the locker room. cordel stewart does, starting qb and said, quote, for that to happen, all i can say is the brothers on that team have lost their minds. like cordel, i don't understand the locker room. does it for "the cycle." martin, before we go, our family has been missing somebody, and we're all glad that steve is back. >> thank you. good afternoon, it's monday, november the 11th. and on this veterans day, we honor your sacrifice, and your service to the nation. >> thank you to that greatest generation, the heroes who risked everything through the bitter cold of korea, and the stifling heat of vietnam. our 9/11 generation of veterans from iraq, and afghanistan. we need to serve them as well as they serve us. if you fight for your country overseas, you should never have to fight for a job when you come home. put our veterans to work. rebuilding america. we're helping more of them earn their degrees, helping hundreds

of community colleges and universities do more to welcome and encourage our veterans on campus. more than 1 million troops were turned to civilian life. we're going to have to work even harder on behalf of our entire nation. thank you for everything you've done, and will continue to do for our country. america has your back 365 days a year. good afternoon on this veterans day, as we pause to honor the men and women in uniform who have served with such distinction. and earlier today, the president led the nation in paying tribute to america's veterans, laying a wreath at arlington national cemetery. and as america's longest war draws near its end in afghanistan, the president vowed not to let our troops devoted service fade from our collective memory. >> part of the reason we're here today is to pledge that we will

never forget the profound sacrifices made in our name. today reminds us of our sacred obligations. for even though this time of war is coming to a close, our time of service to our newest veterans has only just begun. >> but as we honor veterans today, we must also confront serious shortcomings in getting those who have served the need -- the help they need at home. after growing steadily for years, the backlog of veterans' disability claims, those languishing in the system more than four months, hit a peak of more than 600,000 back in march. worker overtime and a new computer system have cut the backlog to about 400,000. but despite signs of progress, the v.a. failed to meet its goal of eliminating all year-old disability claims by october. that number stands at more than 34,000. and for senator bernie sanders, member of the armed services

committee, that's not nearly good enough, as he told my colleague, chris jansing, earlier today. >> progress has been made. more progress is going to have to be made. because the idea that any veteran in this country is waiting one year or two years to get his or her benefit claims processed is clearly unacceptable. >> but as the senate considers legislation to speed elimination of the backlog, consider just a few of the other issues facing vets. nearly a quarter of a million veterans from the last two wars alone diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder. the jobless rate for iraq and afghanistan era veterans stands at 10% versus 6.8% for nonvets. and the most heartbreaking statistic of all, more veterans have committed suicide since 2001 than were killed in combat in iraq and afghanistan. an average of 22 veterans killing themselves every day.

1 every 65 minutes. as the president duly noted, our time of service has only just begun. for more, i want to bring in two army veterans, congressman bill pass cell, democrat of new jersey, and former v.a. official, brandon friedman, who completed combat tours in both iraq and afghanistan. brandon, allow me to start by thanking you and the congressman for your service. but brandon, when you hear the litany of challenges facing our vets today, is it not clear that we are falling seriously short of fulfilling what the president described as our duty to our troops? >> well, martin, first, thanks for having me on today. historically, we have fallen far short of what we owe veterans in this nation. however, you know, that said, we've come a long way in the last four or five years in this administration. a lot of the things you

mentioned. while they're not good. for example, the backlog, still stands at about 400,000 claims. that has dropped by 34% in the last eight months. unemployment is also on the way down. so while we have a long way to go, we have seen a lot of progress in the last several years, and hopefully we can keep that up. because we certainly do owe this to our veterans. >> we absolutely do. congressman, the president today pledged that our troops will be, and i'm quoting him, the best cared-for, the best treated, the best respected veterans in the world. but when you see 900,000 veterans living in house holds that rely on nutrition assistance, close to 1 to my knowledge 5 million without health insurance, it seems for your colleagues across the aisle, oppose ohhing the president is more important than supporting things like affordable health care and food assistance that vets desperately need. >> there's not enough people on this side, in all honesty, martin, to say or appreciate what you just said.

look, we all talk about veterans. we pat them on the back, we say thank you, and thank you for your service. but when you look at those numbers, about how many are on food stamps, 22 a day commit suicide. that means we're not paying attention, the latter fact. we're not paying attention to the medical, the mental needs of these soldiers that are coming home. so many have fallen through the crack since 2001. i mean, even new jersey, we've -- 43, 44,000 new jersians have been called into action either in iraq or in afghanistan. and we let them fall through the cracks up until about three or four years ago. and we're trying to do something about those mental problems, which exist whether you're in the service or outside the service. and the post traumatic stress disorder has been really a disaster. the civilian part of it has been way ahead of the armed forces. it's only been late that the

d.o.d. has started to catch up and when you have to wait to get your disability check, there is something dramatically wrong. >> it's a crime, sir. it's a crime against these men and women. >> it's probably worse than a crime. it's immoral. because we send them out to fight. we send our sons and daughters and our neighbors to -- to vietnam, to iraq, to afghanistan, to wherever. and they're the finest group of men and women that we have in this nation. they stand up for our country every day, and we have to beg one another to reach out to them and welcome them back, give them shelter so many don't have. offer them a job where they have a shot. or give them some kind of education which we fought for, as you know, martin. got bipartisan support, finally, in the new gi bill. look, we've got a long way to go. the one thing i hate to hear,

and brandon, no slur on you. but i hate to hear, at least we're going in the right direction. man, that boils me. because we should get this right from note one. because we made an obligation to those people who went to the service. i went to service. they went to into the service and fought in wars. they were on the front lines. and it would seem to me, it's more than an obligation, it's a contractual object oh will igation. >> brandon, when we think about the veterans administration specifically and the backlog itself, it hasn't gone away. i mean, is the v.a. doing enough? >> well, i -- you know, not -- i hate to say this, but we are on the right track, because when you look at this problem, this problem was decades in the making, literally. it was only seriously -- they only seriously moved a deal with this in the last four or five years in this administration when they moved to automate the

disability claims processing system. they now have that in place. so now veterans are filing their claims electronically. this was not in place a few years ago. and so that -- people often underestimate the complexity of the department of veterans' affairs and the task and what it's tasked with. getting that process in place to automate the claim system took two or three years. and so now that it has been rolled out to all of the regional processing offices -- >> brandon -- >> saw the backlog peak in march. >> but brandon -- >> it's dropped 34% in eight months. >> it doesn't seem complicated to accepted men and women out in battle and yet incredibly complicated to ensure their benefits can trigger the moment they return. i don't understand the inconsistency. >> this is the mentality, martin, from the last administration. it is a mentality. not only weren't we prepared to go to war in iraq and afghanistan, we weren't prepared to take those veterans when they came home and take good care of them. it's only been the last few years that dod caught up to their obligations and

responsibilities to those soldiers coming back with post traumatic stress disorder. you can't say that this was done from 2001 or 2003. because it wasn't, brandon. and you're right to some degree that the past administrations are the present. i don't want to hear about the past miles an hours. we're here now. we've got to face up to. and you have got to fight for it. and can't be part of any budget deal you make between now and january. i say that this is something that we've got to put on the line and say we're not going to take any back steps. >> but to understand the complexity of the problem. this problem was decades in the making and the previous administration, as much as you don't want to hear about it, the previous administration did not take steps to plan for this. they started two wars, two wars. and they sent hundreds and hundreds of thousands of troops to war. and they did not plan for this. this administration has come in, and they have taken steps to modernize this system, and it has taken several years. as you keep saying. it's only in the last several

years we have made this progress. but that's what it takes. you know, when i came into v.a., i completely underestimated the complexity of the organization, and how deep these problems went. and i think a lot of people do. but now that, you know -- you might not want to hear but now that we are on the right track, the unemployment rate dropping, the backlog plummeting in the last eight months. the department has hired 1,600 mental health clinicians in the last year. so this department has made more progress in the last couple years than you had seen in any period up to this point. >> i think that's right. and congressman, we know that the number of veterans seeking help from the v.a. has soared, even as the suicide rate has also risen. would it not be more prudent to get more veterans' health coverage, including mental health benefits -- >> absolutely. >> as the affordable care act would do? >> absolutely. and it's unfortunate that from 2001 to 2008 and 2009, very

little was done in the area of mental health. very little. we did not put money into the budget concerning a traumatic brain injury until 2008 with the great help of the former and late great congressman jack murtha. and a few of us got together. i've been working on this for 12 years. i've been working on this before iraq and afghanistan. and we've got to make sure that we understand what are the implications -- how many have fallen through the cracks? how many did not get any help when they got out of the service? and where are they now? doing harm to themselves, the families and rest of society? and then we look back and say what are the consequences of this. there are great consequences. we can do something about it. we have the power, we have the authority. as complex as it is, brandon, we've got to be doing much better than we're doing. >> congressman bill passcell and bill friedman, thank you for joining us and i wish to thank you both for your service to this nation. >> thank you. >> thank you, gentlemen. coming up, we'll change gears. sarah palin unplugged and in the

lame stream, profit earring on her fictional war on christmas. just ahead. >> you know, when you stand in the middle of the road, you're going to get hit on both sides of the road. ♪ ♪ so i creep yeah ♪ nobody else supposed to know ♪ [ sniffles, coughs ] shhhh! i have a cold with this annoying runny nose. [ sniffles ] i better take something. [ male announcer ] dayquil cold and flu doesn't treat that.

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the plan is to allow those things that had been proposed over many years to reform a health care system in america that certainly does need more help so that there is more competition, there is less tort reform threat. there is less trajectory of the cost increases. >> while many of you may be tempted to believe that the idiot is, in fact, a 19th

century novel written by dos toy he have ski, along comes sarah palin on the subject of health care. and while the main purpose of her appearance on the "today" show was to promote her latest attempt to commercialize and exploit the incarnation, mrs. palin took the opportunity to weigh in on the 5% of americans who could potentially lose their current health insurance. >> where do you get this 5%? it's not 5%. it's most americans will not be able to keep their health care policy and programs that they had desired. >> where do we get the 5%? they're called statistics, and if you combine them with other facts, it is possible to arrive at a rational conclusion. unless, of course, you prefer lying. for more, i'm pleased to say i'm joined by sam seata, most of "the majority report" and "ring of fire" radio. sam, great to have you. mrs. palin appears to be fighting a fictional war, and she speaks of an enemy that

doesn't exist and a wholesale attempt to suppress christmas, which clearly hasn't reached the advertisers or the retailers yet. >> yeah, you know, the war on christmas, that's sort of the last refuge, right? i mean, this is sort of the alamo for conservatives when you have nothing left to sell, the war on christmas. you know, and i am wondering why there isn't a tree up in rockefeller center yet. >> there actually is. it's outside the building. >> well, but it's obviously not big enough. >> clearly. it's only about 140 feet. mrs. palin's delusional dim minionism is nothing new. but in iowa this weekend, she compared our national debt to slavery. take a listen to this. >> when that it note comes due -- and this isn't racist, so try it, anyway. this isn't racist. but it's going to be like slavery when that note is due,

right? we are going to be beholden to a foreign master. >> so she is referring there to the chinese who have invested in the american currency and in bonds, and she says that when the note comes due, it will be the equivalent of slavery. >> yeah -- >> who is that destined for, that kind of remark? >> well, i mean, it's obviously for an ever-increasingly smaller group of people who she is trying to sell to. i mean, she is sort -- this is sort of like -- i don't know if i'm dating myself, but ron poe peel, the guy who did the chop owe mattic. she is running out of things to say. the idea that -- the note comes due -- everything in that statement is completely factu factually wrong. it's almost impossible to get your arms around it. >> what about the slavery point? >> i mean, look, there's an argument that private debt in some way is creating indentured servan servants. but public debt does not do that. public debt does the exact opposite. it relieves private debt.

>> okay. well, that's two for two. now mrs. palin was somewhat critical of governor christie in that performance. and instead she is siding with the likes of senators ted cruz and mike lee. take a listen to this. >> ted cruz, mike lee, some of these guys actually were fulfilling their campaign promises and they asked for debate. that's why they stood up, they took the stand, fought for us to debate the issue of obama care. >> you have to assume she is such a poisonous effect on the republican party, people are beginning to wonder whether she has been planted by the democrats. >> i think that's a legitimate question. i mean, what's interesting is removing into the 2014 elections, and what the party out of pow -- or presidency wants to do is make it a referendum about the president. but she is making it a referendum between mike lee and ted cruz, and the supposed more moderate wing of the republican party, which i think is a questionable assertion in and of itself. but she -- listen, this is all about her. and she's got books to sell. she has got tours to give. she is hoping maybe for another

reality tv show. this is -- this is marketing 101. and she is doing it without the sham wow. >> that's true. despite her speaking nonsense, she continues to be somewhat popular amongst conservatives. i'll show you this. a recent poll found if she were a potential 2016 candidate, 7% of gop voters would support her. but if she wasn't on the ballot, much of that support goes to rand paul and ted cruz. so does that mean, in practice, she can influence republican primaries. she can influence elections. >> oh, absolutely. i mean, i think to the extent -- look, we see the same thing with the -- the electoral and the intellectual power of the republican or right wing movement in this country is on talk radio. it is on these -- the tours she goes on. i mean, it's really carnival barker politics. she is going around selling snake oil, and she is -- enriching herself. she is certainly hurting republican prospects across the country, because, yeah, she will influence a couple primaries.

>> sam seeder, thank you, sir. coming up, the crucible, starring a future senator and a bottle of grain alcohol. it's ted cruz, the college years, courtesy of "the boston globe." >> is this marketing? >> why am i persecuted here? ♪ i remember when i lost my mind ♪ ♪ there was something so pleasant about that day ♪ ♪ even your emotions had to let go ♪ and compare costs. it doesn't usually work that way with health care. but with unitedhealthcare, i get information on quality rated doctors, treatment options and estimates for how much i'll pay. that helps me, and my guys, make better decisions. i don't like guesses with my business, and definitely not with our health. innovations that work for you.

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clearer skin is possible. it's now four days since an horrific and devastating storm wreaked havoc and unimaginable damage in the philippines. typhoon haiyan, up to 10,000 believed to have died and expected to rise.

those who survived are desperately in need of food and water, as many continue to search for missing family members. a great deal of help and aid will be needed in the coming days and weeks, but the united states is already lending a hand. only in the form of water and supplies, but also with our nation's greatest resource, it's brave men and women of the armed services. nearly 100 u.s. marines arrived amongst the damage sunday. initially focusing their efforts on a search and rescue operation. many additional marines are on the way. also heading over to help is an organization called team rubicon, a group of military veterans and medical professionals who travel within the united states and abroad to help with disaster relief. in a statement released today, secretary of state john kerry announced, state department is working with team rubicon to deploy a team of incredible, courageous american veterans to the philippines and all the areas damaged by typhoon haiyan. just as they did after hurricane

sandy, this veterans will be using the skills they learned in uniform to help others recover from this terrible storm. while we can't all be members, of course, of team rubicon, we can do our part to help. to donate money to the relief effort, there are several options. you can give to the american red cross online, at red cross.org, or redcross.org.ph. to donate directly to the red cross in the philippines, you can donate to unicef at unicef.org/support. as well as to the u.n. world food program at wfpusa.org. for more information on how to help, head over to our facebook page at facebook.com/martinbashir and a list of organizations and charities are there. stay with us. the day's top lines are next. and as we go to break, a view of today's peaceful afternoon in arlington this veterans day. americans take care of business.

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hurry, this offer ends december 2nd. for details, visit vwdealer.com today. from christie's rounds to cruz's hard edge. here are today's top lines. i don't go in for labels. >> let's take this right. governor christie. >> republican governor of new jersey, chris christie of the. >> new jersey governor, countries christie. >> meat the rounds on four talk shows. >> governor, congratulations. >> congratulations. >> congratulations. >> boy, he had a massive win. >> chris christie won re-election by a landslide. >> i got 61% of the vote. >> making him the early front runner for the republican presidential nomination. how interested are you in running for president in 2016? >> i'm the governor of new jersey and my job is to run the state of new jersey. that's my job in the state of new jersey. >> governor, what do you think of ted cruz and rand paul? >> are you a moderate or a conservative? >> ted cruz, mike lee --

>> david, listen. i don't get into these labels. that's the washington, d.c. game, which is why people hate washington, d.c. and what all these men and women down there play. >> they describe you as aggressive, arrogant and abrasive. >> he called the shutdown of the government and that strategy hatched by ted cruz and members of the tea party a monumental failure. >> i'm one of the many people who is not a fan of shutting down the government. throughout this whole thing -- >> you looked like a big fan from where i was sitting. >> if you look at the results of the election, isn't the message to the tea party that the middle ground -- >> there's room for moderates -- >> not the far right. is the most fertile ground for upcoming elections. >> we need a broader party in many ways. >> when you stand in the middle of the road, you're going to get hit on both sides of the road. >> judge me by my record. of that i'm very, very comfortable with. >> he was a successful governor in new jersey. >> all the labels. that's for the folks down in washington, d.c. >> is that code for he's a moderate? >> no, it's code for the truth of the matter is -- >> they love playing that game. >> is a conservative in new

jersey a conservative in the rest of the country. >> let's get right to our panel. joining us now is ryan grim of the huffington post and political columnist dana milbank. dana, the "boston globe" has a profile today of ted cruz as a harvard law student. in those days, senator cruz played the role of reverend samuel paris, the villain in the great play "the crucible." according to miller, there is little to be said for the character cruz played. so is this another case of life perhaps i mitating art? >> let's see. you have a pious, paranoid, self-important guy who launches witch hunts. i don't see any parallel there at all, martin. >> thank you very much. that's excellent. and, of course, don't forget, dana, that the reverend paris, at the end of the play, is exposed as a sniffling parasite, isn't he? >> oh, i left a piece out, didn't i? >> you did. >> yes, it does seem to be a case of life imitating art.

the interesting thing about ted cruz, whether you go back to his college years, law school, as a young man in washington, texas solicitor in the senate. no matter what else people thought of his ideas or anything, friends, foes, alike, all seem to think he is personally something of a jerk. >> yes, this is correct. now, ryan, there is actual video of ted cruz performing in the crucible at harvard. it's a little bit faded. so i would like you all to pay attention and ryan, take a listen to this. >> oh, my god. god, help me! >> now, there you heard him, ryan. he sounded like that russian ha artist who nailed his testicles to the ground in red square yesterday. do you think ted cruz is a good actor? >> obviously, he's a great actor. i mean, you know, he's -- look at what he's done so far. you know, he -- he has risen to the top of the -- to the tea party. coming from harvard. so, you know, he's been able to

pull off this populist routine quite effectively. >> herman cain did that last year. that's not difficult. >> well, look, a half dozen people have done it out of the millions and millions that would like to do it. and cain, you know, he lasted a couple weeks. i think ted cruz has already outlasted -- i'm just saying that his acting skills are, i think, impressive, despite, you know, some so-so performances he might have turned in that were caught on that film. >> right. okay. now john, chris christie is another republican in that top tier of 2016 hopefuls. but you've written, and i'm quoting you, that sheparding christie through a competitive republican primary will be vastly more difficult than anybody seems to be figuring at the moment. and you say that this is partly to do with questions about a, quote, top female deputy that were talked about in the book

"double down." what exactly is the problem here, jonathan? i'm not quite sure i understand you. >> oh, well, that was reported in the book. and i did not write the book. >> no. >> but the book mentioned a lengthy list of vetting problems that came -- that the republican campaign that the romney campaign came up with when vetting christie. and they saw this list, and basically ran the other direction after having initially determined they would like christie quite a bit. so some of those problems sound quite severe, if you poke it every single one of those problems listed, including the one you mention, the odds one will turn into a major disqualifying issue seem high to me. >> right. dana, we're expecting new characters to turn up in the 2016 republican presidential primaries. but we're also expecting an encore performance from one, wait for it, rick perry. here he is now talking about governor christie. take a listen to the great man. >> he was a successful governor in new jersey. now, does that transcend to the

country? we'll see in later years and months to come. >> is that code for he's a moderate? >> no, it's code for the truth of the matter is, listen, we're all different states. is a conservative in new jersey a conservative in the rest of the country? >> dana, is there any other political party in the world where moderate is considered the dirtiest of curse words? >> well, i don't know. i think the new pair of glasses are making rick perry look a little bit smarter. >> well, he's not sounding any smarter, because he used the word transcend when i think he meant translate. >> well, let's not be picky with the poor fellow. i'm not sure he's going to get a second chance to make a first impression here. it is at the moment in republican primaries a dirty word to be a moderate. but it's not such a bad position for chris christie to be in right now, because there are so many trying to vie for that conservative mantle now. if they can carve each other up,

that gives him a lot of running room to their left without him actually being much of a moderate at all. >> jonathan, what do you think of the way chris christie has responded as he did to david gregory when he was asked point-blank, are you a moderate or a conservative? >> well, he's being very evasive. but i think he's got a lot of weaknesses here. i would love to be an adviser to the republican who has to run a campaign against christie for the nomination. because there is a lot to work with. the real source of christie's political strength, and the thing that vaulted him above the 50s and vulnerability to losing re-election was hurricane sandy when they had this ostentatious display of respect and cooperation with president obama. but those very qualities are going to be poison in a republican primary. >> yeah, but, i mean -- what are you saying? are you saying that he is moderate when it suits him and he's conservative whether it doesn't? >> he's obviously a bit of both. he's done some moderate things in new jersey. he agreed to expand medicaid, which is also really poisonous

in the republican base. that makes you a collaborator with the hated obama care. so when you combine the fact he collaborated with obama care and collaborated with obama himself, you've really hit the two biggest emotional touchdowns in the republican party. >> and so final question to you, ryan. where does -- do you think the last week's events leave mr. christie? >> well, i mean, you know, fundamentally, you know, the picture he presents is of an angry white man. and so as much as people try to tar him with the kind of moderate label, republican primary voters are going to be attracted to that position. because, you know, is there a lot of anger in the republican base. and they can see him channelling that. so i think that gives him a little bit more room to be a little bit more moderate in some of his policy positions, like, for example, with the medicaid expansion. which three years from now will be something that maybe is a little bit less toxic. >> right. jonathan chat, ryan grim and

dana milbank on this veterans at a. thank you, gentlemen. >> thanks, martin. coming up, bad news, members of congress, your latest recess is over. now can you get to work on a budget? you have time to shop for car insurance today? yeah. i heard about progressive's "name your price" tool? i guess you can tell them how much you want to pay and it gives you a range of options to choose from. huh? i'm looking at it right now. oh, yeah? yeah. what's the... guest room situation? the "name your price" tool, making the world a little more progressive. to share with family. [ woman 2 ] to carry on traditions. [ woman 3 ] to come together even when we're apart.

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secretary of state john kerry remains confident today that a deal with iran over its knock larry program is still within reach. negotiations between iran and the so-called p five plus one nations, which of course includes the u.s. broke off saturday. original reporting cited france as the main objectters. however, kerry tried to calm allies in abu dhabi today saying the french signed off the plan but that any agreement would have to fulfill the concerns of those wary of a numbering nuclear armed iran.

>> this is not a race to complete just any agreement. no deal is better than a bad deal, i have said many times as has president obama. >> key for critics of any plan most prominently, israel's benjamin netanyahu is whether iran should have the right to enrich uranium, even to levels well below that required for the production of a nuclear weapon. and senator john mccain told germany's speaking that economic sanctions against iran should ease only upon one condition. quote, they either stop the enrichment or they don't. coming up, how to break the budget stalemate in washington. as that january 15th deadline creeps closer. but first, here's seema mody with a cnbc market wrap. good afternoon. >> good afternoon, martin. here's a look at how stocks stand, going into tomorrow. the dow adding 21 points in today's trade to close at another record high this month. s&p 500 gaining 1 point and the

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anymore there is no doubt the white house will once again be facing a litany of questions this week about the rollout of the affordable care act. just as members of congress return to work on a possible budget deal. with us from the white house is nbc's peter alexander. good afternoon, pete. >> good afternoon, martin. >> we're hearing rum blings on these figures of enrollment numbers, due to be published on wednesday. the administration has been fairly active in lowering expectations. do you have any hints about where we may be going in precise terms in the number who have enrolled on the affordable care act through these exchanges? >> well, you're right, we will see them definitively at some point. but within the last hour or so, the "wall street journal" is reporting some numbers. they say, according to a pair of sources that initial reports suggest that fewer than 50,000 uninsured americans will have enrolled, actively enrolled, not just applied, but enrolled in

albuquerque obama care just last week. i spoke with a person at the health and human services department who told me they cannot confirm those numbers right now. but martin again, to be clear, they also indicated they have expected them to be very low. that was the exact language used by kathleen sebelius. they criteria the example of massachusetts wherein the first month of what was a year-long enrollment period, just 123 people signed up, which was just .3% of the entire number. perhaps more significantly right now, one of the bigger concerns for this white house is the scramble to try to fix the website, to try to improve the total number of individuals that sign up. the number by the cbo, the suggestion was that they wanted to have about 7 million people signed up over the course of the six-moen rollment period. but jeffrey zients acknowledged it was not really clear whether they would be all set by the end of the month, saying we are not where we need to be. we're not where we want to be,

to use his exact language. >> and yet the president has given himself, as it were, that deadline of the end of this month, isn't he? >> yeah, that's exactly right. this has been something very important to the president over the weekend. white house aides confirmed to me, there was an unsparing dressing down of senior advisers by this president. two weeks after the enrollment, he said if he had known about the problems, he could have delayed the website. obviously, there's a very big challenge for this white house right now on one handled, the president trying to demonstrate that he is in control of things. but on the other hand, they're also trying to demonstrate that he didn't know that the problems existed until after it was too late. >> peter, would you speculate, then, that if the deadline is not met by the end of this month, do you think the administration may be likely to extend the period for signing up and enrolling? >> i think they're facing a lot of pressure already to do that. the president, of course, was in new orleans at the end of last week. he was traveling aboard air

force one with a variety of people. among them, mary landrieu, senator from louisiana. she is one of those people pushing for an extension, a delay in the enrollment deadline. she did not appear with the president. she said she had other commitments, but obviously this is a source of great concern for a bipartisan group of members of congress who have been pressing this white house on that very topic. they recognize the urgency, the president has made it very clear that he wants this done as soon as possible by the end of this month. as jeffrey zients and his team have indicated. and if they can't accomplish that, it's going to be very difficult for them to say, given that december 15th is the deadline by which you have to sign up to have coverage beginning january 1st, near impossible to maintain that time frame. >> and another deadline, pete, that i dread to mention to you, is december the 13th, when we're supposed to have some kind of negotiated basis for a budget. conferees have been at work.

how can you update us? can you give us any information on discussions over the budget? because as we know, congress is back today. although i doubt doing very much. >> well, we know that the president called it an early day on this veteran's day holiday. so nothing new on this day specifically that i can report to you in terms of conversations. but recognize, it wasn't very long ago we had those countdown clocks over our shoulder as we spoke. and we're facing a new countdown very quickly, obviously, to that deadline. the white house is facing a new challenge, this credibility crisis, and there are a lot of republicans who don't really feel like they need to bow to any of the pressure from the white house right now, just one more added piece to this puzzle as they try to come to some deal in a very short period of time. >> peter alexander, working the full day, as always, at the white house. thank you, sir. >> thanks, martin. and it's time now to clear the air. and as america honors the service and sacrifice of all her armed forces, today also marks

the 95th anniversary of the signing of the first world war armistice. it was at 5:00 in the morning on november the 11th, 1918, that the terms of an armistice had finally been agreed between the german secretary of state and allied negotiators it would come into full force at 11:00 that morning, and brought to an end 1,568 days of warfare. and so to honor this anniversary, there have been ceremonies across the atlantic that military bases, town halls, schools, even railway stations, to mark the end of what came to be known as the great war. the service of american soldiers has, of course, been remembered with gratitude, with more than 116,000, giving their lives by the time the conflict had come to an end. and one of those heroes was the only african-american to receive the medal of honor for his

actions during the great war. corporal freddie stallers was killed as he led his all-black regiment into no man's land. his determination and heroism to the fall, as he led repeated assaults on german trenches, even after twice being wounded. his commanding officer recommended corporal stouers for the medal of honor. but the nomination was somehow lost for 70 years. but in 1991, president george h.w. bush posthumously awarded this highest of honors to corporal stouers' two surviving sisters. and as he did so, he made a declaration that is as true today as it has ever been. >> today, as we pay tribute to this great soldier, our thoughts continue to be with the men and women of all our wars who have valiantly carried the banner of

freedom into battle. they too know america would not be the land of the free if it were not also the home of the brave. >> lives worthy of remembrance on this veterans day. thank you so much for watching. and a final word of tribute to all of the nation's veterans. coming up now, "the ed show" with ed schultz. good evening, americans. and welcome to "the ed show." live from new york, let's get to work. ♪ they promised they would do everything in their power to fight against socialized medicine, against obama care. >> the ability to speak does not make you intelligent. now get out of here. >> no, no! >> just the tip of the spear. and a larger battle. >> she does for the gop what jar jar binks did for "star