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This is a GabFest Extra.

Day 11 of the 2013 government shutdown.

It's Friday, October 11th.

I am Slate editor David Plotz.

I'm here in our DC studio.

I'm alone.

But joining me by cell phone

is special celebrity guest GabFester, Ezra Klein, the proprietor of Wonk blog at the Washington Post,

my go-to source for all public policy knowledge and information. So insofar as I get public policy

wrong, it's my fault, but insofar as I get it right, it's usually

because Ezra has told me so. Ezra, thanks for joining us.

Thank you for having me. Here on this Friday, it's not quite negotiations yet, but it is something

the White House and Congress are talking and it appears to be making some progress in

averting a default next week and in possibly ending the

shutdown. President Obama hosted Republican senators at the White House today, after which both sides

reported movement. And it sounds like they're moving toward the kind of deal that John Dickerson

described for us earlier in the week, a temporary lifting of both the shutdown and the debt ceiling combined with the promise of bipartisan budget negotiations. Asa is going to tell us what that means in a minute. And at the same time, there's another new poll showing that the GOP is bearing the brunt of the blame for this. NBC Wall Street Journal poll says 53% of Americans blame the Republicans for the standoff. Only 31% blame Obama. Only 24% have a favorable opinion of the GOP. Only 21% for the Tea Party. So Ezra, let's talk about the potential breakthrough if it is a breakthrough. A bunch of Republican senators went to the White House today, came out. There seemed to be some discussion of a deal which would extend the debt ceiling certain distance, not that far, and also lift the shutdown. Do you get is, that they're going to get this deal?

I don't know. Right now, it is, it is immensely, if it weren't about for the country,

it'd be immensely amusing that they continue talking about talking, right? We aren't negotiating,

...