Today on Inside Politics, a giant of the u. S. Senate has died. Well talk all about Dianne Feinsteins passing, more important ly, her legacy in minutes. But were going to start this hour with Breaking News on capitol hill. As we speak, we are watching a critical vote to avert a Government Shutdown. I want go straight to manu raju to give us the latest of what were seeing on the house floor. Reporter theres a procedural vote right now to advance the republicanled effort to keep the government open for about a month. This procedural vote, they have the votes to advance it to the final vote. That doesnt mean this is good news for the speakerer. In fact, a number of these members opposed to the speakers Spending Plans made clear that they are okay voting Going Forward on this procedural vote, but they plan to vote no and sink the bill to keep the government open for a handful of weeks because of their opposition of the way the issues have been handled here and the demands to move forward with longer term funding bills, meaning congress could be staring at a Government Shutdown by Sunday Morning because of this impass. The question for the speaker all along is what is next. He is still trying to get the votes for the republicanled bill. He refuses to entertain publicly or privately to some of his colleagues what he will do if the bill collapse this afternoon, which pretty much everybody here on capitol hill expects. Whether he will cut a deal with democrats. I i asked the speaker why not cut a deal with democrats a the this moment. He had some strong words saying that he is not ready to surrender. Its easy to vender. If you want to surrender, yeah, but if i want to fight to secure or borders and keep government open, how is that a problem . Its only for cnn that becomes a problem that i dont vender to the liberals. What i want to do is stand for america. Part of this bill that includes spending cuts, democrats will not accept. The speaker has yet to try to cut a deal with Senate Democrats and the white house, as hes tried to get republicans online. One big reason why are warning from his far right flank if he were to cut a bipartisan deal, that could be enough to sink him out of the speakership and call for a vote for his ouster. The speaker has consistently down played thats been part of his caollation, but theres no question about it. Thats hovering over the speaker at this moment. And in a clear sign that republicans expect this key vote in the afternoon to fail to keep the government open, even as the procedural vote succeeded, they expect the underlying bill to fail. The house gop plans to meet Behind Closed Doors to talk about their way forward. They would not be having that meet figure they had the votes to succeed. So a lot of moving parts here as so much is hanging, so many people are watching to see what washington does as a Government Shutdown seems more real by the moment. It sure does. Thank you so much. And talking about the stakes here. And the High Wire Act that Kevin Mccarthy is walking right now. Appreciate it. Get back to us if you hear any developments. Now we want to turn to toughness that did not come in a pinstripe suit. There are flags flying at half staff across pennsylvania avenue, as the country reckons with the loss of one of the great ones. California senator Dianne Feinstein passed away at age 90. Today on the senate floor, a Moment Of Silence and palpable grief. Lord, we pause to thank you for the life and legacy of senator Dianne Feinstein. May her death teach us to number our days that we may have hearts of wisdom. The senators desk is drape ed in black. The site moved her colleague Chuck Schumer to tears. To so today we grieve, we look at that desk, and we know what we have lost. Those flowers will fade, but not the permanent imprint Dianne Feinstein left on the u. S. Senate and well beyond. We learned of her death shortly before 9 00 a. M. In the hours since, tribute after tribute centered on one word. Trail blazeer. The list of her career is very long. The first woman to serve as San Francisco mayor, the first woman elected to the senate from california, the first woman to sit on the Senate Judiciary committee, the first woman to chair the rules committee, and cochair the inaugural committee and the first woman ever to chair the Important SenateIntelligence Committee. Feinstein was without a doubt an american original, whose career was powered i by the pain of a tragedy she said she could never unsee. The lifeless body of one of the first openly gay politicians in America Harvey milk. The door to the office came dm. I heard the door slam. I heard the shots. He whisked by. I walked Down The Line of Supervisor Offices and found harvey milk, put my finger in a bullet hole trying to get a pulse. It was the first person and that began a saga. I became mayor as a product of assassination of the first openly gay public official being killed by a friend and colleague of mine. Feinstein told me in that 2017 interview 25 years after she first made it to the senate in 1992, and every day she said she came to work, tryied honor her friend. In 1994, penned the assault weapons ban. Guns and tried to stop them from spreading to every corner of every American Street became a common theme for her in her time in washington. Everybody says i dont know. Let me tell you. I have seen assassination. I have seen killing. I have been a mayor. I know what these guns can do. Why is it every man comes before me and says, nice lady, you really dont know. You saw feinstein was really no nonsense, a dogged advocate for her causes. She held her own government to account, namely the Central Intelligence agency. The entire Intelligence Community. Feinstein built bridges too. In her own party, most famously hosting a smooth things over summit for barack obama and Hillary Clinton after their long and butter president ial primary. She talked often about the isolation of partisan shin that pervade this town brings. This is a lonely place. Washington is a hard place. It is the most partisan place i certainly have been in. And theres a mean edge to that partisanship. Our solidarity. Our ability to breakthrough it, our ability to be human in each others company, i knits a kind of bond that sets an example. Feinsteins commitment to service ran through her core. Case in point, her last vote was yesterday morning. Lets go to the white house now and mj lee is covering the president , who before he was president , was a Longtime Senate colleague of the now late senator Dianne Feinstein. What did the president say . For president biden, this is the loss of not just a longtime colleague, but a dear friend. The two served together for many years in the senate, including on the Judiciary Committee, and the president has spoken openly about the close friendship that he and First Lady Jill Biden developed over the years with the late senator and her late husband. We did just moments ago hear drektly from the president paying brief tribute to the late senator before a military ceremony. These are the words he used to describe and talk about the late senator. She was an historic figure, a trailblazer for women, and a great friend. She made her in everything from National Security to the environment, gun safety to protecting civil liberties. The country is going to miss her dearly. So will jill and i. Now we were told that the president was informed about Dianne Feinsteins death earlier this morning by senior advisers. We also know the president had had tried to reach out to the late senator last month in august. The two didnt end up connect i ing, but he did speak with the late senators senior aid and asked that his admiration for his friend be passed on to the late senator. We also know that the white house has been treading carefully when it comes to questions that they have been asked about Senator Feinsteins age and health and her potential replacement. So Going Forward, we certainly do not expect the white house to publicly weigh in in any way on questions about filling her vacancy before right now the flags here at the white house have been lowered in tribute to the late senator Dianne Feinstein. Thank you so much for that. Here to share their insights and memories with Senator Feinstein is gloria borger, david chalian, and jeff zeleny. Gloria, you spent a lot of time with Senator Feinstein. I did. She was one of a kind. I have to tell you, she was endlessly curious. She was interested in what other people were saying about what was going on in the senate, and for some reason, i became part of a group of women she used to have an aid call to ask us to have dinner about once every month or six weeks, and wed go to this perfectly set up dinner at a cafe in washington at a conscious table with beautiful flowers. And off the record, but it was not only a discussion it wasnt really about what was going on in the Intelligence Committee, of which she was chairman, it was about sort of the events of the day, how are you, whats going on in your news organization, there was a little bit of gossip in there. But such a gracious hostess, you got this feeling she just wanted to bring people in. She lived in this Big House In Washington and her husband was very often in california. And maybe she just wanted to have some good conversation and friendships. And the fact that she so often reached out to female reporters and colleagues and that says a lot. Jeff zeleny, before you were an Ace Television reporter, you were an ace front reporter at the new york times. And i mentioned the fact that there was this summit that Senator Feinstein brokered, which was a big deal back in 2008 after the primary season. You broke that story. I want to read a little bit about what you wrote back then. Before senator Hillary Clinton stepped forward to endorse senator obama, which she is scheduled to do here on saturday, they came together for a private reconciliation on neutral turf, The Living Room of senator Dianne Feinsteins home. It was extraordinary at the time because it was two days after the final round of primaries ended. Just a couple days before then senator clinton would endorse. And with all remember how that campaign was at the end. It was very raw. So without that meeting, you wonder, would that door ever opened and become Secretary Of State or would he have froezen her out . But that meeting over a glass of water in the senators living room, she was upstairs in her study. She said she wasnt listening in, but you have to wonder about that. But the reality was that meeting, and she endorsed senator clinton. But she knew senator obama a bit, but he was brand new to the senate basically. And they had only served a short time. But as she talked to reporters about it the next day, she said there were some Nerve Endings that needed to come together. At her core, she was a Democratic Party stall worth. So that was certainly a very important meeting. But in terms of what she did in the senate, she would later go on to challenge the Obama Administration forcefully on the cia on torture. So it was a nice meeting, but she was much more substantiatetive than just hosting meetings. You can connect what you were talking about about convening women around the table to that meeting with Secretary Clinton and obama, jeff notes she was a clinton supporter, but remember in that primary, there was this real concern in the Democratic Party about female voters being sort of having dampened enthusiasm that the person being the first female democrat you can nominee would fall short in this. So again, i just think her you get elected in something that got called the year of the woman in 1992. Joe biden courts you and feinstein to get on the committee in the aftermath of those hearings, what she stands for in Women Advancement in politics and women empowerment, i think, will be really a key part of her legacy. I think that part of her bio was part of why she was the right person to convene that meeting. Such a good point. As i precinct you in, you mentioned the year of the woman. 1992, it was a lonely place for women. It was a little lonely after 92, but less so. Before Senator Feinstein was elected in 1992, it was just three women in the United States senate. Afterwards you had six. I want to compare to today, 24. Not 50, but its not 3 or 6. And 125 women in the house now. Its easy to take this legacy for granted, as we walk through the halls of power now and see so many women. She had to deal with an overt sexism that would not stand today. She was not a quitter. She ran and lost in many elections, but kept going. So we are now benefitting from that legacy. Is and it is size to take that for granted. One more thing about her. She defined herself, everyone saw her as a zent rhys. And thats sometimes got democrats maed and she faced primary opponents, but she always would say she was a pragmatist, not just a centrist, which is why she could be somebody who defended the cia so much, but then could also taken the cia over torture and release over 6,000page report, which talked about how detainees were treated and she said it was a stain on our values and our history. So she was one of these senators that wasnt so predictable all the time. And got herself in some trouble. But she refused to be labeled one way or another. She took on the Obama Administration. Her fellow democrats and pushed her to release that. She was pretty upset about the intelligence she saw she felt she was misled about. Thank you for your recollections. Coming up on Inside Politics, much more on the legacy of senator Dianne Feinstein. Im going to talk with two of her Longtime Senate colleagues. This hour the House Speaker notched an important win on a procedural vote to avoid a shutdown. Republican hardliners held for now. This is key. It doesnt mean its headed for smooth sailing. When the government will be able to stop paying bills. The panel is back with us now. Thats critical. I want to refer to what manu said at the top of the show. This is an intentional strategy by the republican hardliners to say, yes, on this procedural vote which would have kept the government running. And support this shutdown. Thats why were seeing Congressman Gaetz say this is about curtailing spending, but really, he knows the reality. He knows that democrats control the white house and the senate and mccarthy has done all he can, but its really about the politics. Its about illustrating that youre a fire brand and firmly in trumps camp, youre following trumps orders. Thats why we see the situation that were in. This is just something to show mccarthy, but its not going to make a difference in the end. They have a long way to go. I doubt youre going to say smooth sailing and, but i think its worth noting. If indeed on the actual Stopgap Measure to keep the government open, if that fails, if theres enough republicans that vote against that, that is because Kevin Mccarthy is pursuing a strategy to do this with republicans. Because hes looking for his own survival as speaker. He could get a Stopgap Measure passed potentially with a bipartisan product that would be democratic, but it would ensure his demise as speaker of the house. So thats why were in this pickle that were in right now. Hes going to lose republicans no matter what. He puts himself in great political jeopardy losing his job. The question that i have is the democrats, because there are a lot of democrats who are mad at Kevin Mccarthy dont want to save Him Buzz He 0e7 opened an impeachment inquiry. These things are all kind of related. While they want to keep the government open, they are not interested in doing the guy any favors right now. So the democrats have to figure out where they come out on this. And i dont know the answer to that yet. I dont think the democrats have an answer. I think youre right. Politically speaking, this is one area where democrats agree 06 most people is going to say washington and blame everybody. Its li