up from prison couldn't take off because of bad weather. the trial was postponed until february 1st. egyptian authorities have accused morsi of ordering supporters to attack protesters of the guards refused to do it. morsi, as you recall, was ousted by the military during widespread protests of his rule. thanks for watching "around the world." cnn "newsroom" starts right now. have a good afternoon. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com fall out from defense secretary robert gates taking shots at the president and obama administration. the white house is firing back in its own way. >> right now, a big hit to the economy from the big chill sweeping the country. we're taking a closer look at the cost of the polar freeze. and right now, the federal government is cracking down on some diet products deemed just too good to be true. you'll want to hear what's going on.

hello, i'm wolf blitzer in washington. we start with the somewhat scathing memoir from the former secretary of defense, robert gates. in it, he takes aim at president obama and the vice president, joe biden, and other administration insiders. our senior white house correspondent, jim acosta, is joining us with some of the bombshells right now. jim? >> reporter: at his farewell ceremony in 2011, after serving nearly every president since richard nixon, former defense secretary, bob dwatgates, left pentagon, hinting he had issues with washington. >> i spent a good deal venting frustrations with the pentagon bureaucracy? >> reporter: in his new memoir, "duty", gates attacks president obama. his was the most controlling of national security any i had seen since richard nixon.

on afghanistan, he says the president doesn't believe in his own strategy, doesn't consider the war to be his. for him, it's all about getting out. and goes on to say, suspicion and distrust of senior military officers by senior white house officials, including the president and vice president, became a big problem for me. >> i think people -- his words will have significant impact. and frankly, i'm a little surprised, because a lot of times people are not quite as candid as it appears his book is. >> reporter: how is this for candid. on biden, gates writes, i think he has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades. on former secretary of state, hillary clinton, gates said "hillary told the president that her opposition to the 2007 surge in iraq had been political." considering gates place in history with mr. obama, biden and clinton during the killing of osama bin laden, the memoir is seen by some critics as an

act of betrayal. that is despite gates' assessment that the bin laden mission was one of the most courageous decisions i had ever witnessed in the white house. >> you owe your loyalty to that man or woman in the white house, and if you can't handle it, you leave. and uruguayanet. but gates wanted to have it both ways. >> reporter: back at that farewell ceremony in 2011, the president praised gates as an example of service to country. >> the integrity of bob gates is also a reminder, especially to folks here in washington, that civility and respectful discourse and citizenship over partisanship are not quaint relics of a by gone era. >> jim acosta is joining us from the white house. he did have some positive words to say about the white house, as well, didn't he? >> reporter: that's right, he did. there are a few moments in the book, wolf, we have seen some excerpts, a source close to the administration has been e-mailing out ex serts to cnn

and there are moments in the book, we mentioned one where he praised president obama's handling of the killing of osama bin laden, a courageous decision. but also complimented president obama on his decision-making style. so it is sort of a mixed bag. there were those omg moments that came out yesterday when the excerpts were released but a source close to the administration is pointing out plenty of praise for vice president joe biden, for hillary clinton also throughout this book. one other interesting thing we want to note, wolf, right now happening here at the white house, the president and the vice president are having lunch together. you may say that's not unusual. what is unusual is that for the first time in a very long time, the white house is permitting a still and now video camera photographer inside the room to observe the president, to observe the vice president, having lunch together. now, this may be perceived by some people as sort of a show of support from the president for the vice president. this is coincidentally, according to the white house,

happening one day after the revelations started to come out from this book. but a white house official has told me, wolf, this has nothing to do with the book, that this is really about opening up access to white house events, presidential events, because the news media has basically been clamoring for this at the white house. i did talk to one administration official who said they see this as sort of a happy coincidence, wolf. >> are they letting in a reporter in addition to the videographers or photographers? a reporter who might be able to ask a question or two to the president or vice president? >> reporter: no, they are not. that was not a part of the arrangement for this press access for this event. one of these photographers could conceivably ask a question of the president, ask a question of the vice president. we're waiting to see what the material is like when it comes back out of this meeting. but so far, we haven't seen it yet, wolf. >> because as you know, at least when i was a white house correspondent, when we had a pool going in for an event like this, there would always be, in addition to the photographers, a reporter who would go in, could

throw out a question. they don't necessarily have to answer the question. but we would always insist that someone be there representing the news media, ask a question, instead of just taking simple pictures. it may be a different situation right now. so we'll continue to follow what's going on. taking our viewers a little inside the political world of journalism over at the white house. >> reporter: we certainly would like to ask that question. >> my instinct has always been, if you send in photographers, you send in at least one print reporter, pool reporter or network or radio reporter, wire service reporter, who could at least ask some questions, instead of just taking pictures. we'll see what happens. >> reporter: we've been clom moring for more access, wolf, absolutely. that's right. >> let's see what happens. we'll get a picture out of it, if we don't get anything else. thanks very much. >> reporter: you bet. another story we're following right now, a search and rescue mission is under way off the coast of norfolk, virginia. navy helicopter went down in those frigid waters during a routine mission this morning. officials say there were five

people on board, four of them have been rescued. the search for the fifth person is continuing at this hour. the family of an american jailed in north korea is outraged and appalled after a profanity-laced tirade by dennis rodman. he suggested kenneth bae had done something wrong. the former basketball star went off yesterday when our own chris cuomo asked if he was planning to advocate for the release of kenneth bae while in north korea. chris lawrence is here with more of what's going on. first of all, what is the family of kenneth bae saying about this? >> wolf, they basically are saying one thing. this is not a game. despite dennis rodman sort of basketball diplomacy, to the family, this is a very, very serious matter. and they spoke to cnn about how they're feeling right now. >> i was shocked by his words. and i think i -- i don't think dennis rodman -- i'm not sure where he's getting his information. and i'm not sure how much

credence i would give to his outbursts. i don't think -- he's certainly not a diplomat, and not an authority on this case at all. and i don't think he has any -- in any kind of position to remark on his case. especially after making -- making it clear he has no intention to help. >> and that's the key for terri chung, the fact that dennis rodman would insinuate that kenneth bae committed a crime and therefore deserves to be in prison. >> a lot of our viewers don't know much about kenneth bae. what he was he doing in north korea? what was this trip about? >> the family says he was running a tour group in north korea, something he had done many times before, that he was there legally. now he is a prisoner. serving about 15 years of hard labor. kenneth bae has been in prison in north korea for well over a year. been there since around november of 2012. he is accused of hostile acts against the regime. the family says that's not the case. he had no intention to try to

overthrow the north korean government. and he is married. he's a father of three, and the big thing is the family says his health is now deteriorating. wolf, they worry that with no movement, there's no way he's going to last 15 years hard labor. >> let's hope he gets out and gets out soon. thanks very much. chris lawrence reporting. the basketball game with the north korean national team was a so oh called birthday gift from dennis rodman to the leader, king jong union, who rodman has called his, quote, best friend. rodman paid tribute before the game with this. ♪ happy birthday to you ♪ happy birthday to you >> this is not the first time a celebrity has certify natured a dictator last year, jennifer lopez sang to the president of turk men stan whose regime has been described as one of the world's most oppressive. and beyonce performed at a new

year's party post hosted by moammar gadhafi. other news. new information on a scandal surrounding the new jersey governor, chris christie. cnn has obtained e-mails written by some of his top aides that could shed some new light on this story. jake tapper, anchor of "the lead" is joining us now with what's going on. the intrigue here is intense political revenge, all sorts of allegations out there. >> it's been nothing more than allegations until today. and today we got ahold of some of these e-mails and text messages sent from individuals affiliated with governor christie, some top aides that seem to suggest, in fact, the lane closures that took place in september that caused so much havoc among commuters and parents of school kids, actually were borne from something of a vendetta against the mayor of ft. lee, new jersey, one of the democrats who refused to endorse chris christie in his re-election effort. let's take a look at some of these e-mails.

here is one from bridget ann kelly, deputy chief of staffer to david wildstein, political appointey to the port authority, that oversees the tunnels between new york and new jersey. it said, time for some traffic problems in ft. lee. that's a few weeks before these bridge closures, the lane closures on the bridge. then in september, on the first day of the lane closures, the mayor of ft. lee, new jersey, this democrat who had not endorsed governor christie for re-election, calls and says as an emergency all his constituents are writing and saying their first responders, school buses, et cetera, can't get through into new york. brigette ann kelly says, did he call him back, and wildstein writes back, radio silence. his name comes right after mayor fulop, we should say, another democratic mayor from jersey city, who had refused to endorse governor christie, who also

alleges that there was retribution against him for not endorsing him. the next day on september 10th, mayor -- the mayor of ft. lee, new jersey texts to a different political appointee on the port authority, saying the bigger problem is getting kids to school. help, please. it's maddening. somebody, we're not sure, because the name was redacted -- somebody writes, "is it wrong that i'm smiling" when david wildstein forwards this message, complaining about how horrible things are. is it wrong that i'm smiling. and this person writes, i feel badly about the kids. and then writes about a minute later. i guess. wildstein writes, they are the children of barba bueno reporters. this vendetta of revenge in this. we should point out, there is as of now absolutely no evidence that governor christie himself knew about any of this. but also no response from governor christie's office.

>> earlier he did deny any involvement and anything sordid. >> and, in fact, top aides of christie, appointees to the port authority who had resigned said that this was just a traffic study gone bad, gone incompetent. people on the port authority said they didn't know anything about a traffic study. christie said all he knew this individual said it was a traffic study gone bad and took them at their word. now there is evidence that maybe it wasn't a traffic study. one more i want to show to you. in the early mornings of september 18th, david wildstein, this port authority political appointee, friend of governor christie's, who had -- has resigned a few weeks later after the scandal became known, forwards a story from the "wall street journal" about this controversy. now, bill steppian was christie's campaign manager. bill steppian writes back, it's fine. the mayor is an idiot, though. win some, lose some. wildstein writes back, i had some empty boxes to take to work today, just in case. alluding to being fired,

perhaps. it will be a tough november for this little serbian. there is a lot for christie and his aides to explain in these e-mails, potentially very damning. >> i want you to stick around for a second. we just got some videotape of the president and vice president in the white house, having lunch. i think we're going to roll that tape. oh. we're going to get it in about 30 seconds. >> i'll stick around. >> when you were a white house correspondent at a pool of photographers, was there always a reporter who would go in with that pool in order to ask questions? >> no. and i was only a white house correspondent full time under the obama administration. sometimes it would just be photographers. and they would not necessarily -- >> because when i was a white house correspondent, we would let a pool go in, unless there was a journalist that was, you know, a credible journalist, either print, wire service, magazine, tv network, who would ask questions, as well. they don't necessarily have to answer the questions, but there would always be someone who could throw out the questions.

watch the tape here. >> okay. >> this is the luncheon. there you see the president and the vice president. let's listen in. >> 94. >> okay, guys. >> come back. >> but -- [ inaudible ] >> okay, guys, thank you. >> thank you, guys. >> all right. so there you see it. they got in there, they had 30 seconds, took some pictures, took some video, but no questions asked of the president or vice president. >> what would you ask? i would ask, if i had been there. i would have said, president obama, what's your response to

bob gates' suggestion -- >> obviously. >> bob gates' suggestion that joe biden has been wrong on every -- >> nearly -- >> nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue of the past four decades. what's your response. >> i would have asked a similar question. >> you can't crib mine. >> i would have asked, what do you say to bob gates? anything like that. but, you know, it's so frustrating. you see an opportunity there. and i speak as someone who spent many years as a white house correspondent. you have an opportunity to ask the president or vice president a question like that. >> but they're not letting the reporters in. >> isn't that frustrating? >> very frustrating. but look, the white house had to clamor for that, the press corps. >> they only wanted to post a picture on instagram and that is that. >> that's -- >> my opinion, it's better than letting official white house photographers. should let a reporter in. very limited progress. >> small. they're not satisfied. >> sensitive issue for those of

us who have worked over there. thank you. see you at 4:00 p.m. >> i'll see you then. >> you'll have a lot more on this. the big chill sweeping the nation, taking a toll in more ways than you may think. we're taking a look at the economic hit from the polar freeze. farmer: hello, i'm an idaho potato farmer. and our giant idaho potato truck is still missing. so my dog and i we're going to go find it. it's out there somewhere spreading the good word about idaho potatoes and raising money for meals on wheels. but we'd really like our truck back, so if you see it, let us know, would you? thanks. what?

that coffee breaks down tooth enamel.

thankfully, she uses act restoring mouthwash. it rebuilds tooth enamel, making your teeth two times stronger. act. smile strong. we're learning about a key meeting between federal prosecutors and chief regulator of jpmorgan chase, the biggest bank in the country. it happened as prosecutors wrapped up their investigation of jpmorgan's dealings with the notorious ponzi schemer, bernard madoff. our justice reporter, evan perez, is joining us. he has been digging on this story. tell us what you know, evan. >> reporter: well, wolf, i'm told by sources that a few weeks ago, as prosecutors in manhattan were trying to wrap-up this investigation, they came down to washington to meet with the main regulator of jpmorgan chase. that's the treasury's office of the comptroller of the currency. i'm told the meeting got tense, in some respects, because prosecutors wanted to him assurance if they charged jpmorgan with crimes, and if they got some kind of guilty plea, that the regulator

wouldn't pull the bank charter of jpmorgan chase. as you know, wolf, if you do this to a banker, you pull their license, essence. you're dooming hundreds of thousands of jobs, and probably causesing a lot of damage to the u.s. economy, which is what -- why you see yesterday, in manhattan, the prosecutors announced they had reached a deferred prosecution agreement with jpmorgan chase, under which the bank is paying $1.7 billion in restitution to victims of the madoff scam. and in essence, for the next two years, jpmorgan chase has to keep its nose clean. and there would never be any charges against them, wolf. >> let me turn to another subject that's just moving -- i know you're learning about utah. apparently they have decided in utah they are not going to recognize those same-sex marriages performed in recent weeks before a court ruled that they should put a stay on all those marriages. what's going on? >> reporter: yes. you and i were just talking about this a few days ago.

and one of the questions you had was what happens to this -- about 1,000 same-sex couples who got married in the 17 days that gay marriage was legal in utah before the supreme court put a stay. just as we were beginning the segment, utah announced they will not recognize these marriages, so now these people are in limbo while we wait to see the state's appeal go through the circuit -- the appeals circuit court in denver. these people have to wait and see whether or not these marriages will end up being valid, wolf. >> we'll get more on this story as it develops, obviously. thanks very much, evan perez, joining us. other stories we're following. how much will the polar freeze still gripping some of the united states wind up costing? one estimate says about $5 billion -- that's with a b, billion dollars. let's bring in our own alison kosik at the new york stock exchange. alison, how does this add up, the losses, where they come

from? >> wolf, you think about the deep freeze we've been in. and it really hit a lot of places and literally kept people from leaving the house. and that affects the economy. so when things kind of grind to a halt, there is this domino effect. think about it. many people didn't go to work, so that's lost productivity, lost wages. many of us didn't go out to the grocery store or go out to eat. we would rather stay at home and cook. less money for waiters and waitresses and local businesses. trains and buses stopped running. less money for transportation providers like amtrak. no shopping mall, many of us didn't want to go to the movies, either. so weather economist, evan gold, i spoke with him earlier, he says there was such an impact on the economy, because the brutal cold hit so many people. did you know that every state yesterday, wolf, went below the freezing mark? that's hundreds of millions of people. wolf? >> that's a lot of people, obviously. all right, thanks very much, alison, with that report. you've heard the warning. if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

now the ftc is going after some diet companies, saying they're making false claims. ♪

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with the new year, lots of us are looking to lose some weight. but be careful if you plan to use some diet products. the federal trade commission is cracking down on companies it says have made false claims. brian todd is here, working on this story. operation failed resolution. that's what they're calling it. >> right. this time of year it hits home with a lot of people, wolf. we all have seen these ads, they're enticing. they're really too good to be true. and the ftc has essentially said they are. some of the ads we're talking about. an ad for a company call sensa that advertises a powder you can put on your food, quote, get a gym body without going to the gym. a powder you can put on your food that makes you feel fuller faster. locke satan, an almond scented cream where they advertise you can significantly slim your thighs in a matter of weeks by putting this cream on your oh thighs. ftc saying it's too good to be

true, not supported by skin scientific evidence, deceptively marketing these products and unfounded promises, these weight loss products. and they're going to pay a total of $34 million in fines and refunds to customers for these products. and, again, we talked about the sensa product that's a powder, supposed to be sprinkled on food to make you feel fuller, the two skin creams. these are things we all see, and that dieticians and nutritionists will tell you, it really is too good to be true. >> if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. basically one company you put some cream on your thigh, your thigh is going to look thinner and you're going to lose some weight. now they have to pay a fine. >> they do. the four companies total are paying $34 million, and just about all that will go to refunds of customers. we literally in the last few minutes have gotten statements from a couple of them. sensa says it stands behind its

products. they're incorporating changes to their marketing, some are blaming their marketers. l' occitane says it has implemented changes to its products. lean spa, accused of having fake websites to promote these colon cleansing products says that lean spa is an excellent company with clinically tested products and was itself a victim of deceptive and fraudulent conduct by its marketing partner. so some of these companies blaming their marketers for this. >> all right. we know you'll get later in the situation room, as well. thank you, brian. robert gates taking shots at the obama administration, the former defense secretary also with some unkind assessments of joe biden and hillary clinton. could his new memoir actually have an impact on the 2016 presidential race? gloria borger standing by live to discuss. ♪

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flattering picture. he said, among other things, with obama, however, i joined a new, inexperienced president, determined to change course and equally determined from day one to win re-election. and then there's this on the similarities between the two presidents he served under, barack obama and george w. bush, quote, both did he tested congress and including members of their own party. they were neitherly particularly liked or feared. gates took aim at congress saying, and i'm quoting once again, congress is best viewed from a distance. up close, it is truly ugly. here is house speaker, john boehner, and his reaction to the book. >> he's entitled to his comments under the first amendment, just like anyone else. >> some of gates' comments in the book are already being used as potential fodder for 2016. with unkind words about hillary clinton being used already by

the republican national committee. i'm joined by our chief political analyst, gloria borger. some pretty tough stuff there. how is it going to play out specifically, as far as 2016 is concerned, if it will? >> well, first of all, i think it doesn't help hillary clinton. i mean, the point that he made in the book, wolf, on 2016 was that in a conversation, the president was having with hillary clinton, they both kind of admitted to each other that, in fact, they both -- she had opposed the surge in iraq, because she was running against barack obama in the iowa caucuses. and they were engaged in a presidential race, and she had supported the war in iraq. and that was giving her trouble with her democratic base. he said he was surprised and dismayed. i can understand the dismayed part. the surprised part i don't really get. because nobody was surprised by that. i think as a member of the military, clearly he would be dismayed that politics would enter this -- into this kind of a discussion. but that's the world in which we

live. as far as president obama, i do think it has an impact. he leveled a charge against the president, which is that a commander in chief did not really believe in his own mission. and that is the surge in afghanistan. and i think that's a pretty tough charge, even though he goes on to say that the president was courageous in his decision on osama bin laden, and that he agreed with the president on most of his major policies. >> he was tough on the president and hillary clinton, to a certain degree, much less so. but on joe biden, oh, my god. he said this -- it's -- i'll put it up on the screen. he said, he has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades. that's -- >> yeah. >> the former secretary of defense speaking about the current vice president. >> right. >> of the united states. >> now, i think that joe biden thought he had a pretty good relationship with secretary

gates. they were on different sides of the issue. and i think, given the fact that joe biden, foreign policy is his calling card, wolf. you know this. former chairman of the committee. and long involved in foreign policy. i think this is a blow to him. however, if he chooses to run for president, he's going to run in the democratic party. the fact that he was on differing sides from bob gates, for example, on the surge in afghanistan, might not hurt him in a democratic primary. but if i were biden, i wouldn't feel great about this. and i guarantee you, one day, wolf, joe biden is probably going to write his own book. >> yeah. >> so we'll see what he says about gates. >> as soon as he leaves office. were you surprised that gates wrote this book, and attacked a sitting president, sitting vice president? >> yeah, i think i was. i was surprised that he did it while the president was still in office. the president did award him the medal of freedom, after all. i think when you talk to people

who are defending bob gates -- and this they say that he did it because he felt he could have an impact, that what he was really upset about as a member of the military and leader of the department of defense, was that he believed this was a white house staff that belittled the military. that was suspicious of the military, that talked down to military leaders. and it's clearly something that aggravated him, that annoyed him. and that i think he didn't speak forthrightly about at the time. and i think he felt the need for some reason to do it. it's a very conflicted view, however, because he says, i respect the president, i admire the president, the president and joe biden are men of integrity. on the other hand, i think he felt obliged to say, look, this is what i believe and this is what occurred. i believe he should have waited. >> hillary clinton's memoir --

her book is coming out later this year or around the time of the midterm elections, we're told. i would be shocked if she attacks the president and the vice president, along the lines of the bob gates attack. >> but you know what, in the excerpts we have seen, he said at one point that hillary and leon panetta, who was then head of the cia, hillary, secretary of state, agreed with him about the way the president's staff treated leaders of the military. so we'll have to see. >> we'll see what hillary clinton writes in her book. i suspect she is not going to be as blunt, as brutally candid, shall we say, as bob gates was. >> i think she has some politics in her future. that may be the reason. >> we'll see. thanks very much. >> sure. it was 50 years ago today that president lyndon johnson declared a war on poverty. the result, medicare, medicaid, head start, food stamps, a lot more. some say it hasn't been enough. poverty still affects tens of millions of americans, 50

million americans on food stamps right now. dana bash is joining us. dana, what are seen as some of the successes and failures of this war on poverty? >> reporter: well, like anything, it depends on who you ask. there is sort of unanimous consensus, however, that the fight is not over. the war is not over, even the white house put out a report today, which showed the decline in poverty, certainly, since the time of lbj. but the fact that it is still a very, very dismal situation out there. what has been most fascinating, wolf, today, though, is that across the capitol you're hearing so many people mark the anniversary, and many of those are republicans. republicans are actually trying to use this anniversary to make the case that the sort of big government ideals, all of them that lbj pushed for and that did get put into place, didn't work. here's one example, congressman steve souther land, who had a press conference earlier today.

>> i believe that work is a blessing. and i think so many times we have individuals who are second, third and fourth generation in poverty or government recipients of moneys and therefore they have never seen it. and so i think from a compassionate, caring standpoint of saying, you know, what we have to introduce the blessing of work to people who have never seen it. >> reporter: he is somebody who led the fight against the current food stamp program, at least as it now stands in the farm bill, which infuriated democrats, because he said then and he said again today, that he and other republicans really want to reform it. have more of a work requirement in there. so you really are seeing, as you and i talked about yesterday around the president's remarks, a very clear show of the difference in philosophy between republicans and democrats. of course, i should say, democrats mark the anniversary today, as well. house democrats even watched portions of lbj's famous speech inside their caucus meeting. >> and we're already seeing, and i assume we'll hear and see more of this in the president's state

of the union address at the end of this month before a joint session of congress, dana. we're already seeing the president talk more about these issues. poverty, unemployment benefits, raising minimum wage, the disparity between the rich and the poor. i assume that's going to be a major theme this year. >> reporter: oh, absolutely. income inequality is the major theme that democrats want to push. it is why democrats in the senate came out of the gate and pushed this -- the legislation to extend long-term unemployment or emergency unemployment benefits. that's why you saw the president speak about that yesterday. he's going to have another initiative he's going to unveil tomorrow. democrats in the white house, they believe this is something that can add to the president's legacy. and, of course, it is still a problem. one thing that i should note, though, what the senate did yesterday, and the president applauded, which is to take a first step to extend those long-term unemployment benefits, wolf. just before coming on the air, two of those key republicans who voted with democrats, rob portman and kelly ayotte, told

our ted barrett that they absolutely need offsets, budget cuts to finally approve that. and it doesn't look like there are really serious talks in earnest to do that. it makes that seriously in jeopardy, just to get out of the senate,ner mind the house. >> once it apassed that additional hurdle yesterday with 60 votes necessary, they got the 60 votes, will they need that 60-vote hurdle once again to overcome that or do they simply need 51? because there are 55 democrats, 53 plus two independents, already on board. >> reporter: they will need the 60 votes in order to end debate and move on to the final vote. and at this point, if, in fact, those offsets don't appear somewhere. if, in fact, there continues to be not real serious negotiations on how to find about $6.5 billion in cuts elsewhere in the budget, according to, again, just in the last hour, those key republicans, rob portman and kelly ayotte, they

cannot vote for this bill to finalize in the senate or to be the republican 59th and 60th vote that will be needed, as you mentioned, in order to make this happen in the senate. >> all right. thanks, dana. we'll continue to watch. lots at stake here. so what's up on wall street? information now being released by the federal reserve within minutes. we're going to see what that is. we're tracking new job data. and all of this affecting the stock market.

stocks are seeing mixed rating with what strength there is tied to what is seen as a recovery on the labor market. christine romans is joining us from new york right with a closer look. what are you seeing over there, christine? >> you know, these little pieces of data keep coming in, wolf, saying the end of the year hiring really started to pick up. you've got this adp report, this is a private sector payroll company, you know. they cut the checks so they see what's going on. >> 238,000 private sector jobs created in december. that would be the most, wolf, of all year. you saw small businesses, companies, with less than, fewer than 50 workers, hired more than 150,000 new jobs in the month, that's good news. construction, best month for job growth in something like four or five years. so that's -- actually, more than that. since 2006. so you're seeing these signs, wolf, that the job market is

getting better. we're going to know what the government report is for sure on friday. but i'm going to tell you, that government report expected to show maybe 200,000 jobs created. but deutsche bank just revised its estimates. deutsche bank economists think the unemployment rate fell to 6. % last year. that's showing some strength in the job market we haven't seen in a long time, even as this debate rages as to how to pie for the long term unemployment benefits. for the long-term unemployed, nothing has changed. for the recently unemployed, the market getting better. we're also going to hear more from the federal reserve about its last meeting in december and what they were thinking about that so-called taper. that's why markets, i think, are mixed wolf, because they're waiting for the big jobs report friday. and they want to know what ben bernanke and crew were talking about in december before they place any big bets today. >> we'll see you 8:30 a.m. eastern friday morning with the official jobs number for december and what revisions there may have been for the months before that. the i know you'll be watching as closely as anyone.

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>> the white house press secretary jay carney getting ready to walk into the briefing room. you are seeing live pictures within the in fact seconds or so. i assume there will be a bunch

of questions about this new memoire, this new book that the former defense secretary robert gates has just written excerpts and already been released, causing quite a stir out there. serious allegations against the president. especially against the vice president earlier. we saw video of the president and vice president having lunch over at the white house. they left video graphers and photographs in there to show our viewers that the luncheon going on between the president and the vice predent i assume the press secretary will be asked a bunch of questions. we will get official response f. we will be that briefing and we will go there once it becomes interesting. very often at the top of the briefing he has noupts to make. we will monitor and fill you in on what the white house has to say. the reaction to the new book from robert gates. in the meantime, north korea, dennis rodman said he is not there for politics, but can he use his relationship with the

leader there and open up an important door? joining us now is democratic congressman from new york, a key member of the house foreign affairs committee. thanks very much for coming in. you said horrible things about dennis rodman saying his going there to celebrate the birthday of kim jung unwould be like someone going nazi germany in the 30s and celebrating hitler's birthday. explain what you meant by that. >> first of all, jim jung unis a brutal dictator. he inherited his presidency from his father who received it from his father. people in north korea are dying or are being imprisoned or starved. it's one of the most oppressive regimes on earth. they have illegal and nuclear weapons. for dennis rodman to call this dictator and thug his friend and

bring a basketball and make as if everything is just hunky dory, i think it's a disgrace. when you consider that we have an american citizen who has been in prison for no reason whatsoever, i just think it's basically giving him this stamp of approval and he doesn't deserve the stamp of approval. i said it was akin to having lunch with adolph hitler. mr. kim is looking to sanitize himself and dennis rodman is really being duped. it's just something that needs to be dealt with. needs to be criticized. because we don't want to aid and a bet a regime that has blood dripping from their hands. >> i know the obama administration said they have nothing to do with his visit from dennis rodman and former nba player. this is not an official u.s.

visit and as far as you know, you are on the foreign affairs committee, did the administration go out and urge dennis rodman not to go to north korea or did they stay on the side lines and let him do whatever he wants? >> i'm not aware of the conversation they had or have not had with dennis rodman, but it's common sense. unless dennis rodman can bring mr. bay back to the united states, i will have changed my opinion about this. dennis rodman was talking about him as if he had committed some kind of a crime which we know is not the case. it's outrageous that an american citizen has the sanitizing of the regime of mr. kim. i am not aware of conversations that we had and i don't think they were had. frankly i think this is just a

ridiculous thing. when dennis rodman calls the dictator his friend and sings happy birthday to him on his 31st birthday. dennis rodman should be aa shamed of himself. >> thanks very much for joining us. >> thank you. >> we will take a quick break. more news after this.

new level and considered resigning over it at one point. >> let's say a couple of things. as we noted yesterday, the president greatly appreciates secretary gates's service. to the president's administration and to the country. secretary gates was part of a team that helped bring about an end to the iraq war. it helped decide upon and implement an improved policy in afghanistan that was much more clear in objectives. they had as part of that policy

an end to a war which was a clear policy objective of the president's and which we are implementing now. so when it comes to the internal inner agency process, the president expects it to be robust and expects to hear competing points of view from every member of his national security team. a lot of you wrote about it and talked about it at the time, that the president picked a team of rivals. when you pick a team of rivals, you do so in part because you expect competing points of view and competing opinions and that's very much what the president expects in foreign and domestic policy and that's what he gets and he is grateful for it. >> quickly on the nfc meetings, what's the purpose of those? is the president informing these people who are coming to them what he's planning to do or is he collecting information?

>> still in the process of deliberating over the review group's report and hearing from others on the issues that were raised in the group's report. the president's overall review includes not just the review group, but the cloud and others involved in assessing intelligence and others we might make to the process. he is listening and discussing with a variety of stakeholders. these issues. appreciates very much the opinions and counsel he is getting on the matters. >> did the comments about vice president bide in prompt white house decision to let photographers in? >> no. as you know the president and vice president have a standing weekly lunch. when the vice president is in town, he attends virtually all

of the meetings that the president holds especially on national security matters. as you know because we discussed this a lot at the end of last year, we have been committed to looking for ways to provide greater access to the white house and the president in that, providing a photo opportunity today as part of that commitment. again, i don't think anybody who has covered us or knows the president and the vice president knows how this white house functions has any doubt about the president's faith in vice president biden as an adviser and counsellor. we don't need to reinforce that. it's a fact. >> is it a coincidence? >> it is. he has a weekly lunch. >> it's not normal low on camera. >> no, y