Here to dover as well as funeral expenses. This heartbreaking impact of the Government Shutdown has now sparked a national outrage, one that washington can no longer ignore. Shouldnt we, as a body, republican, democrat, no matter who we are, shouldnt we be embarrassed about this . Shouldnt we be ashamed . Now Congress Plans to act. The house will vote today at 3 00 to reinstate the death benefits. The senate as well. The chaplain appealed to a higher power. Lord, when our federal shutdown delays payments of death benefits to the families of children dying on faraway battlefields, its time for our lawmakers to say enough is enough. No deal, no surrender. Are president obama and Speaker Boehner farther apart than ever . We cant make extortion routine as part of our democracy. Democracy doesnt function this way. What the president said today was if theres Unconditional Surrender by republicans, hell sit down and talk to us. Thats not the way our government works. And a fed first, when president obama today nominates janet yellen as the next Federal Reserve chair this afternoon. Shell be shattering one of the highest glass ceilings left for women. And good day. Im Andrea Mitchell. Today at Dover Air Force base, a somber day as the bodies of four American Service members arrived here, as they were met by secretary of defense chuck hagel. Back in washington, the secretary of Veterans Affairs is warning of further benefit cuts to come if the shutdown continues until november 1st. Let me just say unequivocally that all the effects that i described and im going to describe of the shutdown are negative. Its an immaterial pedimentme its an impediment. As many as 5. 1 million veterans would start losing their regular veterans benefits, not these death benefits. Retired army colonel jack jacobs joins me now. Jack, youve seen these dignified returns. This, as sad as any of them, but the poignancy and outrage expressed across the nation that death benefits were not paid. Families did get here. The family of private first class Cody Patterson was here. That was the one family that was authorized coverage. The fact that members of the military and their families are not being protected by this grateful nation for their ultimate sacrifice has really outraged the country. It is outrageous. To paraphase, i dont think anybody can underestimate the intelligence, dedication, sensitivity or prague mattism of the American Government. Its almost as if theres nothing that they will do or not do that will defy your sensibilities. It is outrageous and something i hope theyre going to do something about it. It just points out how what a lack of focus the American Government has. By the way, on both ends of pennsylvania avenue. What a lack of focus the government has on the needs and requirements of american citizens. I hope this particular situation will get redressed very quickly. And we have this quotation. Peter alexander provided this from the white house today. The obama administration, the department of defense informed congress and the public that the department would be legally unable to pay death benefits were there to be a lapse in dod appropriations and unfortunately, said the administration, this issue was not explicitly addressed as part of the pay our military act, which congress did pass last week. The president was very disturbed to learn of this problem and directed dod to work with omb and his lawyers to develop a possible solution. Well, this, of course, is counteracted by Duncan Hunter and other republican members of congress and the Military Branch who say that they believe that the pay our military act did cover it. So youve got this additional dispute between both ends of pennsylvania avenue as to whether the congressional fix worked or didnt. In any case, it obviously didnt work because the death benefits arent being paid. Now the house is voting this afternoon. Then it will go to the senate. There could be unanimous consent. The senate could take it up quickly as the house has. Jack, the larger issue is the role of the military in our society, they are you and all of your fellow veterans are in a very special category. We should point out that congress is going to act very quickly today, likely, because these are our Service Members who were killed in battle. But what about all of the other people affected by the shutdown . Were talking about single moms who cant get food for their kids. Were talking about children not in head start. This is a bigger problem. I was going to say when you mentioned the military establishment, i was going to say exactly what you did. We have a small group of young men and women who are defending a very large number of us. Its important that we as a nation and the government who gets paid to do these things focus attention on these people who are serving us. But there are lots of other people who require the governments attention. You mentioned just a few of them. We have a tendency through politics to throw out everything all at one time because we have people who are we elect to office, both high and low, who are insensitive to the needs not just of individuals but are insensitive to the requirements of supporting and running a Great Republic to the extent that we dont pay any attention to that. We will permit the government to do that again and again. We have to make sure they understand that there are 310 Million People who are not going to sit still for them. Colonel jack jacob, thank you. Thank you so much for being with us today. Joining me now to discuss the politics of this show, chris cillizza, msnbc contributor, and chuck todd, nbc news chief White House Correspondent and political director. Chuck, you have been picking up signals at the white house of president being willing to accept a shortterm continuing resolution or spending bill. Weve also picked up some signals from john boehner that hes no longer speaking specifically about obama care. He seems to be a little more flexible in his rhetoric. Whats happening behind the scenes do you think . The question is well, theres a couple things happening. On capitol hill, what john boehner is very carefully trying to do is and you saw it yesterday. They floated the idea of super committee. Theyre looking at process vehicles, andrea. Theyre no longer looking at policy vehicles in order to reopen the government or deal with the debt ceiling. So what does that mean when i say that . Well, for instance, the last time they rose the debt ceiling, it was attached to the idea democrats had to pass a budget or theyd lose their pay. There was a little bit of punishment if something didnt happen in exchange for the debt ceiling raised. So its something processy like that, nothing specifically on policy. Boehners trying this out, trying to see how much support there is inside the conference on it. Look, outside conservative grassroots groups, theres a big disagreement going on about the paul ryan approach, which is this is essentially what ryans endorsing. Hey, lets try to have a larger conversation, lets force this conversation. I dont know if the conservative grassroots are going to buy this. They Want Health Care and to get rid of it come heck or high water. I dont know if theyre going to be satisfied with this way out that boehner is trying to find now, but thats whats going on. And i think you point out the paul ryan oped in the wall street journal is significant, chris. This is beginning to lay out a possible path out by someone who is certainly a bona fide conservative on fiscal policy. Maybe he and others can persuade some of the tea Party Regulars that they have to give up on the Health Care Issue and think of the broader issue of entitlement reform. Youre right, andrea. What we have learned from the first nine months of the 113th congress is that there are four dozen or so republicans in the house who simply will not listen to what john boehner wants. I would say once they know what john boehner wants, almost sort of go in the other direction. The question is and that basically goes for eric cantor, the House Majority leader, too. The question is, does paul ryan have the heft to convince them that youre not going to get the repeal or the defunding of president obamas health care law. We have to sort of move forward in a conservative way. Theres a conservative, emphasis on conservative, solution here that involves reopening the government and raising the debt ceiling. I dont know if anyone in the republican conference is that persuasi persuasive. Ryan is probably the best bet at this point. You know, its a lot to put on him to say, okay, now convince everyone of this. And chuck, i want to ask you about what the senate might do. We know the house is going to vote for this, this afternoon. They pick it up at 3 00. The senate could take it up very quickly by unanimous consent. Harry reid, this is what he had to say yesterday about the death benefits not being afforded to these families. Right now we have two avenues. Were going to see what the house does and the white house and the pentagon are working to see if they can do something about it. That was harry reid today. Chuck, do you think thats going to be worked out . Yeah, i was just going to say thats the answer you give when you realize youre even though theyve been holding the line on dealing with piecemeal bills that the house sends over, thats the answer you give when you know youre about to go ahead and vote on a piecemeal bill that the house is going to send over. I think this is going to get fast tracked, andrea. You can tell theres a lot of discomfort about how all this has played out. When it comes to the military, youll see look how quickly they did the pay. Make sure theyre going to get their paychecks on time. This is going to clear sailing, you can never say that anymore, but it certainly looks like it. Im still trying to figure out how they didnt know about this. Why was it that our report, frankly, on nbc on the today show, had to Tell Congress what these families are going through . We picked it up. We heard about it from military families. Not only that, andrea, you know, we knew about this before the shutdown, that this was so this was sitting out there. The pentagon was briefing reporters about this as a potential issue. So, you know, its one of these things where the administration should have known better, congress should have known better, somebody at the pentagon seemed to know before the shutdown happened that this was going to be one of the things that was going to be vulnerable here. So at this point, you know, pox on everybody. Administration should have seen this. Somebody should have flagged it. Somebody should have flagged congress during the pay the military act. Exactly right. Chuck todd, chris cillizza, thank you both very much. As we have been reporting, the bodies of four fallen military Service Members who were killed on sunday in afghanistan were met by their grieving family members earlier today right here at Dover Air Force base. They were killed by an improvised explosive device during a combat mission in kandahar province. 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. 24yearold private first class Cody James Patterson was also an army ranger. He was the r the regiments 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 25yearold 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 iraq. Peters was the father of a 20monthold son gabriel. [ coughs, sneezes ] i have a big meeting when we land, but i am so stuffed up, i cant rest. [ male announcer ] nyquil cold and flu liquid gels dont unstuff your nose. They dont . Alka seltzer plus night fights your worst cold symptoms, plus has a decongestant. [ inhales deeply ] oh. What a relief it is. Was a truly amazing day. Ey, without angies list, i dont know if we could have found all the services we needed for our riley. From contractors and doctors to dog sitters and landscapers. You can find it all on angies list. Join today. Congress has come under fire for the lapse in death benefits to the families of those fallen Service Members thanks to the shutdown, of course. This would continue except for the fact a private charity, the fisher house foundation, has offered to pay the death benefits, demonstrating what is so great about this country. 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 dont 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. Thats 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 nobrainer 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 jay carney has just said the president believes this will be fixed today. So youre going to find extraordinary action. When they want to do something, when they feel political pressure. Look, the house is going to vote today. There hasnt been any of the usual rigmorole, if i may, and the senate is going to vote this afternoon and its going to get signed by the president just like that. Why this couldnt happen before hand and why all the others who have so egregiously affected by the shutdown cant be fixed, why the shutdown cant end is a whole other question. Tell me more about fisher house. I know more about what you do, but tell our viewers what you do every day for our veterans. Andrea, fisher house provides a home away from home for families of servicemen and women and veterans requiring hospitalization. Theres no charge to stay in the fisher house. They stay in these houses as long as they want to. So fisher house has been primarily about the healing process, but we actually had built one at Dover Air Force base for the families of the fallen because we found out that there was no affordable place for them to stay. After doing the unthinkable, you know, at crazy hours of the morning, they would have to get in a car and drive to a cheap motel, and that was just not indicative of the sacrifices that they made. That brings us back to why were talking today. Let me just share with you you probably know this, but when i found this out, this sent me over the edge. According to the law, if you donated your death benefits, this money, through the pentagon, it would be illegal. They could not accept this because it wasnt appropriated funds. So you have to do this individually through the families. Thats my understanding, at least, from what were being told by u. S. Officials. Its my understanding as well, and you know, this is one case where we are not going to become embroiled in the red tape and bureaucracy. We have forchecur checks cut ri now ready to go. We still have to interact with the pentagon in terms of privacy issues, et cetera. If i have to drive down there and deliver them myself, thats whats going to happen. Ken fisher, i thank you, and having talked to some of the families, they, as you know, are very, very grateful. So are the men and women on post here. You know, just every military member, our Service Members are very grateful for what you do. Thank you. Well, its a privilege to be able to do it. I just hope that somebody wakes up down there and decides that enough is enough and people are suffering because of this, especially the 1 of this nation that raises their hand and goes and serves to defend us. When they raised their hand, they take an oath. We also take an oath. We take an oath to take care of them if theyre wounded, either mentally or physically, and we take an oath to take care of their families if they dont make it home. Thats what has to happen right now. Thank you. Thank you for saying that. Thank you. As i just mentioned moments ago, the White House Press secretary jay carney at the briefing addressed the suspension of military death benefits and indicated it will be fixed. Fixed today. Oh, so today . Correct. This should be resolved . As the president expressed, he was not pleased to learn of this problem. He has directed the omb and his lawyers to find a solution and he expects to have one today. And getting back to the debt ceiling, we know that october 17th is the sort of deadline that was set by the treasury secretary, and im just wondering, the last time we went through this exercise we didnt even go into default. And now in day nine of th