cyc cycle" and now to a man who combines honesty and chutzpah into a perfect mix, martin bashir. >> good afternoon. it is wednesday, september the 25th. and to quote a great author from there to here and here to there, funny things are everywhere. ♪ i intend to speak until i am no longer able to stand. it's a little bit like the world wrestling federation. it's all for show. >> tell them how this has got to work. >> you go to the 1940s, nazi, germany. >> you're going to be able to purchase high-quality health insurance for less than the cost of your cell phone bill. you're seeing some republican governors step up. >> almost all of us are in cheap suits with bad haircuts. >> what we have done is said you've got to provide the health insurance to anybody. >> most americans could not give a flying flip. >> the flip side of it is, everybody has got some responsibility. >> do you like green eggs and ham?

is. >> cruz is trying to run for president. >> would you, could you in a car? >> he thinks he's starring in a movie. >> i do not like green eggs and ham. >> they're saying people will like this too much. >> i do so like green eggs and ham. ♪ good afternoon. we begin with a 21-hour cruz cycle. the all-night ted talk, the cruz missile that compelled, if not a nation, then at least fans of dr. seuss, star wars, and the office of parliamentary stunlts. it wasn't strictly a filibuster, because cruz was not blocking legislation. but, the big fat phony buster of a protest speech did begin with ted cruz vowing to talk until he dropped. at 2:41 eastern time tuesday. and finally, yielding the floor today at noon, after 21 hours

and 19 minutes of oral assault on the president's health care law, with a few detours added in. >> you know, it's a little bit like the world wrestling federation. obamacare is a far less intimidating foe than those that i have discussed, with the possible exception of the moon. i will credit my father. he invented -- this wasn't for the restaurant, but he did it anyway. he invented green eggs and ham. i'm a big fan of eating white castle burgers. i do so like green eggs and ham. thank you, thank you, sam i am. words of wisdom from duck dynasty. you put five red next necks on a mower, it's going to be epic. thanks to the men and women who have endured this death march. >> one way to put it. senate majority leader harry reid called it a big waste of time. shortly thereafter, the senate moved to an initial vote, as planned, to clear the way for the next phase in the government

funding debate. it passed 100-0. thus ensues a lab rithian process that will not end with the senate cutting phubbeding funding to the signature legislation of this president's first term. so what was the point? well, the mad dash media scram after ted's talk-a-thon might just give you a clue. >> there are people who say this was political theater. what do you say, senator? >> this was all about elevating the debate in the public and giving the american people a chance to speak. at this point, the debate is in the hands of the american people. >> oh, the humility of the man. one would think that posturing for a presidential run in 2016 had absolutely nothing to do with this entire episode. but mr. cruz, i'm afraid the president has been paying attention to your own arguments against the affordable care act.

>> one of the major opponents, when asked, why is it that you would potentially shut down the government, at this point, just to block obamacare, he basically fessed up. he said, well, once, you know, consumers get hooked on having health insurance, and subsidies, then they won't want to give it up. that's -- you can look at the transcript. >> that's all right, mr. president. we have had about all the cruz we can handle at the moment. let's get to our panel. angela wri, political strategist and principle at impact strategies. robert costa of the national review joins us at the capitol. and here with us in new york is democratic strategist, professor bob shrum. >> robert costa, you are reporting this afternoon that the house is looking at passing a one-week continuing resolution to prevent a shutdown. that's the best we can do, we're on a week-to-week basis, even detroit hasn't been reduced to

weekly budgets. the city of mogadishu doesn't do a weekly budget, but the united states is going to continue a resolution for one week? >> that's exactly right, martin. it seems like the house right now wants to avoid a shutdown. but at the same time, they know they're dealing with a conservative flank of the party that wants to keep up the fight. so what i'm hearing from my top leadership sources and sources in the house, and in the senate, is that republicans will push for a one-week cr to phubbed the government, avoid a shutdown and keep the talks going. >> one week. fantastic. professor shrum, in more than 21 hours, cruz managed to veer from everything from dr. seuss to the nazis, as you know. in his comparison with the affordable care act. i would like you to take a listen to this. >> if you go to the 1940s, nazi, germany. i suspect those same pundits who say it can't be done, if it had been in the 1940s, we would have been listening to them. they would have been on tv, and they would have been saying, you cannot defeat the germans.

>> so offering the uninsured health care is the equivalent of the holocaust? is the equivalent of hitler's genocide? >> well, john mccain got very upset about this -- >> i think most people would get upset. >> he went and spoke to cruz about it. cruz said, well, i wasn't talking about you. i was talking about the media. he said -- and then mccain came out and said nobody should be talking that way. look, this guy is a very interesting case study. you're right, he wasn't filibustering, he was bloviating. and he said things like that. offered this crazy comparison that somehow or other, his attempt to defund obamacare was the same as jfk's commitment to put a man on the moon. well, neil armstrong got to the moon. and whether the continuing resolution is one week, two weeks, however they do this, we are not going to defund obamacare. ted cruz is not going to get there. he may get the republican nomination for president in 2016. and frankly, i'm for him. i think he would lose to any democrat. >> angela, help me with ted cruz's philosophy.

by his own admission, his main goal is to crush the president's health care law reform before anyone can even try it, okay? so can you tell me, why would he criteria cite a book like "green eggs and ham" which teaches the important lesson of trying new things? is the man stupid? has he not read the text? >> sorry, martin. okay. well, i think we should break the news her. ted cruz is not running for president in 2016. he's running for president of the dr. seuss foundation, martin. that's what this is all about. he wanted to go on the record in his flying support for green eggs and ham. by the way, if he eats that, he's really going to need obamacare. but i really think that we have a situation where ted cruz is a sore loser. wacko bird at this point is an understatement. this guy took all of this time to go back and they still have to take this vote, and they're still not going to be able to defund obamacare. let's say the senate left it in the bill, martin. tom coburn over a few months ago -- i think it was the end of

july, cited a crs report, where he talks about all of the many ways in which obamacare has already been funded. and for some reason, ted cruz doesn't realize that in a mere six days, the exchange is open and that's all, folks. >> robert, angela mentions the fact that he might be a bad loser. but this man does have a significant place in the republican party. doesn't he? and i don't know if you've been -- you can cast any light on this. but apparently, according to politico, gop senator john boozman laid into cruz, and another republican said that boozman was like a sleeping bear who had been awoken. >> that's exactly right. i can confirm that report. i've actually spoken to sources who are familiar with that meeting on tuesday, among senate republicans behind closed doors and one senate republican described it as so. it was like a family reunion gone bad. all came together as a family on obamacare, willing to defund it.

now there is in-fighting, a civil war about tactics and strategy and whether the conservative movement should run the republican party or the leadership should. >> okay. well, the president's signature health care reform, the exchange is open in six days. he made the point last night that cruz's greatest fear must be the people see this in practice, just like they did with medicare, and like it. >> yeah well, i think that is what could happen and is likely to happen. but this is a stupid strategy for the republicans, for precisely that reason. if they really believe that obamacare is going to fail, they ought to sit back, let it happen. they'll get the credit. but what if it succeeds, and they've gone out and made this kind of big fuss, a lot of them actually didn't want to do this, but cruz has put the republican party in the position where it's -- it's enmity toward obamacare is now so strikingly etched into the national mind that i think they're going to be hurt if it works. i think it is going to work. and i think by 2016, republicans are going to be trying to sort of shade their positions on

this. and by 2020, to quote an old line of margaret thatcher's, i think they're going to say obamacare is safe in our hands. >> angela, going back to you, to bob's point, you saw the add avert that was released by the koch brothers sponsored organization last week, which suggested this caricature, literally examining a woman's cervix. isn't the intention here that if cruz can't stop it from becoming law, can't postpone it, what republicans would like is to persuade all young people to break the law and therefore not be involved in funding what would actually be a kind of -- a system that all of us contribute to and all of us benefit from. isn't that what the intention is? >> that very well could be the intention, martin. but i wonder, out of all of these legislators no would then pay the tax penalty for these young people they're suggesting break this law or not abide by aca. i think the other thing that we really have to consider is what

is -- what is the real problem here with just lengthing? as a former hill staffer, i cannot for the life of me understand why instead of just boycotting this law, why they don't introduce things to amend the law. that is what they are there for. there is no purpose in doing foe-a-busters. there is no purpose in protesting, just to raise money. there are folks that are even conservative firms at this point, martin, are literally collecting retainers to help people abide by and understand the law. >> sure. >> this is beyond me at this point. >> angela wri, robert costa and bob shrum, thank you so much. coming up, reaction from the right. we'll ask from a house republican for a strategist ahead and, of course, his thoughts on last night's political theater. stay with us. ♪ clay. mom? come in here. come in where? welcome to my mom cave.

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early in his 21-hour bluster, senator ted cruz cited a number of historical moments from the american revolution to the end of the cold war, about why republicans should never give up on the fight against the affordable care act. but it was his comparison to nazi, germany that it was easily the most reprehensible and odious. >> if you go to the 1940s, nazi, germany. look, we saw in britain, nevil chamberlain who told the british people, except the nazis. yes, they'll dominate the continent of europe. but that's not our problem. let's appease them. why? because it can't be done. >> this morning, those comments elicited condemnation on the senate floor. >> i do not agree with that

comparison. i think it's wrong. >> i was appalled last night when he tried to make the analogy to world war ii and hitler as somebody who lost relatives in the holocaust. to compare the two was absurd. >> and joining us now is republican congressman michael grimm of new york. welcome, sir. i get the fact that in policy terms, you may object to the affordable care act. i get that. but can you explain to our audience what the horror of genocide, the murdering of 6 million people, what has that got to do with the affordable care act? >> i wouldn't even attempt to draw that conclusion. >> so what is going on in this man's mind? >> listen, i've been outspoken on this. i completely disagree with the senator and his comments. and it's, again, this is not helping the debate. it is not helping the republican party. and it is preventing us from governing. and that's what i came to washington to do. so this is a problem for the

republican party. it's been coming. it's somewhat overdue. it's boiling over. but we need to confront this head-on. senator ted cruz does not represent the views of mainstream republicans. and that's just the reality. >> but congressman, here's the problem. mr. cruz is an the front page of every national newspaper today, he's the lead story on every broadcast. and he is regarded as the leader of your party this week. well -- >> he's the face of it it. >> you're 100% right. and, again, that's why this is such a big challenge for the republican party. that's why, you know, my leadership has such a difficult time. when you have someone that is going to say outrageous things, they're going to be on the front page. so to deal with that effectively is not an easy thing to do. it's a serious challenge we have to take on. >> you've been a marine. can you imagine managing an individual like that who behaves like that? >> well, not in my marine corps, no. discipline is part of being a marine.

it's part of our code and training. >> i thought it was part of your party. i thought discipline was part of the republican party. >> sure. but i would say senator ted cruz is much more of a libertitarian than he is a republican. and that's -- you know, again, a challenge for the republican party, is that we have many libertitarians that run under the banner of republican. but they are not historically republicans. they don't consider themselves true republicans. they consider themselves libertitarians, so i think senator cruz is a libertarian and has views that represent maybe 12, 13% of our country, but certainly not mainstream america, especially independents. they're just americans that want to see our country do well and they want to see congress governed. what does governing mean? it means sitting down rationally, pragmatically, and making a deal that makes this country a better place to live. and that's not happening, as long as we have senator cruz railing the way he is. >> but this isn't the first time. because you will remember that senator cruz attended a fund-raiser in new york city in

may mere months after he opposed the sandy relief bill. so this is a man who would have denied your constituents, people that you represent, people who lost loved ones, and whose homes were destroyed. he would have denied them relief. >> oh, no question. i was outspoken on that, as well. there is an example. you mentioned sandy. i still have people who are devastated, not back in their homes, businesses not opened. and what i would like to see in this package is -- and i think something democrats can can support, is delaying the premium increases that are about to happen in flood insurance. >> right. >> that should be delayed. i've been very outspoken. >> rather than the affordable care act. that's what should be delayed. >> well, i will say this. there are issues with the affordable care act that we do need to discuss. going back to that principle of insurance hike, that's an issue that affects people, isn't it? that's what people like you and people like him should be doing in the house. >> well, there's no question, i

think, that that's an important issue. and listen, i also think that when senator cruz takes such a hard line, it's preventing the democrats from coming to the table with reasonable offers to make some compromise. it wouldn't be fair for republicans to just roll over and do whatever democrats want. that's why we have a two-party system. and that's called governance when you sit down and work things out. so they have to come to the table with something. right now they're not coming to the table at all, because they see the republicans taking senator ted cruz, republicans, taking such a hard line that's not -- doesn't seem reasonable to the american people so it's easier for them to almost let us shoot ourselves in the foot. >> earlier this week and on this network, you said, and i'm quoting you, you said put up or shut up. he didn't shut up, he didn't shut up for 21 hours. >> that's correct. >> are you prepared to put up with him as your potential presidential nominee in 2016? >> well, no, he would not be -- i would not support senator cruz for the republican no, ma'am -- >> why else did he do that? >> no question, this is all

about senator cruz. this is a charade. first of all, it wasn't a true filibuster. i applaud anyone who can stand there for 21 hours, i'll give him credit for that. this was a charade. it was already set by the rules it was not going to be a filibuster, because debate would end at 12 noon, i believe it was. so he knew he was not going to be able to filibuster. so this was all about ted cruz, forwarding his agenda and his career, and maybe it's a 2016 run, selling another book. that i don't know. nor do i really care. what i care about is how is it hurting my party, number one. and more importantly, how is it hurting our country? because this is polarizing us even more. we need to start to come together as americans, because i think the average person on the street cares about how we move forward as a nation. how are we going to rebuild our infrastructure and get people back to work. that's what's important. that's what i'm focused on. i'm focused on getting people back in their homes who have been devastated by sandy. those out of work, let's find them a job. that's called governing, that's responsibility. that's what we're here to do.

>> maybe you could ask one of your commanding officers to give him a thrashing. michael grimm, thank you, sir. still ahead, we look to tonight's gubernatorial debate in virginia that has mitt romney suddenly emerging from the shadows. and, of course, the 21-hour ted cruz magnum opus. it's a top lines you do not want to miss. stay with us. 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! new kellogg's raisin bran® with omega 3 from flax seeds. plus plump juicy raisins. flax seed? who are you? i still got it. [ male announcer ] invest in your heart health with kellogg's raisin bran® cereals. bob will retire when he's 153,

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stump speech. >> why are republicans so angry at ted cruz? >> i would like every member in this body a flawed human being. a man of many imperfections. wants as a law student as harvard, cruz refused to study with anyone who hadn't been an undergrad at harvard, principleton or yale. >> what a snob. >> if a reporter wants to write on those imperfections. >> if he worked at fox, would be eric bolland. >> no shortage of material. >> he wants republicans to stand up for conservative principles. yeah, and? >> go ahead, write your hit pieces on true blue conservatives. >> ooh! >> thank you. >> i hope that this filibuster -- >> no filibuster today. >> every republican says, he or she opposes obamacare. >> nothing makes food taste worse. >> and that obamacare was destroying their health care system. >> spoils breaking bad.

nothing sews you into a human sent paid like obamacare! obamacare will murder your hope! >> let's get right to our panel. joining us now is krystal ball, my colleague and jonathan capehart of "the washington post." krystal, we keep hearing that ted cruz is isolated. the fact is, he does have a dedicated band of followers, including mike lee and marco rubio. he doesn't seem that isolated, does he? >> he doesn't seem that isolated. i think the reason is, if you look at the tea party wing of the republican party, there is broad support for whatever it is that he thinks that he's doing. they don't particularly care about governance. they did send him there to throw bombs, essentially, and they think that that's what he's doing. so if you're a marco rubio and looking forward to 2016, you don't want to be too far away from ted cruz, because he's the guy that the base is in love with right now. >> right. john, if ted cruz were to feel a

little isolated, he decided last night to -- and this morning, to make a number of very complimentary comments. take a listen to what he said. >> the junior senator from florida is absolutely correct. i agree entirely. and let me say, senator rubio, you inspire me. and let me note, there are many reasons why i love the senator from utah. >> jonathan. >> where am i going to go with this? >> that pause was remarkable. he's obviously flattering these individuals. but if it they hitch their wagons to club ted, is that a good idea in the longer term? >> well, it depends on what they want to do in the longer term. as krystal pointed out, you know, for marco rubio, there might not be any down side. if you're going to run for the republican nomination for president, being latched up with ted cruz is a great thing. and having a clip of ted cruz saying "you inspire me" is fantastic.

you just put that on a loop, and watch the -- you know, the delegate counts and the money come in. i'm not sure about the senator from utah. >> no, nor am i. outside of the senate, krystal, mr. cruz does have one very famous cheerleader. take a listen. >> what senator cruz is doing is, he's waving this flag, and he's saying, hey, what is the alternative here in fighting for our economic liberty in the united states of america? what his colleagues, to many of them are doing, they're waving this flag. and they're saying, oh, let's surrender until we win. that's their tactic? >> now, before we talk about her knitting, do you think that cruz's intellect is likely to be undermined by associating with a credit like that? >> well, i would expect she hasn't seen the polling reasonable recently, but she is still relatively popular among the people enjoying what ted cruz is doing. i do appreciate she brought her

own props. that is impressive. >> that is impressive. >> i think the republican party, though, has to be upset, not just at ted cruz throwing his colleagues you sa colleagues under the bus, making them look bad for his own benefit, his own narcissism, but also bringing back sarah palin, who suddenly now has reentered the national conversation. they finally thought they were sort of rid of her and could move on from the palin era of political ignorance, really. >> and, i mean, john, steve schmidt, who ran the pr in the media campaign for the mccain-palin campaign, has actually regretted -- >> campaign manager. >> has regretted his involvement with ms. palin, and as krystal says, this can't be helpful to the republicans to drag her back in. >> no, it can't be -- >> because it didn't work so well last year. >> no, it didn't work so well in 2008, or any of the other times she flirted with running for president. and you know, just when we have sort of the rise of sort of the governing wing of the party, we have senator mccain rightly

lecturing senator cruz and other people trying to jockey to figure out how can we keep the government from one shutting down, and two, defaulting. and suddenly here we have sarah palin, who no one really cares about, except for a small fraction of the republican party, waving flags and throwing up props when her voice means nothing to the overall conversation. >> well, and i think it's struckive to think about mark yo rubio too, the way he wanted to lead into 2016 was by being one of the faces of immigration reform. and we see where that's gotten him. now he looks like he is sort of a follower of this tea party king, ted cruz. it really has not worked out well for him to try to actually govern and get something done. >> i guess the moral of the story is, if you're a republican, don't try and do anything constructive. our thanks to krystal ball and jonathan capehart. coming up, going nuclear from the middle east to our own backyard, we'll diffuse it with a preeminent expert, next.

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it's robert, dad. [ female announcer ] come in to find the right credit options for your needs. because when people talk, great things happen. in remarks broadcast after his speech to the united nations general assembly, iran's president called the holocaust reprehensible. a statement of truth. but a far cry from his predecessor, who repeatedly referred to hitler's genocidal hatred as a myth. it is perhaps indicative of the small but hopeful steps the two countries are taking toward nuclear disarmament talks during this week's general assembly meeting. and while israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu says iran is trying to quote, talk and play for type, the president of the united states explained why we must listen. >> to succeed, conciliatory words will have to be matched by actions that are transparent and verifiable.

the road blocks may prove to be too great. but i firmly believe the diplomatic path you mr. must be tested. for while the status quo will only deepen iran's isolation, their commitment to go down a different path will be good for the region and the world. ironically, iran may best be viewed by the near accidents the u.s. has had. that is the subject of a new book by eric slosher, "command and control,:nuclear weapons, the damascus accident." we're tldelighted to welcome mr slosher. welcome. >> thanks for having me. >> you and your book made big news this weekend. the story came out based on your findings that details a 1961 incident in which a bomber inadvertently dropped two nuclear bombs on north carolina. can you give us some more details about that? what actually happened? >> it was a b-52 bomber that

developed a fuel leak. and suddenly, as it was getting ready for an emergency landing there was a weight imbalance and is the bomber began to break up over north carolina and the centrifugal forces of the bomber breaking up pulled a lanyard in the cockpit, exactly the same a crew member would pull if a bomb was to be delivered over an enemy target and one of the hydrogen bombs assumed it was over an enemy target and went through all the arming steps, except one. and it was one switch in that plane that prevented a debt nation of a 4 megaton hide general bomb in north carolina. that switch was later found to be defective and stray wires in that plane as it was breaking apart could have armed the bomb fully and led to a full-scale debt nation. this was just a few days after john f. kennedy had been inaugurated and it's no exaggeration to say it would

have changed the course of history. >> right. a remarkable moment in history. and thankfully, not disastrous. as you know, knowing a country's full inventory of weapons is key in the negotiations with syria and iran. and i was reminded of that in a section of your book, where in a scene you say is reminiscent of the james bond film "thunder ball," four hydrogen bombs went missing after an air crash. >> this was in spain. a bomber collided with a tanker that was refueling it. the tanker blew up the crew members were incinerated. and the four hydrogen bombs were released from the b-52. one of them landed harmlessly near a beach. two of them hit the ground and detonated, but they didn't produce a nuclear yield. they spread plutonium over the spanish countryside near this little town of palamares.

and is one of the weapons landed in the ocean. and it took a couple of months for them to find it. my book is -- >> a final question, sir, if i can ask you to bring your research up to date. how satisfied are you that nuclear armaments in this country are safe? >> we invented this technology, we have the most sophisticated technology. i think we probably do a better job of managing our nuclear weapons than any other country. but if we have had these sort of problems in our management of our arsenal, we should be very concerned of countries like iran getting nuclear weapons who would probably do a much inferior job, and i hope that iran never gets these weapons. >> and disturbingly, of course, places like pakistan already have them. eric slosher, author of the book, thank you so much indeed. >> thank you. before we go to break, disturbing new video released this afternoon by the fbi.

showing the navy yard shooter, aaron alexis with shotgun in hand in the initial moments of last monday's tragic attack in which he would kill 12 and injury several more. an armed alexis is seen scanning hallways, running downstairs, hunting for victims. in an fbi presser earlier today, we also learned some more details about alexis' possible motive. >> there are multiple indicators that alexis held a delusional belief that he was being controlled or influenced by extremely low frequency or e.l.f. electro magnetic waves. a document retrieved from the electronic media stated, quote, ultra low frequency attack is what i have been subject to for the last three months. and to be perfectly honest, is that is what has driven me to this. >> disturbing details continue

to unfold at the tragedy of the naval yard. we'll be right back. with unitedhealthcare, i get information on quality rated doctors, treatment options and cost estimates, so we can make better health decisions. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare.

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the key to implementing the president's plan are the so-called obamacare navigators. now, what does an obamacare navigator do? >> so, you're asking what does an obamacare navigator do? >> yes, i am. >> they help low-income, uninsured residents sign up for the state's expanded insurance program. >> right. a program designed to help americans better understand their options under the affordable care act. sounds quite reasonable. so naturally, florida's governor, rick scott, is against it. earlier this month, governor scott directed the florida department of health to ban these navigators from county health facilities, a place where you would find people who are most in need of information about the program. governor scott claims his concern is about the privacy of florida floridans, saying in a letter to house speaker john boehner and

harry reid, floridans should not have to exchange their privacy for insurance. some are fighting back, defying the ban on navigators and health facilities. and i'm delighted to say we are joined by the mayor of one of those counties, kristen jacobs of broward county, florida. good afternoon, ma'am. >> good afternoon. a pleasure to be with you. >> pleasure to have you. broward is not alone in defying the governor's directive. what is the legal basis you have cited for opposing the governor's ban? >> well, basically, it turns out that the state of florida doesn't own buildings all across the state. there are 67 counties, and they have health care facilities and about 60 of the 67. and it turns out, in broward county, of the seven-state health facilities, six of them are owned by broward county. and so our attitude was, well, you can't tell us what to do in our own facilities. and a quick check of the lease

that the broward county commission has with the state of florida yielded that we do have control over who enters our buildings and you sure aren't going to tell us who we're going to ban. >> right. now, reached for comment, governor scott's office deferred to yesterday's statement from the florida department of health, and i need to quote this. in an unprecedented move, the broward county commission today rejected the department of health's guidance to protect patient privacy, and ensure patient confidentiality in county health departments. is that true? is that what you're doing? >> it is absolutely not what we're doing. and it is truly a smokescreen by our governor, who has tried time and again to do what he could to stop the progress of people learning what they need to learn about the affordable health care act. the issues over privacy, it's an ironic statement, because, first of all, the state has its own set of navigators that help people through the process, whether it's medicaid, whether it's kid care, whether it's

veteran services. the state already has its own set. additionally, the state passed laws just this last legislative session that set up a series of requirements for navigators themselves, things they would want them to do. so while the state has passed these laws, they have done nothing to set any regulations in place. but rest assured, the residents of broward county who go into a health care facility and either sit with the navigator or any of our counselors, either with the county or with any of the agencies, epilepsy foundation would be one that has the contract for navigating in our county, for example. anyone who sits down with them can be assured they have had adequate training and the information that is shared goes straight into a database and is not at risk. >> what's incredible to many of us is that florida has the second highest uninsured population in the nation. with about 3.5 million people uninsured. so in theory, many of your fellow floridans would enroll in

the affordable care act if they could, and yet the governor is doing everything to stop that from happening. >> well, it's really a silly point on the state's behalf. because at the end of the day, in broward county, there are 392,000 people here who are either underinsured or have no insurance at all. most of that population is minority in nature. and they need this help. so if they're not going to get it from a navigator, there are many other ways in which broward county is assisting in this regard. we have opened up all of our facilities, including our libraries, our family success centers, even our buses are sharing information about how people can access health care and get the knowledge they need to make a good decision. additionally, we're holding events all over the county, and while i am the mayor of our county, we have 31 cities in broward county and each of those mayors are having events to help bring attention to this issue, to help share information. >> well, it's wonderful. >> at the end of the day -- >> it's wonderful you're willing to do that. >> thank you.

>> well, it's important, because this is the affordable care act, after all. people need affordable care. now, you were on a conference call this afternoon with the president about the implementation of the act. with 26% of your county uninsured, the call likely covered some vital information, i'm assuming, for your residents. what did the president tell you? >> i think, first of all, the biggest point for everyone to understand and one the president is making right now is to understand that while we are definitely working towards the next six days in the -- in the rolling out of the most important legislation and probably in the last seven decades, this is only the beginning. this is not a six-day effort. it's really a six-month effort. so as local government, we are the people who are -- that are closest to our citizens and the ones they are going to turn to for help. so it's really up to us. the federal government has set forth multiple avenues for information to be shared, but

they can only do part of the picture. across this country, mayors and city commissioners from all over the place are going to be working hard to help people find the information that they need to make a good decision, because we all know, especially local government knows, that the cost of health care on the front end, going when you're already healthy and trying to stay that way, or catching a problem at the very beginning, is significantly less expensive on all taxpayers than it is when it's delivered at the back end during an emergency. >> right. now, the highest rate of uninsured in the country is, of course, in texas. and as you know, the senator from texas has just spent the last 24 hours or 21 hours and 18 minutes, trying to make sure they remain uninsured. one part of senator cruz's nonfilibuster that i found interesting was when he spoke about the hispanic population. take a listen to what he said. >> so the question i would pose, rhetorically to the chamber, is what is the impact of obamacare

on the hispanic community? >> now, as you know, there are lots of latinos in his state, as well as in yours. but don't latinos largely support the affordable care act, because frankly, it will benefit many in that community. >> listen, you know, i think the smokescreen doesn't start and stop with the governor of the state of florida. clearly, texas has its own brand of leadership or -- and i put quotes around that. when we -- i think what's really going on here is everyone knows that once the people have this kind of health care available to them, the dignity that comes with going to the doctor when you need to, they like it. they're not going to give it up. and that's this last push, is to try to scare everybody, use whatever tactics you can, to get people to not enroll so they can point their fingers back and say, this is not successful. even in our own state, the legislature voted to lift all regulation of health care in the state of florida for two years, so that rates would continue to

rise. so that in essence, they could point the finger back and say it was the affordable health care act that raised rates. it's simply not true. >> mayor kristen jacobs, thank you so much for your service, and thank you for joining us. >> you're welcome. i'm glad to have been here today. thank you. >> thank you. next, the strange return of one mitt romney to help another republican win a state he could not. ♪ one good thing about music ♪ a confident retirement. those dreams, there's just no way we're going to let them die. ♪ like they helped millions of others. by listening. planning. working one on one. that's what ameriprise financial does. that's what they can do with you. that's how ameriprise puts more within reach. ♪ ♪

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a final note from the commonwealth of virginia, where today none other than mitt romney was on hand at a steak house to stump for cuccinelli, locked in a gubernatorial race, trailing to the most recent polls. the two will square off tonight, modera moderated by chuck todd. mitt romney does know a thing or two about fund raising, and cuccinelli will