A Shutdown Showdown is brewing on the hill. Lawmakers back at work this week. The first thing on the agenda is making sure the government does not run out of money. Im asking senator Chris Van Hollen what it will take to avoid that Government Shutdown. Plus, State RepresentativeGloria Johnson, one of the Tennessee Three, shes on the ballot. She just lost her campaign for the United States senate. Why she thinks now is the time to take her talents to washington, d. C. Im Simone Sanders townsend, and i have something to say. Both chambers of congress are back in session this week, and lawmakers hit the ground running. Its a story that has become all too familiar in a narrowly divided washington d. C. Government funding, folks, it runs out on September 30th. There are only 11 working days left to pass a spending package. The house and the senate are nowhere near an agreement. Last week, Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer told his caucus that they would prioritize several Appropriations Bills when they returned. The debate will start on some of those bills tomorrow. But speaker Kevin Mccarthy has already said that he doesnt think there is enough time to pass all 12 bills to the house. And he would favor a continuing resolution. And the white house has signaled they support a agreement to avert the shutdown of the resolution, but lets remember, President Biden and Speaker Mccarthy have already negotiated. The real issue is mccarthy cant get his House In Order. The farright Freedom Caucus has wasted no time issuing several demands in return for their support of any short term funding bill. Some of these demands include their order security bill. Quote unquote woke pentagon policies. And they oppose Blank Check Funding is what they call it for ukraine. Their words, again, not mine. Punchbowl news is reporting Speaker Mccarthy might try to separate ukraine funding from the continuing resolution in exchange for Disaster Relief funding. This is a nonstarter for the white house and the senate. Both entities are committed to backing ukraines military. Virginia lawmakers, senator tim kaine and congressman don beyer, also introduced a bill to prevent Government Shutdowns for good. Now for some context about what could happen, if the government runs out of cash. And the last time a shutdown happened, it was the longest in history. It began in late december 2018, and it lasted 35 days. Thousands of federal employees were put on temporary Unpaid League and those who are not furloughed worked without pay. Those essential Government Workers and those furloughed were eventually paid retroactively, but there were so many low wage hourly Government Contract Workers who were not. And the aftermath, the Congressional Budget Office estimated the Shutdown Cost the u. S. Economy Three Billion dollars in permanent losses. Senator Chris Van Hollen joins me. Now hes a democrat representing maryland and a member of both the budget and appropriations committee. Senator, it is very good to see you. Can we just start with the Government Shutdown . What is it going to take to avoid this shutdown by September 30th . Simone, it is great to be with. You what its going to take is for Speaker Mccarthy simply to agree [inaudible] reflects the kind of in the United States senate. With a Government Shutdown. Hes got a small faction of socalled very extreme policies. Then they are prepared to shut down the government. Some of them are actually itching to shut down the government. There is bipartisan agreement in senate, republicans and democrats agree we should have a stopgap spending measure, as you indicated, Disaster Relief, emergency relief, funding for ukraine, to help ukrainians fight putins aggression. If mccarthy was to take that consensus approach to get it to the house, but he continues to essentially cater to his farright. Hes going to have to overcome that. If you were a betting man, senator van hollen, what would your wager be . Do you think Speaker Mccarthy is going to be able to overcome these demands from the house Freedom Caucus members . I dont know if hes going to be able to placate their demands. But at some point, for the good of the country, and i would argue for the good of the Republican Party and the democratic party, he needs to prevent the government from shutting down. He needs to put aside the radical extreme voices of the farright and adopt a kind of bipartisan approach that we are taking in the United States senate. Of course, he worries that if he does that, you could have a small number of republicans trying to bring down his speakership. So this will be a test of whether Kevin Mccarthy will put the interest of the country above the extremists in his own caucus in the house. While there is bipartisan agreement in the United States senate when it comes to funding the government, and there is some consternation as it relates to what senator Tommy Tuberville is doing. T senahes a republican from ala and he is still blocking Military Promotions, and he says he is doing so because of the travel to access reproductive care. My question is, sir, if this continues, 90 of senior Military Promotions could be stalled by the end of the year. I know youve been vocal about your frustration. How does this actually end . Well, it ends when Senate Republicans make it clear to senator tuberville that this cannot go on. Because it is hurting the country, and they also need to recognize that its essentially, you know, putting a Republican Party in the senate against military readiness. The only people who are gaining from senator tubervilles antics here are our adversaries. You can be sure that they are smiling in places like beijing and moscow. Because his ploy, what he is doing is undermining readiness in our military. The longer it goes on, the more our readiness will be eroded, which is why you had the secretary of the army, the navy, and the air force all indicate that weve gotten to a very precarious point. So it is way overdue for republican senators to say to tuberville, cut it out. We will be watching. I dont know how this ends, sir. I really dont. I want to ask you about the health of members of the United States senate. Theres been a lot of concern for the health of at least two senators, im talking about minority leader mitch mcconnell, and california senator Diane Feinstein. What is the conversation happening in the senate right now, senator van hollen . Are you concerned . Well, im not concerned, because, at the end of the day, i think all of us have to rely on the judgment of their doctors, and their doctors have all indicated they can continue to serve, finish out their terms. They both indicated they plan to finish out their terms. So, look, and these are decisions that every member has to make for him or herself, based on input from their doctors, based on input from their constituents. But, you know, the business of the senate does have to go on. Senator mcconnell is right now helping to pull together that bipartisan census on the budget that we talked about. And republican leader mcconnell also supports funding to help our friends in ukraine against putins war of aggression. So at least for now, we have a Bipartisan Group in the senate that wants to keep the federal government open, wants to do the right thing when it comes to helping our allies, and wants to provide badly needed Disaster Assistance for the country. So thats where we are right now. Co before i let you go, i want to talk a little mayor than politics for a second. Senator ben cardin is retiring at the end of his term. You endorsed prince georgia counties also brooks for the United States senate. What is it that made you for your support between County Executive also brooks . This is a very crowded race. Well, senator card has been a great friend and colleague and senator. I wanted to support somebody who i thought was the best candidate, the best prepared to take on the responsibilities in the senate. Angela alsobrooks has been a really terrific County Executive in prince georges county. She helped steer her county through the worst of the pandemic. And it is my view that when you look at the candidates, and there are many talented candidates, that she is a stand out. Thats why i endorsed her for the senate race. If she is successful, she would be the first black woman to present represent maryland in the United States and. It chrisman haaland, thank you very much for your time. I appreciate you. I want to turn to Breaking News in morocco. Today, the death toll increased to more than 2100 people after fridays massive 6. 8 magnitude earthquake slammed the african nation. That comes as rescue teams scramble to find people buried in the rubble. This dramatic video shows the moment the quake started shaking the ground. You can see people running for safety and buildings starting to collapse. Nbc news Foreign CorrespondentRalph Sanchez is on the ground with a look at the devastation. We are in the village of where about 30 miles east of the epicenter of the earthquake. We are standing in what was the narrow alleyways of the market. This is all that remains of what was a shrine here in the village. And as you walk around in the debris here, you can see little reminders of peoples shattered lives from friday night. This is a bill. This is some male someone had. These are peoples homes. If i just ask my Camera Operator to turn the camera around, you can see that these shops are not going to be open anytime soon. The devastation here is enormous. There are about 3000 people who lived in this village, but locals tell this around 40 of them were killed in the quake. That is more than 1 of the population that lost their lives. They are part of a growing National Death toll that has now climbed above 2000. The Rescue Effort Is perilous. The roads in the mountains of windy and narrow. In some places, they are blocked by rockslides and boulders. Nevertheless, the Rescue Operation continues. We are seeing both professional rescue teams here, but also just local people who buy patient hands are sifting through rubble like this, trying to get their neighbors out. We are still in that socalled golden 72 hour window, when there is a chance to find people alive. But the search become more desperate by the hour. Back to you. Nbcs Ralph Sanchez, thank you for that report. Coming up, it doesnt happen a lot, but right now the senate is largely united on funding the government. But the house has a different story. Up next, my Political Panel joins me to talk about whether Speaker Mccarthy can get his House In Order in time to prevent a Government Shutdown. Ment shutdown. Age is just a number, and mines unlisted. Try boost® high protein with 20 grams of protein for Muscle Health versus 16 grams in ensure® high protein. Boost® high protein. Now available in cinnabon® bakeryinspired flavor. Learn more at boost. Com tv there are some things that go better. Together. Like your workplace benefits. And retirement savings. With voya, considering all your financial choices together. Can help you be better prepared for unexpected events. Voya. Well planned. Well invested. Well protected. J. P. Morgan Wealth Management knows its easy to get lost in investment research. Get help with j. P morgan personal advisors. Hey, david ready to get started . 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Is it possible to survey foot traffic across all of our locations . Yeah absolutely. With the advanced connectivity and intelligence of global secure networking from comcast business. Its only 500 foot walk its not just possible. Its happening. Between the house and Senate Chambers at the u. S. Capitol, but when it comes to funding to avoid a Government Shutdown, the two houses of Congress Just couldnt be further apart. The democratic led senate, the process is going fairly slowly. Heres what Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer said wednesday. The Senate Appropriations process has been a shining example of how things should get done in washington. We can summarize the senates work i in funding the government and one work. Bipartisan. That is the senate. They are usually the adults in the. Room whats going on in the House SpeakerKevin Mccarthy. You can only spare five republican nose for short term resolution to fund the government. Remember, a house vowed to oppose a Funding Resolution of mccarthy does not bend to their laundry list of demands. Can Speaker Mccarthy get his House In Order before the government comes to a Screeching Halt . Joining me now is my Political Panel to discuss. Former senator from alabama doug jones, and former New HampshireRepublican Party chair jennifer horn. Jennifer is also the host of the podcast that has my favorite name, is it just me, or have we all lost our minds . It is not just, you jennifer. We have all lost their minds. Senator, look, Speaker Mccarthy has some options here. He can alienate the Freedom Caucus and avoid any blame for a