computer glitches from the afford anlable care act cleared up. strong gdp number. good strong creation. likely the tone of the news conference will be on the optimistic side. i think you're right. to talk about what is happening with his approval ratings and there are a couple of controversies that many do come to mind like the nsa and the health care problem and the glitches that are surrounding that. i do have the numbers here. nbc news and wall street journal poll in december said 43% of americans approve of the job that he is doing as president. 54% are disapproving. that is the highest approval rating of his presidency so far. no doubt those are going to be a couple topics. we will get some questioning today. >> given the low numbers because the stock market set a record high and we've been clear in saying we acknowledge the stock market as certainly not the overall american economy. but you've had an economy that has clearly gotten better. i wouldn't be surprised if the president, certainly i would if i was the president, tout the positives, right?

greater growth for the first time. unemployment rate continues to go down. jobs are up. just saw an article yesterday about the number of people who have been able to sign up for the affordable care act. it could be an optimistic tone, albeit with some hedges like you mentioned. >> i can't imagine they would ever be a news conference at thend of a year that the president wouldn't have a couple of things to have to field. talking of which, let's get straight to eamonn at the house. what do we expect to hear? >> you guys have been laying it all, the keyer shus that is president is going to face. the huge scope of the united states presidency. all the different topics the president has to handle. first on the ajegenda today is e health care and allows certain people to allow their policy b toen canceled to get out of the process that had been laid in place under the obama care law. that's going to be something we see people asking about.

we're also going to see probably some questions about nsa spying, new intelligence panel, its recommendations for the president of the united states to scale back a little bit on the nsa and what they've been doing. the white house said the president is going to take his upcoming vacation in hawaii to think about what it is that he wants to do about nsa spying. so you can expect he's going to get a bunch of questions about that. a whole host of other issues. just today we saw a story in the "washington post" about an american general in charge of nuclear forces who went on apparent drinking binge on a trip to russia. he has been relieve of command. that's something as a commander in chief the president has to be concerned about. all sorts of issues on this president's plate today. guys? >> eamon, thank you so much. we are awaiting the final news conference of the president's news conference of 2013. let's look at the markets. you mentioned a moment ago that one of the really good things that we can tout for this year is the fact that we hit record

highs. pushing further into record territory for the markets right now. the dow is up there right now by nearly triple digits. 99 points to the upside. the s&p is on track for the biggest weekly climb in two months. it's currently up by about 0.7%. >> i know you are the stats mav v maven but this is the second best week of the year for the dow and s&p 500. remember at the beginning of the summer we said where in the world is the santa claus rally and ben bernanke came out. >> with the santa hat on. >> and it appears the market likes the taper, which is now honestly led some on wall street to put out notes suggesting why don't we taper mow aggressively? if the market is reacting this way because of positive economic data, maybe some will add more on the 401(k) plans. >> i certainly think it vindicates the decision to move ahead on the taper on wednesday of this week. 4.1% annual rate. third quarter faster pace in

almost two years. certainly does -- i thought that was last year's words. >> 2 1/2 years ago we came out. >> 2 1/2 years ago? right, it was -- let's move it down to ben bernanke ob pisani. we're giving you the honor of coming up with next year's "street signs" words. that's later. >> that q-3 gdp revision, pleasant surprise. stocks rose on that prior to the open. here's what's important. it doesn't get any better than this. not only are we at new highs, 3-1 and 5-1 advancing to declines. the volume has been heavy. this is a trifecta in terms of technical analysis. you were talking agent how things were doing for the week. right across the board up about 2 1/2% to 3%. so the dow industrials up 3.2%. the russell is up 3%. the s&p bd, the nasdaq, everything is to the upside right now. mandy and brian, we've been noting how little fear there is

in the market. look at the vix, not only is it not going up, it's going down. it was down about 15% overall this week. the important thing is even if you look at a vix knfutures context, february, march, april, they're not going up either. probably into the months further on. obviously that can change fairly quickly. let me close and tell you that we're going to get s&p reweighting today. you will see gyration, a lot of volume and big names. there are some being reduced in the s&p. am, pfizer, exxon, getting reduced. that can lead to volatility. some are adding additions to the s&p and we will see those as well. facebook is going in. gm is adding some to itself. pioneer, and mohawk. guys, back to you. >> bob pisani, thank you very much for that. let's find out what is happening in the bond pitts. let's get straight to rk at tic santelli at the cme.

quiet week for the bond market? >> it's been quiet all right. it's quiet if you're in the echo chamber of interest rate volatility! no, it's been crazy. and it's still crazy. but in a slightly different form. look at the intraday of fives. up three basis points on the day. up 13 or 14 basis points on the week. granted, there's an astericsk. 30-year is down big in terms of yield which gives rise to 11, 12 basis points of flattening between that said five-year and 30-year. what does that mean in english? that means something is going on after that fed taper and that is all those longs and short end that we're promised the fed will keep rates low? everybody may still be believing that but the market is changing its tune a bit. and all those steepeners, this might be liquidation driven. we'll have to see in 2014 how far down the yield curve this sustained selling goes.

>> let's bring in back bob pisani. rick, stick around as well as we await the president. we are awaiting the must president's news conference before he heads to vacation in hawaii. bob, again, this is my last show of the year. merry christmas to you and your family and happy new year's as well. >> thank you. >> will you surprised with how well this year as gone in stocks. many people were bullish. i'm not sure anybody was bullish to the extent of 235% gain fot for the dow. >> yes. are you say that i am surprised by the marked's reaction to the taper announcement this week. i thought they would taper into january or march and most felt there would be more volatility and the immediate reaction would be to the downside. plea about surprise to see it not happen that way. the bigger issue is it's going to happen next year. if you look at people, 8% to 10% is a very typical range that you're going to see. what i see that's important is economy improving and early signs for spending or pretty good for 2014.

i'd like to see little pore capital expenditures. a little more spending from the corporations themselves and once you get some announcement that they're hiring a little bit more, i think you can easily have a multiple expansion in the s&p 500. but that's a tall order. i'm not saying it's going to happen but that's a very tall order right now. >> just as there were many people i'm sure who were not expecting the kind of gains that we've seen in the stock market at the beginning of this year, i'm sure there are mem m. not expecting the kind of economy that we've seen over in gold as well. i think it's on track for its biggest loss in 32 years. okay. maybe with the exception of a certain gentleman to my side. however, you know, gold sitting around six-month low. i don't know anyone who is particularly bullish going into next year. are you surprised, bob? you've done a lot of coverage on gold and the gold miners. >> i did, that gold special i did two years ago was just about -- just about the top of the market at that time. i get gentle reminders about that from a lot of people. the important thing is -- >> bob, bob, bob. when i went to midland texas, it

was pir near's high of the year. pioneer natural resources. wait a minute. i'm getting the same e-mails. probably from the same guy. no, guys. but it's the -- there was a great week though. you were fabulous that week. i would love to see you do more of that. the big thing here with gold is whether or not we're near any bottom, everyone says they're giving up on gold. buy low, sell high. bulls coming out saying i think gold to be higher this time next year at the end of 2014 than lower. i'm rather surprised at that. i would think there would be somebody out defending it. >> what do you think being the biggest surprise of this year, rick? >> i think, two. first biggest surprise is the huge disparity, historic disparity relative value between commodity prices and the stock market. and i think obviously my answer to why that condition exists would be a beard and i'm not talking santa per se, i'm talking ben bernanke. i think one of those markets is going to be proven to be out of sync but time will take longer.

these stock issues that i think were the froth of the fed's programs need to come out of the market. i think it's going to be slow moving. and i'm not as surprised as bob that only 5 billion off of treasury and 5 billion off of mortgages were accepted so well by this stock market because it's minuscule. when you consider the smaller budget deficits it really is about the same speed as it was all things being equal. on gold, i will go the other way. there's an old technician, two ways to look at markets. time and price. let's forget price for a minute. i would say that based on the charts i do still do a lot by hand, that sometimes in the next four months, absolutely significant low and go. i'm not going to give you a price. just looking at it from a timing aspect. >> that's what i've been wait for. somebody to make that kind of call. i haven't seen anybody. everybody is very, very bearish. >> you know what, rick. i love your charts. i love to see some because the 50-day moving average, it's been a free-fall support.

there's nothing there. looks like an icicle hanging off of a deli's awning. that's the issue with gold. for all the viewers, i don't know the guy. i just finished matthew hart's book entitled simply "gold." they go down deep into a south african mine like you did. dangerous working conditions and all the theft that goes on there. just the first chapter of the book was spectacular. i recommend it highly. rick, if you see a low in gold to your perspective, do you think -- that's going to push -- people are selling then the money has got to go somewhere. is it the mattress? >> yes. well, you know, i always think that that's a really tough chase your tail type question and answer. money will always find something, let's art, lamb g lamborghinis or digging a hole. for reality's sake, i think the issues with gold transcend the obvious disinflation. it's going down. i think it was a build. i think it ended up in we cans

and we think the new state of the market post mf is you don't leave a lot of extra margin around. i think that's exaggerated many market moves like gold. >> bob pisani thank you very much for weighing in. just to quickly update all of our viewers, we are still waiting on president obama to give his final news conference of 2013. he has some good news to tell but he also has a couple of controversial issues over the course of the year that will no doubt spark questions as well. we're going to bring the president to you as soon as he hits the podium. you're seeing a live picture there at the white house. do stay with us. my mantra? family first. but with less energy, moodiness, and a low sex drive, i saw my doctor. a blood test showed it was low testosterone, not age. we talked about axiron. the only underarm low t treatment that can restore t levels to normal in about 2 weeks in most men. axiron is not for use in women or anyone younger than 18 or men with prostate or breast cancer. women especially those who are or who may become pregnant

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welcome back to "street signs." the president like all of us no doubt is iing to get his holiday season family vacation started. he's going to hawaii. before he does that he has a very important thing to do and that is his final news conference of the year. let's get straight to eamon javers at the white house. >> hi. we expect to hear from him at the top of 2:00 but the press conference doesn't begin until the president walks into the room. so he can't really be late for this thing. it doesn't begin until he gets there. he's going to be talking about a whole range of issues. i think we've got to put this in prospect iive. his whole numbers are under water. approval rate is lower than disapproval rate. that is the position that presidents don't want to be.

the whole question for the obama administration going into 2014 now they appear to have gotten at least the worse of the bad piece of the healthcare.gov rollout behind them is how can they start to turn that around. where can they take opportunities to take advantage of this sort of mini-era of good feelings that we have in washington with the bipartisan budget deal that's gone through over the past week and a little bit of the thawing of the tensions of the two political party toss get some progress early into next year. that's a big unanswered question. they're going to have to think about that as they go off for a week's vacation here in hawaii. >> we are waiting for the president. should be momentarily. eamon, a stock market at record highs. great gdp number today. jobs unemployment has come down. i know the press will ask him what they want to know but if you're the president, you've got to hammer these points, right? you're going to take every answer and say, look at gdp, look at the stock market. >> yes, but. the president definitely wants

to tout the economic successes he's had so far this year. every time they do that they also put in the caveat that unemployment is still painfully high for too many americans. so every time he crows about the successes in the economy, he's got to put that in or else he looks insensitive to so many american voters out there. some of whom are in his political base. others of whom are looking at this white house and saying, hey, what are you doing for many? that's always at the back of their mind. you rarely hear presidents take credit for stock markets up or down because you look at the stock market, it's going up, it's a great day. you want to put the president out there and say, you know, that's due to our policies. the next day it tanks. then you get the blame, too. presidents usually leave the stock market alone and usually don't comment on it. >> just very quickly. what's the one thing atop of people's minds that will get his approval ratings back up? >> it's that healthcare.gov rollout. if they can show they've got this thing actually fixed and that this policy is going to work practically, that's going

to convince a lot of people sitting on the fence. >> thank you very much for giving us a preview of what the president is likely to say. this is going to be the president's 44th solo news conference. it is the last of 2013. there will be plenty more next year but 44th if you like factoids. >> i do. we are waiting for the president. we have the lineup of reporters there. chuck todd of nbc news to the far left. i think eamon makes a great point. you don't want to tout the stock market because if it goes wrong, they will throw it out. you were touting it but now it's lower. no denial that while the stock ownership has gone down in the last 20 years there are a lot of people that have stocks in their pension funds. right? teachers. it is a vessel for those who make more money oftentimes but yet there are so many people out there that also do have money in retirement plans. maybe even through a state or city pension plan. higher stock market perhaps have

a negative for anybody. >> just not to belabor the point about the stock market but just to give people an idea of what an amazing year it has been in terms of returns. the s&p gained more than 27% year to date. that is on track for its biggest yearly gain since 1997 all of the way back then. and if you look at the percentage gain of returns that you've seen for the nasdaq, it's even greater. as you say, the dow is up by 25% of pushing for further into record territory. for those who of do look at their 401(k)s, they can hopefully feel better about this year. >> the higher stock market is better than a lower stock market. you open up your 401(k) orchi - let us go live to washington a left-hand listen? >> i know you are all eager to skip down and spend time with your families. not surprisingly, i am, too. but you know what they say, it's the most wonderful press conference of the year. i am eager to take your questions.

first, i want to say a few words about our economy. in 2013 our businesses created another 2 million jobs, adding up to more than 8 million in just over the past 45 months. this morning we learned that over the summer our economy grew at its strongest pace in nearly two years. the unemployment rate has steadily fallen to its lowest point in five years. our tax code is fair. our fiscal situation is firmer with deficits that are now less than half of what they were when i took office. for the first time in nearly two decade wes now produce more oil here at home than we buy from the rest of the world. our all of the above strategy for new american energy means lower energy costs. the affordable care act has helped keep health care costs growing at the slowest rate in 50 years. combined, that means bigger paychecks for middle class

families and bigger savings for businesses looking to invest here in america. and for all the challenges we've had and all the challenges that we've been working on diligently in dealing with both the aca and the website these past couple months, more than half a million americans have been rolled through healthcare.gov in the first three weeks of december alone. in california, for example, the state operating its own marketplace, more than 15,000 americans are enrolling every single day. and in the federal website, tens of thousands are enrolling every single day. since october 1st, more than 1 million americans have selected new health insurance plans through the federal and state marketplaces. so all told, millions of americans, despite the problems with the website, are now poised to be covered by quality affordable health insurance come new year's day.

this holiday season there are mothers and fathers and entrepreneurs and workers who have something new to celebrate, the security of knowing that when the unexpected or misfortune strikes, hardship no longer has to. and you add that all up, and what it means is we head into next year with an economy that's stronger than it was when we started the year, more americans are finding work, and experiencing the pride of a paycheck, our businesses are positioned for new growth and new jobs, and i firmly believe that 2014 can be a breakthrough year for america. but as i outlined in detail earlier this month we know there's a lot more we're going to have to do for opportunity and broad based growth for every american. that's going to require some action. it's a good start that earlier this week for the first time in years both parties in both houses of congress came together to pass a budget. that unwinds some of the

damaging sequester cuts that created headwinds for our economy. it clears the path for businesses, and for investments that we need to strengthen our middle class, like education and sibi scientific research, and the americans won't be exposed to another reckless shutdown every few months. that's a good thing. it's probably too early to declare an outbreak of bipartisan bipartisanship, but it's also fair to say we're not condemned to endless gridlock. i believe that work should begin with something that republicans in congress should have done before leaving town this week, that's restoring the temporary insurance that helps folks make ends meet when they are looking for a job. because congress didn't act, more than 1 million of their constituents will lose a vital economic lifeline at christmastime leaving a lot of job seekers without any source of income at all.

i think we're a better country than that. we don't abandon each other when times are tough. keep in mind unemployment insurance only goes to folks who are actively looking for work. a mom who needs help feeding her kids when sending out a resume or a dad who needs help paying the rent while working part time and still earning the skills he needs for that new job. so when congress comes back to work, their first order of business should be making this right. i know a bipartisan group is working on a three-month extension of this insurance. they should pass it. and i'll sign it right away. let me repeat. i think 2014 needs to be a year of action. we've got work to do to create more good jobs, to help more americans earn the skills an education they need to do those jobs, and to make sure those jobs are for the wages and benefits that let families build a little bit of financial security. we still have the task of

finishing the fix on our broken immigration system. we've got to build on the progress we've painstakingly made over these last five years with respect to our economy pand offer the middle class and all those looking to join the middle class a better opportunity and that's going to be where i focus all of my efforts in the year ahead. and let me conclude by saying just as we're strengthening our position here at home, we're also standing up for our interests around the world. this year we've demonstrated that with clear-eyed principle diplomacy we can pursue new paths to a world that's more secure. a future where iran does not build nuclear weapons. where sishia's chemical weapons stockpiles are destroyed. by next year the war in africa will be over just as we ended the war in iraq and we'll continue to bring our troops home. as always, we will remain

vigilant to protect our homeland and our personnel overseas from terrorist attacks. of course a lot of our men and women in uniform are still overseas and a lot of them are still spending their christmas far away from their family and friends. some cases still in harm's way by want to close by saying to them and their families back home, we want to thank you. your country stands united in supporting you and being grateful for your service and sacrifice. we will keep you in our thoughts and in our prayers during this season of hope. so before i wish a merry christmas to all and to all a good night, i will take some questions. jay prepared a list of who is naughty and nice, so we'll see who made it. julie must be nice. julie pace? >> thank you, mr. president. despite all the data points that you said in your opening statement when you look back at

this year very little of the domestic agenda that you outlined in your inaugural address and state of the union achieved health care rollout obviously had huge problems and your ratings from the public are near historic lows for you. when you take this all together has it been the worse year of your presidency? >> i got to tell you julie that's not how i think about it. i have now been in office five years, close to five years. was run for president for two years before that. and for those of you who have covered me during that time, we have had ups and we have had downs. i think this room has probably recorded at least 15 near death experiences. and what i've been focused on each and every day is are we moving the ball in helping the american people, families, have more opportunity, have a little more security, to feel as if if

they work hard, they can get ahead. and if i look at this past year, there are area where's there have obviously been some frustration where's i wish congress had moved more aggressively. you know, not passing background checks in the wake of newtown is something that i continue to believe was a mistake. but then i also look at because of the debate that occurred, all the work that's been done at state levels to increase gun safety and to make sure that we don't see tragedies like that happen again. there's a lot of focus on legislative activity at the congressional level. but even when congress doesn't move on things they should move on, there are a whole bunch of things that we're still doing. so we always get attention for it but the connect ed program that we announced where we're

going to be initiating wireless capacity in every classroom in america will make a huge difference for kids all across the country and for teachers. a manufacturing hub that we set up in youngstown, something that i talked about during the state of the union is going to create innovation and connect universities, manufacturers, job training, to help create a renaissan renaissance, build on the renaissance that we're seeing in manufacturing. when it comes to energy, this year is going to be the first year in a very long time where we're producing more oil and natural gas here in this country than we're importing. that's a big deal. so i understand the point that you're getting at, julie, which is that a lot of our legislative

initiatives in congress have not moved forward as rapidly as i would like. i completely understand that. which means that i'm going to keep at it. and if you look at, for example, immigration reform, probably the biggest thing that i wanted to get done this year, we saw progress. it passed the senate with a strong bipartisan vote. there are indications in the house that even though it did not get completed this year, that there is a commitment on the part of the speaker to try to move forward legislation early next year. and the fact that it didn't hit the timeline that i prefer is obviously frustrating but it's not something that i end up bruiting a lot about. >> but, sir, it's not just your legislative ajend da. when you talk to americans they seem to have lost confidence in you, trust in you, your credibility has taken a hit. health care law was a big part

of that. do you understand that those -- the public has changed in some way their view of you over this year? >> but, julie, i guess what up saying is if you're measuring this by poll, my polls have gone up and down a lot through the course of my career. i mean, if i was interested in polling, i wouldn't have run for president. i was polling at 70% when i was in the u.s. senate. i took this job to deliver for the american people. and i knew and will continue to know that there are going to be ups and downs on it. you're right, the health care website problems were a source of great frustration, i think, in the last press conference i adequately discussed my frustrations on those. on the other hand, since a time i now have a couple million people, maybe more, who are going to have health care on january 1st. and that is a big deal. that's why i ran for this office. and as long as i've got an

opportunity every single day to make sure that in ways large and small i'm creating greater opportunity for people, more kids are able to go to school, get the education they need, more families are able to stabilize their fanses, you know, the housing market is continuing to improve, people feel like their wages maybe are inching up a little bit. if those things are happening, i'll take it. and, you know, i've said before, i've run my last political race. so at this point, my goal every single day is just to make sure that i can look back and say, we're delivering something. not everything because this is a long haul. mike? >> thank you, mr. president. one of the most significant events of this year is the revelation of the surveillance for the national security

organization. as you review how to rein in the national security agency, a federal judge said that, for example, the government had failed to cite a single instance in which analysis of the nsa's bulk meta data actually stopped an attack. are you able to identify any specific examples when it did so? are you convinced that the collection of that data is -- >> let me talk more broadly and then i'll talk specifically about the program you're referring to. as you know, the independent panel that i put together came back with a series of recommendations, 46 in total, i had an extensive meeting with them down in the situation room to review all the recommendations that they have made. i want to thank them publicly because i think they did an excellent job and took my charge seriously which is i told them i want you to look from top to bottom at what we're doing and

evaluate whether or not the current structures that we have and the current programs that we have are proper ly addressing both our continuing need to keep ourselves secure and to prevent terrorist attacks or proliferation of weapons of mass destruction or other threats to the homeland and are we also making sure that we're taking seriously the rule of law and our concerns about privacy and civil liberties. so what we're doing now is evaluating all the recommendations that have been made over the next several weeks i'm going to assess based on conversations, not just with the intelligence community but others in government and outside of government how we might apply and incorporate their recommendations, and i'm going to make a pretty definitive statement about all of this in

january where i'll be able to say, here are the recommendations that we think makes sense. here are ones that we think are promising but still need to be refined further. here's how it relates to the work we're doing not just -- not just internally but also in partnership with other countries. and so i'm taking this very seriously because i think -- as i've said before, this is the debate that needed to be had. one specific program, the 215 program, is the meta data, the bulk collection of phone numbers and exchanges that have taken place, that has probably gotten the most attention at least with respect to domestic audiences. and what i've said in the past continues to be the case, which is that the nsa in executing

this program believe, based on experiences from 9/11, that it was important for us to be able to crack if there was a phone number of a known terrorist outside of the united states calling into the united states where that call might have gone. and that having that data in one place and retain for a certain period of time allowed them to be confident in pursuing various investigations of terrorist threats. and i think it's important to note that in all the reviews of this program that have been done, in fact, there have not been actual instances where it's been alleged that the nsa in some ways acting inappropriately in the use of this data, but what is also clear is from the public debate people are concerned about the prospect of possibility of abuse.

i think that's what the judge in the district court suggested. although his opinion obviously delivers from rulings on the pfizer court, were taking those into account. the question we're going to have to ask is can we accomplish the same goals that this program is intended to accomplish in ways that gift the public more confidence that, in fact, the nsa is doing what it's supposed to be doing. i have confidence in the fact that the nsa is not engaging in domestic surveillance or snooping around but i also recognize that, as technology has changed and people can start running algorithms and programs that map out all the information that we're downloading on a daily basis into our telephones and computers, that we may have to refine this further to give people more confidence. i'm going to be working very hard on doing that. and we've got to provide more confidence to the international

community. in some ways what has been more challenging is the fact that we do have a lot of laws and checks and balances and safeguards and audits when it comes to making sure that the nsa and other intelligence agencies are not spying on americans. we have less legal constraints in terms of internationally but i think part of what's been interesting about this whole exercise is recognize that in a virtual world some of the boundaries don't matter anymore. and just because we can do something doesn't mean we necessarily should and the values that we've got as americans are ones that we have to be willing to apply beyond our borders, i think, perhaps more systematically than we've done in the past. okay. ed henry. >> thank you, mr. president. i want to follow up on that because -- merry christmas, by

the way. >> merry christmas. >> when edward snowden first started leaking the information, you claimed to the american people that you were already reformed many of these surveillance programs. came to office, quote, my team valevaluated tell, we scrubbed m further and expanded some of the oversig oversight. you also said we may have to rebalance some, there may be changed. you concluded with, you can complain about big brother and how this potential program run amok. when you look at the details, then i think we've struck the right balance. that was only six months ago. now this judge is saying no. your own panel is saying no, you're saying no we haven't really struck the right balance perha perhaps. changes have to be made. my question is, were you wrong then because you were not full read in not just on these programs but on other programs outside of the ones you just talked about where we were potentially listening in on the german leaders, brazilian leaders? number two, if you were, is it

another example of what judy was -- julie was getting at with this question of credibility with the american people that just like on health care, you like your plan, you can keep it it. on surveillance, you looked the american people in the eye six months ago and said we've got the right balance. and six months later saying maybe not. >> hold on a second. i think it's important to note that when it comes to the right balance on surveillance, these are a series of judgment calls that we're making every single day because we've got a whole bunch of folks whose job it is to make sure that the american people are protected. and that's a hard job because if something slips then the question that's come from you the next day at a press conference is, mr. president, why didn't you catch that, why did the intelligent people allow that to slip? isn't there a way we could have found out that, in fact, this terrorist attack took place. >> you struck the right balance. >> so the point, is ed, not that my assessment of the 215 program has changed in terms of

technically how it works. what is absolutely clear to me is that given the public debate that's taken place and the disclosures that have taken place over the last several months, that this is only going to work if the american people have confidence and trust. now, part of the challenge is is that because of the manner which these disclosures took place in dribs and drabs off times shaded in a particular way, and because some of the constraints that we've had in terms of declassifying information and getting it out there, that that trust in how many safeguards exist and how these programs are run has been diminished. so what's going to be important is to build that back up. and i take that into account in weighing how we structure these programs. so let me be very specific on the 215 program. it is possible, for example,

that some of the same information that the intelligence community feels is required to keep people safe can be obtained by having the private phone companies keep these records longer and to create some mechanism where they can be accessed in a effective fashion. that might cost more. there need to be different checks on how those requests are made. there may be technological solutions that have to be found to do that. and the question that we're asking ourselves now is, does that make sense not only because of the fact that there are concerns about potential abuse down the road with the meta data

that's being kept by a government rather than private companies, but also does it make sense to do because people right now are concerned, that maybe their phone calls are being listened so even if they're not. and we've got to factor that in. so my point is is that the environment has changed in ways that i think require us to take that into account. but the analysis that i've been doing throughout has always been, you know, periodically looking at what we're doing and asking ourselves are we doing this in the right way, are we making sure that we're keeping the american people safe, number one. are we also being true to our civil liberties and our privacy and values. >> i understand it's a tough job. god forbid there's an attack. evei've so my question is, do y have any personal regrets? you're not addressing the fact that the public statements you

made to reassure the public, director of national intelligence months ago went up, got a question from a democrat, not a republican, about whether some of this was going and he denied it. doesn't that undermine the public trust? >> you're underflating him. >> he's doing his job. i understand. >> what i'm saying is this, that, yes, these are tough problems that i am glad to have the privilege of tackling. your initial question was whether the statements that i made six months ago are ones that i don't stand by and what i'm saying is, is that the statements i made then are entirely consistent with the statements that i make now, which is that we believed that we had scrubbed these programs and struck an appropriate balance. and there had not been evidence and there continues not to be evidence that the particular program had been abused in how

was it was used and that it was a useful tool working with other tools of the intelligence community has, to ensure that if we have a thread on a potential terrorist threat that that can be followed effectively. what i've also said though is in light of the disclosures that have taken place, it is clear that whatever benefits the c configuration of this particular program may have, may be outweighed by the concerns that people have on its potential abuse. if that's the case, there may be another way of skinning the cat. so we just keep on going at this stuff and saying, can we do this better, can we do this more effectively. i think that the panel's recommendations are consistent with that. so if you had a chance to read the overall recommendations, what they were very clear about is, we need this intelligence.

we can't unilaterally disarm. there are ways that we can do it that gives people a greater assurance that there's checks and balances, sufficient transparency, programs like 215 could be redesigned in ways that give you the same information when you need it without creating these potentials for abuse. and that's exactly what we should be doing, is to evaluate all of these things in a very clear, specific way and moving forward on changes. and that's what i intend to do. >> you have no regrets. >> that's what i intend to do. john carl? >> thank you, mr. president. it's been a tough year. you may not want to call it the worst year of your presidency, but it's clearly been a tough year. the polls have gone up and down but they are at a low point right now. so what i'm asking you, acknowledge the difficulties with the health care rollout, but when you look back and you look at the decisions that you have made and what you did, what you didn't do, for you

personally, what do you think has been your biggest mistake? >> with respect to health care specifically or just generally? >> the whole thing. this tough year. >> well, there's no doubt that when it comes -- when it came to the health care rollout, even though i was meeting every other week or every three weeks with folks and emphasizing how important it was that consumers had a good experience and easy experience in getting the information they need and knowing what that t. choices and options were for them to be able to get high quality affordable health care, the fact is it didn't happen in the first month. first six weeks in a way that was at all acceptable. and since i'm in charge obviously we screwed it up.

part of it is i've said before had to do with how i.t. procurement generally is done and almost predates this year. part of it obviously has to do with the fact that there were not clear enough lines of authority in terms of who is in charge of the technology and cracking the whip on a whole bunch of contractors. there's a whole bunch of things that we've been taking a look at and i'm going to be making appropriate adjustments once we get through this year and we've gotten through the initial surge of people who have been signing up. but, you know, having said all that, bottom line also is that we've got several million people who are going to have health care that works. and it's not that i don't engage in a lot of self reflection here. i promise you, i probably beat myself up, you know, even worse than you or ed henry does on any

given day. but i've always got to wake up and morning and make sure that i do better the next day. and that we keep moving forward. and when i look at the landscape for next year, what i say to myself is, we're poised to do really good things. the economy is stronger than it has been in a very long time. our next challenge then is to make sure that everybody benefits from that, not just a few folks. and there are still too many people who haven't seen a raise and are still feeling financially insecure. we can get immigration reform done. we've got a concept that has bipartisan support. let's see if we can breakthrough the politics on this. you know, i think that hopefully folks have learned their lesson in terms of brinksmanship coming

out of the government shutdown. there have been times where i thought about were there other ways that i could have prevented that -- those three or four weeks that hampered the economy and hurt individual what can you do better next year? that's how i intend to approach it. i'm sure that i will have even better ideas after a couple days of sleep and sun.

briana? >> thank you, mr. president. on the debt ceiling your secretary has estimated the u.s. government will lose ability to pay bills come late february or early march. house budget committee chairman paul ryan said republicans are going to decide what it is they can accomplish in this debt limit fight, his words. will you negotiate with house republicans? >> you know the answer to this question. no, we're not going to negotiate for congress to pay bills that it has accrued. here's the good news. i want to emphasize the positive as we enter into this holiday season. i think congressman ryan and senator murray did a good job in trying to narrow the differences and actually pass a budget that i can sign. it's not everything that i would like, obviously.

it buys back part of these across-the-board cuts, the so-called sequester, but not all of them. so, we're still under funding research, still under funding education, still under funding transportation and ornishtithe initiatives that would create jobs. but, you know, it was an honest conversation. they operated in good faith. and given how far apart the parties have been on fiscal issues, they should take pride in what they did. and i actually called them after they struck the deal and i've said congratulations and i hope that creates a good pattern for next year. where we work on at least the things we agreed to, even if we agree to disagree on some of the other big ticket items. i think immigration potentially falls in that category, where let's -- here's an area where we've got bipartisan agreement. there are a few differences here and there, but the truth of the matter is, is that the senate

bill has the main components of comprehensive immigration reform that would boost our economy, give us an opportunity to attract more investment and high scho skill workers who are doing great things in silicon valley and around the country. so, let's go ahead and get that done. now, i can't imagine that having seen this possible daylight breaking when it comes to cooperation in congress that folks were thinking actually about plunging us back into, the kind of brinksmanship and governance by crisis that has done us so much harm over the last couple of years. to repeat, the debt ceiling is raised simply to pay bills that we have already accrued.

it is not something that is a negotiating tool. it's not leverage. it's the responsibility of congress as part of doing their job. i expect them to do their job. although i'm happy to talk to them about any issues that they actually want to get done. so, congressman ryan's interested in tax reform, let's go. i've got some proposals on it. if he's interested in any issue out there, i'm willing to have a constructive conversation of the sort that we just had in resolving the budget issues. but -- i've got to assume folks aren't crazy enough to start that thing all over again. >> reporter: if i may just quickly on a more personal note. what is your new year's resolution? >> my new year's resolution is to be nicer to the white house press corps. you know, absolutely.

>> reporter: quite a lead-in, mr. president. thank you. head of the nsa task force on edward snowden told "60 minutes," quote, it was worth having a conversation about granting edward snowden amnesty. under what circumstances would you consider a plea agreement or amnesty for edward snowden? what do you say to americans, sir, who after possibly being alerted to judge leon's decision this week, reading the panel recommendations, believe edward snowden set in motion something that is proper and just in this company about the surveillance and should not be considered by this government a criminal? >> i've got to be careful here, major, because mr. snowden is under indictment. he's been charged with crimes. that's the provence of the attorney general and ultimately

a judge and a jury. so, i can't weigh in specifically on this case at this point. i'll make -- i'll try to see if i can get at the spirit of the question, even if i can't talk about the specifics. i've said before, and i believe that this is an important conversation that we needed to have. i've always said before that the way in which these disclosures happened, had been -- had been damaging to the united states. and damaging to our intelligence capabilities. and i think that there was a way for us to have this conversation without that damage. i'll give you just one specific example. the fact of the matter is that the united states, is a country that abides by rule of law, that cares deeply about privacy, that

cares about civil liberties, that cares about our constitution. and as a consequence of these disclosures, we have countries who actually do the things that mr. snowden says he's worried about, very explicitly, engaging in surveillance of their own citizens, targeting political dissidence, targeting and suppressing the press, who somehow are able to sit on the sidelines and act as if it's the united states that has problems when it comes to surveillance and intelligence operations. and that's a pretty distorted view of what's going on out there. so, i think that as important and as necessary as this debate

has been, it is also important to keep in mind that this has done unnecessary damage to u.s. intelligence capabilities and u.s. diplomacy. but i will leave it up to the courts and the attorney general to weigh in publicly on the specifics of mr. snowden's case. >> reporter: sir, if i could follow up, mr. legett is setting this up. i'm certain you would be consulted if there was a conversation about amnesty or a plea bargain. >> that's true, major. >> reporter: you would never consider it? >> i'm saying there's a difference between mr. leggett saying something and the president of the united states saying something. >> reporter: thank you, mr. president. merry christmas and happy new year.

you talked about the issue of health care but there have been other issues, misinformation about people keeping their policies, postponements, deadlines, new waiver hhs announced last night. how do you expect americans to have confidence and certainty in this law if you keep changing it? this one here, this new waiver last night, you could argue you might as well have delayed the mandate. >> well, no, that's not true. what we're talking about is a very specific population that received cancellation notices from insurance companies. the majority of them are either keeping their old plan because the grandfather clause has been extended further, or they're finding a better deal in the marketplace, with better insurance, cheaper costs. but there may still be a subset, a significantly smaller subset than some of the numbers that have been advertised, that are

still looking for options, are still concerned about what they're going to be doing next year. and we just wanted to make sure that the hardship provision that was already existing in the law would also potentially apply to somebody who had problems during this transition period. so, that's the specifics of this latest change. you're making a broader point that i think is fair, and that is that in a big project like th this, that what we are constantly doing is looking, is this working the way it's supposed to, and if there are adjustments that can be made to smooth out the transition, we should make them. but they don't go to the core of the law. first of all, the core of the law is that for 85% of the population, all they've been getting is free preventive