shutdown the government if we have to. >> so you think even if that were to happen, it wouldn't be as bad as people make it out to be? >> i don't think it would be. i really sglont do you think shut down should be off the table. >> everything ought to be on the table. >> most people in my district say shut it down. this country very well may need some sort of shock therapy. >> would it be pa good thing

fiscally and philosophically if the government shut down for a few weeks and the american people would see life would go on without the federal government for a while? >> i don't think it would hurt one bit. >> even if it means showing how serious we are. okay. government will have to shut down. >> if liberals in the senate would rather play political games and shut down the government instead of making a small down payment on fiscal discipline and reform, i say shut it down. >> cut it or shut it. i say shut it down. woo! within a matter of weeks after they were sworn in and the house republicans were giving boehner a standing ovation in their caucus meetings when he said yes, we are preparing for a shut down. that was the first one in april after they got sworn in january. that was exciting to them, right, this is what they had promised. they were not promising specific

results from shutting down the government but promising to use this tactic. they used it right away when they got elected. they have done it repeatedly since then. threatening it and getting up to it and tonight they succeeded with it. they finally forced the shut down of the american federal government which they have been threatening all of this time. and the point is that the tactic itself is the point to them. it demonstrates a willingness to go to extremes, which is both fun and idealogically correct for today's breed of republican and shows a decisive lack of respect for what government is. it is a tactical insult to the idea of govern nance. nnce. this is not a bug but a feature. they have been looking forward it to since it became possible

in 2010 and that's why house republicans coming out of the closed door meeting didn't seem like a somber moment. didn't seem like they were embarking on a bad thing they didn't want to do. seems like when they decided to do this on saturday it seemed like they were psyched. >> we are excited. we are united. >> good plan. >> how did it go in there? >> good. very well. >> very well. great. we're shutting down the go. what could be better? they see this as great news. reporters have been taking out the committee rooms and meeting rooms where members of congress have been the last few days and deciding what to do. reporters description of the mood among republicans is jarring. house republicans were ecstatic on saturday when mr. boehner and

his leadership team presented their plan. the mood in the capitol on saturday, at least among republicans was down right giddy. republican leaders presented the plan on saturday, cheers and chants of vote, vote, vote went up. as members left the meeting many wore beaming grins. representative john colbertson of texas said he shouted out his own encouragement. i said like 9/11, let's roll. let's roll and bring the u.s. government to its knees just like on 9/11. so we're the other side. kind of a palable glee on the republican side about this accomplishment they have brought about tonight. they are psych issed about this. there's no mirror image between the parties on this subject. only one major party of the two that we have got that strives for government in control.

they have not passed any legislation in to law since having control of the house. this is our seventh brink. whether it is a government shut down threat. government shutdown actuality, debt ceiling threat, fiscal cliff. they have done it seven times no significant legislation. which do you think is more important to them? there's nothing about the last few weeks of political back and forth that explain twhies is happening. nothing about the back and forth on the hill tonight that explains what this is about. nothing about health reform that explains what is happening. this is happening because they like the tactic n. 2011, they made it about the budget. for a minute it was about planned parenthood funding a hot moment this weekend, the whole thing is whether your boss can block contraception covered by health insurance. doesn't matter what they are using it for. the point is they are willing to go this far. what is happening tonight is what is happening because this is what republicans do and what they promise to do. this tactic is an end in and of

itself. it displays sufficient fervor. that's why there is no talking them out of it. elect republicans and they will burn the place down. and they like the sound of that. and they will laugh while they do it and now we're left to figure out what happens next. joining us now is dave wiegle, the political reporter for "slate.com" and a long time reporter on the conservative movement. thank you for being here. >> thank you for having me. >> good morning. you covered that lynn westmoreland speech to the freedom conference in 2010 before the election he is already asking for base support for the republican shutdown before he could say what it might be for. when you were covering it and watching crowd reaction at the time, was it weird at the moment or expected rhetoric? >> in the moment it was coherent for a lot of the reasons you laid out here. remember, in some of the quotes you were playing before made it clear, at the seem republicans

were saying they were willing to risk a shut down as rand paul said to make a down payment on fiscal sanity. not reverse the affordable care act. they were hopeful about beating barack obama in 2012. this is the reason why more americans were supportive or willing to come along with that for a while. they said, let's think of the cost of government. let's have a cr that cuts $100 billion from the government. that was the april 2011 plan. a debt limit plan that cuts spending for fe future and cuts entitlements. the pivot for obama care is very far for the right. they say instead of a fiscal goal we will attack a program we don't like. today, tonight, this morning, the bitter amendment they were using as a last-ditch attempt to get something delayed is not something they have really scored to cut costs or to delay obama care. it's just another way to hack at it. the lack of strategy, as regards

to what they used to be for, the spending cuts, is really stark. >> in terms of that turn, both the decision to pursue shutdown as a tactic, repeatedly, and now to achieve it. but also the turn you are describing there, who pushed for that? i think that's the sort of thing i can imagine some members of congress wanting. i would expect leadership would be able to quell some of that impulse. is this a sign there's not leadership -- enough leadership strength to stop those impulses on the far right? >> that's definitely true. they have proved that again and again. it would be possible. some systems, some states it is possible for a republican speaker to make a deal with democratic members of the assembly or vice-versa. happens from time to time. it has been clear, that boehner would have the votes from the democratic side if he funded the government at a lower level. democrats today were reminding people of this. the cr, as it is structured, is based on the sequestration

spending caps which they were opposed to. they were starting to argue this would be a victory for republicans. republicans should take it. really, from the activist base, shepherded by a couple of members of congress and back to the base, herrage action, ted graves in the senate, the conservatives in the party, a third of the party a bit more maybe, made the argument this is a last-ditch chance to repeal obama care. if they didn't do this they were betraying the base. the leadership didn't do anything to push the base away from that position. two years ago, the base was not demanding this. jim demint who, is complaining around the country to defund obama care voted for obama care and crs that did not defund obama care. the ability of a small group of people to put this demand on the agenda is striking. it's not even something that some of the groups that funded the republican majority have

asked for. not something the chamber of commerce asked for and they are a bit surprised, i think at where this came from and how stark it is. >> agreed. it is as if the -- you have been worried about the driving skills of whoever's behind the wheel and all of a sudden you realize the car had two or three drivers or somebody that couldn't reach the pedals. it seems like we have had a shift in the radicalism that got us here tonight. thank you for staying up late with us. nice to see you. >> thank you, rachel. we'll be right back. in the nation, we know how you feel about your car. so when coverage really counts, count on nationwide insurance. because what's precious to you is precious to us. ♪ love, love is strange just another way we put members first. because we don't have shareholders. join the nation. ♪ baby... ♪ nationwide is on your side ♪

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you know what else happened at midnight tonight, the affordable care act started. part of the affordable care act. beginning midnight, the website healthcare.gov went live. americans were supposed to go on and choose a health care plan. depending on where you live, your local exchange is run by your state government or by the federal government. even though the federal government is shut down, the obama care part of it goes ahead. in the midst of a sh government shutdown, supposedly to stop obama care we have a shut down and obama care and more to come.

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it's about reaching them. ♪ an ally for real possibilities. aarp. find tools and direction at aarp.org/possibilities. . even without the shutdown congress hit a new low today t. the poll released as the nation was barrelling toward the shutdown shows the disapproval of the american congress reached a new level. the disapproval rating for congress has hit 87%. an historic, almost unimaginable number. 87% of americans saying they disapprove of congress. that poll was taken before congress actually shutdown the federal government. tonight with nobody in congress admitting to the fact that's what they wanted to do. joining us now is luke russert, capitol hill correspondent. thank you for joining us.

appreciate you being here. >> happy to be on here, rachel. i think one of the polls, vladimir poll putin polled higher. no joke. >> with his shirt on. no joke. the house has been voting in the last few minutes. >> they are voting on the issue of conferees. harry reid said he will table it. republican members are caught off guard by the move out of speaker boehner's office. they did not expect him to issue a motion for conferees on the crs. they will continue the message they want to see the government open in basic fairness for all americans under the health care law, the amendment you have been talking with in the last hour. in terms of where we go from here as we move in to tuesday, the idea has always been from republicans that a one-day shutdown is not the end of the

world. they have time to ma throughout the rest of the day. we have seen just about every vehicle they can send over to alter the health care law. the kwef goes, what will they do after they seem to have exhausted every option in order to try to change the health care law? and then we get in to all sorts of exciting things. do they pull away from health care and go to keystone or something like that that is part of the goody bag wish list or continue down the path of going back and forth a lot of republicans is a say they will see a clean cr bill on the floor. it is just a matter of when we get there. not if but when. some folks think it will happen later today ohs feel it will be longer than four days. i haven't heard longer than four days some that is good news for folks furloughed. >> hearing that that is the plan for digging out of this, hearing that is the plan and it is that

february lus makes me worry more than i other wieds would there is no immediate path out of this anytime soon. if they are kicking around ideas. >> it's been fascinating. really has been them conferees thing i'm excited to see the articles about this because this shocked a lot of people. >> luke russert, capitol hill correspondent. i know we will tick stick with you in the next hour as we watch what happens on capitol hill. we want to start a live edition of "the last word." we expect momentarily to be hearing live from the house speaker john boehner who's always interested to watch on capitol hill. after 1:00 a.m., this is going to be awesome. have a great night. stay with us. midnight came and went. congress didn't keep the government rye running and republicans did not stop obama care.