vitamix blenders for everywhere. >> i might be confused, but robertson will be nominated for the ambassador to china and the pope plans to denounce it. >> rebuilding the american cities. >> i know him. i know i am getting joe for christmas. we are back on monday. >> hoping to have the effect of the law being the opposite of its purpose. senator chris murphy on what he saw when they joined the protest in ukraine and how vladimir putin would shape that out. the deep dog into da bears. how the super bowl champs changed the game on and off the field in ways still being felt today.

good morning from washington. it's friday, december 20th, 2013. this is "the daily rundown." don't miss today's take away. we have the top ten races to watch in 2014. did your favorite race make the list? let's get to the first reads of the morning with the clock ticking before monday's health insurance deadline, the obama administration unveiled another 11th hour rule change. this to try to help consumers that remains in limbo. this is at least the seventh time that the administration has changed or delayed parts of the affordable care act. that includes pushing back the online enrollment until next year, delaying the mandate until 2015 and holding off on limits for out of pocket expenses. the administration pushed the deadline back from december 15th to the 23st and extended open enrollment until the end of march and delayed 2014 enrollment until after the

mid-term election. the focus is on people whose insurance plans were canceled because they didn't meet the quite lines. 3.5 million people according to the associated press. they say the president broke his promise to let them keep coverage they like. the administration said there is less than a half million who are not covered. they are worried that many are falling through the cracks. the push is to get insurers to keep bare bones plans on the books and it didn't work out. they are trying something new. last night the department of health and human services announced they will let those folks apply for exemptions so they can buy cheap coverage or go without insurance all together. here's how you qualify. people have to apply for a hardship exemption. it's a loophole designed in the law in the first place to help people who wanted coverage and couldn't afford it and under 30. this time temporary circumstances include things

like being expected and going bankrupt and suffering from a natural disaster. now they added a category for those whose insurance is being canceled or can't afford other plans. that's now a hardship exemption. if they qualify for the exemption, they can buy the catastrophic plan. a low cost option that was only available to people under 30 with a limited income. hhs estimates catastrophic coverage covers about 20% less than other plans. the so-called bronze plan. if people go without insurance, it means they don't have to pay the penalty. the trigger that was supposed to force people to abide by the individual mandate. the rule change sets off alarm bells with insurance companies concerned about low enrollment. the health insurance trade association said this. the latest change could cause significant instability in the market place and lead to further confusion and disruption for

consumers. hhs said the plan makes sense. this is a common sense clarification of the law for the limited number of customers whose plans have been cancel and are seeking coverage. this is now one more option. don't forget the political angle. the administration has been under pressure from senators who said the president had not done enough to help people who lot of coverage. a letter from virginia senator mark warner that indicated he and others, mary landrieu and he pushed for this one. criticism pushed almost immediately. marco rubio said holding a fire sale of cheap insurance is not a responsible fix for a broken program. this is a slap in the face to the thousands of american who is already performed expensive insurance through the obamacare exchanges. keep in mind all of this is happening just hours before the deadline to have insurance by

january 1. you have until december 23rd to buy insurance. that's monday. you will be covered on january 1st. it used to be that you had to pay the first premium by december 30th, but now the trade association said it will recommend to insurance companies that they push back the deadline to january 10th. the coverage will begin new year's day retroactively as long as you pay by january 10th. insurance companies are not required to follow the health insurance trade association's directive. you may have to check with your own insurance. the administration is helping a surge of enrollment to help them get closer to the goal of 7 million people by the end of march 2014 or a minimum of 3 million. after totalling 364,000 sign ups, another 200,000 signed up in the last three weeks. cnbc is tallying the numbers and comes up with 556,000.

anecdotal numbers show a surge. 53,000 enrollments in california in the first three days of this week. compare that to the entire month of october. the pace of enrollment in new york state is up by a third in the past two weeks. call centers in kentucky and connecticut had to add staff to keep with the pace of the calls. in order to keep track of things this week, president obama tapped former microsoft executive to takes charge of healthcare.gov, the ceo-type position. kathleen sebelius said he's the right man for the job saying he has technology teams and in product development. expect them to work through the holiday. president obama will be checking in while he is on vacation in hawaii to make sure things are going smoothly. the rhetoric surrounding the aca

shifted a bit instead of just criticizing the website. they are talking about offering an alternative to the law. >> in a nut shell, we can make insurance more accessible and affordable and responsive to individuals and families. put patients and their doctors in charge of health care decisions instead of politicians and bureaucrats. >> the white house has their own secret weapon after keeping michelle obama away from the health care mess for a while, they decided that now is the time to use their most popular figure to start helping sell the law. specifically african-americans and other mothers. >> the words that come to mind for me are peace of mind and what the affordable care act provides and can provide for so many families out there is peace of mind. >> by the way, before we go to

the white house to talk more about health care, we have breaking news in. senate majority leader harry reid is in the hospital this morning. they said in part early this morning senator reed was not feeling well and as a precaution decided to go to the hospital. tests have been conducted and everything is normal. he is alert, resting and feeling better. his office said he will remain in the hospital for observation and will not be working today. we will bring you developments as we get there and hope senator reid gets better quickly. >> turning back to the developments this morning, david is the deputy senior adviser for communications and strategy and joins me now. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> i want to start with simply a question of why make this change three days before the deadline for january 1st. in the worlds of the insurance company industry, creating a disruption so late in the game.

>> more choice. more choice for a narrow and shrinking universe of people. we have been trying to accommodate for the past month. that began on the president's policy of renewals that half the states took up that extended to what insurance companies have been doing on their own very aggressively. that's at a rapid rate, signing up folks who may previously have canceled to other plans. after you have done all that, they have individuals shopping in the market places and so for these individuals who for whatever reason believe about the plans offered. they are not affordable for them and now there is an additional choice for them in terms of s t catastrophic plans to make. this is about making sure the transition is smooth. >> why now and not two months

ago. you created two classes of people. you are saying that somebody now who didn't like the choices they got after they got the cancellation notice and hadn't signed up now can get this c catastrophic policy. other people say there will be a penalty and i don't like my choices, but i signed up for know expensive plan they didn't have and they are now going great. had i waited to the last minute, i would have gotten something cheaper available to me. how is that fair? >> first of all, it's fair because it's one class of individuals. people with cancellation notices. people who then may have a choice and looked on the market place or enrolled with their same company. now they can take a look and say this catastrophic option may be better for me. here's the very, very important distinction. when you talk about individuals who are subject to the cancellation policy. these are folks in the

individual market anyhow, valued insurance or sdediscerning shops understood what to get for their dollar and making the choices. all we are doing is offering that small and diminishing group of individuals an additional choice to help them make the choices best for them. >> is there going to be a single person in 2014 who will pay the penalty. a single uninsured american? >> i can't talk to you about how many people are going to be subject to the penalty. i can say in massachusetts you saw a rapid decrease in the number of uninsured because when they had choices, people signed up. that's what we are seeing today. you alluded to california. let me tell you what's happening this week. 13,000 people on monday and 19,000 on tuesday. over 20,000 on wednesday. 3,000 per day in kentucky. 2,000 per day in connecticut.

a huge, huge up tick in the federal market places. with that increase and the six-month open enrollment president, three months left in a functioning website. people have options. they are taking advantage of it. >> if this catastrophic policy proves popular. you are going keep it in the law for 2013. >> i can't speak to that. it's a transitionary policy that applies to folks with cancellations. remember this. once people get into the system, start receiving the new benefits that are part of the affordable care act and see going into 2015 with a new round of competition and a new round of rates and insurance companies entering markets, they are going to have a whole change of new options to look at and we always knew that with folks in the canceled universe that were in the individual market, every year there is a 30 to 60% turn over

in the market to begin with. these are people who stayed on the plans for less than a year on average. that's the market that it is. they are always looking for the best option opportunity. the affordable care act gives that to them. >> what do you tell the insurance companies that set their rates based on a set of rules so the administration was going to follow. now stuck with rates that say maybe they would change the rate structure at this point had they known the rules that were in place now. i think some of the insurance companies in the industry feels as if in many ways you guys have not been on the level with this. >> here's what the insurance industry is doing right now that i think gives you a different view of that. first of all, with the same difference, they are signing them up in droves in plans outside of the market. they know who the consumers are

and they are reaching out and doing it aggressively. that's the first point. the second point, if there was a tremendous concern about all of the volatility, you would not see the huge uptick in advertising that has been reported for insurance companies. they are voting for advertising dollars because they know and are seeing as enrollment picks up, this is not only a viability market, it's something that works and they are part of it. >> can i ask a process question. yesterday afternoon a bunch of senior administration officials at the white house gathered to give an update and brief people about what was going on with the law. somehow this change was not included in the briefing. you guys waited until late last night. if you were going to have a health care briefing on the implementation of the law, why leave this big news out of that briefing? it seemed odd. >> chuck, nothing odd about it. it was an extensive briefing.

went over a myriad of subjects about transitions. talking about all of the outreach that we are doing to different individuals both in december and talking about january. we talked about enrollment and what we are seeing. >> you didn't talk about a new catastrophic policy made available to people. >> as you know, the exemption is built into the law. there is always a hardship exemption. people are now aware that there is a different option that came out of hhs as a result of a letter from the united states senators who asked for clarification. that clarification was given and we move forward from this point. >> all right. senior communications aide for president obama. thanks for coming on this morning. >> thank you. >> a little more on the breaking news having to do with harry reid. here's what we know about his condition. casey hunt reports that a democratic aide said he was on the phone discussing upcoming

legislation. they wouldn't provide further details on his condition, but the office said he was not feeling well and decided to go to the hospital this morning and he was conducting business and that's a good sign. much more ahead on "the daily rundown." the top ten races we think all of us will be watching in 2014. they command the most attention in the new year. plus we have a few wild cards where anything can happen. from russia with love, i guess. we will talk to senator chris murphy fresh off the trip with the newest hot bed. a look ahead at the politics planner. you are watching "the daily rundown" on msnbc. bl [ male announcer ] welcome back all the sweet things your family loves with 0-calorie monk fruit in the raw. it's made with the natural,

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>> from vladimir putin, he takes pleasure in being a torn in the side and whether it was putin's decision to provide asylum to edward snowden which led president obama to cancel a planned summit, they soften punishment from the allies and putin's defense of russia's discrimination of anti-gay laws and the winter olympics. it's no secret that relations are at a post cold war low. with all the attempts to embarrass the u.s., don't overlook what's going on in the ukraine. putin is using strong armed tactics and power politics to

expand the influence in an attempt to out wit the west. he freed long time nemesis and tycoon who has been jailed for almost ten years for daring to challenge the kremlin. two members of the punk band pussy riot and they are suddenly being freed weeks before the olympics. the white house sent their own message announcing that for the first time since 2000, the u.s. delegation will not include a member of the first family or former president, but will include three formerly gay athletes. billy jean king and brian boitano. they are quiet about what's going on on russia's border. they have more and more

influence. president victor caught between russia and the west refused to sign the free trade agreements. thousands of protesters occupied the independent square and several government buildings and the crack down and protesters on a violent assault. last second the senators traveled to the ukraine to show support for the protesters. >> we are here to tell you that the american people and the u.s. stands with the people of ukraine. in america we stand in the fact that despite the violence on this square, you have remained peaceful in support of change. >> on tuesday, ukraine chose to go east. putin announced a $15 billion loan package and a discount on natural gas prices in the middle of a bitter season that saves the country about $2 billion a

year. as one piece put it, vladimir putin just bought a country, should the u.s. care. in a four-hour press conference, he called it our brotherly love and called it a good will gesture. >> president putin pulled out all the stops to threaten ukraine away from europe. he stressed on tuesday that russia's financial assistance to ukraine is free of conditions. if you believe that, i have beachfront property in arizona to sell you. >> he is warning the west not to forever. he said i am against anybody teaching us how to live. they call the play the cap stone of putin's most successful year

yet in a piece that is called how putin outfoxed the west. chris murphy the democrat joins me now. i have to ask you whether the united states is being too much of a bystander as putin tries to what appears rebuild the soviet union. >> this idea that russia is outplaying the united states is an overexaggeration. it's not surprising that putin is pulling out all the stops. of course he is going to go to greater lengths and the united states is a world away. in terms of what tools he is willing to use in a country like the ukraine and what tools the united states is willing to use. he bullied them into designing

the agreement. he would cutoff gas and effectively erect illegal tariff barriers along the border which would crater the steal industries. we are not willing to play with the tools. that gives him an advantage in his back yard, but a temporary advantage. the hundreds of thousands of kids on that square are going to force him or the guy that comes next. should the united states or europe be banding together now? there soft sanctions being contemplated. should the u.s. be more aggressive here. there should be a more aggressive track to contain them. >> all of the attention cutting the steel with russia remember. they are two smaller countries and geopolitically important

decided to join europe. the reason is because we don't use those same tactics that russia does and it's in our interest not to impose sanctions simply because they made a temporary choice to join russia. the attraction of an economic alignment is that we don't use the illegal tactics. i think this is a temporary deal and u train will join europe. they still said that the door is open. he only bought himself about a year with the $15 billion and doesn't solve the problems in his economy. >> there is an election i believe march of 2015 that he will end up facing the voters that could be a tipping point. let me show you about the nsa recommendations that came out. i'm sure you have seen some of them. i won't ask whether you have heard the report yet. is there anything in the recommendations that you think goes too far as far as the nsa intelligence gathering is

concerned? >> this is a smart set of recommendations that i haven't gone through enough to know which ones i report and don't. i think it recognizes that the program went too far. you don't need to collect the amount from the e-mail records that we have to protect the nation. it tells us that we need to have cost benefit analysis and foreign surveillance. we had an e thos if you could do it, you did it. people are going to find out. they tapped a world leadero phone and knowing it's likely you will have to explain it in an open forum. the report largely has common sense recommendations that people out there in the public will support. >> you talk about the diplomatic thing and the public trust that eroded between the government and the public here because of the issue. you were traveling in november

to europe and got an earful in brussels and berlin. explain. >> i went over to brussels and the chairman on foreign relations. we need to make it clear to the europeans that we want to work on a free trade agreement that could dramatically increase exports to europe. we don't want it to get in the way. they are furious and have a good reason to be. we shouldn't ab tapping angela merk merkel's phone. any time you are making a decision to do that kind of political espionage, the decision can't be made by a bureaucrat in the cia. the president has to make the decision and that will satisfy the concerns in europe. >> from connecticut, dealing with a lot, all things europe these days and the trip to ukraine. thank you very much for coming. coming up, the big bill waiting

for the president's signature and the cabinet that is waiting for nomination. first the trivia question. which members have served longer than charlie rangle? the first person to tweet the correct answer will get the on air shout out. the answer and more coming up. that's why new york has a new plan -- dozens of tax free zones all across the state. move here, expand here, or start a new business here and pay no taxes for ten years... we're new york. if there's something that creates more jobs, and grows more businesses... we're open to it. start a tax-free business at startup-ny.com. we're open to it. so you can see like right here i can just... you know, check my policy here, add a car, ah speak to customer service, check on a claim...you know, all with the ah, tap of my geico app. oh, that's so cool.

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. in the data bank, we have numbers on defense and partons and way more than six degrees. the number of days janet yellin will have to take a look at the feds. they were expected to confirm by the end of today, but they decided to put off the vote and they are back from recess. they were just too much. this is the total for a sweeping defense funding bill that the

senate passed. it cracks down on sexual assaults and legal council. they are a compromised version and eight is the number of crack cocaine offenders whose prison time is being commuted by president obama. they have theft and money laundering charges. he has been a vocal advocate for sentencing reform for nonviolent offenders. one happened to be a cousin of duvall patrick. patrick said he never met this cousin. former alabama governor did not get a pardon since he was sentenced to prison for bribery charges last year. the next number is 77, the difference in degrees between washington, d.c. and fargo, north dakota. it's supposed to be 71 in the capital and new york in the upper 60s. the midwest is expected to get socked with freezing rain and snow. salt lake city is digging out

from this system this morning. the bad weather could disrupt travel for millions of people leading up to christmas eve. good luck out there. find out why so many people think the 85 chicago bears were the best ever to hit the gridiron. it set the tone that sparked the concussion crisis that we are dealing with next on the deep dive. blap [ male announcer ] this is george. the day building a play set begins with a surprise twinge of back pain... and a choice. take up to 4 advil in a day or 2 aleve for all day relief.

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you'll find reviews on everything from home repair to healthcare. now that we're expecting, i like the fact i can go onto angie's list and look for pediatricians. the service providers that i've found on angie's list actually have blown me away. find out why more than two million members count on angie's list. angie's list -- reviews you can trust. >> most major cities spend big money to foot the bill for the teams, but the city of chicago got way more than it paid for. one of the greatest football teams of all time saved the city. the 1985 chicago bears were nicknamed the monsters like the bears team before them. they epitomized that moniker. they were talented and incredibly entertaining. not every good team winds up celebrating the season with the president of the united states. two decades later.

last year president obama marked the anniversary of the team's championship by inviting them to the white house and thanking them. >> this team changed everything for every team that came on. on and off the field. they changed the laws of football. they were gritty and gutsy and hardworking and fun loving. how chicagoans like to think of themselves. >> the coach propertied mr. obama with his own bears jersey and talked about how many didn't celebrate the chance. >> we are proud that you honored us. 26 years after the fact and administrations, but thank you. >> obviously the individuals on the team were legendary. sweetness himself to the fridge. how did they go from this sedate team photo to carrying the coach

off the field after a season and a super bowl win. why was it only one win? my next guest tracked down the coaches and the players for his new book, monsters. the chicago bears and the wild heart of football. i am joined by the author of that book. rich, good morning to you, sir. >> good morning. >> we are here and talking more football. i am usually doing a lot of politics. i'm going here with the claim that it saved the city. let's start with that. how did the bears team save the city of chicago? >> it's a big sports city much bigger than any other people. the chicago cubs had last won a world series in 1908. i was raised by a guy from brooklyn where we said don't road for the chicago teams because you will accept losing as a federal condition of

things. that was my childhood. chicago was in a bad moment. it was a bleak moment and i called the funk dellic slumber of the city of chicago. the team came along that was not just a great team, but they expressed chicago that they didn't only beat the teams, they annihilated them. other teams didn't want to be on the field with them. harold washington, the mayor of chicago danced a dance with the jets who were the cheerleaders. it unified the city and set them up to go into a renaissance. if you look at the games that pulled out, it is a third the size it is now. they united the city and launched the era that chicago has been in for my entire adulthood. >> people think wait a minute. people forget that michael

jordan was a chicago bull that year and seen mostly on the side lines because he was injured that year. he had not launched the bulls into becoming the bulls that people realize they are now. what always fascinated me about this team, i'm a packers fan and i have a lot of connections to this team. that was against the packers that year when they did the whole ridiculous thing. the dolphins provided the only loss. why didn't they rack up more super bowls. they all came together for one year and couldn't be duplicated. >> i thing team could be studied by successful businesses of what not to do. it made every mistake. every guy did two things after they won. opened a bar and write a book. they had all these fiery relationships on the team.

a great coach was hard on quarterbacks. ripping him to shreds. >> he today is the coach that he is probably. he is known as a tough coach because of dit ka. >> that is fascinating. he learned to coach by george hallis who started the nfl. you see the dna at the beginning of the league. >> he is a quarterback. dit ka is a tight end. the only guy who could perform for him was jim mcmahon who was expelled from brigham young for violating the mormon code. he had a case of beer and when he ran a mile, puked and had to walk the rest of it. he would go in and change and

that was a great thing. dit ka would call a play and you would see that at the line of scrimmage. he would throw a clip board and everybody should be celebrating. the bears would win the game. they had tragedies to them and some may be related. >> he was one of the same guys and i spoke about that and he said about cte, we all got it. it's a question of symptoms. that was the spirit known as the human missile. he used to revive himself. it's important to them that the game tried to reform itself to save itself. people forget that this happened

before. 1905 i think a lot of college players and called them to reform. the hope is to gain themselves and become a better game as a result. >> sorry there a dark side that is glamorized tough defense and hard hitting that were copycatted and helped create the crisis that they are in today? >> probably. a a bears fan, you have to look at the legacy and say does this change the people of the team. again number 46 said our game plan and their game plan is we will get to know the second string quarterback today and at some point, buddy ryan would turn and say it's time to win a new can of quarterback.

as a fan, what's my responsibility here? >> the book. monsters and the 1985 chicago bears and the wild heart of football. good to talk to you. >> thank you. sorry about that. making a list and checking it twice. top to watch in the contest to watch. the races of the year. a lot here and the programming note for you. i am the director and the exclusive guest. first the white house soup of the day is friday. the soup of the day is raging cajun gumbo. we'll be right back. ♪ welcome back [ male announcer ] it's made with the natural, vine-ripened sweetness of fruit, so you can serve up deliciously sweet treats without all the sugar. so let no drink go unsweetened.

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the third quarter. over 4%. much higher compared to the 2.5% in the second quarter. the markets are rising on this news. only two members have been in office longer. how about that. congratulations. send your trivia on "the daily rundown." we'll be right back. [ sniffles, coughs ] shhhh!

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i get times are tight. but it's hard to get any work done like this. then came this baby -- small but with windows and office. it runs my work stuff. ...and i can use apps like flipboard for news, or xbox video to watch the shows i'm never home to see... and i can still get work done at the same time. excuse me, do you mind if i... yep. ♪ honestly, i wanna see you be brave ♪ oh, fun takeaway on this get out of town friday, counting down our top races to watch in 2014. let's take a look.

checking in at number 10, we're casting a wide net, if you will, and looking at colorado, michigan or minnesota here. those are the races potentially in play at some point. we assume one of these three democratically held seats is going to pop into the top ten races. at this point we just don't know which one. my gut right now is that it's colorado, but don't sleep on michigan and you never know with al franken. next up at number nine in our top ten is going to be, oh, boy, a little bit of an issue here. is georgia senate. probably the best recruit of the cycle is michelle nunn. if that gets nasty and the tea partier wins and becomes unelectable, that messes up the republicans entire math to get to six. coming in at number eight is alaska. mark has done a lot of good groundwork to save his seat. could be a crazy primary there.

joe miller, if you remember him from 2010, is supposedly in the race there. the question is, is there 50% for any democratic candidate? seven and six are two governors races wee watching. john kasich, scott walker. both have an eye on running for president. they're both governors of states where president obama carried. they might think they're presidential candidates, but they'll have to win re-election in order to get there. coming in at number five and number four, two senate races, north carolina. this is probably the senate seat that i think the democrats have the best chance of holding because demographics are on their side. sizeable african-american population. republican recruiting only mediocre at best in that race. number four might be the toughest hold possibility for the democrats there, democratic senator mark pryor. he's going to struggle there. republican tom cotton may be the best recruit for the republican side that they found.

coming in at number three for us is maybe the linchpin race. if democrats hold louisiana, the path for the republicans to get their six suddenly is totally blocked. this has been among the most contentious races we've seen in this off year already. republicans have to figure out if bill cassidy can get through and make it to the finals before he gets beaten up. he's also had some fund-raising problems. at number two, florida governor. let me just put it to you this way. it's rick scott, it's charlie crist, well-known figures. in 2000, bush and gore competed in 12 swing states over a 90-day period. combined they spent $130 million. 14 years later in one state race, you are going to have two candidates spend close to $200 million on one race. think about that. finally, there's kentucky senate, which apparently is so big and so hot that it's not on my board, but this has got it all if you think about it when it comes to kentucky. it's mitch mcconnell facing a

tough primary. once he gets through that, it's him facing a tough general election. kentucky always is much more -- it may be a red state in presidential elections, always a tough state for republicans to hold their offices there. has a democratic governor. this is going to be one that we're all going to be watching closely because of the primary, but even when that primary is over, we'll be going there. we've got a few wild card races that we know we'll spend a lot of time. crazy primaries in wyoming and hawaii. governors races in texas, new mexico and south carolina. maybe one of them pops into our top ten. i'm a little bit of a skeptic on texas right now but we know it's going to have huge fund raising implications for democrats there with wendy davis. and with new mexico, it's about susannah martinez and her vp possibility. that's it for this edition of "the daily rundown." we'll see you back here on monday. if you're traveling, be safe doing that. coming up next is chris jansing. r out of landfills each year?

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aloha president obama. the first family headed to hawaii for christmas as we're getting another change for the health care law. the senate is back in session right now wrapping up on its last day before vacation. they approved big changes to the way the military handles sexual assaults but will not deal with several key presidential nominations like janet yellin until after the break. and conservatives come to the rescue of "duck dynasty's" star. >> phil was saying -- he was reciting a part of the gospel. the liberal left must feel that the gospel then is insulting and offensive. >> what is next for phil robertson? and can the show go on without him? good morning, i'm richard lui in for chris jansing on this friday. we are continuing to follow some breaking news this morning about senate majority leader harry reid, hospitalized. his office saying he was not feeling well and as a precaution went for