Health care. In the coming weeks, we are going to get it working as smoothly as its supposed to. Weve got people working overtime 24 7 to boost capacity and address these problems every single day. So heres the plan. The white house has enlisted the help of jeffrey zients. The Washington Post describes him as one of the president s goto guys when he wants programs to go smoother. Private contractor Quality Software systems responsible for two components of the website is assigned to lead the fix. Most issues are expected to be repaired by the end of november. Open enrollment has been extended till march 31st. Heres how republicans responded today. Over the months leading up to the october 1st launch, Top Administration officials and lead contractors appeared before this committee. Looked us in the eye and they assured us repeatedly that everything was on track. Except that it wasnt. As we now know all too well. Texas senator ted cruz is again saying the Government Shutdown over obama care was a success because it got people talking about the Health Care Law and elevated the National Debate. He made those comments last night at the gops annual reagan dinner des moines, iowa. He has lunch events planned this afternoon. And president obama is returning to Campaign Mode after visiting a Brooklyn High School friday afternoon here in new york. He attended a fundraiser last night in manhattan for Democratic CongressionalCampaign Committee donors. Large crowds are gathering for a rally this afternoon in washington, d. C. To protest the nsas surveilance program. Members of congress are expected to join. Chris kin welker, fill us in. Good afternoon. Thousands of people are expected to turn out at the rally on the National Mall where you just saw. People are starting to gather. This comes as there have been new revelations about the governments surveilance program. Those revelations by leaks from former nsa contractor Edward Snowden show that the United States may have tapped into the phone, the cell phones rather of 35 World Leaders and millions of phone records of the french. This as you can imagine has enraged the United States ally germany, the french, they are asking for answers. We know that german officials are set to travel to the United States in the coming weeks 0 discuss all of this with the United States. Now, separately, alex, i can tell you that the nsas website was down for a couple of hours yesterday. There have been speculation that perhaps that site had been hacked. An nsa spokesperson tells me that is absolutely not the case, that it was a technological glitch. But having said all of that, you have the protests today on the National Mall. New revelations about the government surveilance program. I can tell you all of this threatens to undermine the United StatesForeign Policy as they deal with issues like iran, like syria. They need allies to work on this, and right now, there is tension in those relationships. Alex . Hey, before i let you go, kristin, as you well know, the president is certainly doing damage control trying to ease concerns over the rocky roll out of his Signature Health care plan. Whats the latest on that front . The damage control is going to continue into next week. President obama is going to travel to boston to talk about health care. Hes going to send his top officials some of his cabinet secretaries, tom vilsack, shaun donovan, top official Cecilia Munoz on the road next week talking about health care. Behind the scenes, theyre going to be trying to get that website fixed because everything really hinges on that as you reported at the top of your show. Jeffrey zients yesterday said that the site should be running smoothly by the end of november. They have put a contractor in control of fixing all of the problems there with the website. Ive been talking to political analysts who say it is going to be critical for the Obama Administration to get the website fixed by the end of next month. If not, what is currently a large political problem for the Obama Administration will turn into a potentially an allout political crisis and could threaten his larger agenda, threaten things like Immigration Reform and budget reform. Allem, ba can to you. Talk about a domino effect there. Lets hope it doesnt go there. Speaking at that the antisurveilance rally today will be libertarian president ial candidate gary johnson. I spoke with him earlier today. He said in the end the revelations about the nsa will do more good than harm. The nsa is recording every internet transaction thats happening, every cell phone transaction that judges grant warrant or authority for nsa to monitor 1713 million verizon users. This is reminiscent of why the revolutionary war occurred. You know, britain having this general warrant where they could search everyone and every thing. This was really the basis for this country, the cornerstone of this country is really privacy. I think this is why we fought wars and here it is, we are living in a surveilance state and i really think it needs to come to an end. Governor johnson went on to say he thinks the patriot act needs to be repealed if we are to fix our surveilance program. Well, new details this morning how that Danvers Massachusetts High School math teacher died. Police say Colleen Ritzer was killed with a box cutter inside a school bathroom. They say they have surveilance video of 14yearold philip chism following her into the bathroom and emerging with bloodied clothes. Hes under the arrest for the murder and will be tried as an adult. Police also say he visited a Movie Theater and local wendys after alleging killing ritzer. The school reopened yesterday. No word yet what caused a fire at macys Flagship Store in new york city. Panicked shoppers and employees were evacuated friday after a fire broke out in the basement. It sent clouds of smoke into the air. More than 100 firefighters managed to put the flames out in under an hour. No one was injured. Lets go now to the weather with a big chill gripping parts of this country, especially across the south. Nbc meteorologist dylan dreyer is here with an explanation and our forecast. Hi there, dylan. Good afternoon. We are into afternoon now. It was really cold this morning. Its probably an end to the growing season in most areas in the southeast where we had our hard freeze warnings this morning. Profit advisories a little further down into northern florida. Temperatures are rebounding. Its 51 diagnose but still 15 degrees below normal. But that growing season ended about two weeks earlier than we normally see. It certainly is colder than youd expect this time of year. Most of the country is only in the 40s and 50s all thanks to this huge dip in the jet stream. That also means for the western half of the country, its nice and mild. Temperatures will 5 to 10 degrees above average. Were still starting off the day with some fog up in seattle. This is the ninth consecutive day of extremely dense fog in the area and tomorrow looks just as foggy. That could put it as one of the top three foggiest stretches that area has seen. So it is pretty brutal out that way. 45 for a high today minneapolis. He below average as that cold air continues to settle in. Keep in mind within the area of low pressure just to the north of michigan, that cold air comes in from canada and crosses over the relatively warmer great lakes waters creating lake effect snow. Most of the rain isolated into canada and through upstate new york. We will see a little bit of rain and snow showers going on around the great lakes. That should come to that end tomorrow. Isolated thunderstorms possible down across texas where highs today will be in the lower 70s in dallas. Even cooler down that way. 50s again tomorrow in the northeast. We should get up to 69 in atlanta. It will still be below average, just not as cold. Tomorrow is about as cold as its going to get in the southeast before things moderate as we head into next week. Thank you for the headsup on all of it. Imagine cutting 21 mees a month for your family. Its the next food stamp crisis thats about to hit. Is a daily. What if my abdominal pain and cramps come back . What if the plane gets delayed . What if i cant hide my symptoms . What if . But what if the most important question is the one youre not asking . What if the underlying cause of your symptoms is damaging inflammation . For help getting the answers you need, talk to your doctor and visit crohnsandcolitisinfo. Com to get your complimentary q a book, with information from experts on your condition. Wout of landfills each year . Plastic waste to cover mt. Rainier by using one less trash bag each month, we can. And glad forceflex bags stretch until theyre full. So you can take them out less often. With 0calorie monk fruit in the raw. Its made with the natural, vineripened sweetness of fruit, so you can serve up deliciously sweet treats without all the sugar. Raw natural sweetness, raw natural success. Some headlines making news on the west coast. The oakland tribune has this story. Apple, google face lawsuit. A judge in san jose granted class action status to a suit claiming countries along with intel and adobe conspired to limit workers pay by barring them from moving one from company to another. And the Arizona Republic has this headline. Attack ads signal health care fight will be key issue in 2014 elections. Radio ads are already airing in the state highlighting questions of fairness and problems with implementation of the law. A solution in sight. The consultant tacked with repairing the obama care website says there are dozens of problems that need to be addressed but the system is fixable. And the Obama Administration says most issues should be resolved by the end of november. Let me bring in Washington Bureau chief for usa today susan page and White House Reporter for the Washington Post david nakamura. Good to see you as always. Hi, alex. Dave, are you hearing any sense of confidence from the white house these problems with the website will be fixed by the date theyve given end of november . There is. They wont have set that deadline so clearly if they didnt have that confidence. On one hand, its a deadline that has to be set because you know, the people who want to get Health Insurance by january 1st have to enroll by middecember. This end of november time period is the last time theyd be able to do that. This gives them about five, six weeks to do it. Jeff zients is somebody who the administration has confidence in. He helped fix cash for clunkers with the car tradein program several years back was something he helped fix the initial roll out of that. I think as kristin said, administration aides will be going out in the country as is the president continuing to talk about this because they know republicans will keep criticizing them and continuing to have hearings about the problems. Behind the scenes, i know zients is saying they have a punch list of 100 different items that they need to fix. This time period will go quickly. Speaking of the laergs, susan, Kathleen Sebelius has one ahead testifying before a House Committee this wext week. Here is what happened at this hearing with website contractor. Once again, here we have my republican colleagues trying to scare everybody. Will the gentleman yield. I will not yield to this monkey court. This is not a monkey court. Do whatever you want. Im not yielding. Im trying to tell you that the problem here. Protecting american citizens is a legitimate concern of this committee. Preexisting conditions dont matter. Hippa doesnt apply. Theres no Health Information in the process. Youre asked about your address, your date of birth. Youre not asked Health Information. Why are we requesting down this path . Can i just say representative pa loam was on up earlier today. He still had steam coming out of his ears on that one. Is this what we can expect 0 emore of at the sebelius hearing next week, democrats and the gop clashing . Yes, i this i absolutely. That was just a warmup for what well see this next week with Kathleen Sebelius. I this i theyll face questions these steps theyve now taken, why werent they taken two months ago, three months ago when it was clear there were problems with the development of the website. Shes going to face questions about whether she should resign in the wake of the problems with the website. Shell need to have an answer to that question before she gets up there. David, once the website is fixed, does this leave the gop with a lot less substantive criticisms of the Health Care Plan . I think so. Thats a major piece theyre focusing on right now. And i think the question is then, i think what they can look at then is are people getting insurance thats cheaper and how is that going to work. I think the question is also when it gets fixed, as well, if it gets filmed too late and people arent enrolled and if Young Healthy people have been turned off by the process and theyre the last to probably enroll but yet the most important to be able to pay for this thing, if they dont sign up, theres going to be another opening come the spring. Theres going to be other chances. Obviously this is the first big hurdle for the administration. They get past this i think theyll restore some confidence. The gop criticizing the website and its ineffective roll out so heavily. Are they leaving this em he was with nowhere else much to go if it gets fixed on time. Lets say the website gets fixed, people are signing up. They like the coverage they can get. We hear a lot of anecdotal stories about i couldnt get coverage before or didnt think i could get coverage that was so cost effective. So the Program Works the way its supposed to work. That is a big problem for the Republican Party because they have stood so firmly against the Affordable Care act that if it works, it will be like Social Security was. Republicans opposed Social Security from its early days. Many republicans opposed medicare in its early days. Once those programs worked, they became a big talking point for the Democratic Party and a source of strength for the Democratic Party. Thats the concern that republicans would have if this works. Now, it hasnt worked so well so far. So at the moment, its been a political problem for democrats in the white house. But that could turn around. Okay. Ive got another talking point. David, the new fallout from the nsa leaks that includes tapping up to 35 World Leaders cellphones. Youve got a number of european World Leaders hot under the collar about this. What kind of damage control is the white house doing with allies . The president has talked with angelasults. My handle is alex witt on twitter. Ill read more of your tweets later. Office politics. Krystal ball predicts the future for 2014. Go figure. But they didnt fit. Customers not happy, im not happy. Sales go down, im not happy. Merch comes back, im not happy. Use ups. They make returns easy. Unhappy customer becomes happy customer. Then, repeat customer. Easy returns, im happy. Repeat customers, im happy. Sales go up, im happy. I ordered another pair. Im happy. both im happy. Im happy. Happy. Happy. Happy. Happy. Happy happy. The coffee you drink adds up over the years. Causing deep, setin stains. Crest 3d White Whitestrips go beyond where most toothpastes can reach, safely removing stains below the enamel surface to whiten as well as a 500 treatment. Crest 3d White Whitestrips. Well take something tasty and healthy. Must be the honey theres a party going on in your cereal bowl os can help lower cholesterol oh why does it taste so great . Hey must be the honey money talks in todays number ones. First the power of money in politics. A new Sun Light Foundation study highlights the metropolitan areas that are most politically influential based on campaign contributions. New york ranks number one, followed by washington, d. C. And los angeles. While no dollar figures are revealed, the study found 30 of political donations come from the top ten contributing counties. Who are you writing to, linus . This is the time of year to write to the great pumpkin. Oh, we all still love Charlie Brown and that is why his creator Charles Schulz is still earning big dollars even in the after life Charles Schulz ranks third in forbes magazines list of top earning dead celebrities. His estate collected 37 million this past year. In second, elvis with 55 million. But that is chump change compared to miningal jacksons 160 million in earnings. Threat is imminent. And i have to protect the one thing that i cant live without. Thats you. Well, thanks in part to a starring role in the iron man series, Robert Downey junior tops the list of the new yorkers list of top hollywood stars. Likability scores and oscars are included in the rankings. His means have made almost twice as much as leonardo dicaprio, winning an oscar and scoring high for likable boosted the ratings of sandra bullock. Those are your number ones here on weekends with alex witt. [ rob ] our daughter is all kate. Same grin, same walk. And the same beautiful hair. [ female announcer ] nice n easy. In one step get expert highlights and lowlights. For color they may just think you were born with. [ rob ] im a lucky guy. [ female announcer ] with nice n easy, get the most natural shade of you. [ femal announcer ] with nice n easy, announcer answer the call of the grill with new friskies grillers, full of meaty tenders and crunchy bites. Got it i. Did not get it. [ female announcer ] you may not be the best with a smart phone but you know whats best for your kids. So we listened when you said gogurt should have only natural colors and flavors and no high fructose corn syrup. Thanks, mom. Ive got a big date, but my sinuses are acting up. Its time for advil cold and sinus. [ male announcer ] truth is that wont relieve all your symptoms. New alka seltzer plusd relieves more sinus symptoms than any other behind the counter liquid gel. Oh what a relief it is. Welcome back to weekends with alex witt. Its time for headlines as we approach the half hour. A massive earthquake in japan struck the same area as is one that hit back in 2011, a magnitude 7. 3 was centered offshore from the crippled fukushima crippled Nuclear Power plant. A huge grass fire at a wildlife refuge in texas is causing air problems for folks in houston. The fire has burned more than 5,000 acres. Look at those flames and spoke in there. Signs of recovery for farmers who struggled with the 2012 drought. This years corn crop is expected to be the largest on record, 13. 8 billion bushes. The crop is so huge, the cost of transporting it to market is driving up costs for rail cars, barges and trucks. On wednesday, health and Human Services secretary Kathleen Sebelius will of it on the troubled Obama Carrollout. Now House OversightCommittee Chairman darrell issa is threatening to subpoena the secretary if she doesnt turn over healthcare. Gov documents. Joining me is Matt Cartwright and the Health Care Sub met. Its good to see you. Thanks for joining me. Its my pleasure, alex. How are you . Im well, thanks. Ive got to ask, do you agree with the subpoena threat . Well, you have to realize the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee does have the power and the job of looking into all areas of government fraud, waste and abuse. And they have the right to do that. I dont you know, i dont relish the idea of hauling secretary sebelius before our committee. Given the way that committee has handled itself the rest of this year. Its not exactly an impartial tribunal were talking about here. Its more of a more of a republican spin factory, unfortunately. It kind of i like to say im proud tore be on that committee, but thats a committee that right now makes the old soviet show trials look like honest exercises in fact finding whoo. To which i say yikes. But dont i think shes going to answer the Commerce Committee questions scheduled on wednesday . Im sure she will. Secretary sebelius is a responsible person and i know shes going to be taking a lot of personal responsibility for the glitches that are going on with healthcare. Gov. But i hope shell have an opportunity to point out that thats just a small piece of the Affordable Care act that so many parts of that are already working. That its being rolled out properly in so many parts of merc america, look at parts of kentucky with the governor properly boasting theyre signing up 1,000 people a day for health care. One of the great ironies, of course, is that if were looking into whos causing the delay, you know, whos causing the problems with the rollout, a big measure of the blame rests squarely on the shoulders of the republican governors who refuse to involve the states and in shouldering some of the burden of engaging in the rollout themselves. I just want to make a plug for David Gregory with meet the press tomorrow because governor bashir will be talking about this exact thing. Chairman issa has argued that secretary sebelius has been more forth coming with the media than with congress. We in the press certainly want more transparency. But do you feel, representative cartwright, the administration has been forthcoming with you and your colleagues . They have. I think you have to look at the big picture here. The big picture is this is a roll out of a big and complex and complicated and enormous undertaking. But its a worthwhile one. Its one ha people want. And in fact, i think just yesterday, on msnbc, the former governor of utah, the republican governor, mike leavitt appeared and he was the secretary of health and Human Services when we did the rollout of Medicare Part d eight years ago. He talked quite frankly about the problems they had with that rollout. There were enormous headaches involved in that, but we dont remember those because what we look at now is the big picture. Medicare part d is a terrific program and has helped so many people. Thats what we need to be doing with the rollout of the aca. We need to be letting history be the judge and lets look back on it eight years from now and i think everybodys going to be pretty happy. With a little bit of perspective from time. If secretary sebelius were testifying before your committee this week, what would you ask her . Well, a lot of what i do on that committee, you know, the people on that committee in the majority, the way they conduct those hearings, its quite deranged actually. They dont allow witnessed to answer the questions. They just pontificate. They make grandstanding into an art form. And if ill be doing anything at all with questioning secretary sebelius, it will be to give her time to answer the questions that have been hurled at her by the other side. You know, a bit earlier, i played an incident in the Committee Meeting in which representative Frank Pallone and a gop colleague clashed. Can we expect the same kind of partisan bickering over this to keep happening . Is it too much to hope it would just be more for seeking solutions . Well, there have been horrible instances of bickering, but i think its too global to call it partisan bickering because both sides are not engaged in it. This is a unilateral embarrassment, the oversight and Government Reform Committee. We saw people basically abusing admiral mike mullen in the benghazi testimony. This is somebody who has to his core is an American Patriot and has devoted his life in service to this country and did not deserve to be treated like that. Yeah, we might well expect further behavior like that from the gop on that committee. But you know, look, youre talking with us. Have you certainly called out your republican colleagues, you know, on the committee and others in congress. In general, do democrats expect to get a warm reception when they come back together and try and move the ball forward . Well, thats what i always tell people is we didnt get elected to go to washington to go down and bicker with each other. We went koun there to roll up our sleeves and get the job done. On the oversight and Government Reform Committee, thats a factfinding enterprise, supposed to be something where we Work Together and im prepared to do that and all of my colleagues on that committee on the democratic side are prepared to do that. But its a committee where that kind of thing is not happening and its a serious disappointment because you know, this is a committee devoted to preventing waste of money in american government. The way its been run this year, i cant speaking to prior years, im a freshman in congress, but the way its been run this year, that committee itself is a colossal waste of money. Representative Matt Cartwright. Thanks, good to see you again. For the 47 million americans who are barely getting by on fad stamps every month, their situation is about to get even more dire. Starting november 1st, food stamp recipients will see a 15 reduction in benefits translating to 21 fewer meals a month for a family of four. Whats even more shocking, theres no legislation coming out of congress to stop this from happening. Joining me now is christopher cook, a journalist who helps run the food and Environment Reporting Network and the author of diet for a dead planet, big business and the coming food crisis. Christopher, im glad youre here. Can you explain how this happened . Yeah, thank you, alex. I mean, this is politics. Theres been a war on the poor for the last 30 years. You know, ever since we had the war on poverty. Now theres the war on the poor. It seems to make for great politics in washington. But the reality is that food stamps are actually a remarkable investment. You know, instead of seeing them as a cost, you know, and an expenditure, we should really look at them as an investment in Peoples Health and in the economy and in fighting poverty. And you know, theres a great wealth of research and facts that i tapped into for this article that shows that you know, theres a dramatic return on investment with food stamps. You know, in fact, i was going to go there next. Id like to have my director put up a couple full screens. You write about the economic and Health Benefits. This is from mother jones. You were pointing out pre 5 worth of food stamps generates up to 9 in economic activity. Every 1 billion that food stamp recipients spend on food generates 3300 farm jobs. Preventive health, youre pointing out that a study that found among young girls who lack access to regular nutrition, food stamp and cool Lunch Program can reduce the risk of becoming overweight by nearly 70 . So how concerned are you all of these benefits youre reporting are getting lost from the fights in congress over this . Exactly. The research is there. The research is very strong on this. And on again on a whole range of issues from the general economy it lifts people out of poverty. You know, 4 million americans were helped out of poverty last year due to food stamp assistance. You know, and again all the economic stimulus thats provided through job creation in the farm sector as well as beyond in the Retail Sector moodys analytics has shown its one of the top most fishlt forms of government stimulus that exist. What were going to see is the house version of 39 billion proposed cuts, its not going to come to pass. Why is that . Is Congress Going to step in to fix it. No, congress has already passed and its important to note actually that paul ryan, kong xwres man ryan has plans for a much more dramatic overhaul of food stamps and gutting of food stamps to the tune of 140 billion in the upcoming budget. So this is not over. However, the senate has proposed far lesser cuts of around 4 billion which is still substantial and in my view, counter to what the evidence shows is in the best interests both of poor people and the general public. But again, you know, as we know, the house and senate dont always agree on things. So the likely of the Senate Passing that is slim to none. That being said, i have to ask this because cynics will say we heard another round this week of reports that people were selling their food stamp cards for cash. For the value on sites like craigslist and ebay i believe. Respect these relatively small numbers of people ill grant you, dont they further stigmatize those sincerely dependent on this aid . The republicans like to pull out some dramatic examples that are exceedingly rare if theyre even true. And the Research Constantly consistently shows that the evidence of fraud is greatly exaggerated. I mean, you know, lets also be clear that people who are on food stamps who are poor, im not advocating that people you know, dont use them properly but the reality is that people are trying to cover their utility bills, theyre trying to pay their rent. Theyre trying to survive. These are people at the very bottom of the economy. You know, who dont have any other resources. And so again, you know, yes we want a clean program, but demonizing people on food stamps for some rare alleged cases of fraud that do get greatly exaggerated is really the wrong way to go. Again, looking at it as a cost is the wrong way to go when the reality is that it produces all of this retail demand, all these nutritional benefits to people, to kids, which creates longterm Health Benefits because these are folks at the very beginning stages of their development process. Metabolic health gets improved. And then of course, the economic stimulus that helps create jobs and lifts people out of poverty. So you know, i think youre going to find imperfections in every single program. Food stamps is not perfect. There are problems actually with some of the large food corporations getting a lot of the money. Thats a different problem all together. Thats not about the spending. Thats actually about you know, whos benefiting in the food sector. Well have to have you back 0 talk about that one. Our times up. Thank you so much. The fall experiment that became a gigantic hit. The huge numbers behind pumpkin spiced latte. Yum. Building animatronics is all about getting things to Work Together. The timing, the actions, the reactions. Everything has to synch up. My expenses are no different. Receiptmatch on the business gold rewards card synchronizes your business expenses. Just shoot your Business Card receipts and theyre automatically matched up with the charges on your online statement. Im john kaplan, and im a member of a synchronized world. This is what membership is. This is what membership does. But chantix helped me do it. I told my doctor i think im. Im ready. [ male announcer ] along with support, Chantix Varenicline is proven to help people quit smoking. It reduces the urge to smoke. I knew that i could smoke for the first 7 days. I knew that i wasnt putting nicotine back into my body to try to quit. [ male announcer ] some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. If you notice any of these, stop chantix and call your doctor right away. Tell your doctor about any history of Mental Health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix. Dont take chantix if youve had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. If you develop these, stop chantix and see your doctor right away as some can be lifethreatening. Tell your doctor if you have a history of heart or blood vessel problems, or if you develop new or worse symptoms. 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He joins an ever expanding list of exnfl player who have suffered memory lapses, depression and debilitating diseases. Crystal of bawl cohost of the cycle, krystle talks about her run for congress in 2010 and toure makes an appearance as only he can. But first i asked krystle about gop reaction to president obama and the conflicting reports around one particularly shocking interaction. Lets talk about gop reaction to obama care because some suggest that just because it is this president is largely what fuels a lot of the gop opposition and to that point, you may have heard about what dick durbin posted on his Facebook Page that there was a gop legislate tore, we dont know house or senate who while in a meeting with president obama said to him, i cannot stand the sight of but. Now we should say jay carney and the white house denied that happened. Go to durbins office and we says we stand by it. I mean, i wasnt in the meeting so obviously i dont know whose side to take there, but its certainly consistent with other things we have heard from the republicans. Yes, i think their opposition to obama care has been disingenuous in a lot of ways driven by a personal animus towards this president. And by a desire for political gain. It worked very well for them in 2010. This was this antiobama backlash and they rode that wave. It was successful for them. That wave has now come to a close where theyve given power to these extreme forces within their ranks who have taken over the party. They sewed the seeds of their destruction in that victory in 2010 by handing power to the extremists within their party. Lets talk but personally. You ran in 2010, didnt you . Yeah. Not as a tea party candidate. No, as a liberal democrat in a conservative district in virginia. Do you think that was part of what caused you not to win . I mean definitely. It was a very tough year. Just to put it in perspective. There was not a single democratic challenger in it the entire country that won. So certainly in my conservative district in virginia, it was not happening in 2010. I got to tell you, im looking at the polls and you know, despite all the things that ive said how frustrated i am with Obama Carroll out you the, looking at the polls, i think districts like the one i ran in in virginia could be potentially winnable in 2014. Thats how bad the republican brand is right now. I have to tell you, alex, like i never thought that i would run for congress in the first place. After i ran, i got some Media Attention not for the best reasons but i acquitted myself well. After the campaign was over april lost there were a few shows like yours that asked me to come on and seek to my experiences as a guest and as a commentator. And that snowballed. So my life has taken several unexpected turns. You never know where things could end up. Maybe politics will come back around. What about the cycle you have undergone recent staffing changes. How are things now . Its so much fun. I mean, we have fun every single day. I have to say, i dont know that there is a team in this building that has as much fun every day as we do. And i have been lucky because in a way, ive gotten to have a lot of great cohosts. Here comes one of them. To open it for you. Im good. Thank you, sir. He just walked in, okay. Usually open it for you like normal. Sure, you can open it for me. Hes a ham off camera as well as on the camera. Okay. All right. Yeah. Toure is the only one whos been with me from the beginning. Anything else i can get for you . You already had your office politics. Kind of busted. Hes got to be the center of attention. What are you talking about . Im just trying to serve and protect as i do every day. Oh, my gosh. Love you. Thanks for stopping by. Seriously, did you think youd have this kind of fun . Look at this. Talking politics. I have to tell you, i feel so blessed every day, every single day because i do. I have a dream job. I get to have an impact and i get to be with people i genuinely love abcare about. Its amazing. And i love steve kornac, i love s. E. Cupp. I miss s. E. , i miss steve although hes down the hallway. The four of us have a real good vibe and thing going. Im pleased with. You got to love that your ray. Tomorrow krystle looks ahead to 2014 and makes predictions on the looming january government funding deadline. Well meet her daughter ella who is clearly following her mothers footsteps. The legal repercussions after a Florida Middle School commits suicide after being cyber bullied. Who is legally at fault . Answers next. Coming in and goi. So you can understand every angle of your cash flow last week, this month, and even next year. For seeing your businesss cash flow like never before, introducing cash flow insight powered by pnc cfo. A suite of online tools that lets you turn insight into action. Tomorrow krystle looks ahead to who is legally at fault . When we made our commitment to the gulf, bp had two big goals help the gulf recover and learn from what happened so we could be a better, safer energy company. I can tell you safety is at the heart of everything we do. Weve added cuttingedge technology, like a new deepwater well cap and a stateoftheart monitoring center, where experts watch over all drilling activity twentyfourseven. And were sharing what weve learned, so we can all produce energy more safely. Our commitment has never been stronger. Now to a disturbing story about a middle schoolgirl bullied to death in tampa and a mother determined to make sure it doesnt happen again. An aarraignment for one of two girls charged has been postponed till next week. They are charged with felony, aggravated stalking saying they bull aed the girl so ruth leslie she committed suicide. She jumped off a tower at a cement plant. The girl put out an unapologetic post online. The 14yearold did something that was despicable on top of what she already did that was terrible. And that was a post she put on facebook. That post said, i know rebeccas dead and i dont care. And the words were much more graphic than that or the letters were. Now sedwicks mother is planning legal action. Joining me now analyst lisa green 0 break this down for us. Thanks for joining us. I want to listen to trishna norman, rebeccas mother what she hopes to achieve by this suit. Justice most definitely justice. Well, a little bit of me is angry it took losing my daughter to get this much attention. I wish it was there before. But im grateful for it now because we might be able to save other kids and other parents from going through this. Does this mother have a case here, and if she does, who does she sue. You know, there is a difference between reprehensible behavior which this seems to surely be on the part of the two girls and legal liability. And i think the question is, you know, both on the criminal front what the sheriff was talking about felony charges against these twos young girls and possible civil lawsuits which the mother speaks about in the press conference, its a tougher road to hoe than they might hope. Cases like these when youve got a child getting hounded, bullied online even after the child is removed from the school, not only are they hard 0 detect but in terms of proving them, how hard is that. Its tough. Theres not much of a track record so far in bringing significant charges against bullyers. One of the fundamental things to remember is, theres a an appropriately difficult line to draw between bullying and suicide. These stories are so very sad but when theres sort of an assumption that bullying is a direct cause of suicide, you need to take time, unpack that narrative and really think hard about whether thats true. And then in addition, whether you can really hold 12yearolds, 14yearolds to the standard of behavior prove of their intent thats necessary in criminal cases. Yeah. Lets take a listen to the attorney for one of the girls, jose baez, the same lawyer who represented casey anthony. Heres that. She is not what her mugshot or what the headlines are portraying her to be. She is a child. Im not going to allow her to be bullied and im not going to allow the system to bully her. So how strong is the criminal case against these girls . We are much closer to the beginning than the end. They need to be arraigned which will happen next week. Then prosecutors are already saying they need to mount or sift through mounds of evidence, texts, all these social media that weve talked about before that kids hurl at each other. We need to see much more about other causes that may have contributed to the tragic end of this young girl and learn more about the intent that both girls had, which is necessary for criminal charges. What were seeing now is a lot of adults kind of getting in place for the Traditional Court cases, but thats happening for teen suicides and cyber bullying. Newer behaviors were just beginning to learn as adults what to do to instruct kids not to act this way. You know what, lisa green, come on back as this case progresses. Not only are you an ex. Ert in your field but youre also a mom like me. Thanks, lisa. A show of defiance by simply getting behind the wheel of a car. The story behind a big demonstration today. [ male announcer ] staying warm and dry has never been our priority. 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And so is that. New so good from iams. Learn more at iams. Com. Protesters in washington tell the nsa to halt the stateside surveilance. Should we stay or should she go. Kathleen sa beious prepares for the congressional hot seat. Will her fate be determined by how she faces the grilling. And a fight for a right to drive. Women in saudi arabia are hitting the road. And its the favor of fall. Pumpkin spice becomes a national obsession. Good day to all after you. Welcome. Its 1 00 here in the east, 10 00 a. M. Out west. Heres whats happening out there. Large crowds gathering in the Nations Capital demanding an end to the nsa surveilance program. The stop watching us coalition is behind this rally. They chose today specifically because it is the anniversary of the patriot act which was signed into law back in 2001 by president bush. Nbcs Kristen Welker is at the white house with more on all of this. As we understand it, we have members of congress joining them. Thats right. Former congressman dennis cue inniche, justin homage from michigan will be there. Thousands expected to turn out this afternoon. Their message to the federal government stop snooping. Now Edward Snowden has also urged people to turn out today for this rally. He released a statement. Ill read part of that to you. He says now its time for the government to learn from us. This all comes as there have been new revelations about the governments surveilance program due to leaks by Edward Snowden. Those show that the government may have tapped into the cell phones of 356 World Leaders. These revelations have enraged some of the United States closest allies including germany and france. They are demanding answers. And i can tell you that german officials are set to travel to the United States in the coming weeks to talk to the u. S. About all of this. One other development, alex, we can tell you that the nsa website went koun for a couple of hours last night. There was speculation it may have been hacked into. I can tell you that i spoke with an nsa spokesperson late last night who said that was not the case. It was a technical glitch. The website is back up and running. But all of this, of course, creating more of a political problem for the Obama Administration. And potentially undermining the administrations Foreign Policy as it sets to deal with issues like iran, like syria. Very difficult when it has this rift with some of its closest allies. Yeah, could i ask you about this coalition . This petition is allegedly signed by well over half a Million People, kristin. What is it they are specifically asking for . Allem, im going to give you bullet points. They are asking for a congressional investigation they say so we can shed light on exactly what the National Security agency is doing. They say we ask for reform of federal surveilance law, specifically section 215 of the patriot act and asking for Public Officials responsible for hiding this be held accountable for their actions. So a lot of demands. And again, we are expecting thousands of people to turn out today on the National Mall. Were going to hear from a lot of speakers today and we will, of course, be monitoring this very closely and bring you all the developments. I know you will. Thank you so much. Also new today, president obama and republicans squaring off over the troubled healthcare. Gov website. The president says fixes are on the way. Republicans say thats not enough. The sites been visited more than 20 million times so far. Nearly 700,000 people have applied for coverage already. And that problems just how much demand there is for these new Quality Affordable Health Care choices. And thats why in the coming weeks, we are going to get it working as smoothly as its supposed to. The broken healthcare. Gov website has captured the nations attention, but this is more than a website problem. Were also concerned about what happens next. Will enrollment glitches become provider payment glitches . Will patients show up at the Doctors Office or hospital only to be told that they are not in the system . President obama will ralph to boston wednesday to speak about health care and the experience in massachusetts. Of course, that, state passed its bipartisan Health Care Law in 2006. Let me bring in msnbc contributor perry bacon junior and politics reporter from the Washington Post and host of post tvs in play, jackie kucinich, daughters of the man apparently at that rally it was reported in washington there. But perry, in one of your latest articles, you lightweight about the website problems but you also go through the list of things that have taken effect since october 1st with obama care. Talk about some of those developments. A lot of things have happened beyond this website being bad which ill acknowledge has been really bad and surprisingly so. You have more than 100,000 people have enrolled in Health Care Plans in the last three weeks. Particularly in states like kentucky and new york where their web sites are working really effectively. So have you sop states that are success stories. Thats one thing to note. Particularly youre seeing a lot of people, one thing involved in this law is its much more easy to qualify for medicaid, the Insurance Program for low income americans. So you have in a lot of states around the country, particularly the ones i just named, you have large numbers of people who were low income people before, could not afford Health Insurance now enrolling in plans. Thats a really big development. Jackie, what do you think the future holds for the health and human secretary Kathleen Sebelius . I think the more they call for her resignation in the gop, the more president obama is probably going to want keep her at this point. You know, i think shes probably going to have a tough hearing next week. In front rst energy and Commerce Committee but i think all in all, shes going to keep her job. Now, who ends up paying the pies for this . Well see if the problems with the website continue to. I think then you might end up seeing someone pay the price. I dont think its going to be secretary sebelius. I dont see that happening perry, about that happens, if the web ite gets up and running and operational soon and does its job well, all those in the gop that have been blasting obama care and blasting this website and all that goes by the wayside, have they actually done themselves more damage in their quest to get rid of this . Because it will bring attention to the web site, people then will go and then it hopefully works . I think the republicans focus on obama care in part because its the one thing their party strongly agrees upon opposing. You think about, the republicans are divided on issues like gay marriage. Divided on whether to shut down the government or not. On obama care, they are unified in opposition. I think going forward, they will continue to look for whatever problems are in the law and continue to attack them. I dont think were done with this yet. In the 2014 campaign, even if lots even if the website is working theyll find other problems. This law is very complicated. I dont think next year its going to be working. Everybodily either. I think some things will go wrong. This law is so complicated has so many elements. Health insurance is very hard to implement. A lot of people dont like their insurance now. Im not sure it will be perfect on december 1st, 2014 either. I want to phrase this to you jackie. Are republicans going to run out of talking points if the web ite gets up and running and works . Well, again, it depends. The website is the main problem were focusing on now. We dont note what the future holds. Whether they really have clung on to this, but if the website starts working and if obama care is successful, yes, this could be very bad for republicans because as perry said, this is an issue that they have really coalesced behind. So the well see how the rollout continues. But if the website starts working and obama care starts working, then a lot of ifs, but it could be good for president obama. I want to ask a question of a different topic to you, jackie. Because the new fallout from the nsa leaks that allegedly includes tapping up to 35 world leadsers cell phones. They are just furious over this. Whats the damage control under way at the white house . A lot of these guys are allies. Right. Thats the problem. I had i this is politically perilous for the white house. Had you president obama say yesterday that or jay carney say that particularly germany, that the Angela Merkels the chancellor there, her phone had not been tapped. And theyre going to review some of the procedures. You have a german delegation coming to the United States to review some of these policies. So yes, i mean, these are allies. This could create Political Tension continuing because these documents, you remember, theyre still being gone through by lots of news organizations. This isnt the end. Continuing Political Tensions, perry to the extent of also hampering u. S. Foreign policy potentially . Absolutely. I mean, the thing we dont think about is that Angela Merkel and the leader of france and germany have domestic politics they have to worry about. Imagine how we would be talking if we found out the chinese or germans or french were tapping president obamas cell phone. Even if merkel probably is not shocked this is happening, i dont think the world themselves are shocked. They have to pretend to be shocked and outraged because their domestic audiences in brazil and france are surprised and think the u. S. Is going too far. Youve already seen the brazilian president cancel a trip and i think youll see similar actions like that. They have to tell president obama how outraged they are because their citizens are outraged. All right. Perry bacon junior and jackie kucinich, thanks for coming on the show. New this hour, the white house has opened gardens and grounds to visitors for the weekend so all you guests can tour the Jacqueline Kennedy garden, the rose lawn and the south garden, as well. Officials say tours of the east wing and executive residence will resume november 5th. Ted cruz is in iowa fueling more speculation is he going to make a 2016 president ial run. The senator was headline speaker at a Ronald Reagan fundraising dinner last night in des moines where he called the Government Shutdown a success. He continued his victory lap through the state with a pheasant hunt this afternoon and now is expected to speak any minute here at the defenders of freedom lunch in lee mars. Kasie hunt is there. Casey, a good day to you. I understand you the spent the day au pheasant hunting thus the attire. How are Iowa Republicans receiving him . Well, i actually have had to clean up a little bit since that hunt. We were out for several hours this morning, trudging through the brush with senator cruz and congressman steve king, the congressman from western eye known as a fiery conservative and somebody ted cruz is clearly courting. The republicans here are receiving him we very. There was a lot of enthusiasm. Although as with anything in iowa, everyone looks at these candidates as they come through here with a little bit of skepticismism because they do have to problem themselves here. The voters here really take ha responsibility seriously. Its pretty clear from watching cruz yesterday and essentially this morning that he is sort of embarking on that slog, whatever it may look like to potentially mount a campaign in 2016. He wouldnt talk about that. I asked him about it this morning. He said its dangerous to go there to talk about the president ial race. But he did engage a little bit on 2014. Hes talking about what he might do in the midterm elections and as somebody who sort of developed the celebrity name idea especially among the tea party, he could potentially be a player. He said while hes not necessarily interested in playing in primaries against incumbent members of congress, is he interested in getting involved in what he described as grassroots candidates, candidates that the tea party has sort of decided theyre going to encourage in many races. He declined to endorse, theres a fiveway primary going on on the republican side for the senate seat. He wouldnt endorse anybody there but its clear that hes well on his way to establishing the credibility he would need to run here. Oh well see how they receive him going forward. Okay. Kasie hunt, you clean up real good. Thank you very much. Well see you again. A new published report says iran will be capable of building a Nuclear Weapon in just one month. Can that be true . Thats next. [ chainsaw buzzing ] humans. Sometimes, life trips us up. Sometimes, we trip ourselves up. And although the mistakes may seem to just keep coming at you, so do the solutions. Like multipolicy discounts from Liberty Mutual insurance. Save up to 10 just for combining your auto and home insurance. Call Liberty Mutual insurance at. To speak with an Insurance Expert and ask about all the personalized savings available for when you get married, move into a new house, or add a car to your policy. Personalized coverage and savings all the things humans need to make our world a little less imperfect. Call. And ask about all the ways you could save. Liberty Mutual Insurance responsibility. Whats your policy . With an innovative showerhead plus wireless speaker, kohler is the proud sponsor of singing in the shower. Germany is sending its top spy chiefs to washington in the coming week to meet with the white house and nsa after it was revealed that the u. S. Has been spying on the german chance colors cell phone and as many as 34 other World Leaders, as well. Joining me p. J. Crowley, its always a pleasure to have you here because lots of hand wringing over this one. Give me the substantive fallout from the revelations. How do you read it. Well, obviously, theres justifiable, understandable angst in europe. You know, the line between security and privacy, its not a bright line. Weve been wrestling with that line ever since 9 11. And while weve done many things right occasionally we step over the line and adjustments are now being made on both sides. Okay. Look, its pretty obvious why the u. S. Would want to listen in on terrorist terrorists or on our enemies phones but how is information from our close allies used . Well, i mean, think about the context. Lets reverse that equation for a second. You documented over the last 30 days all the political zaniness going on here in washington. But World Leaders were looking at the United States and going, are they going to drive over this fiscal cliff and take the Global Economy with it. So why would our friends be looking at us through an intelligence lens saying what in the heck are the americans going to do at the end of the day. Its in their interests to understand what was going to happen here. Let me put one other in a german context. Germany has devoted billion oz of dollars to propping up greece because the future of the European Union as we know it depends on what happens in greece. I would think that european members might have some intelligence assets focused on greece going what are they ultimately going to do and are they going to abide by the agreements reached in the austerity programs put in place. So there are lots of reasons why. We say its spying but its really about understanding whats happening in other countries that affects your national interests. Now, so you proposed a flipside. Let me do that, as well. How do you think the white house would reracket if they found out 35 foreign intelligence agencies were spying on our president s phone calls . You know, i would expect other countries to make that attempt. Whether they are successful or not depends on you know, not only our intelligence assets but our Counter Intelligence assets. I think we anticipate that there are intelligence activities operating here in the United States. Obviously, and this is where you get back to the political angst in europe. Its one thing to say that countries spy on other countries and they do. Obviously it creates a political problem when those operations are exposed either ours or somebody elses. I think if theres good news here, already there are steps being taken on both sides to try to deal with this so it doesnt get out of control and actually does not affect the deep intelligence cooperation that does exist among our countries and our allies which is in our mutual selfinterest to deal with challenges such as terrorism. So end game here, p. J. Do you think that Edward Snowdens revelations would be more damaging or beneficial to the u. S. . I think thats a mix. And as you suggested in the last segment, we dont know whether were close are to the beginning or end of this cycle. We dont know. Fo snowden, for example, he released a document that provided added detail to the intelligence budget. Is that potentially good from a pans parency standpoint . Potentially good. By the same token, he has done considerable damage in exposing certain intelligence operations that are rooted in law and are rooted in our ability to neutralize threats to the United States. And at the end of the day, well try to figure out how much transparency have we gained and at what cost. We went through that exercise with which can i leaks, as well. At the end of the day, i do think while there were benefits to what happened in wikileaks, there were also considerable damage done. I want to talk about the souring of relations with saudi arabia. Heres one headline, for example, saudi arabia to shift away from the u. S. Over iran, syria, intelligence chief says. So how far do you think theyre going to take it . Well, i mean, obviously theres our divergence of views. Divergence of views on syria. The saudis disappointed the United States did not attack syria in late august, early september. Theres a divergence of views on iran. Saudis are very nervous about the negotiation thats going on. And the potential of a reproachment with iran. I dont think that is going to take place but obviously the saudis are nervous because whatever happens in that negotiation can affect saudi National Security how they perceive it. I mean, we have areas of deep cooperation. Were all concerned about developments in syria and the emergence of extremists there. By the same token, we have areas of disagreement. You just were mentioning the protests in saudi arabia over women driving. I mean, that human relations element is a concern for the United States. And how saudi arabia evolves over time. I do think that notwithstanding signals that theres angst in this relationship, there are also very, very deep reasons why International Cooperation will continue. Hey, one more question here. This is a big one. This new report from the institute for science and interNational Security which says iran has enough uranium for a nuclear bomb to make one in one month, israelis are saying look, further proof we need to take preventive military action now. How do you see the white house approaching this . And do you believe the report . Well, look, i think its fair to say that there has been enough research in terms of enrichment that the iranians probably have the capability to build a bomb if they choose. And thats knowledge that you cant you know, you cant engineer a mirt attack that eliminates knowledge. The real question here is a political one. You know, and my judgment is, has iran made a decision to bid a weapon . I dont think so. I mean, there are many other countries that have the know how to do, to bid a Nuclear Weapon but have chosen not to. I think thats why this negotiation is potentially important. And but obviously, these are strategic calculations that iran has to make and obviously the United States and others will have to respond to that decision. P. J. Crowley, waal see you soon. In big money headlines, a phenomenon of the season. [ male announcer ] if youre taking multiple medications, does your mouth often feel dry . A dry mouth can be a side effect of many medications but it can also lead to tooth decay and bad breath. Thats why theres biotene. Available as an oral rinse, toothpaste, spray or gel, biotene can provide soothing relief, and it helps keep your mouth healthy, too. Remember, while your medication is doing you good, a dry mouth isnt. Biotene for people who suffer from dry mouth. [ male announcer ] 1. 21 gigawatts. Today, thats easy. Ge is revolutionizing power. Supercharging turbines with advanced hardware and innovative software. Using data predictively to help power entire cities. So the turbines of today. Will power us all. Into the future. 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In todays three big money headlines, consumer cold, hard to swallow, and pumpkin palooza. Joining me usa today contributor regina loss. Well start with the new report on Consumer Confidence and the impact from the Government Shutdown. What are you hearing optimism is down. There was a big impact. A pretty precipitous decline. The index is down ten points since this summer to a tenmonth low. The real question now becomes can that turn around heading into the allimportant Holiday Shopping season. Ive got to tell you, if youre a retailer heading into november right now, that negativity is a little too close for comfort. Absolutely. What about mcdonalds hoping to boost flat sales where they are a new dollar menu. Tell us about that. Its called the dollar menu and more. More means more money. What theyre doing is going for the dollar store model where you walk in and everything isnt a dollar. Maybe the 20 pack of manage nuggets is 5, maybe the sandwiches are 2. They were reportedly under a lot of pressure from fran cheeses to make sure the margins were still there. It makes sense if you consider the fact they launched the menu in 2002. So that 1 hamburg should be 1. 30 now. We needed more wiggle room. And theyre getting it. What about mcdonalds speaking of also capturing the flavor after the season, mickey ds joining the pumpkin crowd now. Along with dunkin donuts, starbucks. Believe it or not, pumpkin lahti is 10 years old. They have a code name they call it the psl, their most successful ever seasonal beverage to say the least and now widely copied. You see it in things like pasta, a ale and candy. You know youve made it when there it is a parody. Cant you see what theyre doing . Theyre putting pumpkin in everything. Its not even that good. Yes, it is. Its yummy and seasonal. Pumpkin spice boys and pumpkin spiced girls. Pumpkin spices you and pumpkin spices me. Breathesing in a pumpkin spiced world. God, im sorry, maam. Is your baby okay. What baby . Too funny. Starbucks has it their way, well continue living in a pumpkin spiced world. You wouldnt want it all year round, right. No, in fact, a lot of people say they know its fall. I just had my first pumpkin spic spice latte. Good to see you. Straight ahead, i speak with a key adviser to the president on the Affordable Care act. His take on the latest next. [ superfan ] were hitting the road to help america discover the new helper. Youve got to try this sweet sour chicken helper. I didnt know they made chicken. Crunchy taco or four cheese lasagna . Can i get another one of those actually . [ superfan ] hey, america, were here to help. I have a big meeting when we land, but i am so stuffed up, i cant rest. [ male announcer ] nyquil cold and flu liquid gels dont unstuff your nose. They dont . Alka seltzer plus night fights your worst cold symptoms, plus has a decongestant. [ inhales deeply ] oh. What a relief it is. Welcome back to weekends with alex witt. 32 past the hour right now. We are larrying from one of the wounded child survivors from that middle School Shooting in nevada. A 12yearold mason, he was hit around the stomach when a fellow student opened fire killing a math teacher and marine veteran, michael land berry and wounding mason as well as another student. Joe fryer caught up with his mother and mason. Joe, im glad to see you and im curious, what did he tell you. He is doing surprisingly well. He is out of the hospital. He was even up Walking Around yesterday. He tells us he is grateful to be alive but mourning the loss of two friends. The math teacher and he says the shooter. I know i wasnt being targeted. I never did anything to him. For 1yearold mason it has been a week of loss and also luck. Im feeling great. A little hurting. But its a lot better than what happened on monday. Like so many of his classmates, he was standing outside the building when the gunman started shooting first hitting another student in the shoulder before taking down math teacher mike lands berry trying to stop the gunfire. You heard the gunshots. And you saw mr. Land wherry was down. Your instinct was to run to him . Run to him and help because im a very helpful person. In the chaos he came face to face with the gunman identified as 12yearold jose reyes. Im like please dont shoot me. You need to get in the building. Please dont shoot me. Then he raised the gun and shot me. Mason says he considered reyes a friend. I dont understand why he would aim the gun at me. Shot in the stomach, mason found the strength to run and the first person to come to his aid was Security Guard lieu berg rel low. He got closer and says ive been shot. Then he lifted up his shirt. I got him over to the sidewalk and laid him down. And then i called for the ambulance. Mason was so grateful shortly after lean leaving the hospital he wanted to surprise his newfound hero. Youre welcome. Thank you. Now his family hopes their story can teach a lesson after learning from investigators that the shooter got the gun from his home. I want to make clear that im not saying take our guns away. I have a gun. And youre not taking it away from me. But i have it in the safe. And i have a trigger lock on it. For mason, the brief is still heavy especially when he thinks about mr. Lands berry. He was a really nice guy. I really wish he could be here today. Well, he was in the Hospital Hospital mason was visited by nevadas governor and by the starting quarterback for the local College Football team. For now, he does plan to returnton Sparks Middle School at the very least to see if he still feels comfortable attending clas there. Allem . Okay. Nbcs joe fryer, thanks so much, joe. Officials have promised that the much troubled Health InsuranceExchange Website will be fixed by the end of next month. Will that be soon enough . My next guest has diagnosed the problems and has a courts of treatment. Joining me now former White House Health care advise ser dr. Ezekiel emmanuel from the university of pennsylvania. Doctor, welcome. So glad to speak with you about this. Nice to be here. Im looking at the oped that you wrote for the New York Times this week in which you write that the Obama Administration made three big mistakes in the rollout. What are they . First, they delayed issuing guidents and rules so that you could construct the website in an efficient manner. Second, they i think didnt have a ceo or entrusted the integration to the center for medicare and Medicaid Services that runs medicare. They are very good at issuing rules and regulations about payment and very good about paying doctors and hospitals about but integrating an i. T. System for an ecommerce system is not in their wheel house. That was not a very wise choice it seems to me. Go ahead. No, no, you. Look, you were a key advisor for the white house in all this though on obama care. Did you see these problems coming . Well, we certainly thought many of us working in the white house certainly on the Economic Team certainly thought we needed a ceo to run this, that this it was a complicate structure to set up and to integrate all that was necessary and to designate a person who really understood health care, understood the Insurance Industry had, real management skills and could ask the right questions about i. T. Was essential. But you know, i think they didnt find that person or didnt designate that person. So how does this all get fixed at had point . Are you confident that the administration will get it done in what, five weeks or so, five, six weeks . So let me first say that some of the ideas i suggested in my oped, theyve already adopted. They did appoint jeff zients an interim to head this program and jeff zients is someone ive worked with at omb. Is he a very good manager, a real people person and actually had served as a consultant in the Health Care Industry for a number of years. While hes sorting out the problems over the next couple months, this he need to find someone who is a ceo who can really run this on a more permanent longterm basis. There are a number of people who fit the bill and i hope they bring one in. Second, i had suggested to regain the american Publics Trust they need to be completely transparent and have these regular briefings that delineate the problems and the solutions and the timeline and i think they have had these briefings. I hope they begin to detail more the kinds of problems we have and the timeline. I do think if they can get the system working reasonably well and smoothly, all the way through, that is from logging on to actually getting your insurance by november 30th, they will have enough time. And then perfecting it over the next year so it really is an amazonlike shopping experience, this it will be sort of history and the good benefits of the exchange, the competition its induced, the cheap prices for a lot of coverage will be saved and i think that will be the ultimate benefit for the whole american population. But dr. Emmanuel, any longterm concerns about this next point . Because on these state exchanges most of those who have enrolled signed up for medicaid. Reports show in washington, 87 , kentucky 82 , new york 64 . So what happens if not enough people sign up for insurance plans to fund all of these new medicaid patients. Look, i think those numbers are largely irrelevant. And we should not be focusing on those numbers. The people who are going to buy insurance in the exchange having to plunk down a month of premium. And youre not going to doing that two months before you get coverage. So i think thats why the november 30th date for getting the website up and running is important because come november 30th, thanksgiving, thats the time people are going to begin buying their insurance. Im not worried about the numbers we see. I think were completely misinterpreting them. The key number to look at and this is the key dash board number that everyones going to be looking at is, by march 31st, 2014, do 7 Million People sign up for Health Insurance in the exchanges. And given the prices ive seen in a lot of the markets, not every market but places like california and other large states, these are very competitive prices. Theyre very attractive. I this i were going to have more than 7 Million People signing up again by the march 1st, the close of open enrollment. And thats the key place to look. The early medicaid is look, signing up for medicaid doesnt cost anything. Thats why a lot of the early people are medicaid beneficiaries whereas going on the exchange, do you have to pay money. And i think people are going to delay that until you know, a month before the Insurance Coverage starts. What about this report from Kaiser Health news which says that hundreds of thousands of americans are seeing their existing insurance plans canceled because the coverage falls short of the new standards . Is that not what was promised by the administration that no one will have to change if they dont want to . Look, a lot of those plans are not plans in fact, theyre sort of just pseudoplans. Let me give you an example. Prior to the Health Reform bill, mcdonalds had a plan that it sold to workers for 56 per month that covered i think it was 2,000 of Health Care Costs. Now, 2,000 of Health Care Costs is nothing. Thats like an emergency room visit for setting your arm or go getting a few stitches. It wont cover a hospital for an emergency appendectomy. Thats not a plan. Thats not really Health Insurance. So getting rid of that kind of plan is no problem. You have to set a floor, and a floor has to be adequate. A lot of these plans didnt even cover delivering a baby. Thats in my view unethical. So i think those kind of what have been called mini medical plans are not really Health Insurance. You have to have Health Insurance that covers people for the Serious Problems and gives them Preventive Services that they will make them healthier in the longterm. And if they have to upgrade, we think thats upgrade. We dont allow people to sell defective cars or very cheap cars that dont have a catalytic converter and safety belts even though theyre supercheap and people might want them. Same thing with Health Insurance. We should not bemoan the fact that these very poor plans are being eliminated from the health care marketplace. Dr. Ezekiel emmanuel. Thank you for clearing things up. Appreciate it. Thank you. Nice to be here. It was one of Ronald Reagans most memorable debate lines that could apply to ted cruz. Big three is next. [ male announcer ] there will be more powerful storms. Thats why theres new duracell quantum. Only duracell quantum has a hidensity core. And that means more fuel, more power, more performance than the next leading brand. New duracelluantum. Trusted everywhere. New duracelluantum. From the classic lines to the elegant trim in each and every piece, kohler will make your reality a dream. Its time for the big three. Todays top wicks where are we now, there you go again and best week, worst week. Lets bringing in msnbc contributor and columnist goldie taylor, republican strategist and msnbc strategist deuce san del io and jared bernstein, Economic Policy advisor to Vice President biden. Is this your first time on the big three, jared . I mean yeah. I think its my second time. Its your second time. All right. Just a little bit of a veteran here. Okay. Well go easy on you. Here we go, jared. You offer Historical Perspective on the obama care website. All the problems. Have you it in your latest piece on hough po. You bring up an example of an own goal when a Soccer Player kicks the ball into his own goal unintentionally. You lent a sense of optimism to all of this, right. I think the own goal is obviously hugely problematic. My point was that were obviously in a climate wherein the opponents of the Affordable Care act are very interested in confusing the Product Launch which has been pretty terrible with the product which i think is very good. So to give them the opportunity to do so is truly an own goal. But the Historical Perspective that i wanted to introduce is that im, i think im probably one of the im probably the elderly person on the panel today. Those of us who have been working on Health Care Reform for literally decades should take a lot of pride in the fact that we helped to get this legislation over a very high legislative goal line. Its not perfect by a long shot but its good. It moves us in the right direction and lets not let computer glitches undermine that accomplishment. Okay. To that end, goldie, the website fixes supposed to be done by the end of november. Are you concerned about lasting consequences for the president or his party . The republicans will be able to seize upon or do you think once its fixed they have to go mute. Im not so concerned about Lasting Impact but am concerned about shortterm impact. The website is more than just a store front for the act. It is in fact its onramp. It is a part of the product. The product itself is a great product. It is you know, keeping your kids on your health care till theyre 26 years old. It is being able to ensure people with preexisting conditions and making sure theres a baseline for all Health Insurance policies so you have to cover you know chide birth and other things. So there are a lot of incredible things inside of the Affordable Care act weve been waiting for. But people have to have an opportunity to access the rest of the Affordable Care act and thats where the problem here lies. I believe that you know, the department will absolutely fix this issue all of the glitches, all of the coding errors that are happening here. But i think that after thats over with, republicans are going to have to find themselves a brandnew fight because at the end of the day, this is going to work. People will get the care that they need. Susan, the republicans who are critical of had website and all the problems, are they upset about the website malfunctioning or is it just a convenient excuse for them to continue launching attacks against a Health Care Law they want overturned as evidenced by voting it in the house to have itover turned 42 times. Theres republicans responsible and agree with a lot of democrats that this rollout was horrible and needs to get fixed but they dont necessarily go back to wanting to shut those are the ones who chose not to keep the Government Shutdown and be responsible and vote properly. Then have you those that will do anything to grab on to an issue. They need to get over it. Its the law. Move forward. People are in fact enrolled in the Affordable Care act. And they will continue to be. You cant take that insurance away. Theres no way to overturn that once its done. Okay. I want to move to our next topic. Susan, do you remember that line from Ronald Reagan, there you go again. Keep that in mind as we watch ted cruz talking last night about the obama care fight that led to the Government Shutdown. Heres that. But if you read the New York Times, they will tell you that this the baal accomplished nothing. Let me tell you i think collectively we accomplished a great deal. One of the things we accomplished in the fight over obama care is we elevate the National Debate over what a disaster, what a train wreck, how much obama care is hurting millions of americans all across this country. So the there you go again line because he keeps saying theyve accomplished a great deal with this Government Shutdown. Standard poors says it cost 24 billion the government billions of dollars a success . Its not a success. And the only success it was for was for ted cruz and a handful of other congressmen who got a lot of notoriety over it. It was a horrible thing for this economy. The fact is that ted cruz is looking to build up as much recognition as he possibly can to raise money. Hes doing it at everyone elses expense, including the Republican Party and their brand. What are some of the residual repercussions of the shutdown thats going to prove it was not a success . Well, let me amplify something susan said. I actually think its awfully odd for the cruzes of the world to say obama care is a terrible program thats killing the country and its too damn hard to sign up for it. Not a lot of coherence. The one id watch more carefully has to do less with the shutdown and more with the default. Remember, the threat of default was even more scary for the chi. That leads folks who lend money to the u. S. Government and all the Interest Rates that are linked to the yields on treasury bills to face higher Interest Rates. Remember, if a lender worries that the borrower is risky, they insist on a higher interest rate. We did see those Interest Rates going up. That makes a lot of investments more expensive. That could be a lasting cause. Well have to keep an eye on those rates. Goldie, your reaction to ted cruzs comments . That dog wont hunt. The dogs leg is broken and hes hobbling to the finish line. At the end of the day, ted cruz did not curiously get a very warm reception in iowa, even the governor of iowa was a bit tepid in his introduction of ted cruz. In fact, there is a threeway division in the gop that may keep them hobbled into 2014 and into 2016. I dont see how these three groups are going to patch it up and come together by the time of the next midterm election. Somebody is going all hollywood on us in todays best and worst. It guides you to a number that will change it guides you to a number your life your sleep number setting. It even knows you by name. Now its easier than ever to experience deep, restful sleep with the sleep number beds dualair technology. At the touch of a button, the sleep number bed adjusts to each persons ideal comfort and support. And youll only find it at a sleep number store. Where right now our newest innovations are available with 36month financing. Sleep number. Comfort individualized. In saudi arabia, an unspecified number of women defy an edict by getting behind the wheel of a car. Women have been driving around major city streets and posting videos of themselves on youtube. Officials began issuing warnings earlier this week. But its unclear what the penalty will be. Now back to the big 3. Goldie . Best to worst . My best for the week is john ridley who was the screenwriter for red tails. Thank him for giving us this bit of history. My loser for the week, unfortunately is megar b star jayz. Seems like they are profiling young africanamerican men and women who shop in barneys. Susan, your best and worst . The best week goes to senator joe manchin out of west virginia. The reason why is hes quietly putting together at the beginning of the week a group of Democratic Senators who actually believe we need to delay the implementation of obama care, just because of the glitches, not the policy. Now, the loser of the week who had the worst week not because of his own doing was john kerry because arriving in europe when he did to those stories about nsa had to be painful. And then finding out his house was robbed while he was away. Yeah. That wasnt good. Jared . The best goes to republican tom cole, republican from oklahoma whos said with the upcoming budget negotiations that he actually thinks revenues should be on the table. That sounds like a more balanced approach to fiscal policy than weve seen recently. Opt worst side, id have to say those folks who came to testify on capitol hill about the problems with the website, the private contractors. They all pointed at each other saying, theyre the bad guys. Goldie, susan and jared, thank you so much. Im hoping that craig melvin does not notice that im 19 seconds over he was talking to somebody. He gives me so much you know what about that. Ill get off now. That wraps up the show. Up next, craig melvin. See you tomorrow. T. Baron of the buildout. You need a permit. To be this awesome. And you. Rent from national. Because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. And go. You can even take a fullsize or above, and still pay the midsize price. aaron purrrfect. vo meeeow, business pro. Meeeow. Go national. Go like a pro. See, i knew testosterone could affect sex drive, but not energy or even my mood. Thats when i talked with my doctor. He gave me some blood tests. Showed it was low t. Thats it. It was a number. [ male announcer ] today, men with low t have androgel 1. 62 testosterone gel. The 1 prescribed topical testosterone replacement therapy increases testosterone when used daily. Women and children should avoid contact with application sites. 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