0 also, we noticed as the responses flood in the, many wish that both was an option. the debate continues online at cnn doc/crossfire. join us monday for another edition of "crossfire." erin burnett "outfront" starts right now. "outfront," the battle has begun over obamacare and government shutdown. the ultimate loser? probably you. plus, amanda knox on trial again. she said she won't face judge in italy. the u.s. government may decide, should this country force her extradition? and 850 snakes found in one man's suburban home. jack hanna explains how it could have gotten this far. let's go "outfront." good evening, everyone. i'm erin burnett. outfront, closer to shutdown. congress voted to set up the bitter battle ten days before the government runs out of money. approving a temporary spending measure, it would continue government operations, but in exchange, eliminate funding for obamacare. this it was 42nd time that the house has voted to delay, defunneled or repeal own kr. just like the previous 41 times, it will be a number one starter in the senate which means we are headed for grid lock and shutdown. president obama tried to shame republicans today. >> right now the debate going on in congress is not meeting the test of helping middle class families. they're not focused on you. they're focused on politics. they're focused on trying to mess with me. they're not focused on you. >> all right. obviously politics here front and center. is there any way to avert a shutdown? congressman blake, good to see you. i really appreciate you taking the time. you said you want to work the senate. in particular senator ted cruz to go ahead and get enough votes in the senate to get rid of obamacare. here is what some of your colleagues in the other chamber have said about the likelihood of that success. >> in the united states senate, we will not repeal or defund obamacare. we will not. >> the only effective way to truly stop obamacare, and i think we ought to do it. to stop it would be totally reverse it. we don't have the votes to do that. >> you really think you can get enough votes to do this. you're confident in that? >> listen, anything is possible. you have to remember that the founding fathers set up a government where there are two chambers. in the congress. we've passed and done our job in the house. now it is up to the senate. if they don't agree with what we do, they need to pass a bill. amend it. we'll negotiate, work something out. nobody on my side wants to shut down government but we want to take this opportunity to point out to the american people that obamacare is bad for the middle class. the president said you could keep your policy if you like it. that isn't happening. it said people will save money. you look again and again, costs are going up. and you look at people who used to work 40 hours a week and have full benefits, we're now seeing people moved to part-time jobs. we'll go from full time work to having to work two 30-hour jobs with no benefits. that's not good for the middle class. that's not good for hard working americans. >> polling shows the public will blame you. no question about it. 33% will blame president obama. 51% are going to blame you. this according to the "wall street journal," people on your side could cost you the house. worth it for you? >> that's why i'm on tv tonight saying we've passed legislation in the house to fund everything in the government but obamacare at agreed upon levels. we don't want to shut down the government. we just want to stop obamacare. the senate can pass it. it takes two to letango in shutting down the government and we don't want to do it. >> thank you very much. >> just in, i want to make sure you know speaker john boehner's office is just telling cnn that the president has called him this evening saying he will not negotiate with him on the debt limit. john boehner's office tells us, quote, the speaker was disappointed but told the president the two chambers of congress will chart the path ahead. we're told this is a very brief call. we're reaching out to the white house for comment. our understanding is that this just happened a few moments ago and the president said he will not negotiate. our second story. stocks sink. the dow down nearly 200. totally a big about face from earlier this week. investors are watching this pathetic show in washington closely. a game they've seen before. 776 days ago, one of the first and biggest of these fights cost the united states its top credit rating. so what would happen if the government shut down? mark is the chief economist. he has testified on this to congress. he has advised republicans and democrats. so mark, putting aside the reputation, long term impact of all this, if the government shuts down a few days. it might not cost that much in terms of a dollar amount. if it closes for a few weeks, you're talking about a huge amount of money, right? >> yeah. i think three or four days, no big deal. i think the disruption would be quite modest. three, four weeks, that becomes meaningful. that's enough to slow the economy down to zero growth in the current quarter. of course if it lasts six or eight weeks, that means in all likelihood the congress and administration didn't come together on the debt limit. breaching the debt limit, that would be cataclysmic. so they have to get it together. the damage will mount day by day. >> i think it is important to use that word "cataclysmic." in washington, they'll be one big thing. just a few weeks, your number, a quarter of a trillion dollars. huge dollar amounts. can you put that in english? a quarter of a trillion dollars. what happens? what does that mean? >> well, that means a lot of economic activity. it means a lot of people's incomes will be lower. that means people are not. if you have a government shutdown, the biggest loser is federal government employees. roughly half wouldn't go to work. they're not earning income and that would show up in that number. that's a big number. that's a lot of economic activity. a lot of wealth and income. we'll be poorer as a result. trials get delayed. america's food doesn't get inspected. this is something that affects all of us in various ways. just a few of the ways. i mentioned the loss of the credit rating and my question is, this kind of thing that's going on right now, this brinksmanship that happens again and again over the debt ceiling. and then i'm sorry, over the government shutdown that would become this debt ceiling debate. does it jeopardize america's standing even more? >> yeah, it does. bottom line is if they can come together and pass a budget, increase the debt limit. if that happens we're good, we're golden. we'll move forward and our economy will be just fine. if they take it to the point where the government will shut down for any length of time. more importantly if we've reach the debt limit, stock prices will fall, bond levels would rise and credit agencies would react. >> thank you very much. you heard it from him cataclysmic if that debt ceiling is not raised. still to come, is the u.s. government's outsourcing losing lives? 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