. >> reporter: in kandahar province, sergeant patrick hawkins from pennsylvania, on his fourth deploymento afghanistan, a decorated army ranger killed while trying to help a wounded ranger. jennifer marino, also 25, a nurse from san diego, and part of the command cultural support team. 25-year-old cody patterson, from oregon, on his second deployment to afghanistan, special agent joseph peters, a 24-year-old intelligence officer serving two tours in iraq, father of a 20-month-old son, his wife issued a statement about the benefits, saying yes, it is upsetting because my husband died for his country and now his family is left to worry. my husband always said if something happened to me, they would always take care of us. i am a stay at home mom, he always wanted that. >> reporter: this is kelly o'donnell on capitol hill where there is outrage. >> i am ashamed, embarrassed, we all should be. >> reporter: as congress deals with the unexpected casualty of the government shutdown. >> i would hate to look those families in the eye and say well, yeah, this is all because democrats and republican

they include the family of 25-year-old sergeant patrick hawkins. his mother telling us today she wanted him to be remembered as honest, brave and a hero. 24-year-old special agent joseph peters, private first class cody patterson was just 24 years old, remembered as someone who would have been successful at anything. marine lance corporal jeremiah collins, junior, and jennifer o mor o moreno. and duncan hunter, a member of the armed services committee and is himself an iraq and war veteran. representative hunter, good to see you, i know you served three tours of duty, we thank you for your service. how did this happen? >> megyn, here is what happened. i want to take you back to 2004, the iraq war was going on, i was in fallujah, and they were sending money to bring back the dead soldiers in rented car go airplanes, there was an iconic picture of these being forklifted out of dover, delaware. that is the type of decision they make. they said you will no longer do that, they will have a military escort back to their hometown. so fast forward nine yea

army ranger sergeant patrick hawkins from carlisle, pennsylvania.e celebrated his 25th birthday a week ago. army nurse moreno, also 25. and special agent joseph peters, a 24-year-old intelligence officer from springfield, missouri, the father of a 20-month-old son grabriel. veterans are furious. >> they deserve it. they died. they fought for the their country. their widows and children who get the benefits. >> 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 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 s

sergeant patrick hawkins from carlisle, pennsylvania, on his fourth deployment in afghanistan, a decorated army ranger killed while trying to help a wounded ranger. jennifer moreno, also 25, a nurse from san diego and part of the command cultural support team. 25-year-old cody patterson, from oregon, on his second deployment to afghanistan, special agent joseph peters, a 24-year-old intelligence officer serving two tours in iraq, father of a 20-month-old son, his wife issued a statement about the delay in benefits saying yes it is upsetting because my husband died for his country and now his family is left to worry. my husband always said if something happened to me, they would always take care of us. i am a stay at home mom, he always wanted that. andrea mitchell, nbc news. >> reporter: this is kelly o'donnell on capitol hill where there is outrage. >> i am ashamed, embarrassed, we all should be. >> reporter: as congress deals with the unexpected casualty of the government shutdown. >> i would hate to look those families in the eye and say well, yeah, this is all because democrats and rep

he's a family friends of sergeant patrick hawkins, another weekend fay tal at thisn afghanistan, certainlysays the government has a responsibility to take care of these familie families when sere members give their lives for their country. >> i think our ought to serve those fighting particularly hawkins who put his true test on the line. >> reporter: since the government shutdown began, 26 members of the military have died none of the families have received the funds. the bad press has forced the defense department to scramble for a work around, they are now relying on a veterans nonprofit called the fisher house foundation to pay out benefits until the government is reopened. >> i am hopeful that this will be a temporary measure and not a long-term measure but we are in it for as long as we need to be. >> reporter: defense secretary hagel says his department will reimburse fisher house for the costs he also expressed his percentage outrage and embarrass think over the issue is and is urging congress to restore funding to federal government. juan carlos molina, al jazerra. >> the white ho

patrick hawkins from pennsylvania, on his fourth deployment to afghanistan, a decorated army veteran killed while trying to help a wounded soldier. jennifer mor oeeno. and cody patterson, an army ranger from oregon on his second deployment to afghanistan, special agent joseph peters, a 24-year-old intelligence officer from springfield, missouri, serving in afghanistan after two tours in iraq, father of a 20 month-old son, his wife issued a statement about the delay d benefits. yes, it is accepting because my husband died for his country, now his family is left to worry. my husband always said if something happened to him, we would be taken care of. i am a stay at home mom, which is what our husband wanted. he wanted me to take care of our son. andrea mitchell, nbc news new york. >> reporter: this is kelly o'donnell on capitol hill, where outrage spread quickly. >> i'm ashamed, embarrassed. all of us should be. >> reporter: as congress works with an unexpected casualty of this government shutdown. >> i would hate to look the families in the eye and say yeah, well, this is all because

army ranger sergeant patrick hawkins from carlisle, pennsylvania. he celebrated his 25th birthday a week ago. first lieutenant jennifer moreno, also 25. an army nurse from san diego. and special agent joseph peters, a 24-year-old intelligence officer from springfield, missouri, the father of a 20-month-old son gabriel. an merge legion post in frederick, maryland, the veterans are furious. >> they deserve it. they died. they fought for the their country. their widows and children who get the benefits. >> 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 t

the family of sergeant patrick hawkins and the others will have to pay their own way to delaware and pay out of their own pockets for their funerals. that's because the pentagon says it is unable to pay out death benefits because of the shutdown. that means any service member killed since october 1st will not receive the automatic $100,000 that is usually paid to families within 36 hours of a death for funeral costs. it's an issue that has led to outrage on both sides of the aisle. >> it's shameful and embarrassing that america could fail the families of our fallen heroes. appalling, frightening. >> i don't care who it is or how it's shaped, but let's sit down and get out of this so that these families whose loved ones just died, just died, will receive the benefits at least that would give them some comfort and solace in this terrible hour of tragedy. >> the house of representatives is scheduled to vote on a bill today to restore those payments. >>> now we go to the supreme court where it appears at least a part of the nation's campaign finance laws will be struck down. yesterday ju

army ranger sergeant patrick hawkins was on his fourth tour. cody patterson on his second. jennifer moreno volunteered for special operations forces in afghanistan. before the shutdown, congress passed a bill authorizing the government to keep paying and supporting the troops, but the language, according to the pentagon's interpretation did not permit payment of the death benefit air, fact which senator carl levin warned about ahead of time. >> there are other unthinkable outcome on the government shutdown on our security. family members of military members who die in combat would not receive death benefits during a shutdown. >> reporter: the unthinkable happened, and you know what came next. the blame game. congressman duncan hunter sent this letter to defense secretary chuck hagel blame the pentagon for a careless legal interpretation that resulted in mistakenly denying payments. private charities have stepped forward to cover the families' expenses, and congress is scrambling to reinstate that death benefit. that could solve the problem but not erase the shame. >> pelley

sergeant patrick hawkins. he was born on october 1, 1988. he graduated from high school and listed in the -- enlisted in the army of his hometown of carlisle, pennsylvania, and sergeant patrick hawkins, according to his battalion commander, was described as a brave and incredibly talented ranger. and the description of his death revolved around the fact that he was in -- he was moving to aid another wounded ranger when he was killed. his actions, according to, again, his commander were in keeping with the epitome of the ranger creed, which is "i will never leave a fallen comrade." sergeant hawkins dedicated himself to serving us, to serving our families, to serving all americans. and he ultimately paid for that service with the loss of his life. and, madam president, i pay tribute to this soldier as an example of many who have sacrificed in similar ways over a long period of time, but especially for those five who this weekend lost their life in afghanistan. sergeant hawkins was awarded the bronze star, the meritorious service medal. he was

he is a family friend of sayer sergeant patrick hawkins. he says the government has the responsibility to take care of these families when servicemen give their lives for their country. >> i think that i want to serve those that are fighting. since the government shutdown began, 26 members of the military have died. none of their families have received the funds. the bad press has forced the defense department to scramble for a work around. they are now relying on a veterans non-profit called the fisher house found dpaitio founy out benefits until the gofltd is governmen --government is reope. i'm hopeful this is a temporary measure but we are in it for as long it it will be. >> he expressed his personal outrage and embarrassment too the ish u. the -- issue. he is urging congress to restore funding. >> today the members of the house did vote to restore the benefits. >> washington was outraged by the rest of the country by the news. people that lost their loved ones in the military are not receiving survivor benefits. and everyone in washing

bill: army sergeant patrick hawkins. killed in an attempt to aid a wounded fellow army ranger. martha: lance corporal jeremiah collins, jr., was just 19 years old. his family said if anything happened to him they believed the government would take care of him. bill: arm first lieutenant, jennifer moreno, 25-year-old from san diego, california, on her first deployment, her congressman demanding answers as we heard there. peter doocy starts our coverage, live in washington. how did lawmakers allow this or was it lawmakers allowed these payments to lapse? >> reporter: lawyers from the justice department, white house and reviewed the pay our military act which both houses of congress overwhelmingly passed during the shutdown but those lawyers are saying now that the language in that bill only appropriates money for servicemen and women, not their families. so the loved ones of any troops who died after 11:59 p.m. on september 30th are out of luck. >> what do the american people think when they see that death benefit for those who served and sacrificed in the most honorable way are

he is a familiar bring friend of sergeant patrick hawkins another weekend fatality in afghanistan. corn brooks says the government has a responsibility to take care of these families when servicemen give their lives for our country. >> i think our government should give to those especially to those like sergeant hawkins who put his true test on the line. >> since the government shutdown began 26 military members have died. the bad press has forced the defense department to scramble a work around. they are relying on a veterans non-profit called the fisher house foundation to pay out benefits until the government is reomed. >> i a head coach full this is t a tempt pore roy measure the secretary satis he hopes they will reimburse for the cost and his personal outrage and embarrassment over the issue is urging congress to restore funding by the federal government. >> and while the shutdown has caused heart age for the family of fallen trooms and left thousands of federal workers without paychecks, members of congress have nice perks open to them. and a vai inter to them. their private

sergeant joseph parts, first lieutenant jennifer marino, sergeant patrick hawkins and private first classodey patterson returned home from afghanistan. friends of sergeant peters who left behind a wife and 20-month-old son expressed concern. >> people lose their life. people losing their sons and daughters. their husbands, their wives. >> they have family waiting that need help. >> reporter: on the eve the shutdown, the president signed the way on military families act. they thought that law gave the pentagon the authority it needed to pay benefits. >> it's disgraceful that they're withholding these benefits. >> i guess somebody in the justice department or pentagon had some problems interpreting what we said. >> reporter: the white house woke up to the problem today ordering the pentagon and the white house to fix it. >> president was very disturbed to learn of this problem. the president expects this to be fixed today. >> reporter: begging the question, why wasn't it figured sooner. the pentagon warned congress presumably the white house three days before the shutdown. >> we are also re

sergeant patrick hawkins, u.s. army ranger from carlisle, pennsylvania. he was moving to the aid of a fellow wounded ranger when he was killed. patrick had just celebrated his 25th birthday. 24-year-old private first class cody james patterson was also an army ranger. he was the r the regiment's manneder said he had a limitless future he would have successful in whatever path he had chosen in life. he chose to serve his country by volunteering for the most difficult and challenging duties of a united states army ranger. first lieutenant jennifer moreno was a member of the cultural support team at the u.s. army special operations command. the 25-year-old was from san diego, california, and previously had served as a surgical nurse in the army. her former high school rotc instructor said that jennifer was always thinking about others and always trying to do better for them. and special agent joseph peters was 24 years old. he was a former intelligence officer from springfield, missouri. he was serving his third deployment in afghanistan after two tours in ir

sergeant patrick c. hawkins of carlisle, pennsylvania, sergeant joseph peters of springfield, missouri, private first class cody j. patterson philomath, oregon and first lieutenant jennifer m. moreno, of san diego, her friends and family forced to raise money to pay for her funeral. >> she sacrificed for the country, for her family. why wouldn't that be taken care of? there is no excuse. >> reporter: the outrage heard and late today, the pentagon announced, on orders of the president, a contract with a civilian charity to pay the death benefits immediately. >> when i heard about this story, i told the department of defense, within our administrative powers, we should be able to get that fixed. >> this hearing will come to order. >> reporter: but a widespread problem remains unsolved. veterans affairs secretary eric shinseki, warning congress today, more than 5 million military service veterans and their families won't get november benefit checks if the shutdown continues. georgia eaves served in korea, her milit

pfc cody patterson, sergeant peters, first lieutenant jennifer moreno and sergeant patrick hawkins. hopes the picture of her husband serves as a re minder. >> it's hard for people to understand because it doesn't directly affect them. there are a lot of people who don't have anyone in their family in the military and they don't know. they don't know there are still fights being fought. they don't know there are still guys coming home injureded with life altering injuries. they don't know people are l laying life on the line and paid the ultimate price for their country. people don't no . >> reporter: taylor has been at his side. together anticipating a blessed event next spring. >> we are excited. i'm very early in my pregnancy. so it's still very new to us. i feel good. >> reporter: taylor said her husband is in good spirits, that he's a strong guy. that he's doing well. and that they are thankful. >> i'm very fortunate that he's here. you know. i'm fortunate he's still alive and that we still get to have our life together. >> reporter: harry smith, nbc news. >> that is our broadca

sergeant patrick hawkins. sergeant joseph peters.vate 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 country. backed president obama all the way. must have pained them to release this poll. and the headline they put out buried the lead. the headline says poll, g.o.p. gets the blame in shutdown. so you can see how fair the a.p. really is the entire obama care government shutdown thing is a catastrophe. there is no question obama care is not ready to be rolled out. all the evidence says that if the presiden

sergeant patrick hawkins, u.s. army. private first class cody patterson, u.s. army. and lance corporal jeremiah ollins, u.s. marine corps. 36 hours after they were killed their families were notified that our government would not pay death benefits because of the government shutdown and when i heard about this yesterday morning, i simply could not believe it was true. i asked my staff to look into the matter and find out if it could possibly be true. unfortunately they confirmed that indeed we had denied these benefits. we took immediate action and along with a bipartisan group of members representing the districts where these fallen heroes livedved rward and introduced this legislation. as has been said, the bill will provide funding to pay survivor benefits and cover the funeral costs for these military families and all service members who may give the ultimate sacrifice during this shutdown of our government services. god forbid that any other family should be put in this situation again. it is absolutely abhorrent that we would leave our military families without

cody patterson, patrick hawkins, jennifer moreno, and joseph peters, all four of those.remains. they have not yet been officially identified. that will happen once they hit u.s. soil. athena jones you're on sight there. were they able to get the family members there today? any of them? >> reporter: well, there will be family members here. i will tell you that they're not paying to these families because of the shutdown. those clue $100,000 that go to these families within three days of losing a family member, as well as travel expenses and burial expenses. i can tell you that a group that serves veterans, the fibber house, has stepped in to help pay for some of these families to be able to come here and be here today. fibber house says they'll be paid back once this is all sorted out. the issue here is that the pentagon says that the law that was passed just before the shutdown began to pay our military act that made sure that troops were going to get paid, that does not give them the authorization to pay out these death benefits. this is something that has caused a rare

sergeant patrick hawkins. he was from the seventh ranger regiment of ft. benning, georgia, also private cody patterson, assigned to company b third battalion, 75th ranger regimen fort benning. lieutenant marino, 25, assigned to madigan medical center lewis-mcchord washington, assigned joint special operations task force, special agent joseph peters assigned to 286 military police department, cid, 5th military battalion, italy. all four service members called by an ied while in combat operations in afghanistan. thank you very much, gayle. thanks for your reporting. thanks for your continued attention to military and afghanistan. >> thank you. this is such an important story. those are all people who have families just raling and our hearts go out to them. >> thank you for all that. what do lawmakers say? how doe just the continuing standoff. one was from wisconsin, joining me is wisconsin republican shawn duffy, member of house committee on the budget. congressman i'm not ascribing blame any place other than to the entire system here. how do you respond to

sergeant patrick c. hawkins of carlisle, pennsylvania, sergeant joseph peters of springfield, missouri, private first class cody j. patterson philomath, oregon and first lieutenant jennifer m. moreno, of san diego, her friends and family forced to raise money to pay for her funeral. >> she sacrificed for the country, for her family. why wouldn't that be taken care of? there is no excuse. >> reporter: the outrage heard and late today, the pentagon announced, on orders of the president, a contract with a civilian charity to pay the death benefits immediately. >> when i heard about this story, i told the department of defense, within our administrative powers, we should be able to get that fixed. >> this hearing will come to order. >> reporter: but a widespread problem remains unsolved. veterans affairs secretary eric shinseki, warning congress today, more than 5 million military service veterans and their families won't get november benefit checks if the shutdown continues. georgia eaves served in korea, her milit

he is a family friend of sergeant patrick hawkins, another weekend fatality in afghanistan.olonel brooks says the government has a responsibility to take care of these families and service members give their lives for their country. >> and i think our government out to serve those that are fighting particularly somebody like sergeant hawkins who has his true test to the line. >> since the shut down began, 26 members have died none of their families have received the funds the bad press has forced the defense department to scramble. they are now relied on a nonprofit called the fisher house foundation to pay out benefits. >> i am hopeful that this will be a temporary measure and not a long term, but we are in it for as long as we need to be. >> defense sek tave says his department will reimburse him for the doses he also expressed his personal outrage and embarrassment over the issue and is urging congress to restore funding to federal government. >> workers at all of the country's national parks are furloughed. so one man decided to take matters into his own hands. literally

sergeant patrick c. hawkins of carlisle, pennsylvania.ers, of springfield, missouri. pfc cody patterson and first lieutenant jennifer m.moreno of san diego. they were forced to raise money for the funeral. >> she sacrificed for her country. there is no excuse. >> the outrage heard and the pentagon announced a contract with a civilian charity to pay the death ben knit immediately. but a more widespread problem remains unsolved. veterans affairs secretary warning congress more than 5 million military members and their families won't get their benefits if the shutdown continues. >> reporter: only essential federal facilities are supposed to remain open during the shutdown, and as one senator put it, a fit congress is important but essential? his advice was shut down the gyms until the madness ends. jim avila, abc news, washington. >>> we do have some breaking news from libya where the prime minister has been kidnapped. armed rebels have him from tripoli to a convoy of waiting cars. it is not known whose behind the kidnapping. >>> in an extre

may god bless sergeant patrick c. hawkins and all others like him who defend our freedoms every day. thank you. i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from alabama, mr. rooks, for five minutes. i am ooks: mr. speaker, gravely disappointed at the lengths the white house has gone to to manipulate american lives as they seek to coerce america's elected house of representatives into spending money america does not have on a dysfunctional socialized medicine program that does not work, that threatens american lives, and that a majority of americans do not want. congress and the white house agree on roughly 99% of federal government spending. he we should fund that 99% -- we should fund that 99%, reopen the federal government, and debate our disagreements on the remaining 1%, but the white house and senate refuse to do that. instead, president obama, senate majority leader harry reid, and their democrat allies force a federal government shutdown. they hold 99% of

on sunday, as noted by the senator from kansas a few moments ago, sergeant patrick hawkins from carlisle, pennsylvania, was killed in action in afghanistan when his unit was attacked with an i.e.d. he was moving to the aid of a wounded range whefers killed. due to the shutdown, sergeant hawkins' family cannot receive the death benefit freu providedo soldiers to cover the funeral and burial expenses. today i'm joining theest of a number of -- i'm joining the effort after number of senators in a letter to senator hagel to provide the death benefit to the family of sergeant hawkins and other families. i no he that the president is working on this issue, is working with the office of mangtsd and budget in the defense department on a solution to this problem. mr. president, i'll move to the question of where we are now. this is a shutdown brought about by the tea party, and we no that if speaker boehner would simply hold a vote on the bill that's before him, which would fund the government, this crisis would be over. so we should continue to take steps, number one, to open our government, num

four soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice will arrive later today and the family of sergeant patrick hawkinse to pay for their own way to delaware and pay out of their own pockets for the funeral because the pentagon said unable to pay out doubt sentences is because of the shut down. any service member killed since october 1st will not receive the automatic $100,000 it usually pays to families within 36 hours of a death or fun eral cost. >> it's shameful and embarrassing that america could fail the families of a fallen hero. appalling, frightening. >> i don't care who it is or how it's shaped, but let's sit down and get out of this so that these families whose loved ones just died will receive the benefits at least that would give them comfort and solace in this terrible hour of tragedy. >> that are house is scheduled to vote to restore the payment. >> that's as low as it gets. >> it is as low as it gets. >> the update to that story called fisher house that it will pick up the tab now. this is a great country, better than the people who represent them in washington. they step up and will pay