if it's sunday, it's meet the press. s it for today. we'll be back next week. this is a five minute vote. >> government shutdown all but assured. a rare early morning house vote sends the senate a plan that would delay obamacare. good sunday afternoon pr, i'm cg melvin. >> the senate won't take it up, the president won't sign it. house republicans are shutting down the government. >> why are we doing this? number one, this is a program

that is too extensive to afford. >> republican shoes not shut the government down. >> the gentleman's time has expired. >> yell all you want -- >> time has expired. >> and at this hour, 33 hours to a shutdown, new pressure on the senate. >> the house responded to the millions of americans who are hurting under obamacare. >> the senate won't even come bag back today. they're the ones playing games. they need to act. >> we should have this debate, but we shouldn't connect to a government shutdown. >> do you think that it's really going to happen? >> i'm afraid i do. >> also ahead, early warning. what u.s. intelligence knew about the kenyon mall massacre days before it happened. also, spying on your social circles. sophisticated graphs the government has drawn to keep tabs on who you are talking to and when. and stereotypes with toys.

the doll house teaching girls science and technology. it's today's big idea. a whole heck of a lot to get to, but we start on capitol hill where we are at t minus 1 1/2 days now until a very possible government shutdown. i want to bring in kelly o'donnell. when the senate adjourned friday, many went back home. we just heard from ted cruz there on "meet the press" this morning. he said that his colleagues need to hustle back. >> let's talk about the next steps. the next step is the senate needs to act. and right now, the senate is on recess. in my view, harry reid should call the senate back this today. we have a bill in front of us, there a government shutdown in 48 hour.his today. we have a bill in front of us, there a government shutdown in 48 hour.inhis today. we have a bill in front of us, there a government shutdown in 48 hour.we have a bill in front there a government shutdown in 48 hour. i'd love to be back in houston with my two little girls but i'm here in washington, d.c.. >> on cruz's colleagues echoed

that today, as well. is there anyway feasible for that to happen? what's the time line here? >> one of the ticketities is when senators do go home, those that don't live nearby, you have to ask the for them to get back to planes and come back on washington. it was certainly foreseeable that sunday would be a pressure point day and there more senators than a usual weekend who are in town. but senate leadership, harry reid, has decided that he will not bring the senate back up tomorrow afternoon. strategically that is all about saying to the house we don't want to deal with the ideas that you passed in the middle much the night, that is to keep the government open for a period of time, but as a condition to delay the health care law. and that's something that senate democrats will not deal on. so they are prepared to go into the middle of the afternoon of the final day to try to put more pressure on house republicans. this is part of the chess game that everybody who is a part of it on capitol hill, the

lawmaker, they understand what the stakes are and what a lot of the likely moves are. but what is different about this type of crisis than we've seen in the past is we haven't seen the sort of racing back and forth between offices with negotiations going on. today has been strangely quiet and in fact about an hour from now, we expect house republicans i think noting that it's been so quiet trying to seize a bit of attention by having an event where they will sort of call out senators and say why aren't they working today. but i've been here since very early this morning and we've walked the halls and it has been crickets and ittumbleweed. if you run out the clock, you re du reduce the options available. the house decides to have some kind of next alternative presuming the senate rejects what the house passed in the middle of the night and again that was about delaying the health care law and repealing the medical device tax.

because what that alternative will be, we don't yet know. they want to hold those cards close to the vest until it plays out a bit more. but these are certainly uncertain times here. >> crickets and tumbleweeds. a big thank, kelly. meanwhile the blame game is fiercer than ever. here is "meet the press" this morning. >> democrats think this is a loser for us. i think everybody agrees this is a loser for us if the government shuts down. and that's why i think the president and the democrats want to shut down the government. if you look last night at twitter, there wasn't a single republican on twitter who was saying let's shuts down the government, but every single democrat was saying the republicans want to shut down the government. the politics are coming from the other side, as well. so let's be really honest about this. and the other side would like to see republicans in trouble in 2014. >> so is this all about scoring political point s democratic

congressman john marmouth joins us. if the government shuts down, what are the implications politically? >> well, that will be determined down the road. i certainly think that the american people will place the blame firmly where it belongs and that's on house republicans. clearly the senate was able to take action to keep the government running after tuesday. and so they did their job. the house republicans basically are holding the government hostage. and very small group of house republicans is holding their conference hostage, as well. so i think republicans will be damaged. unfortunately, the tea party republicans don't really face any consequences at home because they're in safe districts. >> and again at some point we'll talk about precisely what's led to that because there are a lot of folks that contend gerrymandering has a great deal

to do with all of this will. if and when the senate does table the house plan tomorrow and they send that plan stripped of the slecontroversial amendme, what will the house do with that plan? >> it's up to john boehner and the house republicans. all indications are that they will do something like they did last night, add extraneous policy matters to the continuing resolution and send it back to the senate where once again it will stall. you know, the republicans clearly intended to shut the government down and expected to shut the government down if they hadn't, they would not have introduced that bill last night to make sure that our military people were paid on time. there would have been no need to do that. they fully expected this. i think they had people who just again don't care whether the government shuts down. they want to make these ideological points. >> so it sounds like what you're

saying is that there are significant number of people in the lower chamber who have said, you knnoknow what, shut it down just to prove a point. >> absolutely. and there are news reports that after the vote last night republicans were very cheerful, were ecstatic about what they had done. and fully knowing that after 42 attempts to repeal the affordable care act, that one more that would also shut the government down was a perfectly normal thing to do. it's bizarre, but that's the way many of these people think. and i really do sympathize with speaker boehner and many of the republican leaders who are equally frustrated. i knee they don't want this scenario to occur. and speaker boehner has it within his power to actually rely on democrats and a fair number of his conference to pass a clean continuing resolution with no extra baggage and get it done. on november 8 last year, speaker

boehner said we're finished trying to appeal the affordable care act, the election settled that. and so we know where his heart is and his head is. unfortunately, he hasn't want able to convince his members. >> congressman, thank you. >> thank you, craig. >> let's get to the brain truss. a former economic polling city adviser to vice president joe biden, phillip rucker, political reporter. and matt welch, editor-in-chief at reason magazine. good to see all of you you. jared, let me start with you. federal agencies were asked to identify a central personnel who would be furloughed in the government shutdown. these are just a few xft amples. nasa could lose 97% of its 18,000 employees for a while, employees at the epa, which regulates the quality of our air and water. they could lose 94% of its workforce. about half of the defense department's 800,000 civilian employees could be furloughed.

associate security administration would lose 29% of its staff. there is a decent chance that the weekly jobs report could also be delayed. how quickly will the general public feel the effect of this government shutdown? >> actually, it's already happening. i know personally people who have canceled trips to national parks because they thought maybe there would be a shutdown. so our tourism industry is already impacted and that means folks canceling airplane flights, as well. so think about this, 800,000 government employees furloughed without pay. now, historically can during these shutdowns, they have their paychecks retroactively, but you we don't know if that's the case, so you're absolutely right to that down that list. if anybody is thinking about getting a visa or going to a passport office, that's not going to happen during the shutdown. and as you mentioned, as we discussed if you're planning to go to a national park, if you're

planning to go to the zoo, they will feeded pand ethe pandas an monkeys, but nobody will be there visiting them. >> the national zoo. there was a statement in less than 48 hours, our government will shut down instead of taking a day off, majority leader reid should call senators back to washington and pass the common sense legislation to delay obama care. why is it isn't the senate in session, why would harry reid let these guys go home? >> this is not something you he won't negotiate.why would harry guys go home? >> this is not something you he won't negotiate. president obama is not willing to negotiate. they feel like the budget bill should be taken care of on its open independent of anything having to do with the affordable care act which they noted is the law of the land and was upheld by the supreme court. so i don't think they're interested in going back and forth and having a negotiation here. >> there has been a lot of criticism over thhouse and sena,

a lot of kricof criticism of th position of nonnegotiation, the president saying he won't negotiate. is that an appropriate response? >> the president doesn't have the option not to negotiate over the debt ceiling because the debt creel which go is different than the government shutdown doesn't emanate from the presidency. he can't wave the presidential wand and say i'm doing this without negotiation. i think the problem here is that republicans got caught in a government shutdown trap. that's always been up popular. what is very popular is to say if we're going to raise the debt ceiling which is the other fight that we're having right now, do it with spending cuts. america would like it see spending cuts attached to a debt ceiling fight, but americans are opposed to shutting the government down. what they have done behind ted cruz is have this game of chicken strategy, so now everyone is talking about shutdown. i'm surprised that polls are pretty evenly split about who people would blame. i think they would break more towards republicans as we get

closer to it. but we're just replaying what we did last january on the fiscal cliff. we'll shut it down for like 11 hours. if intrade was still legal, i would bet it would be issues down for less than 24 hours and they will well get on with it. >> matt just brought up the cuts. the republicans, they have gotten the cuts that they wanted, have they not? >> they have certainly gotten a lot of cuts. if you look over the ten years that we craft these budget window, we've had $2.5 trillion in deficit reduction. 70% of that has been spending cuts. but i don't think you could say they have gotten the cuts they wanted because they want far, far more cuts. if you actually look at for example the ryan budget in the house, they want to take far more out of, for example, programs that affect low income people. they would love to go after the entitlements and block grant food stamps and all the above. so there is a question of what

they want and what is realistic politics. and the gap these days between these two concepts is just huge. >> phil, after the 2012 election, house speaker john boehner seemed resigned to the fact at least that obamacare was here to stay. that take a listen. >> you had said next year that you would repeal the health care vote. is that still your mission? >> i think the election changes that. it's pretty clear that the president was reelected, obamacare is the law of the land. >> shortly thereafter, he did try to walk that back just a little bit. but how have political realities changed the speaker's position, phil? >> well, what you have in the house republican conference there is a lot of members who are feeling pressure from activists on the far right and back in their districts to keep at this fight on obama care. and that's what senator ted cruz is pushing overcare. and that's what senator ted cruz

is pushing over on the senate side. it's put the speaker in the position where he really has to work within his divided conference and maintain his authority and credibility as the speaker by pursuing this health care provision or not. >> guys, stick around. i want to come back to you in just a few minutes. we'll talk about how we get out of this mess. first, though, congressional shenanigans aside, open enrollment for obama care starts tuesday. we'll give you the basics on how to sign up. also, president obama, senator ted cruz, they all showed up on snl last night. we'll catch up on that. and the breakfast club of congress. there is a new caucus for lawmakers who grew up in the 80s. one of its founding members joins me coming up. [ male announcer ] a doctor running late for a medical convention loses his computer, exposing thousands of patient records to identity theft. data breaches can happen that easily. we don't believe you should be a victim of someone else's mistake. we're lifelock.

we constantly monitor the web so if any of your personal information is misused, we're on it. ♪ ow. [ male announcer ] call 1-800-lifelock or go to lifelock.com today. [ 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. ♪ [ female announcer ] at 100 calories, not all food choices add up. some are giant. some not so giant. when managing your weight, bigger is always better. ♪ ho ho ho ♪ green giant

[ male announcer ] the distances aren't getting shorter. ♪ the trucks are going farther. the 2013 ram 1500 with best-in-class fuel economy. engineered to move heaven and earth. guts. glory. ram. the new ram 1500. motor trend's 2013 truck of the year. the new ram 1500. make my mark i wawith pride.ork. create moments of value. build character through quality. and earn the right to be called a classic. the lands' end no iron dress shirt. starting at 49 dollars.

another rest in connection to the deadly mall attack in nairobi. it brings the total to 12. meanwhile we have exclusive images from inside the mall in the after math of that attack. also today, a senior u.s. intelligence source tells nbc that the national security agency, nsa, did get a heads up about a potential attack in kenya before the massacre, however they apparently get several warnings like that every month. speaking of the nsa, the "new york times" reports the nsa has been mapping our social connections. the latest leak reveals the spy agency collected data using people's gps location, voter registration roles and facebook profiles. and assad says his government will comply with the u.n. resolution to destroy its chemical weapons.

assad added he is willing to continue to talk about a political solution to his country's civil war. back here, government shutdown or not, come tuesday, americans can start especially rolling for coverage under the affordable care agent. aka obamacare. the president of enroll america is a nonpart sisan group. ann, great to see you. the president said it will not be a trouble free roll out. take a listen. >> somewhere around the country, there is going to be a computer glitch, the website's not working quite the way it's supposed to work. something happens where there is some error made somewhere. that will happen. that happens whenever you roll out a ynew program. >> what kind of glitches is he talking about? >> we know that in any project of this scope and scale, undoubtedly there will be some bumps along the road.

but the get cover america campaign is about spreading the word to the millions currently uninsured but stand to benefit starting this tuesday when the health insurance marketplaces launch. >> let's talk about how you're actually getting the word out. how are you going about explaining the enrollment process to uninsured americans? walk us through how you sign someone up. >> sure. so the campaign is really about having a presence in communities, about just the facts about what is coming this fall. and i think that's a lot of what has been missing from the conversation is a very simple straightforward conversation about what this means to you, to your family, and to your budget. so we are training volunteers and working with community health centers and faith leaders and business leaders across the country to have conversations and communities about what's coming on tuesday. >> let me ask you this. part of the campaign obviously is designed to get -- you're trying to get people who don't have insurance to essentially get insurance. a lot of these people are poor

and they are living in rural communities without internet connections. what are we doing to reach those people? >> well, the point you make is why the presence we're having in communities is so important. we know that there really is a hunger for the information out there. and i'll tell you, we launched our get covered america campaign at the end of june. since then, we've had thousands of conversations with folks who are uninsured. they have looked for health insurance in the past, but they have never been able to find plans that were affordable or if they were affordable, they didn't cover what they needed. and that's what's about to change. at these health insurance marketplaces that launch on tuesday, all the plans are going to be required to cover the essential benefits, including things like trips e.r., prescription drugs, doctor visits and the like. and you can't be denied because of a pre-existing condition. things like that when you deliver that information to someone at their door or at church on sunday, you can imagine that is life changing information and people are eager to hear more.

>> we showed the website from health care.gov. we want 20d gied to give an idef what it looked like. this is a poll we've used here because we find it quite comical. 46% about of residents -- excuse me, 46% of respondents say they oppose obamacare. 37% oppose affordable care agent. which of course is the same thing. was it a mistake to embrace the term obamacare? >> the point is people react differently when it's a conversation about the law, when it's a conversation about politics. the conversation that we're having with the get covered america campaign is not a conversation about the politics. it's a conversation about the personal. what does this mean to you. and often times the name of the law doesn't come up in our conversations because we're talking about new options for quality affordable health insurance. and just delivering the facts about what's going to be featured at the health insurance

marketplaces, that's what people need to know. they need to know what their options are. >> we've been calling it especially roll america and you're calling it get covered america. same thing? >> enroll america is our nonprofit and get covered america is the campaign. >> all right. ann, thank you so much. turn up the heat and let the games begin, folks. a torch lighting sceremony to kick off the winter olympic games went off without a hitch this morning in greece. it's a greek tradition. competitors will relay that torch all over greece before it heads to sochi next month. we all like? ron: i'm sorry, who are you? jc: i'm your coworker! c'mon guys, i'm driving. hey, you guys comfortable? it's best-in-class rear legroom. and with a turbo engine that gets 35 hwy mpg. you know j.d. power ranked passat the most appealing midsize car two years in a row? i bet, uh, dan here wishes somebody found him most appealing two years in a row.

ron: it's ron. jc: ron... exactly... vo: right now get the 2013 passat for 0% apr for 60 months with optional down payment match of up to $500. "stubborn love" by the lumineers did you i did. email? so what did you think of the house? did you see the school ratings? oh, you're right. hey babe, i got to go. bye daddy! have a good day at school, ok? ...but what about when my parents visit? ok. i just love this one... and it's next to a park. i love it. i love it too. here's our new house... daddy! you're not just looking for a house. you're looking for a place for your life to happen. a confident retirement. those dreams, there's just no way we're going to let them die. ♪ like they helped millions of others. by listening. planning. working one on one.

that's what ameriprise financial does. that's what they can do with you. that's how ameriprise puts more within reach. ♪

that's how ameriprise puts more within reach. a playground of innovation,. color, and design. showing up where we least expect it. and taking inspiration from our wildest dreams. because kohler doesn't see the world in fixtures and faucets. it reimagines. coloring our lives in ways only bold could do, it's no wonder the world can't wait to see what kohler does next. snl iis back. they kicked it off with tina fey hosting. this season includes one of the biggest cast overhauls for the

saturday staple. there was a bit of hazing and things off the cast, we've been talking about here, the government shutdown, that's how they kicked off the show last night. >> i'm senator ted cruz. and i do not like you you in a box. i do not like you with a fox. >> dr. seuss, come on. >> i speak for the trees. if they could speak, they would say shut down the federal government. the only thing i'm hearing right now socialism. 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. constipated? yeah. mm. some laxatives like dulcolax can cause cramps. but phillips' caplets don't. they have magnesium. for effective relief of occasional constipation. thanks. [ phillips' lady ] live the regular life. phillips'. too small. too soft. too tasty. [ both laugh ] [ male announcer ] introducing progresso's new creamy alfredo soup. inspired by perfection.

new creamy alfredo soup. 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. 33 people are dead and more than 100 hurt after twin blasts in pakistan, the third bombing in that area in just over a week. last sunday's bombing of a church killed 81. so far no one has claimed

responsibility in either attack. here is a quick look at some of the other top stories on a sunday afternoon. a u.s. navy vice admiral has been suspended from his position as the number two person in charge of the u.s. strategic command. vice admiral under investigation for issues related to gambling. meanwhile, a pastor shot and killed in the pulpit. police say 53-year-old woodrow kerry shot him while he was preaching. he later called 911 and admit what had he's done. at this point, no word on why. and take a look at this, about 30 people had to jump into a london river trying to escape a boat fire there. it happened earlier today next to the houses of parliament. those passengers were later rescued. again no word yet on what caused that fire. fortunately no one was seriously

injured. 32 1/2 hours, that's what's left to go before this government shuts down. joining me live, chrkristen wel. we know president obama has said that he is going to veto the republican plan passed by the house last night. although the senate won't even take it up, so it won't probably get to that. what is, though, the president's strategy now in terms of actually moving the ball forward? >> craig, good afternoon. i can tell you there have been meetings here at the staff level, at the white house yesterday, today, i anticipate that will continue into tomorrow. the strategy moving forward, nebulous right now. i can tell that you this white house continues to dig in its heels. they just won't negotiate over the issue of the president's health care law. yesterday jay carney releasing this statement in relation to the house bill saying, quote, any member of the republican party who votes for this bill is voting for a shutdown. really underscoring the point

that they will negotiate about other matters, but they will not consider a law that delays or defunds obamacare. so how do you move forward from here. of course that bill now goes to the senate. senate not back in session until tomorrow. harry reid has said he will reject it outright and i think part of the calculation is that because you will be in the final hours up a government shutdown, that that will put pressure on the republican party to essentially blink first. will it work? that's a big question mark. we know republicans are about to hold a rally on capitol hill. they continue to dig in their heels, as well, at this hour. >> chris tekristen welker, than. with more now on the looming shutdown in washington, imi'm joined by patrick murphy. congressman, good to see you. you have said in the past that if and when the government does he said up shutting down, you're not going to take your pay.

are other lawmakers following suit? >> there are others talking about doing the same. on behalf myself and freshman colleagues, we're appalled. this is an embarrassment for this institution and for our country. this is a serious time in our country's history. we can't be messing with our budget, with the at the time ceiling, with all these things being fumbled around. we have serious decisions to be made. >> one measure was passed was the rebeautiful the medical device tax. for those not familiar, it's a 2.3% sales tax on devices like defibrillat defibrillators, hip replacements. it's expected to generate about $29 billion in revenue over the next ten year, but the house has voted to repeal it before the senate passed a symbolic resolution, as well, opposing a

medical device tax specifically they did that in july. last night you voted to repeal it, as well. you were in the minority of your party. what's wrong with the device tax? >> well, craig, this is really a matter of identifying the fact that obamacare, afford able care act is not perfect. so we need to look at what we can do to improve it along the way. no piece of legislation that comes out of congress is perfect, so this is one step at trying to improve the affordable care act. so i'm a co-spoken or of that medical dwits tax twice tax you text you mentioned. i think it will help out a lot of doctors, a lot of device manufacturers.you mentioned. i think it will help out a lot of doctors, a lot of device manufacturers.mentioned. i think it will help out a lot of doctors, a lot of device manufacturers. many of the manufacturers are saying that they would move overseas to start manufacturing if this in fact were to go into effect. it's all about keeping jobs here in america and this certainly

wouldn't help that. >> the administration calls that claim hog wash. >> i'm on the street every day back in my strict talking to folks, talking to businesses. i guess we all have a different impression on what the people are saying. but it's my job to be their voice up here in washington and i'm listening to their concerns trying to do what's best for them. and there is no single issue here. i think that's perfect. but this is an attempt to find that bipartisan answer on how to improve the affordable care act. back to what i said, these are two entirely different issues. let's do it outside of 9 conversatithe budget or the debt ceiling. sxwli want to talk to you about the group called the congressional future caucus. it's a bipartisan group, it's aimed -- i understand about 40 members under the aim of ge of . what's unique about the perspective of a young gun like yourself? >> a lot of my peers that

recently joined the congress are more willing to compromise. we're noting a dug in and are looking at what we're doing in congress from a different perspective. a lot of the decisions that are being made are affect our generation and our kids and grandkids more than it will affect our parents and grand parents. that's why a lot of us are here. whether unemployment, job, health care, these are all decisions that we're willing to put on the table and talk about. in a realistic manner. i'm co-chair of a group called unite aed solutions. we're having similar discussions about getting the framework for the grand bargain.aed solutions. we're having similar discussions about getting the framework for the grand bargain.ed solutions. we're having similar discussions about getting the framework for the grand bargain.d solutions. we're having similar discussions about getting the framework for the grand bargain. really talking about solutions and the framework to getting our fiscal house in order. >> you sound sensible, should you come back and join us on the weekend sometime. thank you. >> thanks, craig. up next, sparking an interest in science among girls. the innovative toy teaching kids

while they play. there it is right there. that's our big idea today and there is the engineer behind it. she'll explain on the other side of this break. interest in science among girls. e the audacity to believe your financial advisor should focus on your long-term goals, not their short-term agenda. [ male announcer ] join the nearly 7 million investors who think like you do. face time and think time make a difference. at edward jones, it's how we make sense of investing.

all your important legal matters in just minutes. protect your family... and launch your dreams. at legalzoom.com we put the law on your side. that's a good thing, but it doesn't cover everything. only about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. so consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan,

insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement plans, they help save you up to thousands in out-of-pocket costs. call today to request a free decision guide. with these types of plans, you'll be able to visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients... plus, there are no networks, and you'll never need a referral to see a specialist. join the millions who have already enrolled in the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp... and provided by unitedhealthcare insurance company, which has over 30 years of experience behind it. with all the good years ahead, look for the experience and commitment to go the distance with you. call now to request your free decision guide.

here is a startling snapshot of the gender divide in america's classrooms. just 15% of young women entering college today say they plan to major in a a siscience or math field. my next guest holds one of those rare degrees in engineering and now she's thought of a creative way to change that statistic. from a very young age, alice brooks and her friend have invented a line of, get this, wired dollhouse building kits. it's all designed to get girls excited about technology and it is today's big idea. alice joins me live here in the

studio. what are we looking at here? it looks pretty cool. >> so this is a ruminate dollhouse. we is a working windmill. >> that's cool. >> we have an elevator. and what kids can do with this is they can design the whole house to whatever story they want to tell. it's up to them. >> and the thinking here is that if you can get young girls at an early age to design things like this, they become more interested in science and math? >> that's what happened for me and my partner. when we were younger, the toys that let us build were what got us excited about engineering. for me it was a saw. >> so how did you come up with this particular idea? was it just this love of dollhouses that you always had or was there more to it? >> we originally were baby-sitter and we watched girls

with their favorite toys and we saw there were a lot of cool dollhouses, but we could make them more exciting. >> and all of this is included in the kit or is it all sold separately? >> in the starter kit, you can make a room or two rooms. and there a motor in every kit. >> what sort of data have you seen that suggests that having girls engaged with toys like this at a young age will draw them to science later? >> well, there have been studies that show that in engineering classes in college, the retention is highest for kids who have played with toys that practice their spacial skills when they're younger. >> this is not part of the dollhouse. >> this is the private airplane. >> and so your dollhouses come with hangars now? >> it's all up to you you. we're not going to tell you or the girls what to make. you can make your dream house and your dream airplane. >> is this a nature/nurture

issue? people think you're wired a certain way to enjoy, appreciate and excel at science and math or you're not. it sounds as if you contend there is a little nurture involved, as well. >> i think we need to expose all g. kids to more options. if they see these options, if they can did enginecan do engin younger, the more exposed to it, the more likely we'll have more girls doing engineering. >> alice, thank you so much. again, it's called the ruminate. designed to get girls a little more interested in science and math. thank you so much and good luck to you. and do you have a big idea that's making a difference? you can tell us about it, all you have to do, there is the information on your screen. e-mail us, big idea.msnbc@n idea.msnbc@nbcuni.com. 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. some kind of... this is... an alien species. reality check: a lot of 4g lte coverage maps don't really look like much at all. i see the aleutian islands. looks like a duck. it looks like... america... ish. that's a map. that's a map of the united states. check the map. verizon's 4g lte is the most reliable, and in more places than any other 4g network. trade in your old device and trade up to america's most reliable network. i've got the good one! i got verizon! that's powerful. verizon. from capital one... boris earns unlimited rewards for his small business. can i get the smith contract, please? thank you. that's three new paper shredders. [ boris ] put 'em on my spark card.

[ garth ] boris' small business earns 2% cash back on every purchase every day. great businesses deserve unlimited rewards. read back the chicken's testimony, please. "buk, buk, bukka!" [ male announcer ] get the spark business card from capital one and earn unlimited rewards. choose 2% cash back or double miles on every purchase every day. told you i'd get half. what's in your wallet? humans. we are beautifully imperfect creatures living in an imperfect world. that's why liberty mutual insurance has your back, offering exclusive products like optional better car replacement, where if your car is totaled, we give you the money to buy one a model year newer. call... and ask an insurance expert about all our benefits today, like our 24/7 support and service, because at liberty mutual insurance, we believe our customers do their best

out there in the world, so we do everything we can to be there for them when they need us. plus, you could save hundreds when you switch, up to $423. call... today. liberty mutual insurance -- responsibility. what's your policy? hill where leaders of the

republican controlled house are preparing to hold a rally in just a few minutes there. they will be holding that rally to push the senate to return to work and vote on the how's funding plan that would delay obamacare for a year among other things. senator harry reid says that plan is a nonstarter. president obama has vowed veto the plan. we should note that of course the senate is not there, so the rally will be more for us than the actual senators. but we'll bring you those pictures when they start. the brain trust is back. jared bernstein, phillip rucker, and matt welch. i want to start with you, jared, because i read something you wrote i think it was last week. you write a lot. but you wrote --

>> i write the same thing a lot of times. >> you basically talked about the fact that what we are seeing now are chickens coming home to roost in a nasty, dirty seeds of gerrymandering that were, you know, sewn over the past 20 years, that's what we're reaping right now. expand on that. >> well, this is key to my study of dysfunctionology. which i encourage all of us to really dig into. because we've got to get to the bottom of why politics are so dysfunctional. it's really not a partisan call at all. one of the reasons is gerrymandering. when districts are so safe for their members the leadership has far less control. one of the reasons why john boehner looks like such a feckless leader right now because of so many members in gerrymandered districts. you have to peel the onion back further and ask why so much gerrymandering? one of the reasons appears to be that courts are not imposing the kind of anti-gerrymandering law that they have as consistently

in the past. they've been too lax. another problem is state legislatures. you have to go back down to the state level to start to understand the etiology, origins of so much gerrymandering. >> i want to spend more time talking about this. this really is -- >> very important. >> i don't think a lot of folks realize how important this is. not just in this particular crisis but moving forward in this country as well. matt, this morning. "cbs this morning" did this piece on new jersey governor chris christie. there's a chance he may run for president. he's getting a lot of attention now. he was asked very simply if the republicans should be forcing a shutdown of the government. i want to play his answer and talk to you about it on the other side. here it is. >> to be fair, i don't think you hear responsible republican leaders advocating a shutdown of the government. >> so those who are advocating it, are they irresponsible? >> i think it's always irresponsible if you're running the government to be advocating for shutting it down. that by definition is a failure.

>> whose failure will this be? we spent a little bit of time talking about this at the top of the hour. ultimately when the government shuts down is this going to be blamed solely on republicans, solely on democrats? will there be a shared burden? >> we've seen that poll that i think you or the programming was showing before saying that americans would put blame 39% on republicans, 36% on democrats, 17% for both. which is actually surprising to me. i would think it would be more republicans. one thing that isn't getting enough play here is that the reason we're careening from continuing resolution to continuing resolution instead of from annual budget to annual budget is that the senate, first of all, didn't pass a budget for three year. they did finally this year. but they set up in motion this continuing resolution, you know, deadline cliff, one after the other. this is the first year we've had the house and senate -- the house has passed budgets the last three years. >> some of them laughable, but budgets nonetheless. >> they're budgets, right? then you're supposed to go into

conference committee and hash it out. this is the first year they even had the opportunity to do that. they managed to not do it. i think americans understand that there's -- there is a bipartisan dysfunctionalty at that. to christie's point, it is true that republicans and ted cruz said we have to defund obama care as a condition of continuing, you know, a resolution. that, i think, will be seen as a republican play that didn't work. >> we have a live picture right now of the capitol. we were talking a few moments ago about this rally. i guess the members of the house figure, we're in town. what are we -- what is this? i guess this is the prerally activity there. it's sunday. the redskins aren't there in the d.c. area. they're actually on the road in oakland. when that rally happens, we may bring it to you. though at this point it looks like there may be some flag football that takes place before the rally. >> i think it's touch. >> can you make out who that is?

phil rucker, are you seeing this? >> i can't see. i can only imagine. >> phil, let's pick up where matt welch just left off. again, anyone who heard these speeches last night, these floor speeches last night, you really didn't even have to watch "snl" to get a good chuckle. this idea that they are going to be able -- that the gop-controlled house is going to be able to defund obama care, repeal obama care, delay obama care, i mean, that really at the end of the day, that's what this is all about. >> that's right. and they've been trying to do this, you know, since the law passed in 2010. and, you know, it's just -- even republican senators acknowledge this is not going to happen. obama is never going to allow this to happen. it's not worth trying. but to just go back to what the point jared was making earlier about the gerrymandering in the districts, i think that's really critical here. because a lot of these house republicans are hearing from the

conservative activists and their very conservative sort of republican dominated districts. the voters in those districts really want this -- want this fight. they want to be fighting on obama care here. >> go ahead, matt. >> just to make a point, a lot of, i think, democrats look at this as republicans are just crazy people and they've gone off the deep end. sure, there's an argument for that. but i would also draw a lesson of 2006. what were democrats doing? they were tired on the comportment level of nominating people who were supposed to be, you know, you could take them home and show them to mama like john kerry back in the day. they were tired of people who wouldn't fight back. the 2006 class of democrats were elected to throw sand in george w. bush's face on social security privatization and other things. >> is that a fair comparison? >> the reason i don't think it is, this is a minority. i think matt would agree with this. what we're talking about is a minority, about a third of the republican kau scaucus. not a third of the congress.

these obstructionists represent, i think, 18% of the population. yet not only are they determining national politics, by the way, against what i think are the true desires of republican leadership, they're also with the debt ceiling threatening global economics. there's no comparison between what was going on in 2006. to me that's the difference between a policy dispute and truly undemocratic processes. >> the brain trust. msnb contributor jared bernstein who's going to come back next week for a conversation that i'm promising to you on gerrymandering. phillip rucker, matt welch from "reason" magazine. thanks to all of you. can we get that live picture up one more time? for some reason it makes me smile. i'm not exactly sure why. where did the football go? we'll try to name the congressman throwing the football. that's it. that's all for this sunday afternoon. i'll be back next saturday, 2:00 eastern. first, though, "disrupt" with karen finney. have a fantastic sunday.

run, go, go! did he just fumble? "i" formation! "i" formation! we have got to get the three-technique block! i'm not angry. i'm not yellin'. nobody's tackling anybody! we got absolutely... i don't think this was such a good idea. i'm on it. if we can't secure the quarterback center exchange... you're doing a great job, coach. well they're coming along better than i anticipated. very pleased. who told you to take a break? [ male announcer ] want to win your own football fantasy? just tell us. then use your visa card for a chance to win it.

there's a lot i had to do... ... watch my diet. stay active. start insulin... today, i learned there's something i don't have to do anymore. my doctor said that with novolog® flexpen, i don't have to use a syringe and a vial... or carry a cooler. flexpen® comes prefilled with fast-acting insulin used to help control high blood sugar when you eat. dial the exact does. inject by pushing a button. no drawing from a vial. you should eat a meal within 5 to 10 minutes after injecting novolog® (insulin aspart [rdna origin] injection). do not use if your blood sugar is too low,

or if you are allergic to any of its ingredients. the most common side effect is low blood sugar, which may cause symptoms such as sweating, shakiness, confusion, and headache. severe low blood sugar can be serious and life-threatening. ask your health care provider about alcohol use, operating machinery, or driving. other possible side effects include injection site reactions and low potassium in your blood. tell your health care provider about all medicines you take and all of your medical conditions. get medical help right away if you experience serious allergic reactions such as body rash, trouble with breathing, fast heartbeat, or sweating. flexpen® is insulin delivery my way. covered by most insurance plans, including medicare. find your co-pay cost at myflexpen.com. ask your health care provider about novolog® flexpen today. from the classic lines to the elegant trim in each and every piece, ♪

kohler will make your reality a dream. thanks for disrupting your sunday afternoon. i'm karen finney. ted cruz and the cuckoo caucus, they got what they wanted. our government appears to be headed for a shutdown. we're moments away from hearing from the leadership to tell us why. >> we are one step closer to a government shutdown. >> like in a kidnapping. you grab the baby and ask for the money. >> we have a bill in front of us. there's a government shutdown in 48 hours. >> in this case the grab the money and request for the baby. >> i want a helicopter out of here. >> tonight's economic you've got a picture you'd have to blow up. >> a check to go wherever i want to go. >> you haven't moved anything