and simply wouldn t answer. that was his way of doing so it was kind of vintage boehner, but in the vacuum not knowing what that was, it looked odd. all the time of things changing in capitol hill probably people rolling their eyes congress not doing it again. reporter: they should be. it s part of the reason why in the senate this week you saw the new republican majority back down. i mean they caved politically because in making the decision between standing up for what conservatives want them to do, which is fight the president s policy every step of the way or showing that they can govern mitch mcconnell and his colleagues said we got to show we can govern. it s too early out of the gate to do otherwise but house republicans have a completely different situation, different dynamic. so they re still fighting the fights we were reporting on last year and the year before saying we ve got to, you know stick to our guns. that s why we still have the same fights despite the fact it s
never vote for a spending bill anyway, this could be in big trouble but looks like that s the plan to barely keep it going. john boehner was asked about the house s next move and had kind of an interesting response. i just want to show that. it s going to be a clean dhs funding bill. have you had this discussion? we make decisions, i ll let you know. i don t know what to make of it. let me translate. i ll be the boehner whisperer. he was not trying to kiss that reporter. he was saying, kiss my you know what because this was the umpteenth question that he refused to answer. legitimate questions we were all trying to. look, the department is running out of money. you re not saying your next move and simply wouldn t answer. that was his way of doing so, it was kind of vintage boehner, but in the vacuum not knowing what that was, it looked odd. all the time of things
to answer that question over and over again. his answer was pretty much the same pretty much a nonanswer. one of our colleagues up here asked a smart question. he said, we know what the senate is going to do. can you please just give us an answer. and his response was i guess vintage boehner. watch this. you going to put on the floor, you going to kill it let them vote on it have you even had this discussion? when we make decisions i ll let you know. let me translate that for you. he was basically saying kiss my you know what knowing boehner the way we do here. he s just not going to go there. it is certainly maybe frustrating for us. more frustrating for those who work at the department of homeland security those going through airports those thinking about security knowing that perhaps the tsa agent who in 24
keystone pipeline. what was your read on his address? reporter: it was vintage boehner. kept it lofty, kept it big picture. he tried to keep it together because he is known to shed a tear or a thousand. in fact, he joked about that. about the fact that he was keeping it together until he saw one of his colleague s kids and then lost it. doesn t take a lot to set john boehner off. but it really was, like i said, sort of classic kind of speech from him. did not, was trying to grasp the moment, understanding that he is the leader of the republican party, but he is the speaker of the entire house of representatives. and also would note that there was a gracious speech right before he got the gavel from nancy pelosi his democratic counterpart. and that is the tradition for the leader of the minority to hand the speaker the gavel. roles were reversed when nancy pelosi was the speaker. but there was certainly a moment
can t. in fact, it doesn t look like any breakthrough any time soon. this government shutdown could last awhile. john boehner came to cameras with a copy of the wall street journal, quoting an anonymous administration official to help make a dramatic point. it says we don t care how long this lasts, because we re winning. this isn t some damn game. reporter: the theatrics and language were vintage boehner. remember this? we should not have to move a third bill before the senate gets off their ass and begins to do something. reporter: and this, during the 2009 health care debate. nope, we don t have time to do that. reporter: a democratic group released its own made for tv moment, literally. this ad comparing boehner to a crybaby, demanding his way or nothing. speaker john boehner didn t get his way on shutting down health care reform. reporter: the problem for republicans, it s no longer clear what they re demanding from democrats to reopen the government. when asked