i would have done if our circumstances were different. martha: how does lauren feel about you working with the president and taking your time away. she had a hard time understanding why i was living in washington and not home and she said, how come the president needs so much help. martha: what do you think of him working for the president. it s good except i miss my dad when he has been in washington, this year. reporter: lauren is always in his thoughts, one of her paintings hangs in his west wing office. it is the white house, but she added a reflection of the cycle skyline in the water. the first thing i see when i walk into my office every day and is lately piece of home. reporter: david axelrod will be leaving the white house soon, returning to chicago, to be closer to his family, and, to start president obama s re-election campaign. it is a privilege of a lifetime, to serve and to serve in that building, but, it is a
bill: during the holidays, what a family story this is, to most americans he s president obama s closest advisor and to his daughter, lauren, david axelrod is just dad. lauren suffers from ep epilepsy and he and his wife have been i didn t long and frightening journey dealing with her seizures, now she is seizure free and living on her own, thanks to a special place near chicago, and martha went to chicago and talked to the axelrods and found the special place. god made me. reporter: lauren axelrod is the daughter of one of the most powerful men in washington. her dad, david, is a senior advisor to president obama. since she was an infant, she s suffered an onslaught of epileptic seizures, literally assaults to the brain and sometimes she endured as many as 25 a day. until, finally, a drug came
and maintenance. and then we are trying to create an endowment. the government faces you with a fragile decision. presenten they owe us $7 million in back payments. reporter: he s dedicated to keeping misericordia going so people like lauren can live here and thrive. you want me to help with the sausages, too? reporter: now she lives in an apartment on campus and is learning how to cook and clean. for the first time, she also has a rich social life. her happiness has given her parents a great gift. relief from what has been an extremely high anxiety existence. i was so worried that somehow lauren would feel that we were giving her away, and i couldn t live with that. now, i realize that what we gave her was the opportunity to have a life of her own. also, i think, to know that
bill: rick springfield. arthel: jesse s girl. bill: catherine mcphee. great rendition of somewhere over the rain dough, wa rain. 11:00 eastern time, friday night, hope you can join us. arthel: i will, in the meantime, life is slowly getting back to normal in the big apple, slowly being the operative word and why a government regulation may have made the response a lot worse. bill: he s the president s right-hand man and some things are more important than work. david axelrod and his real-life struggle, next. i was so worried that somehow lauren would feel that we were giving her away, that i couldn t live with that. now i realize that what we gave her was the opportunity to have a life of her own.
should something happen to us, that she is in a really good place. she likes boys. martha: how like the boyfriend? are you okay with him? i don t want anyone near my daughter. no, i think they are very sweet. i want her to go to my house. you have to come and visit us. yes, lauren keeps asking about that but i m so busy, you know? for us to be even having the conversations with her is, just really incredible. incredible thing, it is a great treat. reporter: 8 years after lauren moved to misericordia, her dad took on a job that would have him away from home long stretches of time. he was the mastermind behind barack obama s historic presidential campaign. reporter: at what time did you say maybe i shouldn t go to washington and on the campaign trail? those decisions have been hard for you to feel free to do. there were several times in my career i had opportunities to work on a national campaign and