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fix is thread the needle. what they're doing tomorrow on the floor is unraveling the whole fabric. >> here's the number you need to know for today, 106,000. that's how many people have enrolled in the obama care exchanges since the first of october. the other number that you need to know, 7 million. that's the administration's goal for sign-ups in year one and they barely cracked 1%. divided democrats are expressing frustration and they're turning up the heat on the president to get the job done. >> we believe this needs to be fixed and it needs to be fixed now. >> i think we can get it fixed, but i do think that we're going to have to take some kind of reparative action to reassure people that we're trying to get it fixed. >> today senator harry reid will meet with white house officials, and white house staffers will be meeting with the house democrats today and tomorrow, members of the house will vote on the bill with the goal of keeping people in their plans.

>> i think the white house has to come out and do this -- >> the train has left the station. upon. >> there is nothing they can do. i think the message today that the senate democrats will give dennis mcdonogh is, at this point, i don't trust that you guys will have a magic fix. >> new numbers are out from fox news showing the majority of those polled think the president lied about obama care. with these numbers and democratic anxiety turning to panics has this become a policy problem for president obama? >> i see there's a revolt inside the democratic party over the frustration and the credibility of what's going on. >> joining me right now is south carolina congressman, assistant democratic leader james clyburn. good to have you here. the president is due to speak in about 30 minutes and they've crafted this proposal and president obama will announce that those people with insurance policies that are being canceled

because they didn't meet the standard of obama care will now be allowed to renew them, but that insurance companies will then be required to tell people about reenrolling about alternative options. if this is -- if this is what the president will be offering, doesn't this really undermine what the aca is to many americans now which is giving that foundational standard of care in your health insurance policy? >> well, thank you so much for having me, thomas. well, you could say that and that's what i feel, but as you know, the sound bite out there for this time has been, if you like what you have and you want to keep it, you can keep it. now, so people who think they like what they've got are going to be allowed to keep it, but the insurance companies are going have to say to them that these are the short comings that are not there because most

people who have been following this health care debate for all of these years and i just don't mean the last two or three years, i'm talking about for a decade or so now, these people understood that no longer will i have lifetime limits on my policies, no longer will i have annual limits on my policies and i will not get kicked off the policy as soon as i get sick. you will not be able to deny me coverage for a pre-existing condition. these are the things and patient protection that are not in all of these policies. >> right. >> and the old adage comes to mind be careful what you wish for because you just might get it. >> this is what a lot of people are coming to find out. they would like to think that they have a policy that allows them basic emergency room visits or health insurance that would let them not go bankrupt. >> right. >> do people not really

understand it? did the the administration do a good enough job to, plain what it meant to have a policy grandfathered in prior to 2010? >> one of the problems zee we h in our society today is we don't have enough time to explain to people. we are in the sound bite world. if it can't be said in 10 or 15 seconds, nobody wants to listen to it. so all of us in public life are trying to connect with the american people and so we try to accommodate this lack of patience with explanations and so that's what we're falling victim to here, but people who sit down and look at their plans, read the fine print, talking to people, it takes more than 15 seconds to do that and that's the problem here, and all of us in this business have fallen victim to it and every now and then it comes back to

bite us, and that's what's happening here. >> let's look at how politico is talking about this because they are looking at the reaction of certain people within the party. they're saying fight or flight which truly is a valid question. we talked like white house under siege and embarrassing public spectacle and full-blown revolt. your colleague, steve cohen from tennessee said sometimes they, the white house, takes us for granted. we're on the front lines and they need to come up with something and many of them are talking about fred upton and an unnamed house democrat said about the white house this, that it has no plan b. no apparent fix and they're clueless on top of. that upon pill clinton sure didn't make it easier. they need to figure out something by friday fast. is that what we're seeing now, sir, is the fact that the white house is now trying to get out on the heels of president clinton coming out and saying, you know what? if the president said that they have a plan that they like they should be able to keep it. he needs to fix that.

>> well, i know there's a lot of frustration and people say things when they're frustrated that they would not say had they had time to think about it, but let me say this. the upton bill is not a good bill, and i want to say to the american people, in the upton bill, he allows insurance companies to continue to sell these sub-standard policies and i don't believe insurance companies ought to be given the opportunity to do that. people's expectations may be differently. so if his bill is going to say you can sell a sub-standard policy, but you've got to tell the people that these policies are sub-standard and you will not get this coverage that you think you are getting, then i can see it as being a good bill, but i think it's absolutely folly for us to continue to mislead people who are buying insurance policies, think

they've got something and finding out as soon as they try to use it that they don't have what they thought they had. >> it is intellectual dishonesty at its best. >> james clyburn, thank you, sir. >> we have "washington post" columnist, jonathan capehart. >> and joy ann reed. it's good to have you here. we're awaiting the president who is supposed to come out at 11:30 and jonathan, house democrats were riled up last night and it seems as if the heat has gotten turned out today as we are about to close out the week by tomorrow, is this the cold water that the situation needs that the president will come out and talk about, the fix? >> it depends on how the president describes it and what exactly the fix is. you've been reporting sort of the contours of what that is, but i think the key thing here and any question that you ask congressman clyburn and that's the difference between what the president is about to propose and the upton bill and the key question will be, will these

people who are now able to -- who might be able to go back and renew their old plans, does that rule apply to just those people who got the cancellation letters or are those plans now open to everyone in the insurance market? that's, i think, what would up-end the affordable care act, obama care if that were to happen. >> so that's a big if. >> we'll find out. >> be careful what you wish for, you just might get it. is this the white house saying okay, you like your plan so much, you keep it and there will be a new e tended time period for whether insurance companies need to raise up that standard of care. >> right, but you can have this sub-par plan. hopefully, god forbid nothing will happen to you, but you can deep it. >> i refer to this as don't get hit by a bus plan. they're very high deductibles, and if you ever try to use them,

they can have rescission and go back and find out that you had mono in high school and have a pre-existing condition. and people like claire mccaskill, red-state democrats who are saying wait a second, this is like a re-run of 2010 when they had to go back and run on the affordable care act which had not been politically sold. so democrats are demanding that the white house do something politically to fix this so that people can keep their plan, but i guess where the rubber meets the road is when people are allowed to keep these plans for more time and then they try to use them and can't or can't get emergency care or they get dropped and all of the bad outcomes that everybody talks about when you have poor insurance happen, will they turn around and blame obama care? >> most likely. >> you just told the narrative right there. for the aca, obama care and what

they really tell us because he says the encouraging number is the 975,000 who were determined eligible for marketplace enrollment, but they haven't chosen a plan. so we're in the early throws of a rollout, glitchy.gov which is the website. >> that's good. >> you like that? >> it's really health care.gov. >> you can buy and #that. >> they've got the problem with the rollout and it's the website. >> this is a tangible issue with the actual policy that people are upset with. so there are two different avenues that we have to run parallel here to discuss because there are people that are up in arms about the big change to their policies. >> think about it, tom a we're talking about health care. we're not talking about a pair of shoes that we're trying to buy on the internet. we're talking about something that affects our livelihoods, our children, our families and so, of course, you'll be upset if you have something, it's

taken away and now you're being asked to choose something new that you are told is better. the encouraging thing is you had -- >> the 975,000 people enrolled and those are the 975,000 who most likely didn't have healthcare. i think these are good numbers and as you point out we are only 30 days into something that should be and hopefully will be on the books for a very long time. romney care when it first rolled out, how many people signed up in the first month? it was like a hundred. >> right. >> also we look back at medicare part d which was on the national scale of re-engaging our social contract with one another. thanks not good and we didn't do a post-mortem 30 days into it. we waited six months and we didn't drag the people outside of rooms trying to solve the i.t. coding problems and we

allowed them to fix things and allowed them to work out on the issues and not halt it. >> what is incredible in addition to what we've said. we have managed to turn away the entire healthcare debate and turn it away from the uninsured. it represents the big pool of people who don't have it at will all. we have refocused the entire debate on the 3% to 4% of the market who are in the individual or small group market and who have had health insurance, and it may not be great is health insurance, but they want to keep it. jon boehner has called the upton bill a targeted strike which is intended to get rid of the affordable care act. even in the media, it's focused all of the attention on the 3% of the individual market and who really want it. americans don't like drastic change. if they have it, they just want to keep what they have and that's been a smart strategy on the part of the republicans and

the white house has to address it. >> we'll have to leave it there. >> know you have to catch a train. >> i have a minute and a half. >> thanks so much. >> our big question for everyone today is it too early to start writing the obituaries for obama care? you can weigh in on twitter and facebook. and a rising star in the democratic party. grandson of the jimmy carter will join us to talk about the legacy and also this. >> mr. mayor, have you purchased illegal drugs in the last two years? >> yes, i have. >> thank you. >> you hear someone in the peanut gallery. be careful! toronto's mayor has admitted to buying drugs, and why he shouldn't have to resign even though he, quote, "f'ed" up.

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a quick programming note on timing. the president will now be delivering his remarks on the ac affix at 11:45, pushed back by ten minutes. the president will be speaking at roughly 11:45 a.m. so stick around for that. big question for you, do the democrats have a new darling in a recent poll shows that jason carter, the grandson of former president jimmy carter has a real chance to beat nathan biel of georgia. if that happens it will be the first time since 1998 the voters have leched a democratic governor. republicans have held both

senate seat since 2005 and president obama lost the state in 2008 and 2012. jason carter is georgia state senator running for governor. it's great to have you here. no pressure to turn your state blue on this, but if we look at a new poll it shows that in this matchup that you could take 36% of the vote while governor takes 36%. they rather elect someone new rather than a new term for deal and this was commissioned by a georgia democratic party and georgia democratic governors association who helped recruit you into this race. so it worked. are you encouraged by that gap, eight points? >> sure. the bottom line is we're looking for georgia at its best and right now we're not getting it. we're not getting it in education and in an economy that works for the middle class and we're not getting it from the the perspective of an honest government and i think georgians

are red fready for change and nw leadership. you're 38 years old. we have reid saying you're one of the most talented position tigzs because of your ability to connect with the georgia voters. how was your grandfather in your rise in politics, did he steer you with direction and caution to this role? >> he is very excited about my race. he's my grandfather. i love him. we don't agree on everything, but the thing he told me first and foremost is it's so much more important to be a good person than it is to be a good politician and always telling the truth than political numbers and things like that. >> and -- >> sorry. go ahead, jason. it's been an exciting time for my family, obviously, my little boys and my wife and us have really taken to this and we've been very excited for the last week about the response we've been getting. >> let me get your reaction to

what's taking place in d.c. because we're waiting for the president to come out and give his thoughts on what would be a potential fix for concerns with the aca and many democrats, they're demanding that something happen. what are you hoping to hear from the president and do you think that democrat in washington are doing what they need to do at this time to help support the president through this rocky rollout? >> georgia has always been at its best when it stays away from the mass of washington politics. right now georgians are really frustrated with obama care, and i think folks are feeling like it's a mess and so what i'm hoping to see from the president is some kind of fix, but right now, i think folks are frufrt rated, including me. >> when you talk about that frustration, obviously, georgia did not enact that sort of change and we've seen the successes of certain states that have ebb acted their own exchanges as opposed to those that didn't which has not helped with the president's cause in this in getting people into the

the exchanges, but so you're saying that people in georgia, they're expressing frustration over what they've had to deal with on health care.gov? >> absolutely. and not only that. you mentioned georgia's exchange. one of the problems we've had with the current governor is they've been playing and getting caught up in the same washington politics. georgia undeniably would have done a better job in the exchange and just because of those washington politics we with ended up not doing and that's part of everyone's frustration. jason, we appreciate you taking the time for us and we will continue to watch what happens there in georgia. i love that state. so we'll be very interested to see how it goes. jason carter, thanks very much. i appreciate it. >> republicans couldn't be happier about what's taking place with the low rollout numbers in washington, d.c. they are rooting for failure especially since we have seen them vote against it time and time again. so the question being, what would their solution be to this

at this point. sean spicer will join us to talk about that and coming up, we do have the president's remarks at 11:45 a.m. and a fix to the aca in the works. [ male announcer ] at humana, understanding what makes you different is what makes us different. we take the time to get to know you and your unique health needs. then we help create a personalized healthcare experience that works for you. and you. and you. with 50 years of know-how, and a dedicated network of doctors, health coaches, and wellness experts, we're a partner you can rely on -- today, and tomorrow. we're going beyond insurance to become your partner in health. humana.

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welcome back, everybody. breaking news from boston to report. a live look outside the federal courthouse where a judge has just sentenced convicted murderer whitey bulger to two life terms plus five years in prison. this sentence is exactly what prosecutors recommended after a jury convicted bulger of 11 murders and other crimes. the mob boss has called his trial a sham and will be appealing that conviction. that is not a crack house. >> sorry? >> that is not a crack house. >> and what is it? >> it is a house with a family, with a father and a mother and three sons and a daughter.

have you been into that house? >> i have no interest being in that house. i am not a crack user. >> that is just one of the fiery arguments between toronto mayor rob ford and the 44-member city council and we have some new developments in the issues taking place in toronto. the mayor will be back in front of the city council tomorrow on a special meeting to debate stripping ford of some of his powers. yesterday the council voted to ask the mayor to ask the mayor to take a leave of absence and this all happened as they revealed new bombshell allegations that ford consorted with a suspected prostitute, snorted cocaine, drove while drinking and smoked a joint with two women and a short time ago mayor ford denied a woman that he met was a prostitute and said he was taking legal action against several people who had been quoted in the papers saying that she was and these people include former staffers. joining me now is the editor for "the toronto sun."

she is ford's former director of communications. adrian, you have a very interesting perspective on all of this and we have some of the canadian papers having a field day with this story. >> explain the back stories of behavior when you were working for this mayor and how they match up with what's being reported. >> well, part of the challenge that we had. i was the mayor's communications director on the campaign when he was running to be mayor of toronto and people should know that before he ran for the mayor's chair he was on the city council and he was very much of the mind set of stopping the gravy train and stopping taxpayer's money and he did spend zero dollars from his office budget so he really grew this reputation as the guy who is looking out for the pennies and the dollars being spent at city hall. moving forward on running for

mayor, he built on that on the notion of respecting taxpayer's money and he used to be in provin shall politics who had wasted a billion dollars of taxpayers' money and he came out with overwhelming political stripes and now fast forward to see what we see now, i'll be quite candid with you, what i see unfolding is not something i recognize. much of what he's being accused of these days certainly wasn't going during my time with him. yes, there were challenges and yes, there were issues to deal with, but much of what is unfolding certainly wasn't going during my time with him. >> we're hearing pretty damaging accusations which are revealed from the court documents. none of which has been proven. he has not been convicted or arrested for any of the crimes that have been put out there in the press or for any of the statements that he has admitted to like what we saw yesterday in the city council meeting, and i

just want to play more from what that exchange was yesterday because certain parts were very honest and very heated. >> mr. mayor, have you purchased illegal drugs in the last two years? >> yes, i have. the reason i drank or did drugs was not because of stress, it was out of sheer stupidity. that's all it was. >> mr. mayor, do you think you have an addition problem with alcohol? >> absolutely not. >> so a lot of people would look at this and feel sorry for a person that we're probably witnessing an addict who is in denial because now staffers have come forward to say they've had to purchase alcohol for the mayor. they've come forward to say that they've reported seeing him with women that they believe to have

been paid escorts so how does this compare and contrast to the mayor that you said you knew rose in political power to what is being reported now and whether or not he is personally fit to continue in this professional position. one of the things i would say is i do join the growing chorus of people that would like to see mayor ford step aside and take some time and deal with whatever issues that he is facing because clearly he's dealing with many things. i know that in that clip that you just showed your audience, he said the stress of the job is not the reason why he's been acting in this manner. i just always assumed that that was the case, but perhaps there is more to it than that and that would certainly be unfolding before our eyes and it's very sad to watch it. i personally take no pleasure in saying to someone whom i spent time with helping get him elected, and working with him at city hall.

i take no joy saying step aside and get out of the way and clean yourself up. there's no fun in this. it's worth noting that what happened yesterday at city council was pretty unprecedented and it was appalling because so many people could have just put their motion forward, not spoken to the matter. they wanted to get their pound of flesh out of the guy and they did and realistically, i know that mayor ford has all of these, many of these things are self-inflicted wounds. i'm not oblivious to that, but at the end of the day he is still a human who is having problems. none of the counselors who spoke yesterday are not helping him. nor is he helping himself. here's the situation in which we are in. they voted yesterday and he is not going anywhere because the motion is more about moral a situation. it has zero teeth and they cannot push him out of office. if he's charged and convicted of a crime which neither of which have happened as of now and if he's beaten at the ballot box, and really, i would like to say

something about these staff members that are in these court documents. i worked with many of them. i know many of them. i stay in contact with most of them. these folks are unimpeachable as far as their reputation goes. i have no reason whatsoever not to believe what they're saying and i think it's quite sad, frankly, that the mayor is now threatening to sue them. >> adrian, we appreciate your candor from "the toronto sun." my pleasure. we are following breaking news out of texas. a gas pipeline has exploded in millford, 50 miles south of dallas and near highway 77 was being worked on when it exploded. first responders are being called in from nearby cities and students are being evacuated and so far no injuries have been reported and amazing pictures out of millford texas. we continue to await those remarks from president obama. he'll be speaking about his signature legislation, the affordable care act and expected to announce plans for some sort of fix for people that they

would like to keep their insurance policies that were kicked off of them because of the standard of care. we want to go now to actually speaker boehner who was speaking about what we want to learn more about this potential fix. let's take a listen. >> the american people to pay a ransom of higher taxes to enact common-sense policies that even the president has pushed for. when it comes to obama care it's clear that the american people simply can't trust this white house. the white house has said americans could trust them when they submitted their personal information, that the website was tested and was secure well, that hasn't happened. the website security wasn't tested before the launch and it has, in fact, been compromised. president obama announced that the premiums would not go up. instead, americans seeing premiums go up and go up sharply.

the president promised if you like your healthcare plan, you can keep your healthcare plan, period. now we know that that's not true and the president and his team were well aware that they were misleading the country when they made this promise. tomorrow the president or the house is going to act on mr. upton's bill to keep your healthcare plan act. the white house says it's looking for some administrative fix. of course, no one can identify anything. the president could do administratively to keep this pledge that would be both legal and effective. a promise after promise from this administration has turned out to be not true. when it comes to this health care law the white house doesn't have much credibility. let's be clear. the only way to fully protect the american people is to scrap this law once and for all. there is no way to fix this. and while the two parties may

disagree on that point, it shouldn't stop reasonable democrats from working with us to keep the president's promise and give the american people the opportunity to keep the plan they have and the plan they like. [ inaudible question ] >> i am highly skeptical that they can do this administratively. i just don't see within the law their ability to do that. that's yet house is going move tomorrow. i would hope the senate would move quickly, as well. >> what is in there and the points that hurt it? >> we'll see what the president has to say here in a few minutes and then we'll have a better idea of exactly whether they can or can't. [ inaudible question ] >> -- the speculation is that you will ask him not to reform it. is that going to be your message to him? >> no.

listen, we have these periodic meetings with the chairman about the issue of tax reform. we believe tax reform would be good for our economy and would help produce more jobs and frankly, higher wages. so this is an informational meeting to kind of see where they are and i don't know what the outcome of the meeting is going to be, but that's not the purpose of the meeting. you, with all of that gray hair on your face. >> i know. more than 100,000 people have now gotten health insurance through obama care exchanges and tens of thousands have taken advantage of medicaid expansion, how can you now -- how can you now get rid of the law if this many people have actually gotten their health insurance approved? >> well, how about the millions of americans who have lost their health insurance and the millions more who will lose the

health insurance and all of a sudden those policies are no longer available? it's -- you can't fix this government-run health care plan called obama care. this is going to destroy the best healthcare delivery system in the world. you know, if you go back four or five months ago the congressional budget office said even after this law is in effect for ten years, ten years from now there will still be 30 million americans uninsured. that is not, though, the promise that was made to the american people it's just not fixable. >> one of the big criticisms for democrats is that you don't seem to do anything. as the year comes to an end, what would you say republicans have to show?

>> listen, i think we've been trying to stay focused on the economy and those things that have been trying to create a better economy and whether to stop burdensome regulations that are killing jobs in america and always trying to fix the tax code that is so complicated that most americans could never figure it out on their own or whether it's dealing with the tomorrow bill, whether it's dealing with water projects, there's a lot that can be done. listen, we have a very divided country and we have a very divided government and i'm not going to sit here and underestimate the difficulty in finding the common ground because there's not as much common ground here as there used to be, but our job is to find that common ground and i intend to do it. >> mr. speaker, there are 20 or $30 million in the farm bill are you in favor of using that with

the reduction agreement? >> i think that's a separate issue and i've made it very clear with chairman ryan. [ inaudible question ] >> it was opposed to a discrimination of any kind in the workplace and any place else, but i think this legislation that i've dealt with as chairman of the educational workforce committee long before i was back with the leadership is unnecessary and would provide a basis for frivolous lawsuits. it -- people are already protected in the workplace. i am -- i am opposed to continuing this. listen, i understand people have different opinions on this issue and i respect the different

opinion, but as someone who has worked in this employment law area for all of my years in the state house and all of my years here, i see no basis or no need for this. >> oh, yeah. there's a whole laundry list of issues that can yet be finished and i'm hopeful they will be. >> and nsa will become an issue again? [ inaudible question ] >> i don't know in the national defense authorization bill that that issue ought to be dealt with. it ought to be dealt with on its own. this is a very -- it's an important issue what the nsa does. >> that's speaker boehner in his rebuttal to what the president is expected to say and coming out saying that the white house has lost its credibility and the only way to save the american people is to scrap this law. white house correspondent

kristin welker joins me as well as steve corn aki here with me in the studio. kristin, let me start with you because this is the normal time that boehner would give his press briefing and how auction ward that it happens to be just moments before the president speaks. >> reporter: thomas, you are right to point that out. it's certainly not something that we see when the president comes out to speak and usually we get some type ref action and house speaker john boehner does have a weekly press conference at this time so clearly, he decided to go ahead with it and we expect president obama according to a democratic source to come out and announce that americans who have had their insurance plans canceled because they don't meet the new obama care standards will be able to renew those plans. they'll have that option, but the president will announce that insurance companies are required to tell people what benefits they'll be losing and also what other options exist. the big question is where is the big teeth in the administration

action. how is the administration going to enforce this if president obama does decide to answer questions when he comes out to address the nation. he will undoubtedly get questions about that. this all comes as there has been mounting pressure from republicans as we heard from house speaker john boehner and also from within his own party. red state democrats who are concerned that this will impact their reelection chances. so they want to see a fix to this, thomas? >> do you think that this will quiet the critics? because it does offer a solution, but at the same time doesn't it undermine the basic foundational principles? >> i think it's an open question and we'll have to see exactly what he comes out with and what he proposes. it sounds like from the initial reports from what i'm reading, it's not necessarily that everybody who has the existing plan right now gets to keep it. everybody's who's gotten a cancellation gets to renew it. it's the plan who decides if they want to renew it. there might be a situation where the administration is looking that the saying this is an

opportunity to show that hey, this is not obama care that's caused cancellations. this is insurance companies who are getting a really good deal off of customers who are now going to suddenly now balk at the idea. we'd rather have obama care up and running where we can get more money out of the young, healthy people than extend these policies for another year. that might be the calculation there and the bigger politics of this and the politics of the moment is, yeah, there's been a revolt going on among democrats this week in washington and there is a vote scheduled for tomorrow in the house where democrats and the white house do not want democrats peeling off and voting with democrats and they've forestalled democrats with the fred upton plan that's in the white house. my question is how similar is what the president is now proposing administratively and how similar is that to fred upton that he is proposing for that. >> stand by because we have the rnc communications director sean spicer and i want to give everyone the update that we are

just moment away from the president from coming out to speak so forgive me if i have to jump to president obama and his remark, but do you, after listening to what speaker boehner said, there's really not a lot of gimme room coming from the right on this, but what are the alternate plans that the right would suggest as speaker boehner said, scrapping this altogether? >> well, i'm glad to talk about it, but i think there are three really important things. this problem was created by president obama and he unequivocally made it clear that you can keep your plan it you liked it and he was very clear that even if you had a catastrophic plan that you could keep it. he created this problem, not us. two, i think to steve's point about 2014, there's rumors out there that he's going to say that there's a one-year delay and on the way down here i looked at my calendar and oh, by the way, one year from now is

when the election occurs and all of the democrats running for the hills would get a one-year reprieve belieuntil after the election. i question the motive of this. is if it's to help the 2014 democrats who are concerned that will cost them the reelection and third, the real thing is where is the authority to do this? the president unilaterally says i'm going to delay this and i'm going to exempt this group, but when republicans talk about fixing or replacing it, the cry is how dare you? you can't do this. it's a law. it was passed, but when the president does it unilaterally, democrats have no problem with that. when republicans try to do it by votes on the floor then it's a how dare we do this law which was passed a few years ago. >> republicans are doing this. >> republicans shut down the whole government over the aca. >> it wasn't a tactic to repeal. >> we passed, but we passed a bill that said we're going delay this, we'll fund everything, but

obama care in a one-year delay and everyone said that we were shutting down the government. how dare we do that? now the president comes out when his own democrats run for the hills and says i'm going to do it unilaterally and no one has a problem with that. it's unbelievably hypocritical for people to say when republicans try to do it correctly and legislatively that was how dare we possibly consider that. >> you did it by shutting down the government. >> no, no, no. you did it by shutting down the government. >> thomas, it was actually quite the opposite. upon we said we'll fund it. >> but the government is still shut down. did the government shut down or not? based on that principle. >> it did. >> hold on, answer me this, if house democrat his joined us and said we'll agree to a one-year delay and we'll fund the entire thing the government would have stayed open and we would have delayed obama care by a year and we would have done it constitutionally and legislatively correctly, now

when the president comes out and says i'll potentially delay this for at least a year, nobody has a problem with that when he does it unilaterally, that doesn't seem too constitutional to me. steve? >> let's see if nobody has a problem with this, we don't know yet what the president will propose and there are an awful lot of democrats who have been aghast at the idea of the democrats coming out and saying they want to make a significant legislative fixes to the law and it changes the law right now because they fear it will undermine the law and see if everyone is okay, and they'll confuse me for a second because he was looking at this idea allowing people to continue with this plan and saying this was a convenient way of democrats insulating themselves in 2014 and that's what's behind this. i mentioned the fred upton bill. fred upton is a republican congressman from michigan who proposed this, fred upton,

republican congressman from michigan in a bill scheduled to be voted on and probably passed by the republican house tomorrow will allow people to keep their plans for one more year. so if it's a sinister plot by obama to protect democrats on 2014, republicans are in on that plot. >> is that true, sean? >> the difference is when you do it legislatively, correctly and by the constitution, all of those numbers have to take a vote and realizes what the president is potentially about to do because you're right, we don't know the details of what he's going put out would basically ensure that he he doesn't have to take the key votes and he would take cover by doing it unilaterally which is not constitutional. that's the difference. >> it's allowing them not to have to take those key votes that put them at odds with not only their words, but their previous votes that said obama care is the way to go. now they actually get a free pass. i think that is a substantial difference. >> nancy pelosi was out earlier

today saying that she feels that this can be done probably through the white house, but we know every time that anything with the aca has gone to the house, we know we know which wa wind blows. is this the way the president gets to try to put a patch over the issue, by talking about the potential -- >> in terms of owe as i said earlier, clearly the president and white house and democrats did not want the upton bill to pass tomorrow. clearly this is an attempt to forestall this. ott on the other hand if you look at that's marinading, democrats like mary landrieu, dianne feinstein, they are proposing something that goes farther than the upton bill, an indefinite delay. indefinitely allowing people to continue with their policies, not the one-year bill apparently the white house is talking about

here. clearly the democrats and the white house have been rattled by what's happened this week and this is an attempt to put an end to it before an impasse between the senate and house. >> kristen welker is with us at the white house. when you're talking to your sources there, what is the temperature of how people are reacting within the west wing not just the issues with the website ralout but the issues now that have come up with people who have lost their plans and now on the heels of president clinton coming out saying, well, this is something the president should do. if they like their lance, they should have them. how much pressure on the west wing with bill clinton's words. >> i think there's no doubt that the folks behind the scenes within the obama administration are feeling a lot of pressure. i've covered this white house for several years. i can tell you there certainly is a sense of urgency to try to deal with these issues that seem to be mounting.

i think that's why you see the president coming out today making that announcement. the other part of the strategy, travel to cleveland to talk about the economy. to some extent they are trying to continue to have control of at least part of the message coming out of this administration. look, they are feeling the heat. if you look at the polls, that tells you everything, the president dealing with some of the lowest poll numbers since he was re-elected. so certainly they are trying to tamp down the growing criticism about this. i think we can't state enough how important it is for this administration that the website actually get fixed for a majority of american by the end of this month. that is what they projected will happen. the question is, is that actually going to happen. if it doesn't happen, that is going make this problem that much worse politically but also from a practical standpoint because it could threaten the amount of people actually able to get onto the website and sign up. this entire law depends in large part on young people signing up,

young, healthy people in large numbers. they are projecting 2 million young people. that is what they need. that's really the next big deadline they are looking at and hoping to meet. >> you never get a second chance to make a first impression but november 30th they are hoping to get a second chance to make a first impression to young americans, build that foundational bed to lift up the prom. that's what it relies on, young people invest in it. >> you're a risk pool. sick people balance that with young healthy people to bring the risk down for everybody. trying to build a risk pool. the end of november they want the website up and running. really you're talking about the end of march when the individual mandate penalty kicks in. clearly there have been huge problems with this, the political situation for obama care has gotten worse in the

last few days. i don't mean to understatement that. at the same time there's ample opportunity for this thing to work. the backdrop for what the white house is doing today, trying to ensure there are no major permanent changes made to this thing in this sort of moment of panic, weeks of panic we're living through now that will make it difficult or impossible to create the healthy risk pool this law is predicated around. if you can get through these weeks, into december, get the website up and running, have the threat of the mandate penalty start to come onto the horizon, young people will look at that, okay, i better sign up. here is the website where i sign up. if you do that, build the risk pool, more and more people want in because the rates go down, more and more insurers because that's where the action is. there is still a perfectly viable scenario where this thing works. >> if we talk about where this thing works and the fix from the president, kristin, is the action that's going to happen most likely weighted towards

executive action as opposed to legislative action? >> it seems like that is how it's being weighted right now, thomas. you're absolutely right. we know from the start that was the goal the president wanted to find an administrative fix to this. having said that, it's not just fred upton proposing legislation. we also know mary landrieu, democrat also has a proposal for fixing this. some members of congress saying they want to vote on this, get on the record with how they stand with where they stand on fixing this problem, if you like your plan you can keep your plan. so several members, those who are up for re-election, eager to actually weigh in on this issue. as of now, the president is going to propose an administrative action. again, this comes back to the question of teeth and whether or not this is actually enforceable. if folks look at this on capitol hill and feel there's not enough enforcement here, you could see

the effort to get some type of legislative fix to continue. >> shawn is with us. let me ask you, if people get their wish. i say be careful what you wish for, you just might get it. if there are americans out there who get their wish, they get to keep their plan, keep it extended for a period of time and they go to try to reap some of that benefit only to find out they are truly not covered, isn't that just going to be another gold mine for republicans to chime in on and say, well, it's because of obama care. >> i think most americans are well aware of their plan, what's covered and what's not. in some cases they specifically chose a plan because of a doctor, hospital, prescription or drug was covered under the plan they got. so the reason i think you're seeing the angst that exists right now, when people were sold this idea of obama care, in a lot of cases they said, okay, i'm not sure i agree or not, but i know the president is telling

me i can keep my doctor. i like it. i like my plan. i like what i pay. what we're doing is giving them an apgs for now you can get everything you're promised. hopefully we at the same time, we as republicans can pass some things that will create stronger alternatives to this. right now what we've got to do is help the people damaged in the first place. as people who are getting these letters day in, day out, being told you're losing your plan, new plan may not cover your doctor, will cost more, et cetera, et cetera, we've got to calm that fear right now. >> when we talk about the alternatives, what is a replace alternative. we know where the votes have been for repeal or defund but what would be the replace options based on where we know aca stands at this point? >> so, there's several -- there's a couple of areas we actually agree with. obviously keeping -- there's general agreement on keeping kids under 26 insured. most insurance companies say

they would continue that policy regardless. two, pre-existing conditions is something there's general agreement in the party. but then republicans believe in a much more market-based solution that lowers cost and creates better health care solutions. for example, allowing people to buy over state lines, so you could buy a plan you actually thought was better for you or your family that was offered in a different state. right now that's prohibited. that kind of competition would help create better plans and lower costs allowing small businesses and individuals to pool their resources and numbers to get the same buying advantages big corporations get. giving the same tax treatment to individuals and self-employed people. there's a number things that drive the cost down and create health solutions. the problem is you're asking us to compare our solution toss a complete government takeover, which is something we're adamantly opposed to for the exact reason we're seeing now. the one thing i would disagree with in terms of what steve is

alluding to, this is not about a website. it's not about getting the thing up and making it work of the problem they are going to have, predicating young people getting on this website and saying i don't like what i say. >> communications director, thanks for your time. we continue to wait for the president who is coming out. i'm going to turn it over to my colleague with alex wagner with her show "now." alex. >> amid disappointing enrollment numbers a string of unforced errors, rising concern about deadlines and mounting discontent for members of his party. this morning, a month and a half after rollout of the nation's health care law president obama is expected to dlir a statement on the affordable care act and offer an administrative fix during one of the most tumultuous periods of his presidency. in advance of the president's remarks, house speaker boehner took the opportunity again to criticizes the nation's health care law. >> you can't fix this government

run health care plan called obama care. this is going to ruin the best health care system in the world. >> indeed, it is the best health care law with 47 million uninsured americans. raucous caucus will vote on a bill with fred oupton. with me luke russert and howard dean. salon contributor and radio host of 360 curt anderson. governor dean, i would like to start with you. >> the health care guy. >> the health care guy. was this inevitable, the health care fix? >> i wouldn't have gone for a fix. our state with an exchange hired the same people as the federal exchange. we have the same problem. what the government did, see it