and iran's new president rowhani. they are not scheduled to meet officially but they have set a carefully choreographied encounter could happen. it will be the first meeting between u.s. and iranian leaders in more than 30 years. "time" called the possible face to face, a handshake that could shake the world. earlier today president obama addressed the u.n. general assembly for the fifth time in a speech running over 40 minutes. a diplomatic break through between the two countries could be at hand. >> we are encouraged that president rowhani received from the iranian people a mandate to pursue a more moderate course and given president rowhani's stated commitment to reach an agreement, i've directed john kerry to pursue this effort. the roadblocks may prove to be too great but i firmly believe the diplomatic path must be tested. >> in the next few hours,

rowhani will address the general assembly and though he's held out some olive branches recently, some say it would be risky for president obama to reach out to him before hearing the content of his speech. joining me now, chuck todd and host of "the daily rundown." in town to cover the u.n. here we are at the luncheon period. you reported that many did not believe rowhani would attend the luncheon, not because he was shuning it but other reasons. >> the traditional religious reasons, they serve alcohol and that is something that happened before with these leaders and it is pretty clear he is not attending this luncheon. that has been the challenge here. there is every -- i'd say modest effort by the united states to try to make an encounter happen, but they need some cooperation from the other side. and i think that's what's been missing. some of this -- a lot of this is logistics, president speaks in the morning, rowhani speaks this afternoon. president has to go to the clinton global initiative after

rowhani speaks. there has been big movements here. kerry is going -- the president announced today that's a big deal, giving kerry that. in many ways the handshake would be a nice photo but in a weird way who cares? the substance is what the president announced today with john kerry. >> it's interesting chuck, israel has already said that their representatives will walk out of rowhani's speech without knowing exactly -- >> something they've done before. >> something they've done before but as noted by you and others, "time" magazine, things are a bit different today without jumping the gun here, things are certainly different. it's because of i think our reporters on the ground in tehran now the masses are affected by those sanctions, seeing prices increase 60 to 70% on items and those sanctions are perhaps hurting. >> i always remind people about this. it's not just about the economy in american politics but the economy everywhere, our bureau chief over there talks about

they've had inflation rates of 40%, so there is -- and the other leadership, the regime there realized that all of this movement towards rowhani, the reason he won because there is exhaustion from the public over the sanctions. they want this new tone, the question is how long will they give them and is there more substance to the tone. >> and we know that the wording is there could be a carefully choreographied encounter here. we have not heard a lot from the president's critics, those on the right. is it just people are waiting to see how this plays out? >> part of it -- i can tell you this in my reporting, the administration has been very carefully reaching out to those that are very passionate on the issue, the most pro-israel, everybody in the united states congress is pro-israel but silly to say it that way, but the ones that are this is a important issue to them and in advance

sort of put out feelers, what would you think of this? and they've gotten plenty of advice. if you notice, as you say, some of these previous critics have kept quiet because they realize rowhani deserves a symbolic. if he's going to do this, even the toughest critics believe he deserves a symbolic gesture in return so that you can keep moving forward and seeing something is there. but they have laid the groundwork here, the administration behind the scenes. this is not going to be some willy nilly thing on the -- >> before we let you go. i have to talk about brazil's president, she canceled a prior meeting with the president. here's what rousseff said. let's listen in. >> meddling in such a manner in the lives and affairs of other countries is a brief of international law and as such an affrontment to the principles that should otherwise govern relations among countries,

especially among friendly nations. >> chuck, if we didn't have the possible breakthrough with iran and continued negotiations with syria, that might have been the head line there. >> what's interesting about this, the administration thought last week just simply the brazilian canceling the state dinner, a hot place to invest, a lot of people excited about rousseff coming. i think this one -- they can't chalk this up to she was simply placating domestic politics. this is a snub on the world stage, right before he went to speak, just proves this nsa thing has been a big, by complicating factor for the president, not justal domesticay but internationally. developing in the past hour, kenya's president declared victory over the terrorists in the deadly mall attack saying quote, we have shamed and defeated our attackers.

explosions and gunfire heard throughout the day, president kenyatta said five terrorists have been killed and 11 of the attackers are in custody. forensic evidence will now determine who they are and if any of the terrorists are americans. during a news conference today, kenya's foreign minister said several americans and this british woman samantha, known as the quote, white widow, helped carry out the attacks. she's the mother of four and wife of one of suicide bombers who attacked the london transit system back in 2005. >> from the information that we have, two or three americans and i think so far i've heard of one brit. >> and the brit was a british foreign woman. >> woman, woman. she's i think done this many times before. >> we're also learning more

about some of the victims, including a 33-year-old pregnant staffer from the clinton global initiative and her boyfriend ross langdon. president clinton spoke about them today. >> they went to nairobi because they thought it was the safest, best place for her to give birth. they were just walking in the mall that day. and they were both killed along with the child. >> nbc's atia abawi joins us. is this in fact over? >> reporter: hi, tamron. that's the number one question. we thought it was over late last night. around 2:00 around security forces began dismantling the operation. they have to come back around three and a half hours later because gunfire was heard again at the westgate shopping center and it has been heard throughout the day including explosions, at

least eight explosions throughout the day and helicopters flying overhead. as you mentioned the president did speak and addressed the nation a little over an hour ago and said they have gained victory over the terrorists, didn't necessarily say it's over but implying that it is in fact over. he also mentioned that there's still bodies, dead bodies within that shopping center three floors have collapsed and bodies remain in the rubble. there are at least 60 people unaccounted for from saturday's attack. we should also mention that the details are very murky when it's coming from the government and the terrorists. most of the information is coming from twitter al shabaab a couple of hours ago said they are still in contact with their fighters within the shopping center. it remains to be seen if it's really over but most -- all kenyans for that matter are hoping that it actually is. >> atia, back to the floors collapsing in the mall.

we understand that at least in reporting there that some of the bodies or if there are or were survivors were crushed in that. do we know if that was a result of the explosion, something set off by the military or by the terrorists? do we know any more information about that? >> that's a very good question, tamron. people are speculating here was it caused from the fighting and caused from the explosions sfr the fighters of al shabaab or security forces? people don't have the answer. we don't have the answer to that right now. i'm not sure how that answer will be given to us in the next couple of days. it's not clear if those bodies were killed on saturday, on sunday, or if it happened because of the collapse. i'm sorry, we don't have the information for that and i don't think we will for the next few days at least. >> all right, great reporting, thank you very much. joining me now, nbc news analyst evan coleman and middle east region editor christopher.

you heard her say we won't know for a while. what is interesting, christopher, this whole information highway on twitter, in the opening and closing of accounts from the alleged terrorists here to even the president of kenya releasing this latest information via twitter but all over -- this is about what the world is watching here. >> the whole point is to make the world pay attention as long as as possible. you can do that on twitter, it helps and what makes people pay attention in the first place is the violence and the obscenity of the act itself taking over a shopping mall and killing these people. it's what the mumbai terrorists did in 2008 and what every terrorist tries to do and unfortunately the methodology of global terror is well known to a lot of different people these days. >> and knowing the terrorists inside are outmanned and outnumbered but even if one of them stays alive and firing a couple of bullets here and there, given the presence that there's someone in there, this story stays on forefront of international news, which is their point. >> if they take hostages as

well, which they did. the question is not just is it a stand-off with a bunch of gunmen bill but the hostagwill the hos survive exactly as in mumbai and i'm afraid many more times in the future. >> evan, the president of kenya said a short time ago that it would take forensic evidence to identify some of these terrorists who were not captured. they believe they have 11 in custody. as you well know, the major headline in addition to the tragedy of this all is that americans could be involved in this, at least two or three and a brit. >> we have to be careful because there's been a lot of contradictory flows -- >> the fbi has not confirmed anything. >> we've seen the twitter accounts pop up and down. it's like a twitter shell game. there are reports there are americans there. there are some kenyan officials that suggested this and kenyan army officer said he heard reports or saw reports of a

woman carrying an ak-47. whether or not any of this is accurate, we don't know. it is true, however, that al shabab does have a number of foreign operatives in the group and there are reports that the group that carried this out might be a dissident group from al shabaab associated with the american killed last week, a former al shabaab winner who went off the farm. >> he's from alabama. >> mobile alabama and with a group of foreign fighters including guys from britain and united states and egypt. in other words, it sounds similar to the group we saw here. >> why is it so important? the initial report there were americans amongst them came from one of the twitter accounts, why is it so important to have an american, if you will, in their midst? >> because the american media are the most powerful media in the world. i mean, there's a sort of a confusion about social media that people get their message out, communicate with others on twitter. that isn't exactly what happens. they get their message out on

twitter then the media pick it up. if there are americans among the terrorists, the american media pick it up a lot faster than if it's just say bunch of africans over there. >> as this plays out and we wait to get more information, we know that likely to follow is a crush on al shabaab, this will not go unnoticed. forceses from other nations have targeted them before and to take it teeven further. people thought they were all but destroyed. >> the question is, what do you do more than we've already done. the u.s. government launched drone strikes an we've launched aircraft. the kenyan army invaded southern somalia and took it over. just this morning they had eight kmun okayeds. and the question is what more do we do than we've already done. >> we've not talked a lot about

somalia and we know for obvious reasons why it's a tense conversation in the united states. i was watching a documentary not long ago this is this forgotten nation that is sessentially the next time bomb. we talked about the somali pirates than the terrorist group that's exist. >> it's the definition of a failed state. it is the absolute definition, broken apart long ago. we're talking did a government in mogadishu, not the government of somalia, in fact. it's every clan for itself. >> all right. thank you gentlemen. we'll have another report coming up. thank you very much. the 4-year-old girl known as baby veronica is back with her adoptive parents after a court order forced her biological father to hand her over last night. this bitter emotional heartbreaking custody battle over this child is not over yet. plus -- reserving the right to object. i'm happy to discuss it with the majority leader --

>> is there an objection? >> i object. >> senator ted cruz battling with majority leader harry reid on senate floor but it's the republican leadership now leaving cruz out on a limb by rejecting his tactic to de-fund obama care. plus, bill clinton set to appear with president obama later this afternoon to kick off the obama care rollout. we'll talk about it in the first read. you can join our conversation on any topics we address this hour. huh...fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. mmmhmmm...everybody knows that. well, did you know that old macdonald was a really bad speller? your word is...cow. cow. cow. c...o...w... ...e...i...e...i...o. [buzzer] dangnabbit. geico. fifteen minutes could save you...well, you know.

♪ (announcer) answer the call of the grill with new friskies grillers, full of meaty tenders and crunchy bites. his day of coaching begins with knee pain, when... [ man ] hey, brad, want to trade the all-day relief of two aleve for six tylenol? what's the catch? there's no catch. you want me to give up my two aleve for six tylenol? no. for my knee pain, nothing beats my aleve. no. my dna...s me. every piece is important... this part... makes my eyes blue... i might have an increased risk of heart disease... gallstones... hemochromatosis... i'll look into that.

the more you know about your dna, the more you know about yourself... now i know. know more about your health. go to 23andme.com and order your dna kit for only 99 dollars today. learn hundreds of things about your health at 23andme.com [ male announcer ] some things are designed to draw crowds. others are designed to leave them behind. ♪ the all-new 2014 lexus is. it's your move.

baby veronica, little girl at the center of a custody battle that at one point reached

the supreme court is spending her first day back with her adoptive parents. veronica's biological father, dustin brown handed her over last night in oklahoma. the case has raised major questions about tribal sovereignty and it appears the long legal fight has come to an end. gabe gutierrez joins me now. gabe, is that a definitive, is this truly the end here? >> reporter: well, right now it certainly appears to be, tamron. what we're hearing is now it may be a while before they make it back to the south carolina neighborhood. we're told they are spending much needed private time with little veronica. all this after an emotional night in oklahoma. just this week veronica celebrated her fourth birthday, now her biological father has handed her over to her adoptive parents. >> he believed it was in veronica's best interest and did this in a manner that was -- at

least traumatic. >> reporter: the oklahoma supreme court lifted its ruling that kept veronica in the state. the latest chapter in a bitter custody battle that began in 2009 when veronica's parents split her. her biological father signed the paperwork giving up custody to her birth mother who's speaking out for the first time in an interview airing on dr. phil. >> it pretty much just broke me. >> reporter: she put her daughter up for adoption, but brown a member of cherokee nation objected. after invoking a federal law that keeps native american children with their families he was awarded custody. for the last 21 months, veronica had lived with him in oklahoma. but in summer in a rare move, the u.s. supreme court weighed in ruling in the federal statute did not apply because brown quote, abandoned the indian child before birth and never had custody. >> the courts had ruled and what we were hearing out of oklahoma

was that the cherokee nation felt that it and mr. brown didn't have to obey. >> brown had refused to return veronica to her adoptive parents until now. >> and right now it is not entirely clear whether the cherokee nation plans to keep appealing this case but the tribe says it still wants dustin brown to remain an important part of veronica's life, even here in south carolina, tamron. >> gabe, thank you very much. still ahead, two high ranking school owe fishes in pennsylvania facing possible criminal charges after prosecutors say they sent quote, shockingly racist text messages on their work phones and "n" word used 14 times in one conversation to describe children. >> they should have been fired right away. and it disturbs me that the school board did not do that. >> an attorney representing

guantanamo bay detainees says the months long hunger strike is now over because the men achieved their objectives but with more than a dozen detainees being force fed, is the protest really over? has it's ups and downs. seasonal... doesn't begin to describe it. my cashflow can literally change with the weather. anything that gives me some breathing room makes a big difference. the plum card from american express gives your business flexibility. get 1.5% discount for paying early,

or up to 60 days to pay without interest, or both each month. i'm nelson gutierrez and i'm a member of the smarter money. this is what membership is. this is what membership does. i want peacocks. peacocks? walking the grounds. in tuscany. [ man ] her parents didn't expect her dreams to be so ambitious. italy? oh, that's not good. [ man ] by exploring their options, they learned that instead of going to italy, they could use a home equity loan to renovate their yard and have a beautiful wedding right here while possibly increasing the value of their home. you and roger could get married in our backyard. it's robert, dad. [ female announcer ] come in to find the right credit options for your needs. because when people talk, great things happen.

because when people talk, let's do a warm welcome. let's do crisp on the outside. cozy on the inside. and let's not do any of this. let's go to school. let's go to save. and then, let's go to town. so then we can go do, absolutely nothing. let's do this. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. owens corning insulation, now $11.87 a roll. it's delicious. so now we've turned her toffee into a business. my goal was to take an idea and make it happen. i'm janet long and i formed my toffee company through legalzoom. i never really thought i would make money doing what i love.

[ robert ] we created legalzoom to help people start their business and launch their dreams. go to legalzoom.com today and make your business dream a reality. at legalzoom.com we put the law on your side. it is now, quote, texas senator ted cruz versus the world. that is the assessment from our own chuck todd after the top two republicans made it clear they will not join senator cruz's call for a filibuster to block the bill that funds the federal government by de-funding obama care. cruz's strategy to prevent harry reid from stripping out the provision that de-funds the health care law. mcconnell's spokesperson says senator mcconnell supports the house republican bill and will not vote to block it. john cornyn tweeted, i intend to support the house bill that

defunds obama care and will vote against a bill that funds it. all this left cruz alone battling with harry reid. the possibility of a government shutdown looming next tuesday. >> we will not bow to tea party an arists who ignore the fact president obama was overwhelmingly re-elected several months ago. >> i wish he had not said he would continue to use the threat of a default to engage in brinksmanship to try to force obama care on the american people. >> joining me now live, senior political editor mark murray is senator cruz the next sarah palin where he seemingly implodes from the inside-out. this is the only place you can find ted cruz t-shirts readily available, he's got support there. but even with his own party, you have this head scratching moment

after moment here. >> tamron, i want to draw the sarah palin just yet but there's no doubt he has gotten a lot more attention and traffic and conversation from people like us and a lot of likes on facebook but in this current debate, he doesn't have the votes to be able to have the 41 to be able to stop debate. that's what he needs. so the more that the john cornyns of the world and mitch mcconnells say i'm not going to participate in the filibuster, you end up having the prospect of a bipartisan defeat by ted cruz by the end of the week. >> if it's not the sarah palin comparison, who would you compare it to as of late. the kind of criticism he's getting from within his own party is not a simple disagreement. he's being called names and snarky remarks directed at him. >> there's no doubt he has become a lightning rod both with democrats and republicans. i wouldn't draw the sarah palin

analogy just yet. what ted cruz has done, he has really shaken up probably the most decorous branch of the federal government, which is the united states senate. this is one that honors seniority and tradition and honors procedure and ted cruz has tried to shake everything up and i do think that exchange with harry reid, senate majority leader sparring one of the junior ranking senators in the chamber. >> president obama giving his kickoff speech, if you will on this huge push to educate people on obama care and he will be there with former president bill clinton. >> we've heard remarks from both barack obama, president obama and bill clinton on this subject before. tamron, we're one week away from the exchanges and enrollment in the health care exchanges beginning. time is of tessence.

it's to push people and make sure they become insured. that is what will define success in the months ahead for the obama administration and we'll see what he has to say. >> despite the importance of the u.n. speech earlier, you and the team believe this speech coming up in a few hours, this is truly the big one of the day? >> it is central to his domestic legacy. of course, it would be a very big diplomatic legacy if he gets a deal with iran. health care more than any other issue will define president obama's legacy when he exists office. >> mark murray, thanks, we'll talk with you tomorrow. >> we continue to follow developing news from the united nations general assembly where iran's new president is expected to speak in a little more than an hour. we'll get a report from tehran where the sanctions are crippling the economy. marco rubio withdraws his support for a florida judge who would have been the first openly gay black man on the federal

bench. it is just one of the things we thought you should know. actual. new kellogg's raisin bran® with omega 3 from flax seeds. plus plump juicy raisins. flax seed? who are you? i still got it. [ male announcer ] invest in your heart health with kellogg's raisin bran® cereals. then you'll love lactose-free lactaid® it's 100% real milk that's easy to digest so you can fully enjoy the dairy you love. lactaid®. for 25 years, easy to digest. easy to love.

welcome back, benjamin netanyahu is speaking out about iran's new president's upcoming speech at the united nations an hour from now. netanyahu zrukted diplomats to leave the assembly law ahead of rowhani's address which is to begin in just a few hours and warned the world should not be fooled by iran's smile offensive. president rowhani will deliver his speech hours after president obama told the assembly he has instructed secretary of state john kerry too pursue face to face negotiations with iran over its nuclear program. i was struck by your earlier reporting where you discussed the sanctions and overall feeling from the masses there in iran who want to see some

progress here. >> reporter: tamron, i'm getting a very bad sound here but i think you were talking about the sanctions and they have had a dramatic effect on iran over the last few years. inflation has gone up to 40%, youth unemployment is running at 29%. although the government says it's not entirely the fault of sanctions, the fact is that it's has had a huge effect on the country and it's worried the leadership here of t leadership here and that's why we're seeing the offerings of a deal trying to be made. they are worried about bread and butter issues. when there was the fallout after the disputed elections in 2009, that was politically motivated. if there was to be a fallout again, it would be about an economic issue, it would be about putting bread on the dinner table and that's much harder to control and that's why i think we're seeing a charm offensive by the iranians, a readiness to talk and engage. the john kerry meeting with

iranian foreign minister is the highest level meeting between an iranian and u.s. official in over 30 years. that in itself is hugely significant, even if they don't have much to talk about, just the fact they are sitting around the table together is really big news in itself. also, the fact that these two are going to be negotiating the nuclear deal shows that both sides want this done at a very high level. these are both very seasoned and high up diplomats that can make a deal together. they don't have to report home initially like the last delegation did. these initial signs are good for some sort, but as everybody has been saying before, this is all talk. we have to see substantive changes between the two of them and the problem is there's a deep seated mistrust between the united states and iran. i don't think either side wants to take the first step and get fooled by the other side. this is the great concern for the iranians, that they take the first step then the americans

will reneg or change they are mind. we've seen this happen in the past. they have tried to come to some sort of deal with rowhani was chief nuclear negotiator, he us spended uranian enrichment and then the situation has not been good between the united states and iran and the nuclear issue. >> all right, live in tehran, thank you very much, ali. military officials say there will no longer be -- they will no longer be releasing daily updates on the hunger strike at guantanamo bay, a signal that the months long protest may be winding down. the strike which ramped up in march initially stemmed from larger scale protests over long-term detention of terror suspects and anger over guards searching inmates korans. now at its peak in july, 106 of the detainees of the 166 were participating in the hunger strike. by monday prison officials said

that number dropped to 19 inmates, a number that stayed unchanged for two weeks now. the statement by prison spokesperson, as always our medical professionals will continue to monitor an evaluate the detainees while providing them with the appropriate level of care. 18 of those inmates are still on the force feeding list, an issue that's drawn widespread controversy and renewed calls for the administration to close the prison. not everyone is convinced the new tally is accurate and some are wondering if this means the strike was successful. vince warren, executive director for the center for constitutional rights. i know you've been vocal about the detainees and represented some as well. here we are with now about 19 inmates still on this hunger strike, still being force fed. how is this seen as a victory for these men who were not eating, who were taking a stand there? >> we have to remember why this thing happened to begin with. it happened because of the

egregious searches happening on korans, genital searches and all sorts of dehumanizing treatment. these are men largely who had been cleared for release. if you think about the effect of their hunger strike, it turned the national attention back to guantanamo, got the attention of the president to recommit himself to closing the base. >> speaking of the president today at the u.n. he addressed the issue of guantanamo bay. let's play a little of what he said. >> we're transferring detainees to other countries and trying terrorists in courts of law while working diligently to close the prison at guantanamo bay. >> that's a bit of what the president said. there's really no conclusion to this. we know there are people there who could be innocent. >> there are a number of people who the government has said actually can be released. so the question is why is congress holding back and keeping -- making it more difficult for president obama to do it. i will say he released two people in the last several

months, which is great, but at this rate release it will take a decade to close the prison that way. >> in april there was an op-ed from one of the detainees who talked about the conditions of guantanamo bay and wrote in part, i will never forget first time they passed the feeding tube up my nose. i can't describe how painful it is to be force fed this way. i hope that because of the pain we are suffering the eyes of the world will look at guantanamo bay before it is too late. >> absolutely. that's the goal here, we have a client who is of yemen and is cleared for release for years and he has been on hunger strike since the last person in guantanamo died in 2012. the eyes of the country need to stay focused on this problem. the problem does not go away even though the hunger strike is largely done and it is up to president obama to move forward to close the prison, repatriate

the men to countries they can go. so they can be released and live in peace. >> i greatly appreciate you coming on to discuss the ongoing situation with guantanamo bay. thank you. >> a live look at closing arguments under way in the billion dollar michael jackson wrongful death lawsuit. attorneys representing katherine jackson started by discussing her son's health leading up to his death. we'll talk with john burris about where things stand now. hey linda! what are you guys doing? having some fiber! with new phillips' fiber good gummies. they're fruity delicious! just two gummies have 4 grams of fiber! to help support regularity! i want some... [ woman ] hop on over! [ marge ] fiber the fun way, from phillips'. [ male announcer ] now, taking care of things at home is just a tap away. ♪ introducing at&t digital life... ♪ ...personalized home security and automation... [ lock clicks ] ...that lets you be closer to home. that's so cool.

[ male announcer ] get $100 in instant savings when you order digital life smart security. limited availability in select markets. ♪ limit♪d availability in select markets. (announcer) answer the call of the grill with new friskies grillers, full of meaty tenders and crunchy bites.

♪ unh ♪ [ male announcer ] you can choose to blend in. ♪ or you can choose to blend out. the all-new 2014 lexus is. it's your move. the all-new 2014 lexus is. i had pain in my abdomen... it just wouldn't go away.thing. i was spotting, but i had already gone through menopause. these symptoms may be nothing... but they could be early warning signs of a gynecologic cancer, such as cervical, ovarian, or uterine cancer. feeling bloated for no reason. that's what i remember.

seeing my doctor probably saved my life. warning signs are not the same for everyone. if you think something's wrong... see your doctor. ask about gynecologic cancer. and get the inside knowledge. i save time, money,st, and i avoid frustration. you'll find reviews on home repair to healthcare, written by people just like you. find out why more than two million members count on angie's list. angie's list -- reviews you can trust. we're following developing news out of washington, d.c., kelley o'donnell has more with senate republicans, particularly ted cruz of texas and other republicans who don't appear to be ready to stand with him. >> reporter: tamron, a lot of heat over this issue of fundsing and money provided for the health care law. from the outside, conservative groups that are on the ted cruz

side are sort of pummeling the other republicans with phone calls and messages urging them to take a no vote on a procedural step. there are a lot of steps that will play out over the next several days that are all about tactics and all about strategy for each party to get the result they want. harry reid and the democrats are now saying they wouldn't mind speeding up the process to move this along to get a result on funding the government, maybe even for a shorter term. why is that interesting? because of course, for harry reid, one of the things that could benefit him if the clock gets so pushed to the 11th hour at the end of this month then john boehner and republicans on the house side might have less leverage to kick something back. think of it like the old kid's game we played where it was musical chairs and the music stops, do you have a chair? one of things he have to do is strat guys how to control these moves, who could gain the best advantage? one of the things we're finding, a lot of pressure on ted cruz from fellow republicans and

outside conservative groups putting a lot of pressure on other established republicans. it's playing out right now and we don't have a clear path but this has been a hot lunch for both trying to see what they can do to keep the government open and how to handle the issue of obama care. >> it appears or rin hatch is breaking with ted cruz, is that the latest? >> reporter: that is significant. he's the most senior of the republicans and we're beginning to see bit by bit those kind of establishment republicans with long ties saying, that the strategy for their party is not sort of the cruz missile approach of ted cruz trying to say slow this down and the tactics that he's trying to argue for. there's a lot of dissension within republicans about the role ted cruz has taken compared to what the leaders of the party are trying to do. there aren't easy options and it's become quite messy. >> kelly o'donnell. thank you very much.

after five months of testimony, closing arguments are now under way in the civil death trial over michael jackson's death. we have a live look inside the courtroom with the late pop star's mother, katherine jackson, suing aeg more than a billion dollars claiming the company negligently hired dr. conrad murray to take care of her son without properly investigating him. as he began his closing arguments, jackson's attorney discussed jackson's struggles leading up to his death. >> even though we accomplished more than many other musicians before him, he also endured more physical and mental and emotional pain than any of us could ever have imagined. >> aeg claims the doctor had been one of the many who treated him in his past. he was set to perform 50

concerts and possible footage for the concert could be used during the closing arguments. john, from everything i learn and understand, aeg maintains that listen, it was michael jackson who hired conrad murray and it was their relationship that was set, had nothing to do with aeg. what do you make of where we stand now? >> certainly that's the central issue as to who hired conrad murray. certainly from the defense point of view dare i say the relationship with michael that he had this prior relationship with michael and michael is responsible for what happened, on the other hand, there's clear evidence that a contract was prepared by the company and that even though it was only signed by mr. murray, there's a lot of discussion with him that would suggest that he was being hired for the express purpose of making sure michael jackson is prepared to go through with this. there was a lot of money on the line. the jurors will have to find whether or not there was a relationship that existed with

aeg that basic -- that basically said that we need -- that there was a contractual relationship and that relationship is such that he was supposed to take care of michael. on other hand, if that's true, then the question is was he competent to do it and whether or not the company even looked into his background. this guy was a cardologist and not someone who specializes in sleep deprivation. >> i have to ask, john, if michael jackson ultimately hired conrad murray here, how does that fall on aeg? i know the argument is aeg provided the paycheck. but if this is your doctor from the beginning, how are they libel? i'm trying to understand this part. >> i think it's a tough stretch for them for michael jackson's lawyers because even if they would find he hired him, you have a real question of

comparative negligence because michael jackson is the one who voluntarily took this drug and given to him by a doctor he knew. even if they found he hired the person, you still have the whole question is michael jackson comparatively negligent in his own manner and that could reduce all of the damages down to a very small amount. so it's going to be tough getting liability here, i think. but on the other hand, even if they did find it, you'll find that michael jackson has some culpability and that's called comparative negligence which would reduce the verdict. >> still ahead, two pennsylvania school officials under investigation accused of using their work phones to sends text messages. prosecutors call shockingly racist. hey kevin...still eating chalk for heartburn? yeah... try new alka seltzer fruit chews. they work fast on heartburn and taste awesome. these are good. told ya! i'm feeling better already. [ male announcer ] new alka seltzer fruits chews.

enjoy the relief! the wright brothers became the first in flight. [ goodall ] i think the most amazing thing is how like us these chimpanzees are. [ laughing ] [ woman ] can you hear me? and you hear your voice?

oh, it's exciting! [ man ] touchdown confirmed. we're safe on mars. [ cheers and applause ] ♪ hi. [ baby fussing ] ♪

final product will be. and that -- that -- i want to take you developing news, senator ted cruz is -- this is not a

filibuster but he is giving a rather long speech addressing the procedural vote on the budget resolution, which will take place tomorrow, no matter how long he talks -- let's listen in a bit. >> nancy pelosi once observed, quote, pass it to find out what's in it. that's how washington does business. let me tell you how this is likely to unfold. harry reid has said he intends to offer an amendment to determine the future of our health care system. and based on public press reports and i would note you have to rely on the public press reports because this body doesn't know. based on the public press reports, that amendment is going to fully fund obama care. it's going to strip the language the house of representatives passed to de-fund obama care to listen to the american people.

the central vote -- >> again, we're listening to senator ted cruz of texas. there's a procedural vote that will take place tomorrow. he has until approximately noon tomorrow to keep speaking. the vote will occur midday on wednesday. this is not a filibuster, michael, but we know the attention rand paul got when he had his famous filibuster and here we are witnessing senator ted cruz of texas standing alone and it is essentially him against even his own party, him against the world as someone put it today. >> well, i think i get it. it's so telling because power in washington used to come from length of service, which translated into seniority. and the longer you were in town, the higher you rose in terms of committee assignments and the stronger you became as a political force. those days are over, now the methodology is say something

incendia incendiary. i assume you, it is worthy of a huge haul in terms of campaign fundraising for ted cruz and others who mimic him. there's a lot of that going on in washington. i've got an e-mail inbin that proves it. >> this lingers around a government shutdown. when you look at the latest polling here, people do not want to see a government shutdown and don't want it tied into defunding obama care and we still have a republican party that even if they would like to see obama care disappear don't have something to replace it with here. there are so many agendas but this speaks to the frustration that you have with every day people you talk to on the radio. >> no doubt about it. when you make reference to people you're talking about the general mass of people. he is playing to a very narrow, loyal demographic, a very passionate demographic. his objective here is not to reach coast to coast.

he's not trying to reach all communities with the sort of things he's saying. he's cast his lot with a very narrow band. for them, it's exactly what they want to hear. >> michael, thank you very much for reacting to the breaking news. senator ted cruz of texas speaking on the senate floor about defunding obama care despite opposition from those within his own party. thanks and thanks for watching "news nation." car insurance. everybody knows that. well, did you know that when a tree falls in the forest and no one's around, it does make a sound? ohhh...ohhh...oh boy! i'm falling. everybody look out! ahhhhh...ugh. little help here. geico. fifteen minutes could save you...well, you know. anybody? at humana, our medicare agents sit down with you and ask. hanging out with this guy. he's just the love of my life.

[ male announcer ] getting to know you is how we help you choose the humana medicare plan that works best for you. mi familia. ♪ [ male announcer ] we want to help you achieve your best health, so you can keep doing the things that are important to you. keeping up with them. i love it! [ male announcer ] helping you -- now that's what's important to us.

[ coughs ] i've got a big date, but my sinuses are acting up. it's time for advil cold and sinus. [ male announcer ] truth is that won't relieve all your symptoms. hmm? [ male announcer ] new alka seltzer plus-d relieves more sinus symptoms than any other behind the counter liquid gel. thanks for the tip. [ male announcer ] no problem. oh...and hair products. aisle 9. [ inhales deeply ] oh what a relief it is. ♪ oh what a relief it is. nascar is ab.out excitement but tracking all the action and hearing everything

from our marketing partners, the media and millions of fans on social media can be a challenge. that's why we partnered with hp to build the new nascar fan and media engagement center. hp's technology helps us turn millions of tweets, posts and stories into real-time business insights that help nascar win with our fans. i'm krystal ball, syria, iran, kenya, the stakes could not be higher. >> the nairobi crisis appears to be over, with americans among the terrorists? >> bob casey is with us live this afternoon, we'll talk to him about the looming government showdown and if you believe republicans are ready to cr compromise. >> who's there? the clintons. >> who tried to sell health care in the 90s and failed and now

they are doing it again. >> a boxing legend, never lost a match and doesn't plan to, floyd mayweather is in the cycle live this hour. >> convinced this this community of nations can deliver a more peaceful prosperous and just world to the next generation. >> president obama there perhaps hoping to channel some mayweather at the united nations today because also there is iran's new president hassan rowhani. the two have been exchanging letters but will they exchange a handshake and will the u.s. hold high level direct talks with iran for first time in 30 years? rowhani addresses the general assembly shortly. iran along with syria and middle east peace dominated president obama's address to the general assembly this morning. here are