>> life skills. >> in the end, this food is not just fantastic. it truly is inspirational. tom foreman, cnn. >> i better try another taste. washington. >> you better. well, that's it for me. i'll be back at 5:00 eastern on "the situation room." "newsroom" continues right now with brooke baldwin. brianna keilar, thank you so much, my friend. i'm brooke baldwin. great to be with you on this monday, this holiday week. and here's what we begin with today. hackers stealing debit and credit card information from millions of target shoppers. perhaps including you. forcing them to change pin numbers or get new bank cards. and now, in the name of preventing more potential fraud, at least one bank, specifically chase, has but a skwiez on those same customers. here's the deal. mandatory spending limits on chase debit cards that were used at target. those same chase customers now have a limit.

you can only withdraw up to $100 from the atm. all of this with just a couple days left to finish your christmas shopping. and some target customers fed up with the entire debacle. they're fighting back in a very, very big, very american way. they filed suit. george howell joins me live outside of a target in chilly illinois on this monday. i read about this this morning. we're not talking one suit or two suits. multiple suits here. >> yeah, brooke, we're talking about at least from what we have heard so far, three possible class action lawsuits. and there could be more to come. when you think about the timing of what's happening here, right before the christmas rush, we're talking about sales that are dear down at target stores and shoppers, some shoppers who are finding other places to shop. some last-minute christmas shoppers may be frozen in their tracks because of the massive security breach at target. jpmorgan chase, the nation's largest bank, has temporarily placed limits on those

customers, potengsotially impac by the hacking. chase clients who shopped at u.s. target stores between november 27th and december 15th can now only withdraw $100 a day from atms. their daily total spending now capped at $300. with 40 million credit and debit accounts now considered compromised, irate customers took target to task online. one tweet reads, quote, my bank account got hacked and now i can't finish christmas shopping. @target, anything to help? another chimes in, the moral of the story, target hacking and chase bankcard limits have a backup plan, cash, paper checks, gift cards, one other bank card. and other hacked customers are asking why it wasn't noticed sooner? >> they purchased six gift cards of $200, and as the person in the bank told me, they went for a seventh and it was denied because they didn't have enough, and i think that would have been

suspicious. >> u.s. senators ruche richard blumenthal and chuck schumer are demanding immediate federal investigations to prevent a breach like this from happening again. >> we could get to the bottom of how target's in-store payment plan was compromised in order to make sure that target in the future and all other stores adequately protect consumers from this kind of devastating theft. >> some customers in california have already filed what could become a class action lawsuit against target, saying the chain, quote, failed to implement and maintain reasonable security procedures and practices. target said on sunday it notified millions of affected customers via e-mail and is working with the secret service and financial institutions to resolve the problem. they also offered customers 10% storewide discounts this weekend as well as free credit monitoring.

so brooke, you know, this has certainly put the focus on these data breaches. it's also put the focus on the cards that we use. we all have them, the cards that have the magnetic strip. according to the national retail federation, those cards can be easily compromised. it's the same technology from cassette tapes, mixed tapes. same technology there. easily compromised and can be copied, brooke. >> listening to your piece, i don't know if a 10% discount is going to cut it for some of the people. what have they told you today? >> it's been a mix, brooke. interesting mix. you know, i talked to a few customers. they said, look, we're going to keep shopping just like we usually do. i want to step out of the way and show you, it's a parking lot, but in the context of what we're talking about, is this normal? well, customers say, yes, and in fact, this is what you would expect this time of year, more shoppers at the store. so we're hearing people are still going to the store. however, one person told us instead of using my card, i'll

use cash. you see some of that here. just given what happened with the security breach. >> can you blame them given what happ happened? george howell for us in illinois. thank you. now to this, we have this today. president obama has signed up for obamacare. apparently, all the way from hawaii. he's of course on vacation there. athena jones also there, not on vaxz, covering the president and first family. the president signed up for the bronze plan. what else are they telling us? >> hi, brooke. the president signed up for a plan via the washington d.c.'s health care exchange. he used the d.c.-run marketplace. he selected a bronze plan, an individual plan, so not a plan for the whole family. just a plan for himself. he has not yet paid for his premium, the white house says, but of course, they say he will. this is symbolic because the president already gets health insurance through the military. this is as part of his job. but the white house says he wanted to sign on as a show of support to these exchanges, to

really set an example for all of these folks who really do need to sign on this week. certainly by tomorrow, in some states, a little longer in order to have coverage starting in january. one more bit of news, brooke. as this deadline was fast approaching over the weekend, officials say a million people visited the federal website, healthcare.gov, so that's an early sign there was a surge in interest leading up to this deadline. >> okay, and as the president is resting up in hawaii, his staff back home saying obamacare hopefuls will have until the end of tomorrow, not today, to enroll for coverage that would kick off the first of january. thank you. they are citing possibly a last-minute rush. let me read you part of the statement we were given this afternoon, quoting here, anticipating high demand and the fact that consumers may be enrolling for multiple time zones, we have taken steps to make sure those who select a n plan through tomorrow will get coverage for january 1st. so there is that for you today. there is also this. we have this. this is opposition to obamacare.

it keeps increasing. look at the numbers with me at the top there, 62%, even though the white house suggests it's pasted this whole bumpy rollout. john avlon is with me now. cnn analyst and also with the daily beast. nice to see you, sir. >> hey, brooke. >> let me begin with a left-field question. how many times since the first of october, how many times did you think the president swivelled around in that oval office chair, typed in, you know, healthcare.gov into his browser, can't get in. picked up the phone, you know, i don't know if he's yelling, but speaking sternly to someone, and then said this is my big achievement and you're blowing it, people? >> seven. seven, brooke. no, i'm totally making that up. i have no idea how many times the president yelled at his staff. >> several. >> but at least several. look, that's the key point. you've got the key legislative achievement of this

administration. and the rollout is a face plan, and obviously, that's frustrating because it's not just an indictment of the president and his signature legacy, but it calls into question liberalism's idea that it can solve problems. that's why we saw the president's poll numbers take a dip since the flawed rollout. even if you're commander in chief, you're still subject to the tyranny of the tech guy. that's something they're trying to fix. >> speaking of poll numbers, the poll has other gloom and doom numbers. let me pass these along. 42% say they're worse off now with obamacare out than they were before. and opposition among women, specifically, has hit 64%. when you're looking at the polls and i'm looking at the polls and things of this nature, do you think the president over 2013, i have to imagine, i don't know if he's thinking this is old news and he's 20 steps ahead. if so, what do you think he's looking toward, looking at? >> i think he's cheering on the

coming of new year. he wants to turn the page on this last six months or last three months at least. these poll numbers are serious. they show that the trend is not the president's friend. that perceptions are hardening against obamacare. there's still plenty of time for them to right the wrongs, but you never get the second chance to make the first impression. right now, people are projecting all their frustrations about the health care system on health care reform. whether that lasts to the mid-term elections in november, that's the big question in washington and the administration. the administration has made good faith efforts to fix the rollouts, but the poll numbers show women moving against it and opposition increasing. that's not where the president and the administration wants to be. they have a lot of ground to catch up in the first quarter of the new year. >> happy holidays to you and margaret. >> thank you. >> a strong weather system bringing a dose of winter and spring-like storms to a huge section of the country. this weekend, the outbreak brought this deadly mix of tornadoes and snow and ice and

floods. at least ten people died across parts of the south and midwest. especially hard hit, parts of mississippi where tornadoes lifted homes off their foundations and just totally collapsed roofs. yikes. the ice so thick atop stores in this oklahoma city outlet mall, it snapped and one after another after another, look at the shoppers standing around and watching this. tumbling down. thank goodness no one was hurt. from oklahoma city to new england. firefighters rushed to rescue this pup from the icy river. oh, the dog was very cold and very wet, but very okay. so that's good news there. the bone-chilling temperatures combined with blowing snow, made driving conditions just absolutely treacherous in the upper midwest. as for those of you in manhattan, beautiful heading through central park, new york city warming up to a balmy 70 degrees on sunday, but enjoy it now. it will be short-lived as the mercury will fall drastically

over the next couple days. as we look ahead to this week, to christmas, how cold might it be? i'm afraid to ask you, chad myers, tracking all the cold weather and looking at your map and seeing negatives. >> yeah. forget about 70 in new york until maybe april. >> forget about it. >> i mean, it's going to be 40 degrees colder coming up this morning, than we were over the weekend. and i can't believe you didn't give a reporter in honolulu a little jab about 76 degrees in honolulu, considering now it's 86 degrees colder in fargo. how about that? >> pretty sweet gig, but she's working this christmas week. >> it feels like 27 below in minot. the pets feel this temperature, your skin does, your car doesn't, but it's cold out there. make sure pets are taken care of. ceder rapids, 22 degrees below zero right now. raining in new york and raining most of the day. still icing across parts of maine. this is going to continue for the next couple of hours.

then finally head on out. one more thing, a lot of travelers thinking about heading oefr seas. if you are, there are significant delays expected across parts of england, whalal even into glasgow and dublin. winds will go up. this large low-pressure center there, that circle, i can put that low right there, is the same pressure as a category 2 hurricane. >> okay. look at you, chad myers with the international travel forecast. wishful thinking, perhaps, that we would be hopping overseas. thank you very much. coming up next, a new chapter in the "duck dynasty" controversy. phil robertson's comments about homose homosexualty have ignited conversations nationwide. one of those with a strong opinion is a sheriff in georgia. here he is. he's allowed a&e to film some shows in his county, but he says, nope, not anymore. we'll ask about his decision and how the folks in his county feel about his stand against the

cable network. that's next. you're watching cnn. >> we are a lender in the new york city market in rent regulated housing. we're positioned to create better banks down the road. by creating better banks, we create real value for our shareholders. if we create better value for investors and safer banking institutions, everyone wins. new york stock exchange is where we evolve to. as we became a bigger and bigger company, we needed to be on the new york stock exchange. my psoriasis keeps showing up. all her focus is on me. but with these dry, cracked, red, flaky patches, i'm not sure if i want it to be. this is more than uncomfortable, it's unacceptable. visit psoriasis.com where you can get refusing to hide, a free guide filled with simple strategies for living well with psoriasis. learn more at psoriasis.com and talk to your dermatologist. open to innovation.

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just in to cnn, a federal judge rejecting ohio's ban on same-sex marriage. the judge found the ruling to be unconstitutional and authorities

must recognize those marriages on death certificates. the decision result from a lawsuit filed by two gay men whose spouses had died and wanted to be recognized as married on their death certificates. the narrow ruling only applies in those cases, but his decision could lead to new lawsuits chaging the ban. >> "duck dynasty" star phil robertson doubling down on his controversial comments from the interview he did with "gq" magazi magazine, saying, hey, don't blame me. everything i said comes from the bible. i'm quoting him, i'm just reading what was written over 2,000 years ago. those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom. he goes on. all i did was quote from the scriptures, but they just didn't know it. whether i said it or they read it, what's the difference. the sins are the same. humans haven't changed. and one sheriff in georgia agrees with the "duck dynasty"

star. he's phil miller, and he talked to the atlanta journal constitution and said he will no longer allow a&e networks to film in his town. "duck dynasty" is not filmed there. that show, per se, but there are other a&e shows that are. this sheriff told the atlanta paper, quote, if you can't speak about what's in the bible, that's wrong. joining me now, sheriff phil miller. sheriff, welcome. >> good to be here, brooke. >> let me just begin with this. i know you will say, given what phil robertson said and what you agree with and his ability to speak up, what would change your mind with a&e? would anything change your mind? >> well, if they did the right thing. i don't think you should be punished for your belief in the bible and what it says. that's -- that's no disregard to anybody. i think you have a right to believe what you want to believe, but when somebody

punishes you for your belief and your christian values, which is the foundation of this government, i believe, it's been a part of our history throughout our history, and i believe a person ought to get to believe in the bible without repercussions. if a&e does the right thing, i'll do the right thing. >> what is the right thing? bringing phil back on the show? >> well, i think so. if his punishment was for what he said, that the bible said, then i think the right thing to do is no harm, no foul. and let him do what he was doing. >> i'm curious, in douglasville, douglas county, what kind of support have you gotten among those in your community, among your colleagues. i have to imagine a&e, shooting shows in your county brings money to town. so how many are standing with you and how many aren't? >> well, i think it's probably 80% for, 20% against.

you know, a&e doesn't pay us for those shows. we do them because we get publicity from it and it helps support our program, the mace program, which is our scared straight program in douglas county. so it doesn't affect us monetarily. they're here for a day, and they're gone. >> i see, i see. >> you know, i don't want to do anything to hurt the economy in douglas county, but sometimes somewhere, somebody has to stand up and say, hey, what about us, too? and i believe in tolerance. i love everybody, but i simply think that tolerance ought to work both ways. >> let me ask you this, because i know we have phil robertson and the comments he made. he said he was roughly quoting the bible. you agree with what he was saying. let me flip the script a little bit on you. let's say someone, reality tv star, someone said something roughly paraphrasing the koran. let's say you did not agree in

belief with what that person said, but you stand by this notion of, you know, freedom of speech. would you feel the same way as far as doing the same thing? making sure a&e can't come to your town because that free speech has been breached? are you following me? >> well, i do follow you. in fairness, i don't know what i would do, except i know this. i would protect their right to free speech. if somebody violates the law, whoever you are, and whatever you are, it's my job to protect you. i will try to do that. >> whether you believe what they were saying or not? >> absolutely. >> okay. sheriff phil miller from douglas county, thank you very much. happy holidays, sir. >> thank you, merry christmas to you. >> thank you. coming up next, do you recognize this woman? we'll show you. if not, i know you have seen this tweet. she said going to africa. hope i don't get aids. just kidding. i'm white. yep, she tweeted that.

so much trouble, so few characters. the pr executive made headlines. she has lost her job. we're asking, how does a single tweet turn into an online firestorm. plus, cnn has confirmed the u.s. is moving marines to africa. we're going live to the united nations to see how this could impact americans still in the south sudan. ♪ [ male announcer ] how could switchgrass in argentina, change engineering in dubai, aluminum production in south africa,

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are on standby to head into a country on the verge of a civil war. i'm talking about south sudan where a daring weekend mission to rescue americans had to be aborted when their aircraft came under intense fire and they tried to land here. four navy s.e.a.l.s were hurt in that attack. the american civilians were trying to go get to, have since been safely evacuated, but there are still americans left behind. just about 100. and president obama says the u.s. has no choice but to get more troops involved.

we know that the president wrote a letter to congress, basically talking about protecting u.s. interests over there. what interest is he referring to in. >> the embassy and u.s. civilians working for u.n. agencies or working there with usaid, trying to build the country of south sudan. it was in the u.s. interests to do that. they tried to push this project ahead. now it's falling apart in front of its eyes. >> the other major layer of the story, we talked about this earlier. this is an oil-rich country. a country that had been fighting to break apart from the northern part of the nation for years and years. finally did so in 2011. what's the fight really about? >> the fight is really over power. power in the country. you can say it's also connected to the oil money because the government is funding 98% by that money, and it's just now starting to flow. but what has happened is here, the president, the majority tribe of the country, there's

like 40 other ethnic groups that are really involved. what held them was the war, the war against sudan to break away. >> now that they have broken away -- >> they can't share power. they're not sitting down. they're not being adults. >> who specifically? who is fighting whom? >> the various different groups that have control of their own local areas are now -- in other words, the oil-rich area was not taken over by the rebels. the leader there just decided i'll join the vice president's break-away group. that's what they have done. more people rebelling, if you will, against the leadership of the sudan people's liberation movement. the splm. they were in charge of it. it's shaking apart at the seams. nobody wants to see this because they know how volatile, how dangerous it is. most of those who have been killed are precisely just innocent victims of one ethnic group or another. and if they allow this to -- somebody has to get a handle on

this. they have to get the people to sit down and talk. they have take off the military uniforms and somehow become diplomats, but it's worrisome. the first $4 billion went missing from oil revenues. >> just gone? >> just gone, and the president appealed for people to give it back because he knew it was public officials who took it, but that's what's happening in south sudan. >> now that we have a better grasp, we'll take you to the united nations live next hour with more on what's happening and how this affects us here. jim clancy, thank you. an american locked up for months and months in the united arab emirates made this parity video, has been sentenced. his punishment for making this mockumentary, one year in prison. his brother telling cnn's new day, it just doesn't make sense. >> this is horrifying. you know, the uae tries to position itself as being this modern society with its film festivals and trying to host the

world expo 2020. this tells the world it's not as modern as it likes to make people think it is. it was a fictional video. it was a comedy video with no intent to harm. and it -- it was pretty clear. and he's already been in there for eight months. and there's no reason why he has -- should have to spend any more time in jail. we don't feel this is justice. >> the video in question poked fun at dubai teenagers who are influenced by hip-hop culture. this apparently, quote, defamed the uae society's image abroad. a pr executive, celebrity, and a state lawmaker. what do they all have in common? they tweeted and the twitterverse fought back. next, why the mob mentality has the power to sink anyone.

welcome back. bottom of the hour. i'm brooke baldwin. did you catch the seahawks/cardinals game. they beat the seahawks by seven points, ending their home field winning streak. seahawks fans predictably upset. many took to twitter to voice their displeasure.

one notable tweet from a washington representative. tweeted, losing a football game sucks. losing to a desert racist wasteland sucks a lot. yeah, some folks in arizona and beyond, not too happy with that tweet. also making waves in the twitterverse this weekend, comedian steve martin tweeted out a joke that many of his followers slammed as racist. he deleted the tweet, issues an apology statement, and then justine sacco. the twitter faux pas took the internet by storm this weekend. the now former pr executive tweeted before hopping on a flight, going to africa. hope i don't get aids. just kidding, i'm white. yep, she tweeted that. she worked in pr. by the time she had landed in johannesbu johannesburg, twitter was on fire by people outraged by the tweet. many calling for her to be fired. later, she was dismissed by her company, iac, and issued this

emotional policy. joining me, brian stelter, and clinical psychologist dr. jeff gardere. gentlemen, welcome. this is so much bigger than this one tweet, because yes, justine's tweet, yes, it was offensive and wrong, but if you were on twitter friday, and you saw the hash tag, #has justine' landedyet. twitter was ready to pounce, wanted to see the chaos that ensu ensued. i want to turn this around on us. why do we care so much? >> these story, let's take justine sacco. they're like fireworks. they light up the sky. everyone is attracted to them. everyone wants to watch them, but they can be dangerous just like fireworks. these are cases, all of the ones you mentioned are cases where people may go too far on the internet, but the people who respond also sometimes go too far. we have to make sure we take the high ground when we think someone has been inappropriate

own offensive. >> people jumped on her when she was on the flight, taking it to such a low level, saying i hope you get aids. which is ridiculous and you can hide behind this twitter avatar. >> what's crazy about that is she was obscure on twitter until that day. nobody really knew she was there. the people who were messaging her were making the same mistake. they were being just as rude as she was. >> what does this say about us, we the people? this twitter mob justice mentality, taking people down. do we get some sick, you know, do you enjoy watching people go down? what's with us? >> sigmund freud once said get a life. look, what's going on here, a lot of these people are on twitter. a lot of the tweets are very, very boring. when they happen to get one of these twitter feeds that says something that is outrageous and yes, this young woman was outrageous, but i don't believe one tweet proves that she's a

racist. what she said may have been or was in fact racist, but it means that it doesn't mean that she's a racist. and brian is right. two wrongs don't make a right. we instead should be the conscience here on twitter. and we should correct her, her tweet. but we shouldn't wish her such bad things, for her to get aids and so on. it's the wrong thing to do. >> agree. i'm like, do a lot of people not have holiday parties to go to. >> it's sort of a reflection of all of us. charlie wrote a really good common tear over the weexd who said the internet, this is not about twitter or facebook. this is all about of us. the internet really is everything now. when we see these things happen online, it's a version of what's always happened in quote/unquote real life in the quote/unquote town square. it's a reflection of our humanity. >> at the same time, i have to awhen we're looking at the tweets, the tweets don't have a tone. they don't have facial gestures.

we don't see a body language. so something that's put out there with limited characters, it just becomes a raw shock, where everyone reads something into it that may not have been the intent. just like steve martin. no one knows him as a racist. he was in the movie "the jerk." he parodies black people. nobody said he was a racist then. you take that one tweet where no one knows the context it's coming from and then bam, he's in big trouble, but at least he apologized. she apologized. people should be allowed to apologize and learn from their mistakes. >> a lesson to every single one of us. once upon a time when there was no twitter, she may have whispered this to someone, now it's a tweet and a video and it's like, what's next? that's a frightening thought. guys, thank you very much for talking to me today. we are learning more as far as how the pridz has signed up for health care under his new law. and well, given the details we're learning here, it may

ruffle some feathers for you. a live report on that. that's next. also, space walk part two is scheduled for tomorrow. details on the risk, the emergency, and the new space suit technology. that's next. stay with me. wife, mother, marathoner. but one day it's just gonna be james and her. so as their financial advisor, i'm helping them look at their complete financial picture -- even the money they've invested elsewhere -- to create a plan that can help weather all kinds of markets. because that's how they're getting ready, for all the things they want to do. [ female announcer ] when people talk, great things can happen. so start a conversation with an advisor who's fully invested in you. wells fargo advisors. together we'll go far. wells fargo advisors. "stubborn love" by the lumineers did you i did. email? so what did you think of the house? did you see the school ratings? oh, you're right. hey babe, i got to go. bye daddy! have a good day at school, ok? ...but what about when my parents visit? ok. i just love this one... and it's next to a park. i love it.

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earlier in the show, we

talked about how president obama has officially signed up for obamacare today, so we've got new details to even update that. just in to us at sn sn, we're learning how the president signed up and given the debacle that we have been reporting on the last couple of months, you may not like to hear some of what we're learning. the president on christmas vacation in honolulu. that's where athena jones is there. athe athena, when we say the president signed up for this bronze plan on obamacare, he wasn't actually on healthcare.gov? >> no, he was not on healthcare.gov. he signed up through washington, d.c.'s exchange, so in any case, he would have done it through the website that washington, d.c. runs. he didn't do that either. the president's staff signed him up in person in washington, d.c. they say they cited his complicated -- the complicated nature of the president's case. they said that required an in-person sign-up, so his staff

went to go do this. they said, as you would expect, the president's personal information is not readily available in the variety of government databases that healthcare.gov uses to verify identities. so that's the explanation we've got. an interesting tidbit because of course as you mentioned, there are a lot of folks who had a lot of problems signing on to these websites, whether it's healthcare.gov, the federal exchange, or the exchanges run by individual states or in this case, washington, d.c. a little bit of interesting tidbit as we approach the deadline. >> i was wondering if and when there would be a photo op of the president signing up. athena jones in honolulu. thank you very much. now to american astronauts onboard the international space station will be spending their christmas eve doing something so dangerous it was banned for much of this year. i'm talking about a space walk. and it all started when this crucial pump malfunctions earlier this month. but then to further complicate

things, water was found inside of one of the space suits over the weekend. cnn's alexandra field has a look at why the water is so alarming. >> just wanted to verify there's no rips exposed, correct? >> nasa astronauts on a mission to make repairs at the international space station spend five and a half hours on friday on a high-stakes space walk and they'll do it again christmas eve. if you thought your holidays had high drama, it doesn't compare. >> i don't know if you believe in miracles, but i got the hinch pin on the first try. >> that's awesome, rick. >> it's sort of like a really complex ballet with only two performers. >> the astronauts have already successfully removed a faulty pump that's needed to pump in the space station. >> nice work, rick. >> a new pump was supposed to be installed today but will now be delayed untim tomorrow after a potential problem with the space suit was discovered saturday.

>> the only issue i personally am having is it's very, very cold. >> one of the suits showed maybe a sign that it got a little water into the evaporator on the back, which cools the suit when you're outside. >> nasa says the astronaut wasn't in danger and the issue with the space suit isn't related to what happened in january. that's when italian astronaut nearly drowned after water leaked into his helmet. a reminder of the dangerous nature of the work being done 220 feet above earth. >> astronaut is off structure. >> what do i do? >> the recent hit movie "gravity" puts a highly dramati dramatized science fiction spin on spacework, risks every astronauts on every mission understands. >> the movie gravity is a good movie, but you probably don't want to watch it in state. >> maybe not, they'll have a new space suit ready to wear on tuesday. >> you're welcome. thank you, good job.

>> alexandra field. cnn, new york. coming up after this quick break, she went from this to this. why this former eagles cheerleader traded in her pom-poms for a combine. [ sniffles ] i better take something. [ male announcer ] dayquil cold and flu doesn't treat all that. it doesn't? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms plus has a fast-acting antihistamine. oh, what a relief it is!

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a former nfl cheerleader traded her pom-poms for military fatigues to join the armed

forces. now she's being honored by the philadelphia eagles. she's rachel washburn, a first lieutenant with the u.s. army. the 25-year-old did two tours of duty in afghanistan and received a bronze star. so if you were watching last night at the eagle game, the team recognized its former cheerleader for her heroic achievements. her father, an air force and army vet himself, nominated him. she is considering reenlisting in the army next year. and you know, there may not be a ton of football happening on christmas day, but there's no shortage of new movies opening up. you have mandela, long walk to freedom. stallone and de niro's grudge match. justin bieber's believe, but the movie i'm most excited to see stars leonardo dicaprio because he heads back to the big screen in this new film based upon this real life disgraced financial

exec in the wolf of wall street. some of the hard parties scening from the film seem too crazy to be true, but they're not so far from what happened in real life. >> my name is jordan. the year i turned 26, i made $49 million, which really pissed me off because it was three shy of a million a week. >> i said we would reach new levels of productivity. we look back and say the numbers that we have been doing four or five months ago were nothing. i make one more guarantee. six months from now, what you're doing right now is going to be nothing again. >> this is the greatest company in the world! >> when i made my first $600,000 in one trade, i went out and

bought a white ferrari testarossa. not a yellow one, not a black one, not a white one. you know why? because it was the car that don johnson drove in miami vice. >> a great life, huh? >> a lot of guys here right now, in a few months, you're going to be making a lot of money. >> is all this legal? >> absolutely not. >> oh, yeah, i was greedy. thousand dollar suits and gold watches and you know, the drinking at lunch, and the cocaine at the end of the day, and it was almost like adult disney land for dysfunctional people, basically. back then, i had 1,000 best friends. everyone was my best friend. because everyone wanted something from me. everyone could benefit from what i was doing. i was really generous with my money. yeah, sure, didn't have any meaning to me. it was like monopoly money to me.

>> can you make us enough money? >> oh, my god. >> it's part of everybody here, not me, not kenny, not a couple partners. it's made up of everybody here. you guys are part of. you built it. without you, it doesn't run. if we all stick together, next year at this time, we'll be double the size. we already are the most powerful firm, but we'll be a legend on wall street. that's our goal. all right? totally going to see that this week. wolf of wall street hits theaters christmas day. coming up next hour, this -- >> i feel her. i can feel my daughter. i just kind of feel like maybe she's trapped inside her own body and she wants to scream out

and tell me something. >> a routine surgery became that mother'snightmare. and now the parents of a teenager left brain dead after a tonsillectomy are rallying to keep her on life support. we have an update for you at the top of the hour. stay here. "stubborn love" by the lumineers did you i did. email? so what did you think of the house? did you see the school ratings? oh, you're right. hey babe, i got to go. bye daddy! have a good day at school, ok? ...but what about when my parents visit? ok. i just love this one... and it's next to a park. i love it.

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a super model killed by her

famous boyfriend on valentine's day. a teenage athlete suffocated inside a gym mat, and a shooting spree inside a military base. we can't close the books on 2013 without a look at the year's most notorious crimes and trials and mysteries. here is ashleigh banfield. >> number ten. >> we have a report that shots have been fired at the washington navy yard. >> the u.s. navy is telling us three shots were fired. they tell us an active shooter is still inside that building. >> former navy reservist aaron alexis, a military contractor, gunned down 12 people before police shot and killed him. number nine. the mysterious death of 17-year-old kendrick johnson. >> got some questions about the kendrick johnson case. >> i'm not going to discuss that with you. >> why not, sir? >> because our case is closed. >> his body found upside down in

a rolled up wrestling mat in the high school gym last january. local authorities ruled it an accident. kendrick's parents believe he was murdered. now federal authorities are investigating. >> we are kendrick johnson. that's my child and we're going to fight until it's all over. >> number eight. oscar pistorius, the blade runner. a double amputee, beloved south african olympic athlete, indi indicted on charges of murder in august for the shooting of his model girlfriend, reeva steenkamp. he admits he shot her on valentine's day, but says it was an accident. his trial starts in march. number seven. california teen hannah anderson rescued after a week-long hunt for her abductor in august. family friend james dimaggio killed her mother and her brother and the family dog. their bodies found in his burned

home. fbi agents killed him in a shootout. number six. a woman who needs no introduction. >> could have at least done your makeup, jodie, gosh. >> her outrageous behavior in the inteaerrogation room, the brutal murder of her ex-boyfriend, travis alexander, and ex-rated details of their sex life gripped the nation. jodi arias convicted of first degree murder, but the jury could not decide if she should live or die for the crime. number five. a gang of bikers taking on an suv driver on a highway in manhattan. his wife and 2-year-old daughter inside. it started with a bump. and moments later, this terrible scene. the driver runs over one biker. his wife says he was left paralyzed. 11 other bikers, including an

undercover cop, are indicted. number four. edward snowden. branded by some as a hero. by others a traitor. for exposing the nsa's spying programs in may. perhaps the biggest intelligence leak in u.s. history. charged with espionage, granted asylum in russia. number three. george zimmerman. found not guilty in july of murdering trayvon martin. >> do you think he's yelling help? >> yes. >> a tragic case that ignited questions about race. >> trayvon martin put race in this. >> no. >> you don't think that creepy ass cracker is a racial comment? >> no. >> a 17-year-old in a hoodie with a pack of skittles, enduring images from a case

that's prompted cries for civil rights charges. and an emotional debate, even the president weighed in. >> if i had a son, he would look like tray vaughn. >> since zimmerman's acquittal, he's had a few other run-ins with the law. number two, inside a cleveland house of horrors. three girls kidnapped, raped, and held captive for more than a decade. but on may 6th, amanda berry, gina de jesus, and michelle knight finally broke free. >> i will not let the situation define who i am. i will live on. you will die a little every day. >> ariel castro sentenced to life in prison plus more than 1,000 years. >> am not a violent predator, a monster. i'm not a monster. >> ultimately, he would do himself in, killing himself in his cell. that was ten through two. this is number one.

>> apparently, there's been an explosion at the boston marathon. i am told. >> a 26-mile, 385-yard marathon. and it was wrapping up. wrapping up when you look at these devastating pictures right at the finish line. these are pictures that were shot just moments ago. >> double-bombings at the finish line of the boston marathon on april 15th. three people were killed, 264 others were wounded. >> get them back! >> and days later, a police officer would be killed. another wounded. within four days, one suspect, tamerlan tsarnaev, shot and killed by police. then the manhunt for his brother, dzhokhar, that shut down the city. >> we believe that the suspect is cornered in a boat. >> tsarnaev arrested april 19th.

and later charged. now, the u.s. attorney is deciding if he'll face the death penalty. the attack knocked the city down, but it was far from defeated. >> i kind of feel like we're all bu boston. >> the whole country united with one re-sounding message. >> strong. not just strong. boston strong. >> ashleigh banfield, thank you very much. i will not ever forget being in boston at that time. you can vote on the top ten overall stories of 2013. go to cnn.com/yir for year in review. and we roll on. hour two. i'm brooke baldwin. we begin with this story. this stanford doctor could have the last world over jahi lives or dies because this court appointed dr. paul fisher to look at the 13-year-old from oakland and decide if she was truly brain dead. her family and her supporters marched today in oakland,

demanding a hospital keep her on this ventilator. jahi was declared brain dead back on december 12th. three days after a tonsillectomy. the hospital says there is no chance of recovery. but her family insists anything is possible. stephanie elam is covering this one for us today. and she joins me now. so stephanie, i mean, as far as the timeline goes, if this doctor confirms that jahi is brain dead, which two other doctors have already done, when will the hospital ultimately make this decision and remove her from the ventilator? >> yeah, brooke, this decision really at this point, rests with this judge that did grant this family the court order to have this independent review. we now know it will be this pediatric neurologist from stanford university. once the review comes in from the doctor, the judge will decide. the two other doctors that reviewed jahi previously, those were both doctors from the children's hospital. the family wanted this

independent review, but they have indicated if this does not go the way they would like, they will look to try to find another place to keep jahi on the ventilator someplace else. do we know what going to happen there? no, we don't. right now, we're still hearing the ending of the hearing wrapping up today about the doctor being appointed. that is the unknown question as we head towards christmas, brooke. >> speaking of christmas, i mean, i had heard, i had read this family specifically wanted to keep their daughter on the ventilator at least through christmas day. do we know if that, at least, will be honored? >> we don't. i do think it would probably be a difficult one to argue, to take her off on, say, christmas day, if in fact the judge comes back with the findings from the other doctor tomorrow. that's christmas eve. the family wanted room for a christmas miracle here. this is something that they were asking for. they believe that jahi is still maybe trapped in her body, that she is still alive despite what the doctors were saying.

they want to give chance for her to come back. they're saying the body is warm to touch, that she responds to touch from her mother, from other people around there. while at the same time, the hospital is saying that they do not want to give into the idea of false hope here. so when you look at this entire context of what's happening now in this case, brooke, it really does come down to the family's faith versus what the hospital calls false hope. >> we know that the family has asked this alameda county prosecutor to investigate. what about potential just looking down the road, stephanie, potential criminal charges, a civil case. has the family said anything? >> we have to keep in mind that we have not heard from the hospital exactly what went on here. we only know some details through the family. the hospital says they are not able to speak further about this because the family has not permitted them to do just that. where all of this in mind, we can only go off what we heard from the family. the hospital says the case is being investigated by the state. they're looking into it to find

out how a catastrophic event could take place. looking into the future, do i think it will end tomorrow? the family has a lawyer who has been representing them and pushing forward their efforts. i would not be surprised if we see the case pushing on forward. >> jahi's mother will be live today on "the lead" coming up next, 4:00 eastern. definitely stay tuned for that. we have gotten word today from the white house that the president has signed up for obamacare, but we have also gotten this slight clarification here. we were asking about this, the fact he did not enroll through a website. the white house is saying him being the president, they had to take some extra precautions so the sign-up was done in person. the first lady, you see her with her husband, with the president at a hawaii basketball game last night. first lady and kids staying on the president's government plan. he is doing obamacare out of solidarity, says the white house. and mark preston joins me now from washington. he's our cnn political director.

and so mark, first, just backing up and talking about the way in which the president or really others helped the president sign up for obamacare, let's talk about the optics. >> all about symbolism. all about symbolism. he signed up for a plan through the d.c. exchange. we heard from the white house that in fact he's going to pay the premium and he's not going to use the coverage because as the president of the united states, he gets his health care through the military. whenever he travels, he is followed by a doctor and an ambulance everywhere he goes, but the symbolism is at a time when the white house is trying to get americans to sign up, is big because imagine if he had not signed up and the criticism that he would have gotten had he not done so. >> polling, mark preston. you have been looking at a lot of polls, we have been looking at a lot of polls. there's one today that said if the president thinks obamacare headaches are behind him, he has another thought coming. >> he does. he's probably happy he's in hawaii, away from obamacare in

some respects. we have a new cnn/orc international poll that shows support for the health care law is plummeting. look at the numbers. an all-time low. 62% of americans right now oppose the health care law. just to break this down a little bit. a couple key points. first point is he is losing it because of the increase, the people think it's going to cost them more money. it's going to hit them in their pocketbooks. 63% of americans think it's going to cost them more money. a couple key demographic groups that are really hurting, the president when it comes to this, are women. we also saw in the poll, dropped six points in the last month among support among women for health care and in fact, just last week, we saw michelle obama, president obama, invite mothers to the white house to talk about health care. we also saw organizing for america to put out a web video in essence trying to encourage their parents to encourage their kids to get the health care coverage. so he has a lot of work to do

right now, brooke. >> let's take a listen to that. >> are they wanting to basically come to the realization this is all america's willing to pay and this is what they're wanting for what they pay and are they getting the best product? don't say this is what you've got to buy whether you like it or not and you're going to pay more even if you didn't think you were. that's where we are. >> otherwise it falls underilities own weight. >> if it becomes more than we can absorb, absolutely. >> it's not only that he's losing support of americans. he's losing support of democrats on capitol hill. he's heading into the final few years of his presidency. when you have democrats right now openly questioning whether or not you can put the health care law into action, that's really problematic, not only for the president when it comes to health care, but also the rest of his political agenda moving forward. >> people are wondering how this will affect the midterms. thank you very much. happy holidays to you, my friend, in washington.

now to this. some 100 american civilians trying to get out of south sudan. this is a country on the brink of civil war, and right now, a group of marines are on standby, waiting for orders to get in there to rescue these americans. this after u.s. military aircraft came under heavy fire this weekend as they tried to get in there and rescue this group of americans. four navy s.e.a.l.s were hurt in that attack. president obama saying the u.s. really has no choice but to get more troops involved. cnn's fred plightcon is at the united nations for us today in new york. what are you learning about the possible u.s. marine mission? >> it's something that's being ramped up. one of the things that's happening is these marines have been called from a base in spain and moved into jumbuta, which is of course, in africa. just to be close to where things are unfolding at this point in time and to be able to get in there as fast as possible. one of the reasons why they're

there and the main reason is to protect u.s. individuals and u.s. assets on the ground in south sudan, especially the u.s. embassy. the u.s. has already moved a couple dozen soldiers into that area in the past couple days to help protect the embassy, but they believe more might be necessary. it is something where the whole situation is very volatile, the u.s. really wants to be shire it can protect its assets on the ground, especially if more u.s. citizens need to leave the country as quickly as possible. >> the embassy, what kind of threat is it understand right now? >> it's difficult tosy, but the situation is volatile. you have fighting that's going on in the center of the country and the north of the country, especially in the oil-rich areas. keep in mind the conflict going on right now, this sort of conflict spiraling more to more to be an ethnic conflict started in the capital of juba when part of the presidential guard revolted against other parts. there was fighting in the

streets. iit's certainly at the moment in the capital, it might not be that bad, but it could spiral out of control at any moment. >> a u.s. envoy to south sudan talked to the president. do we know what came out of the talk? >> donald booth spoke to the south sudanese president, and he said the most important thing he took out of this is that the president is willing to talk to the main rebel leader who is somewhere in the country. nobody really knows where he is, but he certainly does have a lot of military assets under his control, especially in the north of the country. he said as soon as the opposition is willing, he is willing to talk to them. when that's going to happen, whether or not the talks are going to be fruitful is something that is not clear, but the u.s. special envoy has said the talks are very frank. he made very, very clear these two sides have to come to some sort of agreement because this country is a very young country, a very volatile country. they have seen ethnic questidit

the past, and the situation can get out of control very quickly and it's in a neighborhood of countries that have been very unstable in the past. one being the central african republic, which has seen almost civil war like action in the past couple weeks as well. >> you'll be watching it for us, fred, in new york. thank you. here at home, 40 million aeblthss hacked. target shoppers -- telling some of its shoppers, i should say, telling the shoppers to watch your bank accounts closely. some of the victims are saying target should be held accountable. do they have a case some we'll ask that question next. plus, never thought i would be saying this. al qaeda says, i'm sorry. we'll tell you why the terrorist group is apologizing for one of its recent attacks. has pretty bold flavor. i love bold flavors! i'd love it if you'd open the chute! [ male announcer ] progresso. surprisingly bold flavor for a heart healthy soup. the day building a play set begins with a surprise twinge of back pain...

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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. shoppers at one of the nation's largest big box retailers are suing the store. i'm talking about customers at target whose credit and debit cards were compromised by hackers and now at li three lawsuits have been filing against the store. now add this layer. target shopper whose bank at chase now have spending limits

imposed on their cards and atm withdrawals. chase says it's to protect their customers from further fraud. let's bring in danny cevallos. i'm wondering if this is three suits going on, 333, given all these victims here. do you think these lawsuits will move forward? >> oh, definitely. i think we'll see more. what you're seeing right now in class action land is a race to the courthouse. each of these cases wants to be the first one and first in time so they can secure their place in line. but this will definitely be -- this is a perfect class action, all the individuals have very similar claims. although the dollar amounts may be different. i would look for this to get certified. this is a good case, as class action lawyers say. >> what are they looking for? what's their argument? >> their argument is going to be straight negligence to start with. when they gave that credit card information to target, target was entrusted with the care of that data. and clearly did not do what it

was supposed to do. now, target's ceo has issued a statement saying, hey, it's okay to shop at target. we figured out the problem. we just won't tell you what the problem is right now. so i think a lot of attorneys and a lot of consumers are very curious as to what exactly the mistake was. >> you mentioned the ceo. we know that target announced they're working with u.s. secret service. working with the doj on investigating this data breach. and where does target go from here? >> well, target has to take a look at their security measures. they're working with the secret service because the secret service, most people don't know, are in charge of the currency. the same people that investigate counterfeiting. but target has to go forward and re-evaluate its security procedures, its protocol, and evaluate if they don't already know what happened, once they find out what did happen, then they nide to fix it. but in the meantime, the rest of us are stuck with $100 spending

limits at a particular bank over the holidays. >> people who especially are waiting last-minute to buy the holiday gifts to go to the atm are going to the atm and saying uh-oh. >> that's me. just came from there. absolutely. uh-oh indeed. absolutely. so frankly, i'm not even done. let's be candid. ultimately, they're going to have to figure out a way to safeguard this data, but the loser in this is the consumer. the consumer is going to be hit with spending limits. they may have their credit damaged because of this oversight. a 10% discount at target is probably not going to make them feel much better. that's what target has offered. >> and danny cevallos, you outed yourself to your friends and family, saying you started your christmas shopping. nice work, my friend. nice work. actually, i started the other day myself. no shame in that. thank you very much. happy holidays to you. good luck with the shopping and getting the money to shop. >> meantime, dennis rodman has left the building, or at least he has left north korea, but he

is planning to go back soon. so why does the former nba star seem to like it there so much? our next guest will shed some light on a few of the perks, as they were, that rodman might be enjoying in the hermit kingdom. stay here. 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.

the start of winter rolled in with a powerful and deadly punch. at least ten people were killed from flooding and tornadoes that hit parts of kentucky and mississippi. when you look around, there was massive snow and ice storms and even record-breaking warm temperatures. >> he couldn't control his car. then the other one came down, too. that's why this one is facing up. >> i came outside and everything was covered with ice. about a half inch. went to clean off the car, and that was a fun task. >> we were sitting in there for our afternoon snack, just sitting there. wind came up and it went everywhere. >> no clothes. the christmas gifts were demolished. everything is gone.

>> it does not take very much water to cause issues when you're driving through it. >> there it goes. >> i wouldn't be standing there if i were you. >> come back. >> we got to go back. >> yeah. >> truly is a catastrophic ice storm we've had here. probably one of the worst we have ever had. >> i brought boots to walk through snow. i have a heavy parka, and i was so warm yesterday that i had to buy a t-shirt so that i could come out. >> the weather's great. fantastic, but it doesn't feel like christmas. it's actually kind of like a global warming christmas. >> that's a hat. she's feeling very springlike. sorry, i couldn't help it. right? >> she's going to the kentucky derby. >> in new york. central park. chad myers, it is oddly warm

there. my producer said he was in chicago over the weekend and a balmy 35 degrees. what's going on? >> another cold front coming down. we had a jetstream going up, and that's where it was warm, and down is where it was cold. now we're kind of switching positions for what was warm is now going to we cold. it's 25 degrees below zero with the windchill factor in minot, north dakota. you're feeling that on your skin, but the pets are feeling that, too. please don't make them stand out there in the cold. make sure they have shelter. it's important because i tell you what, even farm animals get very, very cold. the winter coat, i know they're on, but get them out of the wind. still, ice around portland into maine, into bangor, and otherwise, rain showers into boston and into new york. we're not seeing very good flying conditions across the east coast today. we'll call it poor. we have some airport delays. 30 to 45 minutes in some spots, but much better tomorrow as i'll be heading to new york because they can't keep us together in the same studio for more than a day. they send us away. here comes the snow from

winnipeg to minneapolis. this is a light weather maker. probably 1 to 2 inches of snow when this is all said and done. cooler, back to where we should be this time of year and not so many giant storms like the past couple weeks. >> okay, chad, we have this one day together. we'll make it count. chad, thank you very much. in fighting for a second chance at life, she gave one to millions of other children. remember the story of sarah? we followed her story this year when the little girl fought to get a new set of lungs. we have an update for you today on her condition. plus, a popular restaurant chain reverses its stance on the controversial comments made by the "duck dynasty" patriarch. and a georgia sheriff is coming out in support of that reality tv star. all of that next here on cnn. open to ambition. open to bold ideas. that's why new york has a new plan -- dozens of tax free zones all across the state. move here, expand here, or start a new business here and pay no taxes for ten years...

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you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the mid-size price. (natalie) ooooh, i like your style. (vo) so do we, business pro. so do we. go national. go like a pro. welcome back. just about the bottom of the hour. i'm brooke baldwin. al qaeda leaders, they say a lot of things. but sorry is usually not one of them, until now. look at this. this is a military hospital in yemen. and earlier this month, this military compound where the hospital sits was attacked. 52 people killed, as militants rammed the building with an

explosi explosives-laden vehicle. gunmen stormed the compound, but now this video, this is the head of aqap, al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, apologizing. there is a caveat to that apology, though. the militants were directed to carry out the deadly attack on the compound, but were told to steer clear of the hospital. apparently, they didn't get the message. >> cnn has now learned that the exhibition basketball game planned by dennis rodman in north korea could be in jeopardy. i want you to just hold on to that thought for me for a second, bought let's first listen to dennis rodman arriving back in china yesterday from his latest trip to the north korean dictatorship. >> how was your trip? >> awesome. >> awesome. >> how awesome was it? >> i'll be coming back in about a week. >> i'll see him again.

>> did you see your friends? >> huh? >> did you see your friends? >> it was great. >> oh, my goodness. look at the reporters fighting to get the microphone and question dennis rodman. if you heard the tail end of that q & a, you heard him say he did not meet with kim jong-un. as you probably know, the 6'7" rodman has become strange bed fellows with 5'5" kim. rodman is supposedly training a basketball team to take on a squad of unnamed americans. with that, joining me from washington, josh rogin of the daily beast. nice to see you. you know, everyone's out there asking what the heck is dennis rodman up to? hanging out with lil' kim, the lil dictator. forgive me. what do you think about that? >> i wasn't there, but according -- >> you weren't if. >> according to intelligence sources and experts and

according to rodman's previous accounts, he was treated to a level of hospitality that regular officials and visitors can't imagine. >> be specific. >> he talked about a seven-day trip to what he called pleasure island. a private island which only kim jung unlives in, full of private ships, booze, and everything money can buy. one insider source reported to me that kim jong-un provided rodman with, quote, special entertain nlt of the female persuasion. there's a baudoaudot of interes that shows that his interests lie beyond his love of kim jong-un. >> let me show you my shocked face. let me ask you this because we can report that the irish online service that sponsored rodman's trip may be pulling out of the whole basketball exhibition. a, have you heard that from folks you're talking to. if that's true, is this the end of the game for dennis rodman?

>> i can't independently confirm that, but this is what north korea does. they run these staged media events for the purposes of propaganda in order to distract the world that they're a murderous organization engaged in threatening the world with nuclear weapons. once those facts come to light, independent businesses that have gotten their media bounce out of attaching themselves to rodman's ridiculousness, often find the downside is worse than the upside. >> strangely enough, we have found now names thus far, so we'll see -- >> exactly. i mean, i don't go to bed with mass murderers. i don't wake up with mass murders. that's how i live with myself. >> thank you very much. daily beast there for us today. appreciate it. now to this. the fallout from the "duck dynasty" controversy shows few sides of fading. in fact, this is only getting

bigger. the star of the show, phil robertson, you know the deal. he's been suspended after the remarks he made to "gq" magazine sparked both outrage and support. a&e, the home of "duck dynasty," suspended robertson indefinitely. last 9hour, i spoke to someone taking action against a&e. he's a sheriff of douglas county. he's not allowing a&e in until they allow phil back on the show. >> i don't believe you should be punished for your belief in the bible and what it says. that's no disregard to anybody. i think you have a right to believe what you want to believe, but when somebody punishes you for your belief and your christian values, which is the foundation of this government, i believe, it's been a part of our history throughout our history, and i believe a person ought to get to believe in the bible without repercussions. if a&e does the right thing, i'll do the right thing.

>> what is the right thing? bringing phil back on the show? >> well, i think so. if his punishment was for what he said that the bible said, then i think the right thing to do is no harm, no foul. and let him do what he was doing. >> sheriff phil miller had previously worked with a&e on other shows. "duck dynasty" hasn't been filmed in his county, but also swept up here in this controversy, cracker barrel. over the weekend, the restaurant announced they were pulling all "duck dynasty" merchandise from their shelves, but that announcement didn't go over too well with fans of the show. joining me now, nick valencia on all things "duck dynasty" today. let's just begin with cracker barrel. what happened when they said they're yanking the stuff? they were facing a boycott and they caved to that pressure. they have a lot of support, "duck dynasty," phil robertson has a lot of loyal fan. they started to hear pushback. they decided to do an about-face on the decision to remove the

items. they released a statement saying when we made a decision to remove and evaluate certain "duck dynasty" items, we offended many of our customers. our intent was to avoid offending, but that's what we have done. you told us we made a mistake, and we're putting all "duck dynasty" items in stores. at its height, 14 million viewers. >> a week. >> you're right, a week. this really comes down to money. >> this is all about the patriarch of the show, phil robertson. we have not heard much from him since he talked to "gq" until now. >> until now. he held a bible study in louisiana, and he was defiant. he stood by his comments saying he's not going to apologize. he's not a hater. he's a lover of all men and women. he went on to explain that his comments in the magazine, saying i'm just reading what was written over 2,000 years ago.

those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom. whether i said it or they read it, what's the difference? the sins are the same. not only is the daily mail reporting he's getting support, but people are thanking him for saying what he said. >> galvanizing a whole group of americans. when this broke, we were quoting the likes of sarah palin and ted cruz and bobby jindal. now we're hearing from the lieutenant governor of louisiana saying this is great for louisiana tourism wise. >> he's upset at a&e saying it ties into the tourism. a lot of people go to louisiana bah they want to see where the show was shot and filmed. >> do they really? >> that's what he's saying and he said it has a direct role in tourism. he is saying this will be detrimental. >> stay on it. >> we will. >> thank you. coming up, a story you saw here first on cnn. this little girl, long denied a desperately needed lung transplant because of her age, finally gets one. in doing so, gives a second

chance to so many other children. >> i'm not going through easy. i'm just going for possible. >> oh, this is an amazing story. stay tuned for this exclusive interview. we will show you what possible looks like. open to bold ideas. that's why new york has a new plan -- dozens of tax free zones all across the state. move here, expand here, or start a new business here and pay no taxes for ten years... we're new york. if there's something that creates more jobs, and grows more businesses... we're open to it. start a tax-free business at startup-ny.com.

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two teachers in south carolina jumped into action after a bus full of kids starting to veer out of control, and the whole thing caught on camera. watch this with me. the driver was tossed from his seat after he apparently ran a stop sign, tried to make a late turn, sign language interpreter lee morris here is grabbing the steering wheel. and that's when if fourth grade teacher leapt over the jam the brake. >> honestly, i remember thinking i have seen this on the news. i cannot believe this is -- i'm in this situation. this is happening to me. at that moment, i don't think i was fearful. i was very scared when we went through the stop sign. i was very scared when it felt like we were going to tip. at that moment, when i actually went over the bus driver to get to the brake, i don't think i was scared at that moment. i just knew the bus had to stop. >> you hear the screaming on the bus. amazingly, despite what we're looking at, no one was hurt.

the company that hired the driver says he doesn't work for them anymore. >> and now to a story we 1st brought you right here on cnn. the story of a 10-year-old girl who was dying of cystic fibrosis. sarah's family was so desperate to save her life, they were willing to do anything to get her the new lung she so desperately needed, so they sued, challenging this ruling that made it nearly impossible for children to get adult donor lungs, and they won. earlier this year, she was put on the waiting list. the first lung failed, but after much doubt and concern from her doctors, her progress is remarkable. jason carroll has this exclusive update on her recovery. >> four months ago, sarah could barely move in her hospital bed without help. after receiving two lung transplants. the surgeries necessary because she was dying from cystic fibrosis. her goal then was very clear. >> i'm not going for easy.

>> you're not going for easy. >> i'm just going for possible. >> this is what possible looks like now. sarah at home in her bedroom, doing physical therapy with her mother and her home nurse nearby. >> shoulders back. >> she's walking, thinking about christmas. >> i asked for a furby. >> and focusing on how far she has come. >> i knew what i was going through was possible. and it was possible for me to save myself. >> happy holidays. >> sarah's family overjoyed by her progress but still frustrated. for weeks, they pressured health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius to change the so-called under 12 policy, which they say discriminated against children. sarah was getting sicker waiting for her transplant, restricted from the adult pool of donors

was she was 10. meanwhile, adults who were less sick worrelligible for transplants under the policy. >> what we were trying to say is sarah was being treated unequally, as are other kids in her age group. >> they sued, along with another family in the same situation. a judge ruled in their favor, temporarily suspending the policy. the organ procurement and transplantation network allowing some exceptions for very sick children like sarah until june 2014. then the policy is up for review. now, sarah's biggest challenge isn't her lungs, which work fine. it's her muscles, which at rufied and her bones which weakened while she waited for her transplant. >> now, here we are, climbing out of it. and she will. but she shouldn't have been in that position. she shouldn't have had to go through this much. >> sarah knows she still has a long way to go. >> i told myself i can do it,

and i push myself. >> do you feel like you're getting better every week, every day? >> every day, i get a little stronger. >> and gets a little better. one step at a time. jason carroll, cnn, newtown square, pennsylvania. >> go, sarah, go. >> since the national policy was changed this summer, ten other kids like sarah have also been approved to receive lung transplats, they tell us what they want is better policy that would benefit all children. coming up next, apple has a new mobile deal with china. so how big is this new market that the company has clinched? here's an idea. china's largest telecom operator has twice as many subscribers as the entire population of the u.s. it grabbed the patient's record before we even picked him up. it found out the doctor we needed was at st. anne's. wiggle your toes. [ driver ] and it got his okay on treatment from miles away. it even pulled strings with the stoplights. my ambulance talks with smoke alarms

and pilots and stadiums. but, of course, it's a good listener too. [ female announcer ] today cisco is connecting the internet of everything. so everything works like never before. [ female announcer ] today cisco is connecting the internet of everything.

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astronauts on the international space station could wake up christmas morning with something they have wanted for two weeks now. a fixed cooling line. tomorrow's space walk to finish repairs on the line would be the second ever on christmas eve. remember, it was pushed back a day because of a concern there would be water in the suit. and nasa definitely does not take those issues, those concerns lightly. cnn's jason sanchez got to see how complicated they are when he toured the inside of this factory where space suits have been made ever since the apollo program. take a look. >> it's one small step for man. one giant leap for mankind.

>> since the start of the apollo missions, every space suit, including the ones worn by neil armstrong and buzz aldrin on the moon, has been made here at ilc dover's facility in delaware. >> by 1965, we won the contract as a prime contract for the apollo space suit. in the 1970s, when the space shuttle contract, we go on to build those suits and now we're building for the space station, an identical type suit. >> each suit is handmade over the course of a couple months with extensive testing for flexibility and durability. but just climbing into the suit can be a challenge. would-be astronauts first have to put on a suit filled with tubes of liquid cooling water. >> you're in the suit for six, seven, maybe eight hours working, you're working very hard, you generate a lot of heat, a lot of humidity in the seat. this helps relieve that by the cooling tubes up against close to the skin. >> and getting the entire suit on requires a bit of help. >> many layers of this.

it makes it a little difficult to get in. there you go. >> once it's on, ilc dover runs the suit through exercises to test its range of motion. >> as far as mobility, you have almost 180 degrees of rotational mobility. >> if the suit seems cumbersome now, keep in mind it's dealing with earth's gravity, 300-pound space suits are designed to work beth in a weightless environment. >> if you're in zero g, it's a lot easier. you don't have to fight the g force where i am, where you have the whole suit on your shoulders and your legs. >> ilc dover said they never had a suit fail in their mission, and testing done at their lab is part of the reason why. after all, there's no margin of

error for clothing in space. jason sanchez, delaware. >> that's too cool, he got to try that on. now to this, remember this guy? the man who helped free the three women after a decade of captivity in cleveland, is ready to tell his story. you remember charles ramsey. he has signed a book deal, gained fame after describing how he helped these three escape after a time after visiting mcdonald's. he talked to anderson cooper that week, told him what happened next. >> i'm trying to get the door open. i can't. because he done torture ch chamberred it in some way to lock it up, right? so i did what i had to do, kicked the bottom of the door. and she crawled out of it. she grabs a baby. which threw me off. okay, fine. i got some girl and her kid. >> now you can look out for his book, also amanda barry and the other two girls are coming out

with books in the coming years. the iphone might be manufactured in china but you couldn't buy one from china's largest carrier until now. this is a landmark deal with china mobile. apple now has access to more than 700 million cell phone customers. 700 million, zain asher. that has to be this massive, massive deal here with china and apple. >> reporter: absolutely. think about that, 700 million, twice the population of the united states, four times the number of users that at & t and verizon has combined. apple is basically expanding their client base without even having to come up with a new product. imagine that. here's why china is important. first of all, it's the world's second largest economy. also, they have a rapidly growing middle class, great news for apple, and the world's largest internet base as well. for apple, their growth rate in the u.s. has been slowing because when you buy an iphone you typically keep it for several years before you get a new one so they have been needing new territory.

obviously china does give them that. one headwind they do have is how to price the iphone in china. smartphones in china cost roughly around $100. the iphone 5c which is the cheaper one, costs about $700. they'll have to figure that out. but wall street definitely likes this news. apple shares rising 3% right now. >> has to be great news for the bottom line, yeah? >> reporter: yeah, absolutely. apple did make a comeback with the iphone 5s and 5c and will probably have their most lucrative quarter ever. when you open that up to the world's second largest economy that does of course mean billions. analysts estimate that could mean 20 to 30 million new customers for apple next year alone in china. >> thank you very much. coming up, this is the fun part about the end of the year, because we remember all these fascinating moments like this one. >> i do not like them here or there. i do not like them anywhere. i do not like green eggs and ham. i do not like them, sam i am. >> remember that? how about this one.

>> the fact is we have four dead americans. was it because of a protest or was it because of guys out for a walk one night who decided they would go kill some americans. what difference at this point does it make? >> the top ten political moments of 2013.

just looking back at this year we had the presidential inauguration, gop in-fighting, debates over drones and filibusters. 2013 was quite a year in washington. here is candy crowley with the top ten political moments of 2013. >> reporter: it was the year of living angrily. >> sit down and shut up. >> do you want to take it down? >> this place is a mess. >> i resoundingly reject that allegation. >> reporter: white hot rhetoric. icy cold relationships. that said, 2013 started as inaugural years often do, nicely enough. >> my fellow americans, we are made for this moment and we will seize it. >> reporter: he was a popular president with an ambitious agenda, revamping the tax code, reforming schools, better job training and new energy policy and improved voting process, immigration reform and gun control. none of it has happened.

turns out january was the kindest month. the president ends the year with an approval rating that has gone south and focused on saving the health care reform he won in the first term. >> there was a time when i was a young invincible. after five years in this office, people don't call me that anymore. >> reporter: another year like this and they will call him lame duck. paul, cruz and rubio, sons of the tea party, newbies on the block, 2016 rising. this son of cuban immigrants catapulted to star status, pushing his party toward immigration reform. >> i wasn't going to leave it to democrats to figure out how to figure it. >> rand paul blocked a presidential nominee trying to get clarity on the administration's use of drones. >> i will speak until i can no longer speak. >> reporter: and a one-off politician from the lone star state. >> keep up the good fight. thank you very much. >> reporter: ted cruz staged an

overnight faux filibuster to make the case against obamacare, filling time with a bedtime story for his kids. >> i do not like green eggs and ham. i do not like them, sam i am. >> welcome to new jersey. >> reporter: in a moment all his own, another of the 2016's rising, new jersey governor chris christie wins a landslide re-election and sounds like he's opening a presidential campaign. >> i know that if we can do this in trenton, new jersey, maybe the folks in washington, d.c. should tune in their tvs right now, see how it's done. >> reporter: also in a league all her own, the former first lady, former senator, former secretary of state, left washington for something else, but not without a few choice words. >> the fact is, we have four dead americans. was it because of a protest or was it because of guys out for a walk one night who decided they would go kill some americans, what difference at this point does it make? >> reporter: hillary clinton's

benghazi moment. if she runs for president, expect republicans to make it a tv ad moment. >> i now declare you spouses for life. >> reporter: number five brought to you by the u.s. supreme court. less a 2013 moment than a page in history for gay rights. under the cover of boring, senate democrats blew up the status quo with the first major rules change in more than three decades, banning filibusters for all presidential nominees except the supreme court, and sending republicans into orbit. >> let's not forget about the raw power, the raw power at play here. >> reporter: the change will potentially give any president with a senate majority the power to reshape the lean of federal courts. this 2013 moment, another one for the ages. coming in at number three. >> further proceedings on this motion will be postponed. >> reporter: the moments that didn't happen. work left undone. megaproblems unaddressed. gridlock, it's not just about

traffic anymore. the first government shutdown in 17 years, and people read that voters largely blamed republicans, producing the democratic talking point of the 2014 election. republicans as obstructionists. >> if we don't have our own way, we are going to shut government down. you and that attitude are a luxury this country cannot afford. >> reporter: by year's end, republicans had a counterpart. the president's affordable care act. obamacare got off to a troubled start with the website from hell. >> if you like your health care plan -- >> reporter: and his broken you can keep your insurance promise. >> when we get to january 1st it will be clear that more americans will have lost their health insurance than will sign up under the new obamacare policies. >> reporter: as it happens, the final moments of 2013 are the tee-up for the politics of 2014. shutdown versus meltdown. let the midterm elections begin.

oh, and happy new year. candy crowley, cnn, washington. >> thank you very much. we want you to vote on the top ten overall stories of 2013. go to cnn.com/yir, year in review. i'm brooke baldwin. thank you for being with me. happy holidays to you. in for jake tapper, dana bash. "the lead" starts right now. all they want is christmas with their little girl. i'm dana bash. this is "the lead." the national lead, a family hoping for a christmas miracle will now get a second opinion. after a young teen goes in for routine surgery and comes out brain-dead but is it already sadly too late? we're talking to the girl's devastated mother. also in national news, civil rights leaders call up president obama, saying his picks for the georgia bench could set back voting rights for years. civil rights icon, the reverend joseph lowrie, joins us. the world lead. pope francis tells the holy see that this i