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No Deal Yet on Day Two of Government Shutdown; GOP's Jeff Flake Doesn't Think It Help for President to be Involved; Interview with Senator Jeff Merkley; Interview with Representative Greg Walden; Should Trump Ask Predecessors for Shutdown Advice?; How Trump's Twitter Feed Defined His First Year; Aired 8-9p ET

Aired January 21, 2018 - 20:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[20:00:00] SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: -- given out. The final report has yet to be seen. The FBI saying that report may take up to a year after the incident -- Ana.

ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York. Thank you for being with us.

It is day two of a government shutdown, and no deal yet. But at least they're talking. That's the big headline from the U.S. Senate as it holds a rare session that will culminate in a critical vote in the wee hours of Monday morning.

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer finally came face-to-face this afternoon after not speaking all day yesterday and hurling attacks at each other earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), MAJORITY LEADER: This shutdown was a political miscalculation of gargantuan proportions, but it doesn't need to go on any longer. It could stop today.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D), MINORITY LEADER: It was the Republicans' job to govern. It was their job to lead. It was their job to reach out to us and come up with a compromise. They have failed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: President Trump meantime largely playing spectator except for a tweet recommending Republicans change the Senate rules to bypass Democrats.

We have live team coverage. CNN's Manu Raju is on Capitol Hill. Boris Sanchez is at the White House.

Manu, tell us how this meeting between Schumer and McConnell went.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's no deal yet. That's the big headline coming out of this meeting. This came after a bipartisan group of senators tried to prod their leaders to cut a deal basically that would look something like this. A three- week continuing resolution to keep the government open until February 8th as well as some commitments to move on some other pending issues, namely how to deal with that issue of DACA those -- for those undocumented immigrants who came to the country at a young age who's about to see their legal status expire in March 5th.

They want -- Democrats want this resolved before they agree to reopen the government. They want at least some commitment from Senator McConnell to move on a DACA fix, to try to get it to the president's desk before the government reopens. The question is exactly how that commitment works itself out.

Now we're getting some mixed signals from people in the Senate all afternoon about exactly -- and evening about exactly where things stand. And some senators that I've talked to who have spoken to both Schumer and McConnell feel kind of optimistic. They believe they're talking, they're moving closer to a deal. But others are very pessimistic including Senator John Cornyn of Texas who predicts there will be a shutdown tomorrow.

Now this comes as both sides are still assessing the political fallout of exactly this -- over this shutdown fight including Senator Lindsey Graham who warned that this could hurt both parties significantly in the weeks ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Senator, do you think your Democratic colleagues are feeling the pressure after this weekend of the government shutdown? What have you been hearing from them?

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: If they don't, they're not good listeners. And I've been there. And listen, it's not a win for us. First prize in a government shutdown is you get to be dumb, not dumber.

We're going to get there, and if we don't tonight I am really worried about where this thing goes. Because it's going to gets nastier in terms of rhetoric.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Now if there is no deal tonight, expect a vote at 1:00 a.m. about whether or not to reopen the government for three weeks. It's going to have to overcome a filibuster in the Senate that's led by Democrats. They need 60 votes.

But, Ana, right now they are short of the 60 votes to overcome a filibuster. The question is, can they get a deal before that? And it's still uncertain as of now -- Ana.

CABRERA: And the clock keeps ticking. Thank you, Manu.

And Boris, now the president hasn't been in front of the cameras the past couple of days. What has he been up to?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Ana. The president has been active on Twitter. And according to the White House he has been making phone calls with legislators. However, you're getting a sense from some lawmakers on Capitol Hill that they aren't feeling the president's influence.

I want to read to you some comments we got just a few moments ago from Arizona Senator Jeff Flake, a vocal critic of President Trump. He said, and I quote, "The White House really hasn't been involved from what I've seen." Going a step further and saying, quote, "I just don't think it helps for him," for President Trump, "to be involved at all." Then he said, "It's going to be very difficult to pass anything out of the House without the president's support. Our hope is to pass something in the Senate that then gets the president's support."

Really this is contradictory to what we've heard from the White House just today. Press Secretary Sarah Sanders this afternoon putting out a statement saying that for the second consecutive day the president had been on the phone not only with some Republican lawmakers but also with the secretaries of certain departments that are negatively affected by this shutdown.

She also made the case that this is really full court press from the White House. The Chief of Staff John Kelly has been on the phone with the Republican leadership, that Marc Short, the director of Legislative Affairs, has also been working the phones.

[20:05:09] But Flake's comment supports something that Senator Lindsey Graham said earlier today to reporters as well when he said that he was begging the White House for help to get to yes. He made the case that there was a vacuum of leadership and that ultimately this would have to be decided within the Senate.

I do want to read to you that tweet that I mentioned from President Trump earlier today. Really the only time that we've heard directly from the president on the status of negotiations as of today. He writes, quote, "Great to see how hard Republicans are fighting for our military and safety at the border. The Democrats just want illegal immigrants to pour into our nation unchecked. If stalemate continues Republicans should go to 51 percent nuclear option, and vote on real, long-term budget. No continuing resolutions."

The president floating the idea of changing Senate rules, so as to not require that 60 vote majority to pass a budget deal but rather just a 51 vote simple majority. Something that Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell and other Republican senators like John Thune have said likely will not be necessary. Almost chuckling at the idea that that might be the case. But other surrogates for the president including the director of the OMB, Mick Mulvaney, have argued that that may need to happen in order to end this shutdown -- Ana.

CABRERA: Of course there were Republicans who voted with Democrats to not support that short-term spending bill. So even if there had been the rule of just Republicans to get this passed, it still wouldn't have passed at least last Friday night.

Boris Sanchez, at the White House, thank you.

Joining us now Democratic senator, Jeff Merkley of Oregon. He voted against the short-term spending measure on Friday night.

Senator, we know there is a vote scheduled at 1:00 a.m. Do you expect a vote before then?

SEN. JEFF MERKLEY (D), OREGON: Well, we've heard rumors that there might be. Because on whether some agreement gets reached, really the key here is that in addressing these various issues that haven't been addressed, that includes our community health centers, that includes funding for the opioid epidemic that's killing more people than car crashes. It includes treating right our illegal immigrants, our Dreamers who have had the rug pulled out from under them.

This is the -- the goal is to have these things discussed and treated in a way that it actually gets to the Oval Office.

CABRERA: So if there's a vote at 1:00 a.m. or before then, how do you plan to vote?

MERKLEY: Listen, we should not be voting on a three-week. We should be voting on a three-day. In fact Democrats proposed that last Friday and Mitch McConnell rejected it. The president rejected it. In other words, the Trump shutdown was a result of both the president and Mitch McConnell deciding they wanted to shutdown the government.

Today again we presented the three-day proposal. Let's have the government open. Let's negotiate intensely. And again Mitch McConnell and the president rejected it. They like the shutdown. We don't. We think it's the wrong thing to do. We should be open while we're negotiating.

CABRERA: You still have power, though, to help make that happen. If Democrats voted for a short-term spending bill the government would reopen. Is a shutdown worth it to keep digging in on the issues that you've just outlined?

MERKLEY: Well, certainly we voted in support of keeping the government open. We tried to put that before the body. Republicans rejected it, and here's why. If you go three weeks or you go two months, we will see what we've seen before which is Mitch McConnell will not engage in any deliberation on these important issues, issues that were supposed to be resolved last September until the last two days.

So why have a three-week continuing resolution when that means we're going to have 19 days in which absolutely nothing happens? I think the American people want this resolved. The Defense Department is lobbying us to have this resolved. They can't sign the contracts they need to sign. And so this mismanagement of issues that should have been addressed back in September, back in August continues. It has to stop. That's what we're seeing. These are core American issues that need to be addressed.

CABRERA: Now the Trump campaign has released a new Web ad accusing your party of being, quote, "complicit in every murder committed by illegal immigrants." Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Trump is right. Build the wall, deport the criminals, stop illegal immigration now. Democrats who stand in our way will be complicit in every murder committed by illegal immigrants.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Senator, what's your response to that?

MERKLEY: Well, it's a completely shameful attack. We've been so supportive of border security, smart border security. The president knows this. In fact Chuck Schumer really went a long ways to saying that border security is part of a package that we would put together. Trump doesn't know how to take yes for an answer. So that's just -- that's unfortunate.

And this type of really ugly, ugly divisiveness, I really want the president to recite the "Pledge of Allegiance" that under God, indivisible.

[20:10:10] We are all from different backgrounds. We come together. Our strengths make the fabric of America, great nation, and Trump just continues be the divider filling the nation with hate. It's really not presidential. It's not leadership and it's just wrong.

CABRERA: As you say that, though, you keep on blaming the president over and over again, blaming Mitch McConnell over and over again. How is that uniting anybody or bringing -- or leading to more a bipartisan compromise here?

MERKLEY: Well, when we put forward keeping the government open and the Republicans rejected it, when Chuck Schumer goes up and works out the outlines of a deal then the president bails on it hours later, that's a very difficult place to be. We need the leadership to come together.

Listen, these are bipartisan issues. We have bipartisan support for the Dream Act. We have bipartisan support for children's health care, bipartisan support for our community clinics. Bipartisan support for taking on the opioid epidemic. So this should be the easiest possible deal to bring together. It's only because Trump has savored this shutdown, wanted this shutdown, celebrated this shutdown that we're in the situation we're in right now.

CABRERA: And you said this week earlier that you believe Americans will blame Republicans for the shutdown. But the latest polling shows Americans aren't just putting the blame on Republicans. Are you worried at all about your colleagues who are up for reelection in states where Trump won big last year?

MERKLEY: Well, there is certainly, whenever we're in shutdown, it's a fox on all their houses . It's incompetence for sure. But I think most of America understands that the president is a Republican, the Senate led by Republicans, the House led by Republicans. The Republican leadership that rejected the efforts to keep our government open. So I think it's pretty clear that all roads lead back to Republican leadership.

CABRERA: Senator Jeff Merkley, thank you. Good luck.

MERKLEY: Thank you.

CABRERA: Coming up, a Republican congressman weighs in on this stalemate on Capitol Hill right now. What will happen if a deal doesn't get done tonight? The blame game just getting started. Stay tuned.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:16:24] CABRERA: Welcome back. The president is urging Senate Republicans to invoke the so-called nuclear option and change the rules of the chamber to override a Democratic filibuster and end this stalemate over funding the government.

We haven't seen the president all weekend. We know he has been working the phones. The White House released these pictures of him making calls from the Oval Office. But one person he did not reach out to? Senate majority -- minority leader, rather, Chuck Schumer.

Let's discuss with a member of the president's party, Republican Congressman Greg Walden of Oregon is joining us now. He's also the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine was asked whether she thought the president should be doing more, Congressman. And here's what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What about President Trump? Do you need President Trump to be involved in this process, Senator?

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R), MAINE: You know, the Senate is an institution of its own. And I think we should proceed on what we believe is the best route forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: So, Congressman, she sounds like she'd rather have the president stay out of it. Is that how Republicans in the House feel or do you want to see him do more?

REP. GREG WALDEN (R), OREGON: I just want the Democrats in the Senate to pass what we sent them and reopen the government and fund the children's health insurance. The president will sign whatever we send him when it comes to that. This isn't a problem with President Trump. This is a problem with Chuck Schumer blocking the funding bill to keep the government open.

I don't understand what the fight is over here. Do you want to open the government or close the government? Fund children's health insurance for 9 million children across America and pregnant women or let the funding expire? The House has acted. We did in a little bit of a bipartisan basis, a few Democrats joined us to fund the government while we keep negotiating on a lot of other issues that we need to deal with in Congress.

But the big issue before us yesterday, today, tonight, tomorrow is let's reopen the government, fund it and make sure that these seven states that are about to run out of money on their children's health insurance, where 2 million notices will go out to families saying your policies are going to end, let's prevent that from happening. We actually have a fully funded bill that I don't think anybody objects to that needs to get done. It's the critical issue before us.

CABRERA: But wait a minute.

WALDEN: Yes?

CABRERA: You said it's the Democrats doing this, but you had four members of your own party who voted against the measure.

WALDEN: Well, in the House, yes. But we passed in the majority --

CABRERA: No, that was in the Senate. That was in the Senate.

WALDEN: Right. So --

CABRERA: The four members who voted against the measure.

WALDEN: Yes. Yes. So as you know it takes 60 votes in the Senate to pass anything. I think they ought to reform how they operate over there when it comes to appropriations bill.

CABRERA: Right. But there wouldn't have been enough votes for Republicans to pass it if it was just -- if they were relying on Republicans alone anyway.

WALDEN: I'd love to have them all vote for it. We in the House voted for it. We sent it to the Senate. And I'd love to see them -- but they're all wrapped up around the axle on a bill that nobody has seen, it hasn't been written. They haven't even negotiated immigration reform even in a backroom somewhere. How are we supposed to vote on something we've not seen, the American people haven't seen?

It's never been vetted when it relates to immigration reform. I think that's something we should address. I'm all for having that discussion. But why do you shutdown the government over something nobody has access to that hasn't even been agreed to? We need to reopen the government, stop the Schumer shutdown, move forward, and why put children's health insurance in the risk here?

CABRERA: You're right.

WALDEN: Why are --

CABRERA: Why put children's health insurance as part of that? Why not just vote on a clean bill on the CHIP issue?

WALDEN: Well, we did that. We sent that over to the Senate. We have actually voted to extend emergency funding for CHIP on several other occasions. On every occasion a majority of Democrats voted against the funding for the community health centers, which we did for two years. That's actually the committee I chair, the Energy and Commerce Committee.

[20:20:07] Fully funded children's health for five years. Now we're saying six years. This is a clean vote. We didn't -- why are we fighting over whether you keep the government open or not? We shouldn't be. Why put our men and women in uniform and their families -- they're now trying to figure out what they do for paychecks. I told the government today hold mine back just like they're holding back pay for our military.

But why would we do this? Why are the Democrats doing this? They ought to vote for this and then let's continue the discussions --

CABRERA: But paying for the military, I'm sure you're aware that now two Democratic members of the Senate have made motions to vote on making sure the military gets paid while this government shutdown continues, and those were rejected.

WALDEN: You know, I witnessed this -- I witnessed this in 2013, and this is what happened when the government was shut down for two weeks. And then everybody has their deal they want to fund. When you're done with the military which should be funded, then what do you do with CDC workers or what do you do with military -- I mean, you know, one thing after another here.

What needs to happen was very simple. The vote we had keep the government open for another couple of weeks while we negotiate these other issue. And the reason we put the Children's Health Insurance Program in here, we didn't think anybody opposed it. I still don't think they do. This is about issues that aren't even --

(CROSSTALK)

CABRERA: Nobody -- I haven't heard from anybody who opposes it. You're right about that.

WALDEN: Correct, so why would they vote against it?

CABRERA: And you voted in 2013 --

WALDEN: But the question is, why would they vote against it?

CABRERA: And the shutdown that happened then. And remember you voted against a deal to end a government shutdown then. And you said at the time this temporary plan does nothing to address the epic problem, spending borrowed money we don't have and cannot --

WALDEN: That's right.

CABRERA: It kicks the can down the road.

WALDEN: That's right.

CABRERA: Yet again for only three months then we'll be right back where we ended up this week.

WALDEN: That's exactly right.

CABRERA: Enough is enough. Can you understand where Democrats and some members of your own party are coming from this time?

WALDEN: We were having a big debate over a comprehensive spending issue at that time. We have those issues before us. Today what are they fighting over? It is about DACA. It is about immigration reform. That's not been litigated. There is no proposal ready to be voted on that's achieved any kind of agreement between the House and the Senate or with the White House. We don't have that. So what is it they --

CABRERA: Right. But people like Rand Paul or Mike Lee who are part of your party who voted against it.

WALDEN: Right.

CABRERA: Said it's because it's kicking the can down the road, that this short-term resolution just doesn't make sense.

WALDEN: So you think --

CABRERA: Which was exactly what you said in 2013 yourself.

WALDEN: That was a different issue. Their concern was related directly to spending that was before us. The issue before us. And we were negotiating with President Obama at the time. I was actually in one of those meetings where we were trying to find common ground and move forward.

Now the issue before us today they want to shut down the government over and have, the Schumer shutdown, is shut it down over DACA or immigration, or at least that's what they say, but we don't have to do that. There's no bill ready to be voted on before us.

The bill before us was fund the government or not, do CHIP or not. That was the choice. And so what they did is, again, vote to shut down the government and deny funding for CHIP.

I've brought several bills to the floor to fund community health centers, special diabetes programs, children's health insurance. We did that back in November 3rd. And all but 15 Democrats voted against that package when it was a straight up and down vote in the House.

This is very confusing to me. It's frustrating to the American people. It's completely unnecessary. We ought to fund the government, continue good faith negotiations that frankly were going on over immigration. I think I'm not in -- I'm not in the middle of the backroom negotiations. That's in a different committee, but I would tell you that from everybody I've talked to, they were making progress.

And there is a lot of inertia here to solve this immigration problem. It's just not ready to be voted on. So how long is it we keep the government shut until you get a deal?

CABRERA: OK.

WALDEN: I don't think that's fair to our military, I don't think it's fair to our federal work force and it certainly isn't fair to children who need to know they can count on their health insurance.

CABRERA: Congressman Greg Walden, thank you very much.

WALDEN: Good to be with you. Thanks.

CABRERA: Good to have you.

Coming up as this blame game continues on Capitol Hill, what role should the art of the deal president play? We'll discuss with our panel next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[20:28:43] DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm going to make the great deals. I will make a great deal and lots of great deals for the American people. I make deals. I negotiate. I am going to make great deals for our country. We don't make great deals anymore, but we will once I become president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Candidate Trump bragged he would fix a broken Washington, that it would be easy. But a government shutdown at the one-year mark is glaring proof Washington isn't fixed and that the president who professed the art of the deal is part of the chaos now. Thanks to shifting positions on immigration that Senator Lindsey Graham blames on the president's staff.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRAHAM: I've talked with the president. His heart is right on this issue. I think he's got a good understanding of what will sell. And every time we have a proposal that is only yanked back by staff members. As long as Stephen Miller's in charge of negotiating immigration, we're going nowhere. He's been an outlier for years. There's a deal to be had.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: And in response the White House issued this statement. "As long as Senator Graham chooses to support legislation that sides with people in this country illegally and unlawfully instead of our own American citizens, we are going nowhere. He has been an outlier for years."

I want to bring in our CNN political analysts, David Drucker of the "Washington Examiner" and Patrick Healy of the "New York Times." [20:30:02] So first, David, your take on that, this back and forth now

and the president again attacking a member of his own party who's working on negotiating a government shutdown end.

DAVID DRUCKER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Right. Well, look, this tends to happen when tensions get high and both sides are dug in. I think there are a couple of things here, Ana. One, the president has had trouble transitioning from business and entertainment to politics when it comes to negotiating. He has for years been a bit of a cipher and a bit of a shifter when it comes to cutting deals. Agreeing to one thing, changing his mind, changing parameters in the middle of the game.

And that may work outside of politics. But in politics to be successful it's not so much where the parameters are, but that they are set and that the players can trust where you're coming from and why you hold that position. And so I think in that sense the president has fallen short.

I do think, however, in the situation we are in now with the government shutdown, there's nothing wrong with the president setting a marker down and essentially saying reopen the government and then I'll talk DACA. Not everybody is going to like that position but that's a perfectly reasonable position to take.

It's very similar to President Obama in 2013 when the Republicans shut down the government to try and defund Obamacare, the president at the time said, I'm not talking about anything until you guys reopen the government. And voters actually found that reasonable even though they did not like Obamacare. So they were unhappy with the law, but they did not like the way Republicans were going about trying to end the law.

And I think here despite the president's unpopularity, taking this position is not necessarily going to ill serve him.

CABRERA: Now when it comes to getting the government running again, Patrick, we just heard from the president on Twitter, his last tweet before the latest one he put out was 13 hours ago. And what he was tweeting about right now, he's tweeting about what he's seeing on FOX News, they're giving him on A for his first year of his presidency. He's saying thank you to specific commentators. What do you make of that?

PATRICK HEALY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Right. It's amazing that, you know, they're giving him an A over on FOX News when he can't even seem to get, you know, much mileage, you know, on getting the government reopened. I mean, the reality is that, you know, as David was saying, President Obama made very clear several years ago, you know, we're not going to talk about Obamacare until we get -- you know, until we get the government reopened. And he was sort of consistent and focused on that.

President Trump this morning, if you recall, this useful, went on Twitter and instead decided to start talking about sort of the nuclear option in the Senate, sort of the so-called rules that require a 60- vote majority and going back to 51. This wasn't seen as productive. I mean in terms of what he's doing right now to actually reopen the government. There hasn't been anything that has really been productive on his end.

The reality is that so much of this shutdown has been over his shifting positions and rhetoric on immigration for the last two weeks. Now what Lindsey Graham was talking about there was very interesting. When President Trump seems to get into a room with -- particularly with Democrats, he seems to go to a fairly, let's call it moderate or at least sort of bipartisan, pragmatic point of view, and the Democrats leave the room --

(CROSSTALK)

CABRERA: Feeling like they've been heard.

HEALY: Feeling like they've been heard and there was some understanding.

CABRERA: And then maybe they made progress.

HEALY: And then things get sort of yanked back to the far right and nothing gets done.

CABRERA: Yes. In terms of what is happening, there is some political posturing happening clearly.

David, the White House actually updated the voice message on its automated comment line to blame Democrats for this shutdown. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you for calling the White House comment line. Thank you for calling the White House. Unfortunately, we cannot answer your call today because congressional Democrats are holding government funding including funding for our troops and other national security priorities hostage to an unrelated immigration debate. Due to this obstruction the government is shutdown.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: David, why would they do that when they need Democratic support to reopen the government?

DRUCKER: Well, because they're playing hardball and Republicans run Congress, they run the White House. And I think if Republicans bent to the will of a minority in the Senate, they have their own voters to answer to.

So I think there are a couple of things here. Right. I think above the fray and for the public both sides are playing hardball. They're talking tough and they're talking some trash. And some of it is a little bit unseemly, but some of it is to be expected in a position like this. I think the key is are they talking privately? Are there conversations behind the scenes? We have some indication this evening that there are some conversations

ongoing. Are they going to get anywhere? Are they going to reach a deal where both sides can exit this, both declare victory, both declare that the other side lost even when nobody lost and nobody won?

I think that's what they're trying to come up with. The longer this shutdown goes on, the harder it is for that to happen because even though disagreements on policy get often -- can get the government into a stalemate like this, getting out is all about politics and it's all about holding the line and maintaining your negotiating leverage.

CABRERA: Yes.

[20:35:12] DRUCKER: I think that's what both sides are trying to figure out right now.

CABRERA: OK. So, Patrick, real quickly, what would a win-win look like?

HEALY: I mean, a win is going to be tough for the Democrats here. If the government reopens and there's no real commitment, you know, there's said to be sort of a promise of a vote at some point on immigration. But that immigration deal isn't attached to a bill that Republicans have to get passed. But they're also taking a real flier on what Mitch McConnell and Trump said. So in terms of a win, you know, they seem to be moving towards some kind of, you know, sort of moderate negotiated deal.

But if there's not actually a vote on immigration that is known to be attached to something that can pass the House and get through the conservative on the House, it's going to be very tough. I mean, the Democrats may be giving in there.

CABRERA: All right, Patrick, thank you very much. Patrick Healy, David Drucker, we always appreciate it, guys.

So is it the Schumer shutdown or the Trump shutdown? Democrats and Republicans are blaming each other for grinding the government to a halt this weekend.

Up next, how history will remember this failure to reach a deal and who's really responsible.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:40:30] CABRERA: No deal yet on day two of the U.S. government shutdown even after tonight's big meeting between Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell and minority leader Chuck Schumer. President Trump canceled his planned trip to Mar-a-Lago this weekend to stay in Washington to work the phones. The shutdown began the night before Trump's one-year anniversary in office.

Let's talk it over with CNN presidential historian, Timothy Naftali, former director of the Nixon Presidential Library. So, Tim, you've heard both sides, Democrats, Republicans, the word is

from the president himself on Twitter in particular. When we look back and the history books are written, is this going to be the Trump shutdown or the Schumer shutdown?

TIMOTHY NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: It's going to depend on whether the president gets to yes and also whether there's a bipartisan compromise. You see, what's going on right now, and I'm saying this with regard to the president's rhetoric, is the president's drawn a line. The president started the shutdown by saying I will not negotiate -- literally with a gun -- you know, figuratively but a gun to my head. You pay for the government and then I'll talk about DACA.

Meanwhile in Congress there are people who don't like that position by the president, on both sides of the aisle, who are trying to find a way to get the president to yes. If a realistic and persuasive bipartisan resolution appears and the president says no to it, this then becomes the president shutdown. If no bipartisan agreement can be brokered and it looks like the only reason that the members of our government are being paid is that the Democrats wanted DACA to be resolved with the budget, then it might be Schumer's shutdown.

It all depends on whether that bipartisan compromise emerges and the public thinks that it's a plausible one.

CABRERA: Is there a way for them to reach an agreement that makes both sides feel good?

NAFTALI: Well, you know -- when you study -- I've studied a lot of international crises. This is a domestic governmental crisis. The way to get to yes is for both sides to save face.

CABRERA: Right.

NAFTALI: And what's been really disappointing so far is that both Mitch McConnell and the president have sort of drawn these lines that make it very hard for them to step back from the brink.

The Democrats, the first night, Schumer himself, came out and actually explained the compromise that he was trying to sell to the president and thought he had sold the president in the White House. That kind of language makes the Democrats look a little bit more ready to compromise. Lindsey Graham today made it clear that there's a group of Republicans who want to compromise.

How do you get the president and the hard-line Republican leadership to show that compromise? At the moment they're not.

CABRERA: Yes.

NAFTALI: And it's very hard to understand how you get to yes with them not willing to compromise.

CABRERA: When you talk about, again, past administrations we know both Democrats and Republican administrations have dealt with shutdowns before. We also know that the current president doesn't seem to have a relationship at all with past presidents. We know he and Obama in fact had a very contentious relationship. Let's listen as a reminder.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER UNITED STATES PRESIDENT: And we know that the longer this shutdown continues the worse the effects will be. If you're serving in harm's way, we're going to make sure you have what you need to succeed in your missions. Congress has passed, and I'm signing into law, legislation to make sure you get your paychecks on time. And the longer this goes on, the worse it will be. And it makes no sense.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: So that wasn't exactly the sound byte I was expecting.

NAFTALI: Yes.

CABRERA: But obviously that was how President Obama dealt with the shutdown in 2013. The fact that this president doesn't have a relationship with past presidents isn't able to lean on them for advice. Is that a problem?

NAFTALI: Well, there are two things here that I'm watching. One is the blame game and the other are the political consequences and the real world consequences.

Now the blame game, you know in 2013 Ted Cruz and the hard liners in Congress were blamed for the shutdown. But in 2014 the Republicans won the Senate. And I'm not sure what lessons the Democrats learned from that.

[20:45:01] The real world consequences, though, are the things that we all forget when we talk about who's up, who's down. The -- those who were furloughed got their backpay. There was some extra pay that 25,000 should have received that they won in the courts but they still haven't been paid. So there are people who actually had economic consequences from the 2013 shutdown that remained -- that lingered to this day.

There is also the effect on this country's international reputation from having the third shutdown. Those are hard to measure. And I'm hoping that people in the government now are thinking about the consequences and stop worrying about who's up or who's down and think about the real world consequences of continuing to have 700,000 people who are unsure about their future, I'm talking about the Dreamers in this country. And all those members of our armed forces and our civilians forces.

Let's not forget the civilian civil -- the civil service, who don't know whether they're going to get paid tomorrow. I want -- I hope that members of Congress and the executive branch recognize that they are not doing their jobs, all of them aren't. And that we stop worrying about whether the Democrats or the Republicans come out of this smelling like roses.

CABRERA: Yes.

NAFTALI: I don't think anybody does and will.

CABRERA: All right, that seems like a good place to end it. Thank you so much, Tim Naftali, for your perspective on that.

NAFTALI: Thank you, Ana.

CABRERA: And coming up, commander in tweet? A look at how Twitter has changed the world's most powerful office one year into the Trump presidency. Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:50:57] CABRERA: It is the president's preferred means of communication. His soap box, his mouthpiece, his bully pulpit all rolled into one.

So how has Twitter transformed the Trump presidency?

CNN's Brian Stelter takes a look back.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: If I didn't have social media, I wouldn't be able to get the word out.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Trump got the word out more than 2400 times during his first year on office. His tweets give talking points to his supporters and a heartburn to his critics.

TRUMP: Make sure you look up at realDonaldTrump, right?

STELTER: His tweets gave us in the media a lot to talk about.

BILL WEIR, CNN ANCHOR: This just in. The Twitter-in-chief has fired off a new one this morning.

STELTER: It's a real-time sense of what the president cares about, what he's doing and what he's watching.

CHRIS CILLIZZA, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR-AT-LARGE: He sort of live tweets the morning shows.

STELTER: Or what he wants all of us to focus on.

TRUMP: He's in a Twitter storm again. I don't do Twitter storms.

STELTER: Are his tweets distractions? Maybe sometimes. But his words carry power and shape policy. His use of social media has taken the presidency to a new more divisive place.

Trump reacts to perceive slights in real time. Targeting other world leaders like British Prime Minister Theresa May and his own Cabinet members like Rex Tillerson and Jeff Sessions. Plus, plenty of other politicians including the mayor of San Juan.

Nicknames abound. On the left, there is Dicky Durbin, Sneaky Dianne Feinstein, Crying Chuck Schumer, and Al Frankenstein. On the right, Liddle Bob Corker, Jeff Flakey, Sloppy Steve Bannon. But his most famous nickname --

TRUMP: Little Rocket Man. He is a sick puppy.

STELTER: He's used that moniker several times in tweets about North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Nuclear taunts on Twitter scared some Americans. A reminder that most voters disapprove of all the tweeting.

Now some lawmakers say they have warmed up to the tweets when the president says on message.

MCCONNELL: With regards to the president's tweeting habit, I haven't been a fan until this week.

STELTER: But other times, tweeting has caused chaos in Washington. Like when the president seemed to reverse course on a surveillance bill vote. After lawmakers scrambled, Trump tweeted a clarification. Even as the White House downplayed the turmoil.

SARAH SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: It wasn't confusing for me, I'm sorry if it was for you.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Here is the reality, it did create confusion. It just did.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: They're telling us that two plus two does not equal four. They're telling us that the sky is not blue.

STELTER: Blame the Trump TV feedback loop. The president watches his boosters on FOX News. Then quotes the shows on Twitter, promoting "FOX and Friends," Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson. He calls other news fake, even labeling some outlets enemies of the American people.

His most re-tweeted post as president wasn't about immigration or education, it was --

This video of himself at a wrestling match, body slamming a CNN logo, encouraging violence against the media.

Trump has tweeted the word "fake" nearly 200 times.

TRUMP: It's fake, it's made up stuff. It's fake, phony, fake. Fake news. It's fake, fake news.

STELTER: Telling his followers not to trust real reporting, even while spreading misinformation himself. SETH MEYERS, HOST, "LATE NIGHT WITH SETH MEYERS": Trump is spending

his time rage-tweeting, picking fights with our allies and pissing off pretty much the entire world.

STELTER: Sometimes, though, you just have to laugh. If nothing else, Trump's first year gave us a new word.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Covfefe, covfefe.

MAGGIE LAKE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: And what exactly is covfefe?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: I don't know how to pronounce covfefe?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Covfefe.

BLITZER: Covfefe.

STELTER: What will year two bring?

Brian Stelter, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:58:59] CABRERA: As we wait to see whether Democrats and Republicans can strike a deal to reopen the government, we want to tell you what this shutdown means.

Hundreds of thousands of nonessential employees are furloughed. If this lasts long enough, they will be without a paycheck but would likely be paid retroactively.

Now the military is considered essential and would still report for duty but again, they could potentially not be paid during a shutdown as well.

Now guess who still does get their paychecks? Congress. It's written into law.

National zoos and museums are closed. Mail still gets delivered. Essential services like Social Security still gets funded. And that includes the TSA and air traffic control. The nation's capital could be hit especially hard because the city's budget comes from Congress. So services like garbage pickup may be delayed if a shutdown drags on.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

CABRERA: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Ana Cabrera, in New York. Thank you for being with us.

Day two of the government shutdown and no deal just yet, but we do expect Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell to update the American people any moment now on the Senate floor. That is the big --