allour electronic devices. but that could be about to change. we have details in the 4:00 p.m. hour of "the newsroom." "your money" starts right now. obama care, it's the biggest change to your relationship with the government in your lifetime. but guess what, that government could be shutting down, say, midnight monday. i'm christine romans. this is "your money." yes, there's confusion surrounding the new health care law. but congress is only adding to it. let me cut through all the noise. fact, a government shutdown won't stop obama care. the law is funding through taxes, fees, and mandatory spending. shutting down the government might even speed up its implementation. that's according to the new congressional research service. fact, the pseudo filibuster by senator ted cruz, whether you admire him or despise him, it was never going to stop obama care. the republicans simply don't have the votes in the senate. if they did, there would still be a veto from the president. fact, obama care doesn't start on october 1st.

this law has been on the books for more than three years. if you had a mammogram or colonoscopy that didn't cost you a dime out of pocket, that's obama care. if you've got a kid that just graduated college and still is on your insurance, that's obama care. fact, with an undertaking this large, the biggest challenge to health care since the invention of medicare, there will be surprises, both positive and negative. we don't know if the affordable care act is going to destroy jobs or create them. we don't know if it's going to cost you personally more or less, what we do know, the u.s. government will shut down on midnight monday if no deal is struck. and in just three weeks, if the congress doesn't raise the debt ceiling, america could default on its obligations for the first time in history. the message from the markets is clear, the dow suffering five straight days of losses. republican senator johnny isaacson is the man we turn to in times like this. he has spearheaded efforts to get republicans to sit down with the white house. he's a businessman. but most importantly, at times like this, he is a grown-up. he's an adult in the room.

senator, you are no fan of obama care. you voted nearly 60 times to defund it, dismantle it, repeal it, but a government shutdown won't stop it. to go, senator?ublicans willing >> well, hopefully we'll come to our senses and won't shut the government down, because you're exactly right. you don't shut down obama care by shutting down the government, but you do disrupt a very fragile economy, which is what you're seeing happen in the markets right now. >> tell me, what did your fellow senate republican, ted cruz, what do you think senator cruz accomplished this week, over 21 crucial hours in this debate? >> you know, every member of senate has the same individual power that every other member has, and our reputations as senators are on a cumulation of how we use that power. so it remains to be seen how mr. cruz's 21-hour speech will matter or not. it did take away 21 hours of the debate towards this cr, which is unfortunate. but we've got until midnight monday night to make a decision. one of two things probably will happen. either a short-term cr to buy a few more days to negotiate or,

in fact, a shutdown, which would be wrong for the american people and wrong for the government. >> this country does have a debt problem. the congressional budget office says america's debt is going to hit 100%, senator, of gdp, by the year 2038. but it's not obama care that's driving the debt. it's entitlements already in existence, like medicare. is obama care the reasoning target for republicans here? >> obama care is a very popular law with the american people. and we should make changes in it or defund it, if we could. but, you know, legislative process is a matter of mathematics, and if four equals a majority, lee equals zero. and unfortunately, we're in the minority right now, so we can't stop it. but what we need to do is put pressure to negotiate the very best changes we possibly can. >> if this train keeps going down the track, with or without a government shutdown, another big hurdle here. a serious deadline that treasury department says october 17th, sir, that's the day the united states may not have enough cash to pay its bills. maybe 30 bucks left in the bank unless congress raises the debt ceiling. the president says threatening default on our obligations, because of obama care, amounts

to blackmail. listen. >> if republicans do not like the law, they can go through the regular channels and processes to try to change it. that's why we have elections. so they can go through the normal processes and procedures of a democracy, but you do not threaten the full faith and credit of the united states of america. >> senator, will the gop demand a delay in obama care for individuals, as a condition for raising the debt ceiling? i mean, is your party willing to risk default because they hate obama care so much? >> that remains to be seen, but i don't think default is a good idea. but i do beg to differ with the president. the legislative process is all about negotiating. the last significant change to federal spending took place in august 2011 when we did raise the debt ceiling, but in return, we got the sequester, which cut over ten years, $1.2 trillion in discretionary spending.

so i beg to differ with the president on his point on legislating, but other than that, we should not shut down the government. >> senator isaacson, thank you so much, and good luck to you. i long for the day we can talk long-term solutions and crisis-to-crisis governmeing. speaking of a crisis, the financial crisis isn't over, at least for jpmorgan. ceo jamie dimon met with attorney general eric holder this week. the bank is facing charges of $11 billion for its role in the 2008 collapse. jpmorgan is accused of selling toxic mortgages and hiding the risk. for more stories that matter to your money, give me 60 seconds on the clock. it's "money time." illegal immigration is on the rise after falling during the recession. the attraction, low-wage jobs are being added. there's also optimism that congress will eventually reform immigration to provide a pathway to citizenship. more happy housing news, home prices jumped 12.4% from july a year ago, and even with rising

mortgage rates, new home sales climbed 8% in august. apple hits a high, blackberry hits a low. apple announced a record 9 million iphone 5s and iphone 5cs sold over the weekend. but blackberry shares won't be along much longer. the company is going private for $9 a share. just five years ago, blackberry had more than half the smartphone market. today, 2%. chrysler is going public. the american automaker filed for an ipo this week. the company has made quite a comeback since going bankrupt in 2009. new french fries that might not make you fat. burger king is now offering crinkle cut fries with 40% less fat and 30% less calories than mcdonald's fries. the catch, they're slightly pricier than the original. forget next week or next year, education secretary arne duncan is focused on what governing by crisis means for an entire generation, including your kids. >> while we're doing these cuts,

i worry about what china's doing, what india's doing, what i think other's doing, what south korea is doing. >> find out what a government shutdown could cost your children. that's next. [ female announcer ] we lowered her fever.

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will power us all... into the future. ♪ deep spending cuts in education make the future for educating our kids uncertain, at best. districts are providing less per-student funding for kindergarten through 12th grade than they did before the recession, often far less. u.s. high school students rank 31st in math and 23rd in science

versus other developed countries. since july 2008, more than 300,000 jobs in education have been cut. that's teachers, principals, assistants, and support staff. secretary of education, arne duncan, wants to raise teacher pay. he wants to train and hire more teachers. he wants to place an emphasis on math and science. that all sounds great for our kids, right? but i asked him how he plans to accomplish this at a time of severe cuts and threats of a government shutdown just days away. >> well, unfortunately, we've been through this before, obviously. so we are preparing for the worst. i really hope it won't happen, as it's bad for children and bad for education, and bad for the country way beyond us. washington is very dysfunctional these days, but i hope there's enough common sense there, that it won't come to that. but we are preparing if we need to for that happen. >> so it will be furloughs then? >> it will be bad at many, many levels, furloughs being one piece of it. there's no upside to the government shutting down, way

beyond education, no upside. >> the department of education facing a shutdown, tell me about the political climate. >> what's so sad to me is that this is not how other countries are managing their educational investment. they're investing more in early childhood, improving k-12, expanding access to higher ed. and as a nation, i worry about our economic competitiveness. our children are the smartest, most talented children anywhere in the world. i want to keep high-wage, high-skilled jobs in this country. the only way to do that is to have an educated workforce. and while we're doing sequester and these cuts, i worry about what china's doing, what india's doing, what singapore is doing. those countries are committed to have a great, great educational system. right now our country is struggling. and we're doing our children and ultimately our nation a great disservice. >> you'll hear that there's a skills gap, companies and ceos will complain about a skills gap, academic research shows, investing on the front end has kids better -- better skills,

better capabilities, were the cognitive ability later on. why aren't we investing more at the front end? >> because politicians think short-term. they think about the next new cycle. they think about the next election. early childhood investment is the best investment we as a country can make. the president and i are actually convinced of that. it's absolutely the long-term investment, as you know. you have folks who are a lot smarter than me, dr. heckaman who talks about a 7-to-1 roi. for every $1 we invest, we as a country gets back $7. less teenage pregnancies, less dropouts, less crime, more high school graduates, more folks entering the world of work. to 7-to-1 roi is pretty darn good. why don't we make that commitment as a country. today the average child coming from a disadvantaged community starts kindergarten at 5 years old in the fall, they start kindergarten a year to 14 months behind. why are we constantly playing catch-up? wo we have to give our babies a

chance to enter kindergarten ready to be successful. >> a lot of people say forget the old kindergarten through 12th grade model. i call it crawl through 12, not k-12. we need to be educating our kids well before they get to kindergarten. hopefully our children's future can make their way on to washington's agenda, an agenda that's jam-packed with threats to shut the government down and not pay our bills. that's some kind of role model, right? coming up, shaquille o'neal's rebound from these comments made in 2002. >> we're not going to worry about the sacramento queens, not at all. >> but now shaq says, king me. but first, a 21-hour speech, a banana republic comparison, heated comments to reporters. does that sound more like politicians or coaches? we're going to play political football with john berman in just a moment.

there's a game being played in washington this weekend, but we're not talking about the redskins. they're visiting the raiders. john berman here. she's going to make sense of all of this, right? >> maybe. or maybe not. we'll have to see about that. so, for example, this week, a democratic senator who once famously called obama care a train wreck now says -- >> we all need to work together to make it work for families and businesses who depend on it, instead of using it as a political football. >> did somebody say "football"? >> this is the united states of

america. we're not samom some banana rep. >> reporter: the pressure of the podium. this time of year, it's a frustration shared by politicians and football coaches alike. >> i'm moving forward, i'm moving on. i'm moving forward. i'm moving on. >> reporter: moving on to midnight, october 1st. the deadline to avoid a government shutdown, now centered around a 3 1/2-year battle over obama care. >> i intend to speak in support of defunding obama care until i am no longer able to stand. >> reporter: whether or not the government shuts down, obama care remains the law of the land. >> mike, why are you in such a bad mood? >> what do you care? okay? if you were 2 and 70, you'd be in a bad mood too. what's next? >> reporter: what's next? a seemingly endless supply of politicians insisting they understand the public criticisms and they're here to fix it >> this place is a mess. let's get our house in order.

we are legislators. >> come after me! i'm a man! i'm 40! >> reporter: and with the clock once again ticking towards a government shutdown, tensions are running high. >> they don't come up with sun single idea how they might make it better. >> you want to to crown 'em, crown [ bleep ]. but they are who we thought they were! and we let them off the hook. >> reporter: there very 42 attempts in the house to delay, defund, or repeal obama care. >> any bill that defunds obama care is dead, dead. it's a waste of time. >> reporter: or is it? >> you play to win the game. >> our goal here is to cut spending and to protect the american people from obama care. it's as simple as that. >> hello! >> ah, yes, hello. it is such a fun comparison. but it may not go far enough, unless we hear coaches at the podium this weekend reciting

"green eggs and ham," like senator ted cruz did this weekend. let's see if they have it in them to go the way of the congressman. >> they never would. >> they have dignity. >> political football, indeed. it's the biggest business deal of the week, and we're not talking about the purchase price. rachel nichols has the score. >> christine, this is part of a larger trend. star athletes don't want to just be coaches or broadcasters after they retire. they want to buy into team ownership too. and that's how some of today's players are making hundreds of millions of dollars more than their predecessors, that lane is open to them. one of the nba's smallest market franchises got a giant-sized boost this week when shaquille o'neal bought a minority ownership stake in the sacramento kings. >> we look forward to bringing act back to wrhere it used to b. >> reporter: in an interview with cnn, o'neill said the seed for this moment was planted

years ago by lakers legend, magic johnson. >> magic johnson came to me and said, endorsements are fine, but you want to start owning things. and at 18 years old, i was like, what the heck is he talking about. but when i got older, i realized, you want to start owning things. for me, it's just about, you know, just meeting people, just being there. >> reporter: now, shaq, we all remember, of course, when you were playing for the lakers, what you said about the sacramento kings, especially back in 2002. >> we're not worried about the sacramento queens. >> reporter: so there are still fans out there saying, really, of all the teams, sacramento, that's where he's going to? >> i understand that. and i think they know now that i was a marketing expert. what i did was i drove people to watch the game. i made the fans of sacramento so upset, because it was the toughest place to play, and we want to bring that feel back, bring that environment back. >> the kings' majority owner,

silicon valley software typhoon says he isn't worried about any past bad blood. >> we have this concept in silicon valley that there's lots of money, but what you want is smart money. and for the journey we're undertaking right now, there isn't any smarter money than dr. shaquille o'neal. >> reporter: so now that he's stopped calling this the queens, is it time for a new nickname. >> of course, there is, you ready? >> give it to me. >> back to shackromento. >> reporter: and shaq told me he had dinner with the governor of california the night before his big announcement, and he did clear that new name, so, hey, it's official. and earlier this year, derek jeter told me that after he retires, his goal is to own a baseball team. so watch out for these athletes. they have some money and they're looking to spend. thanks, rachel. up next, obama care isn't coming, it's already here. it's not going away, and it may soon be knocking on your door. we're going to take out the politics, we're going to show

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obama care isn't coming. it's already here. the president signed it into law 3 1/2 years ago. since then, this law has survived a challenge in the supreme court, a presidential election, and a 21-hour rant from senator ted cruz, even a government shutdown won't kill it. but forget the politics. we've got the facts for you and

your family. sanjay gupta will join me in a moment. americans without company-sponsored plans can either roll in their plans on state-based exchanges. that rollout begins on october 1st. coverage starts january 1st. and by march 31st, just about everyone must have health insurance or they're going to pay a penalty. and everyone, no matter how sick, must be able to get coverage. bob funk runs express employment professionals. this company places 500,000 people in jobs every year. funk says the affordable care act is good for his business, but it's bad for workers who want full-time positions. >> companies are fearful of hiring anyone on a permanent basis anymore, because of the fear of what's the cost is going to be. >> now, companies have been relying more on part-time workers since long before obama care became law, but it is true that the law is raising costs on employers. some companies are responding by cutting back on benefits or by passing the cost increases to their workers. cnn's chief medical correspondent, sanjay gupta, is here with us to explain all

these changes. sanjay? >> you know, we're hearing a lot these days from companies who say that obama care is forcing them to make some changes. give you just a couple of examples, each one a little different. but delta airlines, they said the law is going to add $100 million to their health care costs, just next year. that's what they're telling us. and one piece of that, the example they're citing is that it's going to cost an extra $14 million to have young adults added to their parent's plans. remember that, the law says that people under 26 can stay on their parents' plans. it's very popular, but it isn't free. and that's what delta is saying. u.p.s., they're also blaming obama care when they said that they're dropping coverage for about 15,000 spouses. now, it's worth pointing out, those are people who already have coverage through their own other jobs, but home depot dropped coverage for about 20,000 part-time workers. the limited plans that these part-time workers had, they're no longer legal. so home depot was forced to do this. now, those workers should be okay, because most of them will

be eligible for subsidies and they can take their money from the premiums at home depot and put it into the federal market place. a lot of this is confusing and may even sound alarming to people, but don't look at it in a vacuum. there's been this trend towards higher cost and fewer benefits for quite some time now. >> thanks, sanjay. there are four tiers, plus a low-cost catastrophic option for people under 30. bronze plans cover 60% of costs, all the way up to 90% for the platinum plans. now, depending on your income, the government pay pick up some of the cost of your plan. if you're a single person making less than $46,000 a year or a family of four, $94,000, you'll likely qualify for a government subsidy. price also depend on where you live and how old you are. why the variability around the country? let me show you a few examples. a single person living in mississippi, who makes $25,000 a year would pay 75 bucks a month after subsidies for the bronze plan. a family of four making $50,000 a year would pay about $282,000

a month for the silver plan. that's after subsidies. that same 27-year-old paying about 120 bucks a month without the subsidies, that same family of four, about $282. you could end up paying less or more than today. it's going to depend on your particular case. the administration making a big push to educate you all across the country about exactly these issues. the comedy website, funny or die is creating videos, walgreens is handing out pamphlets, and ad campaigns are targeting moms. if none of that works, volunteers will come to your door to explain the benefits. but our own zane asscher found that all of that outreach, it may not be working or at least it's a big, big job, zane. a lot of people don't know what health care conch they even have now, let alone how to switch it. what'd they find? >> we found that very few people even know what obama care even means. yes, thesis exchanges open on

tuesday, and yes, nonprofit groups are going door to door, trying to explain obama care to the uninsured. we spoken to several uninsured americans who know virtually nothing about what obama care even means. >> we'll go up the hill and around, but we'll start at the top of the hill. >> reporter: with a few days to go before the new health insurance exchanges go live, an army of obama care experts are going door to door. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> is christopher home. >> we're not selling anything. >> do you currently have insurance. >> reporter: trying to explain obama care to americans who don't have health insurance. >> i think it has to do with something about caring for people, you know, obama care. that's all that i know. >> reporter: according to the kaiser foundation, 43% of americans still have no idea about the new exchanges. >> i have a question. >> who created this affordable health care plan. >> this was passed by congress. >> oh, congress created it. >> the affordable care act, yes. >> and i'm just wondering as a citizen of america, how come i

did not hear of this? >> reporter: while health care reform is a frequent source of contention in congress, many of the people we spoke to here in new jersey were hearing details of obama care for the very first time just this week. >> i'm definitely going to read into it. >> reporter: is obama forcing americans to get health insurance? it sounds that way? >> reporter: in rural america, a nonprofit group funded mainly by insurance companies, health care groups, and charities is working to spread the word. dispatching 130 field workers in ten states. >> we can follow up with you. >> reporter: on october 1st, 48 million uninsured americans will be able to purchase health coverage through federal and state exchanges. coverage starts january 1st and they must enroll before march 31st. >> they're going to be able to shop, just like you shop for an airline ticket or a flat screen tv and see what's the best price for you. >> this is all new to me. i never knew about any of this. >> reporter: i think part of the

problem is people see the word obama care tossed around in the news, but they have no idea what it actually means. it is complicated. but people were coming up to me in the street, thanking me for doing this story, because they had no idea they would soon have to buy insurance. >> and you know how terrifying it is to having to do your own open enrollment at working with think if you're uninsured and you're starting this for the first time, they have a lot of work i a head of them. zain, thank you very much. terrorists won't stop planning attacks on america even if the government shuts down. is bickering over budget sending a dangerous message to america's enemy? fareed zakaria joins me next.

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dysfunction in washington, the country on the verge of a government shutdown. a self-inflicted wound that risks damaging the still-fragile american economy. people this week, the president of the united states addressing the united nations, carefully laying out america's policies and interests in syria, iran, and the middle east peace process. compare that to what was happening back in washington. a fight over obama care that could shut down the government, but it won't stop obama care. fareed zakaria is the host of cnn's "fareed zakaria gps." fareed, thanks for being here. the president's former defense secretary, leon panetta wrote recently in an op-ed, "u.s. citizens will lose trust in our system of governing and the world will view the united states as less able to back its word with power." how much does this internal -- eternal/internal struggle in washington damage us in the eyes of the world? >> i think it does. right now, we don't have a competitor, and so it seems as

though we can careen from crisis from crisis, and there doesn't seem to be much of a price to pay. the american economy, the recovery is continuing. but there are two areas. first is the credibility of american government. we benefit enormously from the fact that the dollar is the reserve currency of the world and our treasury bills are the reserve investments of the world. if that changes, if people start worrying about getting repaid, as they shouldn't, frankly, worry, given what we're doing, that would change things dramatically. it raises huge costs for the united states. the second is, in all this crisis management, nobody is talking about what we should be doing for the long-term in this country. we are seriously underfunding investments in education, in infrastructure, in basic science. those are the -- that's the seed capital that produces growth. you know, we had these slogans where people said, it's not about big government or small government, it's about smart government. well, right now, what we are doing is stupid government. >> and when you look at how petty and stupid it is in

washington, and sometimes there's a news event around the world that puts in perspective, for example, more than 60 people killed in kenya, terrorists attacking a mall, raising a lot of fears about soft targets around the world and here in the united states, the al qaeda leader, ayman al zawahiri says he's encouraged his followers to spend more on security in order to lead america economically. does all the fighting over budgets telegraph an economic vulnerability? >> i think people see that we're dysfunctional. they say that we can't get our act together. we don't have a strategic plan. i wouldn't worry too much about al zawahiri. he hasn't been able to orchestrate anything in years, that al qaeda central, the guys who planned 9/11, are really on their heels, we've pushed them back. he knows the only thing he can do, really, is to try to encourage somebody out there to walk into a mall, because he can't plan any of it. and by the way, i hate to put it this way, if we spent more on security, right now, it would be good for the economy. what the economy needs is more

spending and more consumption. >> i want to switch gears and talk about something that john mccain said recently. russia's leader, putin, he criticized the president and his policies and he did that directly to the american people. and then the president's 2008 republican opponent, senator john mccain, responded with an anti-putin op-ed to the russian people. he said this, "i believe you deserve the opportunity to improve your lives in an economy that is built to last and benefits the many, not just the powerful few." he was writing to the russian people about an economy that benefits everybody. and we looked at these statistics. in 1989, the year the berlin wall fell, the ratio of ceo compensation to the average worker was 58 to 1. last year it was 273 to 1. the poverty rate in 1989 was 12.8%. now it's 15%. and the typical american family now makes less than it did, fareed, than it did in 1989 when you adjust for inflation. a lot of people are saying, i

don't feel like this economy is fair for me. >> look, we are a lot better off than russia, but i think your point is valid. and part of this is broad structural trends. you know, there's a globalization, there's technological change, the rise of the economy. all of that creates a winner take all system, and, you know, the successful ceos tend to do very well, partly because their compensation is tied to the stock, which rises. but that's all the more reason why we should be makie inine ii investments in education, in day care, and things that can help people move up the ladder of opportunity. i don't begrudge ceos doing very well, but i want to make sure that anybody can be a ceo. the game is not set so that you get to school and you're 6 years old and you're malnutritioned and you haven't had any kind of pre-k, we now know that you're not going to do well in school, and that means you're not going to get into a good college. that's the trend we have to stop. and part of it is that our

stupid government, that is the inability to get anything done, means we don't invest, we don't spend much money on poor people in america. we think we do, we spend a lot on the middle class, we have lots of subsidies -- >> lots of tax breaks. >> and a bunch on the rich, but the poor actually, neglected, and it's something of a scandal. >> one of the thing that's clear, the country with the most prepared and best-educated workforce is the one that's going to win in the end, with the best workforce. are we investing in our workforce? >> we're not at all. what does it mean to have a good workforce? it means you need to have them educated and you need to have the ability to retrain them, because some jobs are going to go away, some industries are going away. we do early investigation very badly. we do secondary education badly. and we do job training badly. and in all these cases, while there are lots of reforms the need to take place, it's also true that you just have to spend more money on some of the areas we're not spending it.

and i can't see washington doing that right now. >> i can't see them doing anything but politics by the minute. fareed zakaria, so nice to see you. thank you. >> a pleasure. ready to be stuck in the middle seat on your flight, listening to the guy next to you playing angry birds? the faa moved one step closer to allowing the use of electronic devices during takeoff and landing, but forget annoying, is this safe? we'll tell you if it's safe to have someone playing angry birds on takeoff and landing. that's next. gulf, bp had two bi: 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. we've added cutting-edge technology, like a new deepwater well cap and a state-of-the-art monitoring center, where experts watch over all drilling activity twenty-four-seven. and we're sharing what we've learned, so we can all produce energy more safely. our commitment has never been stronger.

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[ babies crying ] surprise -- your house was built on an ancient burial ground. [ ghosts moaning ] surprise -- your car needs a new transmission. [ coyote howls ] how about no more surprises? now you can get all the online trading tools you need without any surprise fees. ♪ it's not rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade. you and your fees went flying this year. a record year for airline fees. but there are still some deals, if you know where to look. look, more than $27 billion, with a "b," generated from your pocket to the airlines from those ala cart fees. that's more than we spent on the entire budget of nasa. think of that. so where is this money coming from? it's coming from your pocket. it is the money you pay for roomier seats, for checked bags,

for early bird boarding and rebooking your flights. a lot of money there. with costs rising for airlines, many are now relying on these fees for a huge share of their revenue. but some airlines hit you harder than others for these extras. let me give you an example. let's talk about jetblue here. it's going to let you carry on one bag for tree, southwest will give you two. look at spirit. $100 to carry on a bag if it doesn't fit under your seat. it actually makes about 40% of its revenue from exactly those kinds of fees. bottom line, you need to factor in these extra charges when you're looking at fares. now, if you want to be extra savvy, rick seeny says the cheapest days to fly are tuesday, wednesday, and saturday. the cheapest times are when no one else wants to go. very early flights. noontime, the best time to buy a ticket, tuesdays at 3:00 p.m. if you're planning holiday travel this year, book now. an analysis of last year's fares by travel site kayak.com found you've got about three more weeks before prices start to

rise. yo use these rules to help get around high prices, but once you're in the sky, you'll follow the airline's rules, but almost one third of airline passengers found they left on a portable electronic device in flight when they weren't supposed to. that has the faa concerned. but can a blue tooth really bring down an airplane? renee marsh, aviation and government regulation correspondent joins me now. renee? >> that's right, christine. well, you know, it's the rule at takeoff and touchdown. turn off all electronics. the faa expects to get recommendations from an advisory group this monday that could change that rule, but you asked the question, can our devices really take down a plane or even cause serious safety issues during flight? well, we traveled across country to one of the largest manufacturers of the commercial airplanes to find out. >> please turn off all cellular phones and other electronic devices. >> reporter: this fall, the faa could decide to relax those restrictions.

at boeing's plant in seattle, we asked the people who build the planes if it's dangerous to keep devices on during all phases of flight? >> the emissions are being measured by this antenna here. >> inside boeing's electromagnetic interference lab, engineers have been studying the issue for years. testing cell phones, laptops and tablets' impact on airplane systems. engineer kenny kirchhoff tested my cell phone. >> this phone is communicating with the cell tower, and these spikes show that it has failed. >> reporter: its emissions cross the threshold and could interfere with systems like the plane's smoke alarm. next test, a laptop. >> it goes above the limit line. >> reporter: it failed, showing potential interference with the pilot's communications radios, a tablet in wi-fi mode >> but the same tablet in aeroplane mode tested safe. >> it's not necessarily that a

phone can bring down an airplane. it's causing more work for pilots during critical phases of tliegt. >> a recent survey found one in three passengers left their devices on because they forgot. despite that, edge nengineers s electronic device has ever taken down a plane. >> new passengers are being built with electronics and they want to use this one. >> it's recommended devices not be used in flight unless it's been tested against every electronic device that could be used on board. >> you would be asking a lot of the flight attendants to monitor which devices are good and which devices can't be youzed. and that's a heavy burden for flight attendants.

>> a burden he says is impractical. >> all right. well, once the faa receives that panel's recommendations on monday, the f.a.a. will make the final decision on whether to loosen the restrictions. but individual airlines do not have to agree to adopt those lucid restrictions. >> up next, the final frontier in vacationing. >> we'll start with giving people a taste of space. we'll start building hotels in space. >> really? in our lifetime? >> in your lifetime, definitely. hopefully, in my lifetime. >> but how many lifetimes would it take you to afford that trip to space? it could be this one if richard branson gets his way. sat three insurance policies. the first had lots of coverage. the second, only a little. but the third was... just right! bear: hi! yeah, we love visitors.

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a trip to space. you might call that the ultimate vacation for the 1 pnt. who are the more than 600 others ready to take the trip? cnn's poppi harlo travels to the m m mojavi desert to find out. >> how much to charter one of these? >> $1.2 million. >> and i hear you're going to

leave two seats empty? >> no, they're not empty. that's two angels coming with us. >> passengers won't just check in and hop on board. the whole day's experience will be training and health checks and then three minutes walgt less in space. >> unlike nasa's rockets, it won't orbit the earth. it's sir richard branson who is determined to take them there. >> is this the new space race? >> i think it's the start of it. it's not been easy. it's taken us five years more than we thought it would take. but, finally, they've pulled it off. >> that is if the faa gives galactic the green light. virgin says commercial launch is just months away. >> we're broaching out into a new field in the sky. and we're going to have some mishaps that happen now. hopefully, they won't be catastrophic. >> do you ever fear that maybe

you're putting too much at risk with this? >> people risked a lot to get space off the ground in the first place. unless you risk something, the world stays still. >> branson is such a believer, he plans to take the first flight with his own children. david mckai will be at the controls. >> we don't want to psh too hard, too quickly. it would be nice to be first to do it, but it would be nice. >> what is your ultimate sdreem for this? >> we'll start with giving people a taste of space. and then we'll senld people into orbital flights. we'll start building hotels in space. >> really. in our lifetime? >> in your lifetime, definitely. hopefully, in my lifetime. >> but will this ever be for the masses? is this a playground for the wealthiest? the 1%? >> initially. it's very much the wealthiest who are going to use it.

but through these wealthy people being willing to be pioneers, i think millions of people will, one day, have the chance to go to space. >> like mikey oliveri who has a dream to be the first. >> i want to be the first disabled person in space. i don't have 200 grand, but i have a dream. >> hoping he will get his moment among the stars. >> if you have the guts to boldly go is one thing. if you have the cash is another. industry watchers warn don't expect this to become affordable for the masses any time soon. but then, again, this is a con suspect that knows no bounds. >> thanks for joining us this week. head to cnn.com to find out why al gore says we not only have a crisis, we have a democracy cry sisz. >> massive amounts of money and