Awaiting New House Vote On Bill To Fund DHS For 7 Days; Pelosi Calls For Democrats To back 7-Day Funding For DHS
JOHN BERMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good evening again 9:00 p.m. here in New York, still Eastern Standard, chaos time in Washington. Still waiting for the House of Representative to past a bill almost any bill of this point so the massive and vital Department of Home Security does not run out of money. Earlier tonight House Speaker John Boehner failed to persuade enough of this fellow Republican to support a GOP bill to fund the department for just three weeks, three weeks, almost all Democrats voted against it. Just a few minutes ago the Senate past a seven day funding bill, we're waiting to see if the House can agree to that. Bottom-line though whatever you think of this bill, whatever you think of the issue, where you stand politically, it is hard to see what happens tonight and what is still going on right now as anything but a mess. DHS runs out of money at midnight, and remember ISIS is on the move. Dana Bash, covering this all night for us, joins us from Capitol Hill. Dana, what's the latest?</s>DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The latest is that we do expect the House to take up that one week spending bill for the Department of Homeland Security probably in about the next hour. And you mentioned the fact that part of the reason why that three week extension failed is because Democrats, for the most part, voted against it, because they said "We're not going to a short-term, we want to expand the department for the entire year". What we expect Democrats to come out shortly for press conference and say, this time for just a week, they'll go for it. They'll allow and in fact of the Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi just sent to dear colleague letter effectively unleashing her rank and file saying that they could vote for it. And so that means that it is much more likely to see that this actually will pass and that we will avoid that shutdown that we've been looking for and that timing that we've looking for at midnight, tonight probably won't happen. But, again, as we've been saying, I don't want to be in the prediction business given what has happened over the past few hours.</s>BERMAN: All right, that would be a key development in this saga to be sure, Dana. And you've got some information I understand just in a key development, perhaps, in the future of Speaker Boehner's leadership.</s>BASH: Perhaps but I think it's more -- when it comes to understanding and explaining why we are where we are, and why the Speaker has refused to put on the House floor that clean bill funding the department through the end of the year. I've spoken to a couple of senior Republicans sources in the House, people who're close to John Boehner, like John Boehner and they say that they have been become increasingly worried that if he did that, if he defy conservatives, that he could be in a position where there would be -- what effectively a coup that they would try to challenge him formally, challenge he's speakership. And if that's not successful then at least embarrass him. Now, we should also point out that at this point it doesn't seems like there's anybody who could ever even to get the votes to become Speaker. The whole house has to do that. Which were also point out that the people who're angry at the Speaker for not pushing forward or worried that he's not forward enough to confront the President's policy especially in immigration. They don't have an alternative to pass it either. They're kind of -- they could spare to say their not living in reality politically of how things get done up here which is probably why we are where we are. So that is just the situation. There absolutely is concern about the people or fund people around him that some of the conservatives who have been intransigent have been even more (inaudible) than they have been in the past and that perhaps their just trying to not take yes for an answer to set the stage to really challenge him.</s>BERMAN: That is a problem for Republicans. Tomorrow, of course, the problem for the next three hours is getting something through. Dana Bash, thanks so much for being with us, keeping us up to the minute on what's going on behind the close door there. Now to the White House and what President Obama has been doing tonight as all of these has been unfolding on unrevealing is the case maybe Michelle Kosinski, is there for us. Michelle, what are you hearing for the White House?</s>MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hey, John, you know, while this is being going on for the most part, the White House has been quiet so has the President even though he made an appearing earlier. He did not mention this debacle. He has mentioned it over the past week though, and used some pretty strong words about that, so has the White House. So for tonight we know that when the President got back from his appearance on the Department of Justice, he convened a meeting in the oval office with the Secretary of Department of Homeland Security, with the direct of the Office in Management and Budget, looking at a sort of way forward in the state of affair as it is now. He also made two phone calls to Democratic leadership in both the House and the Senate. Only to Democratic leadership though. I mean the question has come up repeatedly in the past few days. What is the President going to do about this? Is he going to try to do some persuasion on hill? Is he going to sit down or at least call House Speaker Boehner or in the, Senate Mitch McConnell? What is going to do exactly? And the White House respondent that, "Yeah, if he had to sit down with Boehner or speak to him he would." But that hasn't happened. And that's where it stand right now, John.</s>BERMAN: No, phone call to Speaker Boehner as far as we know, as this has been developing minute-by-minute over the course of the night. Michelle, we knew that the President would have signed the three week measure that went down in flame in the House a few hours ago. You have sense that he would sign as one week extension if it passes over the next hour or so?</s>KOSINSKI: Yeah, I mean its interesting to think about, because the White House has made clear that their willing to compromise, their willing to keep the Department of Homeland Security running. They want to do that, that's really point here. But they always said that they compromise up to a point. So we kept asking the White House over the past few days well, if there's going to be a short term measure, would the President veto that like he would have vetoed a bill that included defunding as executive action on immigration? And they didn't want to go there. They didn't want to say if that happens because they said the hope was that it would be a long-term bill. So they already have said that the President would sign the three week measure. Now, that it is down to a week, it's kind of an interesting concept to imagine him saying "No, you know, that's taking it too far. One week is ridiculous. I'm not going to do this." But that's not going to happen. I mean the White House says that they want to keep things running. It's a shame that it has comes to this, that's it's going to be a continued battle. But the White House has already express that they're ready to see this through, even if it's going to be a very short-term, John.</s>BERMAN: Your busy next few hours to see what get pass and what gets signed. Michelle Kosinski, thanks so much. I should tell you, we're waiting to hear from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. We'll bring that you as it happens. Dana Bash reporting to us moment ago, she does think that the Democrats will go along with this notion to extend funding for just one more week. Let's talk about what this means. I'm joined now by anchor of The Situation Room, our very own on Wolf Blitzer along with CNN Chief Political Analyst, Gloria Borger. Wolf, talk to me about this development. We may get a week-long extension here, still though, hard to see this as anything but a disaster for Speaker John Boehner.</s>WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Yeah, I think what the Democrats will say -- will go along with this week long extension as, you know, Dana reported, it's already past the Senate by a voice vote. If all the Democrats or at least most of them are on board and the House and a whole bunch of Republicans are on board in the House of Representatives, that's got that week extension. The President will sign it into law before midnight tonight. I suspect at some point we're going to hear from Nancy Pelosi. She's probably going to indicate readiness to go along with this. I don't think she would be doing that if the President weren't ready to sign it, eventually within the next few hours. Presumably, he will as well. I wouldn't be surprise if we eventually hear from the President at some point tonight as well. Assuming this thing get going, they got to keep the Department of Homeland Security funded. The stakes are simply too enormous right now, especially the time of terror threat out there for the U.S. and Department of Homeland Security to be without enough money to deal with all these. It's hugely embarrassing. So I suspect they'll work out some sort of short-term compromise. The key question over the next week, though, will be, "Will the House of Representatives be willing to do what they U.S. Senate did overwhelmingly earlier today, pass legislation that funds the Department of Homeland Security for the rest of this fiscal year, through the end of September, until the new fiscal years begins October 1st?" If they get that commitment, it will pass. Here is Nancy Pelosi. Let's listen.</s>NANCY PELOSI, MINORITY LEADER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: Wait room (ph) or not? What do you think?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm ready.</s>PELOSI: I have this note because this evening, I sent a dear colleague to our House Democratic members thanking them for their cooperation on their vote earlier today. "Our unity," the note says, "Was a strong statement that the Department of Homeland Security must be fully funded." "We are asking our members", it says, "to help again advance passage of the Senate bill, long-term funding of Department of Homeland Security by voting for a seven-day patch that will be on suspension in the House tonight." That is coming over from the Senate. It's already passed the Senate, its coming over from the Senate. I say to them, further, "Your vote tonight will assure that we will vote for full funding of the Homeland and Security next week. Thank you for your leadership." I'm very proud of our members, the unity that we had. It showed the commitment to full funding. We certainly want to protect the American people every minute of every day, 24/7, that includes today. And we believe that within the next seven days, hopefully five, that we will have a bill that takes us to the end of the fiscal year.</s>BERMAN: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi saying she has written a letter to her members in the House of Representatives telling them that they should vote for a seven-day, what she calls, patch for funding Homeland Security for the next seven-say, so that Congress will then figure out a way to vote on funding Homeland Security for the rest of the fiscal year. Gloria Borger and Wolf Blitzer, with me now to talk about this. Gloria -- and Diana Bash with us from Capitol Hill, I should. Gloria, help me understand this, did the democrats just play John Boehner here? They voted no on three weeks but now they're saying they're going to vote yes on seven days.</s>GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: I think what the democrats did deliver a very strong signal. You can argue politically whether it's the right thing or wrong the thing to do because I think in the end Congress looks bad. But what they did was they said to Republicans, "You know what folks? You run the House. We are not going to bail you out anymore. We want to fully fund the Department of Homeland Security. We want to deal with immigration separately. You should do it that way. And if you can't get a majority to do that, that's your own problem." And they, as we're call in Washington (inaudible) to this, which means they were counting votes on this, they were arguing to all of their members that they ought to be united. And you saw Nancy Pelosi there saying she saluted her colleagues' leadership. And I think they proved their point and now they need to move on.</s>BERMAN: You know, Dana Bash, you know, one of the things when you have a smaller caucus is you tend to have more control over the members in your own party. But still, I have to think you're John Boehner right now, it's a very uncomfortable position to be in, when you need Nancy Pelosi, the leader of the other party to get anything passed.</s>BASH: That's right, especially when you have such a big majority like John Boehner has. The other reason why John Boehner might -- and other Republican leaders might be a little bit worried is because the Democrats are under the impression that in order to get their votes tonight, to keep this department running, in exchange, they will get that clean vote, the vote on the clean bill to keep the department running through the end of the fiscal year that Democrats have been demanding. The Republicans so far has told us that they made no such promise but the Democrats believe that they have that promise. So we'll see what happens next weeks. But if that happens, if the House Speaker does bring up that clean bill, as I was reported earlier in the hour, there is concern that there will be a very real challenge to his speakership. Not necessarily concern from Boehner himself but people who I have talked to, who are close with him, who are his allies, who really like him, they are concern that this whole situation today of 50 plus Republicans voting against him was to set the stage for -- with effectively coup.</s>BERMAN: It would be an interesting next few hours here as we watch this vote unfold. It would be an interesting week as we see what happens with the funding all together. Dana Bash, Wolf Blitzer, Gloria Borger, stick around. We have to take a quick break. Next, more on what's been at stake in all of these. The real stuff, we're talking about Homeland Security, not just the political fighting.