this afternoon senator harry reid will attempt to strip two republican amendments from the house bill. one that delays obama care by a year, the other repealing the medical device tax that helps to pay for that program, setting up a final showdown that puts the ball back in the house's court. >> you could not imagine a group of people at this point less likely to strike a deal based on personality, based on political interests, based on the weakness of speaker boehner in dealing with some of the members of his conference. >> it's all boiling down to a staring match between senate majority leader harry reid and house speaker john boehner. with neither side looking ready to blink, their caucuses are engaged in an all-out blame game. >> harry reid takes the senate home for a couple days during this crucial time. they could have used yesterday to address this issue and get it back to the house last night. >> the question is, does speaker

boehner need to engage in something like the ancient practice of sacrifice, this time to the right wing gods. do we have to sacrifice the economy? >> a new cnn/orc poll asks who will get the blame if a shutdown happens. 46% say republicans in congress. 36% the president of the united states. so will the president swoop down in the 11th hour with a big, bold deal to avert a shutdown or will he hold his line in the sand? >> what's the president to do, say take my arm this time. in two months when this cr runs out, take my leg? >> joining me now for more of all of this is republican congresswoman from north carolina, renee elmers. she's a member of the energy and commerce committee. thank you so much for being here this morning. >> good to be with you. >> politico points out that this is a pivotal moment for john boehner where he basically has these options, attach a

provision cancelling the highly prized health subsidies for lawmakers and their aides. send the senate an extension or pass a clean continuing resolution with the help of house democrats. congresswoman, what do you expect to happen if and when the house gets back a clean cr from the senate? >> well, and you point out the main point here. the point is, is that we are waiting on the senate and we have to see what they do, what they send back to us. then we can make our decision. i'm confident that we're going to keep the federal government open. we have to make sure that we maintain the purse in the house of representatives. in the event of a shutdown, we give that purse over to the president and i just simply don't want to do that. he will continue to fund what he feels is essential, and obviously it will be obama care. >> and you say that you're confident that we can avert a shutdown but a lot of people would disagree with you on that. they now think it's inevitable. what do you see as the path towards averting a government shutdown in just about 13 hours.

>> i remain hopeful. we're preparing for the worst, but i do believe that at the end of the day we're going to do the right thing. you laid out a couple of very important pieces. even if we go with just a very short-term cr, a week, or whether we do go forward with a clean three-month cr, the real issue here is working on a debt limit. that's the goal. there's more that we can negotiate there. i know the president has said he's not going to negotiate with us, but that's just simply not an option. we've got to give the american people choices. we've got to decrease the amount of spending at the federal level. we've got to put essential reforms in place. we've got to start creating jobs. we also have to deal with obama care. and i believe that's the appropriate place for the delay of obama care for a year. it's just simply not ready to go, even the obama administration has delayed it numerous times in numerous pieces. >> now, i want to ask you about obama care. republicans in the house have now voted to repeal or replace a piece of that law 44 times,

measures which you have supported. now we're facing a government shutdown over this issue. you often hear gop lawmakers say they're doing the will of the people with this. but a new cnn/orc poll finds that 60% of americans think it's more important for rlawmakers avoid a government shutdown than make changes to obama care. this is a law that has been affirmed by an election and the supreme court as well. why are you and your colleagues continuing this fight at all costs? >> it's a law, but it's a bad law. it's going to be devastating to the workforce, changing the 40-hour workweek to 30-hour workweek. jobs are going to be lost as a result of it. yes, the issue is trying to get those who are in need on affordable health care coverage, but the fact of the matter is, we're going to leave another amount about as equally uninsured. so you see the plan is not working. so we have to put a plan in place that will. i support the american health care reform that i helped work on in the rsc, part of the

republican study study committee. it's a much better plan of action for health care. if we get a year delay on obama care, which i think is necessary and i believe even the administration would agree with that, then we can actually put forward a plan that will work for america and it is patient centered, not government run. >> before you go, i'd just like to ask you quickly about north carolina's voter i.d. law that was just signed into law last month. now, the justice department reportedly plans to file a lawsuit against your state today claiming that the law discriminates against african-americans. what's your reaction to that? >> you know, i support the voter i.d., and i do because it gives an option for voter i.d., identification for individuals. you know, it's a simple process. we should be able to identify ourselves when we vote and we go to the polls. it's not that big of an issue. and those who keep bringing it up as an issue are really misguided. you know, this is to be expected by the department of justice. >> but, congresswoman, with all due respect, there's no evidence

of widespread voter i.d. fraud, especially impersonation fraud, which is one person going to the polls pretending to be someone else. so is this really a solution in search of a problem? >> you know, the issue has remained for so long and the problem is so easily resolved. you know, having an identification for those who don't have it right now is actually a great thing. i don't understand why we continue to put this hypothetical situation forward that somehow we're going to be disenfranchising those from voting. i just simply don't believe that that's true. >> all right, republican congresswoman from north carolina, renee ellmers, thanks for your time this morning. >> thank you. now for the view from the other side of the aisle, democratic senator from oregon, jeff merkley. he sits on the appropriations, banking and budget committees. thank you for being here this morning. >> you're welcome, mara, good to be with you. >> it seems that now the gop is trying to shift blame to democrats so let's quickly listen to what senator ted cruz had to say on "meet the press" yesterday. >> in my view, harry reid should

call the senate back in today. so far, majority leader harry reid has essentially told the house of representatives and the american people go jump in a lake. if harry reid forces a government shutdown, that will be a mistake. i hope he backs away that he's pushing us towards. if harry reid shuts the government down, what he will be saying is american families don't get treated as well as we treat giant corporations. >> now, a "wall street journal" editorial board is suggesting the president is to blame writing that his refusal to negotiate suggests that he wants a shutdown. his agenda idying on capitol hill because of senate democrats as well as house republicans. what's your reaction to the claim that it's really democrats who are refusing to budge and they're the ones leading us towards a shutdown? >> it's an effort to spin off the responsibility that the republicans rightfully own, trying to drive the entire economy off the cliff with its huge impact on the creation of jobs and the momentum of our economy. certainly they don't want to take responsibility for it.

but it's not going to succeed. the path that they have been advocating for is delusional and it's destructive. >> house republicans argue that they have already compromised by moving from a request to defund obama care to just asking for a delay. so how do you respond to the claim that they're the only ones looking for middle ground here? >> well, it's not middle ground to say to 30 million americans that the plan that enables you to get health care is going to be set aside. it's not middle ground to say to our small businesses which will get a much better deal by going to an exchange than they are negotiating by themselves that you have to may a much higher price. it's not fair to individuals who are in the same situation and it's certainly not fair to folks who have pre-existing conditions, who say i will never get insurance unless we have a structure that creates this opportunity and gets rid of these insurance company abuses of the past. so we have adjudicated this. we passed it, we had a presidential election that largely was debating this, and we're not going to allow blackmail to take away health care improvements so important

to millions of americans. >> now, the house was in session this weekend but your colleagues were not. with such a pressing issue to deal with, why not go back to work on sunday? >> well, the house has passed their piece, they're sending it over to us. we'll be taking a look at it. but here is the thing. they continue to send back completely proposals that take us to square one that say we're going to continue to threaten to drive the economy over the cliff. we have been talking about a clean, continuing resolution, a clean continuing resolution, not holding the process and the economy and the american people hostage as the house is doing. we will send back to them a clean cr. they will have to decide tonight whether or not the blackmail that they have been threatening for so long they're going to take action on and they'll be held accountable by the american people. let me be clear, this process of creating these manufactured crises of lurching from crisis to crisis, this is doing deep

damage to our nation. and it has to end. and yet the republicans just as the congresswoman you just interviewed, she says, oh, we're ready to create another crisis over the debt ceiling and december 15th, another crisis over continuing resolution. these are manufactured by our speaker boehner and his right-wing folks. they're doing deep damage. it has to ends. >> jeff merkley, thank you for joining us. i'm joined by nbc chief white house correspondent chuck todd from washington. chuck, thanks for being here. >> how are you doing, mara. >> the senate is expected to send back a clean cr to the house. what do you think speaker boehner is most likely to do if that happens? >> he's got a couple of options. i think what's interesting is what congresswoman ellmers said there or hinted at, which is this idea of buying more time. she's talking about debt limit. and it seems to me you're seeing almost a flooding of the air waves, if you want to call it that, of house republicans

making that case on boehner's behalf. i do not think this is an accident, by the way. i think this is where boehner has been trying to go. we know he's been trying to push his conference that way. i think what's still possible, there's time on the clock. i wouldn't be surprised if a two to three-week continuation funds the budget, keeps the lights on, that sort of forces the debt ceiling and the next end government funding into one sort of uber deadline. it's going to create an irresponsible cliff and the markets are going to go nuts but it would keep the lights on tonight. i wouldn't be surprised if that's the path the speaker goes with because it may be the politically safest one to both keep conservatives happy that he's still pushing, but keep some of these pragmatic republicans who believe the politics of this is a loser no matter what they do but certainly holds them off for a while too. >> chuck, if a shutdown does happen, how long do you foresee that lasting? >> well, that's sort of -- it's sort of how soon do people feel the pain?

is there political pain that republicans feel on this sooner than democrats? do democrats start feeling pain? you know, you never fully know how this is going to game out. in the mid-'90s, there was an assumption that republicans held all the cards and that president clinton at the time didn't hold as many cards. they were nervous of the public's reaction. but it really depends -- i think the power of the bully pulpit politically is something that i don't know how house republicans think they're going to overcome. never mind the fact that 20 years ago, they had both the sunset isn't that true and tsen their own hands. so the house republicans are isolated in a situation like this. i would be surprised if it lasts more than a couple days if it does, because for every day the government is shut down, not only does it cost the government money, but politically it's going to make them harder to make the debt ceiling such a big issue. if they really want to make that their be all, end all, they need to skip this shutdown business. >> chuck todd, thanks so much for your time this morning. be sure to watch "the daily

rundown" right here on msnbc weekdays at 9:00 a.m. eastern time for the latest on the shutdown showdown. and here's today's big question for you. who would you blame for a government shutdown? we'd love you to weigh in on facebook or twitter. fears of a government shutdown are having an impact on the markets. the indexes have been down all morning long. we're continuing to follow breaking news. less than one hour from now, the justice department will announce it's suing north carolina over its strict new voter i.d. law. that will happen in a noon news conference. msnbc's ari melber will join me to break down what that means for voters in that state and beyond. even with a shutdown looming, obama care is still set for launch tomorrow. are states ready? rhode island governor lincoln chafee joins me after the break. when we made our commitment to the gulf, bp had two big goals: help the gulf recover and learn from what happened

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we're following breaking news right now. attorney general eric holder is expected to announce a lawsuit challenging north carolina's voter i.d. law, one of the strictest in the nation. joining me now to break this all down is ari melber, co-host of "the cycle." what is the legal basis for this lawsuit and what is the justice department hoping to accomplish. >> from what we understand this is a lawsuit that will use the existing parts of the voting rights act because the supreme court only knocked down one part. what it will say is that there is intentional discrimination going on here. that these are not just rules that were made for various reasons that might make voting what difficult. that's not necessarily illegal under the law, but that it's making voting difficult with the intention to discriminate. the specific things that it will

look at are the voter i.d. as you mentioned, the registration restrictions. it used to be easier to vote in north carolina. now it's harder to register. early voting being restricted. and then most importantly, it will also seek to add a sort of approval or permission slip to north carolina, using what is left of the law. that's important because as we know, the supreme court took out that kind of permission slip coverage, what's called preclearance, completely across the country. this is a way to get it back in for states that are basically misbehaving according to the doj. >> that press conference is at noon. ari melber, thanks for being here. you can watch "the cycle" weekdays here on msnbc at 3:00 p.m. eastern time. president obama says the obama care insurance exchanges will be open for business tomorrow, even if the government shuts down. so what exactly does it all mean for you? well, the answer depends on your state. joining me now is democratic governor lincoln chafee of rhode island. governor, thanks for your time. >> my pleasure. good morning. >> now, politico reports that

the exchanges will still be open for business tomorrow, but what effect would a prolonged shutdown have on the beginning and the implementation of obama care? >> we're driving forward here in rhode island. we've been working very hard on this ever since the law passed and the supreme court ruled in favor of the affordable care act. we're going full steam ahead here in rhode island. we do not want large segments of our population getting their primary care in the emergency room of our hospitals. so we're all in favor of the affordable care act here in rhode island. our call centers will be open tomorrow on schedule. we're one of several states across the country, whether it's washington state on the west coast or kentucky sandy tral south sections of the country or rhode island in the northeast. across the country states are moving forward and we're proud to be one of those. >> according to a new poll, 49% of people asked said they were confused about this law. where do you suggest people go to get the best information about what this law does and

does not do? >> the federal government has through the affordable care act given us the resources to communicate to our citizens and we'll be yen auguinaugurating a campaign this afternoon to educate our population about what this affordable care act means, how it affects them, what they can do to learn more about it. so we have the resources, now we just do the outreach. it's going to be a process, we understand that. tomorrow, october 1st, it starts and then the enrollment will go through up until january 1st so those months will be important. we have a call center ready to answer questions. we're ready. >> now, some in the gop claim that they want to delay the law so that some of the problems can be worked out. i want to ask your reaction to that. what effect do you think a delay would have on this law? >> we've delayed and delayed. we had the supreme court ruling. i say let's go. yes, there will be some bumps in the road, everybody recognizes that. it's a big endeavor we're undertaking here. but let's get it rolling. we're doing that here in rhode

island. we're going full steam ahead. i'd like around the country to -- for the critics to say, hey, it's working in rhode island or it's working in kentucky or it's working in washington state. it's time for us to get on board in other states. we want to be one of those states that's the leader that other states are looking at and saying, look, it's working in rhode island. >> rhode island governor, lincoln chafee, thanks for your time this morning. >> thank you. airports, courtrooms, even nasa, the impact of a shutdown would cause a ripple effect through government agencies. we have a team of reporters covering just how the shutdown could impact your life. that's coming up next. plus, our agenda panel will weigh in on what the gop is demanding. and with the next phase of obama care ready for launch tomorrow, what will it mean for our nation's veterans? our next edition of rx for america still ahead this hour. so ally bank really has no hidden fees on savings accounts? no hidden fees. it's just that i'm worried about you know "hidden things."

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developing news out of chicago where more than 30 people were taken to the hospital after two trains collided. the two trains slammed together on the tracks in a neighborhood near o'hare just after 8:00 a.m. local time. the injuries are described as minor. we'll keep an eye on this and bring you any updates. now here's a look at other stories topping the news now. president obama and israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu are meeting right now at the white house just three days after that historic phone call between president obama and iranian president hassan rowhani. israel has been skeptical about tehran's agenda. you can soon own a piece of twitter. the company will file initial public offering papers as early as this week. if that process speeds along without any glitches, the company stock could start trading by late october or early november. a critical hearing going on right now in the james holmes murder trial. he's accused of the shooting rampage at a movie theater in

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well, the countdown continues to a potential government shutdown. just over 12 hours to go, and congress has not yet agreed on a deal. at about 2:00 p.m. eastern the senate convenes and they'll vote on the bill passed by the house this weekend with a provision to delay obama care. as the clock ticks, time is running out for hundreds of thousands of workers facing furloughs. nasa and the epa take the biggest hits, more than 90% of their employees forced to stay home if the government shuts down. the commerce and treasury departments lose 80% of their staff. justice, homeland security and veterans affairs get to keep more than 80% of their workers. our team of reporters are at some of the places at the mercy of capitol hill. msnbc's alex witt is in lower manhattan. john yang is at a post office in north riverside, illinois, and krig m craig melvin is at ft. dix. just how will the shutdown

affect those heading to a national park any time soon? >> reporter: well, it will impact them in a big ole way because there are 368 of them across the country, beginning with perhaps one of the most majestic ones over my shoulder here, lady liberty, which will stand essentially all alone tomorrow over new york harbor. watching today the people streaming in to get on those ferries and get over to take those circular cruises around lady liberty, it is packed perhaps trying to get this ride in in fear of not being able to do it tomorrow. what i will also tell you is that essential personnel will remain on liberty island. that means for security or firefighting purposes, those guys will stay there. also any of you animal lovers who worry about the animals perhaps in the national zoo, caretakers will stay there and make sure that the animals are fed and cared for but that's about it. talk about business shutting down, they're not going to like it around here. we'll check that out coming up and let you know what they're expecting in terms of loss of revenue. now to john yang, he's in

illinois. >> reporter: thanks, alex. national parks will be closed but the post office will be open. mail will still be moving. they get their money from someplace else and social security checks will be moving too. they get funded by permanent law, not the annual appropriations that congress is fighting over. federal courts will still be open. they're considered essential services. jury trials will go on. but after the first ten days or so, jurors may get their jury payments delayed. and passports, applying for a new passport or renewing a passport, that may be delayed as workers get furloughed. now with a look at what's happening on military bases, here's my colleague, craig melvin at ft. dix, new jersey. >> reporter: john, thank you here at the joint base, southern new jersey, commanders are preparing for what they are calling an orderly shutdown. unfortunately they have gotten a bit used to it here. that's because the 6700 or so

civilian workers who stream through the gates behind me every day, they just a few months ago were part of that sequester shutdown, if you will, so they were furloughed for six days. we talked to some folks at a nearby diner who say they are fed up. >> there are middle class workers and people that need their paychecks, so they need to figure this out. there's no excuse for shutdown, none. separate your differences and just get the job done. >> reporter: that's the latest from here in southern new jersey. mara, back to you. >> craig melvin, thanks so much, also alex witt and john yang in illinois. well, shutdown showdown. does delaying obama care effectively kill it? money talks. will constituents on both sides of the aisle speak up through fund-raising donations? and the next battle over the debt ceiling looms large. joining me now, jill lawrence, the managing editor for politics at the national journal.

james patterson is a professor at lehigh university and msnbc contributor and igor volsky is the managing editor of think progress. thank you all for being here this morning. lots to talk about today. jill, i want to start with you. republicans say that the provision to delay obama care is actually a compromise and that a delay could actually make sure the legislation runs smoothly. now, you wrote a piece for the national journal titled why delaying obama care could ultimately do as much damage as defunding. how devastating would a blow be for this law if it were delayed? >> well, there are two kinds of devastation that might happen. the first is if it's delayed and exchanges are delayed, then people who need insurance won't be able to get it and won't be able to afford it and maybe -- you know, they may be reinstating some of those exclusions, if you have pre-existing conditions, so that's a real-life effect. in terms of the politics and the law, you know, the only way that this law, we're going to find out if people like it or hate it is if it goes into effect.

by keeping it in this perg tore for another year where no one can experience it, that guarantees that the polling on it is not going to improve and also gives republicans what could really be a good issue for them going into 2014 and they could emerge from that if they take over the senate claiming a mandate to kill the law. >> we have seen a lot of misinformation around this, actually earlier on this hour we were joined by republican renee ellmers of north carolina and she stated that the law mandates that the workweek be cut to 30 hours per week. that's not accurate. james, i want to turn to you and talk about john boehner quickly. politico writes that this is a pivotal moment for boehner. perhaps the biggest crisis of his speakership and heading into it with a weak hand, the best he can hope for is a draw. at worst, he could be endangering his troubled 17-seat majority as well as his own hold on the speaker's gavel. what do you think the political repercussions will be here for the speaker? >> well, i think if he is seen as being responsible for passing

the cr, that is sort of what the flank party or the tea party caucus that controls republican politics right now will certainly blame him for that. i mean the problem for boehner is that he's been making these concessions year after year after year, crisis after crisis after crisis and he really can't corral his caucus to legislate. and so in this particular environment it is going to be tricky for him. at the end of the day he's got to figure out if he's supposed to legislate and represent the entire house or is he just supposed to represent sort of the minority interests of the tea party. when you look at the medical device tax, there was all this tax about the ways in which they were going to try to control access to contraception for women and tie that into this bill. those are ways that he's trying to extend an olive branch to his colleagues on the right in the event that he can't get this thing delayed in the ways in which the tea party caucus wants him to. >> igor, if there is a shutdown, do you think that will move the gop back to the center a little bit and reduce the influence of the far right wing of the party? >> it's really going to depend

on how long the shutdown lasts, i think. if we are here in another week and there's a shutdown, it's a real problem. one of the real concerns, because we've talked about some of the changes around the edges, but for women who are receiving women and infants who are receiving food stamps, those cards can't be recharged in a week on the 15th if the government doesn't come back in. so as you -- the longer you have a delay, the more problems that are really catastrophic for low income americans start kicking in and the more pressure on the gop to really find a solution to pass a clean cr. i would say any clean cr should really be linked to the debt ceiling increase so we're not here in another week having this same discussion. >> i'm sorry, do you want to weigh in? >> no. i just think igor is absolutely right if we could govern without crisis but i'm not hopeful that's going to happen.

>> jill, polls have shown there's a lot of confusion over obama care. we should note that the exchanges will still be open even if there's a shutdown tomorrow. but do you think that the shutdown would cause confusion even more that could have an effect on enrollment? >> well, i don't know if there could be any more confusion than there already is over this law. but the people who are running it expect things to ramp up gradually and in the experiment, the one experiment we do have in massachusetts, it was at the very end of the enrollment people where a lot of people signed up. gallup has an interesting poll out today that says two-thirds of the uninsured plan to get insurance. but if massachusetts is any indication of that, it won't happen until most of them won't sign up until the end of march, which is when this period ends. so i think a lot of people will be waiting and seeing an listening to what friends and family are saying about it. so i don't really see that much of an impact immediately. >> james -- i'm sorry, go ahead. >> i think politically, though,

it really steps on the republican messaging because if you have a shutdown and the health care law is rolling out, those early glitches could really be attributed to a shutdown government. who's to say if there's a glitch in the law or because the government is simply not functioning. for them they're in a tricky situation. it's a hard message to balance. on one hand you shut down the government. on the other hand you want obama care to work perfect low in a shutdown government. >> the white house also doesn't expect a rush of people signing up right away, they expect them to wait at least until january when they see an immediate effect. james, i want to ask you about a rash of fund-raising on both sides of the aisle. when it comes to the money game, who do you think wins here? republican or democratic donors? >> i think it's looking like it's going to mobilize those on the right a little bit more in terms of financial contributions. but i hope the american people can see what's wrong with our process. our process is broken when special interests with the help of lobbyists can control policy

and policy making. that's exactly what's happening here. that's exactly why we saw the last-minute things they tried to tie into this law saturday night. at the end of the day we've got to overturn citizens united and really rethink what role does lobbying and money have in our political process. the government as far as most person people are concerned has been shut down a long time. this congress has bakally done nothing. so we really need to think about what role money is playing. when you look at the special interest legislation connected to some of sympathies challenges and processes, it's clear we have a lot of problems around that. >> jill lawrence, of national journal, msnbc contributor james peterson and think progress editor in chief igor volsky, thank you for your time this morning. and today's producer pick comes to us from carrie wittica. a video company uses a camera, kanye west and a little interpretive dance to tell her boss i quit. ♪

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uh-oh. geico. fifteen minutes could save you...well, you know. a new jersey judge ordered same-sex marriage to begin in the garden state. it's the first time a court has struck down a state's refusal to legalize same-sex marriage since the supreme court ruling in june that struck down the federal defense of marriage act. so what's next? joining me now, evan wolfson, founder and president of freedom to marry. evan, thanks for being here. >> good to be with you. >> after the news of the ruling came out, governor chris christie's office said they were planning to appeal this to the state's highest court. what does that mean for couples in new jersey who want to get married? >> if the governor goes ahead and continues to be the last obstacle to couples being able to share in marriage in new jersey, it either will mean more delay, as the case makes its way up to the new jersey supreme

court, or possibly the new jersey supreme court will do what it ought to do, let the marriage licenses issue, even while it hears the case. the only people being harmed right now are the couples being excluded from marriage, their loved ones and their families. nobody is harmed when gay people are able to share in marriage. >> in terms of where the fight for same-sex marriage stands nationally, 13 states plus d.c. already allow same-sex marriage. 35 states have some sort of ban on it. in light of the supreme court rulings from this summer and the new jersey ruling, do you feel like the momentum is moving in your favor? >> no question. state after state after state has moved toward the freedom to marry with others to come. that's what we're working very hard on. the supreme court signalled to the country where we are headed saying that under the constitution, the government cannot discriminate against one group of couples versus another. everyone knows where it's going. a majority of people in new jersey favor the freedom to

marry. now the courts have ruled in favor of the freedom to marry. only the governor is standing in the way of new jersey joining other states where couples are able to share in the protection and responsibilities of marriage. >> nationally speaking, what's the plan moving forward for advocates of same-sex marriage. >> it's not a secret plan, it's our our website. it's called road map to victory. it's the same plan that it's always been. ultimately the supreme court is going to end this discrimination just as it ended race restrictions on marriage 40-some years ago. but the way we're going to create the climate that encourages the court to do that is to win more states and continue growing the majority. so all of us need to engage in the work to win more states and to keep talking to our neighbors about why marriage matters. that's how we're going to get there. >> freedom to marry's evan wolfson, thanks for your time this morning. >> thank you. the lone star state's first lady may be parting ways with her husband, rick perry, on a controversial issue, abortion. it's time now for the poli side bar. >> that's really difficult for me, evan, because i see it as a

woman's right. you know, if they want to do that, that is their decision. they have to live with that decision. >> that was rick perry's wife saturday at an interview at the texas tribunefest. governor perry signed new abortion restrictions into law last summer. cnn films are scrapping a plan for a documentary about hillary clinton. according to politico, it's being axed because of pressure from clinton insiders and a lack of participants. and "saturday night live" spoofs obama care as only snl can. take a look. >> i am psyched for obama care! >> there you go. i love that enthusiasm. >> because now that i've got free health care, i can get sick all the time. when we made our commitment to the gulf, bp had two big goals:

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shutting down the government is a dangerous game, and the republicans are playing it.

in that game, there are no winners, and there are only losers. republicans are obsessed with stopping the affordable care act. but lets be clear, a government shutdown does not stop the affordable care act. >> senator barbara boxer just moments ago at a news conference on capitol hill. boxer also says she spoke to majority leader harry reid a few minutes ago and he told her he plans to strip the latest bill from the gop-led house of language delays obama care for a year. that will happen when the senate convenes 2:00 p.m. eastern time today. this was also the subject of today's big question. who would you blame for a government shutdown. from wayne, the gop, gosh. you say you will not work with the president, then you won't he why the president will not work with you. gop in the house. they are holding our country hostage. the congress has done so little. how will i recognize the

government has actually shut down. keep the comments coming on twitter and facebook. as part of our series rx for america, look at what the affordable care act means for veterans and their families. millions of vets and families do not have insurance of any kind. that's because not all vets qualify for health care through the veterans administration. for that reason, affordable covers through obama care will provide a life line for current reserve members and families. joining me for more on this, an iraq war veteran and chairman of vote vets.org. thank you for being here. >> thank you. >> what do vets need to know about obama care. >> if you're a rural veteran or reserve you can opt into tri-care select. if you're in a rural state, maybe you've served the country but haven't been service connected, there are good rates out there you can buy into. perhaps you had access with the

v.a. or could have had access to the v.a. you're in part of the country there's no facilities available to you. this offers better access for veterans rates. >> they say over a million veterans insured. why aren't all vets covered by v.a.? what is the group you're talking about here? >> if you deployed, you are covered for five years. if you're not service connected, youever income bracket, high co-pays. many have not done v.a. paperwork to opt in. maybe they are from alaska where there's not a v.a. facility or part of montana. we did a lot of work last election cycle and one of the reason our organization spent $750,000 was his work to put rural v.a.s out there. it's access veterans have where they never opted into the system. it's less about whether they qualify. obama care allows you to opt in at a very, very affordable rate

that's competitive with what our garden reserves in many cases can opt into that aren't necessarily covered by v.a. yet. >> the exchange is open tomorrow. what are some of the other key dates for enrollment coverage in the days and weeks ahead? >> obviously i think right now we're in the information stage. i think if you're a veteran, the first thing is to understand all your benefits with the v.a. the way they are right now or with the garden reserve, i would take the obama care plan and bounce that off of whether or not it's a better rate compared to tri-care reserve in the guard program. right now they have to buy in. that plan may still be cheaper than what obama care is. i would certainly go to the exchange and get that. if you're not in the v.a. system, go over there and see if you qualify. having the conversation about which of those three options is best for you over the next week, month's time frame. >> all right. john, thanks so much for your time. head to www.healthcare.gov for

answers to all of your questions about the affordable care act. remember, enrollment begins tomorrow. that wraps things up for me. "now" with alex wagner is up and joy-ann reid is there. >> republicans have already gone through the three stages of obama phobia, rage, grief, and bargaining. will they ever get to acceptance? we'll begin the final countdown. we'll talk with white house communications director jennifer palmieri, luke russert and josh barrow. as time explains what happens when the clock strikes midnight and who will feel the shutdown most. pete williams with the latest on the justice department's lawsuit over north carolina's controversial voter id law. all that when "now" starts after this. ♪

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with 12 hours till shutdown time, it's the final countdown. monday september 30th and this is "now."

i'm joy reid in for alex wagner. remember the days when house speaker john boehner believed elections had consequences? >> you had said next year that you would repeal the health care vote. that still your mission? >> the election changes that. it's pretty clear the president was elected. obama care is the law of the land just 11 months and 40 defunding votes later the federal government is 12 hours away from a shutdown after the house passed a measure coupled with defunding of the law. despite the ticking clock, the weekend went without any meetings between john boehner, harry reid or president obama. that's by design. the president met with top