twitter and also at theleadcnn. that's it for "the lead." i'm jake tapper. i'll be back in two hours substitute anchoring on "outfront" at 7:00 p.m. eastern. i turn you over to wolf blitzer right next door in "the situation room." mr. blitzer? happening now, obama on the hot seat. the president gets a grilling at the end of a bad year for the white house. he takes the most heat over nsa spying amid new snooping revelations. he signaled some changes are on the way. general gone wild. an air force report reveals a top nuclear missile commander was removed from his post for boozing. and boorish behavior abroad. we have the details. and sea world is reeling right now after a cnn film exposes its treatment of killer whales. first music stars canceled their performances. now a new blow from some very important customers. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room."

president obama's heading off to hawaii for a vacation and probably really needs it right now. he just got a grilling over at the white house, a news conference on the same day that the latest cnn poll shows his approval rating remains at an all time low. the president took heat on the health care rollout program and especially on nsa spying. we have stunning new revelations about that snooping just ahead. let's get straight to our senior white house correspondent, brianna keilar, for the very latest. >> reporter: president obama came into the briefing room in a good mood. he left in a good mood, but there were some combative moments and he was peppered by reporters about a number of topics. primary amongst them, the nsa spying controversy as well as his signature health care program. the rollout of which he described as his biggest mistake of 2013. it's been a very difficult year for the president.

his approval rating stands at 41% in our new cnn/orc poll out today and across the board, it is at or near its lowest numbers in other polls as well so perhaps this question summed it up the best. >> has this been the worst 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 running 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. >> reporter: the big issue for president obama is that americans trust him less. you can trace that to the outrage over the nsa spying revelations as well as the botched rollout of healthcare.gov, and also,

really, just the sort of general disdain for washington following that shutdown this fall. >> you know, you literally had a first row seat to history today. you were in the first row, you asked the president a very important question that's generating a lot of headlines right now. when you asked him about potentially making some concessions to raise the nation's debt ceiling, which has to be raised by february. i'm going to play the exchange you had with the president today. >> will you negotiate with house republicans on the debt ceiling? >> brianna, you know the answer to this question. no, we're not going to negotiate for congress to pay bills that it has accrued. 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. now, i can't imagine that having seen this possible daylight breaking when it comes to cooperation in congress, that

folks are thinking actually about plunging us back into the kinds of brinksmanship and governance by crisis that has done us so much harm over the last couple of years. >> so he's clearly not blinking on that front. >> reporter: no, he's not blinking and you heard there was some praise for paul ryan there, but he also slammed him for saying recently the republicans were going to figure out what they want to extract in the fight over the debt ceiling. that is expected to happen. the u.s. is expected to hit the debt ceiling and lose its ability to borrow money should congress not act. that would be late february, early march is the estimate. and the president went as far as to say i've got to assume folks aren't crazy enough to start that thing all over again and i'll tell you, some republicans actually share the president's sentiment on that, they will say it's not helpful when he says that. >> good question today at the news conference. brianna keilar, thanks very much.

let's bring in our chief congressional correspondent, dana bash. she's here in "the situation room." he sent a direct message to the republicans. what are you hearing? what's the reaction? >> brianna is dead right, even those who agree with the president that they don't want to start messing with the debt ceiling, they don't want to even threaten to turn the economy around or people's 401(k)s and all of the terrible things that would happen if the debt ceiling were hit, they don't think it's helpful for the president to say that. but within the republican party, you heard brianna talking about paul ryan saying publicly that he wants to extract something from the president. there aren't -- he doesn't -- there are republicans even in the house who look at what happened in the shutdown and say we don't want to go through that again on something so much more important and perilous for the economy as the debt ceiling. then you are going to see a lot of republicans pushing to do something and the primary thing driving that, wolf, is as we have seen so many times,

conservative politics, primary politics. the senate would say maybe that's why paul ryan pushed that because he was getting a lot of blowback from conservatives for the budget deal he put forward. and even the republican leader in the senate, mitch mcconnell, who has been historically somebody who has tried to sort of calm the conservative waters, on this, he has a primary challenge as well. he is saying we want to extract something also. so the first thing that has to happen and will happen over the next month or so is republicans have to figure out what they want, get on the same page, and that is not going to be a pretty process internally. >> a lot of republicans privately don't want a big battle because they also think it would detract from their successful efforts on obamacare in scoring political points on that front. >> exactly right. that is one of the main reasons why at the end of the government shutdown, republicans said enough, already, we're going to basically uncle because they were convinced that they wanted to get back to obamacare because that was doing so poorly, they were stepping on their message. going into 2014, the election year, bar none, every republican

thinks that that is going to be their winning message and you're exactly right, a fight over the debt ceiling that they could get blamed for just as much as the president, they don't want it. >> don't want to step on that other message. dana, thanks very much. there are also new stunning revelations today about nsa spying even as the president addressed possible reforms at that news conference. he is weighing recommendations by an outside panel that's called for changes in nsa surveillance. our national security correspondent jim sciutto has been watching this for us. the president was asked flatly if he would consider amnesty for snowden in exchange for snowden coming clean with all those documents. pick up the story. >> that's right. he said he couldn't comment on it because snowden is still involved in a legal proceeding but he certainly did not endorse the idea. in fact, he laid out how he continues to believe snowden did quote, unnecessary damage to both u.s. intelligence gathering and diplomacy. however, he did acknowledge his administration hasn't gotten intel gathering right and is

looking seriously as changes. under continuing fire at home and abroad for the nsa mass surveillance, today the president signaled real changes to come. >> we may have to refine this further to give people more confidence and i'm going to be working very hard on doing that and we've got to provide more confidence to the international community. >> reporter: one possible reform, moving data on billions of phone calls of americans from the nsa back to the phone companies. >> programs like 215 could be redesigned in ways that give you the same information when you need it without creating these potentials for abuse. >> reporter: his promise comes as the nsa's intelligence dragnet is proving even bigger than was known. new documents revealed by edward snowden and shared with the "new york times" revealed the nsa spied on the israeli prime minister, the u.n. and businesses, including french oil giant total and the european competition commissioner overseeing u.s. companies such as google. this after the administration has long insisted the nsa does

not spy for commercial purposes. today, the nsa reaffirmed that point, saying in a statement we do not use our foreign intelligence capabilities to steal the trade secrets of foreign companies on behalf of or give intelligence we collect to u.s. companies to increase their bottom line. critics of surveillance say the president should accept most or all of the recommendations of a reform panel of intelligence and legal experts. >> they have done this for a living and have made those decisions that are key to keeping america safe. >> reporter: the aclu also a strong critic of mass surveillance, took a lighter look at the nsa. ♪ they know who you call and who you write ♪ >> reporter: this youtube video timed to christmas. as we reported earlier in the week, the president said he will make a speech in january, a definitive statement, he said, on changes to the nsa. you know, now the president is on his way to hawaii for vacation, but you remember hawaii is of course the place where snowden did all his

snooping to reveal those documents. so snowden could escape the u.s. but the president can't escape the story. >> the president deserves a little vacation. he did seem to throw the director of national intelligence, general james clapper, under the bus a bit, didn't he? >> he did. he said in answer to a question about clapper's comments earlier in the year before snowden's revelations that the nsa does not do this kind of spying, he of course had to walk back those comments when we saw these revelations, the president said hey, listen, you're equating me with james clapper, not the best support for your director of national intelligence. the president said he stands by all the statements he's made on the program, even going back before the revelations. >> those comments jumped out at me when i heard them. >> no question. >> not every day you hear the president speak like that, even indirectly criticizing the director of national intelligence. >> republicans calling for him to resign. >> yeah. all right. thanks very much, jim sciutto. up next, the arrest and strip search of an indian diplomat sparking anti-american protests but demonstrators in new york turn out to support the

u.s. crackdown. and a general gone wild. a nuclear missile commander loses his post after boozing and boorish behavior abroad. we have the details. if yand you're talking toevere rheuyour rheumatologistike me, about trying or adding a biologic.

this is humira, adalimumab. this is humira working to help relieve my pain. this is humira helping me through the twists and turns. this is humira helping to protect my joints from further damage. doctors have been prescribing humira for over ten years. humira works by targeting and helping to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to ra symptoms. for many adults, humira is proven to help relieve pain and stop further joint damage. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal events, such as infections, lymphoma, or other types of cancer, have happened. blood, liver and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure have occurred. before starting humira , your doctor should test you for tb. ask your doctor if you live in or have been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. tell your doctor if you have had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have symptoms such as fever, fatigue, cough, or sores.

you should not start humira if you have any kind of infection. ask your doctor if humira can work for you. this is humira at work. i dbefore i dosearch any projects on my home. i love my contractor, and i am so thankful to angie's list for bringing us together. find out why more than two million members count on angie's list. angie's list -- reviews you can trust.

india is demanding the united states apologize for the arrest and strip search of an indian envoy in new york accused of paying a domestic worker much less than promised in a visa application. while the arrest has sparked anti-american protests in india, there was a demonstration in new york today applauding the u.s. crackdown. our national correspondent deborah feyerick is joining us with more. >> a lot of people came out today, about a couple dozen

people, to show solidarity to let the nanny know and other domestic workers that in fact they're not alone, that the behavior among diplomats and certain officials has to stop. >> domestic workers! >> reporter: in a show of solidarity, nannies, housekeepers and other domestic workers in new york city came out to support the woman who has triggered a diplomatic disaster between india and the united states. this as indian officials pointed the finger at the american prosecutor who brought the charges, calling u.s. attorney overzealous, saying quote, the entire case is cooked up. >> if you have a problem about compliance with the law, just tell us. what would we do? either withdraw the person, the employee, or just negotiate some exceptions and they are possible. it can be done. >> reporter: suggesting there had been a warning, the u.s.

attorney said earlier this week that in fact, the indian government itself has been aware of this legal issue and that its diplomats and consular officials were at risk of violating the law. indian officials who point out that he is a man of indian origins says his actions stem from what they call his own political ambitions. a spokesman for the u.s. attorney declined comment. the 39-year-old diplomat has now been given a job as a counselor at the u.n. permanent mission, opening up the possibility she could receive full diplomatic immunity. that would have to be approved by the u.s. state department. she has been charged with fraud and making false statements on a visa application she submitted on behalf of her nanny, who was allegedly coerced into later accepting lower wages and longer hours once that visa was issued. her lawyer disputes the charges saying the domestic worker received two salaries, not one.

>> she paid this housekeeper exactly what she promised to pay her, well above the minimum wage. she was obligated under the contract to pay her $9.75 an hour and that's what she did. >> reporter: lawyers for the nanny deny this and say she received only one wage, 30,000 rupees a month or the equivalent of $3.31 an hour. meantime, security at the u.s. embassy in india remains compromised after local officials removed what they call courtesy barriers which keep cars and trucks from getting too close to the building. wolf, this all remains unresolved. however, lawyers for the nanny said that it was disappointing that the diplomat was trying to hide behind immunity and undermine the u.s. legal process. >> what a story, diplomatic rift escalating, it seems. thanks very much, deborah feyerick. coming up, more on president obama's news conference today.

what he said about the botched obamacare rollout. he admits to mistakes but makes an interesting turn. and glenn beck's jaw-dropping slam of chris christie. you won't believe what he's calling the new jersey governor and possible republican presidential contender. ♪ [ male announcer ] the parking lot helps by letting us know who's coming. the carts keep everyone on the right track. the power tools introduce themselves. all the bits and bulbs keep themselves stocked. and the doors even handle the checkout so we can work on that thing that's stuck in the thing. [ female announcer ] today, cisco is connecting the internet of everything. so everyone goes home happy.

the energy in one gallon of gas is also enough to keep your smartphone running for how long? 30 days? 300 days? 3,000 days? the answer is... 3,000 days. because of gasoline's high energy density, your car doesn't have to carry as much fuel compared to other energy sources. take the energy quiz. energy lives here. avo: thesales event "sis back. drive" take the energy quiz. which means it's never been easier to get a new 2014 jetta. it gets an impressive 34 highway mpg and comes with no charge scheduled maintenance. and right now you can drive one home for practically just your signature. sign. then drive. get zero due at signing, zero down,

zero deposit, and zero first month's payment on any new 2014 volkswagen. hurry, this offer ends january 2nd. visit vwdealer.com today

let's get back to our top story. president obama gets a year end grilling over at the white house from the news media after a very rough year for the president. joining us now, our chief national correspondent, john king, our cnn political commentators, democratic strategist donna brazile, former bush speech writer, david frum.

john, let me play this clip. this is the president acknowledging the blunders as far as the rollout of the affordable care act, and then he made a turn. >> 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. you've still got two million people who signed up, or more. and so what that means then is that the demand is there and as i said before, the product is good. >> so what do you think of this strategy? can he move beyond some of the failures by pointing out some of the successes? >> number one, good for him. presidents hate that question. what was your biggest failure in the year and he answered it. he meandered but answered it. it was obvious what the answer was but at least he answered. look, the president has a tough job right now. he's at the lowest approval rating of his presidency. many of his own party, in his

own party, are starting to abandon him. he's going into an election year where it will be hard to get anything done because of midterm elections. is it smart to be optimistic and view the glass as half full, yes, that's the right political strategy. the question is, can you take that attitude and make some adjustments in how you govern and then find the coalition to get stuff done in 2014, to get stuff done is still a giant question. >> he started the year at 55% job approval but let me show the numbers as it went down. in may, it was down to 53%. in june, 45%. now, 41%, which is record low as far as job approval number in our cnn polling. how does he get over this? >> first of all, by focusing on what the american people elected him to do. makes sure we have a strong economy for the future, that we can help the middle class continue to grow and thrive in this kind of economy and not focus on all the distracting things that happened here in washington, d.c. i remember we spent much of the year talking about things that didn't even exist. i'm not talking about santa or

the easter bunny, talking about fake scandals. >> like what? >> the irs. remember we spent a lot of time talking about whether or not somebody inside the obama white house was going after conservative groups. we learned the irs was going after everybody. look, i think the president is still the decider. he can still shape policy, he can help shape the debate and this president will come back. >> because on the irs, even the president acknowledged there were some mistakes that were made, serious mistakes made there. let's talk a little about this 41%. the president now at the end of his fifth year, that's where your boss, your former boss, george w. bush, was at the exact same time in his second term, at 41%. bill clinton at this point in his second term was at 56%. ronald reagan was at 63%. george w. bush never really came up much from that 41%. how does this president in the next three years come up? >> i think the president has said there's nowhere to go but up. he's quite wrong. there are other places to go beside up. there's down, there's flat.

the president has to begin to deliver economic success for more and more people. that is the great -- what is the greatest failure of the obama years, it is that although the overall course of the economy turned around, the economy hit bottom in the summer of 2009, early 2010, and has been recovering, the vast majority of americans don't feel it. for a president who talks so much about the middle class, they have not been beneficiaries of his administration. >> the economic numbers, the most recent numbers have been good. third quarter economic growth -- >> economic growth -- >> more than 4%. >> right. but that's the problem, you are teasing people. they read that things are better, the economy is better, their economy is not. this president said in his i believe 2011 state of the union speech that one of his goals was to restore americans' faith in government. that's why this website story is so damaging, because it comes on top of all the other ways that government has not worked for people over the past few years. >> want to respond? >> people are still bleeding, no question, in this economy.

this was a bad recession. the financial sector, the housing sector, millions of americans lost their personal assets, their wealth. so it's going to take time to recover. the question is are we going in the right direction versus, you know, being stuck in the past. we are moving in the right direction. we need more help from the private sector and i do believe with 44 months of consecutive job growth, the american people will begin to feel some of the strength of this economy. >> we could be in the midst a few weeks from now in a huge battle over raising the nation's debt ceiling which could have enormous implications on the economy if america's creditworthiness goes down, interest rates will go up, making everything more expensive. here's what the president said today. >> 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, it's part of doing their job. 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 goench. >> he's referring to republicans when he says i have to -- i assume folks aren't that crazy to start that -- referring to the government shutdown. >> given what happened the last couple years, i don't think it's safe to assume anything. but this is a big test of leadership. for the president of the united states and speaker boehner. the president doesn't want to go through this again because the economy is starting to come back. people don't feel it or believe it. it's been so long, such a funk, they don't believe it. the president has to hope that psychology changes early in the new year. speaker boehner has to hope that the republicans don't get blamed for anything again like the government shutdown, like the debt ceiling fight could hurt the republicans ramping up for what they think will be a big year politically november 2014. the republicans want something, paul ryan said we want

something. can they find some modest way through this, i think that's what you look for. speaker boehner does not want to have anything happen that will disrupt the trajectory. >> instead of saying he's not going to negotiate over this, they just have to do it, forget about any concessions, i'm thinking of the former president bill clinton, a man you worked for, admired greatly, would he have said in the '90s to newt gingrich when he was speaker, we're not even talking about that, it's high wmy way or the highway? >> i think the president's experience dealing with the republicans on capitol hill, you give a little, you have to give much more, keep giving, keep giving, keep giving. we need that grand bargain at some time in the future now that we've got the budget for two more years. i think the president will do well by continuing to extend the olive branch but the debt ceiling, that is one game we should not go back to the table and play. i agree with the president. we can't negotiate. we need to fix that once and for all and start working on fixing this economy so that every american feels they have a good job. >> you agree? >> you should certainly raise the debt ceiling. the republicans i think will not

be tempted to make a fight over it. first, they didn't do well on the last go-round. >> on the 16 day government shutdown. >> exactly. and second, what is coming up is the greater fight over obamacare, not just malfunctioning of the website, but the defects built into the very character of the program. the people who are getting coverage, net new coverage under obamacare are getting it through medicaid, a tremendous expansion of an old not highly successful program. the exchanges aren't working and the subsidies inside the exchanges, the way the exchanges work, they put tremendous costs on some people who are waking up to their costs in order to deliver benefits to others. that is the thing republicans are going to want to talk about. >> stand by. we've got much more to talk about. the president threw a lot of good ideas out there for our discussion purposes. also under fire for nsa snooping, did the president today just throw his intelligence chief under the bus? we will discuss that. and the tv talker glenn beck makes really shocking comments about the new jersey governor chris christie. is there a split among conservatives and is it deepening?

waffle bars... fancy robes... seems every hotel has something to love... so join the loyalty program that lets you earn free nights in any of them. plus, for a limited time, members

can win a free night every day. only at hotels.com

we're back with our chief national correspondent, john king and our cnn political commentator donna brazile and david frum. david, i will start with you. listen to the president speaking about iran and additional sanctions. there's a bipartisan group of senators led by bob menendez, democratic senator from new jersey, chairman of the foreign relations committee. he wants new sanctions approved now, would only go into effect a year from now, assuming there's no deal. but listen to this.

>> i'll work with members of congress to put even more pressure on iran but there's no reason to do it right now. i think the politics of trying to look tough on iran are often good when you're running for office, or if you're in office. >> it sounds like a real swipe at some of his democrats like chuck schumer, who wants more sanctions. bob menendez. there's a whole bunch of democrats who co-sponsored this legislation in addition to a lot of republicans. >> somebody buy the president a gift subscription for christmas to the financial times and he will read every week about the companies that are making investment commitments long term to iran. the french car makers, for example. the point of these sanctions menendez and others are pointing to is to say -- they're not for iran. to say to them you understand if the iranians defect, those investments will be worthless in six months so don't make any commitments until you know that

this deal is really working. don't make them today, wait six months. that is exactly the kind of pressure that will lead us to success. the president's approach is exactly wrong and his attitude toward the people who are right. >> even the democrats think it's good when you're running for office or if you're in office, they didn't really have substantive policy reasons to support this legislation but bob menendez and chuck schumer are doing it because it's popular in new jersey and new york. >> i think there's going to be a two-track strategy. there will be the negotiation that's ongoing with the administration, trying to keep everybody at the bargaining table, extracting as many concessions from iran as possible and congress will continue to put their foot on iran and make sure that the president will verify whatever agreement that is made. it's a two-track strategy. i don't think there's no way around it. >> the political line at the end there but it's essentially politicians being politicians, that's why in private conversations with even some of his old friends in the senate,

lot of non-love for this president the way he conducted himself as president. from democrats, sometimes it's sharp or sharper from democrats than from republicans in private conversations. the question here is what's the vote count. if the vote count is so lopsided in the senate and in the house, that the president actually vetoes the bill or does he try to negotiate some language to make it more conditional a trigger so he can go to iran and say look, i did the best i could, you guys better keep your end of the deal. >> on nsa surveillance there was an interesting exchange involving general james clapper, the director of national intelligence. he's in charge of all of the u.s. intelligence community. i will play the exchange. >> your director of national intelligence, james clapper months ago, got a question from a democrat, not a republican, about whether some of this was going on and denied it. doesn't that undermine the public trust? >> you are conflating first of all me and mr. clapper. >> wow. that jumped out at me. david, i assume it did you as well. you're conflating me and mr. clapper, as if clapper doesn't

know what he's talking about, i'm the president. >> yeah. well, the follow-up question is does your chief have your confidence. those people work for him. they can't defend themselves. it's the president's job to defend the people who work for him and if he can't, he should fire them. >> rand paul, the senator, was here in "the situation room" this week and he said not only should the president fire clapper and a whole bunch of other republicans are saying that as well, but he may be as criminally guilty as snowden for lying to congress. supposedly. >> wolf, i'm not in any of those classified briefings so i don't know just how far his misleading statement went with dianne feinstein. he has had a tremendous amount of time in government, government service employee. i'm not going to sit here and criticize him. i know in washington, d.c., you make a mistake, everybody wants your head but i'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt and hope that things can be worked out. if not, i'm sure he will tender his resignation. >> this is one of the reasons the president and administration and faith in government is down

in the polls because you have mr. clapper who tells one thing to congress, has to change it. you have kathleen sebelius who says this, has to change it. you have the president who in the early days of the edward snowden saga said some things in the briefing room, relying on what he was told by the intelligence agency, that turned out not to be true. that's why it's not just the president's approval rating that's down. his honesty, his credibility numbers are down. that's what makes it harder to scratch and claw your way back, when you've lost your foundation in addition to that top line number. >> here's my assessment from someone who has covered the intelligence community. when you have a president of the united states suggest these kinds of words about the director of national intelligence, a four star general who served 30 or 40 years in the u.s. military, implying that maybe he's not that good, that sends a pretty negative message out there as far as morale is concerned and potentially could be a problem. >> when you are less than honest with the oversight committee, that's a credibility problem that general clapper has. >> that's also true. >> absolutely.

>> there are people who have to defend him as long as they're your people. >> if he doesn't have confidence in him, he has to let him go. simple as that. let's talk about sochi, the winter olympic games in russia. the president was asked about his presidential delegation that's going, no member of his family, not the president or the vice president. he's sending a message to the russian government, there's no doubt. here's the president. >> billy jean king or brian boitano who themselves have been world class athletes that everybody acknowledges for their excellence but also for their character, who also happen to be members of the lgbt community. you should take that for what it's worth, that when it comes to the olympics and athletic performance, we don't make distinctions on the basis of sexual orientation. we judge people on how they perform. >> a clear sense of irritation that the u.s., president has

with russia's anti-gay laws that clearly have come to the fo in recent nt. >> tse laws are appalling and shocng and the campaign of oppression, larger campaign of oppression around them is disturbing both in its own right but also because it is another signal of how badly wrong this are going in russia. when a society singles out a group like this, in this way, that tells you something is sick in that society. we have lots of other business with putin's russia. the pressure on ukraine to defect from their deal with the soviet union and turn into a very corrupt fashion back into the russian space, and the massive amount of stealing and corruption that has surrounded these games in russia, the 2014 games, is a good place for the president not to be. >> what did you think of that, the decision to send this particular delegation to russia? >> i think it's a great de delegati delegation. as a former athlete, i'm proud of all the athletes as well as former homeland security director janet napolitano. it's a great group of americans

and they will represent us very well. >> what sport was yours? >> basketball, shot put. i horsed around as well. >> this was in louisiana. >> i did a lot. >> high school or college? >> high school and college. >> both? >> i often tell my nieces and nephews migraines got out in college. >> still tough today. >> i didn't know that. >> one surprise is he did not publicly mention president putin. the delegation is a clear snub. he had an opportunity there to directly say something about president putin at that event to sort of send the delegation over with the presidential wind at his back and passed up that opportunity. >> the questions have been helpful in some areas. syria's chemical weapons, the destruction of those, the interim agreement with iran, for example, maybe finding a diplomatic solution as far as its nuclear program. they joined the other permanent members of the security council so it's not all black and white. >> well, a lot depends on how successful you think those arrangements in syria and iran really are. i think -- >> getting rid of syria's

chemical weapons is important. >> yeah, but the war in syria continues. >> the war goes on. >> people are being massacred with a different form of technology is not really such a huge improvement. you know, i suppose given the choice i would rather be machine gunned to death than asphyxiated but you are just as dead. and that continues. those are not huge successes. what is happening in the ukraine is really, the russians are putting the thumb on europe's energy trachea, they are taking away one of the largest countries in europe and redirecting it away from a positive path of democracy and growth into a putin-like style of government. there's a lot to be worried about. >> the real stars of the games are the athletes. god bless them. i wish them well. i will be rooting for them. >> you are one of those. >> team usa. >> why didn't he send you? >> because he knows i don't like cold weather. >> donna, thanks very much. david, john. just ahead, general gone wild. u.s. air force nuclear commander removed from his post for bad behavior.

we are learning details of his outrageous conduct. plus, a plane crash and dramatic rescue, all caught on camera. mine was earned orbiting the moon in 1971.

afghanistan in 2009. on the u.s.s. saratoga in 1982. [ male announcer ] once it's earned, usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation because it offers a superior level of protection and because usaa's commitment to serve current and former military members and their families is without equal. begin your legacy. get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve.

now to a case of a general gone wild. a u.s. air force report revealing that a top commander of nuclear missile units was removed from his post after boozing it up and engaging in what is described as boorish behavior during a trip to russia. brian todd is here in "the situation room" with the shocking details. brian, tell us what's going on. >> the general's colleagues said they were shocked by all of

this. the report says he was often drunk, he met with questionable women and often irritated his russian hosts. one person in the general's delegation said his behavior put them all at risk. he controlled three nuclear weapons units, an arsenal of america's intercontinental ballistic missles, and according to an air force inspector general's report, on a recent trip to russia, air force general michael kerry was often intoxicated, rude and spent a lot of time with foreign women. >> exceptionally outrageous. this is a very, very serious issue, and quite frankly, cannot be tolerated. >> reporter: the report says the trip in mid-july began with general kerry drinking on the plane ride over, then on a layover in zurich, loudly proclaiming quote, he saves the world from war every day. kerry commanded the 20th air force, a crucial nuclear war fighting wing. he was in moscow to meet his russian counterparts about safeguarding warheads. but he and a colleague also met with two women, including one who said she was russian. they met on two consecutive

nights, drinking and dancing until the wee hours, the report says. on a third night, it says kerry talked for a long time with a female cigar store clerk. quote, kerry stated she was asking questions about physics and optics. former fbi officer eric o'neill, who took down spy robert hanson and was portrayed in the movie "breach" says the general may have been targeted. >> these women could be trained intelligence officers who are honey traps. their job is to seduce him and extract information from him and he's put himself in a position they have a good chance of doing that. >> reporter: the concern tonight, experts say, is that the general could have unintentionally given up sensitive information. >> he will understand not only how the missiles work but he will also understand what the missiles are targeted against so he will not only have access to the target list, he will understand something about the launch codes and he has worked in it himself as a more junior officer so he understands the procedures. >> tonight, there is no indication officials say that general kerry's behavior

impacted sensitive nuclear weapons operations and there's no indication that he went beyond drinking, dancing and talking with those women, but the report did cite him for conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman. he was stripped of his command of those nuclear units and is now an assistant at u.s. space command but still retains the rank of general. we tried several times to get response from general kerry and could not. i eventually reached his wife on the phone. she said no comment and hung up on me. >> just his interaction with russians caused quite a stir. >> according to this report, he often interrupted presentations, he often interrupted translators with annoying comments when he gave toasts, the report says he made insensitive comments about the war in syria and about edward snowden, the nsa leaker, and that really irritated the russians. >> what a story that is. brian todd reporting. a plane crash and rescue caught on camera. that white light is a small plane about to crash land near tampa international airport. the video was taken from a police helicopter on routine

patrol. the chopper pilot landed near the crash scene and pulled the unconscious man from the wreckage just as the plane was catching fire. the victim is in stable condition. the helicopter pilot and his partner are being called heroes. this just coming in to "the situation room." the ceo of target has issued a statement apologizing for the hacking that may have -- and debit card -- credit cards used at target stores saying, quote, we're in this together. as a show of good faith, targets is extending a 10% discounts to all customers who shop in the u.s. stores tomorrow and sunday. coming up, glenn beck slams chris christie, using an eye-popping choice of words to describe the new jersey governor and possible republican presidential candidate. plus the growing backlash sparked by "blackfish."

the growing public relations nightmare. ♪ [ male announcer ] if we could see energy... what would we see? ♪ the billions of gallons of fuel that get us to work. ♪ we'd see all the electricity flowing through the devices that connect us and teach us. ♪ we'd see that almost 100% of medical plastics are made from oil and natural gas.

♪ and an industry that supports almost 10 million american jobs. life takes energy. and no one applies more technology to produce american energy and refine it more efficiently than exxonmobil. because using energy responsibly has never been more important. energy lives here. ♪

some shocking remarks by glenn beck, does it shadow a conservative divide in 2016? and s.e. cupp joins us, one of the co-hosts of "crossfire." good to have you here in "the situation room." >> thanks for having me. >> are you filling in later tonight for piers morgan, you tape a long interview with glenn beck. let me play a clip and then we'll discuss. >> let me ask you about the real world. chris christie is the real word. >> yes -- no, he is a fat

nightmare. he is a nightmare. >> gull glenn, almost certainly going to return for president, and in the polls he's beating hillary clinton. >> don't care. >> we don't want to win? >> no. >> conservatives don't want to win? >> he's not a conservative. he's a progressive. look at what he's for. >> tell me how he is. have you ever looked into his nightmare of global warming? where had stands on that? >> so he's too cozy with the epa. >> you know what? you look at him on unions and think to yourself, i kind of like that, he's for freedom. but no, no, no, look at the way he looks at guns. you should be well aware of where he stands on guns. that's quite an exchange. he calling it a fat nightmare?

is that what it's going to be? republican versus republican? >> i think glenn wouldn't cal himself a republican. he puts a pox on both houses, says they're all corrupt, i wouldn't vote for any of them, which in theory is an interesting and fairly honest critique of modern politics. but in reality where i was trying to get him to go, you know, we have to vote for republicans or democrats, we have to elect people. he called him progressive, too. so he doesn't mince any words. what about electability? is that not a factor in all of this? >> i asked him about that. i asked him whether he thinks conservatives winning elections should matter. we've got to get our guys in

there. we talked about ted cruz. i asked him what a voter should do if it's hillary and chris christie, and hi answer was interesting. >> what was it? >> you'll have to tune in it's called a tease, wolf. >> i'm looking forward to it. a full hour tonight? >> full hour. >> s.e. cupp and glenn beck. >> we cover everything. lots of personal stuff. we talk about "duck dynasty" a bit. a really interesting hour. >> lookling forward to it. s.e., thank you. >> thank you. seaworld is dealing with some backlash from "black fish." martin, what's the latest with this controversy? >> hello, wolf. not unusual, because many of

them do stand up, but there's another group starting to say they're not going to go to seaworld, and that's a real problem, as we found out. a parade of performers, including heart, bare-naked ladies and trisha yearwood have bailed on gigs. >> well, i don't agree with the way they treat their animals. it wasn't that hard a deal for me to cancel. >> reporter: but as far as impact, this voice may be much more powerful. >> i felt sad how they treat them. >> reporter: after seeing the film "blackfish" she told her dad she never wanted to go to seaworld against, which was the problem sirs her fifth grade field trip in a few weeks was to seaworld. >> she said i don't want our money going to seaworld. that was pretty loud. >> reporter: as this picture posted on the web, the elementary school's annual trip to seaworld is a longstanding

tradition. the dad and daughter backed by other parents and students lobbied to go somewhere else. it worked. announcing the decision, the school's principal credited their protest for the change. i am pleased to model for our students the important of speaking up to express your views and -- seaworld says this is the only incident of a cancellation we have experienced. it may not be the last. students at point loma high school put together this individualo that starts off by thanking them for the memories. >> but after watching the documentary "blackfish". >> all those memories have been totally cheapened. >> reporter: next comes a series of critical questions. then the real punch. >> no more admission tickets. >> no more rides. >> no more teddy bears. >> what's the impact of something like that? it's damaging.

it's a cross-section of the population, clean-cut, well spoken children, talking in very moderate language, talking about how much they've enjoyed seaworld, but now they can't continue to support it until they change their policies. >> reporter: david johnson says seaworld can get by, but he's got a real problem, when kids feel this way about not going to seaworld. >> i did somebody that was actually something that was really amazing. >> reporter: seaworld took out these full-page ads in major publication, refute a lot of points. they say they don't capture killer whales, which is true, they don't, they breed them in captivity and they dot separate the mothers from the calves, and they say their orcas live as long as those in the wild, and that's something that scientists would heavily refute. >> martin, thank you very much.

coming now, white house grilling the president for more than an hour on obamacare, nsa spying and more. how did she look back on this difficult year in fbi blunder, a secret interrogation manual is made public in the most baffling way. what does it reveal? and controversial new photos of dennis rodman inside north korea right now. the trip comes as the country sends an ominous message to south korea by fax. what does it say? i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." the obamacarrollout, even poll numbers, it's been a rough year. today he was forced to relive much of it in a lengthy white house news conference. reporters grilled him on the problems that have rocked his second term, white house, some of his answers were surprising.

our senior white house correspondent brianna keilar is joining us now. what did you hear? >> wolf, maybe a sign of just how difficult 2014 was, he was pushing toward 2014, saying it is going to be a year of action, and he narrowed his priorities to the economy and immigration reform. >> it's the most wonderful press conference of the year. right now. >> reporter: president obama closed out 2013 facing a skeptical white house press corps. >> has this been the worst your of your presidency? >> were you wronged there, you were not bush but on these programs? >> the president appeared at combat tiff at times and other times conciliatory. >> since i'm in charge, obviously we screwed it up. >> reporter: instead of making excuses for the way the signature legislative achievement has implemented, he

accepted fault, but pushed back against critics in defense of the underlying law. >> versus said all of that, the bottom line is we've got several million people that will have health care that works. revelationses that the agent wall street collecting -- >> you looked the american people in the six months ago saying we have the right balance. >> hold on a second. i think it's important to note when it comes to the right balance on surveillance, these are a series of judgment calls that we're making every single day. we've got a whole bunch of folks whose job it is to make sure that the american people are protected. >> reporter: the said he would consider and make what he called a definitive statement on surveillance programs in january. he said the president pushed back against opponents on capitol hill, who have suggested they will again hold up approve

increases the nation 'the secretary has warned without an increase, the -- >> will you negotiate with house republicans on the debt ceiling? >> brianna, you know the answer to this question. no, we're not going to negotiate for congress to pay bills that it has accruesed. obama warned republicans not to swanner the glimmer of goodwill from the recent bipartisan deal. >> i can't imagine that having seen this possible daylight breaking, when it comes to cooperation in congress that folks are thinking actually about plunging us back into the kinds of bringsmanship and governance by crisis that has done us so much harm over the last couple years. >> reporter: if that wasn't enough, to send republicans a message. >> i've got to assume that folks

aren't crazy enough to start that thing all over again. >> reporter: some republicans actually agree with president obama, but they also say it doesn't help that president obama was poking house republicans in the eye. >> breaux ana, thanks very much. meanwhile, a manual the fbi fought to keep secret has been revealed until very unusual circumstances. it's shedding new light on how the fbi conducts interrogations. cnn's crime and justice correspondent joe johns is working the story for us. what have you found out? >> wolf, this document appears to reveal details the government didn't want people to see, a by the book explanation of how teams getting ready for court should conduct interrogation overseas, including terror suspects. tonight the fbi is trying to figure out how something like this is available to the public. >> the government says how to the manual is unclassified, but sensitive enough for the fbi to

redact large portions before releasing it last year in response to a freedom of information request. fast forward to this new article detailing on you "mothers jones wrgs writer nick bouman discovered it. >> i got a tip that there might be something there. >> reporter: there was apparently sensitive information that we were not -- live in the files with anybody with a library of congress card to inspect, including decline for fbi teams preparing for litigation. >> i've been saying this isn't going to work out, you know? there's no way that someone could be this silly to deposit an unredacted document here. and it was genuinely shocking when i got there, and it was unredacted. >> reporter: we confirmed with the copyright office that the document is in the files, but first you have to pay a fee, then a waiting period. then when you get to see the document, you can't make copies

or verbatim notes. bow man was under the same rules, but recalls details. >> what stuck out to me was the first thing that this is a document that the fbi intended for its clean teams to use, and clean teams are groups of fbi investigators who go in and prepared evidence for federal court. and yet this same document had been criticized by the aclu, human rights activists for being questionable. >> reporter: still how this all happened is being called both bizarre and baffling, especially because the author, an fbi agent called papers to copyright a document. mike years of age is a former fbi agent himself,. >> it's a document produced at the public's expense, and certainly isn't something that can be copyrighted. >> a law enforcement source with knowledge of the situation told cnn tonight this was a

well-intended manual put together by an fbi agent to assist with interrogations overseas. none of it was classified or secr secret. it's our understanding that the initial redactions were done to conceal techniques and methods, but no information how it ended up in the copyright office. >> i've been in washington for a while. i don't remember anything like that. >> this is a story i haven't written before. >> thank very much for that report. still ahead new pictures of dennis rodman inside north korea right now. we have details of what his's doing in one of the world's most secretive countries. one of the most controversial people in sports, mike tyson opening up to rachel nichols in a very candid interview, about. bus first this "impact your world." six days a week 73-year-old clyde heads to a workshop in this backyard to make a little magic.

>> they are primarily toys with wheels. i've got some cars, i've got some animals. >> vogel has been making toads for operation christmas child for close to a decade. the program is run by the charity is a mare tan's purse and gives them to children in need around the world. >> i see the joy in their face when is they get them. it captures my heart. >> reporter: woodworking has always been his hobby. >> after i was retired, i was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy, which limited me. i wanted to give of myself. i saw in a catalog where i could buy a kit to make 100 cars. >> reporter: he's donated around 100,000 toys. >> i've got a map in my shop and i have a pin for every country

that i know my toys have been. if i get tired of doing this, i look at that map, yeah, that's why i'm doing that. so i keep going. this was the hardest decision i've ever had to make. jim, i adore the pool at your hotel. anna, your hotels have wondrous waffle bars.

ryan, your hotels' robes are fabulous. i have twelve of them. twelve? shhhh, i'm worth it& what i'm trying to say is, it's so hard to pick just one of you, so i'm choosing all of you with hotels.com. a loyalty program that requires no loyalty. plus members can win a free night every day only at hotels.com hoo-hoo...hoo-hoo. hoo-hoo hoo. sir... i'll get it together i promise... heeheehee. jimmy: ronny, how happy are folks who save hundreds of dollars switching to geico? ronny: i'd say happier than the pillsbury doughboy on his way to a baking convention. get happy. get geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. hmm. mm-hmm.

[ engine revs ] ♪ [ male announcer ] oh what fun it is to ride. get the mercedes-benz on your wish list at the winter event going on now -- but hurry, the offers end december 31st. [ santa ] ho, ho, ho! [ male announcer ] lease the 2014 glk350 for $419 a month at your local mercedes-benz dealer. [ chicken caws ] [ male announcer ] when your favorite food starts a fight, fight back fast with tums.

heartburn relief that neutralizes acid on contact and goes to work in seconds. ♪ tum, tum tum tum tums! new photos of the nba star dozen any rodman inside north korea right now. it's day two of his controversial visit to the isolated country as a guest of the brutal regime. its leader, kim jong-un, who rod

man calls a close friend. anna, what is the latest about what we know about dennis rodman in north korea? >> reporter: wolf, surprisingly the very day that den knit rodman arrived, north korea sent a fax to south korea threatening to strike mercilessly and without notice if these andy regime protests continue. south korea responded by saying if there was any provocation, it would retaliate. all of this just adding more attention to the trip to north korea, where he's there, his good friend kim jong-un, and to play some basketball. >>. today in north korea, dennis rodman was back in the game, seen here in new photos on the court playing and later posing with members of the north korean national basketball team in pyongyang. at times, the often outrageous

52-year-old smoked a cigar, watching players practice through the sidelines. rodman's tour through the kingdom is part of an effort to prepare the north korean team to prepare for an exhibition team. the former chicago bull arrived in north korea with a documentary crew in tow. the same day north korea sent a threatening message by fax machine to its southern neighbor, telling south korea it would strike mercilessly without notice if recent protests held in seoul against the brutal dictatorship continued. rodman is the only american every granted access to north korean's supreme leader kim jong-un, who they calls, quote, a close friend, for this trip, it couldn't have come at a more awkward time. north korea appears to be going through the most serious political upheaval in decades

after his ingle and mentor was executed last week. the state agency call him come, who was worse than a dog. analysts believe the -- >> he has power and there's no limit upon it, that no one should question him, he is to be respected even if he has to kill for that respect. >> reporter: rodman says he's not concerned about his safety. he's just there to teach basketball and he's not planning to discuss the imprisonment of american missionary kenneth bay sentenced to 15 years hard labor. >> if they wants to talk about it, great, but i'm not bringing it up. i don't want him to thing, you know, i'm over here trying to be an ambassador and trying to use him as being his friend and all of a sudden i start talking about politics. it's not going to be that way.

>> reporter: now, wolf, that exhibition game they're preparing for will take place in two weeks, but we are hearing reports that rodman is having difficulty signing up the american team, which of course would be made up of ex-nba stars. apparently a couple are a bit concerned about their safety heading into north korea. but, wolf, rodman has said there's nothing to be afraid of, it's all love here. >> love is good, i guess. thanks very much, anna coren in seoul. joining us rachel nick dolls, her show quinn unguarded" airs later tonight. dennis rodman notoriously eccentric when he was a player, since then. this bond that he's forged with the young north korean leader kim jong-un. >> i will preface this by saying i certainly am not in the mind

of dennis rodman, and that's probably a good thing, but he's gone on record, he does like attention, he is certainly getting a lot of attention for this. also it wasn't that long ago that a ex-wife of him had him in court saying he owed her $800,000 in back child support payments, so the question has come up, how much money is he being paid to go over to north korea. dennis, of course, won't talk about that or how much of a facto that money is, not question the politics, but there are a lot of people who say that his line of reasoning, that he's just using sport as a way to find common ground between the west and a country that otherwise doesn't have any ground to -- well a lot of people think that's faulty reasoning. >> how does the nba, the professional community reacting to the push to play basketball with other nba stars.

>> i'm talked to a few players. most give you the standard speech, yeah, dennis, he's crazy. but i talked to other players who are special embarrassed about it. there are guys who say, i don't know who he thinks he's going to round up, the retired players that are supposedly going to play in january, but again, you have to go back to the dollar. if there's enough big checks, unfortunately there are a lot of broke former nba players, and if they're offered enough, you would they he can round up a team. >> in general, nba players, where do they stand these days on making over public political statements. >> it's interesting how the pendulum has swung. we remember in the '60s, bill russell, and lot of them willing to step out there. the nba was at the forefront of a lot of politics. then in the '80s, with the age of branding, michael jordan was

always held up as the athlete who wouldn't discuss politics, wouldn't use his position that it would hurt his brand. we have seen it swing back a bit again. lebron james came out strongly when the trayvon martin case was in the news. we've seen other players come in on the left or the right in the nba and nfl in recent years. so i think in general people kind of like it when their athletes show a bit of political side. it makes them rich are, more interesting. it dropped depth to why people loved watching billie jean king. not a lot of people like the politics he's bringing. >> before we take a break, and i want you to stay with us, when i was in new york three years ago, i saw this basketball that the former secretary of state

madeleine albright had brought to kim jong-il, a basketball signed by michael jordan. it had a revered spot in the national museum there. they love, love, love nba basketball in north korea. stand by, rachel. we have more to talk about, including the nba superstar kobe bryant coming decrease -- was out from injury. did they make a mistake paying him all that money? rachel has some thoughts. and we'll hear part of rachel's interview with boxing's mike tyson. >> money is a false sense of security. it makes you believe that you can't even die, or make you even turn into a coward.

sleep train's interest-free for 3 event ends sunday! it's your last chance to get 3 years interest-free financing

on beautyrest black, stearns & foster, serta icomfort, even tempur-pedic. plus, get free delivery and sleep train's 100-day low price guarantee. but hurry, sleep train's interest-free for 3 event ends sunday! superior service, best selection, lowest price, guaranteed! ♪ sleep train ♪ your ticket to a better night's sleep ♪

we're back with rachel nichols. it's one of the controversial figures of the history of sports. that would be mike tyson. what did he have to say? >> we talked about everything. we talked about his childhood, growing up in brownsville, brooklyn, which he referred to basically as a slum. he said he was arrested nearly 40 times by the age of 12. he didn't know where his next meal was coming from, sometimes he would steal, running with the wrong crowd. we talked about how you go from a childhood like that to being a superstar almost instantaneously. take a listen. >> how do you deal with going from that to become a guy when you're only 29, you're the heavyweight champion, and once you get there --

>> money is a false sense of security. it makes you somewhat believe you can't even die. it somewhat makes you come turn to a coward. here's what i know. people are not born humble. people have to be humbled in order to appreciate the value of line. we no that he struggled with fame, with money. he burned through a reported $300 million was sent to jail on a rape charge he still denies. so he was interesting, opening up about what that journey was to go through. he's stages a successful one-man show, written a book, become a boxing promoter. he accused don king of stealing tens of millions from him, so he says the best advice he gives young boxers is have your lawyer be your entourage, your groupie. so it was a funny interview as well as touching and -- and he gives me tips on how to keep a

pet tiger. i know that that's a special interest of yours. >> i love those tigers. recently, not that long ago i was on a flight with him. he could not have been nicer, very soft-spoken and very nice. >> did he talk your ear off? >> no, no, he was very nice. let's talk about kobe bryant. he just came back, now out again with a knee injury. did the lakers make a mistake by signing him to the huge contract extension? >> i'm personally a believe we don't want to make these pronoun pronouncements, this was a huge mistake or this was so good. if kobe comes back for the injury, and it turns out to be something of a free thing, the lakers will feel like they got their money's worth. they wanted to make a statement to not only kobe that they valued his loyalty, but to the rest of the league.

they still are trying to attract other players, other agents. they felt like by rewarding kobe, they are showing that they're a class organization that really values the guys contributing to them. that's all well and good if kobe is healthy. if he doesn't end up injured on and off, no matter how loyal you are, it's a mistake if you have a bunch of money tied up in a player who can't play. >> fair points. rachel, as usual, thanks very much. you can catch a whole lot more of rachel nichols on the program "unguarded" tonight at 10:30 p.m. eastern only here on cnn. check it out. remember, you can always follow what's going on, tweet me at wolf blitzer. before we go, merry christmas, happy new year to all of our viewers out there. i see you back here in 2014. "crossfire" starts right now.

tonight on "crossfire." he's at an all-time low in the polls. >> my polls have gone up and down a lot. >> his agenda has stalled in congress. >> i'm going to keep at it. >> what about next year? >> i think 2014 needs to be a year of action. on the left, van jones. on the right newt gingrich. in the crossfire, penny lee, a democratic strategist and john feehery, a republican strategist. has the president bottomed out? what's ahead in 2014? tonight, in "crossfire." welcome to "crossfire." i'm newt ging arrive on the right. >> i'm van jones on the leave. in the crossfire two political strategists from both political parties, a tough year for the president, but sure picked a great day to hold a press conference. today we learned that the economy is coming back stronger a than anybody thought. it turns out in the third

quarter, the u.s. economy grew by a smoking hot four percentage points. consumer spending way up, housing construction way up, business investment is way up, unemployment is down, and so are the gas prices, and the stock market closed at -- just this afternoon. the president has taken his lumps, especially over obamacare, but today is a good day to give him his due. he's brought us back sis his predecessor wrecked the economy. if the numb her holds up, i think santa claus will bring president obama a wonderful 2014. >> wonderful to see the spirit of christmas descend over you. you know, the biggest thing happening in the economy is the explosion in oil and gas capability, all of it on private land, despite cutting back on federal production. and the fact is that that breakthrough is lowering the cost of centering for manufacturing, so all of the gs