Good afternoon to you on this monday afternoon. We begin as washington shakes off its post shutdown days. And turns its focus on to the troubled rollout that spurred all that republican ire in the first place. A little website known as healthcare. Gov. And today in the white house rose garden, the president voud to deal with the technological flaws that have made signing up so difficult for so many americans. There is no shoeiugarcoatin. The website is too slow, people have been getting stuck during the application process. Nobody is madder than me about the fact that the website isnt working as well as it should. Which means its going to get fixed. The president said a tech surge is already at work, 24 7 to address the website issues. But while the kinks are being ironed out, he urged people to sign up by phone or in person. And offered a reminder, that online glitches cannot be allowed to overshadow the monumental benefit of the law for millions of americans. We did not wage this long and contentious battle just around a website. Thats not what this was about. We waged this battle to make sure that millions of americans in the wealthiest nation on earth finally have the same chance to get the same security of affordable, Quality Health care as anybody else. And naturally, republicans are still heartily engaged in their effort to prevent that horror from happening. Before the president even finished speaking. Senator ted cruz blasted out an email statement, quote, we already know obama care cant live up to its promises. Congress should act immediately to stop obama care from inflicting anymore damage on the country, on our hardworking citizens. He dashed it off so fast, he didnt have time to correct his grammatical errors. As for senator cruzs gop colleagues, they have been brushing off stacks of wired magazines, fancying themselves as the savvyist iest of gurus. A trip to the website is like a trip to the department of motor vehic motor vehicles. Where people can go on and buy something is not that complicated. Send air force one out to silicon valley, load it up with some smart people, bring them back to washington and fix this problem. Its ridiculous. And while republicans have plenty of criticism for healthcare. G healthcare. Govs technical woes, what they dont have is any plan of their own to cover uninsured americans and rein in Health Care Costs overall. No, that would be quite challenging. Much easier to hue and complain and call for Kathleen Sebeliuss head on a platter. She will testify before congress on the rough Health Care Rollout as early as next week. Ted cruz, unfortunately, could not be reached for comment. He was too busy wiping the drool from his lips. Lets get right to our panel. With us from washington is dana milbank, political commentist for the Washington Post and in new york, msnbc contributor jared bernstein, also a senior fellow at the center on budget and policy priorities. Dana, i have to start with you. You were present at the rose garden event today. And there was this moment when a woman standing behind the president became a little bit wobbly, and needed to be escorted out with an assist from the president himself. We understand her name is carmel allison, both pregnant and a diabetic, but doing fine. Republican congressman Steve Stockman couldnt help himself, tweeting, quote, the guy who made a pregnant diabetic woman stand until she faints now runs your health care. Dana, doesnt that speak to the bigger problem for Affordable Care act opponents . Here is a woman who stands to benefit from this policy, but all republicans can think of is attacking the issue or her, indeed. Yeah, im surprised we didnt have Michele Bachmann coming out after that saying, i told you obama care would kill people. Look what its doing. Of course. You know, i mean, theres theres any number of crazy things that people are going to say there. The president gave what was, you know i think the strongest sales pitch since they did the info mercials for the ginsu knife. This mess up with the website has given republicans an opening to say we told you so, there is something wrong with this. No sales pitch is going to work until and unless they get this fixed which is why that has to be his priority. Js. Even though, dana, you know states have set up cooperative websites and have had far greater success. Could it not be said that republicans are actually partially responsible for the breakdown in the technology . Well, clearly. And in many cases, whats happened here is the republicans have worked very hard to discredit obama care, and then when as a result of the misinformation thats been spread, people get nervous and think that obama care isnt working. They say, ahha, i told you so. I told you that was going to be a train wreck. So its become sort of this circular thing. But thats why the president and this white house cannot afford to have the kind of technological problems they have, because it gives these guys an opening. Yeah, i get that. Jared, the president himself said there are no excuses. He accepted with his hands up there have been serious issues. But can you tell me, what is the republican excuse for continuing to demonize the law, to call for secretary sebelius head . What is their excuse for opposing health care for millions of americans not covered . Its a very important question. By the way, its one i keep hearing from people i talk to in other countries scratching their heads about a lot of American People like me. Okay, for example. Here we go. Because in all other oh advanced economies, Health Care Reform has taken place many, many decades ago. And they realized, a long time ago 1946 in the u. K. Correct. So these these countries realized a long time ago, that this is not something that you can exclusively turn over to the majori market, because its a different kind of good than that. So in every single advanced economy, there is a kind of Public Private hybrid that delivers health care to people far more efficiently. Remember, they spend a half to twothirds of the share of gdp on health care with the same or better outcomes. So the question i think comes from people who really, a. , dont understand the nature of what Health Care Reform is supposed to do. And, by the way, is doing in terms of already bending the cost curve. B. , just want to attack the president for anything he says. And c. , view this as an expansion of the role of government without recognizing that government has to play a role in the delivery of health care in every single advanced economy across the globe. Right. Dana, according to the New York Times, 8 million poor americans will not receive health care under the Affordable Care act. Thats because, as i said earlier, 26 states dominated by gop governors are refusing to participate in medicaids expansion. Even though 58 of the poor and uninsured live in those oh very states. And even though the federal government get this, dana would pick up the entire cost for three years. Does that not indicate both a level of callousness on the part of the Republican Opposition, but also a brazen disdain for this particular president and this policy . Well, it certainly indicates a willingness to cut off their noses to spite their faces. And the president got at that in his remarks today. He talked about oregon, where they have been able to reduce the number of unemployed in that state by 10 by i think he said uninsured. Uninsured, sorry. Overnight, 60,000 or some number close to that, simply by accepting this Medicaid Expansion. So you have in the other states not participating, unfortunately the majority of them. You have governors willingly saying, no, were going to keep these poor people uninsured. Just because i dont like that law. And it has no actual financial benefits to them in not implementing. Absolutely. Jared, i accept that we live in a culture where everything has to be immediate. Everything has to be perfect. We have no tolerance for any delays. We cant cope with any kind of suffering. We run away from all these things. How is it possible, though, that a website has become the very focus of this issue, when, in fact, if this is a provision of health care that currently does not we have millions of people who are not covered. Right. And this is surely the answer to that. Its as if we built a very Good Shopping center, but the road to get there is filled with potholes, and now everybody is talking about the road. And i actually understand that. Because that is the way that people are interacting with this. They dont necessarily know, you know, the architecture, the way that people who are steeped in Health Care Reform do. So the president is 100 right. They have to fix this right away. But i think what is so important to focus on we kind of blew by this statistic that dana mentioned. Within three weeks, the number of uninsured in oregon has come down 10 . Okay . I dont thats because of the Medicaid Expansion. Part of the Affordable Care act. I challenge you to find another time in history when youve all of a sudden covered 10 of the uninsured in a state in three weeks. And if you look at some of the cost advantages, if you look at the people that are already benefitting, the kids on their parents plans, the prevent active care, the prescription cost for seniors, you can see the benefits rolling out. Here is a real glitch. And the glitch has to be fixed. The good news, the Shopping Center at the end of the road is highly functional and will do what its supposed to do. But weve got to fix the road. We certainly have. Dana milbank and jared bernstein, thank you to both. And before the president spoke today, he gave the floor to one of the Health Exchanges first enrollees, who was not shy about the pros and cons of her experience. I have the privilege to say that im the first person in the state of delaware to enroll for Health Insurance through the new marketplace. Like many like many consumers out there, it took me a number of frustrating attempts before i could apply for and select my plan. And im delighted to say that janice baker joins us now from the white house. Good afternoon, mrs. Baker. Good afternoon, martin. Its a great privilege for us to have you with us. As i understand it, you spent Something Like seven hours on the phone and on your computer trying to sign up. Now, what was the problem for you personally . I started applying online right on october 1st. Knowing that there would be glitches, knowing that there would be holdups. But i kept on trying. And i was unable to enroll oh because i could not get past the first page. It kept saying, you know, keep trying to enroll. And i kept trying to do it, and i could not i could not get logged in. So i did pick up the phone, and i tried the 800number twice. And both times after an hour and a half each time, i kept running into a frozen computer. They said they were unable to complete the form. So that was quite frustrating to me. And yet you did actually explore what the problem was. And as i understand it, it wasnt the actual website itself. It was a problem on your own computer, is that right . Thats correct. I noticed at the bottom of the first page, theres a thing that says trouble logging in. And i pressed on that button, and it explained how i should clear the cookieses and clear the cache on my computer, which i dont know what that is, but i did what they instructed. And it brought me to a point where i was able to get in on the computer, make my application, and enroll for a policy. Right. Well, thats great news. We should note, you are a Small Business owner, 24 years running the heavenly hound hotel, a boarding and grooming kennel. A great place, im sure. And so im assuming, youre no stranger to paperwork. And having been through the arduous process of signing up, was the pain worth the gain . How much cheaper is your Health Coverage now as compared with what it was previously . It is well worth it. I am paying 150 less per month. The deductibles are much lower. And the policy itself covers a lot of Preventative Health care, which i didnt have in my previous policy. So given your experience and youve now successfully enrolled, indeed today, you introduced the president. What would you say to the American Public about this provision . About the problems with the website and so on . What would you say . You know, as i have to keep telling myself, youve got to have patience with it. Its a tremendous endeavor for, you know, anybody to take on. Even if you have they say theyre ready, there is going to be glitches somewhere or another. And in my case, it was in my own computer. Right. Janice baker, thank you so much for joining us. And i thank you for having me. If i had a dog, would i certainly bring him to you to board. Thank you so much. Coming up, samesex couples are married in new jersey. Thats 14 down, 36 to go. And later, the chickens come home to roost for Ken Cuccinelli. The whole country is watching to see if the rights of women and girls will be respected. Especially over our own bodies and our health care. So so if you have a flat tire, dead battery, need a tow or lock your keys in the car, geicos emergency roadside assistance is there 24 7. Oh dear, i got a flat tire. Hmmm. Uh. Yeah, can you find a take where its a bit more dramatic on that last line, yeah . Yeah i got it right here. Someone help me i have a flat tire well its good. Good for me. What do you think . Geico. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. Her busy saturday begins with back pain, when. Hey pam, you should take advil. Why . You can take four advil for all day relief. So i should give up my two aleve for more pills with advil . Youre joking right . For my back pain, i wa my aleve. [ babies crying ] surprise your house was built on an ancient burial ground. [ ghosts moaning ] surprise your car needs a new transmission. [ coyote howls ] how about no more surprises . Now you can get all the online Trading Tools you need without any surprise fees. Its not rocket science. Its just common sense. From td ameritrade. Faster than kenny can dodge a question. Honey, howd that test go . [ female announcer ] in just 60 seconds, youve got snack defying, satisfying mmm. Totinos pizza rolls. Mmhmm. Hmm. [ female announcer ] zero to pizza. Pronto. Now in two bold new flavors the good people of the state of new jersey awoke this morning to find the world is still rotating on its axis, despite the hyper boll i can fears of some on the right. The first samesex couples across the garden state began exchanging marital vows. In the city of newark, mayor cory booker performed the very first ceremonies. And when he asked the assembled audience to speak now for forever hold their peace, he was met by the objection of a single protester, to which he responded, thus and not hearing any substantive, worthy objections new jersey now becomes the 14th state to legalize samesex marriage. And as we have predicted here before, the 36 remaining states will ultimately follow suit, whether driven by principle or politics. Consider once again the candidates sponsoring samesex marriage, mayor booker, cruised to a Senate Victory against a republican opponent who not only opposed samesex marriage but crudely questioned the Sexual Orientation of his opponent. But the bigger bellwether likely came from governor Chris Christie, a man who knows a thing or two about winning votes who today with drew his states legal appeal to samesex marriage. And to the newly married, a word of congratulations. And a little bit of marital advice. Dont let the sun go down on your anger, its always better to stay up and fight. Stay with us. The days top lines are coming up. And it is a dog eat dog world, especially deep in the heart of texas. Having spent the past month up in d. C. , it is really great to be back in america. Have a little bit of selfrestraint. It might politically be a better approach. Max and penny kept our bookstore exciting and would always come to my rescue. But as time passed, i started to notice max just wasnt himself. And i knew hed feel better if he lost a little weight. So i switched to purina cat chow healthy weight formula. I just fed the recommended amount. And they both loved the taste. After a few months maxs special powers returned. And i got my hero back. Purina cat chow healthy weight. Man [ laughs ] those look like baby steps now. But they were some pretty good moves. And the best move of all . Having the right partner at my side. Its so much better that way. [ male announcer ] take the next step. Consider an aarp Medicare Supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. Like all standardized Medicare Supplement insurance plans, it helps pay expenses that medicare doesnt cover and lets you choose or keep any doctor who accepts medicare patients. Call or go online and request your free decision guide. Use this guide to help you choose from a range of aarp Medicare Supplement insurance plans. Have the right partner at your side. Consider an aarp Medicare Supplement insurance plan. Go long. Consider an aarp Medicare Supplement insurance plan. Stubborn love by the lumineers did you i did. Email . So what did you think of the house . Did you see the School Ratings . Oh, youre right. Hey babe, i got to go. Bye daddy have a good day at school, ok . But what about when my parents visit . Ok. I just love this one. And its next to a park. I love it. I love it too. Heres our new house. Daddy youre not just looking for a house. Youre looking for a place for your life to happen. Theyre the