we saw the cory garner start to break. i think it was a signal that time is running short, and that creates pressure for a deal, but what the democrats are doing is saying look we will throw you a bone on border security, and it ends because you can have money for this, we'll call it a wall, it's not a wall, but open the government first. >> that does it for us, "mtp daily" starts right now. >> hi, i can always see new york from my house. thank you, if it is thursday, are we really on the verge of a breakthrough on the end of a shut down. ? good evening, i'm chuck todd in new york. good ready for what could be a

crazy hour that finally settling something? it took 34 days but it finally appears that washington is finally gets serious about finding a way out of this shut down. the leaders of a bipartisan group of senators that emerged after a pair of key votes. it is after a press conference, lindsey graham spoke to the president about a short term deal to open the government which chuck schumer and mitch mcconnell just asked. we could hear from both of them soon. we just heard from the white house that said the president will only agree to a deal that is only going to include a large down appointment on a wall. at any moment we could hear from the president himself. we hit a pivotal moment, it appears the real negotiations have financiofficially begun. why now? reality may be setting in.

house democrats are ready to negotiate, finally, and mitch mcconnell just sent a loud message to the public, finally. they rejected his offer to fund the wall in dramatic sags. it needed 60 votes to advance. the democraticic cease fire proposal got more votes. 52, at six republican senators decided to side with the democrats. that is a message. so the message that the senate sent to the president is that even in a body koled by republicans, there is more port for a cease fire than a wall. we should note a moment on the senate familiar from this afternoon as one of the more low key members of the body went full bullworth. >> how ludicrous it is that this government is shut down over a promise that the president of the united states could not

keep. and then america is not interested in having them keep. >> i'm going to speak with senator bennet in just a momebe, but we will start with actual action on capitol hill. she joins us on tonight's panel of political analysts, and our panel. jonathan is here, and he is not wearing a sweater, everybody, he owns a tie, the real breaking news of this afternoon. but caskacie hunt, i feel like there is finally action. where are we? >> it almost feels strange, what is going on. we haven't had that in woeeks. how many times have we talked

about this now. in the 30 plus days, this is unlike all of the others in that there were no closed door negotiations, there was no sense of urgency, just a stalemate and a screwed up set of incentives getting everybody nowhere. it feels like at least that reality has changed as of this hour on capitol hill. we know senator schumer talking to lindsey graham behind closed door. sarah sanders saying the president might be open to a temporary continuing resolution to open the government for a couple weeks if he gets a down payment for the wall. now what we don't know is how real any of this is. the fact that it could be open in three hours is very much a

stretch. especi especially considering it is the weekend and it would be hard to expedite anything along these lines. we didn't know necessarily what it would look like. >> the most curious thing to me is the republicans that did cross over for the democratic bill. johnny isaacson. they don't cross mcconnell unless there is a permission slip to do it. the othered made a lot of noise, but was that mcconnell's way of sending the president a message? >> i think it may have been part of it. i add mitt romney to that category as well. i was surprised to see what he

did and he did strike out against leadership in this case. i was watching lamar alexander with an interested eye. he clearly decided he wants to tark orn this mandle of being someone that stands for the other things, but you're right that hoe sin credibly close. what does mitch mcconnell need in this moment, it can be for him something that he can't be for himself right now. it is an interesting dynamic, and for those of us who are hoping for an end to the shut down, for the relief for the workers having so much trouble, having mitch mcconnell back at the table is a positive thing. he has been out of these rooms for so long after he got so badly burned by the president, i think having him as a integral part of this negotiation is also a signal that things are on a different path. >> i am going to let you check

your phone, you don't get to demic, i'm guessing that you gouring to have breaking news as soon as everybody here is done talking. i will start with you, you're our ap reporter, check your phone, what do we got? >> the president just spoke to reporters, he is signaling if it is a really deal he would support it, but he reiterates there needs to be money for the wall. we saw him bring last night in the state of the union. the president that made his whole political identity to be a fighter. it seems to be in light of these votes, it seems a clear signal was sent from a newly engaged mitch mcconnell. the trick is getting the posz involved. >> i want to get to my side logical takes here.

>> there is two numbers yesterday, 36, that was trump's approval, and 30 for cbs. i'm sure the white house is seeing what it's seeing, too, we're seeing all but trump suing for peace. he doesn't know how to do that so he says i won't come to capitol hill until a deal is struck. we don't know what is going on with mcconnell, but they set up a vote for everybody got a free vote. democrats got o vote against the wall. they both failed, now they can go back to their constituents saying we voted the way we needed to vote but it has gone on too long. >> look, we're not near this yet, but if you look at where the president is, it is quite the opening act. >> i think he.

>> nancy pelosi stood up to him, i think schumer would have blinked sooner. >> she caused him to throw in the double last night. he can't even come up with a nickname, you know, the reporting says he was low energy when they came to him and told him that nancy pelosi said the no was really a no. and it is, what they're saying for the money, the air traffic controller is saying there could be a tragedy that we need to solve immediately and tomorrow being the second paycheck. i think there is a cull min nation of different things all building to this point where he was forced to do his job. >> one other thing here that i think moved the president, it was interesting, the fact that

he is accepting the following statistic. in his meeting with conservatives yesterday, he acknowledged the shut down is costing more money than the amount of money he is asking for. that to me means he is realizing he has to get out of this mess into now everybody wants out. i guess the question really is what is a down payment for the wall look like and how many democratic votes is nancy pelosi willing to give for something like that. >> i think that is right, nbc news has not confirmed, but reuter's said he did talk about the cr and wall money, he said he would accept a government funding deal with fey can come up with one. we're of course waiting for fuller details and we'll have all of that to you momentarily.

that would be a considerable shift for this president assuming that he -- that he is going to give up on this wall idea in some way. we don't have an understanding of what a down payment would be and what democrats would be willing to do, but i do this you're right that everyone is now looking for an off ramp. don't forget that a side drama today is democrats working on their appropriations bill for dhs. they don't want us to characterize is as a count er bill for the president, but saying you can have more money, but you can't use it to build a new wall, but that to me signalled that it didn't necessarily say very much and pelosi was careble about how she talked about it in public but it was still a moving of the goal

post. >> i'm inside two minutes, we'll be able to hear exactly what the president said. >> there was also a letter sent to pelosi by 30 house democrats saying we should be talking about border security money. that is her often ramp, okay? >> i had a ton of democrats get nervous in the last two weeks saying whoa whoa whoa, this looks like democrats don't want border security. there has been some concern. >> and the polling says that while a minority sports the wall, the number for increasing the number of border security agents is like 72% approval. again this is something where trump theoretically could say the down payment begins with the border security agents that have to be there when the wall is built to man the wall. >> how much room does nancy pelosi have now?

does she have the money because she broke him snp. >> yes, and i think going back to 2013, there was a lot of money for border security. we have roll tape here. >> mr. president, do you have any idea for the temporary spending to reopen the government? part of it is like a prorated down payment for the wall which, i think people agree that you need, you need the wall. i see a lot of democrats, almost all of them are saying walls are good, walls are good, a big difference from what you sad two or three weeks ago. and the vote, we had the vote on our bill, which we won 50-47, that was our bill, but we got one democrat, it was 50-47, and we need, as you know we have to get 60. we need democrat support and we didn't get democrat support

other than from a wonderful man as you know senator manchin. he is doing the right thing for his people. he is doing the right thing for west virginia. the other bill was 52-44 which included hurricane relief for a lot of states. some of them just voted for the hurricane relief they felt they needed. they needed 60 so that didn't go anywhere. we knew they were not going to go anywhere, and now mitch is negotiating with chuck schumer and we'll see what happens. i think they just left a meeting, i think they're going out to see their people, but they just left so we had two bills i think we did very well, the republicans held except for two, the republicans held, two were not there, they were unable to be there, there was two nonvotes, but even with two nonvotes i think they would have been good votes for us.

we need 60 votes because of the 60 vote rule. and so i just really want to thank the republicans for holding. on the other one, that was opening up, that is 54-44. that is a long way short, a lot of that was based on the fact that there was hurricane relief for certain states. >> can you open temporary spending without money for the wall. >> i wouldn't be happy with it, there sr. a lot of alternatives, for the most part people agree when i say everybody, i would say almost everybody agrees we have to have border security, we have to have a wall to have border security. you cannot have border security without a wall. we can play games and it talk about technology and drones, right now formed is an 8,000 person caravan, and they're

coming our way. congratulations, we stopped the first and the second. i would not say that tijuana is too happy, but they're happily living in tijuana right now and a lot have gone back. we stopped them but it is very tough, we have the military and the border patrol that have done an incredible job. but if we had a wall, we would not have that problem. it would be great, so we have a lot of alternatives, but i'm just honored that almost all of the republicans voted for our bill, our bill is the bill that we focused on, but we had almost all of the republicans, so the end result was 50-47, the democrats lost one that came over to our side. so they held, we held, and we were missing two republicans

that could not vote, they were not here. >> is there any movement to end the shut down? >> i have to find out after this meeting, right now they're meeting and we'll have to see what happens, to see if they can work out something on a temporary basis. we have a lot of alternatives, a lot of people want this to happen. i'll tell you who wants it to happen is the military, this is a virtual invasion of our country. of drugs, of human traffickers, of so many things, criminals. it is an invasion of our country. border patrol said all of the drones in the air, having a lot of fun, they don't mean a thing when they look down and see thousands of people rushing our border. the only thing that works is a strong barrier or wall.

i have a beautiful evening in iraq. >> mr. president, wilbur ross says he doesn't understand why federal workers are getting food. >> i haven't heard the statement, but i understand, perhaps he should have said it differently. when people go for groceries and everything else, they will work along. i know banks are working along. if you have mortgages, the folks collecting the interest and all of those things, they work along, and that is what happens in time like this. they know the people, they have been dealing with them for years. the grocery store, and i think that is probably what he meant, but i have not seen his statement, no, he has done a great job i will tell you that. >> aren't you worried? >> we're looking at venn za la,

that was a very sad situation. that was the rich eest statemen. and now is one of the poorest places in the world. that is what socialism gets you when they want to raise your taxes to 70%. it is interesting, i have been watching our opponents, our future opponents, 70%. it has to be probably twice that number. you have to study and look at what happened to venezuela. we have our eye very closely on ve venezuela. >> if they come to a reasonable agreement i would support it. >> does it have to have wall money. >> i have other alternatives if

i have to. ly use them if i have to. we have to have a wall in this country. we have criminals pouring into our country. i'm not talking about just the southern border, they permeate throughout the country including places like wisconsin. a lot of different places. and that is the problem. i say that we would cut our crime, you know we're doing very well on the crime rate compared to past years and past administrations. we know our drug rates, the drugs are pouring in and they come through the ports of entry, but they come through areas where you don't have a wall and you have wide open spaces. you stop drugs, you stop human trafficking, where they tie up women and put duct tape on their mouths and in the back seat of a car or a van, they don't come through a port of entry, the

people at the port of entry would see them. some of these people so genius, if they were legitimate they would become very rich people. but what they do is they go through the ports of entry with small stuff, but the big stuff comes through areas where you have nobody watching. we have hundreds of miles of open space. they load it up with women in the back seat of the cars, duct tape all over the cars, it's a disgrate and you don't catch them. you don't even know the difference. they make a left turn, they go 20 miles, 40 miles, five miles sometimes, they make a left turn and they're in the united states. they do whatever they have to do. we all need the games. if you don't have the wall the

technology doesn't work. the wall is based on any technology that works only with the wall. it won't work otherwise. a lot of technology is put on the wall, cameras and everything else. they put the technology, they fasten it to the wall. you have drone technology that is great in terms of what are you going to do? follow the people? once they step into the country, you know what happens, right? you know what they do? it's called what do they call it, do you know, they put one foot in our country, right? and we got them, that's it, so the drones don't help us, we have to keep it out. we have no choice but to have a wall or a barrier. if we don't have that it will just not work. it is very important to me. >> what is your mesdsage to federal workers. >> i love them, i respect them, i really appreciate the great

job their doing. many of those people that are not getting paid are totally in favor of what we're doing. they know the future of this country is dependent on the strong border, especially a strong southern border. we have tremendous violence coming through that border. we have trafficking, we have gangs coming through the borders, and if we don't strengthen them we will have big problems. i blame myself because the economy is so strong right now, stronger than ever before, today, right now, we have more people working in the united states than have ever worked in this country before. that's a great compliment, so i blame myself, okay? but the fact is people come up because our country is doing so well. we took in more people last

year, legally, than we have in a long time because we need them because we have a lot of companies goming into our county ri. i want them to come in but they have to come this legally. if they don't companies and our country, we can't do that, okay, we just can't do that. >>. >> i would have done it in a different location, but i think that would be disrespectful to the state of the union. i could have done it, i could have gone to a big auditorium, but i think that would be d disrespectful to the state of the union. we'll have it when the shut down is over. we have a lot of alternatives we

need border security. >> there it is, it was a fascinating president trump in some ways because at the beginning he sounded like a guy ready to concede to reality, and then he got wound up making his case for the wall. so halle, if you just hear the president at first he sounded like someone ready to just concede, who should we believe? >> talking himself into this thing. i think based on the reality of what we saw unfold, you to think that the president knows if he continues to hold ground in the second part of that spay that we just saw, he is not going to get anywhere. this prorated down payment and what it means, what it serves to show is the wiggle room on what

they want to see. the reality is that it is not working where things are in the status quo. i think it was interesting gnat president repeatedly talked about not just what would happen if they come up with a reasonable agreement and the detail if i thinks on what is reasonable in the eyes of trump because that is critical for the republicans. he has alternatives, that probably means a national emergency. that is probably one of the options. our colleague at abc news today asked the president today and tries to get that to him today. why didn't the president respond on that one. they want to see what congress could come up with. now we know, today, right? nothing. >> and he still has that defense

department directive that is still in place, i think, too, so that is something else in his back pocket. >> our reporting is that there was a plan repaired for the president on how he would declare a national emergency. they broke that story last week looking at what exactly, how would you move money around from the defense department. we know they're reporting that the plans have been prepared. it is a question and a function of whether or not the president pulls the trigger. >> you heard the president there, i think the big question is, you hear the phrase down payment, what does nancy pe he will -- pelosi say to that. >> i have an answer to your we and she just walked by here and our producer was able to chase

her and she was asked about this very question. she was clearly already familiar with what the president said because she pointed out that he said he would sign a reasonable agreement. someone asked her about this geemt, and she said he demanded a down payment, and she said she didn't think that would be a reasonable arangsment. it seems that is her initial read on what the president is demanding. don't forget there have been appointments that the democrats offered money for border security, that perhaps, you know, could have included barriers at different points in the last year, but this shut downturned it into a rhetorical sticking point. so i really think the question is what exactly are the specifics that shumer and mcconnem -- schumer and mcconnell are talking about, and can they be read differently. is the president able to look at it and say i got my down payment, i will be fine, use the

military or whatever to get this done, and for nancy pelosi to say this is not building a wall, i win. i don't see any other way out of this. >> a little bit of house keeping, who is currently negotiating right now? we have shumer and mcconnell in one room, do we have a bipartisan group of senators, that large gang of about 16, are they still meeting? there was an idea they would do a press -- where are we on the status of those two groups? >> there was supposed to be a press conference today at 5:00. i have not seen notes from my team on that yet, chuck, it is possible they have more on that than i do, but i think that group, the negotiations had been relatively settled. they got to the point where they had a lot of momentum, 20 senators on board, and the idea there was to reopen the government for three weeks and try to negotiate the border

security after that. i think it is possible that is related to schumer, but we should note that the meeting wrapped up a couple minutes before 5:00. so we're working on, we are presume, that they're now talking to their shars caucuses about it, but i think it comes down to what is this "down payment." can the democrats stomach it. >> i have one of those democrats here right now, michael bennet, kasie hunt, you are de-tethered. we played earlier, senator, you're very fiery speech on the senate floor, but before i go to

th that. is there more, i choose to pick green chutes. this has gone on for far too long. there is not a personal in this building virtually that doesn't want this government reopened. the question is whether or not we can get to a rational deal between the leaders and the pirs of the united states. that is a open question. >> we just use the word reasonable. what do you think the president thinks is reasonable? >> i don't have any idea, and what i worry about with him is i want us to achieve a deal because i want to be reopened

again, this is not our government by the way, this is the american people's government, and the problem on this issue is, as on other issues, is the president is so value oo tile, that one minute he is saying one thing, and you heard him say we need more legal imfwrags, his white house has been saying we should be cutting legal immigration by 50%, it's not like there is an abundance of clarity. but we should hope for the best and i hope that chuck schumer and mitch mcconnell will come to a deal that will wow the american people to begin this exercise in self-government again. >> i know a group of you were trying to cobble together your own compromise. where does that stand? >> i was net in that group, usually i am. >> sorry, usually i am but this time i wasn't because i thought that there was only one person

that could make a decision about whether or not it would be a deal and that was trump. there was no permission that could come from the white house, and until that happened and it sounds like tonight it is finally happening. >> you really lost patience today on the senate floor. it was something else, you showed a lot of frustration there. and why? >> well, it is not just this episode, so the reason i lost my patience was that ted cruz was on the floor, the senator from texas be moaning the fact that coast guard members were not getting paid, and they should be, but i remember when he shut the government down to read "green eggs and ham" while colorado was being flooded and people were dying in my state

when this federal government was shut down over stupid petty politics. i found it disgraceful that he would be on the floor saying what he was saying. but even more important than that, from my point of view, chuck, is that the last ten years of our politics in washington, we have been tierenize by themselves who have imposed their view on america on america. and i think it is time for us to get out of this mess that we're in, but it is not just about the shut down, it's our failure to invest. our failure to educate our children. chie that is rising. russia is putting out and it matters a lot. we seem to have lost track of the stuff that really matters. if you were to listen to

president trump. it is not that millions of poor kids get personal keeducation, it's that we have to build his version of a wall. it is not the most important thing, and i was part of the gang of eight where we negotiated $45 billion of real border security including 350 miles -- >> let me ask you this. you pointed out your frustrations with the senate and that it is a minority of a minority essentially that is pulling some strings here particularly in congressional politics. i had plenty of people now ask me why is it that you can stop paying people with the government, why does that ever happen? is there a real movement now to figure out a way to make it impossible to stop the flow of money to federal government workers when there is a

political spat. the only people that are not hurt by this behavior is craven politicians. those are the only people, everyone else is hurt. we should take it off of the table. we should not shut the government down for politics. no other government in america shuts itself down over politics. no local government, no school district. i used to be a school superintendent, none of our industrialized countries do it. the president was saying oh, no, be aware of becoming venn ezuel and i don't want that, but we have to do better in this republic attending to the business that the american people need us to attend to, and this whole drama, this doesn't help. >> one of the things we haven't yet seen is you guys getting

into farguments. how bad is the divide in the senate, or is this really driven by the president? are you guys unable towork with each other? is it this pad now? >> we're able to work together on small things. at this point. we're not able to work particularly well with large complicated things like immigration. but it wont that long ago when we were sitting in a room writing a bill that started with the words border security and created a pathway to citizenship for those here. and that was a bipartisan effort. today it was is stupidest rule in the world. and it is just another way

that -- your viewers know, that is another way of the minority of the minority being able to exercise their tyranny here. this will require republicans and democrats to come together not just to work in a bard way but overcome people in our political system that believe they have a monopoly on wisdom. >> and f if they move to investigate the president that will not help relations on capitol hill. >> that's true but i think people in these jobs have a decision to make about whether or not they want to make a contribution to preserving these institutions and i think we never thought -- i'm not even going to say we're at rock bottom, but we're scraping. >> i'll be honest, it is terrible. >> before i let you go, are you running for president? i know you had some people try to get you into this thing.

you showed a lot of passion today. do you have plans for des moines or manchester any time soon? >> i'm thinking about it, chuck, like every single other american this building is thinking about it. i'll let you know. >> i appreciate the straightforwardness there. what -- why are you thinking about it and what would stop you. >> i think the country is moving in a terribly -- in a terrible direction. i think donald trump is much more a symptom of our problems than he is the creator of our problems. he is the accelerator. guess what, they succeeded. now we have to pick up the pieces and start to make investments on the next generation of americans again and make sure that people can fully participate as citizens in this democracy. there is a lot of things to do going forward, there is ways to

work on that going forward and in a presidential campaign. >> michael bennet, i will let you go, appreciate the time. thank you for coming and for the straightforward talk. >> wow, i have to say, michael bennet has been radicalized. he is not like -- for anyone that follows the senate, he is not someone that wants to lose his cool. it is interesting to watch when you have people that don't want to be that bomb thrower. >> i don't think anyone can watch the news every day and not get that upset. i'm not surprised that he is that upset about real substantive issues. these people cannot put foot on the table or gas in their car to get to the job. i think there will be a breaking point where michael bennet will not be the only one.

there will be others that jump out and say enough it is enough because the institutions is crumbling. these people are part of these institutions. why do you want to see the senate and the house get dismantled by this president. >> they care about bipartisan. if you are republican you care about bipartisanship. that's not good for the institution, john. >> right. well, in my commentary last year, we published a piece called congress is weak because the members want it to be weak. the incentive structure for members of congress has changed in the last 10 and 15 years. it is better to be an obstructionist than a deal maker. it is better for fundraising and public appearances. better to win reelection. people did well in congress when they were the sorts of people

that could take credit for getting things done. and now you have a lot of credit for being an impediment to getting things done because so many people don't want the things done that bipartisan agreement will lead to. and until that incentive structure, and he mentioned the rule that says that the house speaker will not -- the republican house speaker will not bring to the floor any bill that did not have a majority of the republican members of the house already supportive of it, in order to pft them, they have a chance to lift the rule by not running the house that way. >> she is not opposed to bipartisan agreement. >> exactly. >> and also, going back to president trump, and we saw what

is coming next, it seemed like he was gripping with the reality of the votes here. he said that republican support, we all stuck together, they have fewer doubts. it's like we lost that game because of a flag. >> the rams saints maybe. but in this case, there is another sequence si here. flash back, there was supposed to be a deal, it was done, they opposed it and president trump listened to them. and what is their response now, if they do interpret it. >> that is what i'm trying to figure out here in what the president was saying, it is possible that he was whipping himself up or he has to let his base know i'm fighting for this, don't lose faith. >> i thought this entire show

was to put on a big fight that everyone could see, let's be real, the president in terms of the policy of the wall, i don't know that it keeps him up at night, i don't know that he thinks we need this big wall. i think he wants to put on a show for his base to show he is fighting for the wall, and ann coulter got upset so he renigged. so i think he is listening to them if he is setting policy. >> it is always better for the talk radio crowd. >> that is true, but the real question here is that if trump is such a tough guy, such a guy like who wants to push things, won't he get mad for them having forced him to back a policy that drove his poll numbers --

>> he used his political capital that he doesn't like using, so i don't know at some point, you're right he is not a tough guy, but people that get pushed, that have their backs pushed against their walls. you don't know how the world works. you don't know why they have a down payment in a bad market, 2% down is a reasonable down payment. we have a member of the house democratic leadership to react on everything that has happened in this 45 minutes and then some, we'll be right back. 45 mi some, we'll be right back. ♪ oh come on ♪ let's get it on applebee's. now that's eatin' good in the neighborhood. every day, visionaries are creating the future.

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thank you for coming on the show. >> my pleasure, good to be with you. >> i heard reasonable deal from the president, he wants something that is a down payment. he didn't mention a percentage. how does that sit with you, how does that sit with the house democrats at this point? >> nothing coming from this president is reasonable at this point. and i can tell you that house democrats remain unified on let's get this government open and then we can negotiate. we went to the senate today to watch the votes, to make sure they understood that we are literally keeping our eyes on them to remind them that this is about the american people. i can tell you the stories that i'm hearing. one today from a woman named susan who is down to $400 in her checking account, and she doesn't know what she will do. and you couple that with what

we're hearing from the fbi, from tsa, from the coast guard about the really serious national security concerns being created by this shut down. it is the emperor has no clothes. >> is there anything about the president backing down saying let's give him something to hang his hat on? >> what gives me some optimism is there was a feeling that mitch mcconnell was asking republicans not to leave, and you know hoping to reach out to chuck schumer, i'm hoping that coupled with this movement maybe they're beginning to realize they're putting our national security in jeopardy, and they

realize that this theater of the absurd has to come to an end. >> it is very possible that the president in the back of his mind -- he referenced that decla national emergency, that maybe they take this deem, whatever you guys come up with that he agrees to, that he still wants to do national emergency, what -- what -- is there anything you can do about that legislatively? >> there isn't, if he was to do that soon. i've also heard that he is still thinking about trying to do something less than a national emergency but still take money like one of his proposals to take disaster relief that has been given to puerto rico. so, we're not sure what his next move is. but, i can tell you that it is extremely concerning that this whole situation developed out of his trying to win approval from anne coulter and others and

disregarded what is any kind of rational discussion around border security. just this morning, we were with secretary johnson and he told us about a part of the steel fencing that exists on the border that because we didn't have technology sensors, because we didn't have the personnel that is necessary to make any barrier successful, that cartelings had blocartels had blown a hole through it and we are easily able to put a hole through the fencing. we need a comprehensive border security. democrats are waiting. we are willing to get to the table. we can make it a short time frame to keep the pressure on, but we need to open government. >> let me ask you two house keeping things. the house has had adjourned for the weekend. how quickly could you come pack? let's say schumer, mcconnell have something, speaker pelosi signs off on it, how quickly

could the house get back into session to open up the government? >> we will be back, if something happens quickly, we will be here within 24 hours. >> so everybody is on a 24 notice here that they notice? >> everybody is on notice. if you can't make it back, people are spending the weekend. >> finally, what is the speaker's role with chuck schumer right now. the reporting is schumer and mcconnell are negotiating. well, i assume, we don't know who from the white house has got mcconnell's ear, who from speaker pelosi, is she directly talking with schumer? how does that work? >> i'm sure she is. they have been an absolute coordinated team on this. and so i am sure she is involved in these negotiations, but i think it makes sense that the two leaders of the senate have those negotiations, but i am absolutely certain the speaker will be involved in any decision that is made. >> all right. katherine clark, i will let you go. thanks, for spending some time

with us. we'll hold you guys in the house, 24 hours notice. >> you got it. >> maybe this thing ends before the weekend. thanks very much. >> let's hope so. all right. >> go to the panel here. jonathan zerlina, jay todd, what did you hear? >> i think it's interesting, there is a sense of optimism what you said there about the 24 notice, if a deal is struck tonight, maybe it's tomorrow morning, this can be opened up on the weekend. there is a scenario the president is giving. >> i was wondering. i'm going to say, i'm not canceling my travel plans yet. >> as we discussioned, this could all fall apart. the president may listen to anne coulter rather than nancy pelosi. think of that scene tuesday night, if he comes into the newly reopened government and we get to watch nancy pelosi behind him the whole time. >> there is such a sense of exhaustion. you think he needs a week to gather his thoughts. >> a lot to get through. >> you don't want to do it yet. >> i know he wants to give the state of the union. if we're talking about whether

or not he's listening to anne coulter or nancy pelosi, like everything is out of whack. anne could you teller is a pundit. she's not a part of the official government. she is not elected. so the president listening to people who are spouting their opinions, sure, i think my opinion is great and i hope people listen sometimes. but i'm not an elected member of government. i think when are you accountable to constituents, that is a different thing than when you have people who watch your show and you have ratings. >> okay. my sense is, the democrats are taught in the house are talking about border security. you just heard president clark talk a lot about -- now, 2019, they're talking about border security. they need to do it. you feed fencing to have high-tech support and all of that. they can make a deal. they can make a deal in five minutes if they just throw $3 or $4 billion of border security that would then dare trump to turn him down on the grounds that it's not brick and mortar and steel. and that's not going to work. >> you have watched him a long time. okay. i studied his entire defensive

record. he doesn't know how to declare victory. it has to be a cry of uncle or a few cries of uncle. maybe he finally met his match. i don't know. >> i think he backed himself, you know, into a corner. and people who are backed into a corner, even they have to get out of the corner somehow. he did this to himself. the deal was on the table. he turned it down. it's been 34 days, as i keep saying, his poll numbers went down from the low 40s to the low 30s, or the mid-30s. and he is the one who has to get out of this because for reasons that i'm not entirely clear on, nobody but he is getting blamed for this. >> well, i have to -- i go back to the original thing that made me think, okay, something is happening today. when the president pulled the plug, himself. on his state of the union fight last night. and are you just sitting there going he did it last night. is he going to change his mind this morning? there was a part of me that thought that, he could wake up, what was i thinking?

>> one tweet saying it was off. >> when i thought it was very possible, but he seems to be tiring of this fight. and that, whether it's, he hasn't had a day off, which he brought up. >> yes. >> oh my gosh. >> we know people who have talked to the president repeatedly who said he is itching to get down to mar-a-lago. this is the long time he hasn't gone golfing in his entire adult life. yes, there seems to be some sense of reality setting in. we shouldn't expect him, a full fledged cave. we will have him say at least he got a portion of what he wants. this is donald trump. we seem to be headed in a direction where a deal is struck. >> there are tsa workers getting no money. the president fought being able to golf is the least of our worries. >> it is not a worry at all. ly say this, nancy pelosi is in his head. who is the only politician in america that he doesn't have a nasty name name for. he said nancy pelosi, whom i

call nancy. he cannot come one a nickname for her. she's in his head. she's the first woman in american politics ki tell about whom he is forebearing to be horrible. >> i have to say, he has done more to help her with the rest of the democratic party. certainly, look, there are some people, ah, should she be there or not? i think now she is proffering what she said, she is uniquely qualified to deal with him. >> absolutely. but the people that knew about her record as speak ter first time were in favor of her being the speak ter second time. because they understood she knew how to work the levers of power. she knows how to do the background deals, how the make the deals and count the votes, so she gets bills on the floors that pass. she did not have bills that failed on the floor. >> that is you know unprecedented, certainly in the modern era. >> i don't want to jump ahead and assume they get a deem. let's assume they get it in 48 hours. there is a part of me, you have a death in your family, you are so emotionally exhausted. it's four days later, you come up, you are spent.

all of a sudden a new fight erupts. the if you fight for the president is going to be, i just feel like, we almost broke washington, jonathan, on the shutdown. what is going to happen when the mueller report hits? i'm sorry, i'm watching this, you are like, holy cow. we barely survived this. >> there are some trump allies that i talked to that viewed it in that way. this is the pause. which is the real story the investigation, rob mueller investigation and when the congressional investigations ramp up as well. and that is going to be the story of 2019 when the government shut down is over, it's going to quickly fade in the headlines, the president has plenty of time to get the poll numbers up to where they were. it's about mueller the probes. >> it's they spent, beat each other up, oh my god, what will happen when we do this? >> i think the bottom line here is not just that the congressional investigations are heating up, but i think the subtext of all of this and the chaos that we are watching is the result of potentially what vladimir putin's goal was, like long thought that his coal was

to sew chaos and are we sewing anything different? >> what did the president do with this shutdown to rally the party around him when the things get tougher? >> association he did nothing. in fact, i keep citing these polls. the only reason his polls were in the mid-30s is republicans are turning on him for the shutdown. >> not the deep phase, but that group of republicans that were the difference between him winning and losing. >> those people can be gotten back, i think he can get them back. but this is a self inflicted wound with very little precedent i think in american political history this shutdown. because he is going to end up getting a worse deal probably than he could have had when he chance emed t chance em cancelled the deal that shut down the government. >> shy might have broken him, that's stunning.

>> jonathan, zer li na, thank you all. thank you for wearing the time. it's a great day. very well done. my grandmother will be very happy. she thinks everybody should be wearing a tie on tv. i will be back tomorrow with more tie tips. a quick plug, i am joining trevor noah on the "daily show." you don't know, it could be tend of my career. "the beat" with is coming up. we have a report that bipartisan talks to try to reopen the government. you are looking at the split screen reality. a dramatic statement, more republicans crossing over one by one to vote for what is a democratic bill that would reopen the government. both the so-called trump bill and this democratic bill didn't get enough votes to move forward. you can see, they do have something close tove