than the last aca figure when only six americans were able to enroll on launch day. in the past month it seems there has been progress. according to health care czar jeff zients, the site is reportedly handling considerably more volume and wait times have gone down to less than one second. the fixes do not end at dot-com. on friday president obama met with insurance executives, last minute administrative fix, workability insurers have questioned and that is, indeed, a euphemism. that same day 39 democrats backed a law while democrats in the senate continued to push for more fixes. "new york times" reporting democrats are in a panic at the recent reversal of political fortunes, house speaker nancy pelosi is remaining confident. >> the rollout of the website, that's terrible. but the fact is, that will be

fixed. i don't think you can tell what will happen next year. i'll tell you this, democrats stand tall in support of the affordable care act. >> indeed, to all the skeptics and naysayers, fur or over glitches to hurricane katrina and iraq, perhaps a little perspective is in order. new york magazines advises if every one of obama's katrina's were katrina america would no longer exist and we'd live in a watery hellscape.

joining me today, the columnist for "the daily beast," the columnist, there are many columnist, but the only one to read on "the daily beast," sally cohn, political writer brian boiler, former white house press secretary and founding partners of insight agency robert gibbs and syndicated columnist for "the washington post" kathleen parker. joining us from seattle washington, washington state insurance commissioner. mike, before i get to you, i want to get our folks in new york on the record here. robert, specifically, 80% isn't good enough? >> in baseball you'd be in the hall of fame twice. >> also baseball with like 50%. >> you would. i think it's a measure of improvement, a measure of how far they have had to come in order to get 80% to be a success rate. not many 10 years old, mine included, would think 80% -- >> is that a c or a b? >> there's all sorts of grading

systems these days. i think, as we've talked about before, the end of the month is crucial, not as just some arbitrary day on the calendar, begins a two-week period of time from december 1st to december 15th in which people if they don't want a gap in coverage, have changing coverage or want it january 1st have to be enrolled. it's not an arbitrary date, it's a real important milestone in the enrollment period. people have to have selected a plan in order to see that coverage selected. it is a big deal and something they have to get right. >> let me ask you, we're getting missives from prosecute from republican shops, 80%, are they hedging again, have they whiffed a ball, an unforced error. i would also note the devil is in the details, the other 20%, family circumstances are too complicated to determine

eligibility, people uncomfortable buying insurance on a computer which the white house can't do much about and people who encounter technical difficulties. that is some fraction, 20%. you're a message guru, you know the republicans are going to try to spin this as the white house still isn't ready. >> understand what is the incentive when credibility in tatters to set up a deadline and a number like 80% that you can't meet? there's certainly no ensentive to do that. i think they are working as they should as quickly as possible to make the best out of an abysmal situation. these deadlines and milestones are real. they are coming up. we're going to force a lot of people to make decisions quigley on this time line in order to have the coverage. they are going to have to slog through on this. there are no shortcuts, no easy

solutions. i love the notion this is katrina. i went through the oil spill, which was obama's first katrina. >> exactly. >> look, again, i think there's no in sentive for them to hedge. but the stakes every single day as we get closer not to the end of the year but march 31st, the stakes get higher every day. they are important to get right. >> from an insurance company perspective, washington rejected administrative fix. tell us why it's not good for washington state. >> washington state has an exchange working incredibly well in comparison to federally facilitated in 36 states. we're enrolling people left and right and we're really proceeding very quickly now to implement the affordable care act just as president obama wants to do. for us it would be a disruption in our market the insurance companies wouldn't like. as a regulator, i'd find tough to implement when we have a system up and working in the state of washington. >> you know, brian, it's worth

noting the responses from the insurance companies. washington, vermont and rhode island are saying no. ohio, florida, kentucky and texas are allowing it. still deciding alabama, arkansas, colorado, d.c., indiana, maryland, mississippi, oregon, south dakota and virginia. it almost seems like the people who want affordable care act to work, the states where they are inclined to see this thing through in the best way possible, they are the ones to decline the fix because it complicates things. >> a mixtures of ones who want and also built their own working exchanges. i don't know if oregon was one of the states on your list, they have a completely nonfunctional list. >> they are still deciding. >> still deciding. i think there's an impetus there for them to maybe accept this on moral grounds. they shouldn't sign up anything, why shouldn't they allow insurers to offer plans to those people. to what robert said, i think 20% means we're definitely going to get screen grabs on fails on healthcare.gov. >> we will.

>> we'll get a lot of those. at some point, december 15th, aggregates are going to start to matter. if it's really working for 80% of the people and the demand is still there and enrollment shoots up, that's doing to counter-act any failures and screen grabs, and we're going to know if this is going to be effective. >> kathleen, what is your thinking on 80 versus 20. >> i'm going to be a little more direct than my com patriots and say it's really dumb. >> what is dumb? >> to say 80%. you're setting yourself up again for a possible failure. what the american people don't need to hear is another promise or another guarantee or goal you think you can meet, and then for whatever reason not have it met. that's one thing they should have avoided. >> what should they do? we've got to mitigate this situation. >> first of all, they have to make sure they can do any of it f they can't, push it, push forward until they get it right.

this is where the white house seizes the problem and embraces the idea of delay until we get it exactly right. >> there's a counter argument that maybe it's actually functioning pretty well. they are terrified of saying 100% usability, getting 100% on anything is close to impossible. this is a way of lowering expectations. we won't know until december 1st, sally. >> i do think, kathleen is being a little more generous than people on the right would be of any number short of 100% of the reality of the president, the situation he finds himself in from day one, anything short of perfect perfection he gets attacked for. >> a katrina-like moment. >> it's the same thing as republicans. he's not transparent. so what does he do? he says, look, the thing is broken. we're getting it fixed. realistically we can get to 80% and they attack him for being transparent. >> i have to defend myself here. i'm actually not a spokesperson for the republican party. i do talk to them and get their ideas. 100% is what they say.

i would think 60% would be good under the circumstances. why do we have to put a number on things, compare things. >> i think there is now a lot of talk about functionality in the white house, saying 80%, a lot of crystal ball gazing, tea leaf reading, parsing of numbers. >> it is important to note that was i'm pretty sure the story in the post was based off of unidentified sources. this wasn't exactly like -- the white house did not roll out 80% mission accomplished banner. >> and what was obama wearing? >> i will say this. the insurance commissioner makes good points because you've got -- the insurance commissioner is 90 days. have you to notify people when their insurance is changed or canceled. what makes the next just few weeks harried to say the least for individual insurance

holders, they have got to be notified on the fact they can purchase their plan again. here is what the plan they could purchase again does, here is where it doesn't meet specifications that would have been outlined in the affordable care act. usually that's a 90-day process. it's now a much shorter process. the announcement that the president made on thursday is almost entirely dependent on insurance companies and insurance commissioners to make some of those decisions. >> mike, i want to ask you about a new proposal being floated by marco rubio, who is no friend to the affordable care act. he's trying to get rid of the risk corridors which basically protect insurance companies financially if they end up enrolling a riskier crop of patients and aimed at combating adverse selection. it would not theoretically cost the taxpayer but mark okay rubio calling it a bailout of insurance companies. the loss of the risk corridor

seems like it could be a problem given the sort of volatility of these risk pools as we currently see them. from your perspective, what do you think of rubio's plan. >> i think every one of these republican proposals are a trojan horse trying to take down the affordable care act. none of these people are supporters, including marco rubio. this is just a move right now to try to dissuade the insurance industry which has said we have a failing system. we have an opportunity to make a huge improvement for people of this country. we need to have a security blanket as we go forward with this implementation. undercutting that and risk taking as part of the affordable care act would be another move to try to undo the affordable care act. let me point out also when we send out notices in the individual market that discontinuation and replacement notices as was pointed out, this

is nothing new. it's been happening for decades by insurance companies where they send out these sorts of notices. for individuals who want to take the recommendation of the insurance company, that's their call if they want to. we urge them to shop dozens of other plans available to see if they can find a better fix at a better rate. these are excellent plans for most of the 290,000 people in the state of washington who receive these notices, they are looking at some real coverage compared to what they have currently. so this is really almost a no-brainer for the vast majority of people. >> what republicans are doing as antagonism, they are really betting this thing will fail. you know what, maybe it will. if it doesn't, they have not only antagonized insurers, doing

what rubio is doing, complicating like pushing for upton bill. they are also making statements like john boehner did. you have the best health care delivery in the world. have you that statement then you have reality. commonwealth looks at 11 top developed countries around the globe. 37% of american adults went without recommended care. they didn't see a doctor when they were sick or failed to fill prescriptions. 23% of american adults, that is one in four americans, could not pay their medical bills or had a serious problem paying them. 41% of american adults spend over $1,000 or more for out of pocket medical cost. that doesn't seem like the best health care delivery system in the world. >> for people who covered health care law, from conception to signature and beyond. >> and now complicated birth, the republican line was this is the best health care system. boehner tacked in the word delivery at some point in 2010

after the law already passed. what they are trying to do is preserve what works about the health care system for people who have the best possible access so it. but the people who don't, as your statistics bear out, have a terrible experience in this country. the affordable care act will go along with it. >> by the way, robert, those people know they have a tough time. it's not a surprise they can't get insurance because of pre-existing conditions or there's a lifetime limit. they know health care is bad. i just think it's a dangerous game when you say we're going to repeal the thing that fixed the problem and double down on the system we currently have. >> look, they are trying to beat something with nothing. right? gone are the days in which people have said lets repeal and replace obama care and replace it with x. they don't do that anymore. i don't know if they are going to send out letters repealing

health care reform when they decide they want to repeal it. i don't know if they said to people once we repeal it, you can keep your health care. that might be an awkward press conference for them. this is -- and everyone knew this was going to be complicated. my guess is those statistics haven't changed much in several decades in this country. this isn't something that happened sometime last week. when the clintons tried to do this in 1992 and 1993, you had similar statistics. you can go deep into the 60s and 70s when senator kennedy wrote a book that talk bowed it in 1974. this is a long time coming trying to improve it. now we're in this complicated process and we have to see what will happen. >> sorry, mike, go ahead. >> we've been watching a system

that's devolving for sometimes. people are getting raise in premiums, cuts in benefits. that's why affordable care absent will go forward, succeed, because the alternative is much worse. that's staying with the current system, the republicans have not put forward any proposal that would come even close to being able to match what people really need out there. we have a chance to really reform this system and that's why we're going to continue on the course we have right now. pr kathleen, do you think -- i don't know. there has been some talk about coming up with an alternative plan. it seems like the party is so fractured over foundational questions at this point lets not forget individual mandate founded on the heritage foundation and this bears many resemblances to romney care, the plan put forward by gop's nominee in 2012. are you worried there's too much of an emphasis on the -- natural

and understandable but in the long game, 2014 and 2016, too much emphasis on obama care because what if it works? >> right. i would add to that observation, republicans know we don't have the best health care delivery system in the country. they know we need reform, serious reform. they get no benefit of the doubt, quite frankly, because they didn't do it when they had the opportunity. now they are scrambling and back there tinkering in their cubi e cubicles trying to pull something together. i would give democrats and obama administration credit for creating something. they built qe2, i'm not talking about quantitative easing, i didn't want to say "titanic." you don't go repeal something that by the time this year ends, it could be done. it could be where they hope it

is democrats. >> john carl reporting this week someone will get fired, probably not until fixed. from your experience on the white house inner circle, do you think this moment changes the way business is done inside the oval office. >> i think there's two answers. inside the oval office, the president is extraordinarily frustrated at not knowing the full extent. as he said, you can't walk out there and say everything is going to be great if it's not. i do not see how the administration goes forward implementing health care reform into next year with the same team at hhs and cms that brought us this rollout. you simply cannot repair your credibility with the american people by having the same people captaining the ship, whether it it hit an iceberg or not, it has at least stalled engines in high seas. don't rehire the captain.

>> same engineer, you don't need the same people in the boiler room. have they called you yet to say can you come back? >> the last thing i would want to be in charge of. >> i am not coming back. washington state insurance commissioner mike criedler, thank you for your time. and thanks to mike gibbs who is not going back. tornadoes across the midwest flattening hundreds of homes and leaving eight dead. the latest on the storms and aftermath. we have not yet reached 2014 midterms, short list for cease-fire is lon ahead. on the u.s.s. saratoga in 1982. [ male announcer ] once it's earned, usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation

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within less than a minute, everything started collapsing around the house. next thing we know it's light inside the house. >> my neighbors houses, i couldn't believe it. so we'll be looking for bits and pieces today. >> today residents across the midwest picking up pieces after a massive storm system spawned dozens of tornadoes and left eight dead and more than 100 injured. the national weather service received 81 reports of twisters in indiana, illinois, kentucky, ohio. right now illini governor pat quinn is touring the devastation in the town of washington. the hardest hit area where at least one person was killed and 400 homes destroyed.

this is what illini looked like, winds of 161 miles per hour, the strongest tornado to ever touch down in the state in november. coming up 2016 is not really around the corner but prognostication has begun. we'll talk clinton, christie and other sweet 16s coming up next. ♪ ♪ you get your coffee here. you get your hair cut here. you find that certain thing you were looking for here,

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still three years out but never too early to talk 2016. after all, everybody else is doing it. >> i think has to be an outsider. vice president nominees, a former or current governor. >> in iowa, great screening in des moines. >> i don't know what i'm doing in 2016. what's more important who is running, what we would do if we would win the majority back, win the white house back. >> this is about do you want a barack obama-type policy in

place in washington, d.c. or do you want a ronald reagan-type policy. this isn't -- this isn't a purity test. i think that most republicans do fall into the camp of, listen, if you don't win, you can't govern. >> please run, rick perry. scott walker took a giants packers game with a man who many think is the front-runner. meanwhile trying out new lines in iowa. >> it's been a year. a lot has happened. maybe we should come back and do this more often. people are really friendly here. i tell you. >> on the democratic side new republic made waves by floating an elizabeth warren. warren says she's not running but maryland's governor is. this weekend martin o'malley, the man most likely to challenge clinton doing his best to rev up crowds in new hampshire.

>> let us believe in americans again, in ourselves, in our nation and in one another. together we can. together we must. together we will. god bless you, new hampshire. >> but even as o'malley channeled his best obama 1.0, ready for hillary campaign buttons were passed around and progressives made their choice clear with stickers clarg i'm from the elizabeth warren wing of the democratic party. sally, a lot of talk about the bench. deeper. >> more humorous. >> please, i need a year and a half of it. i do think elizabeth warren sort of question mark, whether or not she runs, there's been a lot of talk about whether or not, how much clout the progressive wing of the democratic party has. the fact that elizabeth warren is even considered, i think, does make things trickier for hillary clinton. >> it either makes things trickier for her or opens up a

window on the path to winning. she looks like such an inevitable candidate if she chooses to run not only for democrats but the nation. she leads every other possible conte contender. those in the democratic party can build a strong enough voice, they can say to hillary, look, you're running after a democrat. you've got the wind at your back. you can actually be a progressive hillary clinton as opposed to a centrist hillary clinton because she's shown us she has that range. >> rile read an excerpt from, wall street's nightmare." it's entirely possible also people will bring up bill clinton's record, which was not exactly a progressive economic record. >> it would be hilarious to see

hillary clinton try to distance herself from her husband. >> exactly. especially because he'll inevitably be part of the campaign. >> interesting thing, doesn't matter if elizabeth warren runs or mark o'malley runs, anybody to the left of hillary clinton get in the race at some point give her incentive to go further left than her husband, not run away from progressive parts of the president's legacy. that's where we need to see what she has to say before we have anything real to say about who is going to try to chase her out of the nomination. >> i think it's interesting john podesta, former clinton chief of staff had a thing devoted to in come inequality. if you talk about the where the wind is blowing. that issue is going to be a major one. >> blow and blow. >> when we talk about republican policy descriptions for the country, in recent days, the republicans have been saying we have to come up with a better way to frame our position. that means to be cognizant of economic hardship many people, millions of americans have gone

through. the sense of despair about the future and our children's inheritance. the question is the tea party, whether or not it's a tea party candidate that ultimately gets the nomination in the same way the left, progressives can move goalpost further to the left for someone like hillary clinton, you now have scott walker and marco rubio walking away from talking about comprehensive immigration reform. moderate positions that used to be more popular but certainly in the primary process will make them more unpopular. what do you think happens to these governors who look like they are the future for gop. >> they are certainly saying they are. they have gone around and played up governorships. they govern. i heard rick perry commenting on ted cruz's behavior relative to the shutdown. he said everybody gets to do their own thing. that's ted cruz's thing. my thing is governing. may i just digress on the subject of rick perry. he's just so entertaining. he's got this great little

swagger. he's actually got the same swagger george w. bush had. i don't see the glasses tempering that. i think he really should go with shades. >> why not wear your sunglasses at night as long as you're going for an accessory as a way of white washing who you actually are. >> your point is 100% right on. the republican party has got to reframe their whole approach to things because they seemed -- they seem so callous and that is -- for example, eliminating food stamps from the farm bill. whether -- i can't go into the weeds on that particular issue, whether or not it belongs there under their ideas, why would you do it? >> what is the argument that takes into consideration the economic reality for 46 million americans. >> including veterans on food stamps. >> 900 veterans who saw their food stamps cut. sally. >> the reality is america is moving further left on economic, social issues. the republican party has this

problem where their base keeps pulling candidates to the right. it would be nice to see a democrat put their finger in the wind moving further left but can still win. >> i don't think she can win in a general, elizabeth warren. >> she can change the landscape for lets say -- >> the most popular politician in america is elizabeth warren. >> she's wonderful. i like her very much as a person. the flip side of this conversation is she makes hillary look more centrist. >> the field expands exponentially with tea party and elizabeth warren standing on it. we have to take a break. despite demographic shifts and two major supreme court decisions, john boehner and marco rubio trying to roll back marriage equality. next on "now." by the end of dec, we'll be delivering ♪ ♪ through 12 blizzards blowing ♪ 8 front yards blinding ♪ 6 snowballs flying ♪ 5 packages addressed by toddlers ♪ ♪ that's a q

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ten years to the day after

massachusetts became the first state to legalize same-sex marriage, the party doesn't get it's a civil rights thing. since the landmark ruling 15 states have joined the bay state ensuring marng equality. on wednesday illinois will become the 16th state when mayor pat quinn signs marriage equality into law. in nine years support from same-sex marriage has gone from 42% to 54%. some folks haven't gotten the memo yet. by some folks that is to say leading voices in the republican party. on saturday marco rubio holland a fundraiser for the group that pushed same-sex marriage ban in 2008. a day before that john boehner hosted a group called world congress of names in the capital. according to the website for the world congress of families, marriage between a man and a woman forms the moral context for national sexual union, whether through pornography,

promiscuity, incest, homosexuality, deviations from created social norms cannot truly satisfy human spirit. they led to depression, remorse, alienation and disease. one of the architects of the anti-gay legislation in russia funneling money from the groups on the religious right to their delegation in russia. the managing director larry jacobs said on end times radio. yes, that is an actual radio station. >> russians might be christian saviors to the world. really at the u.n. they are the ones standing up for these traditional values. >> then there are the cheneys. after liz cheney doubled down on opposition to gay marriage her sister responded, liz, this isn't just an issue on which we disagree, you're just wrong and on the wrong side of history. kathleen you were talking about the speaker giving conference

space to the world conference of families, which certainly doesn't involve many families in the united states. the speaker's office returned our e-mails kindly and said the request for a variety of groups opposed to discrimination of any kind in the workplace and any place else. my thought is that is cool. i appreciate that. could you not just have said no to this group because it raises what seems to be a legitimate issue within the republican party, which is where they stand on marriage equality. >> i wasn't familiar with some of those statements that came out. the party of no seems not to know when to say no. doesn't make sense. they could have made it unavailable to avoid this conversation. i wish republicans could follow the lead of pope francis. so many people pro family, i mean traditional families because i know gay families are families, too.

yeah, if you want to believe that a certain way, incorporate that in your life, you could stand by those principles. why make them issues? why make them public issues. i think the original objections to gay marriages they wanted to ensure, institutionalize the idea of a child having a mother and father. i gay families now have children. my perspective on that is once you have children in a family by what means can you say those children deserve less than other families. how can you give privileges and rights to only certain citizens in this country. you know, i'm -- >> we're flummoxed by certain decisions and why is marco rubio speaking with a group that led the charges against marriage

equality. karl rove said in march i could see a gop candidate supporting marriage equality in 2016. how bullish are you to change. >> we now have gay rights groups praising the pope and republican groups praising russia. lets not forget the one political conservative cheney who doesn't even have an actual heart supports the right for his daughter to get married. current new generation leaders in his party don't. they are out of state with history, voters, their own base. far right of republican voerts, the young folks they even support marriage equality. >> all it does is make problems for republicans. the cheney family drama, don't go there. now she's opposed to her sister facebooking comments. it serves to make this a front burner issue when it doesn't

have to be. >> this is happening in a much grander context where republicans are not giving no vote. they fought doma in the court. >> reproductive freedoms consistently undermining and cushing at every level. >> voting rights, equal pay, immigration reform isn't just waiting for a vote in the house. it's almost like after rebuilding '08 democratic coalition just to -- people off so they come back to vote in a midterm. maybe that's where this ends if the health care website ends up working. >> we're going to gin up that democratic base and get them out to the polls. you're welcome. we have to take a break. toronto's crack smoking mayor rob ford remains in office. right now the city council is scheduled to hold another vote in order to strip ford of more of his powers. we're monitoring that three-ring circus and we'll bring you more details before we get them. 100 years after gettysburg address, the speech is more

relevant than ever. we'll discuss when document earn ken burns joins us just ahead. and just give them the basics, you know. i got this. [thinking] is it that time? the son picks up the check? [thinking] i'm still working. he's retired. i hope he's saving. i hope he saved enough. who matters most to you says the most about you. at massmutual we're owned by our policyowners, and they matter most to us. whether you're just starting your 401(k) or you are ready for retirement, we'll help you get there. ♪ [ male announcer ] laura's heart attack didn't come with a warning. today her doctor has her on a bayer aspirin regimen to help reduce the risk of another one. if you've had a heart attack, be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen.

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four score and seven years ago. >> a new nation conceived in liberty. >> dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. >> this week marks the 50th anniversary of president kennedy's assassination and also the 150th anniversary of the gettysburg address delivered four months after union and confederate forces suffered more than 50,000 casualties over the course of the three-day battle. the 272 words delivered by president linked on november 19th, 1863 included the line the world will little note nor long remember what we say here but can never forget what we did here. the address remains one of the most quoted in american political history. lincoln's words about sacrifice

and division, unity and patriotism are a powerful reminder of this country's battle scars and may clear extraordinary challenges and accomplishments of american democratic project. joining us now is one of the greats, documentary filmmaker ken burns. thank you for joining us. >> thank you, alex. >> i get chills when i read the gettysburg address. >> as we all should. i'm making a film about kids with dyslexia at a small school and other learning differences, small school in vermont, boarding school, boys school, very young. each year the school has been in existence they have asked them to memorize and publicly do gettysburg address. you'll curse this as you put it up on the mirror. it's a mine field for them, yet they do do it. they have their birth of freedom. as we were editing, we thought,

why don't we ask everybody in the country to memorize this. we're getting wonderful responses, extraordinary amount of people adding their own group recitations. we like to do things in unison. too much plueral, not enough unison. we're distinguishing how i'm different and disagree with you. what if we can come together. bill o'reilly, rachel maddow. nancy pelosi, marco rubio. lots of people, steven spielberg, warren buffett, bill gates, extraordinary people that come together to celebrate these words, which is the double down on the declaration. thomas jefferson said four score and seven years. he said all men are created equal. but he owned other human beings and didn't see contradiction or hypocrisy and didn't free any of them in his lifetime.

lincoln's coming four score and seven years later in the process of killing 750,000 of our own over this question of slavery. this is the biggest battle ever fought in north america on american soil. he's saying we really do believe in this. he's giving new marching orders, doubling down, the declaration 2.0. it still comes down to -- first of all, it's two minutes, 272 words, presidential poetry. >> the addendum in a bigger speech that day. >> the actual guy invited was the noted orator, he's great what he does. i should hope, mr. president, i came to the central theme of the moment in two hours you did in two minutes. what lincoln did was contain it all with this poetry. the first anniversary of 9/11, despite the desperately sad list of the dead, we had very few other english words, no original speeches. one of them was the gettysburg

address as if it was medicine, as if it was glue that could continue to hold us together. >> we talk a lot about our divisions here. the proposition in the gettysburg address, sally, there has been extraordinary sacrifice and we are here as a testament to the patriotism of these people and we must never forget their sacrifice. it is an important reminder, i think, for awful us, the project of democracy is messy, sometimes feels defeated especially in the currently political landscape. the differences between us we've always had and we come together and are stronger for them. >> i think of the speeches for two reasons, one this notion we are all created equal. the other is we are better together than we are apart and this notion of our nation. we have a nation for a reason and worth fighting for, worth

struggling through that mess together. i hope this is an anniversary for us all on all sides to remember that. >> we've lately gotten off track. we're debating whether government itself is good. remember, the united states government, which made a whole slew of mistakes in its lifetime. i'm doing a big series several years off on the history of the vietnam war. this is even during civil war, land grant, homestead, national parks, all these are happening. all of these are part of a birth right of active government that wasn't perceived as a negative force in our lives. it's really an uphill slog. instead of saying my version of government is better than your version of government, which is the way it should be, we have to get through those who think it's a force for evil in our lives. admittedly, this is an ongoing american conversation. it's been there since our founding. obviously part of what the civil war is about. we debate it now and that's a reasonable thing to debate. the gettysburg address reminds

us the government of, by, for the people should not perish from this earth. >> it is a powerful speech just to reread, if you don't memorize, which i have not, but i will. i'm doing my homework. >> if these boys can do it. april 15th. >> certainly everyone should go google it right now and watch ken's documentary. >> the bliss version is the one to try to do. you'll not be disappointed. it will make you happy. it's the pursuit of happiness. we're going to do this. >> i'm all for the pursuit of happiness. >> documentarian ken burns thank you as always and congrats on the project. good luck with everything else. >> thank you. >> you're looking at a live shot of the toronto city council, speaking of government of, for, by the people, which is said to hold another vote to strip dibble power from mayor and recreational crack smoker rob ford. i really hate we have to go from lincoln to rob ford. i apologize to america. we'll have the latest on the meeting. this is what we have to do in

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thank you to brian, kathleen and sally. a programming note that tonight sally will be participating in a texas abortion rights telethon, reproductive rights telethon with sarah silverman and lizz winstead. you can catch it at, wait for it, lady parts justice.com. that is all for now. see you back tomorrow at noon eastern. "andrea mitchell reports" is coming up next. 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. ♪ you can fill that box and pay one flat rate. how naughty was he?

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i'll tell you. my neighbor's houses, i just couldn't believe it. >> right now on "andrea mitchell reports," path of destruction. thousands of people across the midwest picking up the pieces after a deadly storm season ripped through six stays spawning more than 80