hour. kenyan officials say they are very certain there are few, if any, hostages left inside that mall. the interior minister says two of the hostage takers have been killed. and today there are growing concerns that americans may have been involved. the fbi is investigating whether up to five americans were among the terrorists. this morning congressman peter king, member of the homeland security committee, said it is possible. >> it could be very likely that there were americans involved in this attack because it is a significant number of of them that have gone over there to be trained. >> so far at least 68 people have been killed and more than 175 injured. secretary of state john kerry says the u.s. is monitoring the situation, calling the attackers ruthless. >> we're in close touch with everybody there. but it's -- it represents the seriousness and the breadth of

the challenge that we face with ruthless and completely reckless terrorists. we're going to pursue it. >> let's go right to the scene of the ongoing attack in nairobi, kenya. that's where we find nbc's ron allen live from just outside the shopping mall where the terrorists are still holed up. ron, what's happening right there on the ground now? >> reporter: well, the kenyan government has just released a statement saying that they are in full control of the mall, all four floors of it. it's unenclosuclear exactly wha happening at the mall. there's still a thick cloud of smoke billowing out from the mall. in fact in the last few minutes it's gotten even thicker. there seems to be little effort to put the fire out. it's perhaps not safe enough for a fire brigade to get that close. the morning started with as many as ten hostages being held by 10

to 15 very heavily armed gunmen. again, the government is saying most of the hostages have been released, have been freed, and they are saying as well that they are in control of the mall. there have been conflicting reports back and forth since this day began with huge explosions and barrages of gunfire going back and forth, just we're in a secure zone perimeter about 300 yards from the mall. but even that far back you could still feel the force of these explosions. there must have been five or six or seven in sequence leading to some speculation that the militants may have booby-trapped the area. it's not enclosure exactly what happened but on a day the government has made up its mind it wants to end this thing, taking into consideration the safety of the hostages as much as they can. >> we know at least five americans have been wounded in that attack there. do we know anything about what their conditions are? >> reporter: not exactly.

we've talked to a couple of them and they seem to be okay. their injuries don't seem to be that grave and certainly not life threatening. there were no americans killed in the attack. however, there was the wife of a retired u.s. diplomat who was killed. she was not an american citizen, which is why she's not listed on that particular list. but there was that as well, which there are a number of fatalities involving foreigners, three brits, i believe two french citizens, a couple of canadians, and the identities of all these people, the 68 or 69 dead, are just beginning to trickle out so we'll know more about them as well as the 200 injured. at this point the main concern is we're now some 48 hours into this siege or past 48 hours. the main concern has been trying to secure and stabilize this situation right here. and again, it's really -- there have been claims and counterclaims on both sides, the government and the militants, throughout this. it's really unclear what's going

on in that burning mall. >> nbc's ron allen in nairobi. thanks for that report. for more let's bring in terrorism analyst evan kohlmann and joel reuben. thank you both for being here this morning. >> thank you. >> evan, i want to start with you. the terrorist group al shabaab has claimed responsibility for this attack. what can you tell us about this group and why they do target this particular location in kenya? >> al shabaab is a fairly active terrorist organization based in southern somalia. it almost took over control of the entire state of somalia until a number of african states, along with support from the united states, intervened, including kenya. ever since the kenyans intervened in somalia about two years ago, they have been issuing statements suggesting they will launch attacks inside kenya to punish the kenyans for that invasion. among other targets they have listed not just kenya, but are you -- rwanda, yuganda and the united states.

unfortunately although these group is not that effective and have limited capabilities, part of the problem is among the various terrorist groups out there, they have had the greatest rate of success in terms of recruiting u.s. nationals to join them. people from communities like minneapolis in minnesota, san diego, seattle, washington. these are not traditional hubs of al qaeda activity, but this is where shabaab has found great success finding people within the somalia expatriate committee and also random people with no connection to somalia at all but just interested in jihad. >> somalia has essentially been a leaderless failed state for a number of years and that's their operating base. what does this attack tell us about the strength of islamist extremist groups there? are we seeing it increasing in any way? >> mara, americans know of terrorism an violence in the horn of africa, we have a history there. our embassy was blown up in kenya in 1998. block hawk down in somalia as

well, took place in somalia, so we've got a memory there. clearly this fight while it's local has regional implications and global implications. it was perceived, as evan said, that shabaab was on the run and african heavy forces were winning their fight. clearly there's more fighting to take place and it's going to require a diligence and partnership by the united states with the groups who are going to be able to tamp this down j. >> evan, you mentioned a list of countries al shabaab might be interested in targeting. i heard the u.s. on that list. this is an attack on a soft target, it's the same thing in mumbai at the hotels a couple of years ago. are you concerned about such an attack here in the u.s. domestically. >> yes. i think local police and federal law enforcement are looking at the idea of potential copycats. i think there are a lot of people that may not be capable of building a suicide car bomb

but look at what happened in nairobi and realize that is within the capability of somebody with very limited capabilities. someone with a very limited horizon. and the problem is that you can still cause a lot of damage like this. you just saw what happened in the navy yard a few days ago. so there is a concern that either shabaab supporters or maybe random people would look at this and say, hey, that's a great idea. why don't i do that. >> hopefully not. evan and joel, thank you both for your time. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. president obama is scheduled to leave the white house just minutes from now and head to new york for a high-stakes visit to the united nations, which could include a meeting with iran's new president. the president will address the u.n. generally assembly tomorrow. joining me now in studio for the latest on the u.n. visit is nbc news chief white house correspondent and political director chuck todd, who is also, of course, the host of msnbc's "daily rundown." chuck, thanks for being here. >> good morning. >> so we know that president obama and iran's new president have exchanged letters.

we recently learned that they're pen pals. right now they are not scheduled to meet. how likely do you think it is that they may meet at the u.n. and how significant would that meeting be? >> well, a handshake would be significant. that is i mean it does matter. remember the symbolic handshake of arafat and rabin back in the day. the symbolism does matter and it could be as little as that. it is clear that the white house has seemed to have signalled that there's going to be a symbolic gesture of good will in return for the things that rowhani has done himself since taking office, talking about a push for diplomacy, talking about openness, about letting the world see the nuclear -- what their aspirations are with nuclear power and then also just the simple gesture of saying happy new year to jews around the world. so they do feel that he has earned some symbolic gesture. the question is what's it going to be. it was interesting, i had a conversation this morning with chuck schumer. you don't get more pro-israel than chuck schumer. >> we actually have a sound bite from that conversation from this morning.

we have seen this charm offensive but there are people who are still skeptical. let's take a listen to what he had to say on your program. >> i think it's appropriate the president talk to him. i think we cannot let up on sanctions. the sanctions are working and working very well. that's what has brought iran to even this stage. i think we should make it clear that the sanctions will continue full steam ahead until iran gives up its nuclear weapons and every "i" is dotted and every "t" is crossed. >> friendly exchanges aside, have we seen any real willingness to compromise? >> that's the $64,000 question and it's going to be part of the president's message of how he wants to put a little bit of shine on what was at best messagingwise an un -- a little bit of a shaky syria during the whole syria crisis, where he's going to make the argument, yes, it may not have been pretty, the diplomacy at the time and the ramp up to potential air strikes on syria, but look what it led

to. them admitting that they have chemical weapons, them inventorying the chemical weapons. so it shows that diplomacy might work. look at iran, they wouldn't be making these concessions if it wasn't for the sanctions. but it's important that schumer signed off on this. it can tell you one of two things. either the white house has warned, let schumer know and it could be something he would know that, hey, we are going to do something with him. we know that this is -- he could be somebody that could give them a lot of grief if he did it, and him signaling that, hey, it's okay to meet, just don't give up anything yet. handshake is enough, we get that, but let's trust but verify. >> quickly, we know the u.n. will be dealing with the issue of syria. the real issue is how can they enforce any issue on them turning over their chemical weapons. >> it seems as if the united states is accepting of the fact that a use of force or something in there that would allow a use of force isn't going to get

passed and it is important in the united states to get something passed. so how that looks like and what it looks like, i think that's -- i would be surprised if they had a great break-through per se, but they may be able to announce we're close to having the break-through type of thing. but it seems that the united states has a little more patience on this than maybe you would have expected three weeks ago, listening to the president. >> thanks so much, chuck todd. it's good to see you here in person in new york. >> it's good to be here. >> as a reminder, you can catch chuck weekday mornings at 9:00 a.m. eastern time right here on msnbc. senator ted cruz not backing down on his quest to take down obama care. >> if the majority is going to run the minority over with a train, the minority has the ability to stop them. >> can both sides strike a deal before the government shuts down? i'll talk with democratic congressman bill passquel and shawn spicer about that coming up next. plus hillary in 2016. is it a foregone conclusion? our agenda panel weighs in with

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here we go again. a government shutdown is just over a week away, and for a third year in a row, republicans in congress are in a political staredown with the white house. right now the ball is in the senate's court where harry reid has said point blank that the house bill to fund the government through december 15th and defund obama care is dead, dead, dead but senator ted cruz, who's been leading the charge against the president's health care law is not going down without a fight. >> it should be an easy decision for senate republicans to stand united and to support house

republicans. and i'll tell you, any vote to allow harry reid to add funding for obama care with just a 51-vote threshold, a vote for cloture is a vote for obama care. >> democrats have been quick to take aim. >> it's becoming clearer and clearer that ted cruz has climbed out on a limb and now it's getting sawed off, and he's just trying to figure out a graceful way out of it. >> i call it the legislative arsonist. they're there to burn down what we should be building up in terms of investments in education and scientific research and all that it is that make our country great. >> they're not afraid that it's going to be unsuccessful, they're afraid it's going to be successful. >> democratic congress ann bill pascrell joins me now. now, depending on how long it takes the senate to vote on a revised bill, the house could be

left with very little time left to resolve this issue. do you think that you and your colleagues will be able to work through this in time or do you think you'll see a government shutdown? >> let's see what comes back from the senate. i think senator reid has made it very clear to everyone on all sides of the aisle what he intends to do. democrats in the senate were not going to give them 60 votes, i can tell you that, so here we are. we will go back in session on wednesday and we will await to see what the senate sends back to us and then we will act accordingly. then of course we have to face the debt ceiling, which is in front of us. how can we be facing this after what we've seen in 2011. i mean the debt ceiling was raised 18 times when president reagan was the president. this is a natural thing regardless of whether we have a democratic president or republican president. and we are not going to be held hostage by mr. cruz or anybody else. and i think what you're seeing

today is a group of right-wingers trying to get rid of mr. boehner as a speaker of the house. now, let me tell you something, this is not -- has nothing to do with politics. this has something to do with people trying to shut the government down and they're trying to hold both parties hostage. not just democrats. >> let's talk about the debt ceiling quickly. house republicans are also linking obama care to that fight. moving forward with legislation that would delay the health care law's implementation for one year. is there any chance of that succeeding? >> no, it's not. we know that so many more people have been benefitting from the health care change and reform, the affordable care act, and now we're going to go to a new phase on october the 1st when the exchanges will be running and up. they don't want this thing to succeed. and you're absolutely right, congressman van hollen who was on film before, they don't want this to be successful. yet so many people will be

affected. we will move 11 million right off the possibilities of having productive health care if they defunded the whole thing. they tried it 42 times, mara. they're not going to attempt -- they're not going to succeed and most reasonable republicans in the senate and the house are telling these characters, but you know what, they have let them get away with murder since 2010 and this is the result of it now. and that is why we're facing brinksmanship. and i'll tell you something else. secretary lu made it very, very clear that made it very, very clear. we're not going to be able to pay our bills. the government ran out of money two months ago. the point of the matter is we're working on -- the balance sheet of many of the departments to get us over the top. that's not going to work. in fact october the 18th is dooms day. that's the real dooms day, when we run out of money altogether. this is ridiculous.

this is not the greatest country in the world if we can't face our own bills, if we can't pay them and move on. we've got job problems, we've got inequality in wealth problems, and these are the things we should be addressing. >> okay. new jersey congressman bill pascrell, thank you for joining us us. now for the other side of the issue, sean spicer is communications director for the republican national committee and joins me live in studio. thanks for joining me. >> absolutely. >> there are some within your own party that are saying this is a losing battle. i want to listen to what tom coburn had to say and we'll talk on the other side. >> it's not a tactic that we can actually carry out and be successful. the answer now in the senate by those who proposed the strategy is to filibuster the very bill they said they wanted. >> i'd love for you to respond directly to something that congressman pascrell just said, this is not about the debt ceiling or the budget, it's a group of right wingers who want to get rid of boehner.

what's your response to that? >> boehner was the one who led the vote the other day to defund obama care so i think the speaker is implementing the will of the house, which is in fact the will of the american people right now. we've got $17 trillion in debt. we have an obama care bill driving up costs. as you see over and over again, it's companies like home depot, the cleveland clinic that the president praised, trader joe's, all opting out of obama care and sending folks to the exchanges. so what the house of representatives is doing is reflecting what the people want right now, which is to get out of obama care. the administration itself, one of the things that congressman pascrell forgot to mention is they're the ones that proposed delaying the mandate because they knew it's not ready and the adverse impact that it's having on businesses. frankly, if anyone is not listening to the will of the american people right now, it's the democrats who are standing in the way of that. >> sean, i'd like to respectfully challenge you because we have a new poll that shows a majority of americans oppose shutting down the

government if it means that it's linked to defunding the new health care law. you hear this refrain commonly that this is about the will of the people. but if in fact polls indicate people don't want the government shut down at this cost, why is the gop staking so much in this fight. >> but the question you asked is we're not defunding -- we're not proposing closing down the government. the bill that speaker boehner and house republicans said fully fund the government, every service, except for that piece of obama care. >> that's semantics. >> so we are actually voting to keep the government open and giving the senate the opportunity to join us. if they do that, the government stays open. nothing happens. it's the choice that senate democrats have to make now, whether or not they want to draw a line and say we're willing to shut the government down over this bill that employers, unions and the american people don't want. >> i want to get to the role of senator ted cruz because i think it's fair to say that he's been leading the charge on this. a gq profile says that he has 'em braid the term wacko bird.

he's also been likened to joe mccarthy, acting like a school yard bully and smeared by nebras members of his own party. he could still end up a political martyr. is this really about his political success and survival or about what's best for the party? >> i think senator cruz is an important member of our party, but he and others have all been part of this charge. house republicans have voted 41 times to defund obama care. so i don't think it's one individual necessarily driving the entire train. there's a lot of folks in our party who have been leading the cause to get rid of obama care, to tackle our national debt and to rein in spending. >> sean spicer, thanks so much for your tile. i appreciate your perspective. be sure to stay with us for the first installation of our new series, rx for america. what you need to know about the health care law. we'll be talking about what it means for young people. that's coming up in just a few minutes. crews are still scrambling to repair roadways and highways after the devastating flooding in colorado.

vice president joe biden heads there to tour the damage in just a matter of hours. plus -- >> thank you so much. um -- i gotta go. bye. >> a big night of surprises at the emmy awards, including that roughly ten-second acceptance speech. we've got more from last night in just a few minutes. um... where's mrs. davis? she took an early spring break thanks to her double miles from the capital one venture card. now what was mrs. davis teaching? spelling. that's not a subject, right? i mean, spell check. that's a program. algebra. okay. persons a and b are flying to the bahamas. how fast will they get there? don't you need distance, rate and...

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marathon bomber so car tsarnaev are meeting to discuss whether to go for the death penalty. the state would have to get the okay from attorney general eric holder to pursue it. vice president joe biden is heading to colorado to tour the devastation left behind by the deadly flooding that slammed 17 counties. state leaders hope to convince the vice president that they'll need at least a half billion dollars to help with recovery. it was a block buster weekend for apple. in just three days it sold a record-breaking nine million new iphone 5ss and 5cs. they began selling to long lines on friday, with most stores selling out in just a few hours. and a stunning admission from oprah winfrey. the media mogul admitted she came close to having a nervous breakdown. she said she became overwhelmed while shooting the film "the butler" and trying to keep her cable network afloat.

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we continue to follow breaking news out of kenya. this is a live look outside the westgate mall in nairobi. kenya's defense chief says the military is now in control of all floors inside the mall. the military began an offense early this morning to rescue any hostages still inside. the president makes an impassioned plea for gun control and hillary clinton is everywhere this week and has everyone talking 2016 after she sits down with "new york" magazine. those are today's topics for our agenda panel. kelly is a special correspondent for the root of the maria is an msnbc contributor and the president and ceo of voto latino and timothy noah is a contributing writer for msnbc.com. thank you for being here. >> thank you. >> we heard from president obama for the first time since the navy yard shooting yesterday at a memorial service for the victims. we also heard yesterday from nra president, wayne lapierre and joe manchin who co-sponsored last year's failed bill to

expand background checks. so let's take a quick listen to all of that. >> the whole country, david, no, sir the problem was there weren't enough good guys with guns. when the good guys with guns got there, it stopped. >> i'm not going to go out and beat the drum for the sake of beating the drum. there has to be people willing to move off their position. >> sometimes i fear there's a creeping resignation that these tragedies are somehow just the way it is. that this is somehow the new normal. we can't accept this. >> tim, the nra seems to be reading the same talking points. the president is again calling for renewed gun control efforts and one of the key lawmakers pushing for those efforts saying he doesn't have enough support so where do gun control advocates go from here. >> it does feel as if what obama said was true. it does feel as if periodic massacres are the new normal because the united states is absolutely paralyzed in its inability to pass any new forms of gun control.

you now have from wayne lapierre the absurdum of the gun lobby argument that you need to have more people be armed in order to prevent gun violence. for pete sake, we're talking about an assault on the armed forces of the united states. they have guns. the navy has guns. that is not the problem. >> in this case the shooter in the navy yard incident appears that he obtained his weapon legally, and none of the proposed measures in the toomey-manchin bill would have stopped him in this case. are we focusing on the wrong issues? should we be looking more at mental health and joblessness and poverty? >> definitely we need to look more closely at mental health. the fact that he was a federal contractor, he actually had clearance in working closely with the navy. also i should shed light we are perhaps giving too many people this access. but i'd like to look at what happened recently in colorado. colorado basically recalled two

elected officials that were anti-gun and they wanted to do strong measures to protect the american people and they were defeated. they were defeated by a landslide. and that goes to show that maybe we talk a good game saying we do want gun control but at the end of the day people do want their guns. >> kelly, it is a little bit of a dichotomy because on the other hand you see strong support for background checks but on the other hand people feel very strongly about their rights as gun owners. so what does that mean for the direction this country is headed in? does it mean we're getting more lax when it comes to restrictions and regulations or are we going to see more of a push for gun reforms. >> i think it's progressives are more lax in gaining momentum on th this issue. on the issue of guns, it's like health care reform. people say they're against it until you start outlining specific measures and they say they're from there. i'm from texas, there is no more of a gun friendly state than that. but people in texas agree that

if people said i'm a huge fan of osama bin laden, he's my hero. he shouldn't be able to walk into a store and get a couple of guns. progressives have not been great in articulating the message in an effective way. >> i want to talk about this interview with hillary clinton. when asked if she wrangles with the idea of running for president, she says, quote, i'm not in any hurry. i think it's a serious decision not to be meat lightly but it's also knot one that has to be made soon. meanwhile, people close to her say that it's all but a foregone conclusion. that it's a force of history, one that she actually has less say in than she thinks. tim, if we're reading the tea leaves from the interview when it comes to a 2016 run, will she or won't she? >> look, i think she'll probably run. but this idea that she is being buffeted by the winds of history is a little overwrought. i think she would like to run for president and probably will run for president but we need to stop overdrama advertising every detail in the hillary clinton story. if she runs, it's going to be

because she wants to be president of the united states. >> go ahead, kelly. >> i don't entirely agree with that. i did a piece for the root titled could hillary clinton run as a one-term president. i interviewed a bunch of strategists. initially when the piece ran there were people very skeptical. then she had her health woes and people weren't so skeptical after that. as a white male perhaps it's a little different to appreciate for some women and for some people of color what it means to have a historic figure who could make history. there is no one else on the bench right now. there is no one else on the progressive female side of things who could break this glass ceiling. at 65 with health woes, she may not have eight years in her, she might have four and i think people may pressure her to keep that in mind. >> when you talk about the bench, in terms of the democratic party, if hillary doesn't run, then who are the other front runners here? >> everybody is talking about biden but let's take a look again at why hillary should run. i think one of the reasons that even the obama legacy is so dependent on her run is that she

will be one of the very few candidates that can continue and make sure that she cements his legacy, whether it's health care education. she'll take the mantle, a lot of the democratic principles that have been able to move the majority of america forward. absent her, again, biden, i think he's doing a really good job. if you watch what he's been doing lately, he's been cultivating the latino community heavily, the african-american heavily and lbgt community talking about the issues these niche groups care about but at the end of the day he knows they'll mobilize and vote for him if hillary chooses not to run. >> when you talk to people who are aware of hillary's tenure in the state department. they said bill was very hands off and wasn't a presence in any way. how much of a factor is he going to be in a hillary clinton campaign for president if there is one in terms of his record an his possible role in the white house, but not as president. >> how much of a factor he will be this time, the answer to that question i think is less of a public factor than he was last

time when he didn't prove particularly helpful but more of a private factor. in terms of the donor base and cultivating some of those groups he does well with, you let him loose on the campaign trail and he doesn't do well but there's a lot of things that he can do behind the scenes that can be crucial and that came out in this article. >> tim, what do you make of bill clinton's possible role in a hillary clinton 2016 run? >> well, it's obviously a delicate thing. he was not particularly helpful when she ran in 2008 but i agree, he can be very helpful with the fund-raising. look, my bottom line on this is hillary is going to run or not going to run. if she runs, i think she will run for two terms. nobody ever ran for president with the idea of only running for one term. you don't get elected that way. if the public can smell even a hint of indifference to the whole endeavor, you end up like al gore, losing in 2000 or at least losing the electoral vote. and i just don't think she's

going to run unless she wants to be president. if she wants to be president, she's going to want to be president for eight years. >> very quickly, there's only one hillary clinton. there's never been another. so i think we can't compare her to another historical figure. there hasn't been another one like her. >> we will all have to wait and see what hillary decides to do. today's agenda panel, thank you all for being here. and you can find more from our panel on our website, tv.msnbc.com. follow the link to thomas roberts' name. get paid to do something you really love, what would you do?" ♪ [ woman ] i'd be a writer. [ man ] i'd be a baker. [ woman ] i wanna be a pie maker. [ man ] i wanna be a pilot. [ woman ] i'd be an architect. what if i told you someone could pay you and what if that person were you? ♪ when you think about it, isn't that what retirement should be, paying ourselves to do what we love? ♪

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in just eight days, the affordable care act, or obama care, goes live and we're kicking off a new series in hour looking at rx for america. what you need to know about the new health care law. to get to this point, the landmark legislation reforming health care has survived more than 40 repeal attempts by the gop, and it's currently tied to threats of a government shutdown. for the new law to be truly successful, it's going to need

to enroll millions of young, healthy americans. the so-called young invincibles. right now there are 1.3 million more young adults with health insurance since the aca passed in 2010. the rate of young people without health care has dropped more than 4%. but there are still more than eight million people without coverage. joining me now to talk about what's in obama care for generation y is professor cory avare with the lsu health sciences center. thanks for being here this morning. >> thanks for having me. >> republicans have said the reason why parents need to keep kids on their health plan is because of high unemployment among young people. so what do young people need to know come october 1st. >> well, we know that the invincible group, they're very familiar with risks. in fact the cdc stats show the number one cause of death in this age group is accidents. they don't believe they can ever get sick. guess what, the older you get, the more familiar you become with illness and, guess what, insurance is so important because it makes the difference in whether you're going to be on the floor in the hospital or in

a bed in the hospital. i mean invincibles, please don't live in a fool's paradise, this is very, very serious. >> but the fact that they're called the invincibles kind of speaks to the mentality of young people in that in a lot of cases they feel like they aren't going to get sick, they aren't going to get in an accident, it won't happen to me. how do you get them to participate in this and sign up during the enrollment period and make sure that they are covered here? >> well, you just have to appeal to them to let them know this is one of the very first times ever that they're going to have to be active and not passive in health care. they have to take the role that they understand, look, my life is very important and i need to prepare for my future. you know, the invincibles don't tend to do that because they think they're going to live forever. so strategically we have to get to the young people and let them know what they do now really affects their future and how they're going to be healthy in the long term. >> and how will their participation influence the ultimate success of this program overall? >> well, i mean we know that the major goal of the affordable

care act is to get people quality, affordable care. you know, if they don't have it. the government is even going to help pay if you make less than $45,960. and with this job market, that's a lot of people out there. so they have to step up and they are going to be one of the biggest enrollers of the affordable care act and they have to do it. and they cannot wait. they need to do it october 1st, because that's when open enrollment starts. >> it's important to note people have to enroll during that window. there's an ad that got a lot of play last week put out by the group generation opportunity and funded by the koch brothers that targets young college women. let's quickly remind our audience. take a look. >> let's have a look.

>> it's so disturbing, i just hate even having to see it. let's separate fact from fiction. what is -- what are young women going to get under this new health care law? how is it going to change their health coverage? >> well, that was spooky. i mean really creepy. but women should be out in the streets totally supporting the affordable care act because you know why? we know that women, they never get equal pay for their equal work. so for the first time in the history of the united states, the women's insurance premiums will actually be the same as men. most women don't know that their insurance premiums are 40% higher. so now not only will you be able to get your care that's equal to men, but your maternity care will be covered, your breast pumps will be covered and all of your hpv tests will be covered, your pap smears will be covered. so women of all the groups should be marching in the streets saying, please do not repeal obama care.

this is very real for them. >> all right, professor cory abair, a very impassioned case in favor of enrolling during the enrollment period. >> i just bring the facts. >> we appreciate your enthusiasm for them. thanks for your time this morning. >> thank you. president obama just got onto air force one and he's about to take off from joint base andrews. he's headed here to new york to meet with other leaders of the u.n. general assembly. one of the big questions, will he meet with iran's president. they're scheduled to speak within hours of each other tomorrow. we'll have all the latest developments. you're looking at live pictures. f business. when possibilities become reality. with centurylink as your trusted partner, our visionary cloud infrastructure and global broadband network free you to focus on what matters. with custom communications solutions and responsive, dedicated support, we constantly evolve to meet your needs. every day of the week. centurylink® your link to what's next.

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. >> some might say it's all in the dna. fabian cousteau is looking to break a record set by his father to live and work underwater for 31 days. >> i have a very big soft spot for the undersea laboratories of

the world of which there is only one left. it's paramount for us to be able to use this as the frontier base station of a realm that we know so little about. >> joining me now is film maker and ocean explorer, fabia fabian cousteau. i am so fascinated by this. as you were just telling me during the week, 95% of the world's oceans are -- >> yet to be explored. >> yet to be explored, which is amazing. what do you hope to learn? >> there will be so many things. the record breaking is the least interesting part of this. imagine that 95% of our biodiversity are in the oceans. the oceans are the circumstance latory systems that rule our life. our economy and tourism and our health. so we really have a lot of discuss. >> what are the details of what you're planning. what depth are you going to go

to? tell me about what you have planned. >> exactly 50 years ago, he lived for 30 days underwater. we're doing one extra day to pay homage to him to be able to take the next step to highlight the importance of the ocean. we are bringing in some young students, aspiring marine biolo biology -- biologists. we're inviting the world to be part of this. >> you're going to be going out exploring six to nine hours every day? >> on average, six to nine hours a day. you saturate yourself. by being able to be down there permanently or semi permanently,

we can go out as much as we want. >> what are you most looking forward to? >> i'm looking forward to so many things. we can talk about the serious topic s the way we used to drea about apollo and going into outer space. >> we will see you at the end of october. the hottest stars of the small screen out in full force with some upsets and big surprises. in its final season, "breaking bad" finally notched a win for television's best drama. that show won for outstanding writing for a variety series. the newsroom's jeff daniels winning best actor in a drama series. here are some of the big moments.

>> it's all going according to my plan. >> they want someone more likable. really? look at that parade of blabberi blabbering bafoons. >> take your pants off. >> twerk it. >> yeah. >> i am not twerking. i'm not going to do that. that would be degrading. >> it might be degrading but we would be degrateful. >> we will have coverage of the

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the next front in the war on terror? africa. it's monday, september 23, and this is "now." >> a massive plume of black smoke is billowing from the west gate shopping mall. just over an hour ago, defense forces tweeted that they had dominated all floors of the west gate mall building and are now concentrating on clearing out the facility. the crisis lasted over 48 hours, leaving 68 dead and injured many including five americans. the mall was stormed on saturday afternoon wearing black clothing