>> we are supposed to have a sound bite. guess we don't. let's take a look. let's take a look, though, what we're supposed to be showing you right now, which is the epic filibuster taking place right now in washington, d.c., that is not really technically a filibuster. and senator ted cruz has stepped away. in his place, senator marco rubio. senator ted cruz started, though, yesterday at 2:40 with this faux buster and now we're coming up on the noon hour where he will be finishing out 21 hours strong. hi, everybody, i'm thomas roberts. and that cruz one-man crusade against obama care, that does top our agenda today because the senator wants his colleagues to back a bill that would shut down the government over the health care law. but he's been going over 20 hours and counting to fill that time and the senator from texas, he sometimes has gotten off message. he's even read from a children's bedtime story from the floor of congress. most recently what i found interesting, he tapped into his

star wars knowledge, darth vader voice included. >> do you like green eggs and ham? i do not like them, sam i am, i do not like green eggs and ham. would you, could you, in a car? eat them, eat them, here they are. i do not like them here or there, i do not like them anywhere. i do not like green eggs and ham. i am your father. >> that was a darth vader voice. he was speaking to senator mike lee there. all right. so as we've been seeing, though, with marco rubio on the floor, cruz has been getting some backup. getting it now and also got it through the night from some republican colleagues. but because this won't result in the death of the bill, this technically as i said before, not a filibuster. so are they fighting the good fight or fighting a losing battle? >> instead of focusing on what politically makes sense, which is these democrats who now are

going to have to cast a vote again for the worst piece of legislation that i've seen in my 20 years here, all the focus is on ted cruz. >> i think he thinks he's starring in a movie. you know what i mean? it's like all about kind of him. >> and with senator ted cruz mentioning among the ranks of presidential hopefuls during this speech and expected to visit iowa in just a matter of weeks, is there its other than publicity all about this stunt? >> there is no real end game here. in the end you're going to end up with obama care. >> he's playing to that 20% or 30%. they're there and rooting for him. let's not kid ourselves, against the big shots in washington. >> for ted cruz to say i fought them hard with a phony filibuster and my faux debate -- >> and then run for president. >> let's dive in. nbc news capitol hill correspondent luke russert, who has not been up all night. although i know he could do it. joins us right now.

luke, gop leaders, even tea party allies, senator rand paul had privately urged cruz not to stage this marathon because of all the criticism that it brings. but he said come hell or high water, i'm going to go forward with it. what are people saying now as we near this finish line of noon. >> reporter: it's fascinating, tom, as this stunt, filibuster-like performance, we've heard all sorts of descriptions from all sorts of people here in d.c., if it's done anything, thomas, it's divided the republican party. so much so that it's really put the leader of the party in the senate, mitch mcconnell, in a very difficult position. obviously he's running for his own re-election and he is now sort of against ted cruz after spending all this time courting the tea party. what's most fascinating about this is when you read into the tea leaves, last night this kind of went unnoticed. reince priebus sent out a tweet saying stand with ted. senate must act. defund obama care. coming out on the side of ted

cruz. so here you have the rnc, which is the umbrella organization that's supporting all republicans, standing in solidarity with ted cruz while mitch mcconnell is opposing what he's doing on the senate floor. that, as one republican aide said to me, was more of the establishment ranks, looks deeply dysfunctional to our chief donors and shows the party from where we are right now. democrats sit back dumb founded. democrats know there's a lot of political liability with this bill but as long as ted cruz does this, the focus is on him, his ego, whatever he's doing here in washington, d.c. so they're more than happy to led ted cruz take center stage and go as long as he wants. thomas, this could be the first of a few of these types of long-winded speeches wlr, wheth they be fill busters or whatever you want to call them. we could see more. >> luke russert reporting for us. thanks, buddy, appreciate it. in total, eight republican senators were there to help cruz make it through the night, including, as we mentioned,

florida's marco rubio, starting off just this hour. he spent some time on the senate floor this morning before appearing on fox news before pointing the finger at the president and his colleagues across the aisle. >> the president in his own way is defunding elements of obama care already. he's already slowed down the implementation of the employer mandate. trying to issue all kinds of waivers to exempt people from this, including members of congress. so this notion that somehow to not fund obama care means we have to shut down the government, that's up to the president and the democrats in the senate. ben cardin, it's good to have you here. there's a new poll that finds eight in ten americans find it unacceptable for either the president or congress to threaten to shut down the government to achieve their ultimate goals. so does senator rubio have a point there? the president has delayed some parts of the obama care, the implemencation. technically senate democrats could prevent a government shutdown. >> the american people get it.

this is about whether we're going to shut down government. we have differences in washington. there are opportunities for us to resolve those differences. democrats want to sit down and try to resolve our problems, including our budget problems, by honest compromises between the democrats and republicans. but what this is about today is whether we're going to keep government open or not. and americans understand that that would be a self-inflicted wound on our economy, it would hurt our country and we shouldn't be holding our government hostage to an extreme agenda of one member of the united states senate. >> so since the faux filibuster really has no purpose, unlike the actual filibusters that we've covered and talked about earlier this year, the one by rand paul and the one in the texas senate with wendy davis, what is ted cruz trying to really achieve here? is the end game just a raise of the national profile? >> you know, i really don't know because when you talk to his republican colleagues, some who share his view on the end result, are baffled by why he is

doing this at this particular time. he has certainly galvanizing the american public's view that we want government to function, we want decisions made and we don't want more gridlock. it looks like he's dividing the republican party. the bottom line is we're trying to keep government open. we want to resolve the differences between the parties and we're not going to defund obama care. >> so we have senate leader harry reid saying that he was changing the budget bill so it only lasts through november 15th as opposed to december 15th. does that mean we'll be repeating this whole process once again in november? >> you know, we've got to move forward. we've got to get democrats and republicans agreeing on a budget. the democrats are willing to sit down. we've offered to sit up a conference committee. the republicans have refused to do that. the sooner we get this resolved, we've got to get sequestration done and over with. so i hope it is mid-november. we've got to make a decision and can't keep kicking the can down the road with short-term extensions. >> but it seems like that's just what we're doing. that's the way that we govern now. >> i think the november 15th

deadline is being suggested so that we can in fact reach an agreement. if you go to december 15th, it's more likely because you're near the end of the year you just do another short-term extension. we're hoping we'll take this date seriously, that we'll say no further sequestration after that time. that we're going to come together with an appropriation bill. i know senator mikulski is working with her counterpart in the house to see if we can get appropriation bills. bottom line, keep government open, don't threaten to not pay our bills and work out a budget. that's what the american people want us to do. >> maryland senator ben cardin. thanks so much. we go back to that live shot. marco rubio has exited the floor to allow ted cruz to come back on again, continuing his talk-a-thon there as you see the cruz clock there in the upper left. 20:27 going wrong here. this leads us to our big question for you today. ted cruz, crazy or crazy like a fox? weigh in or tweet me an we'll

get some of your responses on later in this hour. just hours after senator ted cruz took over the senate floor, president obama kicked off his final push to convince millions of uninsured americans to sign up for the insurance coverage when the marketplace opens next week. and who better to help in his sales pitch, the explainer in chief, former president bill clinton. it was during a nearly hour-long discussion that they both addressed criticisms of the law and then they shot them down, one by one. >> what we are confident about is when people look and see that they can get high quality, affordable health care for less than their cell phone bill, they're going to sign up. >> what i was terrified of was we'd open these things and there would only be one company show up and bid and this whole thing, we'd be having an academic conversation. instead, it's actually led to the establishment of more companies doing more bidding. >> kristen welker is at the white house joining us right now. kristen, let's talk about this.

the white house's strategy for pushing obama care, as we get down to october 1st, how much of an impact do they hope the former president is going to have on selling health care law information to the skeptics? >> reporter: well, thomas, they are hoping that he will be instrumental. you'll remember that he played a big role in the president's re-election campaign, so they're hoping that he can help out in this latest campaign. so i anticipate that we will be hearing a fair amount from former president bill clinton in the coming days and weeks. in terms of his specific argument, i anticipate that we will hear him reiterate some of the comments that he made yesterday. namely, that insurance and inflation on insurance prices have dropped three years consistently and that ultimately he would say this is creating more competition and there by lowering costs in the marketplace. this all comes on a day that the obama administration has released a new report showing that premiums have come in lower than expected in 36 states. and for a mid-level plan, the average american would pay about

$328 per month. now, the administration also argues that a number of those americans would be eligible for government subsidies. now, republicans and part of why you're seeing such a strong reaction from republicans, they argue that ultimately this could hurt small businesses because there is a mandate that companies that have 50 employees or more subsidize health care for their employees. all of that remains to be seen. thomas, former president clinton, president obama, this administration will be directing a lot of their arguments toward young people, because they say that the effectiveness of this plan really depends on about two million young people signing up. >> let's talk about that because the president is going to be delivering a speech in maryland tomorrow touting the benefits of obama care. the latest bloomberg poll on the president's job performance, the approval rate, 39% of americans approve of his handling of health care. given the unpopularity of his signature piece of legislation, what should we expect from hill when he gives this speech? obviously the president is self aware of where he stands.

>> reporter: right. also if you go deeper into the polls, it shows that a lot of americans are just confused about what the plan actually is. the administration still hasn't done a good enough job of explaining that to americans. president obama yesterday made the point that when you break out the individual parts of the plans, it gets more popular among americans. so i think that what you'll see him do, thomas, in these coming days and tomorrow when he speaks about this is talk about these individual pieces. the fact that people 26 years and younger can stay on their parents' plans. the fact that you get rebates for prescription drug plans and also the fact that insurance companies can't deny coverage for those who have pre-existing conditions. that is part of what i anticipate. but certainly the public popularity will depend upon this administration making a better case than it has heretofor. thomas. >> kristen, thank you. >> reporter: thanks. the roadblocks may prove to be too great, but i firmly believe the diplomatic path must be tested. >> president obama talking about

pursuing a diplomatic path with iran, but that much talked about handshake between obama and iran's president hasn't happened and appears to be on hold. so is iran serious about standing down on its nuclear program? bill richardson joins me next to fwa talk about that. is the hostage crisis in yaen over and what is the death toll? you. thank you. i got this. no, i'll get it! no, let me get this. seriously. hey, let me get it. ah, uh. i don't want you to pay for this. it's not happening, honey. let her get it. she got her safe driving bonus check from allstate last week. and it's her treat. what about a tip? oh, here's one... get an allstate agent. nice! [ female announcer ] switch today and get two safe driving bonus checks a year for driving safely. only from allstate. call an allstate agent and get a quote now. just another way allstate is changing car insurance for good. [ male announcer ] now, taking care of things at home is just a tap away. ♪

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but i do believe that if we can resolve the issue of iran's nuclear program, that can serve as a major step down a long road towards a different relationship. one based on mutual interests and mutual respect. >> president obama suggesting there could be a future for iran and the united states, but does iran feel the same way?

nbc news has learned that the white house offered to have an informal encounter between obama and new president hassan rouhani on the margins of the assembly but iran declined and u.s. officials said it was, quote, too complicated for them. the two leaders also could have bumped into each other at lunch but rouhani didn't show. joining me now is former governor, bill richardson and former ambassador to the united nations. certainly a big week with the u.n. and cgi going on but let's talk about how risky it would have been for rouhani to be seen with the president of the united states and those images to translate back into iran. what do you think? what do you make? >> well, the atmospherics between the two are a lot better, the rhetoric is better, but the deeds are not there yet. what i suspect happened is the religious clerics said to rouhani, hey, don't overdo this

reengagement. be careful about a handshake. be careful about appearing to send symbolism and new diplomacy, so play it cool. now, on the other hand, the atmospherics, as i said, are still better. you know, in the past ahmadinejad went after israel, there's no holocaust, went after the u.s., it's the devil. the two presidents this their talks were more conciliatory. >> so things may have warmed and diplomacy, certainly images matter but words matter too. i just want to play for everything in the speech yesterday that rouhani did criticize the u.s. but said he was open to resolving differences. take a look. >> translator: i listened carefully to the statement made by president obama today hoping that they will refrain from following the short-sighted interests of war mongering pressure groups. we can arrive at a framework to manage our differences. let me say loud and clear that peace is within reach.

>> all right. so point blank, do you believe him? >> partially. again, the atmospherics are better but he still said they would not stop enriching uranium. we want them not to build a nuclear weapon. we want them to get out of syria and find ways to work with us on syria and afghanistan. they haven't done that. the reason action i believe, they're blinking a little bit, the iranians, is their oil production is down by 50%. sanctions are working, thomas. they're working in gasoline and food. inflation is up dramatically. so they're feeling squeezed. and the danger is that the only reason they're saying these nice things is to get out of some of the sanctions that are international, that are u.n. imposed, that involve the europeans. again, a key player, like in syria, russia. russia always protects them in the security council if there

are additional sanctions on iran. but i think we should take advantage of this period. rouhani was elected, he's a moderate. his rhetoric is good. but the deeds still aren't there. so it was a little disappointing that there was no handshake, that somehow he got pulled back. somebody in tehran, probably the religious cleric, said, hey, don't overdo this. be careful about handshakes because there's a lot of symbolism in those informal discussions at the u.n. >> sure. as we monitor what these baby steps mean and notice that they are baby steps in a positive direction and look at the ripple effects out of what happened at the u.n. this week, we know that secretary of state john kerry is expected to meet with iran's foreign minister later this week for nuclear talks. so with that being on the books, do we think that's a reason why rouhani walked such a tighter line while here, so he didn't have to go back and answer to those clerics, knowing that that kerry meeting was set?

>> possibly. but the kerry meeting, the fact that it's taking place, is good. this hasn't happened before. it's to discuss a variety of regional issues, including the nuclear issue. but the fact that secretaries of state at their level, and the foreign minister of iran, the new one, is supposed to be a moderate too, so that is good. and it could be that rouhani is saying i'm not going to get ahead of my foreign minister. the symbolism is too big. there's too big a stage here at the u.n. but again, i think what secretary kerry may be able to bring back is if there is a discussi discussion, negotiation on them stopping enriching uranium, because he has not said he's ready to do that, rouhani. he's said oh, for peaceful purposes but you can still enrich uranium and build nuclear weapons. that can't happen. >> changes don't happen in the positive direction, only in the

negative direction for diplomacy. >> you can block a lot of things, sometimes it's very tough to start. but the fact that he was elected, he was elected as a moderate, although he's had conflicting statements, i think it's good in the middle east that it's so volatile. you know, with the syrian situation, we don't need another crisis with iran. i'm not saying good is going to happen, but at least the pathway, there's some hope that maybe tensions will be reduced in a part of the world that is exploding, mainly because of what's happening in syria and in egypt. >> hoping is a good start so we'll leave it there. former governor bill richardson, great to see you as always, especially in person. i want to bring you breaking news coming to us out of long island where there's been a shooting near the roosevelt mall near garden city. the mall is in lockdown mode. schools are also in lockdown. there's no word of any injuries, but this shooting taking place near the garden city -- the roosevelt mall in garden city.

that mall is on lockdown, as well as schools in the surrounding area. we'll work more information and bring it to you right after t this. [ female announcer ] it's simple physics... a body at rest tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief

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written by people just like you. find out why more than two million members count on angie's list. angie's list -- reviews you can trust. so flags are flying at half staff right now in kenya and the country is in a three-day period of mourning in the wake of a deadly assault and hostage standoff that let more than 60 dead and at least 175 wounded. i want to show you new video at the attack site that started after -- just after noon on saturday. these images capturing the frightening scene as soldiers swept the floors looking for the attackers and terrified parents and children crouching for cover trying to escape. it took kenyan security forces at least 4 days to take back the mall. after gunmen armed with heavy artillery stormed into restaurants and department stores, spraying bullets and grenades at the crowd. we're also hearing from americans who survived the deadly attack and are back on home soil. bendita was meeting a friend for lunch when the terrorists burst in.

>> machine guns and then maybe it was ten seconds later or so, we're still trying to crawl out, there was a second explosion. when they first came in, they were just shooting. there wasn't really -- they weren't asking any questions, they were just shooting. >> officials in kenya have begun an official investigation into the attack on the mall. hooefr here's a look at some of the other stories. 328 people are dead, 470 injured after the earthquake that hit pakistan yesterday. it is the worst to hit the country in almost ten years. the remaining six people unaccounted for in the flooding that crippled colorado are alive and well. they checked in with county officials yesterday. however, the death toll remains at eight. the floods damaged 4,000 homes, caused at least $91.2 million in damage across boulder county alone. a nationwide search is on for a man suspected of killing his mom. they identified him monday as

their prime suspect. well, you can add dr. drew to the list of cancer survivors. drew pinski said that he had his prostate removed earlier this year after discovering that he had cancer. he said he revealed what he went through to raise awareness about it. in california, it is signed, a new anti-paparazzi law. if convicted, photogs that harass celebrities and their children like jennifer garner or halle berry who testified to get this law in place could get up to a year in jail and a $10,000 fine. take a peek at this. it's about miley cyrus. those are her feet. her face in the back ground. she's celebrating her first ever "rolling stone" cover with some fresh ink on her feet. cyrus got the words "rolling stone" tattooed on the soles of her tootsies. it's already getting a lot of buzz. as you take a peek at the new cover story, cyrus takes the

editor to a tattoo parlor.

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i cannot tell you how many times i have said thank the good lord that when my dad was a teenage immigrant in cuba -- or in texas 55 years ago, how grateful i am that some well-meaning liberal didn't come and put his arm around him and say, let me take care of you. let me give you a government check. let me make you dependent on government. don't bother washing those dishes, don't bother working. >> let's take you back to see how this drama is unfolding. a live look at the senate floor now where ted cruz has been going all night in his mission to take down obama care. you can see the cruz clock there in the corner going strong at 20 hours 51 minutes. just moments ago senator majority leader harry reid stepped in to find out if cruz was yielding the floor and cruz asserted that he wasn't and now

kroou is thanking people that have joined him in this fight. it was just a little while ago dick durbin challenged cruz about benefits. >> but what you're saying in abolishing obama care, you not only want to fly first class, you don't want other people to get on the plane. 50 million americans have no health insurance and you want to abolish the opportunity through the marketplace for them to buy affordable health insurance for the first time in their lives for many people. that's what it comes down to. >> cruz has only roughly a half hour left until majority leader harry reid will officially cut him off and proceed with the vote to take up the legislation. it's the big topic for our agenda panelists today. irin carmon, jamelle bouie and ryan grimm. gang, it's great to have you all here as we've been gripped to our television sets and c-span over the last 21 hours. but irin, cruz is trying to

delay a vote on a bill he demanded house republicans pass last week. so let's break down, we've got the optics, but break down the machinations behind the scene. what's really going on? >> everybody was upset with ted cruz when he said that defunding obama care and potentially shutting down the government on the alleged claim that you should be able to defund obama care that way, you know, it's not actually going to happen. and the moment that ted cruz said that that wasn't going to happen, the base got very angry at him. now he has reclaimed their hearts and imaginations by reading dr. seuss, by doing a darth vader voice. but the only thing that's really at stake here is ted cruisez's . obama care is the law of the land. this just provides a platform for him to show just how long he can bloviate. >> the daily beast says there's every reason to believe that the future belongs to the wacko birds and their general transpartisan message that government is too big and too

powerful. do you think that voters are so skeptical of washington right now that they actually might believe in the cruz message? >> not at all. i think the majority of voters, and polls have shown this, the majority of voters want congress to continue funding the affordable care act. they want to see the law implemented. i think it will happen once the law goes online in less than a week, people start enrolling, they'll start collecting benefits and see the premiums are much lower than they expected and you'll have a large constituency of americans who all of a sudden have affordable health insurance and don't want to see it go away. people like ted cruz who honestly i think is just gripping conservatives with a message he knows is going to be unsuccessful, they will see that their message for the broader public is just unpalatable and no one wants it. >> ryan, what do you mean? >> here's the thing. the only way that the tea party can actually block this is if

there's kind of a united kind of cross cameral senate/house allegiance because then john boehner and eric cantor wind up being frightened of the threat from the tea party base that if they don't do it, the tea party requires of them, they're going to take their anger out on them. >> ryan, let me jump in real quickly. let's watch this exchange, harry reid going in with ted cruz. >> now, let me say this. we're going to have a vote about 1:00 today, and after that is over, we'll follow the rules of the senate. what my goal is, to get this to the house of representatives as quickly as possible. i think a lot of this time has been without talking about what's transpired at this point, i would hope that we could collapse the time dramatically and move forward so that the house of representatives can get what we're going to send back to them. you know, there's a possibility that they may not accept what we

send them and they may want to send us something back. if we use all this time under the rules as they now exist -- >> i decide to not yield my right to the floor. i was amenable to a colloquy but the majority leader is giving a speech and given that the majority leader is not going to consent to extend the time, i have 24 minutes and so i am going to reassert my time on the floor since i have not yielded my time on the floor. >> if i could ask a consent agreement with my friend. >> is there objection? >> there is objection. i'm sorry, i cannot be asked to consent to an unnamed consent agreement. and given that the majority leader as i understand it is not going to consent to extend my time, then let me say quite simply to the majority leader that i will yield time to you for a question. when the majority leader is prepared to yield to the american people but i am not going to yield prior to that because senator grassley and

senator sessions and senator inhofe are waiting to speak and i believe they are endeavoring to listen to the majority people. if the majority leader is going to cut off and muzzle us in 24 minutes, then at this point i don't feel it is appropriate to allow the majority leader to consume that time. so i will note to any of the senators who are here, if anyone would care to -- i know a number of you are ready to ask questions and i'm prepared to yield to a question to any of you. >> i have a question i'd like to ask my friend from texas without losing the floor. >> without losing. >> i will yield for a question without yielding the floor. >> from between 12:00 and 1:00, would my friend yield to senator mccain for 15 minutes of that time? >> that question is asked but it will not prove necessary absent the consent that i promulgated

and i'm assuming would not be acceptable to the majority because my time will yield at noon. so there's nothing left to yield. when the new legislative begins and the prayer begin, my time yields. so with that -- >> madam president, he has the right to talk from 12:00 to 1:00. i'm asking, consent is would you allow during that period of time senator mccain to speak for 15 minutes. >> under my understanding, my time expires at noon. absent a consent to extend it, i will honor the senate rules and allow my time to expire at noon so there's nothing to yield. i will note senator sessions is standing. >> madam president, would the senator yield for a question. >> i will yield with a question without yielding the floor. >> excuse me -- >> the majority leader. >> madam president --

parliamentary inquiry, madam president. >> does the senator from texas yield for a parliamentary inquiry? >> given that the majority leader has cut off our time in 20 minutes, no. i'm sorry, i do not. the majority leader was welcome to come down any time in the past 20 hours and ask parliamentary questions. i would note that senator durbin did so, senator kane did so, other senators did so at this point our time is expiring and i want to allow other republican senators who have appeared and asked to ask questions to have the opportunity to do so. >> madam president -- >> the majority leader. >> can i direct a question to my friend from texas? >> does the senator yield for a question? >> i will yield for one more question without yielding the floor. >> here's the question. you seem to not understand that you have after the prayer is given at 12:00, you have time until 1:00. during that period of time my question was because you still have the floor would you yield 15 minutes of that to john

mccain? >> it is my intention, if the consent request that i asked is not agreed to, to accept the end of this at noon under the senate rules. >> i understand. thank you very much. >> madam president -- >> is the senator from texas yield. >> for a question. >> from the repetition department of repetition, ryan, explain to me what just happened there. ryan, are you still with me? explain what we witnessed there. >> sure. ted cruz either didn't understand that he can continue to control the floor from 12:00 to 1:00 or he's so exhausted that he wants to pretend that he doesn't understand that he can control the floor from 12:00 to 1:00. and he just wants to acknowledge that this fight is over. he fought until noon, starting at 2:00 p.m. yesterday, and basically he's going to give up. because i mean there isn't any point carrying it from 12:00 to

1:00 p.m. there was never really a point to begin with because the rules required him to stop before the vote. >> and again, coming up, the new day basically dawns for them at noon time when they read the prayer, the new legislative day, so that discourse going back and forth was getting him to establish whether or not he was going to yield the floor. he feels like he's going to be wrapping up by noon time. he was talking about the consent order, irin, so obviously that's not going to be confirmed for him to move forward. that's not go to happen. so he's going to stop here coming up in about 18 minutes. >> right. and he could keep going for another hour and get it closer to 24 hours. it would be just another ounce of symbolism on top of what he had already done. now, that means that john mccain and others will be able to speak during the next hour, and i think you're going to see a giant pile-on on top of ted cruz. >> irin, let me ask you about that as ryan points out, a giant

pile-on. do you think that's what mccain is coming out to do with guns blazing for ted cruz? >> mccain has made no secret of his disdain for ted cruz. ted cruz has a talent for alienating his colleagues and his peers. again, this today is not about defunding obama care, it's about ted cruz. it's about establishing ted cruz as a conservative star at the expense of all of his other colleagues, most of whom in the republican senate caucus have not chosen to endorse this strategy. >> jamelle, what do you make of the exchange going back and forth there between cruz and harry reid there, trying to explain to him that he could potentially have more time? is it just like ryan pointed out, that cruz is trying to bla du -- play dumb, that he doesn't realize that? >> i think that's probably the case. it's very clear by reid that cruz has until 1:00 p.m. since this isn't really actually a filibuster and he's not actually blocking anything, i think cruz thinks i'll just stop at noon because i have no reason to be here other than as irin

said to boost my star, present myself as a conservative hero, set up a nice little b-roll of footage for his inevitable presidential run. >> let's bring into the conversation joe lockhart, a former white house press secretary. joe, i understand that you've been with us and been able to hear some of the exchange going back and forth. how do you think that the white house is going to be able to make use of what ted cruz has been doing for his own purposes, knowing full well that it wasn't going to go anywhere as it's technically not a filibuster. how do you think the white house can make use of this to actually educate about obama care? >> listen, first off, the definition of a good situation for democrats is when we're debating whether a republican is playing dumb or is dumb. it's hard to know in this case. you know, i think the sort of -- the civil war that's going on in the republican party, you know, gives the democrats and the white house a chance to go out and talk about, you know, how

important this health care law is. i mean they have a real challenge right now, which is to go out and market this, like any other product, like insurance companies have been marketing health care. and the fact that this has been raised to this level and the republicans seem to be fighting each other and there isn't a united effort now against obama care, whether republicans are for it or against it, it seems that they're split, i think this is an opportunity for the president and i think you saw yesterday him taking that opportunity. >> but, joe, on the other side of things, people would say why do we have to wait until the countdown clock runs down as we get to october the 1st for the white house to utilize the opportunity to educate on the president's key piece of presidential legislation, the key piece of his legacy. >> listen, judging from my time in the white house, it's a real frustration. the president goes out and if you look at his schedule, he's probably given one or two speeches a week for the last four years about health care and the importance of it. the problem is the way the news

business works, other things crowd that out. so in a very perverse way, ted cruz and the tea party raising this at this point when we're just going into that october period where people are going to start signing up and seeing benefits, i actually think it's helping the white house. >> i want to say thanks to joe lockhart for joining us. also thanks to our agenda panelists, everyone waiting so patiently as we were watching that exchange go back and forth, irin carmon, jamelle bouie, ryan grimm and again to joe lockhart. thanks so much. just that programming note there as we heard, senator john mccain will be coming down for 15 minutes on the floor coming up between 12:00 and 1:00. you don't want to miss that. and you can find more from our panel on our website, tv.msnbc.com. just follow the link to my name. earlier we had asked about this cruz situation. you answered our question of being ted cruz, crazy or crazy like a fox? from theta, crazy and looking for fame. who the heck voted for this guy.

susan weighed in saying he and miley cyrus of a great deal in common, although we haven't seen the soles of ted cruz's feet. and nancy says i think he's a narcissistic megalomaniac with an ego the size of texas, everything is bigger there. keep those comments coming on twitter and facebook. we're back after this. hey kevin...still eating chalk for heartburn? yeah... try new alka seltzer fruit chews. they work fast on heartburn and taste awesome. these are good. told ya! i'm feeling better already. [ male announcer ] new alka seltzer fruits chews. enjoy the relief!

we go back to that breaking news we told you about earlier in the hour. this from long island. police say there's been a shooting near the roosevelt mall located in garden city. police say two people were shot in an office building near the mall and a search is on now for that gunman. the mall and area schools are currently in lockdown mode. the mall has specifically not been evacuated. no word on the conditions of the two people who were shot. police are expected to be holding a briefing coming up any moment now. our investigative reporter from wnbc here in new york city said

after this shooting took place, the alleged suspect fled in a white honda pilot. that's the vehicle he was driving. a white honda pilot. that's what authorities are currently looking for. again, the roosevelt mall in garden city is on lockdown, not evacuation mode, as well as local schools in the area. we'll keep you posted if we get new information this hour. speaking of time, it's just over an hour from now that the closing arguments will resume in the michael jackson wrongful death lawsuit. attorneys from concert promoter aeg live will make their final plea to the jury today. both sides have pointed the finger at who is to blame for the king of pop's untimely death. for the first time, in the nearly five-month trial, we're getting a clearer picture of how much money is at stake. during closing arguments yesterday, attorneys for the jackson family say they're seeking personal damages of $85 million for each of jackson's three children and $35 million for his mother. the $290 million figure could

pale in comparison to economic damages, which could be at least $100 billion. joining me now is lisa bloom, msnbc legal analyst. lisa, good to have you here. you can help us get through the weeds on this one. the closing arguments expected to resume coming up in the next hour. as we talk about the dollar figures, a lot of money is at stake here. do you think the jackson family attorney has made a strong enough argument to get that kind of payout on personal damages? >> i think if they prevail on liability, that is that the jury says yes, aeg is responsible for hiring dr. conrad murray, who is responsible for michael jackson's death, then they're probably looking at a very big damage award. they don't get any money if they don't win liability. i think liability is the toughest part of the case. who is responsible for dr. conrad murray? was it aeg who hired him or michael jackson? which the aeg who supervised him or michael jackson? that's the court issue. >> let's play a small part of

the jackson family attorney speaking yesterday. >> michael jackson had a well-known problem. he had abused prescription medications during times of pain, anxiety, and stress. it's not disputed that everyone really knew that. but aeg saw when they brought dr. murray in to assume the responsibility for taking that risk. >> all right. lisa, as we look at that, and so many people had thought they had known what the eccentric lifestyle of michael jackson was. obviously, this is peeling back a lot of the layers of the onion to figure out how ek -- eccentric that was. is it really aeg live's fault they decided to hire and work with a drug addict performer? >> right. that's the tough issue in the case. we now know, as you say, that michael jackson was a drug addict. he was addicted to prescription medication and in particular to propofol, which he personally

begged dr. murray to give him, and many other doctors prior to dr. murray. aeg's position is this is all very sad, it's a tragedy for the family, but we're not responsible for the choices that a drug addict made. >> so this is more about shining light on how celebrity and getting people to say yes around you your entire life doesn't put up the proper blockades necessarily to lead. >> that's right. >> that normal and highly productive life. michael jackson, obviously the king of pop. we all loved him. we love his music. it's so tragic to think he was living this cloistered, addictive life. >> that's right. but i've been following michael jackson's lawsuits for many, many years. his side has generally prevailed, at least in the big cases. in the 2005 child sexual abuse case, the criminal case, he was acquitted in that case. the case involved conrad murray, he was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter. when you're talking about a celebrity, sometimes you have to fight harder to prevail beyond

the usual standards of proof. this jury may just have sympathy for michael jackson's side, for his family, for his mother who testified, over 80 years old, talking about the pain of a loss. the children in this case who are looking at very substantial damages. i think that's a factor in cases like this. >> and there's no real face on a brand like aeg live. >> big, bad corporate entity. >> yeah, it's just a faceless corporation, and michael jackson, we all know, as being the king of pop. >> so aeg's council has their work cut out for them today. >> all right. lisa bloom, great to have you here. thanks so much. real quickly, want to take you back been we know ted cruz is expected to yield the floor coming up just moments from now coming up at the top of the hour. he will be finished. john mccain has asked for time coming up between 12:00 and 1:00, a 15-minute period there. so don't miss that. you got to see john mccain, how he's going to come out in response to ted cruz going on for 21 hours. that wraps it up for me today.

see you at 11:00 tomorrow. don't go anywhere. alex wagner is coming up next. take care, everybody. [ male announcer ] what's important to you? at humana, our medicare agents sit down with you and ask. hanging out with this guy. he's just the love of my life. [ male announcer ] getting to know you is how we help you choose the humana medicare plan that works best for you. mi familia. ♪ [ male announcer ] we want to help you achieve your best health, so you can keep doing the things that are important to you. keeping up with them. i love it! [ male announcer ] helping you -- now that's what's important to us.

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protect your family... and launch your dreams. at legalzoom.com we put the law on your side. can't stop, won't stop, ted cruz needs to stop. it's wednesday, september 25th, and this is "now." 21 hours after texas senator ted cruz announced he would speak in opposition to obama care on the senate floor until he was no longer able to stand, moments ago majority leader harry reid asked him to, please, stop, at least for a few minutes. >> this is not a filibuster. this is an agreement he and i made that he could talk. now, let me say this. we're going to have a