experimental drug that might shrink the tumors. but with the government shut down including most of the nih, the family was told there was a chance mckenna might not get the medicine. i hope it doesn t make me or anybody else who
children, unable to start clinical trials for the crucial medical treatment that they need at the national institutes of health. and my good friend and colleague elizabeth cohen has been following this and joins me now from the cnn center. you ve been talking to the family of one very sick child it sounds like. right, sanjay, her name is mckenna smith and she s 12 years old and her last hope at life is an experimental drug, but, sanjay, this week that hope began to fade. reporter: mckenna smith spends most of her time in this wheelchair because of a rare genetic disease doctors say she probably won t see her 20th birthday. sometimes i don t even feel like i want to get up because my back is aching so bad. reporter: the pain she feels is caused by tumors that wrap her way around her nerves and compress her organs. there s no cure, but there is hope. on monday, mckenna and her dad, justin, arrived here at the national institutes of health in bethesda, maryland, so mckenna could s
and about obama care. despite it all sign-ups for new insurance did go into effect this week. love it or hate it, this is a big deal. i mean, not since the creation of medicare and medicaid nearly 50 years ago has the country expanded its safety net to know many people or at so much cost. it s a historic moment so we decided to spend the week traveling the country on the cnn express to try to get a glimpse of how the affordable care act is going to impact you and it does impact everybody. i do have to say that i quickly realized that for most people some of the details have really gotten lost in all this. in fact, take a listen to a little bit that jimmie kimmam pulled earlier this week. we re talking about health care today, which plan do you support, obama care or the affordable care act? so, the affordable care act is more affordable than obama care? just the name says it all. so you disagree with obama care? yes, i do. do you think insurance companies should b
majority leader has to say, dana. the shutdown taking a major financial toll on everyday americans and in some cases people s lives are actually at risk. new clinical trials at national institutes of health, they are now on hold and that means every week 200 patients, 30 of them children, won t get the treatment they need. our senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen talked to the family of a little girl who is now fighting for her life. reporter: mckenna smith spends most of her time in this wheelchair because of a rare genetic disease, doctors say she probably won t see her 20th birthday. sometimes i doesn t feel like i want to get up because my back is aching so bad. reporter: the pain she feels is caused by tumors that wrap their way around her nerves and compress her organs. there s no cure but there is hope. on monday, mckenna and her dad, justin, arrived here at national
congressman steve king gave his take on all how all of this will end. there will be a snowball effect from each side that will roll here and at some point, one mass will get greater than the other, one size of the snowball will get greater than the other and one side or the other is going to have to move. let s go to our chief congressional correspondent dana bash, following all of the latest developments on capitol hill. so what are the latest developments? the housekeeps passing these piecemeal funding measures, the senate rejects that. where do we go from here? reporter: you know, it s unclear. the house speaker is continuing to have meetings with his colleagues. i passed his office and some some republican members going in to talk strategy. and the barbs are flying and getting a lot more personal, wolf. harry reid just spoke on the senate floor, he spoke eight press conference, really giving it to john boehner, sort of in the way you heard the president but in more biting ter