Hello, welcome to all our viewers joining us from the United States and around the world. Im laila harrak. On cnn newsroom, teetering on the brink. Just a week to go. U. S. Lawmakers have yet to reach a deal to avoid a Government Shutdown. Moscow ramps up rhetoric. Russias Foreign Minister calling the west an empire of lies as he unleashed a barrage of attacks on the u. S. And its allies. A texas border city hits a Breaking Point with more than 2,000 people a day seeking asylum amid a surge in migrants at the southern u. S. Border. We begin this hour focused on the looming deadline to fund the u. S. Government and House Republicans floundering efforts to work out a deal. On saturday, gop leaders tried to find agreement among their fractious caucus in a conference call, but House SpeakerKevin Mccarthy admitted later that a number of hardliners were unmoved. With the September 30th Deadline less than a week away, President Joe Biden expressed his frustrations saturday evening. At a Congressional Black Caucus awards dinner, he slammed House Republicans for hurting americans and failing to handle what he called one of lawmakers most basic obligations. Lets be clear. If the government shuts down, that means members of congress, members of the u. S. Military, are going to have to continue to work and not get paid. A Government Shutdown could affect everything from food safety to Cancer Research to head start programs for children. Funding the government is among the most basic responsibilities of congress. And its time for the republicans to start doing the job america elected them to do. Right now, mccarthy is planning votes next week on several individual spending measures, but its not clear if they can pass. They all are dead on arrival in the senate, and they dont avert a shutdown. Still, mccarthy said he hopes hardliner opposition will soften as zero hour approaches. Crunch time, weve been holding off all this time, letting everybody else shutting down [ inaudible ] cnn White House ReporterPriscilla Alvarez has more on what the federal government is doing to prepare for potential disruption. Reporter the Biden Administration is preparing for a potential Government Shutdown next week if a shortterm funding bill is not passed in the coming days. On friday, the Office Of Management And Budget formally initiated the process, essentially telling federal agencies to dust off their plans in the event of a Government Shutdown. That includes, for example, how many employees would be furloughed, how many would be considered essential and would have to work without pay, as well as what activities and services may be disrupted. There are some services that will continue, be it federal Law Enforcement activities, border protection, or air traffic control. But the white house making clear over the course the last week that it is incumbent on republicans to get these bills passed. We heard from republicans saturday who tried to lay out a path forward and also project some confidence, saying the majority of their conference does not want to see a Government Shutdown happen. But the reality is that they just dont have enough votes. And for those bills they do have enough votes, those are dead on arrival in the senate. All of this raising the question that theres about about whether there will be a Government Shutdown a week from now. Embattled u. S. Senator bob menendez of new jersey is facing calls to resign from inside the senate itself. Fellow democratic senator John Fetterman of pennsylvania became the first senator of either party to say menendez should step down following his indictment on corruption charges. Other democratic lawmakers and officials have also called for his resignation. The Justice Department named menendez, his wife, and three other people in fridays indictment. All deny any wrongdoing. The senator faced similar charges in 2015, but that case was dropped after a mistrial. Fridays indictment alleges menendez accepted bribes in exchange for his influence as chairman of the powerful Foreign Relations committee. Those bribes allegedly included mortgage payments, a luxury car, gold bars, and nearly 500,000 in cash. Americans views of the countrys current Political Climate are going bad to worse. A recent survey by the Pew Research Center found that just 16 of u. S. Adults say they trust the federal government most of the time. Overall, public trust in government has plummeted to some of the lowest levels in decades. Meanwhile, just 10 of americans say they often feel hopeful thinking about politics. While nearly twothirds report they usually feel exhausted. Joining me to talk about all of that, thomas gift is director of the center on u. S. Politics at university college, london. So good to have you with us. Start with the potential Government Shutdown. Weve seen this before. Is it becoming normalized . Why does the nation find itself time and again in this situation around this time of the year, and what does it say about the state of politics in this country . Thanks so much for having me. Its great to be with you. It does seem like this has become the norm, unfortunately. And in this case, as in past cases, the House Speaker here, Kevin Mccarthy, really has nowhere to turn. Because hes being dragged across the political embers by a small number of hardline fiscal hawks in the freedom caucus. And what were seeing as largely performative politics. Its underpinned by this feeling were accustomed to, that politics as normal isnt working for us so lets blow up the system, light it on fire. Its a style of politics more concerned with maintaining ideological purity and ensuring that the other side loses than it is concerned with whats right for the american people, unfortunately. And its really hard to negotiate with a cadre of politicians like that because theyre essentially willing to take the country to the brink. Theres no doubt that america has a spending problem. Its deficits are enormous and theyre growing. And theres a real cost to that in terms of servicing the debt over the long term, kicking financial obligations to the next generation, et cetera. But like we saw with the Debt Ceiling Debate earlier, theres a right way to address a problem and theres a wrong way to address a problem. Holding the federal government hostage by threatening a shutdown really isnt the solution. But its the dysfunction that weve become so used to. But its difficult to see who is winning here. It looks like a loselose situation. Is there an offramp . Im not sure if theres a clear offramp. There are a couple of options. One that is the hard line of the Republican Party really just folds, kind of like what we saw with the debate over who was going to get the speakers gavel to begin with. Theres also a possibility that Kevin Mccarthy may have to go across the partisan divide and work with some democrats and try to get a majority there. But it does look like a loselose situation. Certainly for the american people. And of course federal workers who have the real potential to be furloughed. This has the possibility of broad ripple effects throughout the economy at a time when the economy could be stronger. So its again the dysfunction that americans i think will be quite dissatisfied with. Lets talk about that Dissatisfaction Americans are feeling. According to a new report by the Pew Research Center, the words most used by americans to describe National Politics are divisive and corrupt. The findings dont make for very pleasant reading. Are you surprised by the level of disillusionment that americans feel when it comes to their elected officials . Im really not. And as you suggest, the poll does make for depressing reading. To me, what it shows is that americans are not just angry about the countrys politics, which we hear about a lot. Theyre really xuds. And theyre embarrassed, i think. More broadly, what this tracks is a wealth of other data that we see, that americans have lost trust not just in their Political Parties or their leaders or their institutions, but the very idea of democracy itself. Its kind of stunning. One of the data points that i saw in the poll was less than 1 in 10 respondents say freedoms and Democratic Values are a strong point of the nations political system. It is worth noting, i think, that support for democracy generally has really eroded, not just in the u. S. But other advanced oecd democracies. So this is part of a broaderlevel trend. Fewer people say living in a democracy is essential. I think thats especially true if you look at data among young cohorts. In the u. S. , you can kind of see why. Because for millennials and younger generations, what do they see from democracy and what do they see from their political leaders . They see standoffs like the one we just talked about, endless wars, financial crisis, stalled economic mobility, mismanaged pandemic, highest inflation in four decades, former president who says that their vote cant be trusted. So there are lots of trends, i think, that are creating this dissatisfaction. But certainly the disillusionment with democracy generally i think is really concerning. I wish we could end on a more positive note. But thats the state of things right now. Thomas gift, thank you so much for your time. Russias Foreign Minister unleashed a flurry of unfounded accusations in his speech at the United Nations saturday. The forum was the u. N. General assembly. Sergey lavrov spelling out russias take on the war in ukraine. He claimed ukraine is led by a racist regime propped up by the west, that the u. S. Or britain dont want the war to end, and that russia recognizes ukraines sovereignty despite invading that country and trying to annex parts of it. Lavrov was later asked when he would consider the u. S. To be at war with russia, which led to this. Translator so you can call this whatever you want to call this, but they are directly at war with us. We call this a hybrid war, but that doesnt change the reality. Lets get more now, nada bashir joins us from london. What else did mr. Lavrov say . Reporter certainly strong words from the Russian Foreign minister directed towards ukraine and, of course, ukraines western allies, namely the United States and britain as you heard there. Saying that the u. S. Is already directly at war with russia, but also accusing the United States and britain of not wanting the war in ukraine to end. Dissuading others in the International Community from coming to the Negotiating Table with russia. And he was pressed by journalists around the possibility of negotiations, of a peace plan. He actually poured water on president zelenskyys own 10point proposal for peace, which has been out in The Public Eye for some time now. Weve heard repeatedly from the kremlin its views on this peace plan, and that was reiterated by Sergey Lavrov speaking yesterday in new york. He said this plan simply isnt feasible in russias eyes, that it is unrealistic. And of course as you would expect, that peace plan proffered by president zelenskyy makes no mention of ceding ukrainian territory to russia, nor does it shut down ukraines hopes of one day joining the nato alliance, two sticking points in the eyes of the kremlin. When it comes to negotiations and the potential for peace, there are also as expected questions around the grain deal, in particular the u. N. Secretarygeneral, Antonio Guterres proposals put forward earlier this month in the hope of bringing russia back to that grain deal. We heard from lavrov yesterday expressing russias respect, in his words, for the attempts of Antonio Guterres to revive this deal. Once again, he said in the kremlins eyes, this simply is not feasible, that these plans wont work in action. He accused the United Nations and ukraine of essentially failing to uphold their end of the bargain when it comes to the grain deal, failing to protect russias interests when it comes to the export of russian agricultural goods through the safe Black Sea Corridor. He accused ukraine of exploiting this safe corridor, of using the black sea to launch Surface Drones against russian vessels. Of course, it is important to note that russia has over recent weeks and months repeatedly targeted Ukrainian Port and grain infrastructure along the black sea. While we have seen ukraine in recent days using this Backup Corridor unilaterally established through the black sea, there are now concerns, particularly after lavrovs remarks, over the longterm viability and security of this corridor. Nada bashir reporting in london, thank you. For more, were joined by lex barnoff, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace from florence, italy. Let me get your reaction to mr. Lavrovs fiery speech to the u. N. Where he said that the u. S. Is directly at war with russia. But stopped short of addressing directly the war in ukraine. Its quite typical speech of a russian diplomat of recent months or even years. Because even before the war, russian diplomacy was busy justifying the decision of its leader and the worldview of its leader, russias leader. Partly it became a sort of Propaganda Agency even before the war. We have three main audiences for russian speech. Russian domestic audience, not for a main audience of diplomats, but russian domestic audience when the Russian Diplomats are competing with the state propagandists. Putin himself. But of course, these parts of the world who are sympathizers of russia, russian diplomacy is trying to replace its ties with the west by switching to the Domestic Market and looking to the places other than the west. And this ridiculousization of the language of Russian Diplomats have its audience in developing countries or even inside the western countries. Now, he has also gone as far as to dismiss ukraines peace plan, unsurprisingly. Im wondering what hes signaling with that. Are we do make of this that the kremlin is in this for the long haul . Whats your read . Nobody in the kremlin is seriously discussing the ukrainian peace plan. There is sort of competition who is worst in insulting ukraine and ukrainians. No surprise in this radicalization of the language. What they really want is to sell themselves to the world as a country who is speaking on behalf of the Nonwestern World as they put it, global south, global majority. Imitating this way the glorious days of the soviet union when soviet union was ahead of anticolonial struggle, of developing nations. Anticolonial, antiimperialist. Narratives of the soviet union trying to sell again to the rest of the world, to oppose russia as leader of the Nonwestern World, to sell its role to the Nonwestern World. Which is not very logical. Because russia is a, well, Old Colonial Empire trying to imitate its discourse, its diplomats grievances of old colonial and nowdeveloping countries. My Final Question to you. This all comes at a time when ukraine has launched one of its most ambitious strikes on russian targets in the occupied crimea, targeting now the Russian Black Sea fleet. What kind of impact does this have on the kremlin . How is this seen in russia . And what does it mean for the war . Trying to play down, again, inside russia, to play down the consequences of the strikes. And if they mention the strikes, its only to justify the idea that russia, in fact, is waging war against the west. And its real enemy is the west and not ukraine because if it were ukraine, russia would be victorious, well, a long time ago. But the west, of course, is much more powerful, much more dangerous, and these successful strikes by Ukrainian Forces onto russian targets is proof for domestic audience, but also for the sympathizers around the world who are totally indifferent, by the way, to ukraine and russia, but they are rejoicing the simple fact of russias even if this proposing takes shape of a brutal war of aggression. These sympathizers, however, are not keen to become allies. Russia is fight