Republicans Face Attacks from Right
BOLDUAN: Welcome back to NEW DAY. It is Friday, October 18th. Let's turn now to our political gut check of the morning. Congress got a deal together in time to avert a financial crisis but it has left many Americans curious over the political brinksmanship. So, will lawmakers face consequences from their constituents and what does this crisis mean for the Republican Party going forward? CNN's chief national correspondent John King is here to break to down for us further. John, one thing you and I have been talking about is what was clear in this fight is there sometimes is a disconnect between local interests, national interests, national public opinion and what lawmakers are hearing from constituents back home. What's behind that?</s>JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kate, it is as if there is a political parallel universe if you will. The president lives in one and his Republican critics, mostly House Republicans live in another. Let me use the magic wall here to give you a sense of what I mean. Remember, the president's old law professor, legal terms, asked and answered he said to this debate about Obamacare, because Mitt Romney said he would repeal it. President Obama said let's keep it in the reelection campaign. And the president won a very convincing electoral college victory. And if you look at the map, the national map like this, the president won most of the big prizes, California, New York, Florida, Ohio and so on. So the president says we went through this. It's over. We had this debate, right? The country is with me. House Republicans, though, Kate, they see it differently, because they live in red America. This is the presidential election by county. The House Republican districts 232 of them, this is where they are. Look at that. Mitt Romney won more house districts than Barack Obama did even as the president won re-election. Mitt Romney won more counties in America. Now, some of these counties aren't very populated, but if you look at the map this way, this is where House Republicans live. They don't think they need to listen to the president. They think their voters want them to challenge Obamacare. Remember how this all started, the fight about defunding Obamacare became a trigger for the government shutdown. Well, just take a peek at this. There are 80 House Republicans, they live across the country, largely in red America, 80 House Republicans sent John Boehner a letter, saying we will not vote on a resolution to continue to fund the government unless it strips the money for the health care plan, remember? That's how we started down this road? Eighty of them signed the letter. Kate, when the House voted on a final compromise, take a look at this, only -- make that work there. Only nine of them broke and voted yes, 71 of those conservative largely Tea Party members stuck with that. They dug in, even on the compromise in the end. And this is where we are going forward. Yes, the government is open. The debt ceiling has been raised. But this political environment has not changed.</s>BOLDUAN: All right. So, that map and the math, it isn't changing in this Congress. So what does that mean for the battles that are just months away?</s>KING: There are a number of things to look at going forward. Some of these battles could be days away. The president says let's do immigration. They're having these negotiations over a big budget deal now. For some House Republicans, I just showed you the conservatives that stay put. For some, politics were local if you say. There were 17, remember that, 232 House Republicans, only 17, that's a tiny number, go home to districts carried by the president. A Republican house member in a district, the president, a Democrat, won in the last election. Of those 17, 15 decided to vote yes. So, you do see in places where the president's support was stronger, Republican congressmen were more likely to vote yes. That's something to watch going forward if that stays it. But here are what the president would see as the more troubling indicators. If you're a Republican in Congress and you're thinking of running for president in 2016 -- well, Kate, the safe vote was no. Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio in the Senate, Paul Ryan in the House, all voting no on this deal, even though their leaders, Mitch McConnell and John Boehner said we need to pass this. There's one key there. The other thing to watch is the Tea Party. The Tea Party is threatening, threatening anyone who voted yes, might face a primary challenge. Well, let's watch these going forward. Leader McConnell I just mentioned, one of his key deputies, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, all on the ballot, all have Tea Party challengers. Let's see if the conservative money flows to try to take these guys out.</s>BOLDUAN: And when you look right there, John, we're already seeing Tea Party opponents coming out using this vote against them.</s>KING: Right. We are. I'll come back to the map this way and let you see the map full out. Again, remember, this is where the 232 house Republicans live and they think their voters want them to fight, however, we could be seeing instead of fights between the Republicans and the president, fights in the Republican family. Check your e-mail box, Kate. I know you left Washington for New York but you still get the e-mails. Frank Wolf in Virginia, Scott Rigell in Virginia, the lawmakers in Minnesota, lawmakers out here House Republicans who voted yes we were flooded with e-mails yesterday, saying how they violated conservative principles. They deserve to be defeated. Now, that's in the first day after the vote. We'll see going forward if that energy persists. But these Tea Party groups are threatening the primary challenge, a host of House Republicans who voted yes.</s>BOLDUAN: That would be interesting. We're hearing Jim DeMint, now president of the Heritage Foundation, former senator from South Carolina, he's writing an op-ed in "The Wall Street Journal" saying -- making his case for why right now is the time to have a fight on Obama care even though some moderate folks in his party say now is not the time to do it or the way to do it. Clearly there's a fight within that party they need to work out.</s>KING: Remember how much money Jim DeMint in a different role was able to raise in 2010, Kate. He is a key player saying attack the primary challenge, try to defeat the Republicans who voted yes. So, there's still a -- we're done with this crisis but we're not done with the fight.</s>BOLDUAN: Good point. Great to see you. Thanks, John.</s>KING: Thank you.</s>BOLDUAN: All right. Watching that story of course, but a lot of other stories making news this hour. So, let's get straight to Michaela for the latest..</s>MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Kate, thanks so much. Good morning to you at home. We're starting with a story that's concerning folks in Florida. A manhunt is on for two convicted killers following most unusual prison break.