House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi says that while deficit reduction is a laudable goal, there are precious few spending cuts left to negotiate in exchange for raising the debt ceiling. 
 
 "The cupboard is bare," the California Democrat said in an interview aired Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union." "There's no more cuts to make." 
 
 "We all want to reduce the deficit," she added. "Put everything on the table, review it, but you cannot have any more cuts just for the sake of cuts. Right now you’re taking trophies." 
 
 (WATCH: Nancy Pelosi's interview with POLITICO's Mike Allen) 
 
 Pelosi said raising the debt ceiling is "an issue that really shouldn’t be a conversation," defending President Barack Obama's record on deficit reduction so far. 
 
 She blasted House Republicans who eye reductions to entitlement funding and took aim at them on a budget strategy tied to defunding Obamacare that she said amounts to them as "legislative arsonists." 
 
 But on both issues, Pelosi sought to distinguish House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) from many of his members. 
 
 (Also on POLITICO: Obamacare messaging inadequate) 
 
 "I certainly don’t paint the speaker with that brush, but there are enough of them in their caucus to shut down the government," Pelosi said. "That would be a victory for them." 
 
 Read more about: Nancy Pelosi, Obamacare ||||| Sen. Joe Manchin, who pushed an unsuccessful background-checks measure in the wake of the 2012 Connecticut school shooting, said on Sunday that he would not revive the effort unless he saw movement among other lawmakers. 
 
 Manchin's comments came on CBS's "Face the Nation" after a gunman who was believed to be mentally ill killed 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard last Monday. 
 
 “Are you gonna try to put some new emphasis on that?” asked host Bob Schieffer. 
 
 (Also on POLITICO: LaPierre: Not enough enough "good guys with guns") 
 
 "Not unless there’s a movement," the West Virginia Democrat said. "I’m not gonna go out there and just beat the drum for the sake of beating the drum. There has to be people willing to move off the position they've taken. They’ve gotta come to that conclusion themself, and I’m still talking to everybody and I welcome everyone’s input if they think that we can make some adjustments and make them comfortable." 
 
 Read more about: Joe Manchin, Gun Control, Navy Yard Shooting ||||| Sen. Claire McCaskill blasted Republicans on Sunday for throwing "tantrums" over President Barack Obama's health care law. 
 
 "I don't think in America we should throw tantrums when we lose elections and threaten to shut down the government and refuse to pay the bills," the Missouri Democrat said on "Fox News Sunday." "The American people had a choice last November. They had a choice between someone who said repeal Obamacare, and President Obama." 
 
 Her comments come as Congress grapples over spending legislation in which funding for Obamacare is a key sticking point. If no solution is reached, the government could shut down. 
 
 (Also on POLITICO: Pelosi acknowledges Obamacare messaging is weak) 
 
 "I cannot believe that they are gonna throw a tantrum and throw the American people and our economic recovery under the bus," she said of Republicans. "It is really gonna hurt real people. And this is just political point-making." 
 
 She singled out Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who has been an especially vocal advocate of defunding the law, even opposing movement on a House-approved funding measure because, he says, there is too much leeway for Obamacare funding to be added in in the Senate. 
 
 "This is about running for...president, with Ted Cruz," McCaskill charged. "This isn't about meaningful statesmanship. This isn't about doing what we were sent to Washington to do, and that is, compromise and run the government." 
 
 Read more about: Claire McCaskill, Spending, Ted Cruz, Obamacare, 2012 Elections ||||| National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre on Sunday slammed "elite" focus on firearms in the wake of last week's Navy Yard shooting, saying there are bigger issues in play, including the need for more secure military facilities. 
 
 "The whole country...knows the problem was there weren't enough good guys with guns," LaPierre said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "When the good guys with guns got there, it stopped." 
 
 LaPierre said politicians and the media wrongly turned back to the gun control issue following the deadly shooting near the Capitol, when instead the country should emphasize reforming the mental health system and enforcing laws already on the books. 
 
 (Also on POLITICO: Manchin pessimistic on gun action) 
 
 "All the outrage...the first two days, of elite media and the politicians trying to stir this toward firearms, the outrage ought to be placed on an unprotected naval base," he said. "On a criminal justice system in Chicago that doesn't even enforce the federal gun laws when we could dramatically cut violence, on a mental health system that is completely broken, on a check system that is a complete joke in terms of stopping the bad guys," and a broken criminal justice system. 
 
 He said that Navy Yard shooter Aaron Alexis, as well as several other perpetrators of gun crimes, were able to skirt current background check laws, some of which he noted the NRA initially supported. The mental health system is partly at fault, he said, saying people like Alexis, who have offered warning signs, "need to be committed, is what they need to be, and if they're committed they're not at the Naval Yard." 
 
 "So the Aurora shooter in Colorado gets checked, and is cleared," he said. "The Tucson shooter gets checked and gets cleared. Aaron Alexis goes through the federal and state check and gets cleared." 
 
 Read more about: NRA, Wayne LaPierre, Guns, Gun Control, Navy Yard Shooting ||||| Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger says that although the U.S. approach to the Syria crisis has proceeded "tortuously," a Russian-involved plan for Syria to turn over chemical weapons could still work out. 
 
 "There could be quite a good outcome because if we get the chemical weapons, it then becomes a basis for a transition in Syria that leads to relative peace," Kissinger said in an interview aired Sunday on CBS's "Face the Nation." "Then at the end of the day, however tortuously we arrived at this conclusion, it will have served the interest of the world." 
 
 He also said ahead of the United Nations General Assembly this week that President Barack Obama should push for further progress on dissuading Iran from pursuing its nuclear program before he meets with the country's new president. 
 
 (Also on POLITICO: Elder statesmen speak) 
 
 "Iran has been building with great energy a nuclear program and I would be more at ease if the meeting of the presidents occurred at the end of some diplomatic achievement, but I can see the temptations," Kissinger said. 
 
 Read more about: Russia, Iran, Henry Kissinger, Syria
– The NRA's Wayne LaPierre is taking on renewed debate over gun control in wake of the Navy Yard shooting, telling NBC today that the "outrage" of "the elite media and the politicians trying to stir this toward firearms ... ought to be placed on an unprotected naval base. On a criminal justice system in Chicago that doesn't even enforce the federal gun laws when we could dramatically cut violence, on a mental health system that is completely broken, on a check system that is a complete joke in terms of stopping the bad guys." A further rundown of his comments, as per Politico: "The whole country knows the problem was there weren't enough good guys with guns. When the good guys with guns got there, it stopped." The mental health system is broken down, LaPierre says, and people like Aaron Alexis "need to be committed, and if they're committed they're not at the Naval Yard. So the Aurora shooter in Colorado gets checked, and is cleared. The Tucson shooter gets checked and gets cleared. Aaron Alexis goes through the federal and state check and gets cleared." Elsewhere on the Sunday dial, also as per Politico: Joe Manchin on whether he would renew his failed gun control effort: "Not unless there’s a movement. I’m not gonna go out there and just beat the drum for the sake of beating the drum. There has to be people willing to move off the position they've taken." Henry Kissenger on Syria: "There could be quite a good outcome because if we get the chemical weapons, it then becomes a basis for a transition in Syria that leads to relative peace. Then at the end of the day, however tortuously we arrived at this conclusion, it will have served the interest of the world." Nancy Pelosi on GOP demands for spending cuts: "The cupboard is bare. There's no more cuts to make. We all want to reduce the deficit. Put everything on the table, review it, but you cannot have any more cuts just for the sake of cuts. Right now you’re taking trophies." Claire McCaskill on a potential government shutdown: "I don't think in America we should throw tantrums when we lose elections and threaten to shut down the government and refuse to pay the bills. The American people had a choice last November. They had a choice between someone who said repeal ObamaCare, and President Obama."