on everything that's going on there. that wraps up the hour for me. see you tomorrow night on ""nbc nightly news." thank you for the privilege of your time. andrea mitchell picks up with more news right now. right now on "andrea mitchell reports," the death of a trailblazing woman in the senate, in california and in the nation. former house speaker nancy pelosi joining me in moments as tributes are pouring in for senator dianne feinstein who died overnight in her home in washington, remembered by friends and allies for bringing people together in a class by herself. >> earlier this morning, we lost a giant in the senate. senator dianne feinstein was one of the most amazing people who ever graced the senate, who graced the country. >> an historic figure, trailblazer for women and a great friend. >> the first woman mayor of san francisco coming into office under sad circumstances, but leading us with great dignity, with great effectiveness and great leadership. much more will be said about it. we will have so much time to talk and brag about dianne feinstein, her legacy, a long one we will all be inspired by. but today, at this time, just hours since her passing, rather than talk about her, let us just pray that she rest in peace. >> all this as the senate and the house are locked in combat with a small group of house republicans blocking any outreach across the aisle to prevent a government shutdown tomorrow night. i will be joined by key house and senate lawmakers for the latest on those negotiations. ♪♪ good day. i'm andrea mitchell in washington. we remember dianne feinstein. the 90-year-old veteran california senator, the longest serving woman in the senate, died overnight after voting just yesterday morning to advance a senate resolution to try to keep the government open. feinstein, a trailblazer in u.s. politics, is being remembered today by the president, by her colleagues from both sides of the aisle. >> she was an historic figure, trailblazer for women and a great friend. she made her mark in everything from national security to the environment, gun safety, to protecting civil liberties. the country is going to miss her dearly, and so will jill and i. >> maybe the trait that stood out most of all was her amazing integrity. her integrity was a diamond. her integrity shown like a beacon across the senate and across the country for all to see and hopefully emulate. >> dianne was a trailblazer in her beloved state of california and our entire nation are better for her dogged advocacy and diligent service. >> she was absolutely fearless but also very open. >> senator feinstein's office says she passed away last night at her home in washington adding, she left a legacy undeniable and extraordinary. a leading woman senator for generations, whose political career in california was launched by tragedy. november 1978, san francisco mayor and the board of supervisor member were assassinated in city hall. then board of supervisor president dianne feinstein tried to save their lives. >> both have been shot and killed. >> the event cementing her passion for gun reform. she was elected mayor and became a national figure on walter mondale's short list. >> i'm the first woman and first mayor to be asked to go through an interview process. i view that as a major opening of the door and something that's very important to do. >> it was the clarence thomas hearings in 1991 that got feinstein to the senate, as she recalled in 2018. >> what did i see but an all male senate judiciary committee grilling anita hill. it was not nice. it was not what one would like to see. that was my incentive to run in 1992. >> after her senate win, then senator joe biden made her the first woman on the judiciary committee. she led hearings into the bush administration's harsh interrogation techniques. colleagues faulted her performance during supreme court confirmations, praising the confirmation of amy comey barrett. >> this is one of the best set of hearings i have participated in. >> through political and personal trials, her legacy as a trailblazer endures. joining me now is former california congresswoman jane harmon, a close friend of senator feinstein, and michael beschloss who knew feinstein well for two decades. jane, you just saw her last night. we know she passed away overnight. yesterday afternoon, you saw her. you went to her home. talk to me about dianne feinstein, what you saw last night, which was the light that shined from her. >> you are showing this picture. that was taken at 5:00 p.m. last night, less than 24 hours ago, by her housekeeper as i was leaving this private meeting in her study at her home. i went there because i miss her. she's been voting, as she always did. but you are aware, too, because you were a close personal friend, as is michael, that we hosted and tried to host a number of things for her. sometimes she was not up to it. the most recent one, she passed. i just -- i had to see her. lucky me, i got to hug and kiss her and tell her i loved her after everyone else. where do we start? i met her when she was mayor. she and i were elected to congress in the same year. we did parallel service certainly on intelligence. >> 1992. >> we were close friends. i felt in her last years that she was unfairly treated and i was going to be sure that i did absolutely everything i could not just to show my love but to show the country that she still had more to contribute. boy, did she? that meeting yesterday was about the future. it wasn't about this and that. she was still mourning the loss of her beloved husband. we talked about having some dinners together for women in washington. we talked about trying to bring the country back together. she always tried to do. >> one of the things, jane and michael, that was noteworthy is that she brought obama and clinton together after that very contentious 2008 primary campaign and after president obama was elected, she invited him to her home. she wanted to bring president obama and hillary clinton together. i, from conversations later, believe if not for that meeting, problems hillary clinton would not have accepted the invitation to be sent of state, which is a lasting legacy. >> i think absolutely. as you know, she did that more than once. there was an earlier meeting that was more key when she had the two of them to her house many washington just after barack obama tied up the nomination in 2008. it had been a tough campaign. it was strained. their entourage -- i wouldn't say anything about obama and hillary, but it was not easy to stitch that party back together in a campaign that was almost tied. dianne brought them together in her home, talked with them for a while and then said, it's now time for the two of you to talk by yourselves. they began to get it together. it did lead to a united party. and as you say, andrea, to hillary clinton as secretary of state. the other thing to mention is that it is emphasized this morning, absolutely true by others who didn't know her that well, that this was this very strong public person, which she was. but the two of you who knew her very well, i think would agree with me that when i say that behind that very strong facade was a very sensitive, very compassionate, very empathetic person that would have surprised some people who knew her only from the public. final point i would like to make to begin here is that, she was the kind of senator the founders would have loved. you remember, you all know the three of us certainly know, there's no mention of political parties in the constitution. when you look at the mention of what founders of this country, both in the constitutional -- they wanted people unpredictable, who would think for themselves, not a tool of interests who brought them to power or of their voters all the time necessarily. who does that sound like? that's dianne feinstein, always unpredictable. no one could question this woman always thought for herself. >> let me play an exchange that i had with her in february of 2012. this was on gun reform, gun control, one of the signature things she did when she came into the senate as a freshman. she got the assault weapon ban passed because of her experiences in california, surely, the way she entered office, the way she as a board of supervisor member rose to the first woman mayor of san francisco because of the deaths of the mayor and the supervisor right there in city hall. she announced their deaths to the people. she was a leader. there was a mass shooting in a mcdonald's in southern california. that was very important to her. she got that assault weapon ban passed. other people since taking credit for it. it went out of legislation ten years later. no one had the guts, political will to fight the lobbies and put it back together again. i asked her in 2012 about the gun issue on this very show. senator, as you know better than anyone, this was actually one of the issues that propelled you into the limelight, tragically, as the mayor of san francisco, through the shootings, and then the series of mass killings, the 101, the stockton, california, all of the assault weapon issues that arose in california made you the first advocate, really. tell me about the history and what happened when you first went to the senate. >> it's a little bit more than being an advocate. we wrote that assault weapons bill. i came here. we set about writing a bill. i talked to senator biden about it. he was then chairman of the judiciary committee. he laughed at me. he said, dianne, you are new here. wait until the gunners get ahold of you. i said, i'm going to do thismen. i did. >> that's classic. she told the truth. the men did not think she could get it done. >> she had my vote. i had been elected the same time she was. my district was republican. it was a career risking vote. it was the right thing to do. i was following my senator in making that vote. in 1994, she and i barely won re-election. in my case, there was a recount. i won by 811 votes. i was proud to make that vote. let me just say, michael, a degree with every single thing you said about her. on intelligence where i was ranking member before she came to the senate intel committee, we were in lockstep for part of it, she released this groundbreaking report, democrats only, on detention and interrogation. she got a lot of grief for it. i have my copy. it says, to jane with love. thanks for having my back. never again. that was dianne. >> she did it with john mccain, which was in a bipartisan way she worked. susan collins, one of her best friends among other senators, holding up watercolors she painted for them on senate floor today. senator schumer and mitch mcconnell -- mitch mcconnell saying he and his wife were close friends and would go out to dinner with her and her husband. it was that legacy, the work on intelligence, the work on guns, and the work across the aisle, and the work on women's issues, reproductive rights. jane, as you know, governor newsom will appoint a senator within a certain amount of time. he will appoint somebody. he said it will be a black person and not one of the house members who have declared for the seat and others. then that person will have to run for election to fill out her term and run again. it's going to be an expensive election. but i think today is a day to think about the legacy more than the politics. >> let's think about how she fought for california, even last night when we were chatting. she was talking about the future of fighting for california. >> we will have to leave it there. jane harmon, a close friend, michael beschloss, you as well. thank you both very much. the countdown to shutdown, without a deal to fund the federal government, a shutdown is all but inevitable. what that means for washington and the country coming next. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports." a special edition today in memory of dianne feinstein. we will be back in 60 seconds right here on msnbc. ght here on. because the only thing dripping should be your style. plop plop fizz fizz with alka-seltzer plus cold & flu relief. also try for fizzy fast cough relief. you know that feeling of having to rewash dishes that didn't get clean? i don't. cascade platinum plus... with double the dawn grease fighting power and double the scrubbing power. for a no rewash clean... and a cabinet ready shine. upgrade to cascade platinum plus. dare to dish differently. now subway's slicing their ham fresh. like on the new grand slam ham. piled high with double the cheese and more meat. i'd like to tackle one of these after a game. quarterbacks can't tackle anything! a government shutdown is 36 hours away. kevin mccarthy's time as house speaker could be running out. at this hour, there's some movement on the house side. ryan nobles joins me now. ryan, what's been happening on the house floor in the last few minutes? is it anything close to what the senate is doing? once the house acts, the senate has to act. so far, they have been light years apart. >> reporter: yeah. the short answer is, no. with the movement that's happening on the house right now, likely will never even be voted on in the senate. if it were to be voted on it would be voted down. what we are seeing play out is that maybe a surprise that this is a procedural motion that has to take place before the actual vote. it's a rule. they establish a rule that they are working under an order to pass a piece of legislation. that rule passed. maybe that was a surprise. what we are being told now by our colleagues outside the chamber talking to some of the more conservative republicans holding this process up is that they allowed the rule to go forward basically just so they could vote no on the short-term spending bill. that's what they are voting on right now. actually, what you are seeing -- this was the rule vote. the rule vote ended up passing. what republicans are attempting to do is pass a short-term spending bill that's largely conservative. it's much less overall spending. it has other conservative policies attached to it. it has no hope of passing the senate. the purpose of passing that is so you can begin negotiations between the house and senate over some sort of package that could pass both chambers. if you can't get that piece of legislation out of the house, you can't even begin those conversations. that's kind of the stalemate that we are in right now. we will watch closely when this actual continuing resolution vote comes to the floor to see whether or not kevin mccarthy can muster those votes. i want to play for you a little bit of what mccarthy said earlier today. he remains optimistic despite everything in front of him. take a listen. >> if you want to take the easy way out, if you want to just assume the status quo, if you believe allowing that to continue is the best place for the country, then i guess i'm not your speaker. but as long as i'm here, that's what i will fight for. >> reporter: it's hard to really decipher specifically what kevin mccarthy is talking about here. if he is saying, taking the easy way out, that means shutting the government down -- not shutting down the government is the easier path, there's so many millions of americans that are going to be directly impacted by the government shutting down, all the federal workers that could lose out on potential paychecks and there's just the government services that will be interrupted as a result of it all. there's an easy solution. they could pass a short-term spending plan that wouldn't be the end all be all. give them time to continue negotiating. at this point, it doesn't seem as though conservative republicans in particular are interested in that path. it seems likely the government will shut down. >> ryan nobles, thank you so much. joining us now is fred upton. this is one of the reasons you probably left when you did. don't miss it very much. right now, the speaker's job is on the line as well. the same group that maybe they are voting for the rule to get it on the floor, but they'repot continuing resolution, not permit it unincumberunincumbere. >> the only way to keep it open is if it's bipartisan. if things really fall apart, it's there to really save us. but the vote in the senate earlier this week, 77 votes i think they had, it was bipartisan. the hard right in the caucus in the house is saying, if you pick up one democrat, we're going after you. we will vacate the chair. i know the white house fears, what happens if we have a shutdown and we don't have a speaker? how do we get things open? at the end of the day -- we are close on the hours now. i think we have to -- we will likely see a shutdown because of the time needed to get to address things. the only way to get things done is to have a bipartisan proposal. that's why kevin has the gun at his head. >> he made so many concessions in those 15 rounds. >> he gave them the shovel to dig the hole. they keep moving the goalpost. impeachment inquiry, do all these appropriation bills at a lower level. none of it has worked. now we are at the very end of the deadline. congress had six weeks off. they got nothing done between the month of august and all of this month of september. here we are. the shutdown hits midnight tomorrow night. tremendous trouble if this happens from airline travel with tsa, the food inspection, not paying our troops on the line, not paying our border patrol folks. it's a mess. i've gone through -- i was in the house 36 years. we had a number of shutdowns. nobody wins. it's a big hit. >> you worked across the aisle with your friend john dingell, two guys partisan. >> and jane who was on with you. at the end of the day, if it's not bipartisan, it's not going to work. that's the rock and the hard place kevin is in. >> we are inching along. they added border issues to the continuing resolution. >> that could be a bipartisan thing. there's no money for ukraine in there. they take -- this proposal in the house -- i don't think it's going to pass. it has a much lower level of spending than the debt ceiling agreement that was hammered out that was bipartisan. the president was on board with that and avoided a debt default last june. >> they made that deal last june. they came right up against the edge. one of the three rating agencies downgraded the credit and worthiness of the united states government, raising our interest rates potentially going forward, just because of the stalemate and the gridlock that went up again of the edge. now the two major rating agencies will clearly downgrade the u.s. government with a shutdown. at this point, there's no way out. >> they are on a cul-de-sac. the senate, to their credit, they passed the cr at the agreed upon debt ceiling limit. it was bipartisan, 77 votes i think they had. >> that was the agreed upon -- it was a four-way agreement. >> it was tough to swallow for the democrats. they wanted more. on the republican side, kevin dictated they had to go at fiscal year '22 levels, until last night, they didn't -- they passed one of the appropriation bills at the lower level. it was a struggle. they failed to do the rule on the defense bill a couple of times before they finally got there yesterday. that was only after they took out the ukraine money to pacify -- >> not even a cost of living in there. let me ask you one more question. the speaker is saying that the president should get involved. the white house is saying, why should we meet with kevin mccarthy? he can't deliver his caucus and the deal we agreed to in june he walked away from. >> they are right. kevin can't deliver the votes if he doesn't have democrats. if he gets democrats on board, the hard right, matt gaetz, mtg, they will shoot him down. >> to be continued. thanks so much for coming in, fred upton, former republican from michigan. millions of critical government workers could be working without pay as a government shutdown seems all but inevitable. steny hoyer joins us next on that and more. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports." this is msnbc. new emergen-c crystals pop and fizz when you throw them back. and who doesn't love a good throwback? 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(vo) get your competitive offer at opendoor dot com. hi, i'm todd. i'm a veteran of 23 years. i served three overseas tours. i love to give back to the community. i offer what i can when i can. i started noticing my memory was slipping. i saw a prevagen commercial and i did some research on it. i started taking prevagen about three years ago. i feel clearer in my thoughts, my memory has improved and generally just more on point. prevagen. at stores everywhere without a prescription. the nation today is mourning the loss of a trailblazing senator, dianne feinstein. here with me now is her very close friend, colleague, ally, nancy pelosi. my condolences to you, your family. you were neighbors in san francisco for years. i know your daughter thinks of her as an aunt, a member of the family, as do you. i know this. >> my children would always say, if dianne and i were running against each other, nancy corinne would be for dianne. >> your own daughter. >> this is for us very personal. it's very san francisco. we were neighbors, friends. we love each other very much. i'm heartbroken. but dianne would want us all to rise to the occasion. i want you to -- you know, but i want everyone to know, this is an iconic figure. this is a figure who -- every now and then someone comes along like this that you think, wow. she came into power as mayor under the most dire of circumstances. such strength, such dignity. she took the city with her and all of this. everything that she did, she did with a vision of doing some great thing and knowing what she was talking about. always reading and that. she was great. she was iconic. we use the word iconic more than we should, probably. this is the definition, the personification of iconic. >> there were so many sides to her. she was a friend. she was a great woman and advocate for women's reproductive rights, for women's leadership. at the same time, she was all about work. she was always thinking about what to do next. she did her homework. i'm thinking about an interview -- we played a little earlier from february of 2012 where i was asking her about the controversy controversy -- it was a big issue trying to get the assault ban back in place or to keep it. she talked about the fact that for her it was a passion. getting that assault ban in her freshman term as a senator and that joe biden, judiciary chairman at the time, said, you will never get that done. the gun lobby will kill you. she said, we will get it done. a lot of people have taken credit for that. it was she who pushed that through. >> she came into the senate in 1993. this bill passed the congress signed by the president in 1994. she did. again, because of the standing that she had, the experience that she had, she was not taking no for an answer. i will tell you, because i was a lowly junior member working under the leadership of chuck schumer at the time, who carried the mantle in the house, and as he said boobeautifully on the floor, worked with dianne feinstein on this, it was hard. it wasn't, shall we say, easy for members to vote for it coming from certain districts. she gave them the path and the goal and working with the -- it would not have happened with dianne feinstein. no offense to joe biden or anyone else. they were telling her the facts of life, this is going to be hard. we weren't able to pass the rules in the beginning. then we were. >> also, of course, the senate intelligence committee, the first woman intelligence chair. you were a leader in the house on intelligence. you know what it meant to take on the cia and the white house after 9/11. we actually have something about that on the torture report when she was being -- she was working on trying to get that report out and get it through the senate and change the law. let's watch. you have made it very clear that this all started under rockefeller when he was chair of the committee. he is a man, not given to being emotional, i guess, as you as chair are. where do we come down in this day and age where a woman who is chair of the intelligence committee, because of seniority and expertise and all of the rest that goes into that, gets accused of being emotional in having worked on this report? >> that's an old -- >> backed the staff on this report. >> i think that's an old male fallback position. there's no question that there are a lot of people out there. i suspect one of them is former cia director haden, that does not want the report to come out. one of the things you do is try to blur the reputation of someone connected with the report. >> i suspect you have heard people say that you were being emotional when you pushed for certain things hard to do. >> i don't pay attention to that. let me say about dianne in terms of this, because i was -- i had 30 years on the intelligence committee. some of it at that time as speaker or leader depending on what was -- what the timing was. she did -- she left us the way she lived, on her own terms. she knew what she wanted to get accomplished. she respected diversity of opinion. she was as bipartisan as they come. respectful but not departing from the position. she was not going to be bothered about anybody saying she was emotional. that's the other person's problem. that's not her problem. >> one of the moments that i recall also was at the end of the 2008 campaign, she was defeated by obama. it was a bitter primary season. he is now elected. he is the president-elect. she invited barack obama and hillary clinton to her home for a peace talk. the two camps were very bitter after that campaign. there were people resisting any offer for her to join the cabinet. she left the two of them together. my reporting from this is that that was the beginning of the possibility that she would accept an offer to join the cabinet and become secretary of state. you probably have better insight than i. >> i don't because i don't know the particulars. but i do know that dianne believes in bringing people together. let's share our thoughts, our values, our challenges. she always did believe that what we had in common was more than what we were disagreeing on. that gave her hope, confidence about doing something like that. and she's dianne feinstein. she had the heft politically speaking that they would accept her invitation, that they would accept her invitation with the prospect that such a conversation would take placement but she believed in herself. she believed -- she was about goodness. she was about greatness. she was about love. she was about power and using it. she was about strength. i just want to make sure everybody knows that this giant of a person, this trailblazer, this icon, this champion, this hero walked among us, and we all benefitted from it, more importantly, the american people did. in san francisco, we just look forward to welcoming her back home. of course, she's always back and forth. home to rest so that she can rest in peace. >> nancy pelosi, thank you very much. it's a tough day for you. thanks for sharing your thoughts with us. >> thank you. i appreciate that. thank you for your attention to dianne. >> absolutely. senator feinstein was instrumental in fighting for increased gun weapons legislation, propelled by her experience with gun violence. in 1978 when she was president of the san francisco board of supervisors, a former board member shot and killed san francisco's mayor and a supervisor on the steps of city hall. feinstein found milk after he had been fatally shot, tried to resuscitate him. years later, she played a pivotal role in getting the assault weapons ban signed and passed in 1994. the senate failed to renew the law in the aftermath of the sandy hook elementary school shooting incredibly. when a more senr republican senator suggested she learn more about gun issues in 1993, she hit back at him on the senate floor. >> the lady from california needs to become a little more familiar with firearms and their deadly characteristics. i say that because it is -- >> a personal privilege for a moment, please. >> certainly. >> i am quite familiar with firearms. i became mayor as a product of assassination. >> i'm aware of that. >> i found my assassinated colleague and put a finger through a bullet hole trying to get -- i proposed gun control legislation in san francisco. i went through a recall on the basis of it. i was trained in the shooting of a firearm when i had terrorist attacks with a bomb at my house when my husband was dying, when i had windows shot out. senator, i know something about what firearms can do. >> that was dianne feinstein. joining us now is democratic senator chris murphy of connecticut. senator, after sandy hook, you were a fierce advocate and have been. talk to me about her role and her passion for gun safety. >> that's an extraordinary moment. i watched that clip over and over this morning. you are reminded of her incredible and tragic life, what she went through has almost no parallel for other members of the united states senate. i think it's really important to remember that it was dianne feinstein almost singularly that kept alive the anti-gun violence movement. you talk about the fact that she passes the assault weapons ban in her first year in the united states senate. but then after that, this mythology builds up that democrats aren't supposed to talk about the issue of guns. that work really ends. but dianne feinstein doesn't give up for the next two decades. she continues to talk about the issue of gun violence over and over and over again. you referenced a conversation you had with her in early 2012 when sandy hook happened. the only reason the anti-gun violence movement is still around is because of her. over the last ten years, with her help, we have built up that movement and now more powerful than the gun lobby. we passed the first major anti-gun violence measure in 30 years last year with her help. the only reason we were able to do that was because of her. the first stop i made, one of the first when i got elected to the senate, after sandy hook, was to her office. she was the guiding light on trying to save children from gun violence and everything good that has happened in the last ten years has happened because she was this real voice of moral conscience when other people were running away from the issue of guns. she still knew it was important to the kids and families she represented. >> she believed in -- deeply believed in bipartisanship to a fault, even when some democrats were perhaps unhappy with how she came down on some of the issues. you can shed light on the stories of working with her, working relationships up there? >> it's hard to remember this. in 1994, she passed the ban with republican support. she was able to find republicans who were willing to work with her. she was able to help convince ronald reagan to endorse the assault weapons ban, working with a california republican that she had battled over the years. if you look at her legacy going back to the first early successes, it's from her ability to reach across the aisle. when a colleague dies, members from both sides normally say nice, kind things. you read the statements of republicans and you see a different level of respect and profound sadness that they have. for a long time, she was one of the people who made the senate work. there are few like her who feel like part of your obligation as a senator it to compromise, not just to stand for your convictions. the senate is just going to be a weaker place without her here. >> i want to talk about senator bob menendez. you were among the democrats -- i think yesterday there were 30 -- calling for him to step down. in private yesterday at your lunch, the caucus lunch, he defended his decision not to step down. can you share your thoughts? i know it was a private meeting. whatever you can explain about what happened there. >> yeah. i have not chosen to talk about that private meeting. my feelings are pretty clear. i think it's very hard for senator menendez to do the job on behalf of his constituents with this indictment looming. he defended his decision to stay. he appears as if he is going to stick with that decision. for us, we have some other big questions we need to get answered on the foreign relations committee. obviously, it appears as if the egyptian government was operating a covert, illegal influence campaign. we need to try to understand what the scope of that campaign was. there's public policy ramifications for our relationship with egypt. i know a lot of people are focused on senator menendez and the decision he has made. but we also have to think about the national security implications of the facts that are laid out in that indictment. >> in fact, nbc is reported the fbi opened a counterintelligence investigation, just preliminary, to see if there's anything untoward there. senator chris murphy, we will follow up on that with you. thank you so very much for being with us today. >> thank you. on the brink, as the far right is pushing the federal government into a shutdown, republicans in swing districts are feeling the heat from their constituents. we will talk to one of the republicans, congressman mike lawler of new york, that's next coming right away on "andrea mitchell reports." stay with us. you are watching msnbc. stay with us you are watching msnbc ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ ( ♪♪ ) constant contact's advanced automation lets you send the right message at the right time, every time. ( ♪♪ ) constant contact. helping the small stand tall. ♪♪ with fastsigns, create custom graphics that get tails and tongues wagging. ♪♪ fastsigns. make your statement. moderate republicans in purple districts could have the most to lose politically if there is a government shutdown. some like new york freshman congressman mike lawler, one of the 18 who flipped seats last cycle are meeting with constituents trying to deflect blame to the far right. lawler says those holdouts from his own party have been stuck on stupid during the negotiations, and congressman mike lawler joins us now. thank you very much for being with us. >> thanks for having me. >> what are your immediate concerns and -- it's good to have you to come today -- do you see any give at all from the holdouts? any ability or willingness to let the speaker negotiate with democrats and get this thing over the finish line? >> we'll find out shortly, andrea, as there's a cr on the floor that's being debated right now. we'll be voting at about 1:30, and we will see what people like matt gaetz intend to do. as far as i'm concerned, it's been very clear that his whole purpose is to shut the government down, to undermine the republican conference and remove the speaker from office. it's shameful, and it should be condemned by everyone. the shutdown does not need to happen. we are negotiating through the appropriations process. we're dealing with passing single subject spending bills. my colleagues and i in the republican majority fully support reining in spending. we agree with that, and the american people agreed with that when they elected us to serve as a check and balance on the biden administration. but we are nowhere near complete with that work. the senate hasn't even passed a single appropriations bill through the senate floor. so we have a lot of work still to do, and in the interim, we need to keep the government funded and fully operational, and i've been very clear about that from the start. i'm not, frankly, to be honest with you, concerned about, you know, how this may impact me politically. the dccc and house majority forward are already running ads and sending mailers attacking me. but my constituents know where i stand on it. i've been very clear about that, and if they want to waste their money that's on them. for me, this is about doing the work of the american people. it's about governing as we were elected to do, and i will continue to do what is right focusing on reining in spending and dealing with our border crisis, which this administration has failed miserably to deal with. >> you represent about 6,000 federal civil employees, they're likely to be furloughed, so are you going to take a paycheck while they're going without one? >> i will not be taking a paycheck. we're sending a letter to the leadership within the house administration to make sure that they withhold my pay during any potential shutdown. but let me be very clear, i am still working today to avoid a shutdown. we have cr on the floor, and if it fails, if matt gaetz and some of my colleagues refuse to govern as a house majority, then i will do what i need to to work across the aisle, to pass a continuing resolution, and avoid a shutdown or mitigate a potential one as best we can. it's unacceptable, the stock market, the 401(k)s will be impacted by this, seniors, veterans, duty military personnel. it's completely unwarranted, and i will not be party to it. >> and just quickly, what happens if there's a motion to vacate and they get rid of the speaker. how do you get out of a shutdown if there's no speaker of the house. >> we'll take this one step at a time. the objective right now is to avoid a shutdown. i am working tirelessly with speaker mccarthy, with my colleagues in the republican conference, and with my colleagues and the problem solvers, josh gottheimer, a good friend. we've worked together on a bipartisan cr that would keep the government funded. we all have a responsibility to govern here. that's my focus right now. if matt gaetz wants to play political games and put a motion to vacate on the floor, so be it. we will defeat it just like we've defeated him during the speaker's race. >> mike lawler, congressman, thank you very much. republican from new york. and joining me now is democratic congressman andy kim of new jersey. congressman, speaker mccarthy moments ago saying the republicans who vote against the continuing resolution want to stand with president biden. that doesn't make sense really because even the speaker's not standing with president biden. he's offering a continuing resolution at a much level than what was agreed to in june with the president and with mitch mcconnell in the senate as well as chuck schumer. >> look, what i'll say is that, you know i've been working in government for a long time, and i've never seen anything quite like this. there's nothing that's happening right here in the house of representatives that even remotely looks like governing. what we're seeing is a lot of performative governance, a lot of people saying things, really just kind of boosting themselves and not actually trying to get to a solution. i am terriied about what comes next. a lot of americans are going to struggle. i really hope we have some ability to find adults in the room that can step up and do the right thing. >> republican senator said yesterday he's not counting the speaker out yet, that he's been able to pull rabbits out of a hat. if he's not working with democrats, what is the solution? and if he does that he's threatened with the motion to vacate and losing his job? >> there's just no math there that the speaker can magically come up with that's going to be able to solve this problem for him. he needs to make sure that he engages in this and holds true to the deal that we had earlier with the debt ceiling. we worked on a bipartisan agreement earlier this year that charts a path for how we get through this, but the fact that he broke that deal, that's why we're in this situation. it is his fault and his inability to lead and govern. >> switching gears, new jersey senator bob menendez as you know well is refusing to step down. you are challenging him for his senate seat. explain why and how you're going to make that work. he still has a lot of power in hudson county. >> that's right, well, look, i am standing up for new jersey. new jersey deserves better, and we have to make sure that we're fighting to restore integrity in our politics. that's what this is about. it's not something i thought about doing or was planning about doing, but i felt compelled to stand up and say that this is not acceptable, and we need to make sure that the people of new jersey have a choice in the primary next june. >> does he have an argument that he's like donald trump, he's been indicted but he's not been convicted. there are some who say that he has the right to prove his innocence or be convicted before a jury of his peers. >> oh, he absolutely has that right in line with our justice system, but when we're talking about elected office, we're talking about a higher standard, and we're talking about accusations of him using his job including being chairman of the senate foreign relations committee on information to foreign countries. that is not something i feel confidence in in terms of his ability to do this job, be able to represent the people of new jersey and be able to do that with integrity. that's why i'm stepping up to run against him. >> and congressman, is it because of the details in this indictment that people like senator booker who stood by him last time do not now? is it because of how graphic the alleged evidence is? >> absolutely. i mean, the first thing that i saw when i heard about this was someone sent me a text of the photographs of the gold bars . i think all of us in america, we saw that. and i'll be honest, it's hard these days to feel like you're shocked by politics because it seems like so many crazy things are happening. but this is something that broke through. this is something that people who feel like they've seen everything still came and said, wow, this is really serious, and this is something that we have to respond to. >> congressman andy kim of new jersey, thank you very much. thanks for being with us today. >> thank you. and that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports," but before we go, today is a bittersweet day for our show, for our team as we wish farewell to a cherished member of the team. after six years on our show, senior producer erika josephson is moving on to new and exciting opportunities as an executive producer with our sister network nbc news now. she has been like a sister to me, to all of us, serving as a guiing light for us through the most difficult of tiles, the pandemic, with steady leadership, razor sharp news judgment, and a great spirit. erika's been invaluable as a member of the team, a leader of the team. we wish her all the best in her new adventure working with kate snow and colleagues at nbc news now. so we love you, erika, good luck. don't be far away. and you can follow our show @mitchellreports on social media. "chris jansing reports" starts right now. ♪♪ >> g

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