the insurance industry with a last-minute report showing insurance costs will sky rocket if we go through with health care reform. shocker from the health care industry. not really. we asked you earlier why you're awake. pete has answers. >> the repo guys just took my camry. >> oh, that's why he's awake? >> yeah. >> i can't laugh at that. that's terrible. >> reed writes you look like orson well. >> someone pointed that out to me recently. google images, there's a shot that looks exactly like me. i am. i view myself that way, as a young orson wells. thanks, pete. thanks to jim miklaszewski calling in from afghanistan. great report there. "morning joe" starts right now. third and goal. in motion. touchdown, miami! >> oh, that was a late night for some boys. apparently very heartbreaking. the one that got away here in "the new york daily news," jets' debacle. scampering to the table. were you up late watching the game last night? >> no. i saw the highlights last night. what a game. one team scored, the other team scored. jets came out on the wrong end of that one. >> hello! >> after their 3-0 start, they were the darlings in new york. now they stumbled a little bit. >> we'll have to get joe's take on that also. joe's take coming up on rush's nfl bid. we'll talk about that. also, a baby. can i have the baby? >> i have not seen this. >> chris, you're not going to show -- >> it's a tease. >> no. i want to see the baby. >> not him. >> i'm not talking about you. >> i know. >> they flashed to me. >> no, there's this baby -- >> that big giant baby? >> it's a big baby. >> i know about big baby. >> i know. >> how big is this baby? >> apparently it's very big, so big that -- look at him. the story behind this baby is that he's so big, alex is his name. alex is so big and fat that they wouldn't insure him. >> but they changed their mind? >> they changed their mind. we'll have the full story coming up this hour, hear from his parents and talk about how it may represent part of a health care problem and obviously the health care industry looking at potential changes. big vote today. we'll start there, in fact. shall we? >> yeah. time for the day's top stories. hours before a vote on a long awaited health care bill, criticism the white house was not expecting. >> i will continue to seek common ground in the weeks ahead. >> reporter: an you uneasy courtship. urging the health insurance industry to take part in health care reform. they did, and the white house was stunned. >> yes, i did feel blind sided. i felt we were working together. >> reporter: families could end up paying $4,000 more. >> under the current legislation, costs will actually go up faster than they would under current law. that flies in the face of the goal of health care reform, which is to bring down the cost of coverage. >> reporter: the senate finance committee, led by senator max baucus is working on that reform. >> some say our bill will cause premiums to go up. that, too, is false. >> reporter: an outside group did the study. among the claims, family health care plan that costs $12,300 would jump to more than $17,000 in a few years. why? health insurers say that new costs like a tax on high-end plans would be passed on to customers, a message the lobbying group plans to get out, as the industry did in the '90s. >> having choitss we don't like is no choice at all. >> they choose. >> we lose. >> that harry and louise ad did damage to reform efforts then. they sent out its point person on health care. >> they'll be making billions more on profits by getting all americans covered. if we're going to ask americans to step up and have a responsibility to get covered and help them with tax credits to do it, then the insurance industry should pay something too. secretary of state hillary clinton is in russia this morning, where iran's nuclear ambitions are dominating the agenda. clinton hopes to press moscow into backing sanctions against tehran if they fail to reveal their nuclear intentions. >> pentagon is deploying 13,000 additional troops to afghanistan after an unannounced authorization by the white house. according to this morning's "washington post," it includes intelligence and medical personnel. moments ago on "way too early," nbc's jim miklaszewski says "the the post" headline is wrong and the move is better described as rotation, adding it does not raise the overall size of the u.s. military force in afghanistan. president obama is seeing a slight boost in his job approval marks following his surprise win of the nobel peace prize. according to gallup daily tracking poll, his approval stands at 56%. it's now up six points from his low point. not so low, though, 50% just last week. >> north korea continues to test the world's patience with a series of missile tests yesterday and possibly more today. the laurchls come at the same time the regime is signaling an interest in returning it to six-party talks. according to "the new york times," north and south korean officials will meet to discuss flood prevention along a border river. rush limbaugh is running into new oppositiono in his bid to buy the st. louis rams. the reverend al sharpton and the reverend jesse jackson, blasting the taung show host for what they call his poor record on race. in 2003, limbaugh resigned from espn after saying the media wanted a black quarterback to succeed. limbaugh addressed the situation on his radio show with another stab at the media. >> one of the things that is going around out there is that black nfl players will boycott playing the game if i am an owner in the league, which, of course, is absurd, but this is being reported and it's designed to affect the outcome of all of this, which again i can't address. >> all right. andrew ross sorkin, just wondering, your take on the rush bid potentially, to buy a team and he can't because he's, quote, racist. >> hard to argue. it doesn't make much sense to me. i don't know. does it make sense to you? >> i'm not sure. i'm not sure what al sharpton thinks he's doing. we are hoping to talk to him. we actually tried to book him. >> al sharpton shouldn't be deciding who can own a team. rush actually addressed this a little more on his radio show saying, this is crazy. i, rush limbaugh, am color blind. here's what he said. >> when i, for example, say i think the media has little interest in the black quarterback doing well, i mean it. most of the sports media -- media is politically correct liberals and that kind of surface stuff matters to them. i'm interested in people's hearts and their souls, because that's what animates us as human beings, not our skin color. i'm color blind. >> he's color blind. >> that only make it is worse, can i just suggest to you? before i was arguing it made no sense, now it makes -- >> he has made other comments specifically about the nfl, one sharpton pointed to, watching the nfl is like watching the bloods and crips these days. that's because of the criminal history. does it have an impact on whether he should own an nfl team? >> we should delve into this. i don't understand why rush, and other people who buy teams -- >> the profits itselcess itself political anyway. there's always some gamemanship. >> if he wants to buy a team, he can buy a team. can he afford a team? >> with some help, yeah. >> there we go. we'll leave it there. we'll get a check on the weather with bill karins. i guess it's all systems go, bill. >> it is. good morning. we have a huge storm coming into the west coast, big weather event of the day, probably making national news during this afternoon, because we're going to see damage from this storm. anyone traveling to the west coast, especially into the san francisco and oakland area, that's where the worst of it is. the next 12 to 18 hours, we'll see winds gusting almost up to 60 miles per hour. that's a strong tropical storm type gust. the had heavy rain is already coming down. this is very unusual for october. we get storms like this in november and december, but not usually october. in san francisco, downed trees and powerline, one to three inches of rain, in the mountains mud slides, because of the fires and the burns and the drought. heavy rains will cause debris and mudslides during the day today and tomorrow. san antonio, houston, even into new orleans, showers and thunderstorms possible. airport delays. not a pretty forecast in new england, a light rain currently. temperatures are very chilly, in the 40s in boston today, hartford, 60 degrees with on and off light rain. you do not need your umbrellas from philadelphia, boston sbh drchlts c. more rain possibly by the end of the week. mika? >> yes? >> we may, just may bring out the word nor'easter by saturday or friday. >> are you kidding me? >> no, no joke. >> it's only october. >> i didn't say snow. i just said nor'easter possibly. >> that doesn't make sense. >> he tries to be -- adds some -- it's "morning joe". >> he made that up. >> thanks, bill. we appreciate it. actually, he might be serious. >> coming up, we'll talk more about today's landmark vote on health care legislation with house mantle whip james clyburn on set with us. also the president to the council of foreign relations richard haass, least bad option for success in afghanistan. plus, rush limbaugh unleashed. what he really thinks of hillary clinton, sarah palin and glenn beck. more of the nbc news exclusive interview with jamie gangel. when we come back, who is the most powerful person in washington? his name is not obama. politico has an exclusive look at ghchlt q's top list. lady gaga wants to be a representative for the gay community. yeah. apparently she's tired of only representing the incredibly gay community. national car rental? that's my choice. because with national, i roll past the counter... and choose any car in the aisle. choosing your own car? now that's a good call. go national. go like a pro. big story, oprah winfrey, have you heard about this? former employee of oprah winfrey claims she was wrongfully terminated and is suing oprah for $75,000. after hearing about it, oprah said $75,000? that is adorable. >> i'm sorry. i love conan. i'm rooting for the guy. go on, conan. >> he's great. here with us now, chief correspondent for politico, mike allen, he has an exciting look at the morning playbook. >> happy tuesday. >> happy tuesday to you. today is especially exciting. you will help us reveal gq's d.c. power list. >> they did the 50 most powerful people whose last names aren't obama or biden. take michelle and the vice president off the list. moving down there, willie, who would you say is the fifth most powerful, most powerful person in d.c. whose last name isn't obama or biden? it's not a trick. >> that's so easy. >> got to be rahm emanual. >> nancy pelosi. >> michelle obama. >> no, no obama last name. >> she's disqualified. >> mika, have you got any? >> valerie jarrett. >> how did we do, mike? >> the speaker and miss jarrett are high on the list. you're right, rahm emanual is number one on the list of 50 most powerful people in d.c. from there, you see the health care debate. all 50 of them will be posted around noon, gq.com. budget director peter orszag, who is pretty gq, way up there at number five. it's really different this year. tied for 12, the american health insurance plan head karen ignani and billy tozan, head of pharma, the drugmakers, also tied for 12. >> peter orszag may be gq by politico's standards, but those are the only standards. >> he is a man about d.c. you should you would be surprised. >> that says a lot about d.c., besides the fact that rahm emanual is number one. that says a lot about the world, willie. >> all right. move on quickly now. >> for the benefit of all? let's talk about the big vote today in the senate finance committee. a lot of people watching what owe olympia snowe does. what will her vote, one way or another, mean, mike? >> by the way she's number 22, tied for 22 on the gq list. when the senate finance committee votes on their health care bill today the most watched health care bill, the most watched vote will be the moderate center from maine. people say if she votes for it, that that will be a sign that there's a hope for republicans to get on board and to be able to pass health care with a full 60 votes. if she votes against it, that will be taken as a real setback for democrats who have done a lot to bring her on board for this bill, but it gives her more leverage as they negotiate the bill going ahead. some people think she will go that way. if she votes against it you'll hear a lot of talk right away about will democrats go with a 50 vote strategy, democrat-only bill? we're doing some counting, if they need to go that way -- they would rather not. there's obvious political problems with that. it will be very messy. >> yeah. i mean, if they did decide to go reconciliation like "the new york times" editorial page had suggested, which, of course, is interesting, because they considered that the worst thing ever when bush was in office. but if they do, that creates warfare. barack obama loses all republican votes for a long time. olympia snowe provides cover for maine, susan collins. >> right. >> voting for it does give cover to those democrats in the middle. >> what is the significance of this vote today? they're expecting it to get approved, the balk us bill. what does that mean in the big picture? >> olympia snowe vote, we know how everybody is going to vote on this. don't we? >> sure. it will pass easily. this is the ticket you have to punch in order to move ahead to get it on the senate floor, which probably will be two weeks from now, and then trying to put the house and senate together, the white house now is thinking mid december for a bill to the president's desk. joe biden said he hoped it would be by thanksgiving, but i think christmas eve may be more like the real deadline. >> before i let it you go, i want to ask you about this story out of the chamber of commerce. 9.8% unemployment. u.s. chamber of commerce looking for some hope. >> they are. tomorrow they'll be announcing a plan for the country to create 20 million jobs over the next ten years. they're starting a campaign for free enterprise and plan to spend tens of millions of dollars on it, raising it from entrepreneurs, people who have benefited from capitalism and they found people like the idea of free enterprise but don't necessarily know what it does for them. they'll try to do that with this campaign. it has its own website and twitter account and will do a lot of outreach to young people. >> thank you, mike. >> we'll be checking out the playbook at politico.com. >> have a great day. >> you're like a school teacher. >> sometimes he rambles. >> ooh, can't believe you said that. >> i told him that. i actually cut him off once. >> he doesn't ramble. >> i had a viewer thank me for doing that once. >> really? wow! >> i don't understand. you just say what it is. come under fire for decision to deny coverage to a 4-month-old baby in colorado. >> that's not good. >> and to describe this baby, we would -- maybe we would call him big for his age. >> like me. big boned. >> all right. they reversed their decision. as nbc's lee cowan reports, it leads customers shaking their heads in disbelief. >> reporter: just 4 months old, alex may already be a symbol of health reform and looks almost as confused about it as his parents are. >> it's frustrating. very frustrating. >> reporter: alex is big and happy, quickly earned the nickname chunky monkey at 17 pounds, no wonder. although he's healthy as ever, his parents decided to apply for individual health coverage for alex, but they were turned down. not because of his age, but because he was too fat. >> am i supposed to put my child on a diet, put him on a treadmill? of course not. he's an infant. >> reporter: their insurer, rocky mountain health plans, called alex obese, pre-existing condition, financial risk. given their underwriting guidelines, he was uninsurable, even though he was perfectly healthy. >> i felt helpless because what do you do? i can't not feed him. >> reporter: individual policies for infants like alex are relatively new. so are the guidelines. preconceived limits may be a problem. >> the guidelines that they've used were just ridiculous. they just aren't helping anybody and actually probably pushing some people into being uninsured. >> reporter: alex's father, a local news anchor, made the story public, and the insurer didn't dodge the issue. in fact, admitted there was a flaw in the system. >> we like to see had health care reform so that these things go away. >> reporter: rocky mountain health plans announced a company-wide policy change that will now provide coverage for healthy infants, regardless of their weight. >> the problem isn't with the insurance company. it's with the system. >> reporter: as for alex, even though he can't walk, he's already become a major player in the health care debate. not a bad legacy for a 4-month-old. lee cowan, nbc news, los angeles. >> goodness, he's cute. >> i love the father saying, hey, what do you want me to do, put him on a treadmill? he's a baby. >> wow! >> 3-month-old who is a giant, about that tall, that wide. >> at the top of the show when you were getting wired up, we were talking about al sharpton. >> yeah. >> he just called. he's going to call in now. >> i thought you were going to say he called and he wants his suit back. are you going to make fun of my suit some more? >> i think it's very nice. don't feel bad. i was just being honest. it's the greatest suit ever. >> is it a new suit? >> al sharpton. what, you don't like this? >> i like the dark suit. i'm a dark suit girl. you guys are always judging my clothes and i say one thing. i will never do that again. i was asked to criticize and now i realize that i should just -- >> al sharpton is coming up at 6 6:30. he wants to call in. who are we to say no? >> also a look at the papers around the country. we'll be back with the papers, andrew ross sorkin and mika's must-read op-ed and the reverend al sharpton on rush limbaugh and why he shouldn't own a football team. goodwrench... we roll out the blue carpet for drivers of these great gm brands. we can do the small things, the big things, just about everything... right inside your gm dealership. find out more at goodwrench.com. 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[all coughing] welcome to the ladders-- a premium job site for only $100k-plus jobs and only $100k-plus talent. new aches and pains, ...and new questions about which pain reliever is right for your body. tylenol 8 hour works with your body, with one layer that dissolves quickly... ...one layer that lasts all day ...and no layers that irritate your stomach the way that ibuprofen can. it's tough on your body pain. not on your body. gm drivers.. it's goodwrench & go time. three great services: all in one place. all at one time. all for one price for most gm vehicles. but it's only for a limited time. at participating gm dealers. >> welcome back to "morning joe." it's just before 6:30 on the east coast. time for a look at today's top stories. finance senate committee is set to vote on the so-called balk us health care plan. few, if any members, are expected to support the $829 billion legislation. it's coming under a last-minute attack from a new insurance industry report that claims the plan will add thousands of dollars to the cost of a typical policy. new privacy concerns are being raised this morning over the fbi's use of facial recognition technology. the agency is comparing the driver's licenses of millions of motorists with pictures of convicts and fugitives. the aclu cal