0 >> maybe he's not the problem. >> the president's not asking for anything. >> you've got to get a life. >> this is not a game of chicken. >> i sort of feel sorry for speaker boehner. >> the sheer ridiculousness. >> the republicans have left the plane of reason. >> tomorrow will be a bad day for government, a day of celebration in the house. >> government shut down watch. >> this one is a complete shutdown. >> the finale. >> as a result, you're about to shut down the government. >> i didn't come here to shut down the government. >> in just 237 seasons, it has turned into a self-destructive maniac. at this hour, the federal government is closed for business. federal firefighters, cia agent, fbi agents, federal prison guards are now being asked to protect us without pay. national park ranger and zoo keepers are now out of work. thousands of children might find the doors of their head start schools closed. the military will be unaffected by the shut down, but the thousands of civilian defense workers who support them will not. tonight the president had this message for them. >> to all our dod civilians, i know the days ahead could mean more uncertainty, including possible furloughs. and i know this comes on top of the furloughs that nanny of you already endured this summer. you and your families deserve better than the dysfunction we're seeing in congress. your talent and dedication keep our military the best in the work. that's while i'll keep working with congress to get you back to work as soon as possible. what happens next? we passed a budget because it's the right thing to do. senator murray has for more than six months requested a conference on the budget. 18 times. so we like to resolve issues. but we will not go to conference with a gun to our head. the first thing that the house has to do is pass a clean six week cr. they have that before them. they can do it right now. >> congressman chris van holland exposed the real reason they don't want to negotiate on the budget. they can't. why not? the ted cruz whacko bird side won't let them. >> yes, then we should go to conference on the budget. mr. speaker. we've been trying to go to conference and negotiate on our differences since march. on 18 occasion, senator lee and other republican senators blocked the budget to go to negotiations. some said that was insane for the senate to do. he pointed out that our republican colleagues wanted to work on these all along. why would you block that, mr. speaker? because when you go to a budget negotiation you've got to compromise. you've got to meet the other party halfway. and you've got a tea party right wing in this house that refuses to compromise. >> joining me is robert costa and ashley parker. i dwoonts start with you. you broke the news of branplan few hours ago. is there a plan e at this point for house republicans? >> reporter: i think the plan e sound as little bit like their. the house republicans will endure the shut down. they'll try to feel the pain. i think this is a generational divide. the older congress men knew that this was not a great play. some elected in 2010, 2012, need to feel the pain. >> ashley, there's so many flaws. so many chunks in the armor. what are the problems with the conferen conference committee is it is a reminder that they rejected their 18 times before as steny hoyer pointed out. it sounds like they're going to keep beating that drum. >> reporter: sure, well, the first problem with the conference committee is that it involves both chambers. and the house may want to go to conference, as you said, harry reed has pointed out that it's dead on arrival. so it's unlikely that the conference will be an avenue for much she keeps her caucus together in the coming days? >> reporter: democrats have been stunningly unified. no chunks in the armor. and you know, part of that is democrats feel when it comes to defunding or delaying the health care law, this is law that became law on the books in 2010. we've had three years to fight about it. we've had a presidential election to fight about it. at this point, president obama is still the president. the democrats control the senate and they don't see any reason to cave on this. >> for people who haven't been following this closely, who don't have their own at home government shut down clocks on their desks, they may wake up tomorrow and wonder what's going on on a number of levels, because the aca is rolled out at the same time that this happened. obamacare is now, the exchanges are open. they did, the republicans have done nothing to stop that. and so i think that really double underscores the futility of all this. >> there is definitely aur ra of futility. within the conservative ranks, there's a real fear that come obje october 1st, once obamacare starts, it's going to be a bureaucratic program that people actually like. they want to stop to before it starts and before it potentially becomes popular. and that's really causing problems for boehners shall because he's dealing not only with a tough scenario, but with members pulling their hair out about the implementation of obamacare. >> i was talking about the game of hot potato. that nobody wants to be seen as the last person standing in the way, but it seems and it sounds like the republicans actually have ended up with the hot potato. and that is expressed in some part by the fact that john boehner has not yet spoken. everybody's waiting to see what his excuse or explanation is. in terms of this game of back and forth, it does seem like the democrats have the upper hand. >> reporter: this is something that republicans, especially house republican leadership feared all along. they said while repeating obamacare is a very popular motto and rallying cry and unites all members of their party, it's sort of a pr nightmare, and if a government shut down happens, the only other unpopular thing was going to be a shut down of the government. they knew they were going to get stuck with the blame no matter who ping-ponged the last bill when it struck midnight. >> how far do you think republicans can make that talking point? how much can that be a talking point in the coming days? >> reporter: i think republicans are going to try to win the pr war. i think ashley brings up a good point. when i was walking around the capitol, there's a real sense of nervousness of republicans. they're not sure how this is going to play out. they're hoping the president will shoulder some of the blame. but they're not sure that's going to happen. right now there's a lot of wariness about how to proceed. does boehner have the ability to get anything through his own conference. >> robert costa and ashley parker, thank you for your time. coming up, how many times do you need to warn a child not to touch a hot stove before that child learns the hard way? tonight john boehner is finally allowing tea party republicans to touch the hot stove, which in this case is a shut down. and president obama said he would not allow them to use the shut down as political leverage and he was not bluffing. >> we are not going to mess around with obamacare, no matter what they do. they've got to get a life.