the white house today. so, todd, i'd like to begin with you. talk about the president's demeanor, the kind of bluster index compared to other days you've spent on the beat and the mood around him in the west wing. >> it was pretty extraordinary to hear him talking with such enthusiasm about the possibility of a shutdown. when we had a 16-day shutdown a few years ago, basically the economy lost about $1 billion a day. the three-day shutdown didn't seem too damaging just a few weeks ago, but it's pretty unusual to hear a president or anyone in washington say it would be a great thing to have a shutdown and he repeated the word over and over and over. he seemed combative. it did not seem to be something that was just off the cuff. it seemed like something he probably came into that meeting planning to throw on the table. >> shannon, to todd's point, we