it's tuesday, october 22nd. and trick or treat comes early. ♪ the product is g. the health insurance that is being provided is good. people can save money. >> give it to us straight, dot-gov. >> the problems are very significant. >> you know the nigerian e-mail scammers? they have been hired to run the obama care website. >> you said it was a positive influence. >> holy cow, people like what this guy is doing. >> who is the last great candidate you have had and accepted. >> someone like ted cruz or rand paul. >> no, who was the last one. >>s the tea party insists the shutdown was worth it. to strike a stylistic, symbolic, if not substantive blow against obama care. >> making sure that everybody who has expertise is focused on fixing it. not making heads roll. >> we did not wage this battle, just around a website. that's not what this was about. ♪

with the approach of halloween, the season of ghosts, spooks and pranks is upon us. among them, the republican party line on the affordable care act and its impact on jobs and economic growth. and in case you need a recap, here's senator marco rubio earlier today. >> obviously, i believe it should be repealed and replaced. but one of the most fundamental powers and responsibilities of members of congress is to fund things or not fund things. and i certainly don't believe we should be funding an insurance law that's going to do so much harm to the american dream and to the american economy. >> yes, that was the grand rationale that led to the great american government shutdown of 2013. you know, the one that cost the nation $24 billion in lost economic productivity. and, by the way, some people think it was done brilliantly. >> the shutdown was so

magnificent, run beautifully. i'm so proud of these republicans. and that is because they have branded the republican party as the anti obama care party. >> yes, they certainly have done that. and that's where the great punking of america comes in. because while republicans were crying out to kill obama care, save the economy, the white house offered up the chairman of its council of economic advisers to describe what actually happened. >> instead, what we did in october was a self-inflicted wound that will subtract from jobs when we eventually learn the jobs number for october. >> that's right. thanks to the gop shutdown, sales growth slowed, jobless claims soared. economic confidence plunged. and estimates showed gdp growth in the fourth quarter will be reduced anywhere from 2/10 to 6/10. that's the marvelous ann coul r

coulter's definition of magnificent, all in the service of a branding effort on behalf of the gop. and it's an effort that boehner and company have every intention of carrying on into the foreseeable future. cue today's response to a late jobs report for september. showing an added 148,000 jobs, the jobless rate ticking down to 7.2%. and to that steady more than three-year trend of job growth and job creation and growth, house speaker john boehner issued a statement of righteous fury aimed at republicans' newest, greatest obsession. healthcare.gov. quote, today's report shows the president has more than a troubled website to fix. he has a troubled economy. weakened by years of failed stimulus policies and excessive red tape. that's why, in the weeks and months ahead, republicans are going to continue to work, to stop the president's health care law. and to pursue pro growth policies that strengthen our economy and expand opportunity

for all americans. right, that sounds familiar. but will have republicans rev up for shut down part deax, they might want to look at the numbers. because they're starting to sound a bit like sally brown. >> i had to listen to you! you blockhead! what a fool i was! >> you tell 'em, sally. let's get right to our pam. with us in new york is contributor joy reid, of the grio.com and maria theresa kumar, president of voter latino. joy, can you explain to us how the red-faced speaker boehner or orange-face, depending on what you prefer, how he has the gall to say he is beyond economic growth when he's been behind a republican shutdown that reduced growth by $24 billion? >> i think he might have win those talking points a couple

months ago and wheeled them out. by the way, 126,000 of those jobs were in the private sector. so the problem republicans and john boehner have now is that their argument is complicated and doesn't work. they're trying to say that the affordable care act kills jobs. but the jobs number is the best it's been in five years. they're trying to say it stops entrepreneurship in the private sector, but private sector jobs growth is the bulk of the job creation we're seeing, and really the slow down in jobs has been in public sector hiring, because the republicans have insisted on getting rid of public sector jobs. it doesn't make sense. and i can't say this enough. the thing they're saying is, the bullet in the heart of the economy is people being able to buy health insurance from private insurers. it doesn't make a lot of sense as an economic argument. >> well, that's -- >> it hasn't even started, right? >> and it hasn't even started. >> health care hasn't started. so that's where their theory, what they're trying to promote to the american people, breaks down. because all you can do right now is enroll. but health care itself doesn't

start until january 1. >> they say it's a train wreck and destroying jobs for three years. >> they don't have any solutions and don't know how to talk straight to the american people. >> and at this point they're saying a website. it's not health care itself. it's a website that -- >> we'll answer that in a minute. i understand that republicans are now channelling their inner mark zuckerberg. but while talking about the website, what about some salient acts about the affordable care act. 3.4 million young americans up to age 26 now have health coverage. that insurance companies can no longer deny coverage to those with preexisting conditions. and that's something, by the way, that is supported by 83% of americans. that some 24 million americans currently without health insurance will be able to buy it, thanks to subsidies. and another 13 million will be covered for medicaid expansion. what is the song and dance about here? >> martin, i was at the white house yesterday when the president addressed this at the rose garden. and he principally said this is

a win-win for the american people and i think that's what the republicans afraid. do you know that six out of ten americans can now get health insurance for less than $100 a month. that's unheard. and if you're a pregnant woman, for those down that road, for most part, they could not get health insurance before, because that was a preexisting condition. it no longer is. >> being pregnant was a preexisting condition. >> yes. >> fantastic. what a great system. and that's a system that they want to maintain, as republicans. >> exactly. so it's -- it's a -- if you want that narrative, you want a continued war on women. and that's not a good narrative for the republican party. >> right. joy, if speaker boehner and i address to both of you, really, wanted to do something about economic growth, would he have not got behind the senate proposal on comprehensive immigration reform? after all, what does the cbo say? the senate bill would increase gdp by $700 billion in 2023. >> right. >> by $1.4 trillion by 2033. i mean, again, he says he's for

pro growth. >> right. >> economic policies and job creation. and yet they do absolutely nothing when confronted with the prospect of doing so with the senate bill. >> right. and the thing that makes no sense, if you want economic growth but you don't want to tax anyone who is existing, paying taxes, why would you not want to create more legitimate taxpayers who can pay into the system and help shore up the economy? they're saying they don't want to do that. they don't want more income coming in. they're saying don't get that second job or add more hours to your work but they don't want to do anything that would increase -- >> this is actually one of the few things that will -- they'll actually address the issue of national security. that's what the republicans claim they really care about is securing our border. number two, they want to inject to the economy without increasing taxes but the cbo said it also shows roughly 10,000 jobs are going to be added to our economy monthly. and more importantly, you actually provide a fair wage for all the american people, because all of a sudden, folks that are right now currently being paid

under the table, they won't be. they actually have to all of a sudden make sure they have a competitive -- just like every person. >> and certainty for employers. because the other issue, and e verify went down during -- employers couldn't even verify. >> never mentioned that. >> right. so the point is, now you would have certainty for businesses and republicans are used to be the party of business before they became the tea party. and businesses need the certainty of knowing that who they're hiring and they won't be fined or penalized. >> but joy, everything you're both saying is about economic growth and job creation. >> right. >> but none of these things are being picked up by republicans. and yet their kdeceitfulness an lying to the nation, schlag off the numbers and say they're pro growth. i'm still looking for one thing. give me one thing. >> well, and they're lying principally not just to the american people but their own base. they're lying to their core v o voters and saying if we stop people from being able to buy health insurance, you'll have a

job. >> what they really need to do, talk to the gop republican governors who actually have to govern and expanding medicaid, because they realize they have a population that is in need and they have to address the issues. first as a governing body all they do is legislate. yes, sure, you could identify what you're funding and who you're funding but you're not seeing those programs or the need on the ground. >> no, i have to mention, the president and first lady attended parent/teacher conferences at their daughter's school earlier today. do you think the president may have asked for teacher tips on how to handle adolescents -- >> the lesson for john boehner once you lose respect of your students you can't lead the classroom and he has lost control of his students. there is still hope for john boehner. he has to eventually confront those 40 or 50 people and say, if you don't get me the votes, i'm going to get 100 moderate or conservative formerly conservative republicans and they're going to be my guarantee. you're going to be irrelevant. you're either going to vote with me or i'm going to get these guys and they're going to do it. that's what a strong peeker would do, that's what nancy

pelosi would do. >> either the tea party is going to make sure he goes down in flames or the establishment. >> someone is. maria theresa kumar and joy r d reid, thank you for joining us. coming up, how to defeat goliath. we'll talk to challenger barbara buono about her effort to unseat one of the most popular governors in the country. and what was behind chris christie's surprising decision on same-sex marriage? >> the formalities are out the way. time for the special moment this couple has been waiting for all their lives. >> do you wish to be joined in marriage? >> yes. >> yes. >> yes! >> and i wish to join you. not in marriage, but join you together. >> too late, it already got weird. >> all right! you may hug your mayor! >> what the hell!

leave them alone! this is not about you! ♪

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you know, tom. you must be the thinnest-skinned guy in america. >> gayle. >> none of your business. >> did i stay on topic? are you steward? on topic. next question. >> do you think that is a confrontational tone, then, you know, you should really see me when i'm pissed. >> ah, yes. everyone's favorite acerbic encore. probably unwise not to tell our next guest chris christie is almost certainly to be re-elected next governor of new jersey, nor that his presidential material or nor

that his habit of calling people jerk or idiot is indicative of strong practicing mattek leadership. we'll do all three with our next guest, state senator, barbara buono, welcome to our broadcast. nationally, mr. christie has developed this fantastic image of himself as a no-nonsense principled, pragmatic kind of guy. how does that reputation square with the fact that the state now ranks 44th in job creation, where the unemployment rate is 8.5%, not 7.2%. and where property taxes have gone up almost 20% under his leadership? >> well, you know, i do take issue with your first statements. are you beating me? he better not can his chicken so fast. new jersey focuses -- >> according to the polls, he looks as though he's pretty well ahead. >> well, you know what they say about polls, it's a snapshot in time. and in new jersey, we make our decision a couple weeks out. and we just went up on tv last week so people were communicating our message. people are out there listening

to it. and it's resonating. and you really expressed our platform right there. this governor is wrong on the issues. we have an economy in emergency that has fallen flat, bottom of the barrel in economic growth. this governor doesn't have an economic plan. he has taken a page out of the trickle-down economics we voted against in the last two presidential elections. >> so how do you credit his success? >> people in new jersey are burdened under the highest property taxes that they have seen ever. people are out of work. we have the highest unemployment in the region and the lowest -- >> so why is he so popular? >> they're not focused. he's a good entertainer. governor o'malley -- >> he's an entertainer? >> as governor o'malley said, if you can't govern, you better well entertain. and he is entertaining. but you know what, no amount of youtube videos or late-night wise cracks on letterman or snl can erase the fact this governor doesn't have an economic plan. his social issues, stance on social issue are in sync with, i

don't know, sarah palin. certainly not new jersey. >> not now, because he supports gay marriage or certainly not litigating against it, is he? >> that couldn't be further from the truth. this governor has stood against gay marriage for four years. the supreme court of new jersey, thank goodness, backed him into a corner. he had no choice. he reacted to the rule of law. they said, hey, listen. they denied his motion to stay in lower court decision, saying that words do matter. you are denying gay couples their equal rights under the law. but he was backed into a corner. he reacted to the rule of law. so was that a principled position or was that simply him being pragmatic? >> this governor, one thing you can say about him. you can be sure, he will say whatever it takes to get re-elected. you heard him in boston before the rnc. he said if you want a candidate that believes in ideology, someone that has some conviction, i'm no not you're guy, because i'm in it to win. >> during a recent debate, mr.

christie argued he was perfectly healthy to carry out his duties andit's hard to assume he isn't. he did a great job over hurricane sandy and so on and led the state in that way, i guess, fairly successfully. you've published your own medical records, which describe you in excellent health. would you like him to do the same? >> you know, i think it's really not a question of what i would like. it's whether or not the people of new jersey, the voters think that's relevant in the election. but what i'm focused on, the fact there is 400,000 people out of work. this governor doesn't have an economic plan. >> i get it. and we have discussed that. what i'm asking is, do you think that his physical condition is an issue? >> and as i said, i think it's up to the voters of new jersey to make that decision on november 5th. what. >> do you think? >> i think that the moderator asked my governor and myself at the first debate whether or not we would release our medical records if we were asked. and we were asked. and i released them. the governor hasn't. >> okay. we didn't answer the question, i forgive you. during the last debate, you

asked christie whether he regretted raising money for americans who helped bring the shutdown about. let me play a bit of his response. >> i don't regret it at all. in fact, what i regret is what we see in washington, d.c. that's been typified by the awful partisanship by both sides. >> how do you -- i mean, he says he's opposed to the shutdown. and yet on the other hand, he won't condemn those who brought it about. >> well, exactly. and i think that there isn't -- he said there is enough blame to go around. quite frankly, i don't think there is. i think it's squarely at the feet of the republican party. and some of them have taken responsibility. the governor likes to, you know, throw his sound bites out there. but you can't erase the fact that he campaigned for, raised money for, the architects of the shutdown. in fact, if he can't condemn them, then i think he's as guilty as the crazy -- element in the republican party driving that train off a cliff. >> final question. can you make up the deficit in the polling current to win this election? >> absolutely. as i said, we're up on tv.

we don't have as much money as this governor does. >> you don't. >> no. but we do have matching fund, two for one matching funds in new jersey. and, you know, on the issues, if we can get our message out there, and we are, and we have -- by the way, we have the same team that got de blasio elected from behind in new york. so that's -- >> yeah. at least through the primary. he's got to win that election. new jersey state senator, barbara buono, thank you so much for coming in. we appreciate it. >> my pleasure. coming up, a math teacher, a former marine, a hero, and the latest victim of one nation under the gun. >> the student was pointing a gun at the teacher after the teacher told him to put it down. and then the student fired a shot at the teacher and the teacher fell and everybody ran away. >> the latest on the nevada shooting when we come back. ♪ ♪

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911 emergency. >> somebody brought a gun to school that shot a teacher. >> the teacher is down? >> yes. >> okay. we'll get somebody out there right away. you're at sparks middle school? >> yes. just shot again. >> some things never seem to change. and here are just two. the unwillingness of congress to pass gun safety legislation, and the thousands of americans who continue to die each year as a result of gun violence. and while it's easy to simply add these victims to the annual round of statistics, it's always much more chastening to recognize the individuals whose lives have been taken. and yesterday we learned a little more about yet another victim. 45-year-old michael lansbury was a former marine and member of the nevada air national guard, having served multiple tours for the nation in afghanistan. he was also a much-loved math

teacher at sparks middle school, just outside reno, nevada. and when a 12-year-old student there opened fire with a semi automatic handgun yesterday morning, it was mr. landsberry who put himself in harm's way, in an attempt to save as many children as he could. in the end, he laid down his life for his students. we often hear politicians in washington talking about how they support our troops. but with congress unwilling to pass sensible gun safety reforms, michael landsberry is just one soldier who you've badly let down. coming up, we'll turn the page with today's top lines. p [ mixer whirring ] [ dad ] hold it steady!

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>> president obama's new national health care program has been beset by a number of problems with the website. >> more of this country believes obama care has been repealed. than have been able to sign up for obama care. >> nobody is more frustrated by that than i am. >> the president also reminded that you don't have to go online, you can enroll over the phone. >> if you call the number, you can get services in 150 languages. >> your application is very important to us. right now there are 8 million people ahead of you in line. >> enough politics. we are here tonight to celebrate the first lady of american comedy, ted cruz. >> you know, the nigerian e-mail scammers? they have been a lot less active lately. because they have all been hired to run the obama care website. >> maybe they should have taken some of those people who speak all those languages and actually focus them on fixing the website instead of offering the obama care in somewhat hewahilswahili. >> let me give unsolicited

advice to the critics and honestly to the news media. >> we're going to continue to expose what the administration wants to suppress. >> take a deep breath. >> calm down and take a deep breath. >> this system is going to work. >> assistant want to show up in front of that house committee, because there are a number of republicans who want her fired. >> shouldn't be about having heads roll or firing people. >> are you one of the republicans who says she should get canned? >> not focused on making heads roll. >> you have the guillotine cutting off the heads of thousands of people. >> that's not the time receipt now to focus on that. the time is to get these problems fixed and make sure the system is working, most efficiently, for the american people. >> let's get right to our panel. joining us is democratic pollster, marjorie owe mareo, and josh baro of business insider. so josh, republicans wanted to fire eric holder and then hillary clinton and now kathleen sebelius because of the website failure. is that just the simple response that one would expect from them?

>> i think that's what i would expect republicans to say. i think somebody is going to need to be fired over this. but i don't know whose fault it really was. i think that's something the administration will figure out. first they need to figure out how to get the website working. we can assign blame later. and figure out lessons later about how to do the next big tech project. but i think we're getting ahead of ourselves when we talk about who to fire. first we need to figure out what exactly can went wrong here and how do we make changes over the next few weeks so that obama care can have a successful launch. >> okay. mar marjorie, kentucky governor, steve beshear, offered historical perspective about implementing the affordable care act. take a listen to what he had to say. >> you know, the last time we did a major transformational change in health care in america, was back in 1965. i think it was. when they passed medicare. well, history shows us that it took two or three years to work through all of the bumps in the road and all of the kinks to get it up and running and making sure that everybody joined up. so this is going to work and

everyone just needs to chill out a little bit. >> okay, marjorie, let's look at some of the numbers coming in from the states. 150,000 people in new york use the state's website to get coverage. over 35,000 in washington got health insurance the same way. and in kentucky, the state's democratic governor says they're signing up 1,000 people a day. so this is about more than just a website, isn't it? >> absolutely. we're talking about now millions of americans can go get the health care they need, that may not be provided by their employer, or they may not have a job, and they need something that can cover their whole family. and you're talking about a political distraction from the very people who have made their entire year, last few years, about destroying obama care. the very people who voted against it 40 times in congress. the very people who shut the government down over obama care. now they're trying to give advice about what to do about the website. this is far beyond the website.

and we need to focus on the big picture, which is fixing the website and making sure that people get the health care options they need. >> josh, you don't agree with what marjorie just said. >> this is not just a political distraction. liberals do themselves a disservice if they tell them that. yes, republicans are jumping on this and concern trolling, saying it was a disaster. >> and might have attempted to vote it down and repeal 42 times much. >> right. that doesn't mean the website is not only a real problem but real problem for implementation of the law. the congressional budget office has said you need 7 million people to sign up for health insurance through the exchanges by 2014 for the health insurance markets to work well. and we're seeing in some states like kentucky that run their own exchanges that sign-up seems to be working well. in a lot of states, it's proving extremely difficult for people to sign up. one of the risks there is that, you know, if you're a young, healthy 25-year-old guy and you saw an ad on tv that said, you know, you should go sign up and you go and the website doesn't work, you might just ignore t. if you're a person with no health insurance and big medical bills, you're going to keep trying and trying to sign up until you get coverage.

if the insurance -- if the number of people who sign up ends up being small and disproportionately towards people who are very sick, the question is what's going to happen to the insurance markets in 2014 when the insurers find everybody who signed up is very expensive to cover you can see premiums skyrocketing in the future. so the president has been saying the product is g the website is a problem. you can't totally separate the product from the website. and we need to focus on making sure the website and alternative channels for signing are actually working for enough people that the law's launch will work. >> now, marjorie, as a pollster, you must have noted the new poll today from the "washington post." it shows, again, the affordable care act has actually become more popular as a result of republican attacks. there are the figures. 46%. and yet we still have people like representative steve stockman handing out copies of a book on impeaching the president to every single one of his colleagues in the congress. can you explain that, please? >> i can't explain it, because the one poll number that is

definitely not holding steady is republican approval. three different polls, "washington post" poll, gallup and nbc poll all show record low approval rating for republicans. so while they have been shutting down the government, having political fights, they have really paid a real cost, while the one -- one of the -- one of their targets, obama care, has maintained if not gotten more popular. another thing that came out today is in pugh polls showed if you look at the people who tried to use the exchanges, a majority have said it's very easy to use or fairly easy to use. so people who are actually going to the web site and checking have a better experience than you would get from listening to the press reports. >> okay. josh, you wrote this. and i'm quoting you. you say that the failure of the website is a reason to demand better from our public sector managers, rather than to throw our hands up and conclude that liberalism is discredited.

what did you mean by that? >> this isn't a piece i wrote -- mitch mcconnell keeps comparing the obama care website to the dmv. when i go the dmv it's been pretty okay. the dmv runs pretty well. that's not true everywhere, but it goes to show sometimes the government does a good i don't know at running these sorts of customer-facing operations and sometimes it doesn't. and a key part of making the affordable care act work is having a good customer-facing operation. it's something the government can do, should be able to do. a number of states like kentucky are doing it well. and we need to figure out how we can get the federal government to do this well, because if we want people to have confidence that the government can do things like provide health care to americans who need it, we need them to have good experience. >> josh barrow and marjorie o'mara. still ahead, franko harrisdowharri harrisdowns joins us. and up next, how we can prevent tea party politicians from multip

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you know the nigerian e-mail scammers? they have been a lot less active lately. because they have all been hired to run the obama care website. >> that was the latest comic turn in the world tour of a one-man show known as ted cruz. and you should be forewarned that his act doesn't always live up to his actions. so despite leading a government shutdown, that cost the nation $24 billion in lost economic output, but filled his own campaign funds with over 1 million fresh dollars, mr. cruz says he's simply doing what the people of texas want. >> no matter where you go in

texas, east texas, west texas, in the pan handle or down in the valley. when you listen to texans, the answer is the same. the top priority for texans is bringing back jobs and economic growth. >> here to tell us if senator cruz speaks for all of texas is congressm congressman mark vissi, a democrat representing the dallas-ft. worth area of that state. good afternoon, sir. thank you for joining us. so, congressman, is this what your constituents want? not more affordable hear, not government programs designed to help the poor, the less fortunate. what they want is ted cruz shutting down the government for his own personal gain. is that right? >> just the contrary, martin. in the district that i represent, congressional district 33 in ft. worth and dallas, we have over 265,000 uninsured americans that are constituents in my district. they have a lot of questions about the affordable care act. they want to be covered now. and they would like for congress to work together to make it easy to enroll and easy to join.

and that's what we ought to be working on as a bipartisan, sensible solution that can get all americans covered. >> okay. well, after being one of the main architects of a senseless government shutdown, polls find that the more americans know ted cruz, the less they like him. but, again, he insists, he doesn't care about the rest of the country. he only cares about texas. take a look at what he said yesterday. >> the "new york times" did a story, and they began by saying, gosh, there are a lot of people in washington unhappy that this cruz fella is doing all this stuff. what are the people in texas think? and the "new york times" wrote this article where they said, holy cow, people in texas actually like what this guy is doing! >> yeah. so with 6 million texans lacking insurance, including the highest percentage of uninsured children -- children in the nation, how do they view ted cruz's fight to make sure they

never get affordable health care? >> yeah. i'm not sure exactly which texans the senator is talking to. but, again, if you come to dallas ft. worth area, in addition to the 265,000 in the district i represent, in the dallas ft. worth metroplex al e alone, you're talking about a million people. because the governor, rick perry, failed to include texas under medicaid expansion, you're talking about another 60,000 in the district that i represent, and about 1 million statewide that won't be covered under medicaid expansion now. and it's considered really one of the biggest blunders that a texas governor has ever made by not adding texans on to that medicaid expansion. and so what i would say is that, you know, come to dallas-ft. worth. talk to some of the constituents that i represent that want to enroll, that have had questions. i have hosted two town halls, martin, on the affordable care act. and i can tell you, people in dallas-ft. worth are very eager to join.

they're ready to join. and we have a lot of people that are really hurting out there that want coverage for their families. >> absolutely. so who is senator ted cruz describing when he says he's doing the work that texans want him to do? >> you know, i don't know. i don't talk to a lot of texans that he runs across that feel that way. people in the dallas-ft. worth area, when you talk to single moms. when you talk to people that are middle class and doing fairly well. everyone wants affordable coverage. and i can tell you that i'm committed to working in a bipartisan manner to not only making the affordable care act better, but improving it as time goes on. because that's the way that texans act. when you look back in recent texas history, democrats and republicans, didn't matter which party that you belonged to, people always tried to work to make texas a better place for all, and not just a few special

interest individuals. >> sure. now, we know that there have been plenty of issues with healthcare.gov, the website itself. do you know of some of the difficulties that your own constituents have been facing? because listening to you, sir, i imagine that there are a large number who really like to be able to get affordable health care. you described the governor's refusal to include any kind of expansion of medicaid and so they're going to the government website. what kind of problems are they facing? >> well, you know, obviously we're getting similar questions as it pertains to glitches in the district that i represent. but i can tell you, by and large, people still have a lot of questions. because, again, one of the big political failure by our governor was that we did not create our own exchange in texas. we're part of the federal exchange. as a result of that, a lot of texans thought they couldn't get coverage. and so myself and other democratic congressmen say we're hosting town halls, going out

into the community and informing people they can enroll. we still have a lot of people asking questions about the affordable care act, and not so much complaining about the glitches. obviously, people want to get past that. that's something i'm committed to getting past and working out just like on medicare part d. people forget about the glitches in medicare part d that was a republican bill that was passed. but democrats worked with their republican colleagues, with aarp, with other organization oh to make sure that over a period of time that medicare part d was something that all americans can be proud of and started out with a 21% disapproval rate. and now seniors approve it by about the 91%. that's the direction i want to be going. >> congressman mark veasey. thank you for joining us. >> thank you, martin. coming up, an nfl huh of famer joins us to talk football and philanthropy. but first mandy drury has the

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that was a great moment for me. i would like to introduce you to another great moment. this is mildred morrison. she never would have made it without the help and training she received at united way. >> it is amongst the oldest affiliations between sport and charity and today marks the 40th anniversary of the partnership between united way and the national football league. a relationship that has served

low-income children from deprived neighborhoods, enabling many to realize their own dreams of success. and the fearsome athlete who appeared in that adavert joins us now with stacy stuart. good afternoon to both of you. franko, why did you get involved in the united way? i know you've been the bronx this morning, i believe, doing some painting with children. why did you get involved? >> i first went to pittsburgh, i told myself i'm going to get involved in the community. >> i should tell our viewers, the reason you lost your voice, you were screaming for your team. you won. >> we won. worth it. i wanted to get involved in the community and i did. and then in 1974, the nfl put in a program, united way, did a collaboration. and as you saw that ad, boy, i love my clothes in that ad.

but it's not in black and white. but collaborate between the nfl and the united way. and for me, it was great to partner with them and become part of that program with them. >> stacy, you're inviting nfl fans to celebrate 40 years of having them vote on their favorite ads. what does it mean for a child who can receive some assistance from your organization? >> right. well, the work of united way has been going on for 126 years, but over the past 40 years, we have been partnering with the nfl. and i think the real value of this partnership is that we have really put a face on many of the issues at many, many low-income, moderate-income families face in this country. the picture of that young woman in the ad with franko is just one picture, one face of one person who was helped by united way and many of our partners. but the fact that we have nfl players like franko harris, historic figures in this country, who are talking about the issues that many americans face. and actually putting a face on it, and getting all of us

invited to be involved, i think has been an enormous important thing for united way. it's been enormously important for the nfl. but an incredible thing for this country to actually shine a light on the issues so many people care about. >> yet isn't the burden unfairly falling on organizations like yours, because we know through the sequester we're going through through the government shutdown, they're often the most vulnerable children, children who receive assistance on things like head start, have just been tossed to the curb. >> well, we have been very concerned about the sequester, the government shutdown. we see and have absolutely felt the impact that that's had on many communities, many families, especially the lowest-income families. but the issue is, we can't do it alone. government can't do it alone, united way, nonprofit organizations. it requires all of us working together, a multiapproach to address many of the issues of poverty, many challenges that low-income and working families are facing. all of us have to work together to make these changes become better.

>> and the evidence is a young woman there graduating. >> i want to say that 40 years ago when i got involved, i was saying to myself, one day we won't need this, all of the things will be taken care of and solved. and boy, was i wrong. and so here we are, 40 years later. and i have to admit, the united way, they have changed and they're addressing the issues that we need to be -- need to be addressed today. >> yeah. just a final question to you, franko. it would be remiss of me not to raise the issue of concussions. you played alongside a very famous and powerful player called mike webster and i remember doing an investigative documentary about his life where he suffered terrible dimension. >> yes, he did. >> and he never announced he had a concussion, which was incredible. the president himself has said if he had a son, he would be reluctant to allow him to play football for this reason. do you think the nfl is doing enough to address this issue? >> football is a great game. and i love the game. and i feel that only so much can

be done. sure, they're taking steps and i'm happy for those steps. and so as time goes on, we'll see how that does affect it. and how they're saying -- when you take care of one thing, sometimes something else happens. so now they're saying that there are more knee injuries. so it's a very violent sport. so -- but i feel that the nfl will continue to look and address these problems. >> well, let's hope they do. and thank you both for what you're doing in relation to this nation's neediest people and children, the most vulnerable. thank you, franko harris and stacy stuart. we'll be right back.

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thanks so much for watching this afternoon and every arch. coming up, my friend and colleague, ed schultz and "the ed show." >> good evening, americans, welcome to "the ed show." live from new york. i'm michael eric dyson in for ed schultz. as ed would say, let's get to work. ♪ >> one thing crews work on is learning to sit down and shut up. >> who ordered the devilled cheese and sausage. >> i spent the past month in washington, d.c. and it is terrific to be back in america. >> we love you, ted!