joining me now is democratic strategist jamal simmons. being here tonight. >> thank you for having me, rev. >> jamal, how big a problem is the immigration issue for the republican party? >> oh, this is going to be one of the defining issues of the 2014 election and then the 2016 election. the republicans are on the wrong side as a party, they're on the wrong side of this issue because most people in america support some level of immigration reform. they know they can't win with the level of latino support they've been getting in the last presidential elections. so the president is playing offense by forcing them to have to muscle up and either do what most people in america want or kowtow to their crazy caucus, the radical republicans who have been holding the rational republicans hostage in the house and they can't get anything done. john boehner has got to decide either he's a patriot and get things done for the country and party, or he's going to listen to the radical republicans who want to stop the president from doing anything posit

joining me now are jamal simmons and margie omero. thank you both for coming on the show tonight. rent. the shutdown is killing the gop, isn't it? >> yes. listen, we saw this happen in the 1990s. the republicans tried this, it didn't work out very well for them. a lot of people weren't believers. they weren't around. they weren't paying attention. a lot of these people were doctors and insurance salesmen and lawyers and school teachers. whatever they were doing before they ran for congress, they don't really understand how politics works. at the end of the day you've got to be willing to cut a deal. the business people in the republican party feel like they're being left out and don't get to have a say. they know if we don't raise a debt limit, we're going to kill the national economy. >> but margie, we've seen they come back with a proposal to extend conversations to extend the debt limit as long as they're having conversations on the budget. yet keep the government shut down. i mean, they just don't get it, i do that i? >> no. they're in a fantasy world where what they're doing a

. >> congresswoman jan schakowsky and jamal simmons. today. >>> coming up. . desperation from the republicans. calls for impeachment. why it's about hate, not policy. ? all we do is go out to dinner. that's it? i mean, he picks up the tab every time, which is great...what? he's using you. he probably has a citi thankyou card and gets 2x the points at restaurants. so he's just racking up points with me. some people... ugh! no, i've got it. the citi thankyou preferred card. now earn 2x the points on dining out and entertainment, with no annual fee.to apply, go to citi.com/thankyoucards [ crashing ] [ male announcer ] when your favorite food starts a fight, fight back fast with tums. heartburn relief that neutralizes acid on contact and goes to work in seconds. ♪ tum, tum tum tum tums! with three entrées under $20. like our new snow crab and crab butter shrimp, just $14.99. only at red lobster where we sea food differently. [ male announcer ] now try 7 lunch choices at $7.99. sandwiches, salads, and more. [ male announcer ] now try 7 lunch

joining me today, democratic strategist and principal at the raven group, jamal simmons. random house executive, john meachem. and senior staff writer at salon, brian boitler. also joining us, white house correspondent peter alexander. peter, let's talk about what has just happened. 3 1/2 hours of what i will say is exhaustive testimony from kathleen sebelius, defending the president, defending the affordable care act. the president is going to sort of follow that up later today, this afternoon. how concerned is the white house at this point? republicans seem to have moved sort of -- they have a hybrid strategy of attacking both the website and the quote/unquote president's failed promises that everybody could keep their health care. from 1600 pennsylvania avenue, what's the view? >> i think there's definitely frustration. there's obviously concern, as you have conversations with white house officials privately. they hope this can have a better context. they want this to be explained. because the website is down and there's little they can do to help provide the exact inf