there's no other word to describe what's happening right now. >> ken fisher.nks again for everything that you are doing. you know it is very much appreciated by, not just the military, but by all the rest of us. >> well, thanks for breaking the story, andrea. i appreciate it. >>> and when we come back, who john mccain is blaming for the government shutdown. he spoke out today and he did not pull punches. wait till you see this. i remember the day my doctor said i had diabetes. there's a lot i had to do... ... watch my diet. stay active. start insulin... today, i learned there's something i don't have to do anymore. my doctor said that with novolog® flexpen, i don't have to use a syringe and a vial... or carry a cooler. flexpen® comes prefilled with fast-acting insulin used to help control high blood sugar when you eat. dial the exact does. inject by pushing a button. no drawing from a vial. you should eat a meal within 5 to 10 minutes after injecting novolog® (insulin aspart [rdna origin] injection). do not use if your blood sugar is too low, or if you are all

ken fisher of the fisher house foundation. good fwr you, sir. thank you very much for doing what our government refused to do. today we find out you stepped in, that they are going to give you an iou. you shaved chuck hagel and helped out the families. the department of defense has the left armest budget in the government. they are still funding golf courses. they cowln't find a way to do this. your thoughts? >> this is a national disgrace. there is no other way to put it. we stepped in because these families lost a loved one. they shouldn't worry about where their next dollar is coming from. wh they raised hands and took an oath they were going to defend the nation with their lives. if they came back wounded, we as america had to make sure they were healed. whether mental or physical. if they lost their lives in doing so, it was up to us to take care of their loved one. >> that was the promise. special agent joseph peters was killed over the weekend. his wife said, my husband always said if something happened to him we would be taken care of. n

ken fisher of the fisher house foundation. good fwr you, sir. thank you very much for doing what our government refused to do. today we find out you stepped in, that they are going to give you an iou. you shaved chuck hagel and helped out the families. the department of defense has the left armest budget in the government. they are still funding golf courses. they cowln't find a way to do this. your thoughts? >> this is a national disgrace. there is no other way to put it. we stepped in because these families lost a loved one. they shouldn't worry about where their next dollar is coming from. wh they raised hands and took an oath they were going to defend the nation with their lives. if they came back wounded, we as america had to make sure they were healed. whether mental or physical. if they lost their lives in doing so, it was up to us to take care of their loved one. >> that was the promise. special agent joseph peters was killed over the weekend. his wife said, my husband always said if something happened to him we would be taken care of. n

>> at fisher house, they were the catalyst that came to the table, but i want to thank ken fisher at fisher house for what they did. but to think someone would inflict this much pain. i didn't sign up for this type of duty. i didn't sign up for public service to put undue pain on people and it's hard for anybody of us to accept that. i have faith in our leadership. i believe that they will come together in a rational way and fix this problem. we have given some outlines, there's 12 of us working together. that's a pretty good core group to work out of. >> senate manchin, senator corker, thank you for coming n. >>> we at the senate now at the center of talks to end the stalemate. how do republicans feel about being left out. congressman jim jordan one of the so-called leaders of the tea party faction in the house joins us next. >>> now that the president has rejexed a house republican plan, there's a question whether the so-called tea party faction in the house will accept any deal that comes out of the senate. here to answer that question and more is ohio congressman jim jordan. the p

joining me now is the chairman and ceo of the fisher house foundation, ken fisher. mr. fisher, thank you very much. thank you for so many reasons. i was talking to one of the family members, shannon collins, last night, the mother of jeremiah collins. to the fact you have stepped up for these families, for those who don't have the resources is so extraordinary. tell me how you reacted to this and why you came forward. >> well, it was really seeing -- somebody had sent me a link to the story you did. that's what made me aware of this situation. and this was one of those decisions, andrea, that i wish i had every day, which is the no-brainer kind i had mobilized my board almost immediately, and some time shortly thereafter i received a phone call from senator mansion from west virginia asking if fisher house would step up and actually fill this gap. fisher house has always been about family, so you know, it was something that i just felt compelled to do. >> you know, chuck todd just interpreted what harry reid was saying today as the fact that this would get fixed, and now

. >> reporter: ken fisher who heads a private organization for veterans and their families stepped ino pay the benefits. after seeing our report yesterday. >> they are grieving. they have suffered enough. why on earth should they have to worry about where their next dollar is coming from? >> reporter: while in belleville illinois they offered to donate 100% of profits today to the families of the fall. >> maybe if one person does it, a hundred more will and it will help more people out. >> reporter: tonight president obama told doreen gensler -- >> when i heard about the story i told the department of defense within our administrative powers we should be able to g

. >> reporter: so ken fisher stepped in to pay the benefit, after seeing our report yesterday. >> they're grieving. they've suffered enough. why on earth should they have to worry about where their next dollar is coming from? >> reporter: while in belleville, illinois, jefferson's restaurant posted a message on facebook offering to donate 100% of their profits today to the families of the fallen. tonight president obama told wrc -- >> when i heard about this story, i told the department of defense, within our administrative powers, we should be able to get that fixed. >> reporter: and to be clear, this fix is to let a private charity step in and fulfill a commitment that the government made and right now won't keep. while some pentagon leaders are relieved, many top uniformed leaders are disgusted that the world's greatest military is being bailed out by a private charity. >> thank you. >>> in congress, in washington, it was the politics of this death benefit and the broader shutdown that played out today. largely an exercise in damage control, nbc's kelly o'donnell covering for us. >> re

. >> reporter: ken fisher who heads a private organization for veterans and their families stepped in to pay the benefits after seeing our report yesterday. >> they are grieving. they have suffered enough. why on earth should they have to worry about where their next dollar is coming from? >> reporter: while in belleville i will noise jefferson's restaurant offered to donate 100% of their profits today to the families of the fallen. >> maybe if one person does it, a hundred more will and it will help more people out. >> reporter: tonight president obama told doreen gensler -- >> when i heard about the story i told the department of defense within our administrative powers we should be able to get that fixed. >> reporter: and to be clear, this fix is to let a private charity step in and fulfill a commitment that the government made and right now won't keep. while some pentagon leaders are relieved right now, we also hear that many top uniformed leaders are frankly disgusted that the world's greatest military is letting it be bailed out by a private charity. brian? >> andrea mitchell, d

joining us, ken fisher, chairman and ceo of fisher house.ans and certainly the families of those that lost their loved ones. >> it's unconscionable. when you think about the sacrifices that have been made for this country, when those men and women raised their right hand, they take an oath. we as americans also take an oath to take care of them if they're wounded, whether it's physical or mental and to take home.f their families if they >> steve: we're taking a look at some of the -- the five who were killed, four soldiers and one marine in the last week in afghanistan. what is fisher house going to do for their families? >> we're going to bridge the gap until sanity rules in washington and the president and congress get in a room and straighten this out. fisher house will bridge the gap. >> steve: which means? >> we will offer these families the 100,000 that they should have received within the first 36 hours until the shutdown ends, or until temporary legislation is enacted to fun this now while the shutdown exists. >> brian: there is anot

. >> well, let's compliment fisher house and particularly ken fisher for stepping forward on this in order to do what the united states government on behalf of the grateful american people should be and ought to be doing. i thought senator corn anyone hit absolutely the right note. it is the moral obligation of the government to fulfill it. led by a combat veteran. an iraq and combat veteran. duncan hunter jr. thought they had solved the problem. why they didn't speak up is beyond me and i've got to tell you. their unnamed white house aides today, i hope the president is angry with them because if it is true that white house aides knew about this for several days before this told the president at some point that we still don't know what it is, those white house aides have something to account for too. their job is to serve the president and they ill-served the president. of course, the president ill-served the country. i do think, i've become convinced the administration is looking for cheesy little ways like this to make the shutdown hurt even more we saw it with the allowing of the

i want to go to ken fisher on the kelly file last night. it's a new show. he's the ceo of the fisher house foundation talk about getting involved. >> we mobilized without hesitation and take over for the government in this capacity. >> did you volunteer it or did they call and ask? >> i got a call from a senator from west virginia asking if wide be willing to help. there was no other answer other than yes. >> when did you get the call? >> yesterday morning. >> yesterday? >> yes. >> interesting he got a call from whom? >> did you hear who he got the call from? >> i was trying to get an answer. >> senator mansion from west virginia. >> not the white house. >> not the dod, department of defense. >> good for joe manchin. he didn't put out a press release saying i solved this. he did the classy thing. i think i have a solution. let me call the fisher house. it gets unveiled. joe manchin wasn't taking victory laps around the white house. >> he had the staff showing him answering his own phones. i thought poor baby you have to talk to your own constituents. if we t

here now the chairman of that organization ken fisher. so, i want to advance the story here. right? so last week the president signs the law that opens up the treasury to pay the benefits $100,000 to each family of kia in afghanistan at this point. your organization then does what? >> well, at that point we were told we were no longer needed. >> by whom? by the pentagon who said that since the president has signed the bill, fisher house was no lonk irneeded in the capacity that we were engaged in throughout the week. >> did the secretary of defense hagel tell tell that you? >> no, actually it kind of came to us -- do you know what, bill? it's funny but when you think about how it came to us? i don't even recall. i don't even actually recall who actually called us it was a wasn't a letter stand down did you ever talk to hagel. >> hagel did call me to thank me, yes. >> god for him. that's the first report we have had of him being involved in this at all. he called to thank thank you. good. president obama, heard from him? >> no. >> and any of his guys? any of his advisors? any

. >> ken fisher of the fisher house steps in and says, i'm going to step in and help the families until congress and the white house and everybody can get their act together. you guys in the house of representatives say, look, with all due respect let's try to fibs fix it the right way. harry reid says that is a gimmick, a show. we don't need to act on it in the senate. the white house says the same thing. both harry reid and the white house reversed themselves s within hours. here they are today. >> so this issue is largely moot. the action on this legislation is now just for show here. >> you don't need legislation? >> we don't need legislation. >> would the president veto that legislation? >> first of all, the legislation isn't necessary. our view has been that the piecemeal funding is, again, a gimmick. >> yet they did it. the senate passed it and the president signed it about half an hour ago. your thoughts? >> think about this. somebody in the department of defense looked at somebody else in the eye and secretary hagel or somebody under him probably and said do not pay the militar

the situation is so outrageous that ken fisher who heads up the fisher house charity that helps militaryilies says that his organization will pay the families'' expenses until the government wises up. military benefits of the families of those killed in action are about $100,000. we know of 26 service families that have so far been denied. we have the names of six military people who are being dishonored by their own government. lt. jennifer morano. sergeant patrick hawkins. sergeant joseph peters. private first class cody patterson, lance corporal jirm collins and private angel lopez. these brave americans sacrificed for this country. and they get this? they get this? the whole debacle once again points out that president obama's leadership capacity is in steep decline. we saw it in the syrian situation. we are seeing it again in the government shutdown. a new associated press poll says that the president's job approval rating has now slipped to 37% lowest point in his tenure. while the majority polled continue to blame the republicans the gap is closing. poll most liberal in the countr

here now the chairman of that organization ken fisher. so, i want to advance the story here.right? so last week the president signs the law that opens up the treasury to pay the benefits $100,000 to each family of kia in afghanistan at this point. your organization then does what? >> well, at that point we were told we were no longer needed. >> by whom? by the pentagon who said that since the president has signed the bill, fisher house was no lonk irneeded in the capacity that we were engaged in throughout the week. >> did the secretary of defense hagel tell tell that you? >> no, actually it kind of came to us -- do you know what, bill? it's funny but when you think about how it came to us? i don't even recall. i don't even actually recall who actually called us it was a call it wasn't a letter stand down did you ever talk to hagel. >> hagel did call me to thank me, yes. >> god for him. that's the first report we have had of him being involved in this at all. he called to thank thank you. good. president obama, heard from him? >> no. >> and any of his guys? any of his advisor

i called ken fisher. >> fisher house. >> that's came to the table. we've got to corrected now.hey were willing to step to the tail and make sure no one missed a payment on that. to think that someone would inflict this much pain -- this is what's hard for me to believe. i didn't sign up for this type of duty. i didn't sign up for public service to put undue pain on people. it's hard for any of us to accept that. i have faith in our leadership. i believe they'll come together in a rational way and fix this problem. we've given outlines. there's 12 of us working together. that's a good core group to build off of. that's what we're hoping will happen today and tomorrow and we're willing to work with them. >> senator manchin, senator corker, thank you both for coming in. we'll see how the next few days shake out. thank you, gentlemen. >>> the senate now at the center of talks to end the stalemate. how do house republicans feel about being left out? congressman jim jordan one of the leaders of the so-called tea party faction in the house joins us next. >>> now that the president has

. >> reporter: ken fisher who heads the private organization for benefits and family, stepped in to pay the benefits after seeing our reports on "today." >> they're grieving. they're suffering enough. why on earth should they have to worry about where their next dollar is coming from. >> reporter: in illinois, a restaurant posted a message offering to do fate 100% of their profits wednesday to the families of the fallen. >> maybe if one person does it, 100 more will do it and we'll help people out. >> reporter: the white house will reimburse the charity once the shutdown is over. another place in tampa, florida is stepping up to present money to those troops killed this past weekend. matt. >> thank you very much. retired colonel jack jacobs was gave pedal for his heroic actions. we have the pentagon, both end of pennsylvania avenue. where does the blame lie if your opinion? >> there is plenty of blame, it lies at both ends. somebody recently said the most, the biggest threat the most dangerous threat to the world in the united states is that terrain between the white house on one end an

bill: do you agree with ken fisher when he says there is no real sense of urgency here?> it seems as if nothing more than a political bickering among, i think all parties involved as we hold our nation's leaders and members of congress all accountable for this, this particular issue that we're facing right now, this situation. bill: yet, at the white house last week when jay carney was asked about this, the benefits for those killed in battle, he seemed to think it was a non-issue. later congress moved and president signed a bill within 24 hours, but at that moment on thursday afternoon last week, he seemed to suggest that it was an okay thing that a charity stepped in and therefore nothing has to be done. when you heard that, what did you think? >> first of all, this is more than, it is an issue. as you saw yesterday afternoon where you had many service, veteran service organizations representing more than 10 million veterans across the country but also constituents, fellow citizens and voters, and to say this is a non-, non-issue, it is just outrageous to hear that fro

i want to go back to ken fisher of the fisher house.for military families desperately in need. has offered to give money to -- grant money to reimburse military families for death benefits and such. so as you're listening to this hearing and the politicians talk, what's going through your mind? >> well, a couple of things, actually. one, not once in all of this and, you know, i work very closely with chairman miller and obviously with the secretary, not once did i hear anything about the death benefits and the resumption of that. that maybe a dod issue or a congressional issue. but not once did i hear it. two, it points out that, you know, the lack of flow of the information is due to bureaucratic system that quite frankly is just choking. you know, the entire veteran's health care and the way it's atstered, it's choking. this is something that i hope, you know, as this shutdown, you know, comes to an end, hopefully in a timely fashion, that it's addressed. you heard the secretary discuss the backlog in benefits and how that's being add

ken fisher will talk to us in the after the show show. >> elisabeth: have a great day. bill: thank you, guys. good morn, everybody. it is day nine of the partial shutdown and a shutdown insult and outrage today. families of american troops paying the ultimate price for their country, now told bit pentagon they will not get the benefit that is owed to them. that benefit is about $100,000. the question this morning is, who made this decision? i'm bill hemmer. as we roll on here in "america's newsroom" and good morning at home. martha: that is something we'll try to figure out this morning. good morning, everybody. the bodies of fallen soldiers and marines will be flown home today from afghanistan. they will arrive at dover air force base but the families have to pay for their own trip to go pick up the loved ones. one lawmaker says this is ridiculous. >> here is what is happened. this is boneheaded decision that dishonors our fallen brothers and sisters. it also does this, it breaks the trust that our government has with those men and women that serve on the front lines a

. >> ken fisher who heads a private organization for veterans and their families stepped into the payeing our report on "today." >> they're grieving. they suffered enough. why on earth should they have to worry about where their next dollar is coming from. >> also stepping up, jefferson's restaurant in bellville, illinois which post ad message on facebook offering to donate 100% of their profits wednesday to families of the fallen. >> maybe if one person does it 100 more will do it and we'll help more people out. >> the pentagon will reimburse the phish house charity once the shutdown is over and today the special operation warrior foundation will present $20,000 to each family of the troops killed in afghanistan this past weekend. another warning from the head of the veterans department, the secretary said if this goes very much longer by november 1st hundreds of thousands of veterans will lose $6 billion in their benefits because their workers have been furloughed at the va. >> what a terrible situation. you've been in washington for quite a while. have you ever seen think it bad th

. >> ken fisher was on here the other day.t up $20 million and to the administration's credit, chuck hagel did reach out to thank them as did valerie jarrett. >> we appreciate those efforts for our military men and women. right now we're going to turn to heather nauert. >> good morning. ten minutes after the hour. a baggage handler is under arrest for that dry ice series of explosions at los angeles international airport. and the motive is disturbing. the 28-year-old is accused of taking dry ice from a plane to make a bomb. sources say this could all stem from a rivalry between workers, two companies who service the plane just merged and the employees reportedly are involved in some sort of turf battle. we'll keep watching this one for you. >>> she was tormented so badly at school that she took her own life. and now two girls ages 12 and 14 are under arrest and have been charged in her death. rebecca sedgewhich jumped off a tower in florida. she was bullied by two classmates by one year. the arrest came from a facebook. i know

he called ken fisher and said can you help out at fisher house to fill the gap.t is a guy whrofs a governor -- who was a governor, understands what it is like to deal with crisis. >>elisabeth: yesterday we heard from representative duncan hunter from california. he brought something to boil that everyone had on their mind. we're seeing the president in an administrative position here. in terms of him being the commander in chief, he had this to say. when the lawyers in the administration made the decision not to count the death benefit they broke a sacred trust with our military men and women and those on the front line. i think the relationship between the commander in chief and the families of those that have fallen and all military is actually in a really vulnerable position right now. >>steve: absolutely. we've seen this administration where the president is able to do a lot of stuff by executive order. the instant he found out, why didn't he sit down and say this is an executive order. let's fix this. instead yesterday the house passed another bill to try to

. >> reporter: so ken fisher who heads a private organization for veterans and their families stepped in to pay the benefits after seeing our report on "today." >> they're grieving and they suffered enough, why on earth should they have to worry about where their next dollar is coming from. >> reporter: also stepping up, jefferson's restaurant in belleville, illinois, which posted a message on facebook offering to donate 100% of their profits wednesday to the families of the fallen. >> maybe if one person does it, 100 more will do it and then we'll help more people out. >> reporter: the pentagon will reimburse the fisher house charity once the shut down is over and today the special operation warrior foundation a nonprofit in tampa, florida, is also stepping up to present $20,000 to each family of those troops killed in afghanistan this past weekend. matt? >> all right, andrea, thank you very much. >>> retired army journal jack jacob haun honored for his hero actions. got the blame game going now. we have the pentagon and we have congress and actually both ends of pennsylvania avenue.

we have had to of the me tell you, the fisher house foundation picking up the tab. kenischer, thr founder, after living and i lived on the families should notave to endure more pain as a result of political squabbling. i'm sure you agree. >> i do. while we certainly applaud the fisher house, we should not hav to support our warriors froo the nickels an dimes for burge and fries. we nd to do it with leaders and government. gerri: will put. thank you. >> thank you, thank you for having me. gerri: an absolute pleasure. now we want to know what you think. is the pentagon ducking its responsibilities to our nation's heroes? log on to gerriwillis.com, but on the right side of thecreen, and officers of the end of the show. unbelievable. veterans and disability benefits, death benefits for military families, a clinical health trials, social security. all deemed nonessential. and they're not givin any funds from the federal gernment during the shutdown. there is a good news for those on capitol hill responsible for the chaos. every single member of congress is still able to take