missing. we ve been waiting to talk to them. all we re doing, the reason that we re unified is that we re sticking to the principles that guided us as we were elected here. republicans talk about prince ppp pl. they have purposely set up to wreck the government, because they have a group of political arsonists over there that want to sit back and watch the house burn. and i ve got to tell you, they are enjoying this. and it s really a sad day to see that. you said it s a priority of democrats to get the government back up and running, but do you see this as perhaps a point of leverage? for me, if we could just pass the senate cr and get back to discussion, i would be satisfied. it s really lard to tell because nobody s in charge in the republican conference. so it would be easier for us to
left? we are going to be consistent. we have given a lot of the cr that we were ready to agree to was at the republican number. this is time for the adults in the room to take claharge. we re going to press to get government open again. and if they want to have discussions about the affordable care act, entitlements, whatever, it s, we re there to talk. the reason that we re unified is that we re sticking to the principles that we were elected on. republicans talk about principle. what they have done is purposely set out to wreck the government because they have a group of political arsonists over there that want to sit back and watch the house burn. they re enjoying this. and it s really a sad day to see that. you said it s the priority of democrats to get the government
decision made by firefighters whose own lives are on the line. our martin savidge visited black forest, colorado, and he caught up with some of the experts who have to make the tough calls. reporter: no firefighter wants to let a house burn, but sometimes there s no choice. and that s the hard part. i mean, it is a gut check doing this job, that you know going to a home there might be some that you just can t save. reporter: other than life or death, one of the hardest decisions a firefighter will make is whether or not they can save a home, demand a big fire like this, it s a decision they have to make a lot. go ahead. i ve got an address for you. reporter: todd legler has to make that call from his truck while riding in the fire. it s based on training, experience and how he reads the land. you can quickly read that terrain potentially dangerous for firefighters. correct. reporter: this terrain over here, simply different topography, safer. correct. reporter: that
upper hand on the flames but hundreds of homes are destroyed and some families are still waiting to see the damage. martin savidge is live for us in colorado springs. martin, you ve been getting an interesting perspective from the firefighters. what do they say? hello. they re making great progress and at 45% containment and continue to make strides there and probably will do so today. no signs of active fire. we were out there yesterday and very small pockets of literally tree stumps burning. that s why people are growing more and more frustrated, why can t they go home. close to 5,000 homes destroyed by this blaze but thousands saved. that raises the, how do firktszs determine what can be sacrificed or saved? reporter: no firefighter wants to let a house burn.
their fears? about what kind of relief they might have as well? well, so many of them are in a state of limbo. they don t know whether or not their house made it and some of these people are at makeshift shelters through the the region and then there s this other subset of people and some of them even watched their house burn down on television. let s listen to one family who went through an agonizing ordeal. i mean, you actually see your house burn. it s a emotional kind of an event because there s houses and there s homes and for us, that was our home. you go to a restaurant or something, yeah, that housed that burned on tv last night, that was ours. i actually haven t watched the whole thing. my kids have been very kind and my husband, okay, why don t you turn your back to the tv right now. and the numbers are just