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Ted Cruz Leads Talk-A-Thon to Protest Obamacare
https://preview-archives.nbclearn.com/portal/site/k-12/browse/?cuecard=66940
General Information
Source:
Creator:
Event Date:
Air/Publish Date:
NBC Today Show
Savannah Guthrie/Kelly
O'Donnell
09/25/2013
09/25/2013
Resource Type:
Copyright:
Copyright Date:
Clip Length
Video News Report
NBCUniversal Media,
LLC.
2013
00:03:15
Description
Republican Senator Ted Cruz had a marathon talk on the Senate floor to protest Obamacare, taking shots
at fellow Republicans who say they don't have the power to block it and even reading a Dr. Seuss book.
Keywords
Ted Cruz, Obamacare, ACA, Affordable Care Act, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,
Healthcare, Health Care, Health Insurance, Filibuster, Talking, Talk-A-Thon, Senator, Senate, GOP,
Republican Party, Tea Party, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, President, Barack Obama, Rand Paul, Marco
Rubio, Mike Lee, Dr. Seuss, Public Policy
Citation
MLA
"Ted Cruz Leads Talk-A-Thon to Protest Obamacare." Kelly O'Donnell, correspondent. NBC Today
Show. NBCUniversal Media. 25 Sep. 2013. NBC Learn. Web. 3 May 2015
© 2008-2015 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Page 1 of 3
APA
O'Donnell, K. (Reporter), & Guthrie, S. (Anchor). 2013, September 25. Ted Cruz Leads Talk-A-Thon to
Protest Obamacare. [Television series episode]. NBC Today Show. Retrieved from https://previewarchives.nbclearn.com/portal/site/k-12/browse/?cuecard=66940
CHICAGO MANUAL OF STYLE
"Ted Cruz Leads Talk-A-Thon to Protest Obamacare" NBC Today Show, New York, NY: NBC
Universal, 09/25/2013. Accessed Sun May 3 2015 from NBC Learn: https://previewarchives.nbclearn.com/portal/site/k-12/browse/?cuecard=66940
Transcript
Ted Cruz Leads Talk-A-Thon to Protest Obamacare
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, anchor:
Meantime, take a look at what’s happening right now on Capitol Hill. Senator Ted Cruz still going at this
hour--this is an effort to defeat funding for Obamaca-- Obamacare. Technically, this is not a filibuster. I
think the parliamentary term is talk-a-thon.
MATT LAUER, reporting:
Yeah. And he’s been-- I mean, as you can see by the clock, it’s been going on for a long time. I’ve noticed
at least one change of outfits, maybe a shower in there as well.
NATALIE MORALES: He looks very fresh and clean this morning.
LAUER: Exactly right.
GUTHRIE: Well, let’s get right to our top story. NBC's Kelly O’Donnell is in Washington. She’s got the
latest on this. Kelly, good morning.
KELLY O’DONNELL, reporting:
Good morning, Savannah. It’s been going and going and going all afternoon through the night, here again
this morning. It is a talk-a-thon, the official term of Washington today, as Senator Ted Cruz has railed
against the law known as Obamacare, trying to per-- persuade some of his Republican colleagues. And
many of them were not happy with this tactic.
SENATOR TED CRUZ (R-Texas): President, this isn’t a teen sport.
O’DONNELL: A late night endurance test.
SENATOR CRUZ: This is life and death.
O’DONNELL: Ted Cruz, the Texas Tea Party senator began railing against the health care law at 2:41
P.M. Eastern, calling out fellow Republican senators who say they don’t have the votes to block it.
SENATOR CRUZ: If you vote to give that power to Harry Reid to fund Obamacare, then you are
responsible for it being funded.
O’DONNELL: Earlier, Cruz had noted bedtime, reading Doctor Seuss to his daughters who had been
watching on C-SPAN.
SENATOR CRUZ: I do so like green eggs and ham. Thank you, thank you, Sam-I-Am.
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O’DONNELL: As the night wore on, Cruz moved off topic, even referring to the homespun wisdom of
TV’s Duck Dynasty-SENATOR CRUZ: So I want to point out just a few words of wisdom from Duck Dynasty.
BRIAN WILLIAMS: When you turn on the Today Show, he’ll still be right there doing this same thing.
O’DONNELL: --a scene predicted by Brian Williams on Nightly News. Countering Cruz’s one-man show
in D.C., New York brought together Hilary Clinton and two presidents-HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON: They each married far above themselves.
O’DONNELL: --together to pitch the health care laws benefits and encourage enrollment which starts
next week.
PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON: I think it’s important for you to tell the people why we’re doing all this
outreach because this only works, for example, if young people show up.
O’DONNELL: And President Obama acknowledged it’s been tough.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: But, let’s face it. It’s been a little political this whole Obamacare
thing.
O’DONNELL: Back in the Senate, GOP leaders and even Tea Party ally Senator Rand Paul had privately
urged Cruz not to stage his marathon.
SENATOR RAND PAUL (R-Kentucky): And my question to the senator from Texas is, does he want to
shut down the government?
O’DONNELL: And Senator Ted Cruz has been talking all night. Got a little help from a few friends like
Marco Rubio, Mike Lee, and yes, Rand Paul, who helped to break things up a bit. But I spoke to aides
who say he’s had no bathroom break, nothing to eat, and will keep going as long as he can stand. Not
technically a filibuster because this won’t stop today’s vote, Matt and Savannah. That is still expected to
go on, but he has made his point and outside conservatives and conservative groups have been cheering
him on. Savannah, Matt.
MATT LAUER: All right.
GUTHRIE: Kelly O’Donnell, thank you.
© 2008-2015 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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