in a huge, huge uptick in the federal marketplace. people have options and they're taking advantage of them. >> seems like a full-court press. joining me is sarah cliff of the "washington post." if we look at monday being the deadline to enroll for coverage by january the 1st, the insurance industry's main trade group said this latest rule change could cause significant instability in the marketplace and lead to further confusion and disruption for consumers. and then senator marco rubio is saying a fire sale of cheap insurance is not a responsible fix for a broken program, calling it a slap in the face to thousands of americans who have already purchased expensive insurance through the obamacare exchanges. then, according to our first read team, this is at least the fifth adjustment to the law, hhs officials calling it a common sense clarification. so break it down for us, which is it? >> so it depends on your politics. i can tell you what the policy is, at least. what the administration announced last night is that

anyone who has received a cancellation from their insurance company, anyone who buys their own insurance and had that policy cancelled, they will not be required to purchase health insurance next year. they will be able to apply for a hardship exemption from the individual mandate. and you can debate whether there's a good idea or not and you're seeing that debate happen right now. even among some supporters of the health care law, there is a little frustration that they like the requirement that people purchase insurance. they wanted more people to get covered and this does give some people a way out and insurance companies, as you noted just a few moments ago, they really like the individual mandate. it's what encourages the young, healthy people to buy insurance so they're quite frustrated. but for the administration, they obviously recognize it's been a challenging rollout and they're trying to make it as easy as possible for that transition. >> again, it's been uphill on this, but not only will these cancelled policies, they're going to receive this exemption, americans getting that, but

they'll also have the option to enroll in catastrophic coverage plans. aren't the catastrophic plans, aren't those the kind that the administration sought to avoid? >> so that's one thing folks have pointed out. i will say that catastrophic plans are already part of the health care law. they're included for people under 30. the idea being that some people who are much younger wouldn't want as robust coverage and you could get them in with a really bare bones plan. one thing i would add that might make these a little different from the junk plans that the administration has criticized is they are still required to cover all ten essential benefits. this is stuff like maternity care and prescription drugs. they do have to include that as part of their benefit package. but i think there is some worry from supporters of the health care law that people could end up in these bare bones plans and all of a sudden end up with a really big bill if they end up in the hospital. >> i just have this crossing my desk from the republican national committee, reince priebus putting out this statement saying president obama is now admitting after years of deliberate lies that obamacare

is unaffordable and a hardship for millions of americans. it goes on to say that unilateral delays by this president can't change the basic fact we all know obamacare is fundamentally flawed and must be repealed and replaced with a plan that must include health care. there's one more paragraph in the official statement. there is nothing that goes on to explain what their alternative is for repealing and replacing, just wanted to make sure i saw that accurately. so they go on to pan it but we know that the white house is pushing back against this kind of claim and talking about the number of cancelled policies with more accuracy. fewer than 500,000 have actually lost coverage because of the law. meanwhile we have enrollment in the state exchanges soaring 30% to 40% in certain states. kentucky, as we see there being a role model. at the same time we have industry groups, sarah, and three of the states now expanding medicaid. they are setting their sights on 2015 on the earliest.

how big of a blow that is to obamacare or in the context of a marathon, not a sprint on this. is it such a big deal? >> i don't think it's a major deal. when you talk to health policy experts, they don't even think about the first three months of open enrollment is crucial or even the first open enrollment. they see this as a multi-year or longer progress. obviously the politics of it are quite tricky going into 2014. democrats i'm sure would like to see things going better. but when you think of the affordable care act as an insurance expansion, it's not especially important that things work exactly right at first. that there is space for things to get improved. you saw that with medicare back in 1965. you saw it with medicare part d in 2003 and it seems like we're seeing it for a third time with the affordable care act. >> is it fair to compare, though, the lift. i know when we look back at the '60s and look at that change to

our social contract because it included so many americans and then we look at medicare part d. but if we look at this from all age ranges, isn't this such a heavier lift because we are crossing the board here? >> it definitely is. if you think of any of the medicare programs, it was so much easier to figure out who was eligible and find them. you just sent out a mailing to every american older than 65 telling them you're eligible for these new benefits. there's no comparison now where you have people of all different ages and incomes, some are in states running exchanges, some are in states not running exchanges. it's just much more difficult when you're working with that population that is not as well defined. so it's definitely a heavier lift. and i think that's why you're seeing -- one of the reasons why you're seeing the government have a more difficult time with this launch. >> do you find it odd, though, that in this statement from the rnc chair that they're going back to that replace/repeal language that had seemed obsolete recently to reengage

that type of specific language once again? >> yeah, it seems to have disappeared a little bit from the debate. i think this is something that democrats were hoping for and expecting, that as the benefits of the health care law rolled out, it would be more difficult to repeal. that you could point to someone and say you're taking someone away from them. so you haven't seen as much of a repeal movement over these past few months, but it definitely comes up as there are challenges with the affordable care act as parts of it don't work as they are supposed to. you do see it turning up here and there. republicans talking about repealing the affordable care act. >> sarah kliff, great to see you. thanks for your time. >> thank you. developing right now, this information to pass along about senate majority leader harry reid in the hospital. according to a statement from his office, the senator was not feeling well, decided to go in early this morning as a precaution. however, all of his tests, they have come back normal, reportedly. doctors are just keeping him now for observation. we'll keep you posted on that as we get new information.

fighting the fight for voting rights is a problem. that appears to be an invisible one. why fraud accusations are growing weaker in ohio. and the duck stops here. the future of "duck dynasty" is now in jeopardy, as more republicans are rallying behind the show's star, phil robertson. we'll explain what that means. but it does bring us to our big question for you today. do you think that conservatives who support phil robertson's anti-gay comments, because they're rooted in his christian values, also support his insensitive racial remarks from the same interview? weigh in on facebook or twitter. to help secure retirements and protect financial futures. to help communities recover and rebuild. for companies going from garage to global. on the ground, in the air, even into space. we repaid every dollar america lent us. and gave america back a profit. we're here to keep our promises. to help you realize a better tomorrow. from the families of aig, happy holidays.

i have a big meeting when we land, but i am so stuffed up, i can't rest. [ male announcer ] nyquil cold and flu liquid gels don't unstuff your nose. they don't? alka seltzer plus night fights your worst cold symptoms, plus has a decongestant. [ inhales deeply ] oh. what a relief it is.

to share with family. [ woman 2 ] to carry on traditions. [ woman 3 ] to come together even when we're apart. [ male announcer ] in stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy and more, swanson makes holiday dishes delicious.

gravy and more, sleep traiends sunday! interest-free for 3 event it's your last chance to get 3 years interest-free financing on beautyrest black, stearns & foster, serta icomfort, even tempur-pedic. plus, get free delivery and sleep train's 100-day low price guarantee. but hurry, sleep train's interest-free for 3 event ends sunday! superior service, best selection, lowest price, guaranteed! ♪ sleep train ♪ your ticket to a better night's sleep ♪ conservative icons are lining up to defend "duck dynasty" star phil robertson. that's our topic for the agenda panel. we welcome david corn, james

peterson is director of african studies at lehigh university and victoria soto is at the lbj school of public policy at the university of texas as well as being an msnbc contributor. gang, it is great to have you here. we are going to get into this duck and cover situation. i do want to remind all of our viewers that this is a situation from wednesday where a & e executives indefinitely suspended their "duck dynasty" dad, phil robertson, for remarks he made about gays and african-americans in an interview with "gq" magazine. those that are coming out to his defense, we have sarah palin, newt gingrich, governor bobby jindal who called robertson a friend. take a listen. >> he's a good man. i know he's got love in his heart and he wants everybody to be treated with equality and respect. here's where i think that it's so hypocritical of a & e and hollywood and the left. they all say that they're for

diversity, they're for tolerance, they're for minority views and opinions unless you disagree with them. >> a & e, they were absolute quacks on this one. well, what phil was saying in -- he was reciting a part of the gospel. the liberal left must feel that the gospel then is insulting and offensive, because phil was just repeating what is in the bible. >> he talks very specifically about loving everybody. he talks very specifically about not being judgmental towards anyone, that that's god's decision, not his. i mean it is a remarkable, there are sections where he sounds a lot like pope francis. >> yes, there were certain sections there. also let's just be clear, he is against adulterers and cheaters, so we have newt gingrich coming out for him. but the statements that he made, and let's just be specific here, it seems like to me a vagina as a man would be more desirable than a man's anus. that's just me. i'm thinking there's more there.

she's got more to offer. come on, dudes, you know what i'm saying. but hey, sin, it's not logical, it's not logical. now, i didn't find any of this for 12 years at my catholic school. david, your thoughts on all of this and the fact that is there being a hypersensitivity to his remarks not just about the gay community but also about the african-american community? >> you know, if he went out there and said because of my religious views i think black people are inferior, no one would make him a free speech champion. he had the right to say what he said, people have the right to respond and a & e has the right to say we don't want to do a show with people with such views. the reason why i think bobby jindal and newt gingrich and sarah palin are rushing towards embracing this is these people are basically on the losing side of this battle over gay rights. new mexico became the 17th state to legalize gay marriage. you know, demographically the young people support this

overwhelmingly. the majority of the public in a lot of places do now so they are losing. they have lost this battle, it drives them crazy. but yet here's a guy who gets 14 million viewers a week and he's very popular. he's a pop culture hero of the and they can use him as cover for their crusade to keep, you know, gay -- anti-gay bias alive in the united states. it's not about free speech. >> here's where it's politically dicey to bring out that type of cover because in this interview it's not just about trying to use biblical references to bring some type of, i guess, some type of relevance to your homophobia. he also goes on to talk about the african-american community. but republican senator ted cruz of texas has also chimed in saying if you believe in free speech or religious liberty you should be deeply sdmad over the treatment of phil robertson. he expressed his own personal views. for that he was suspended from his job.

in a free society everyone can disagree with him but the mainstream media should not behave as the thought police censoring the views with which they disagree. what none of these conservatives seem to be addressing are robertson's comments about the african-american community. in this interview he goes on to say i never with my eyes saw the mistreatment of any black person. the blacks worked for farmers. i hoed cotton with them. they were singing. and then he goes on further with these statements saying free entitlement, free welfare. were they happy? they were godly, they were happy. no one was singing the pluz. this is a time when he was a young man working side by side with the african-american community. but this also is not something that's being discussed by those tea party conservatives. they're not trying to race to his defense on those statements. >> well, we don't actually know the answer to that question. unfortunately, the way the media has been reporting this, obviously it's an important issue in terms of the lgbt

community but the media hasn't picked up on his racial comments and this sort of back to the old south blindness about white supremacy and racial oppression. frederick douglas, when they wrote about black folks singing, they said slaves sing most when they are most sad. so the idea that this guy couldn't understand that black folk were being owe pressed all around him is an unfortunate consequence of why supremacy in the south throughout the 20th century. what we have to do is ask governor jindal and senator cruz, ask former governor palin, ask former speaker of the house newt gingrich if they stand by mr. robertson and his comments about race and race relations in the south in the middle of the 20th century. if they do, and i suspect that some of the audience -- viewing audience of the "duck dynasty" does, their alignment with that is what we refer to as a racial dog whistle. they're aligning themselves with those folk who are still in the south who really actually

believe that everything was fine in the south before the civil war. >> all right. so victoria, as we branch out more into this interview, the remarks go on in "gq" to say when he was asked about what in your mind is sinful. his answer start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. sleeping with that woman and that woman and those men. they don't inherit the kingdom of god, it's not right. neither the adulterer, the male prostitutes. homosexual, the greedy, the slanderrors, the swindlers, they won't inherit the kingdom of god. it's not right. so when we look more at this, and a & e cast this family because of their interesting backstory. they have never hidden the fact that they are what they call themselves to be bible thumpers. so did his rhetoric go too far in what he obviously believes, that a & e likes the bible thumping version of this family

but the hell fire and brimstone part is too far? >> these comments are highly offensive but they are reflective of a chunk of the american electorate. i think we sometimes forget that. living here in texas in a very red state, i do not forget that. yes, we have seen public opinion move in the direction of an acceptance toward homosexuality, toward gay marriage, toward alternative lifestyles, as david was saying earlier, but there are still bastions in the south, louisiana, texas, other areas where this isn't the case. we know that about 40% of americans oppose gay marriage. when you look at republicans in particular, we're looking at upwards of 60%. so when ted cruz and sarah palin and all these other folks are coming out, they're being politically strategic. they are speaking to a base that base that likes the fire and brimstone. let's just ask karl rove about how important that evangelical vote is in 2000 and 2004. sadly i'm seeing a lot of political strategy in jumping on

the "duck dynasty" bandwagon. >> they're already a highly popular show. this has certainly thrown them into a different type of pop culture conversation, and now one in the political sphere. the suspension remains against phil robertson. the family has rallied around him saying they don't know if they want to continue if the patriarch isn't part of this. we had fox news host bill o'reilly, he called robertson's remarks about this in reference to the lgbt community a mistake. did that surprise you? >> well, it did surprise me. maybe bill is too caught up with the war on christmas to take -- to launch another battle here, but you had newt gingrich, who is an admitted adulterer coming out and saying that he thought phil robertson sounded like pope francis. i don't think pope francis would be talking about comparing gay rights and homosexuals to beastiality. reality shows often don't show

us the full reality. they certainly didn't with sarah palin's reality show. now we're seeing who this guy really is and americans have the right to judge him, not judge him, watch him, not watch him and a & e has the right to keep him on as the face of their channel or not. this is real reality. sorry. >> it's where capitalism meets free speech. david corn, james peterson, victoria soto, great to see all of you. happy holidays, gang. thanks for being here. >> happy friday. >> same to you. >> thank you. that's going to bring us to our big question for you today. do you think conservatives who support phil robertson's anti-gay comments because they're rooted in his christian values also support his insensitive racial remarks? melissa wrote in on facebook, i think they use their religion to justify hate, bigotry and intolerance. what a shameless way to use religion. curtis wrote in on facebook, i don't think they realize what the first amendment actually says. and jean tweets, yep. problem is they don't see the comments as insense tiff. hence, they don't have a problem with the comments. we ask you to keep the

conversation going on twitter and facebook. we're back after this. [ female announcer ] so how long have you been living flake-free with head & shoulders? since before jeans were this skinny... since us three got a haircut. since my first 29th birthday [ female announcer ] head & shoulders. the number one dermatologist recommended dandruff brand.

hands for holding. feet, kicking. better things than the joint pain and swelling of moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis.

if you're trying to manage your ra, now may be the time to ask about xeljanz. xeljanz (tofacitinib) is a small pill for adults with moderate to severe ra for whom methotrexate did not work well. xeljanz can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers have happened in patients taking xeljanz. don't start taking xeljanz if you have any kind of infection, unless ok with your doctor. tears in the stomach or intestines, low blood cell counts and higher liver tests and cholesterol levels have happened. your doctor should perform blood tests, including certain liver tests, before you start and while you are taking xeljanz. tell your doctor if you have been to a region where certain fungal infections are common and if you have had tb, hepatitis b or c, or are prone to infections. tell your doctor about all the medicines you take, and if you are pregnant, or plan to be. taken twice daily, xeljanz can reduce the joint pain and swelling of moderate to severe ra, even without methotrexate.

ask if xeljanz is right for you. so senate majority leader harry reid has been hospitalized this morning after feeling unwell. he underwent tests that revealed nothing is wrong. reid's hospital stay comes after the senate worked late into the night to pass a sweeping defense bill. senators voted 84-15 on that measure, which includes a number of reforms, including the way the military handles sexual assaults. today they're set to hold a cloture vote on fed chair nominee janet yellen with a final vote set for january the 6th. it was part of a last-minute agreement that will end the ongoing dispute over nominations that has died up the chamber. as part of the deal, they will also vote on the confirmations of deputy secretary of homeland security and an irs commissioner. here's a look at some of the stories that are top get news now for you. an investigation is under way to figure out why part of london

theater's ceiling collapsed and fell on an audience last night. 56 people had to go to the hospital because of it, mainly for minor injuries. the performance was under way for 45 minutes when chings unks plaster and wooden beams rained down on the audience, causing panic and a lot of confusion. >> i mean there was a massive crash and massive section of it came down. the room filled with dust straightaway. >> there was soot everywhere. you couldn't see a thing so you don't know. you fear the worst with these things. president obama has sent in a small military con tintingent protect the u.s. embassy in south sudan. this follows violence that broke out sunday and has spread through the country, torching off fears of a civil war. hundreds of people have been killed and the u.n. says there are thousands of refugees. it has been a really rough 24 hours in southern california on the roads. in three separate incidents, buses skidded and crashed on wet pavement. the most serious accident happened near fallbrook, catch, where one person was killed when

a bus headed for a san diego casino flipped over on interstate 15. target has e-mailed its shoppers who may be at risk after hackers stole credit and debit card information from 40 million target customers who shopped in late november and early december. the theft is the second largest credit card breach in u.s. history. and new mexico is now the 17th state in the nation to recognize marriage equality. on thursday, the state's highest court said that new mexico's constitution offers equal protection to gay and lesbian couples who wish to get married. congratulations.

before using her new bank of america credit card, which rewards her for responsibly managing her card balance. before receiving $25 toward her balance each quarter for making more than her minimum payment on time each month. tracey got the bankamericard better balance rewards credit card, which fits nicely with everything else in life she has to balance. that's the benefit of responsibility. apply online or visit a bank of america near you. after another election season filled with republican-fueled accusations of voter fraud and other abuses, the ohio secretary of state is unveiling the truth behind a problem with voting rights and the activists have known that doesn't exist. secretary of state announced during a press conference this week that 17 noncitizens out of

5.6 million people in the buckeye state voted during the 2012 election. now, he conceded that there is no evidence of a plot to register noncitizen voters. but despite this revelation, the republican-led legislature just passed a bill making it easier for the secretary of state to purge voters from the rolls. and next week they will vote on a set of sweeping bills. zachary roth is a national reporter for msnbc.com. he's been following the voting rights issue throughout the country. so this is big, because you don't get to 1600 pennsylvania avenue without going through ohio. i know that you reached out to the office of the secretary of state there, so what did you learn about the findings? >> well, we reached out to them because out of the concern that by holding a press conference and making this into a big deal, it kind of stokes the concern that you referred to, that it turns this into this big epidemic of voter fraud.

and they said that wasn't their intention. the goal was just to kind of control the message, because they found that it can get distorted on either side of the and that's a reasonable thing. husted actually acknowledged in his press conference that north pole of these cases of illegal voting would even have been stopped by a voter i.d. law because these people already had driver's licenses. so that is not the takeaway that certainly should be taken from this news. of course republicans in ohio may draw a different lesson, and there's talk that they are looking at introducing a voter i.d. bill. as you said, they will certainly be pushing these other very restrictive voting laws when they come back in january. >> so just to get this number accurately, 5.63 million people. so 5,630,000 voted in 2012. they found 17 noncitizens out of that number. so as we look at this minuscule number of noncitizen voters in

ohio, we're reminded of another insignificant number, the overall fraud that's taken place since 2000 in that state which is 10 cases out of 27.8 million votes cast there. has republicans are set to vote on these restrictions, like cuts to the early voting period, ending same-day registration and reducing the number of voting machines how is someone that's up for re-election willing to sacrifice in going after these laws? >> well, he's walking a very narrow line. on the one hand he's kind of doing enough to appeal to republicans by saying that there is this issue of voter fraud and of noncitizens voting. he said it's not an epidemic but it does exist. but on the other hand he's not up like some other republican secretaries of state. he's not kind of going an all-out push that, therefore, we need to enact these very restrictive voting laws so he's kind of taking a middle ground

there. >> zachary roth, great to see you, sir. thanks for your time. just hours before his holiday break, president obama will hold his final news conference of the year coming up at 2:00 eastern today. sure to be on this white house agenda to talk about is the 11th hour adjustment to the individual mandate portion of the president's signature health care law. last night white house official announced americans whose health care policies were cancelled because of the aca will not be penalized next year. joining me now is new york democratic congressman charlie rangel, a senior member of the house ways and means committee. sir, it's great to have you here, especially in person. now we've got the white house easing up on the rules for the aca when it comes to the mandate for at least a fifth time. today's tweak allowing people whose policies have been cancelled to avoid the mandate and choose the so-called catastrophic plan. we've got the rnc chairman, reince priebus, putting out a statement saying president obama is admitting after years of deliberate lies that obamacare is unaffordable and a hardship for millions of americans.

obamacare must be replaced and repealed with a plan that actually improves health care. that statement from reince priebus did not include any information about what the plan is to repeal and replace, just the language of repeal and replace. how do these changes undermine the efficacy of the president's law? >> i think anybody of the 40 million people that couldn't gain access to health care, these are the people that we should be talking about. i am so excited that during my lifetime poor folks, middle class folks, people who have been turned down by insurance companies now would have health care. the fact that republicans are throwing all kinds of roadblocks in his way and that governors are not cooperating doesn't bother me as much as it bothers other people, because i know that ultimately they're not going to repeal the law. it makes good sense to have

mandatory enlistments. it's going to reduce costs. it's going to allow people with preconditions to get insurance. and it's the right thing to do. but from an economic and health point of view, it makes america fall in line with the rest of the industrial nations. and so it is sad that we don't hear from the religious community and say that this is morally the right thing to do for the poor, the good samaritan and all those things. but every state that the governors have said that this makes sense, there's florida, new york, california, it works. >> and with the tone being around trying to make sure that americans have access to affordable health care, while it's a good intention, it has been a heavy political lift and certainly the onus has been on members like yourself to get out there and talk to constituents about what this means for the country, for people individually. and i know you're on your break.

you started the break. the senate we still know has work to do. they're going to be closing out their shop work. but it's been said that democrats plan to spend their holiday break hammering republicans who prevented the passage of the extension of unemployment benefits. a national tv ad campaign starts after christmas. also to drill down to county level data on the number of people being kicked off with benefits and then targeting house republicans who are both vulnerable and reside in states where unemployment is high. is that the agenda? >> not my agenda. >> not your agenda? >> no. governor cuomo has made it so easy for the federal government to work with them. the city of new york is working with them. we have the health and hospital corporations. we have health centers throughout the state. people are coming to the office saying thank you so much. nobody knows the amount of complaints people have that they have been cut off from insurance, they went bankrupt because of the bill, that they reached their limitations, they had a precondition.

and so for those who are against it, without any plan at all, i am amazed that they can get by with it. you would think that the tea party has no old folks, no sick folks, no poor folks, no one on social security, no one on medicare, no one that needs a living wage. you know, when you're on the right side, whether it's politics or business, you have to be patient. and we do have some people that don't mind killing the republican party in 2016, embarrassing the congress and having the economy to fail and they have proven that. >> let's talk about what your specific agenda is. based on this headline that came out from the national journal where congress has the lowest output since 1947, this year alone congress will close the year with 58 public bills. they may add a few in the last day of the year but it's not going to change much substantially, you announced you're going to be running and

seeking your 33rd year in congress. when we look at now having the lowest output since 1947, a member like yourself wants to go back. you want to go back to this rodeo one more time for the 23rd time. explain what you hope can kwhche with keeping your position. >> you know, when you have a bad marriage, and we are married to the republican party as a congress, you still have a bad marriage. and i have invested too much love and sacrifice in trying to improve the quality of life of most americans so that they can have the great opportunities that i've had. and the president has two more years to fulfill an exciting, progressive program that creates jobs, enhances education, gives hope to the poor that they can become the middle class and hope to the middle class that they can become better, to get rid of this disparity between a handful of wealthy people and people

going to poverty. i cannot allow a group of people that hate the president and hate big government as they get social security checks and disaster relief and health care, i can't quit without filling out the obligation i think i have to stick with the president until he finishes his term. so i find it exciting as heck, and i will be turning my back on historic opportunity if i didn't run. >> all right. so you want to help the president with unfinished business. we'll see if you go back to a 23rd term. certainly congress would lose one of the sharpest dressed men if you did not go back. >> you're only saying that because you're all dolled up too. >> well, i do take inspiration from you as i try to change my daily look. sir, great to have you here, merry christmas. >> well, you've done well. thank you, thomas. new signs of the war on women could be a big part of a key senate race come 2014. what's in a name? a tea party attack on the wrong

member of the republican party. we'll explain all that when we come back. stick around. [ male announcer ] if we could see energy... what would we see? ♪ the billions of gallons of fuel that get us to work. ♪ we'd see all the electricity flowing through the devices that connect us and teach us. ♪ we'd see that almost 100% of medical plastics are made from oil and natural gas. ♪ and an industry that supports almost 10 million american jobs. life takes energy. and no one applies more technology to produce american energy and refine it more efficiently than exxonmobil. because using energy responsibly has never been more important. energy lives here. ♪

energy lives here. don'neutralize them odorand freshen.ash. with glad odorshield with febreze. if yand you're talking toevere rheuyour rheumatologistike me, about trying or adding a biologic. this is humira, adalimumab. this is humira working to help relieve my pain. this is humira helping me through the twists and turns. this is humira helping to protect my joints from further damage. doctors have been prescribing humira for over ten years. humira works by targeting and helping to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to ra symptoms. for many adults, humira is proven to help relieve pain and stop further joint damage. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal events, such as infections, lymphoma, or other types of cancer,

have happened. blood, liver and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure have occurred. before starting humira , your doctor should test you for tb. ask your doctor if you live in or have been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. tell your doctor if you have had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have symptoms such as fever, fatigue, cough, or sores. you should not start humira if you have any kind of infection. ask your doctor if humira can work for you. this is humira at work. avo: thesales event "sis back. drive" which means it's never been easier to get a new 2014 jetta. it gets an impressive 34 highway mpg and comes with no charge scheduled maintenance. and right now you can drive one home for practically just your signature. sign. then drive. get zero due at signing, zero down, zero deposit, and zero first month's payment on any new 2014 volkswagen. hurry, this offer ends january 2nd. visit vwdealer.com today

all right. so all this week we've been taking a look at some of the top senate races to watch in 2014. today we drilled down on the battle that's brewing in north carolina. recent polls in that state showed the double-digit lead the democratic senator, kay haguen, held over her potential republican challengers. that's eroded to a virtual dead heat, largely due to her support for the aca, obamacare. meanwhile she came out in favor of gay marriage this year, which can also be seen as a risky move, especially in a southern state that voted for mitt romney. and republicans need six seats to take control of the senate. hagan's vulnerability makes her a prime gop target. joining me is john davis, editor of the john davis political report. john, it's good to have you here. republicans certainly very serious about taking control of the senate in 2014. as you mentioned in your report, the conservative group americans for prosperity, it's already

busy in north carolina running attack ads against senator hagan and targeting a very important voting block in the state, women. i want to play a portion of that ad. take a look. >> women are the driving force of the new economy. they balance the family checkbook. they start businesses, create jobs. but kay hagan just doesn't get it. instead of listening to north carolina, hagan continues to push for obamacare. >> so with still ten months to go, in your estimation and what you know, how much has already been spent on these ads and where exactly are the deep pockets this money coming from? >> well, about $8 million has already been spent. six of the eight has been spent by the conservatives. but there's a critical variable here that's far more important than these ads and that is gender. north carolina is a very female candidate friendly place to be. there have been 40 races since

the year 2000 that came down to a candidate between -- a male candidate versus a female candidate. the female candidate won 31 of 40 times. that's 77.5%. so this is a very female friendly place to run. there are looking at registrations, there are 55% women, 45% men. there were 490,000 more women that voted last fall than men. our supreme court is 4-3 female. our chief justice is sara parker. this is a good place. >> so, john, specifically, though, when it comes to some of the stances or progressive stance for senator hagan is the fact that she came out for marriage equality. however, the state of north carolina voted into the constitution a pan ban on marri equality.

how do you think that averages into her chances for re-election? >> well, we've gone from 3.5 to 6.5 million voters in 20 years. two-thirds of those newcomers did not come from southern states. so we're becoming a very urban dominant swing state. so the demographics actually favor hagan, the demographic trends. urban voters are more moderate than conservative. they're much more tolerant socially, more diverse, more pro-government than anti-government. and those who tend to be partisan are more likely to be democrat than republican. and as far as that vote, that was taken during the primary. so, you know, if you think about the turnout on the republican side, it's going to be people who would oppose same-sex marriage. and even on the democrat side, african-american preachers turned out african-americans in great numbers to, of course,

also vote for the amendment, which was against same-sex marriage. so that was really an unusual time to take that vote. even our own republican house speaker has said that the day will come when that will be repealed. >> john davis, great to have you on today. thanks for your insights into the north carolina race, i appreciate it. >> thank you so much, thomas. believe it or not, some people actually miss working in congress. it's time now for the poli side bar. trey radel is out of rehab and vows to stay in office and keep serving his constituents of southwest florida. he left treatment yesterday after entering that facility last month following an arrest for cocaine possession. radel pleaded guilty and is now being investigated by the house ethics committee. new jersey governor chris christie has reached a deal with his state's democratic controlled legislature on a version of the dream act. it allows undocumented immigrants to attend in-state public colleges but does not include financial grants for

undocumented students. and the tea party express issued an e-mail blasting congressman steve king for his new political action committee. the only problem is, they got the wrong congressman king. the group is apologizing to representative king for that mistake. well, it turns out they meant to criticize congressman peter king, whose new pac opposes tea party favorites like ted cruz and rand paul. across ty has brought me to the lovely city of boston. cheers. and seeing as it's such a historic city, i'm sure they'll appreciate that geico's been saving people money for over 75 years. oh... dear, i've dropped my tea into the boston harbor. huhh... i guess this party's over. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. [ ding ] i sense you've overpacked, your stomach. try pepto to-go. it's pepto-bismol that fits in your pocket. relief can be yours,

but your peanuts... are mine. ♪ he loves me. he loves me not. he loves me. he loves me not. ♪ he loves me! that's right. [ mom ] warm and flaky in 15, everyone loves pillsbury grands! [ girl ] make dinner pop!

the end of the show, time for go and do, our spotlight on those who try to improve the lives of oergs. this week we feature the story of a 28-year-old breast cancer survivor, inspiring hundreds of thousands with this time laps video. when emily learned of her diagnosis in 2012 she started a blog to update the people she knew. then she decided to take a picture every week showing what treatment looks like. the process has helped her to try to destigmatize what it's like for herself, other women

like her to lose their hair as a result of chemotherapy. joining me is limb. great to see you in person. this was fascinating to look at, as you chronicle what it was like for you to go through that. first explain how you're doing right now. >> i'm doing well right now. i'm just starting a new phase of treatment, clinical trial for breast cancer vaccine, exciting and i'm still work ongoing reconstruction. >> still working on obviously getting your life back in order after all of this. this had to be a heavy lift. what made you decide to be so public about the transition your body was going through. did that help you keep your mind off things in a certain way to have the project going on? >> the project initially to get through cancer treatment there's this feeling of keep your head down and do what they tell me. that's what i was doing initially and i realized i was missing a lot of what was

happening. so when i started chemo, i decided i'll take a picture every week. maybe i'll keep doing it, maybe i won't. i never intended to keep doing it for a year but that's what happened. i thought, lets see what happens. it became an objective view of the experience that i couldn't have perceived going through it. >> one dramatic and jarring for anyone, loved ones and family members. when you look at that in the pictures you see on the monitor, can you remember the thoughts you were having at those certain moments of time? could you believe you actually agreed to do this to yourself, allow yourself to go through this? emotionally you didn't know what you were going to have to face day in and day out but you were committed to seeing this through? >> i did have a sense going in what it was going to be like. my husband also had cancer in his 20s. we went through that together, chemo and radiation.

i had a little sense. of course it's totally different when you're experiencing it yourself. so it was -- yeah, it was an interesting experience. >> what was the feedback, though, you've gotten from people and other women who have gone through this and can see that there is a physical aspect of losing your hair, but there was still a beauty and vitality to you in those pictures. certainly kind of a sense of -- a fighting spirit that was captured in all those images. >> the feedback has been really incredible. i've heard from a lot of women who said, i really wish i had done something like this to document this time. maybe i'll do a project of my own. other people saying my sister is starting chemo and i showed her your video and now she's not so scared. things like that were really important to me. >> emily, great to have you here. this is fantastic. it's great to hear you're doing so well, that you have been an inspiration to so many people. congratulations on taking the power back. if you know somebody with the go

and do spirit you want to share, let us know. tweet us using the hashtag go and do. emily, stick around. these are the two brothers. we heard about these two brothers during our break. they have the go and do spirit. this is caleb and aiden. they both have been diagnosed with decks alexia. they wrote a song using adam sandler's hanukkah song with people dyslexic, listen. >> when you find it hard to remember, here is a list of people dyslexic just like you and me. orlando bloom had difficulty reading, so did tom cruise, stephen peven spielberg, da vin patrick dempsey from "gray's

anatomy," arthur fonz relyi. >> take care, everybody. my customers can shop around-- see who does good work and compare costs.

it doesn't usually work that way with health care. but with unitedhealthcare, i get information on quality rated doctors, treatment options and estimates for how much i'll pay. that helps me, and my guys, make better decisions. i don't like guesses with my business, and definitely not with our health. innovations that work for you. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. open to innovation. open to ambition. open to bold ideas. 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.

[ ding! ] losing your chex mix too easily?

time to deploy the boring-potato chip decoy bag. then no one will want to steal the deliciousness. [ male announcer ] with a variety of tastes and textures, only chex mix is a bag of interesting. are we in the drawdown phase of the war on drugs? it's friday, september 20th, and this is "now." i'm joy reid in for alex wagner. after 40 some years, the war on drugs may finally be receding. in a rare use of constitutional clemency powers, yesterday president obama commuted the sentences of eight federal inmates, all of whom have been in prison for 15 years for nonviolent crack cocaine offenses. in a long history of america's constitutional system, the right to punish the guilty has

traditionally been given to judges and juries. during the anti-crime frenzy known as the war on drugs, the power was taken away. instead of judges and juries with sentences lawmakers made it for trifl trivial offenses, a policy responsible for the 500% increase in the number of inmates over the last three decades and egregious racial disparities. throughout his presidency president obama has made several attempts to curb abuses on manned taker minimum sentencing. february 2010, signed fair sentencing act, reduced disparity between crack and powder cocaine but does not apply retroactively. so for an estimated 8800 federal inmates that remain in prison for earlier crack cocaine sentences, the fair sentencing law came too late. among the eight inmates sentences commuted was clarence aaron at the age of 24 was sentenced to three