thanks for disrupting your afternoon. i'm karen finney. this week's forecast, cloudy with a chance of grand standing, spin and scare tactics also very likely. >> i think people need to sit down. >> take a deep breath. >> this is an argument about a broken website versus a broken political party. >> the problem with republican party is they have two republican parties. >> we've got a long way to go, obviously. >> i think obama care is, in fact, going to be the reason that we are going to pick up seats in the house. >> there isn't a leader in the republican party right now. that's partthrilled to be up in iowa. >> to what extent do you think he's the face of the conservative moment? >> we've tried to mobilize and energize the grass rootings across the country.

build an army. >> he did more harm. >> food stamp recipients will see a 15% reduction in their benefits. >> $36 less a month for a family of four at today's prices translates into four fewer whole chickens a month. >> what's even more shocking in there's no legislation coming out of congress to stop this from happening. >> don't let our neighbors go hungry. so in theory, congress gets back to week -- gets back to work this week with all the business that was put on hold while republicans shut down the government. health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius will take the hot seat as the house gop continues its obama care witch hunt. she's set to testify on wednesday before the house energy and commerce committee where some of the members have already called for her resignation. now, paul ryan will be back on center stage heading up the bipartisan budget committee with

senator patty murray in their first meeting after the shutdown. the group has until december 13th to come up with a compromise. so can ryan actually deliver on his reputation as the budgetary golden boy? another measure in need of compromise? the farm bill. which house and senate negotiators will take up wednesday. a major sticking point in those talks is the $40 billion the house version of the bill cuts from s.n.a.p., the food stamp program which provides much needed aid to some of the most vulnerable people in our country including children and the elderly. now, those cuts would come on top of a little noticed change taking place at the end of this week. s.n.a.p. is automatically going to be cut 15% across the board when a provision of the 2009 stimulus expires november 1st. it's being called the food stamp cliff. it will affect almost 50 million americans, including more than 20 million children. joining me now, dnc chair and congresswoman from florida, debbie wasserman schultz. also author of new book "for the

next generation." thank you so much for being with me. >> karen, great to be with you. thanks. >> i want to start with this food stamp cliff. because really, i mean, we've been talking about websites and all these other things when we're talking about millions of americans are about to lose benefits that they rely on to eat and live. >> yeah. that's absolutely right. i know that i actually took the food stamp challenge a little bit over a year ago and spent the better part of a week living on the amount of money that food stamp beneficiaries use to purchase food for the entire week. and it was -- it was hard. very hard to find anything nutritious that i could feed myself. then add to that if you have kids. it's really a dire situation. this was supposed to be a bridge. that bridge is not quite complete. >> as i understand it, i mean, i think i want everybody to understand, we're talking about -- so these cuts are going to go into effect on friday. then on top of that, the

republicans are proposing another $40 million in cuts. >> $40 billion. >> 40 billion, sorry, dollars in cuts. in terms of taking care of our neighbors and low income americans, i mean, what can washington do at this point to make sure that doesn't happen on friday? >> there's a chapter in my book about safety net programs and that we really need to try to build some consensus here. come together as democrats and republicans. and, first of all, acknowledge that those safety net programs are essential. that we have to have a guaranteed floor through which we're not going to allow people who are in a frail situation to fall through. food stamps included. i mean, the reason that we added that bump up in food stamps during the great recession was so that we could give people a bridge who are struggling to be able to feed their families. and because we're still in a fragile recovery, that's a problematic situation that will be hugely exacerbated if the republican house members are

successful in $40 billion in cuts. i don't think the senate or the president would go along with that. we need to reach a solution. we need to come together and find some common ground here. >> so to that point, obviously the conference committee, the long awaited budget talks are going to begin this week. sort of going into that conversation, we know that the republicans are looking at cutting things like food stamps, have a very different opinion about these kinds of programs. >> oh, yes. >> we call them safety net. they call it makers and takers and who's deserving. also likely we're going to see a big showdown over what they would call entitlements. i would call them bedrock programs. medicare, medicaid, social security. where do you think there's going to be room for common ground? >> well, i'm hopeful that -- that the republicans are coming to the table with this budget conference committee willing to sit down and at least acknowledge, and i talk about this in the book as well, that we agree that these should be guaranteed programs that provide

a minimum guarantee of benefits. then if we can build from there and try to make some decisions together on the long-term solvency of those programs so we can add years to their life, then we have an opportunity to move forward. but if we continue to argue whether social security should be privatized, medicare should be turned into a voucher system, and whether or not these are programs worth preserving at all, then we're going to have a problem. >> i actually want to read a part from your book. you also talk about paul ryan and the tea party. you say house budget committee chairman paul ryan and his tea party allies want to cut, not raise, spending on infrastructure. in fact, scaling back improvements to our nation's transportation infrastructure accounts for roughly 25% of the 2.2 trillion in spending cuts ryan envisions over the decade to come. this is completely irresponsible. congresswoman, that's another example of a place where i hear democrats talking about how are we investing and creating jobs. heaven knows we need -- our infrastructure is in badly need of repair. >> crumbling. >> yet as you point out, the

republicans are coming to this conversation with a very different perspective. >> absolutely. in spite of the fact that president obama has repeatedly proposed investing in our nation's infrastructure, which would both create jobs and ensure the safety of our transportation system and the infrastructure that people need to be able to move around, the republicans continue to ignore the really horrific shape that our bridges and roads and -- and metro lines are in. and we've got to, again, work together and acknowledge. and i hope when people read my book that they understand that i'm trying to sound an alarm bell. and that they should find the issue, whether it's infrastructure or the safety net programs or education or immigration, find the issue that drives them. and get engaged. because we've got to make a difference on these issues, karen, for the next generation. because if we don't, they're really going to suffer in the future. >> i want to switch gears a little bit and talk about the affordable care act. we've seen now -- i believe it's

ten democratic senators now signed this letter calling for, you know, potential enrollment extensions. i think that it seems like it's this group playing politics. it might be from a policy standpoint something that needs to be done but probably too early to determine if it's the right time to move forward on that kind of proposal. >> exactly. it is way too premature to be talking about extending the enrollment period. i was really glad to see president obama propose and start to implement this tech surge headed up by the former acting omb director. someone with a really solid reputation to turn things around. they've committed that the website will have its kinks ironed out and be smoothly up and running by the end of november. and there will be plenty of time. it's a six month open enrollment period. what we've seen, karen, consistently, this isn't surprising to you at all, i'm sure, republicans aren't interested in helping people.

they don't care about whether everybody has access to quality affordable health care. they want to delay or repeal the affordable care act because making sure that people have access to health care doesn't matter to them. >> well, but it also strikes me that the political narrative is, oh, ten democrats are breaking rank. when if you understand politics, i mean, some of these guys are in tough races. and some of them have been proponents of this idea for some time. so i'm just not sounding the alarm yet, i guess, on the, you know, democrats breaking rank narrative. >> yeah. i've gotten that same question a number of times from -- from reporters that would like to try to sew seeds of division. it's simply not there. we have never been more unified. in the house, we had 100% support for the reopening of the government, to keep it open, and to move forward to try to work on a regular order budget conference. and on the affordable care act specifically, all of us were in lock step. house and senate democrats to

refuse to allow the republicans to hold the affordable care -- the economy hostage with the affordable care act and whether or not people have access to quality, affordable health care as ransom. that's unacceptable. i'm a breast cancer survivor. this is breast cancer awareness month. and january 1st we will have the peace of mind, survivor all over this country, that an insurance company can never again drop us or deny us coverage. i will go to my last breath as will many, many democrats to make sure that isn't taken away by republican extremists. >> thank you, congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz and good luck. >> we'll need it. i'm joined by igor volske and amanda terkle. thanks to you guys both for joining me. you know, we know that we're going to have another week of, you know, hair raising about the website. and we have a number of hearings. we've got secretary sebelius already facing questions as to whether or not she should step down.

but, igor, one of the things i noticed last week in the hearings in so much of the talking points is really aimed at scaring people, right? talking about lack of privacy. which isn't true. numerous other things. >> yeah. and it was filled with republicans really gleeful about all of the errors on the site. they really couldn't restrain themselves talking about all of the problems. and this week's hearings, i think when sebelius comes to the hill, are going to be about accountability. what did she know? when did she know it? which, you know, are important questions. i think the real important question is how do you fix a site that millions of americans have visited? because there's this pent up demand for health insurance. how do you make sure they get connected to the product? that should be priority number one on capitol hill. not this kind of, you know, pointing to the errors and making political hay out of the whole situation. >> amanda, it strikes me also that, you know, again, i've got some sound from marsha blackburn. this is going to be another opportunity for major grand

standing in addition to the sort of fear. let's play this sound from blackburn. >> what we want to figure out from her is, number one, how much money has been spent, is being spent, and is going to be spent on this website and on the problems that are there? number two, we have privacy concerns with individuals' information. making certain that they are going to be protected. number three, we want to look at the expectations. what they expect people are going to see on this website and when, when they think it's going to be fixed. >> i mean, you know, amanda, does anybody really believe these guys are doing this hearing because they care about making sure the website gets fixed and people can get health care? >> i mean, there's going to be a lot of grand standing. we saw this last week with congressman joe barton from kx kx. he brought up something that he showed was a huge problem. it was going to sacrifice people's privacy. it actually wasn't a problem. are there legitimate problems with the website and concerns? yes. but those aren't what republicans are bringing up.

in large part because i don't think they understand the website and how it functions. so because right now they are not concerned about really making it better. it's about scoring political points. they are going to be going after secretary sebelius, trying to get her to resign as they've been trying for a very long time of getting her and other obama administration officials to resign. and it's going to be a lot of political theater. >> you know, it strikes me, igor, that the other hearing that we will see this week is the head of the centers for medicare and medicaid services, marilyn tabner. she had testified a couple months ago everything was fine and smooth sailing with the website. i expect this to be -- you know, this will be the witch hunt. they're certainly going to go after sebelius. certainly i think you're already seeing, you know, they're looking forward again to this hearing as an opportunity to say, okay, you know, what did you know and when did you know it? why didn't you tell us? they've calculated how many times she's been to the white house and did you meet with the president? clearly they're trying to link this to the president.

and bad decision making on his part rather than acknowledging that there were problems with the website. >> well, yeah. and the website definitely has to work better. we have to be clear. the fact that on october 1st you had millions of people try to sign up and it kind of broke down is a big problem. a big problem for the president. but republicans also aren't blameless in all of this. they spent three years placing hurdle after hurdle in implement of this law. they denied imp llementation fus for hhs to build out the capacity for the site. they've really contributed to the mess. they've been yelling and screaming about what a bad law it is. now this week they're going to be saying, my goodness. people can't sign up easily enough. they can't sign up fast enough. so, you know, they've really changed their argument now. >> quickly, last question to you, amanda. also big happening this week, the budget first meeting of the conference committee. we've seen, you know, as i was talking with congressman debbie wasserman schultz, the republicans have kind of staked out, you know, their position,

particularly when it comes to what democrats would call social safety net programs. harry reid has pretty much said that's a nonstarter. so how is this going to shake out? >> well, i mean, i think many republicans right now are -- are sort of putting a marker down that we're not going to be able to work with democrats and president obama very much. because we're so upset about the shutdown and how president obama wouldn't negotiate with us. i mean, you're going to see republicans push very, very hard for many more cuts. and we have, as you were talking about earlier with the congressman, food stamp cuts are coming up this week. republicans are pushing for more. senate democrats are going to be doing, i think, whatever they can to try to stop many of those cuts. but, you know, the negotiations, it will be very hard. right now the parties aren't agreeing on much. >> it's going to be an interesting week. thank you, igor volsky and

amanda terkel. next, president clinton in virginia this week as democrats rally to keep the kooch in check. that's coming zble ining up. >> those of you who love virginia and want it to come together and move forward have got to care as much about this election as you did the election in 2012. that is what is at issue here. avo: the volkswagen "sign then drive" sales event is back. which means it's never been easier to get a new passat, awarded j.d. power's most appealing midsize car, two years in a row. and right now you can drive one home for practically just your signature. get zero due at signing, zero down, zero deposit, and zero first month's payment on any new 2014 volkswagen. hurry, this offer ends october 31st. for details, visit vwdealer.com today.

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you don't basically whip up on a racial group, an ethnic group, inflame people about

women's health, misstate the facts to justify denying access to health care. it excites people, but it doesn't get a darn thing done. >> that's former president bill clinton stumping for his long time friend terry mcauliffe, democratic candidate for governor in virginia. now, while president clinton lost the state in both 1992 and '96, changing demographics have moved the state from red to more purple. with president obama winning the state both of the last two elections. in the off years, virginians have elected a governor from the party opposite to the white house. this has been for about the past 36 years. with mcauliffe ahead in the pole polls, the question is whether or not this year will buck that trend representing a further shift in virginia moving towards blue. is it demographics or the failure of our favorite republican candidate for governor virginia state attorney general ken cuccinelli. or as i like to call him, the cucc. who just this week gloated over his "a" rating from the nra

during a debate at virginia tech. the same school where 32 people were shot and killed in 2007. and just last week, the cucc said this about the anti-choice fight. >> if you go back to abraham lincoln and the civil war, he looked at -- he looked at the civil war as a sort of a national penance for slavery. the evil of slavery, letting it go on. and the founders knew how bad it was. and we have other things in this country today. and abortion is one of them. >> hmm, you heard him right. the cucc sees himself walking in lincoln's shoes in his fight against women's rights. you cannot make this stuff up, folks. the only problem for the cucc is virginia women don't see it that way. a new poll out this week has him trailing mcauliffe by 14 points among likely female voters. our own nbc news poll had him losing by 20 points. for more on the state of the race we turn to director of the university of virginia center for politics and the author of

the new book "the kennedy half century." larry sabato. thank you so much for joining me. >> thanks so much, karen. >> i want to start with kind of, sort of an interesting distinction in the approaches in the surrogate groups in terms of who each side is trying to turn out. you had obviously former president bill clinton. you had former secretary of state hillary clinton coming out, obviously, for terry. then you've got huckabee and rand paul and paul ryan coming out for kucuccinelli, clearly trying to draw out different groups of voters. >> you're absolutely right, karen. this is a base versus base election. because traditionally, virginia being only one of two states that has an off, off year election right after the presidential election for governor, the turnouts tend to be pretty low. presidential turnouts are over 70%. the last couple of gubernatorial elections have been 45%. the last one was 40%. some people are saying the

turnout could fall into the 30s. both sides want to get their partisans out. that's why the people you mentioned have been brought in and why bill clinton is campaigning a good bit of this week for terry mcauliffe. >> i wanted to ask you, what was the biggest contributor in the change of the crystal ball rating? it's a bellwether district. the virginia governor's race stews in aftermath of federal shutdown. four years ago when mcauliffe first ran for governor sheila mitchell looked him over, and thought, god, he doesn't look like you can trust him. since then, research has shown, i don't think i can strtrust hi. then i look at cuccinelli and it's, gosh, you don't like women much. >> karen, that's really it. when you get right down to it, terry mcauliffe had the bad luck four years ago to get into a democratic primary that he couldn't win for various reasons. he lost 2-1. look at what's happened this year. he had the good luck to be unopposed for the democratic nomination.

because frankly the democratic bench to this point has been empty. i think it's about to get full again. but it's empty. he's the nominee. and he's running against a candidate whose positions on the social issues, ken cuccinelli, frankly are just out of the virginia mainstream. that's the problem for the republicans. and people never get -- really a lot of them never get to examining terry mcauliffe because they're turned off to cuccinelli. they vote for virtually any democrat. >> i wanted to ask you about that. that seems to be an important shift in the state of virginia. that cuccinelli seems to have completely misunderstood or misread. you know, women are obviously more activated, i think, by some of the state legislation that's been passed. maybe he underestimated the power of that. but as you say, i mean, he's relied on these social issues and is really out of step with the state. is that going to make this -- virginia more in the blue column in the years coming forward? >> well, every election's different. you have different candidates.

if you had a more moderate republican, say the lieutenant governor of virginia, bill bowling, frankly i think bowling would be leading mcauliffe right now. but the republicans were bound and determined to nominate cuccinelli. cuccinelli insisted on a state convention. and he had the votes in the state central committee to produce a convention, to cancel the primary. he was nominated by some very right wing -- a handful of right wing people at a may convention who also nominated an extremely controversial candidate for lieutenant governor. so, you see, be careful what you wish for. >> that's right. i want to ask you a question about your -- sort of related to your book. in 1960 president nixon won. but i'm wondering how president -- you think that kennedy would have done in virginia today? >> well, you know, kennedy only lost by five points in virginia to nixon in 1960. that was in a different era,

obviously. but, you know, it's hard to translate 1960 into, you know, 2016. but i would actually bet on kennedy now for obvious reasons. >> all right. larry sabato, thanks so much for your insights. >> thanks a million, karen. still ahead, the right wing hate machine. that's coming up. >> you had a state representative somewhere say that it's as destructive to personal and individual liberty as the fugitive slave act. think about that. affordable health care is worse than a law that lets slave owners get their runaway slaves back. i mean, these are quotes. i'm not making this stuff up. peace of mind is important when you're running a successful business.

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she leans over and whispers something in her ear which actually starts things moving. but in just a moment you'll see some other things that will really get your attention. >> i yus don't thijust don't tht

at all to call barack obama a traitor. i've not come across any evidence yet he's done one thing to harm. >> our opponent is someone who sees america as imperfect enough to pal around with terrorists who targeted their own country. >> those are just a few of the hateful, divisive, and most importantly false things that have been said about president obama through the years. right up to just this past week. no matter how many times they're debunked, the lies never die. and here's the really scary part. what you hear from tea party politicians and the right wingers on fox news is just the tip of the iceberg. there's a well coordinated, well organized network of commentators, blogs, radio shows and viral chain e-mails that spread and reinforce the anti-obama hate machine. my former boss, hillary clinton, once pointed out there is a vast right wing conspiracy. today it's not just a political machine. it's an industry. you can literally follow the lies through the conservative

networks and by the time the latest lie or conspiracy theory is touted as fact on fox, it's merely reinforcing a mythology that's already been absorbed by its viewers and true believers for years. joining me now to discuss this, brian grimm, washington bureau chief for the huffington post and democratic strategist joe c mcclain. thanks for joining me. >> always glad to see you. >> i want to start with you in an example, sort of, how how this works. this issue about whether or not obama care would cover illegal immigrants. it started as an e-mail chain in 2009. made its way throughout conservative websites. and then it reared its ugly head at the state of the union. i want to go ahead and play some sound for you. >> the reforms i'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally. >> you lie! >> it would benefit a very small amount of people.

and it'll be the ones that are too lazy or unwilling to work. along with the millions and millions of illegal aliens in this country. >> now, i wanted to play that because, obviously, those comments are years apart. it just shows, i think, how these things get in there and, you know, cause people to believe things that are not true. but they just don't seem to go away despite the fact that they're proven to be not true. >> right. i mean, it starts with a particular world view. that the government is doing something to help the other, you know, on your backs. and so if obama care was not helping illegals, then it wouldn't even make sense through that world view. like, in other words, why would democrats be doing something, you know, which is, you know, basically just to help poor people and illegals, paid for by middle class americans, if it actually doesn't help the

illegals? it just doesn't make sense. it has to subsidize, you know, health care for illegal immigrants, or else the entire world view starts to fall apart. it opportunity make sense to a lot of these tea party folks that they would institute anything that would do anything else. it doesn't really matter, you know, what specific facts exist or how the law is specifically written or, you know, or what the media might say about it, because it just doesn't fit that particular perspective on how the world actually works. you know, you can tell them, hey, look, this isn't how it happens. the law is written so that, you know, people who are here without documentation don't have access to this. they will assume that there is some way they'll get around it and get it anyway and get it on their back. >> joe, i think the point of it is those kinds of myths that we've seen, you know, over and over and over again, there are all kinds of crazy stories out there about the president. they feel more like a very

concerted effort to undermine this president, and remember hillary clinton talking about the vast right wing conspiracy. i want to read you something david frum wrote. it's important for fox viewers that fox is only the most visible part of a vast alternative reality. fox's coverage of the news cannot properly be understood in isolation, but only in conjunction with the rest of that system. especially the cheney mills that do so much to shape the world of fox viewers. joe, what strikes me with that, i think it's very clear that there is a well coordinated infrastructure kind of underground, almost, that is designed to keep these myths alive. >> i don't think there's any question that there is an infrastructure that keeps the myths alive. i think the hatred probably springs from fear. america is changing very rapidly in ways that make people of a

certain age very uncomfortable. and they feel that the world -- their world is swinging out of their control. and there's nothing they can do about it. and the tea party zealots who are taking advantage of this fear and this hatred that it's caused, profess to believe that america teeters on the brink of destruction. and, you know, they hold as an article of faith that liberals and gays and democrats and atheists and the united nations and maybe mickey mouse, i don't know, they're all to blame. if things are bad and my life is not good, i'm a good person. it's not my fault. someone else has to be to blame. but the idea that the nation stands on the brink of destruction is a very old idea. and it runs back and forms part of the cultural roots of our civilization. >> ryan, i guess i want to get to that -- more of that in just a minute. again, i think part of what this does is undermine president obama as a legitimate president.

and to some degree, i think racism plays a role in it. >> well, sure. i mean, you know, there are -- you know, there are millions of people who have racist ideas in this country. that's no secret. and, you know, a lot of them have never accepted the president as legitimate from the very beginning. and they won't ever accept him as legitimate. so, i mean, certainly that's a significant part of what's going on here. i don't think there's any question about that. all you have to do is look at a lot of the signage and a lot of the language at a lot of these more extreme tea party rallies. and you'll see the answer to that right there. >> right. i want to actually play a little bit of sound for you and then, joe, we'll talk about it on the other side. >> he's a muslim. his father was a muslim, and that's all it takes. >> i'm sure obama is an atheist. >> barack obama is a socialist. he believes in socialism. >> welcome to obama's fascist

america. >> all i want to do is see this guy's birth certificate. >> unlike the kenyan, because i hear it on good authority. >> this president i think has exposed himself as a guy over and over and over again who has a deep seeded hatred for white people or the white culture. >> i mean, joe, you know, that othering of the president, you combine that with, as you were talking about, the sort of apocalyptic rhetoric, that everything he does is pushing america to the brink of destruction, and it's easy to see how they continue to fuel that hate. but also they really frame on the tea party side, things in this very sort of religious context. >> well, they do, karen. and, of course, you know, the p tea party isn't necessarily made up of the christian right. but a lot of the energy in the tea party springs from the christian right. their rhetoric just rings with these religious overtones.

and, you know, i call these folks, particularly people like ted cruz and michele bachmann and sarah palin, i call them the new american apocalyptic p prophets. unless the son of man comes in his glory to save them. they are casting barack obama in the role of the antichrist. which is very interesting. and lots of people in america were raised in christian homes. and they read the book of revelation in sunday school. so these terms resonate with them very deeply. >> yeah. you know, ryan, last question to you. again, it strikes me that all of this combined is a part of why, you know, we see these poles where it says, you know, 40% of the americans don't believe the president was born in this country. or -- and i do think that that has an impact, we saw it, i think, in the last several weeks, you saw it in that clip with jonathan capehart talking about a man in north carolina,

that these things get in, take root and really impact how people view anything that this president does. >> right. and there certainly is a nontrivial portion of the opposition that has this kind of apocalyptic view of america at this moment. and does see it as kind of in this end times moment. but another element of that coalition, you could call it a more secular apocalyptic crew. which sees basically the demographic changes coming. kind of the browning of the country. and they see that they're losing their hold on this -- on the majority white country. and so it's kind of a last throes as they see the kind of country slipping away from them. you can, i think, sort of analogize it to a man or woman who's losing a partner that they love desperately. and they think to themselves, well, if i can't have her, then nobody can. and i think that's -- that's where you see some of the willingness to follow through on

these hostage situations. like you think, they wouldn't actually do something that they know would harm the country, would they? >> and yet, they would. >> well, they would if they -- if they think that hurting the country could actually take it to a place that in a kind of paradoxically marxian way would hasten the revolution by sharpening the contradiction and making it worse so it could then get better. >> we have to leave it there. thank you so much, ryan grim and joe mclean. next, our disrupter of the week. someone who was unafraid to speak truth to power, coming face to face with a modern day reality. >> house republicans this week opened hearings into the failure of the healthcare.gov website. don't worry about that tech issue, america. a bunch of our oldest men are on the case. ♪

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for decades these victims have been silent about the impact of violent head injuries in their support. plagued by memory loss, behavioral changes, heightened aggression and suicide. a $765 million settlement between the nfl and a group of players reached earlier this year brought needed attention to the issue but a stigma remains with a large percentage of current players saying that they would hide their injuries. this week one football legend spoke out, reigniting the conversation. >> i don't remember my daughter playing soccer, youth soccer one summer. i don't remember that. this was a little shocking to me that i couldn't remember my daughter playing youth soccer. so the first time in 44 years, that put a little fear in me. >> brett favre, a 20-year veteran of the nfl. 302 games and a record 525 sacks. more than any other quarterback.

results in an unknown number of concussio concussions. this week we learned the st. louis rams reportedly tried to lure favre out of retirement. he declined and used the opportunity to speak honestly and openly about his personal p experience since retiring from the game. and the toll that he berealieve all those blows to the head have had. he notes, quote, i think after 20 years god only knows the toll. for addressing the stigma and disrupting the conversation about concussions, brett favre is our disrupter of the week. next, an honest view of the role that faith and prayer play in the life of a president. ♪ [ male announcer ] when we built the cadillac ats from the ground up to be the world's best sport sedan... ♪ ...people noticed. ♪ the cadillac ats -- 2013 north american car of the year.

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well, i'm very proud of what we've achieved together, i'm far more mindful of my own failings, knowing exactly what lincoln meant when he said, "i have been driven to my knees many times by the overwhelming conviction that i have no place else to go."

>> that was president obama at last year's democratic national convention talking about his faith. now, earlier we showed you some of the extensive network of hatred and vitriol and misinformation that's been directed at the president over the years as his critics paint an oftentimes apocalyptic portrait of a fearsome dictator. we wanted to show you the real president obama and view him through another lens. a man of faith. the president's spiritual progression has been a constant throughout his administration and even before he took office. here he is just this morning attending mass with his family. early on, one of his most trusted advisers, joshua dubois was affectionately dubbed the pastor in chief for the daily words of inspiration he would send each morning to the president's inbox. stripture passages, short stories, devotionals, prayers, the president says have meant the world to him. now, joshua has transformed more than five years of daily reflections into one book compiling the best and most notable writings into "the

president's devotional." joshua joins us today. welcome, josh. >> thank you so much, karen. it's great to be with you. >> so, i want to -- i'm so curious to know, you know, when you started this process, how did you come up with the things that you would send to him? >> well, i certainly didn't think i was going to be a spiritual adviser to the president of the united states. i was just a young staffer on the 2008 campaign. i saw in senator obama someone who had a lot of supports around him. he had policy advisers and political support. i was wondering, who's thinking about his spirit? who's thinking about his soul? decided to write him an e-mail. i didn't know if that was something you were allowed to do to senators. i drafted a note. it was on the 23rd psalm, a meditation on how to find rest and relaxation in very difficult times. he wrote me back and said, joshua, this is exactly what identify been looking for. it was kind of how i got started. i used a lot of resources. scripture, culture, even folks like johnny cash to inspire him. >> are you looking at basically

what's happening publicly? what's going on behind the scenes in terms of determining what words you think are going to have the most resonance on a given day? >> i try to make sure it's a bit of an oasis from whatever is at the top of the news cycle. i don't want it to be like him reading his daily news clips. i try to focus on eternal principles. how to grow closer to god. how to love your neighbor. how to start each day with purpose and joy. it's really not as connected to the news cycle. there are some exceptions to that. for the most part, it's not the daily churn. >> i know, obviously, the president has relied on faith in tough times. i have heard you talk about certainly the newtown massacre and the aftermath. but one of the things that i thought was actually on a positive note, that on his birthday, talk a little bit about this. he has a special thing that he does. tell us about that. >> you know, we've been doing it for years now. every year on his birthday, he'll ask me to -- now the head of the faith based office to pull together a prayer call with pastors around the country to say a word of blessing over him

for the year to come. and a word of thanks for the year that was. it's a wonderful tradition. we've been doing it for years. it's something president obama really appreciates. >> i want to quickly ask you about the book specifically. how did you narrow it down to just 365 after five years? >> yeah. you know, there are over 1,500 of these. so it was certainly a process. but i tried to find the ones that would create connections between the president of the united states and everyday folks around the country. you know, we all need to grow closer to god. we all need to figure out how to deal with tough times. i tried to pick the ones that weren't just specific to the president but would be resonant with anyone. >> yeah. it seems like in many of them, they focus on very importantly love -- you know, loving thy enemy. >> that's right. >> i'm sure that's helped keep the president in a spiritual place in some pretty tough times. >> well, that's the goal. it's really to see a bit of god in every single person that we deal with. even folks on the other side of

the aisle, quite frankly. so i hope that was helpful to him in difficult negotiations. but will also be helpful to us. >> i'm looking forward to reading the book. thank you so much, josh dubois for joining us. that does it for me. thanks so much for joining us. i will see you right back here next saturday. but chantix helped me do it. i told my doctor i think i'm... i'm ready. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix (varenicline) is proven to help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke. i knew that i could smoke for the first 7 days. i knew that i wasn't putting nicotine back into my body to try to quit. [ male announcer ] some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these, stop chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of mental health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix. don't take chantix if you've had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. if you develop these, stop chantix and see your doctor right away as some can be life-threatening. tell your doctor if you have a history of heart or blood vessel problems,

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