best actor. it's possible. but something far greater than oscar is also possible for this film. this is a film that could have a lasting impact on american lives. that does it for "the cycle". it's time for martin bashir. >> i hope it does, tour e.r.a. an amazing film. monday, october the 14th. 14 days into the shutdown. three days to default. and at this moment, two senators trying to hammer out a deal. >> this is not normal. >> what do you mean they're not here? >> this is awkward, but the government is shut down. >> just three days until the country hits its borrowing limit. >> how do you tell you're losing in american politics? >> coward! >> sarah palin is standing right beside you. >> we stormed the beaches of normal de. >> ted cruz, the de facto head of the republican party. do you agree? >> you have 46 of us, we all have a little ego. >> we're down to blood relatives

and paid staffers. >> that poll was very heavily weighted. >> probably understand why 60% of americans want to vote all couples out. >> i can remember taking my kids to chuck e. cheese and watching this whac-a-mole game. >> they haven't put us on suicide watch yet. >> enough games! >> you started this game. >> save us from the madness. >> send them to washington and just drown everybody! >> people back to work. end this republican shutdown ♪ the chills that you spill up my back made me feel the satisfaction when we're down ♪ ♪ i couldn't ask for another >> good afternoon. we begin with a flurry of late developments out of washington. though none of it is taking place in front of cameras. and that's because congressional leaders have just postponed a meeting with the president in order to continue hammering out a deal that avoids a global financial catastrophe while also ending the government shutdown, now two weeks and counting. and earlier today, the president

visiting a foot pantry in the capitol, made it clear that failure to resolve this impasse would risk the single-most colossal blow to the american economy. >> we have not only is it untenable for us to continue this shutdown, this week, if we don't start making some real progress both in the house and the senate, and if republicans aren't willing to set aside some of their partisan concerns in order to do what's right for the country, we stand a good chance of defaulting. and defaulting would oh have a potentially devastating effect on our economy. >> the seriousness of the nation's predict is now beginning to sink in, at least with party leaders who took to the senate floor this afternoon with a much more positive demeanor. >> i'm very optimistic that we reach -- we will reach an agreement that's reasonable in nature this week.

>> i share his optimism that we're going to get a result that will be acceptable to both sides. >> as details of a possible agreement continue to emerge, nbc news is reporting that the deal on the consideration would fund the government through january 15th, and lift the debt limit through february the 15th, one day after valentines day. but with just three days until the nation hits the debt ceiling, the severity of this crisis cannot be oversold. as christine lagarde, head of the international monetary fund told my colleague, david gregory. it's not just america that would pay if a deal cannot be reached. it's the world. >> if there is that degree of disruption, that lack of certainty, that lack of trust in the u.s. signature, it would mean massive disruption the world over. and we would be at risk of tipping yet again into recession. >> for the latest, let's go to capitol hill and nbc's luke russert. luke, where do these

negotiations stand right at this moment? there's been some indication from speaker boehner that -- or has there been any indication he would support any of the discussions that are going on between the senate leaders? >> as of right now, we have not gotten an opinion of john boehner about this presumed deal? >> can you see any speak smoke coming out of his office? >> night quite at the vatican here, martin. what i will say is this. as you put the details that we know so far about how it would extend the debt limit through february 15th and government funding through, and presumably something to do with the health care law within that. what we know, mitch mcconnell is going to bring this forward to a republican caucus meeting later in the senate. they'll weigh in a little bit. whatever deal, though, comes out of the senate, presumably that optimism that harry reid and mitch mcconnell had on the floor earlier, whatever comes out is going to unrun it into a house gop conference which will not

like it. so the question becomes, to what degree will john boehner say no thanks and maybe amend a senate deal, perhaps the house tries to do their own thing last minute or do they just sort of bite the bullet and pass what the senate is handing over? and martin, i'll give you a quick history lesson. we have seen this movie play out before. during the fiscal cliff, mitch mcconnell and joe biden, they struck a deal at 4:00 in the morning on new year's day. >> i remember. >> reporter: the senate passed that with 70-plus something votes. the house gop immediately rejected it. but what happened later that night? john boehner put it on the floor, it passed through, eric cantor voted against it, mccarthy voted against it, boehner supported it. but the crisis was averted. i can see the same movie playing out. there is going to be a lot of anger from house conservatives. but the way in which the timing is working now, martin, they don't have anything else they could do. one last thing i'll throw in there. it's not unheard of that ted cruz or mike lee or somebody -- these republican senators could hold this up. this presumed deal that we have up. so there's still a lot of moving parts. this is going to anger some

really conservative members, and we all know that over the last few weeks they are more than willing to go all in to disrupt anything they don't want to have occur. >> even if it's a global financial catastrophe. nbc's luke russert. thank you, luke. for more analysis, let's bring in a columnist from "new york" magazine. john, over the weekend, republicans were full of talks about democrats overplaying their hand. overconfident. >> yeah. >> but you say you have a completely unsubstantiated hypothesis to explain why that line of thinking may be wrong. prey tell, what is it? >> all the stories that democrats were demanding concessions of their own and republicans were denouncing them. what i think this was really reflecting was the pragmatic republicans who wanted to make a deal, showing they could stand up against something. saying democrats are trying to get rid of sequestration, which is the hard cuts of domestic spending, even defense spending, so they can show they held the

line on sequestration, this imaginary democratic demand to show they stand firm by giving up on their whole hostage scheme all together. >> so you're describing it as a complete massacre aid. >> right. it's a ploy. and i think a lot of the media took those claims somewhat at face value. and they kept saying democrats are on the offensive and upping their demands but couldn't describe what the demands were and i don't think there were any. >> i don't think so either. i want to bring in columnist dana milbank. dana, what can we infer when harry reid and mitch mcconnell refer to each other on the senate floor as "my good friend," or is this like a fellow referring to someone as honest and brave? >> well, they are always having to refer to each other as "my good friend" but that's followed by saying "my good friend is the worst leader in the history of the united states senate." the difference today, they appear they might mean it, which is a sign of the apocalypse, or

in fact means they are in fact reaching a deal. so i think there is a whole lot of optimism right now, as luke outlined. there is various ways in which this can can get tripped up. but it's easier and easier to see how they get some sort of resolution. of course, that resolution is nothing to celebrate. they merely are punting it a few months down the road so we can do this all again in the winter season and be done with the fall standoff. >> but dana, that presupposes that some kind of senate agreement will pass through the house. and as you well know, that is no guarantee whatsoever. >> right. you can never make predictions when you're dealing with people and not necessarily making calculations based on the same sort of rational view of the universe that others are using. but if becomes harder and harder for john boehner to withstand the demands, and he may have to say, even if the majority of his caucus is against it, he's going to have to put it on the floor now. because if we think republicans have been blamed in the polls now, it will become more and more obvious that they're the

only things holding up the government, throwing the united states into default. and that's the sort of thing he's going to need to risk his speakership over. if he doesn't, he's become a meaningless leader anyway. >> okay. well, we're seeing the circus, jonathan, today. but the early christmas circus arrived in d.c. at the weekend. as you know, it was a double bill of sarah palin and ted cruz, among others, standing with veterans and protesting the government shutdown that they, of course, helped to bring about. let me play some sound from it. >> our veterans should be above politics. enough games. >> so we are being brave and calling out those who would use this as a political game. >> so there you have it, john. they don't like it when i am besills tooun stickily use vets but what about turning the gop

into a laughing stock? >> i think he has paid a price. he has upped his profile, and at the values village -- values action -- >> value voter summit. >> yeah, sorry. that was not intentional. i think he finished first in the straw poll so really gained an intense following. so the party establishment just despises him now in a way they never did before. which is going to make it much harder for him to run for president if he really wants to. >> yeah, dana, what's your reaction to the circus that took place yesterday? >> well, i mean, it's always exciting when the carnival barker is the one saying stop the games. i think ted cruz is very much following the sarah palin model and that is becoming extremely popular among this very small set of the electorate. that can do him quite well in a republican primary. so there's every reason to think he would be a contender in 2016. >> among that small is up set, but he is absolutely without friends other than say, mike lee, in the united states senate, even among the

conservatives. so he's given up might sort of influence as a respected figure in politics, but he can always enjoy the sarah palin route of influence and book writing and tweeting. >> yeah, and, of course, he can always do real husbands of texas. dana, it would be remiss of me not to mention the latest "washington post" poll that shows three out of four people disapproval of how republicans have handled this fight. how long does this episode linger in the minds of voters? because you're an expert, both historically, but also looking forward. and i just wonder what the implications will be for congressional elections next year. >> that's the really big question, martin. because this is an eternity in politics before the next election. so certainly if it were held today, republicans would be devastated by this. it's a question of how much is the blame fixed in the public's mind if the republicans do shut down not just shut down the government, but actually go into default and we reach some entirely new economic recession, do they blame the incumbent

party? or do they blame -- do they recall the blame for what actually occurred? it's not entirely clear, and that's why some republicans may say, if the economy tanks, they blame the democrats. >> of course. dana milbank and jonathan, thank you so much. coming up, would a late deal on the debt ceiling have any chance of survival in the house? we'll talk to a house democrat to get his insight straight ahead. stay with us. ♪ you can't always get what you want ♪ ♪ but if you try sometimes we might find you get what you need ♪ the gulf, bp had two big goals: help the gulf recover and learn from what happened so we could be a better, safer energy company. i can tell you - safety is at the heart of everything we do. we've added cutting-edge technology, like a new deepwater well cap and a state-of-the-art monitoring center, where experts watch over all drilling activity twenty-four-seven.

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14 days into the government shutdown, three days from reaching the nation's borrowing limit. and perhaps members of congress

are finally beginning to understand that americans have had enough of this stalemate. a meeting between the president and congressional leadership scheduled for this afternoon has been postponed for the time being. but the president's remarks earlier today suggest that he's cautiously holding out hope, even as the hours tick away. >> they can solve this problem today. and it doesn't mean that the differences between democrats and republicans go away. that's what elections are for. but between elections, we're supposed to be governing, and we're not supposed to be hurting the very people who sent us to represent them. and i hope that that kind of spirit holds true during the course of discussions today and over the next several days. >> for more, we're joined by congressman, gregory meeks, a democrat from new york. good afternoon, sir. >> good afternoon, martin. >> thank you for joining us on columbus day. while the senate continues to hammer out a deal, republicans, as you know, have made their position clear, to avoid economic ruin they want the president to delay the

affordable care act, cut taxes, approve the key stone pipeline, deregulate wall street and cut medicare. to the president's point, isn't this shutdown basically about republicans trying to assert policies that were rejected during the presidential election, but by extortion, as opposed to election? >> that's exactly why we're here, martin. we wouldn't be here otherwise. all the democrats have asked for, and people talk about negotiating, going back and forth. we've not asked for anything. there are plenty of things we could ask for if there were real negotiations. all we ask for is keep america working. let's have a clean, continuing resolution so that we can continue having the american people work and receiving the services that they vitally need. and let's raise the debt ceiling so that america can pay its bills. and not only will the united states' full faith and credit be kept pristine, but it would not cause a global recession. as you heard christian lagarde talk about. so here is just simply an

opportunity for the republicans, what they're doing, to haul the government into one sense the world at edge, because of their own idealistic and individual party affiliations by basically 42 individuals who are members of the tea party. >> so here's -- congressman, here's the challenge. mitch mcconnell and harry reid are currently in discussions. there are rumors circulating that a deal is in. we could have some kind of resolution. but you sit across people in the house who, as you know, are determined to oppose the president on everything. so what are the likelihood, what is the likelihood that something passes before the deadline this week? >> martin, it's time for the moderate republicans, and i'll talk to a number of them, who say that their conference is divided and they really want to pass a bill that will be a clean cr, and raise the debt ceiling. it's time for them to really stand and be as loud as the tea

parties are. and so i'm hopeful that speaker boehner will put country over party policies and politics and say that he's going to put this vote to the floor. because it will pass. there's a majority of votes now to pass. now, my hope as a backstop that those same individuals, moderate republicans, 200 democrats have already signed a motion to discharge petition, which will compel the vote to go to the floor of the house. so, again, if -- if speaker boehner sees himself that he can't get himself away from these tea partiers, then we just need 18 of these moderate republicans to sign with us, which will force the bill to the floor. but i think that if they're true patriots, care for america, the speaker will put this bill on the floor so that we can have a vote up and down. it will pass today. >> absolutely. now, whatever deal is ultimately reached will likely be a short-term one, as you know. here is the president earlier, warning about this pattern of

manufacturing crises that injury the nation. take a listen to this. >> the problem is, we've seen this brinksmanship as a strategy time and time again to try to extract extreme or partisan concessions. we don't need to inflict pain on the american people, or risk the possibility of america's full, faith and credit is damaged, just because one side is not getting its way. >> how do you give something to republicans, some kind of concession, without affirming their behavior, which is this kind of brinksmanship, hostage-taking, extortion? how do you do that? >> that's why i think the president said that we have to have a clean cr. and we have to vote without conditions on raising the debt ceiling. and then once that's done, we can negotiate. i mean, even governing by a continuing resolution is no way to run a government. what should happen is that after we pass this bill and i think

what the president has agreed to do, he's always agreed to negotiate something. then we would sit down and try to talk about it. he's the one that had tried to negotiate a grand bargain some time ago of which the speaker ran away from. and just a month ago, september, late august, it was the speaker who said i'm not going up there to negotiate with him. now he wants to say to the democrats that want to negotiate, no, we're not going to negotiate with a gun to our head. but afterwards, the way that it's supposed to be done, the senate has a budget that they had reported out. the president has a budget. and the republicans on the house have a budget. there should be a conference committee, but, again, the speaker has refused to assign anyone to a conference committee so the sides can sit down and try to work this thing out and resolve it. i would hope that after we have a clean vote on the continuing resolution and raising the debt ceiling, he would assign someone to a conference committee so we can then work out the issues we have in regard to the budget and not -- run our government by

continuing resolutions but come up with a budget that will be more long-term so we don't have this kind of craziness going on again. >> from your lips to god's ears. congressman gregory meeks, thank you so much. >> my pleasure. coming up, senate leaders try to reach an agreement, but not if this confederacy of dunces had anything to say about it. >> we are now ruled, quote, unquote, by a president who bows down to ala. ♪ dad! dad! katy perry is coming to town. can we get tickets, pleeeeease??? tickets? hmm, sure. how many? well, there's hannah, maddie, jen, sara m., sara b., sa -- whoa, whoa. hold on. (under his breath) here it comes... we can't forget about your older sister! thank you, thank you, thank you! seriously? what? i get 2x the thankyou points on each ticket. can i come? yep.

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add some beef, sloppy joe sauce and cheese, fold it all up and boom! delicious unsloppy joes perfect for a school night. pillsbury grands biscuits. make dinner pop. from the trolls to the polls. put your hands in the air! >> a lot of people have referred to senator ted cruz as a de facto head of the republican party. >> senator ted cruz! >> do you agree? >> cruz easily won the annual gathering's straw poll. sarah palin and senator ted cruz -- >> have proven that they have not been timid. >> how do you tell you're losing in american politics? >> our veterans should be above

politics. >> sarah palin is standing right beside you. >> so we will not be timid in calling out any -- >> that's how you tell you're losing. >> you're an idiot! >> it was he and sarah palin. >> let me ask a simple question. >> what planet are you guys living on? >> why is the federal government spending money to erect barricades -- >> why am i holding this 30-pound cinder block in my hands? >> why did the federal government spend money to keep people out of mt. vernon? >> why does this cinder block have a long piece of string? >> the way you humiliate the republicans or ted cruz -- >> if ted cruz were capable of embarrassment -- >> you give them a microphone and you turn a camera on. >> the polling has varied. >> i guess we could get lower in the polls. >> very heavily weighted. >> down to blood relatives and paid staffers now. >> and blame republicans for the things that are bad in this country. >> would you buy a second-hand car from him? >> dad, this is not the car you ordered. >> this is not the car i ordered. >> skewed polls line.

>> you think you hate it now, but wait fwhl you drive it. >> republicans saying for months the polls are skewed and romney is going to win. >> we are now ruled by a president who bows down to alla. >> that might have caused a reevaluation. >> and to demand this president leave town to put the quran down. >> are we in a bubble? >> get up off his knees to figuratively come out with his hands up. joining us is goldie taylor, and msnbc contributor. aaron carmoon, national reporter for msnbc.com and ryan grim of "the huffington post." thank you all on this columbus day. goldie, we heard one of the protesters telling the president he needed to put down his quran and come out of the white house with his hands in the air. do they think he's the reincarnation of osama bin laden? >> you know, in the minds of some of the more right wing, more extremist republicans, he is, in fact, just that.

unfortunately, what republicans have fallen victim to is really their own strategy. their hope was to suppress voters through these draconian, you know, voter i.d. laws. their goal was to increase their own turnout among their base, which they have done. their goal was to gerrymander themselves into very safe districts of the all of that is good campaign strategy on the short-term. unfortunately, long-term, it brings out some of these more unfortunate voices, like larry cayman and gives them license and province to stand in front of america and claim they speak for the american people. >> and yet, ryan, that microphone had previously been held by no less than two senators. it ted cruz and mike lee. i mean, this was quasi official. what are these people doing? >> well, they're getting re-elected, is the main thing they're doing. and -- >> by suggesting the president of the united states is -- is islamic and worships, as it

were, an eastern religion they regard or deride? >> it certainly builds their fund-raising base. it builds their list. it builds -- it builds their national esteem. you know, it remains to be seen if even ted cruz could take it too far. you know, you've got wendy davis running in texas in 2014, and there's this ongoing attempt by democrats down there to turn that state purple. so, you know, it's possible that ted cruz could take it too far, and actually lose in texas. but i don't think that he plans on running for re-election. i think this is a quick game he's playing. he wants to catapult this into a white house bid, and if that doesn't work, he'll just move on to something else. so there's nothing disincentivizing any of the behavior you saw on display at the white house. >> aaron, you might think it can't get any worse, but, of course, it does. one so-called protester even went to the white house and started waving around a confederate flag. what exactly is the message that they're seeking to send the

president? >> to me, this is a threat. this is a house where a black family lives. this is a symbol that is nostalgic at a time when black people were subjugated and enslaved. i know some people consider it southern pride but it was based on slavery. and i think there is something deeply en raging to these folks there is a black family in the white house right now. >> that is why they did that? >> i think it's a threat. >> directly to the president? >> is certainly is very menacing. and i think there are people who would say that's not what it means. but i think the problem is that the republican grass roots is no longer even the underbelly that are out there screaming. i think it's a pretty small group. they said this was going to be the million-vet march and there were only a couple hundred folks but they were leaders like sarah palin and ted cruz indulging their worst fantasies. >> this is so personal in nature. how is it possible to avoid the

conclusion that they're motivated not by policy differences, but just simply by personal hatred for the incumbent in the white house? >> well, certainly, that has shown itself time and time again. you know, the question of the confederacy was really fought over and slavery really was that driving factor. so a little bit to correct the record about that. i live, work and play here in the south oh. i certainly understand southern heritage and southern pride. but when you take a con fed rad flag -- and by the way, the confederacy lost. >> yes, by the way. >> if you take the confederate flag to the steps of the white house and wave it around in one hand and the united states marine corps banner in the other hand, i would call that seditious. i think at the end of the day, it has no business on the grounds of the white house. but to say some of these more unfortunate voices that keep shouting down at the president as if he's not a legitimate president because he happens to be black, because he happens to not share the same kinds of ideological ladyings they happen

to, i think it's a more unfortunate piece. but to find our elected officials cannot stand up and call it wrong if a former marine or active duty marine is standing next to a person who is handing a con fed rat flag in one hand and he doesn't speak up to it, you find yourself guilty and accomplicet. >> in addition to the protest, ted cruz at the value voter summit in washington absolutely dominated the presidential straw poll held by that organization, as you can see. a thumping 42%. well ahead of dr. ben carson. so to your point, ryan, he's riding high, isn't he? >> right. and it's almost as if someone up above with a sense of humor is writing this narrative. because here is a guy who actually was not born in the united states. >> oh, yes, of course! >> he's the leading candidate of the faction that wants this president thrown out, because he wasn't born in the united

states. when, in fact, he actually was. and there is much proof of it. i mean, you couldn't make this stuff up if you were trying to. >> well, you could if you had a border line personality disorder. erin, some protesters were talking openly about impeachment, but they weren't the only ones. take a listen to this. >> will you vote for any bill that would increase the debt ceiling? >> it just depends on what it is. >> reporter: depends on what it is? >> if it's good -- >> reporter: would you allow us to default on our debt? >> let's get on the elevator. thank you. >> that would be an impeachable offense by the president. >> how can you debate or negotiate with people like that who you can't trust from one sentence to the next? >> and this is a very consistent republican strategy. which is that they create a disaster and a crisis. first they claim it wouldn't be a real crisis or disaster, that, you know, you had last week republicans saying that it wouldn't really be a default on

the debt if we didn't raise the debt limit. >> right. >> then when it appears that serious and credible people protest that this would have serious consequences -- >> like the koch brothers. >> they then say it would be obama's fault anyway. this is also what happened with the shutdown and national parks being shut down. this is not a big deal but if it's bad, it's obama's fault and we should impeach him. it's annin coherent but repettive strategy. >> thank you all so much for joining us. coming up, how did wall street greet the possibility of a debt deal? we'll have a live report from cnbc before we head to the white house. stay with us. americans take care of business. they always have. they always will. that's why you take charge of your future. your retirement. ♪ ameriprise advisors can help you

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cnbc market wrap. and look there, the market is closed up this afternoon, josh. >> that's right, martin. stocks and near session highs in choppy trading monday. the dow and the s&p 500 closed in positive territory for the fourth straight session, encouraged by signs of progress in the budget deal. the dow tax on 60 form led by pfizer and boeing. the s&p 500 climbed 6 points, led by tech and energy. and the tech-heavy nasdaq climbed 23 points. i'm josh lipton, cnbc, first in business worldwide. ♪ [ male announcer ] this is joe woods' first day of work. and his new boss told him two things -- cook what you love, and save your money. joe doesn't know it yet, but he'll work his way up

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one republican talking point was that the president was unwilling to have a conversation with republicans. but with the president meeting with republican leadership late last week, that line is now bankrupt. so the new talking point is this. the president and the democrats are not willing to negotiate on a deal. yes, a fair deal is all the republicans want. you give us a bunch of stuff we have asked for and you can have your country back. for the latest, peter alexander live at the white house. pete, what happened? we were expecting you to tell it us that a deal had been reached, the senate leaders had freed. they're having a glass of bourbon together, what happened? >> reporter: i better pack my sleeping bag until i get to do that for certain here. that meeting, it appears, increasingly unlikely any meeting is going to take place here today at the white house. we are being told by white house aides there is no indication it will happen at any point today, which they view as a good sign of progress, as you have been reporting. their desire is to allow the senate leaders to continue this

conversation, the significant progress that's being made at the other end of pennsylvania avenue right now. the president earlier today when he was visiting a food pantry where he wanted to try to highlight the fact -- the story of these individuals who are still suffering with the shutdown taking place said he was hoping to see the evidence of progress, to make sure that it was real today. it turns out he's not going to see it, but appears to be hearing it through the conversations they're constantly having with folks on the hill right now, martin. >> we've heard about rumors where the deadline would be -- funding the government would go through until january the 15th. the debt limit would be increased through to february the 15th. is that right? >> reporter: yeah, that's the outlines of what we're hearing at this point. obviously, there's still some negotiating going on right now. importantly, a meeting is going to take place not too long from now, less than an hour from now, where mitch mcconnell is going to bring basically the contours of this deal to senate republicans to make sure they're okay with it. obviously, that's one step.

next step, as they move forward, is to present something to john boehner, the speaker of the house, and see exactly what happens on the house side with all of this. but the good news is that we appear to be the closest that we have been toward -- to a deal in at least the last two weeks. but even as they use words like encouraging and optimistic around here, in our conversations with one woman who was a federal contractor, we spoke to her just a matter of minutes ago, a woman with three children now looking for unemployment, she has been searching for new jobs. she said they can stay optimistic all they want, i have no reason for optimism now. >> nbc's peter alexander at the white house right now with a packed bag. thanks, pete. for more on the situation, i'm joined by the "chicago tribune's" clarence page. >> i'm at the other end of pennsylvania avenue. >> a good position to be in. what's your assessment of how the president has played this? do you think his strategy will have proven to have worked if

mitch mcconnell and harry reid reach some kind of agreement? >> well, it appears to be working already, martin. why did the republicans decide to go to the mattresses over the debt deal? because this deadline gives them some leverage. that's really what they've wanted all along in their battle to try to end obama care or defund it, roll it back, delay it, anything. and we saw their demands rolled back last week as obama stood firm. they realized, finally, we're going to get any cut back in obama care. it's already out there, in effect. so they're going for other things. you don't hear obama care mentioned that much anymore. you hear talk about a sequestration and the caps on sequestration or the deadlines for the debt ceiling, pushing that back, that sort of thing. so actually, i think president obama has been winning. he's willing to negotiate.

he just wasn't willing to negotiate on his signature program, is the aca, affordable care act. >> you see, the problem, clarence, is even if a short-term deal is signed, and let's hope that it is signed in the next couple of days, isn't this still a failure, since all we will face in a matter of weeks or months is exactly the same situation? >> well, weren't we saying that when sequestration kicked in, because that too was a compromise to try to kick the can down the road. we keep doing that. and that's because both sides have reasons to do that. president obama is not trying -- is not in a rush to go and give away the store, and the republicans are kind of freezing the ball until the midterm elections, where they hope they can make some gains, judging by the recent opinion polls, those hopes are fading at the moment. >> right. well, let's move, if i may, clarence, from the serious to the utterly ridiculous. and this weekend there was this rally in washington attended by senators ted cruz and mike lee.

one speaker rehashed some of the old bigoted hate speech. i'm afraid i have to subject you to it. so just listen. >> this president is not a president of we the people. he's the president of his people. in the style of martin luther king, he stood up there many years ago and declared freedom. i call upon all of you to wage a second american nonviolent revolution. >> that individual, mr. clayman, was speaking about 30 minutes after senator's lee and cruz had used the same microphone to address the same crowd. who is mr. clayman referring to when he says this president represents his people? >> you know, this is the sad thing here, is that i, besides being a veteran, also know larry clayman. i've covered him for a number of years. and i think he's gone over the edge of obama derangement

syndrome here. that -- would imply that the president is a muslim or that he even believes the president is a muslim. clayman knows better than that. and this is the worst kind of cynical, sarcastic exploitation of veterans, as well as the more worthy causes that the conservatives are after. >> and yet what's incredible, lar clarence is we heard sarah palin said she was disgusted with the president exploiting the military for political purposes. and yet you're saying that's exactly what mr. clayman was doing. >> exactly. and same thing. last week michele bachmann said the same thing. and ted cruz. you know, that -- they were accusing president obama of exploiting veterans and the world war ii memorial when, as we can see once again by the polls, the american people can only be fooled for so long. there's little question as to what most people -- where most people put the blame for the government shutdown, and it's with the republicans. >> clarence, i guess some of us

were thinking, okay, fair enough for the first term. you hate the guy. you don't like his ethnicity. you don't like his color. i get it. but now for the whole of the second term, as well? is that what we're supposed to get used to? well, look at the pick picture here, martin. two republican parties, the establishment republicans and the radical republicans, who are the far right folks. you saw the values forum this weekend, that you see on tv, the showbiz conservatives, as i put it. because they're really out to -- to talk to their own constituency, which is the base. it's not the crossover voters that you need to win national elections. and the establishment of republicans are in such disarray right now, they haven't been able to corral the radicals. they will, but it's going to take time. >> sure is. clarence page. thank you, clarence. >> thank you. >> and we'll be right back. ♪

time now to clear the air. and in today's edition of "pretense and hypocrisy," we bring you an act of such brazen dishonesty and speciousness, it's hard to know where to begin. let's start with words from the horse's mouth. >> our oh vets have proven that they have not been timid, so we will not be timid in calling out any who would use our military, our vets, as pawns in a political game. >> using our military as pawns in a political game. now, for most people, traveling 3,500 miles from alaska to the nation's capital in order to grandstand at a second world war memorial that your own political party has caused to close would seem like a political game.

but that's only the half of it. because the tea party rally, which included such luminaries as senators ted cruz and mike lee, also boasted the considered contribution of conservative activist, mr. larry clayman. now, keep in mind, that it's the republican party that continues to shut done the government, thereby curtailing veterans' benefits and the republican party whose sequester habits have hammered the military. but the singular proof that sunday's rally was solely about using the military as pawns in a political game. mr. clayman, over to you. >> and we are now ruled, quote, unquote, by a president who bows down to alla. and to demand that this president leave town. to put the quran down. to get up off his knees, and to

figuratively come up with his hands up. >> get up off his knees. this is the political game that mrs. palin and her allies have been playing, even before this president was inaugurated. for them, this is what the shutdown is about. so for those who may be incapable of reading the written word, here's what the president himself says about his own personal faith. you needed to come to church precisely because you are of this world, not apart from it. rich, poor, sinner, saved, you needed to embrace christ precisely because you had sins to wash away. it was because of these new-found understandings that i was finally able to walk down the aisle of trinity united church of christ one day and be baptized. i felt god's spirit beckoning me, i submitted myself to his will. when asked the