the singer's private archive. it will come out in the spring. more johnny cash. more man in black. this is good news. bill: good for america. martha: have a great day, everybody. bill: see you on the radio. you have some stuff going on. martha: you got some stuff going on. bye, everybody. jenna: we have stuff going on as well. fox news alert. health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius back in the congressional hot seat today. you're seeing some live pictures of that. lawmakers on the health subcommittee asking serious questions about the botched obamacare rollout. as the government releases some new data showing more than 250,000 people have signed up for health insurance last month for a total of more than 360,000 so far into the private insurance market. that is not counting medicaid. that is bigger number than what we've seen but certainly far from the administration's goal. secretary sebelius is announcing she asked her department inspector general to review work of private contractors behind

the troubled healthcare.gov website. meantime brand new numbers just out show other troubles for obamacare beyond what is happening on internet. according to a new nbc "wall street journal" poll, 50% of the americans now think the health care law is a bad idea. on top of all this, three new polls showing trouble for president obama, tied to the health care law as well. much more on this throughout the show today as well. first right now today's top headlines and brand new stories you will see here first. jon: some stunning testimony in the trial of a woman accused of pushing her new husband off a cliff to his death. how witnesses say she reacted when searchers discovered his body. shocking new information on a horrific plane crash that killed everybody on board. why this airline could be shut down. plus a star stepping out at the american country award. one host stealing the show, creating her -- trading racing helmet for a vegas showgirl

look. it is all happening now. jon: good morning to you, on this chilly wednesday in new york. i'm jon scott. jenna: nice to be inside the studio with you, jon. jon: it is a little cold out there. >> hi, everybody. hope you're having a great day so far. i'm jenna lee. lawmakers look for a budget deal to prevent a government shutdown early next year. the compromise reached by senate and house budget chairs, senator patty murray and congressman paul ryan. congressman paul ryan spoke to greta van susteren about the proposal last night. take a listen. >> this a deal that moves the ball in the right direction. it cuts the deficit without raising taxes by scott cutting spending in smarter ways than across the board approach. a lot of our members were worried about the spending defense cuts and we're stopping cutting in spending and stopping autopilot programs that were untouched for many years by

congress. we're doing it in a way there is no tax increases and lowering the deficit versus doing nothing. jon: peter doocy is live in washington with more on this potential deal. now that there is an agreement, what's next, peter? >> reporter: jon, it is time to sell the deal. we know that conversation man ryan has already been speaking to republicans at a closed-door meeting this morning and the top two points he tried to make to get the gop colleagues on board, number one, he says the bill reduces the deficit by $23 billion, and number two, he says the bill does not raise taxes. the speaker of the house came out and said this, quote, while modest and, this agreement represents a positive step forward replacing one-time spending cuts with permanent reforms to mandatory spending programs that will produce real lasting savings. this is also a deal that the democratic leadership is on board with as well. >> it was a compromise. we didn't get what we wanted. they didn't get what they wanted

but that is what legislation is all about. working together, compromise is not a bad word. >> reporter: something that democrats and republicans also say they like. this deal, since it does extend for a few years, it would eliminate the possibility, if passed of a government shutdown but we should know a lot more about the odds of it passing when the rules committee meets this afternoon, jon. jon: we'll keep an eye on that. peter doocy in washington, peter, thank you. jenna: the new budget deal is about to face a big test in the house. the plan would undo part of the sequester cuts and reduce spending next year to trillion dollars from the pentagon and other agencies paid for with new airline fees for consumers, by not extending unemployment benefits. there is a long list. a short period of time here. the plan faces opposition from some conservatives as well as some progressives as well. we have a great person to talk about this deal with next. joining us, democratic congressman chris van hollen.

he is the ranking member of the house budget committee. great to have you back on the program on a day like this congressman. thank you. >> great to be with you too. jenna: start with what peter said, what are the odds this passes both the house and senate? >> i don't think we know yet. members of congress, both republicans and democrats are really taking a hard look at it now, with the exception of those of us who were in the middle of this negotiation, a lot of people are learning the details. so they will have some time to look it over. again, my assessment was, this is not something, i would have written. it is the product of hard compromise and i do think it represents a small, very small step forward. jenna: let's talk a little bit about what some progressives might have an issue with, some members of your own party. one of the issues this is does not extend unemployment benefits. how do you aim to get democrats behind this? >> well i have an issue with that too. my view we absolutely got to

extend unemployment compensation before congress leaves town. i think it would be unconscionable not to do that. in fact later today sandy levin, congressman levin of michigan has been a big leader on this, he and i will go to the rules committee in the house with a proposal to extend unemployment compensation for three years because the house is also considering a provision that would make sure we do, what we call the doc fix, doctors who provide medicare services to patients are fully compensated. so we think those two things should travel together legislatively. jenna: would that travel together, forgive me nor to the knowing all ins and outs how some of this legislation will work throu senate, will your effort to extend unemployment benefits be tied any way to this budget deal and its passing? >> well, that depends on how republicans in the house structure what we call the rule, which has to do with how all these different issues, unemployment insurance, the doc

fix, and the budget are interrelated. as i said, what i support is the budget agreement. i think it's pros slightly outweigh the cons and i think it is a step forward but republicans in the house are rolling the dice if they try procedurally now to tie those to other matters that were not part of that the budget agreement. and that is in fact what is going on right now is that conversation. jenna: we don't know how that is all going to play out. to your point, that could disrupt this deal passing. some are saying that this is a new era of cooperation. what reuters called it as a headline today. are you a yes vote on this as it stands? >> i jenna, i'm a yes on the budget agreement. the thing that was negotiated by the budget confereees, by senator murray and congressman ryan. i'm a yes on that. if house republicans now try to link that to other unrelated

issues -- jenna: i see. >> for example, fix the doc fix, we would say you have also to immediate add unemployment compensation to that. we believe that one way or another we shut should have a vote in the house on unemployment compensation. jenna: are you going to run out of time? >> well we don't have to run out of time. i mean the speaker of the house could allow to us vote on a short term unemployment compensation fix. any day now. i mean that could be done like that if he chose to do it. let's be clear. the speaker of the house says he is opposed to extending unemployment compensation for people who are out of work through no fault of their own and still struggling to find a job. our view that we should address that issue before congress packs its bags and leave town. jenna: i wish things worked quickly as snap of a finger. that would be all great. >> it can. jenna: let me ask you about another part of this deal getting attention. you have a lot of federal workers in your district. also retired military as well. part of this deal there would be

changes to the federal pensions and some changes as well to the military retirement benefits. why are you behind that? >> well, let me stress again, when i said that i would not have written the agreement as it is, if i had my choice, i would not have included either of those two provisions. in fact, 48 hours ago i was opposed, strongly to this agreement. but significant changes were made with respect to civilian federal employees. no current civilian and federal employees will feel any hit from this. what it does is say, for federal employees hired after january 1st of next year, they will contribute a little bit more to their pension. we also proposed that savings come from the ag bill, agriculture subsidies. republicans didn't want to do that that's why you have those other provisions that are on this, in this bill. jenna: there does seem to be something in common between

democrats and republicans those really involved in negotiations like your colleague congressman paul ryan. both sides seemed to say, listen, this isn't exactly ideal and this is the plan we have and we're moving forward. we look forward to following this story, congressman. just a quick final question before we go. >> sure. jenna: we've been closely following the story of the american jailed in cuba, alan gross. i know he is a constituent of yours and his wife was recently on our program and you've been really instrumental, to nye understanding trying to get him out including visiting him in cuba. there has been controversy over the last 24 hours about the president shaking hands with raul castro in south africa. i'm wondering in general are your thoughts on that and what efforts are really being done to get this american out of prison in cuba? >> well i'm really glad you've been following this very important story that has been neglected e it is an absolute miscarriage of justice that alan gross is still sitting sitting a

cuban jail. we're working very hard and have been for years to try to get him out. i have spoken directly to raul castro saying, if they want to see any evolution in u.s.-curb ban relation which i think would be in our mutual best interests, they have got to release alan gross. look, i hope that conversation will accelerate. i have spoken to the president personally and directly about this issue. president obama. i know that he is working on this issue. so, again, it is outrageous that it has taken as long as it has. let's hope by this time next year, alan gross can be home, actually, let's hope by january of next year alan gross can be home. jenna: also bipartisan support for that. >> yes there is. we've been working hard on it and i want to say judy gross, his wife, is working every minute of every day to secure her husband's release.

she has been relentless. jenna: we really enjoyed talking to her. she shared her story with us. it is quite a story. congressman, great to have you back on the program. look forward to having you back as we look to follow the budget deal and some other moving parts in congress. thank you. >> thank you. jon: she is a courageous woman as you learned the other day. nationwide manhunt for a california man accused of killing his wife. details on the search next. secretary of state john kerry makes his case on capitol hill for the recent nuclear deal with iran. pleading with lawmakers not to hit the islamic republic with new sanctions. did he manage to sway any skeptical republicans? we'll ask wyoming senator john barrasso. he is standing by to speak to us just ahead.

jenna: right now, new information on a few crime stories we're keeping eye on. prosecutors in the aurora movie

shooting fighting a motion by defense attorneys to close upcoming hearings aconcerning the accused gunman james hopes and his mental records. we'll watch that. -- homes homes. police are looking for this man in connection with the murder of his estranged wife. a north carolina man convicted last year in the 2006 murder of his pregnant wife is heading to court tomorrow to ask for a new trial. attorneys for 39-year-old jason young says the appeal has to do with key testimony that jurors should not have been allowed to hear. jon: secretary of state john kerry on capitol hill yesterday defending the proposed nuclear deal with iran and urging lawmakers to hold off on any new sanctions but republicans say that's a bad deal because it leaves iran free to keep enriching uranium. republican john barrasso of wyoming is chairman of the senate republican policy committee. also a member ever the foreign relations committee in the

senate. good morning to you, senator. >> thanks, jon. jon: secretary kerry has said that iran will not get nuclear weapons. does this deal assure you that there, that that won't happen? >> i'm very kept call of the deal and i think that a nuclear-armed iran would be dangerous for the world. they are against the great satan who they consider the united states. they talked about their desire to eliminate the people of israel. and i don't think this that proposal does it. ii want to with additional sank shuns. this ad min -- sanctions. this administration talked about pressure as well as engagement. i say why let up the pressure now if the pressure actually brought them to the table. we should increase the pressure, not relief the sanctions. jon: well, did you get an answer to that question from the administration? why ease up on the sanctions at this moment in time?

>> i will meet with secretary of state john kerry this afternoon in a closed, secure setting to talk about that and the questions i have for him is, how do you get accountability from iran if you let up on the gas? it is pressure that brought them to the table. we should apply additional sanctions this time, not let up on those. so how is it, mr. secretary, you believe alleviating the sanctions will actually force their hand? jon: there are an awful lot of nations in the middle east very nervous right now. the israelis obviously nervous the saudis, the qataris. what do you say to them about america's reliability as an ally? >> well, there's a great concern, jon, i was in the middle east visiting our wyoming troops over thanksgiving. did meet with leaders of nations in the middle east specifically about this. they have great concerns as do i. they share my concerns that the

iranians are just sues using this as a ploy to gain time and i don't think we should allow that to happen. jon: let's turn our attention to this proposed budget deal that democratic senator patty murray and republican congressman paul ryan have come up with. you've taken a look at it. what do you think? >> i have a lot of concerns because it continues the washington wasteful spending. washington in this president in particular are addicted to spending. this spends more than i would like rather than cut washington wasteful spending. the ski questionster actually did force the hand of the spending of government and we actually spent less under the sequester the last two years. that's what i was continuing to propose and support. jon: i want to also transition to a discussion of obamacare. you are besides a senator, you are a physician. the president's arc connect of obamacare, dr. ezekiel emanuel

was on tv. over the weekend what the president really should have said you like your doctor you can keep your doctor if you want to pay more. what do you think about that? >> well i think that just once begin those the president was not truthful with the american people and that is why a majority of americans believe that the president is not honest in dealing with them which is why his popularity continues to drop. i have an editorial in today's "investors business daily" about the doctor/patient relationship. it is something that i valued with my patients. my patients valued with me and people all across the country are now finding that not only can they not necessarily keep their insurance that they had and they liked, they're not going to be able to keep their doctor. this health care law, there are much better ways to deal with the needs of the american people in terms of providing available, affordable care. republicans have good ideas on ways to do that. the president ignored all of those and continues to say that the republicans don't have

proposals when we do have good ideas on ways to help people get the care they need from a doctor that they choose at lower costs. jon: as we speak, health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius is over on the house side testifying in front after committee there. she is asking the inspector general to look into some of the private companies that built the website. is that misdirected attention do you think or is that appropriate here? >> well it seems they're trying to shift the blame everywhere. the president three days best website was unveiled said it would be easier to use the than amazon. let's face it. here we are two months into it. the, the only, less than a third of the people that they said will have signed up by the end of november have done so. people i've talked to think they have signed up. they're not sure. they haven't received confirmation yet. it sound like a significant amount of the website hasn't even been built but of course the website is just the tip of the iceberg.

it's the loss of coverage. it is the sticker shock of increased costs. it is loss of a doctor. higher deductibles. higher co-pays. they're trying to shift the blame from everyone where it belongs with themselves. jon: senator ba roost sew. thank you. we'll be right back. >> thanks, jon. of

jenna: this just in. we're learning new details on this summer's deadly crash of asiana airlines plane the ntsb is holding a hearing on the accident. the boeing 777 crash landed in san francisco leaving three people dead and injuring 150 others. claudia cowan is live in san francisco with more on this story. claudia? >> reporter: jenna, 2 1/2 hours into today's hearing the headline so far that the pilots were quote, very concerned about landing at sfo on jewel 6th. they didn't feel comfortable

attempting a visual approach because they had to do because the runway's automatic warning service were out of service due to construction work. according to investigative report released prior to today's hearing the pilot of the asiana flight told investigators he was stressed out as he was about to land the big jet for the very first time in san francisco. he and other three pilots at the controls are not testifying at today's hearing. the investigators questioned them in days after the crash. however other asiana officials are answering questions about how the airline trains its pilot. ntsb wants to know what caused the plane to crash into a seawall and they have been spending a lot of time talking about the in-flight systems that should have helped the pilots. they say the asiana pilot entered higher altitude into the autopilot while the plane was descending and that could have triggered the plane to stall. the ntsb said that the pilots likely believed the plane was in

auto thought mode but it was not. ntsb made it clear today's hearing is trying to find out what happened, not about placing blame or finding fault however the faa can use the findings from the ntsb investigation to enforce fines or punishments. jenna, we're monitoring today's hearing and we'll keep you updated throughout the day. jenna: sounds great, claudia. thank you. jon: investigators in russia looking into last month's crash of a commercial jet. all 50 people on board died in a fiery crash near the russian city of kazan investigators say the pilot may have been flying with a fake license from a training center later closed for operating illegally. they are now looking into whether other pilots might have similar licenses. as of now the probe has not found any technical problems with the 737 itself. >> i was expecting the worst and when i came around the corner and counted all six of them standing there, nice and warm.

they had a fire going and jay was heating up rocks in the fire. at night he was putting them in the jeep with him, keeping them warm. jenna: what an ordeal, a married couple and their four children missing in the nevada mountains in subzero temperatures. rescuers spent two days searching for them before they were found safe and sound yesterday. all said to be in fairly good shape, despite harsh conditions they endured. william la jeunesse is live in los angeles with more on this story. william, you started off the day with them missing. as you were doing reporting, they were found yesterday. what do they owe their lives to? >> reporter: it is survival 101 but it rarely happens. stay with your vehicle. it saved this family's life. putting hot rocks in the car to stay warm, that was genius. after two nights in temperatures as low as 21 below zero, two adults, four children arrived yesterday at this hospital in nevada in good medical condition with mild dehydration and

exposure. their jeep had rolled over in a canyon on sunday afternoon. the first thing 34-year-old james glanton did was make a fire and kept it burning with a spare tire. then he dropped hot rocks in the jeep to stay warm and escape the wind chill. hundreds searched for this family. yesterday around noon they were found, what many call a miracle in the mountains. >> it was the work of a lot of people in the community. this community came together and, and, helped this come to a successful conclusion. >> reporter: experts say men often feel guilty when they get lost and leave to get help. in four of the most recent cases two in california, two in nevada, the person who left died. the one who stayed with the car lived. jenna? jenna: something to remember forever in that situation, william. they had little kids with them. what kind of shape is this family in right now?

are they all right? >> reporter: yeah, it is remarkable. the search covered 6,000 square miles. in the end they were found just 15 miles outside of town. a cell phone expert inside the search plane picked up a ping from the cell phone about the same time a volunteer spotted them with binoculars and they converged on the family. medical experts were not optimistic. they feared hypothermia which leads to poor judgment and loss of consciousness especially in the very young. doctors sigh everyone is in good health and will be released later today. >> with the temperatures that we've seen the last couple nights i've been very, very concerned and was worried that the outcome would not be this good. this is better than i could have even imagined it would be. >> reporter: now they ran out of food on monday. the parents apparently told kids they were camping so they wouldn't panic. it worked but you wonder, jenna, if the kids will say, hey, let's go camping again? jenna: good story like this and

that they're safe and sound today. william, thank you very much. jon: great to have a happy ending. lawmakers are grilling kathleen sebelius again this morning. coming up what the secretary of health and hewlett-packard services is saying about the troubled obamacare website and what if anything the administration is doing to deal with its security risks.

>> right now a quick look what is still to come this hour on "happening now." secretary of health and human services kathleen sebelius testifying on capitol hill, facing tough questions from lawmakers on the obamacare rollout and whether the administration can get enough people to sign up for the law. damaging testimony in the newlywed murder trial. what friends and family told the jury about a montana woman accused of pushing her husband to his death at dmrashier national park. danica patrick steals the show at the country music awards in las vegas. how danica got everyone talking. jenna: now for politics leading up to the next year's midterm elections. democrats are promising or have been promising all year that despite the problems with obamacare, they'll campaign to defend and keep it. republicans welcoming that move, seeing it as an advantage for their side. but now we're learning democrats

may be opting for a change in strategy after all. chief political correspondent has more. democrats have been promising they're going to defend this, they're going to buy it, keep it. has that changed? >> well, it looks like it may and that's why this testimony from the health and heem services secretary, kathleen sebelius, is so important. she is how making statements about the future of the affordable care act that are the beginning of the upcoming election year. this is the last time we'll hear a status report like this before the calendar returns and we'll officially be in 2014 so this testimony is tremendously important and the questions being asked and the concerns how the rollout ends and how the program is supposed to be further implemented with all of these delays is giving both parties concerns. democrats said we're going to defend and campaign for obamacare in 2014 aggressively, now have to deal with this message coming from the congressional campaign committee.

congressman from new york who definitely raises questions and suggests flat out they're not going to run a national campaign, they're going to do this at the local level. watch. >> our candidates are not running based on the national -- whatever national tides there are. they're running as local problem solvers. we're going to build an economy, help the middle class and make sure that their districts are well represented in washington. >> that is a huge change from things said by the likes of the congressman from florida who is also the chairman of the democratic national committee, a ranking senior democrat in the house who have all said yep, we're campaigning for it aggressively. 435 house members and this time around, maybe as few as only about 35 truly competitive swing districts because of redistricting and gerrymandering. it's going to be hard to take parties out of seats that are there no matter who wins the primaries and goes to the general elections. jenna: what are the republicans

going to do? >> it will be impossible for them to escape questions and aggressive politics from the right. republicans are making it very clear, here is the republican congress campaign spokesman talking about what republicans will make sure is part of the issue agenda in 2014. >> there's still a lot of parts of obamacare that are going to be implemented and including medicare advantage cuts in the new year. people are just seeing the beginning and they'll have to answer for this between now and election day 2014. >> that really states two things. been, that republicans are going to sink their teeth into this and keep it and two, there's a whole series of cascading events that will be related to obamacare which will, again, frustrate american voters. jenna: more to come. thank you. jon: now this fox news alert on the top story. health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius,

back on the hot seat today. she's been testifying more than an hour now on capitol hill about obamacare. secretary sebelius has asked her department inspector general to review the work of contractors behind the health care website. she also faced some tough questions about low enrollment numbers. in one eye opening moment, secretary even admitted that if she could do it all over again, she would have scaled back the rollout. listen. >> knowing what you know today, you would have started the launch october 1? >> i would have probably done a slower launch, maybe with fewer people and ton some additional beta testing which is part of what has happened, frankly, in the early months of the launch to identify what problems we had. jon: a staff writer for "the hill" has been watching this testimony along with us. has the secretary won any converse on that congressional committee, do you think? >> well, she already has allies

in the democrats on the committee but she's facing very tough questioning from republicans who feel that she misled the american public in the months leading up to october 1 when the exchanges different launched with all of their problems. in fact, one of the republican lawmakers, in fact, told her that speaking with her is like speaking with korea. i believe he meant north korea. so there's certainly tensions on the committee. this is the last time we'll hear from kathleen sebelius before the new year. she has a lot to talk about in terms of improvements to the website because health care.gov has improved for many users the last month but there are many outstanding problems, including components of the system that have yet to be built. jon: they talk about 800,000 people or so who are -- have been discovered as eligible for medicaid. they point to that as a bright spot in this process but those folks who are eligible for medicare were eligible prior to this, weren't they? they could have signed up

without obamacare. >> many were eligible for medicaid but some of them are entering that program because states have chosen to expand eligibility under obamacare which is that choice that was made optional by the supreme court decision last year. i think it's interesting that you see federal health officials as well as democrats on capitol hill talking about these medicaid eligibilities because while that is a good sign for the law and for supporters of the law, it isn't the main centerpiece. the main centerpiece are exchanges, new insurance marketplaces that the administration once hoped would have seven million people enrolled by march and they are far behind that deadline at this point. but they need to do a lot of catching up the next several months in order to make sure they can meet that goal. jon: and secretary seb he'll russ and the folks from health and human services are playing numbers very close to the vest. they're not releasing figures on the age, for instance, of the people who have signed up. and everybody knows, you've got to sign up a lot of young people if you're going to pay for the older people who are using more

of the medical services under obamacare. >> that's right. information about this rollout has become a tool for the administration to boost its image in the wake. and i think that we see the administration, that they are, in fact, holding back many numbers that they could be providing to the public. one of the alternatives is actually the california exchange. they're taking a very different tact. they're releasing lots of data about what's going on and the progress. certainly they have a good story to tell. california has done better. but yeah, this demographic data is very, very important in understanding whether these marketplaces are going to survive long-term. they do need millions of young, healthy people to come in and balance out the premium prices and, in fact, h.h.s. hasn't said they will not release that data but certainly people are looking for those figures in the coming months and we haven't seen them yet. jon: also worth pointing out that they are releasing data on the number of people who have signed up but that doesn't mean

those people have paid a premium yet or will pay a premium once the bill comes in the mail, right? >> that's right. what they're counti enrollments is people who have chosen a plan on one of the websites or perhaps through one of the other application areas but they haven't paid a premium and that's the final step. certainly this is a notice to consumers. people need to pay their premiums before december 23 in order to have coverage that begins on january 1. those are for all those people out there who may be signing up now. their coverage won't begin on january 1 unless you've paid that premium. it's not enough to go through the website. i know administration wants to communicate this to people but on the enrollment figure side, we have a lot of mixed numbers there. jon: and just 12 days to get a lot of this stuff cleared up. thank you. >> thank you. jon: and coming up we'll have more new polls that show some big problems for the president, especially when it comes to obamacare. jenna: also ahead, dramatic new testimony in the newlywed murder

trial. a brother breaks down in court. his sister accused of pushing her new husband off a cliff to his death. the issues that could determine the outcome of this case next.

jenna: new information on the trial of a montana newlywed accused of pushing her husband on a cliff. her brother break down saying he was angry with his sister for repeatedly lying about the circumstances of her husband's death but the lies are one issue in this case. there are a few other key points that could come up into play during this trial. a possible blindfold found near the body where the body was eventually discovered in the woods. there's allegations that gram threatened to call her parents shortly before her husband's death and there's also some questionable text messages as well in the hours before what

prosecutors are calling the murder. dan shore is a former prosecutor and brian silver is a criminal defense attorney. nice to have you both on this case. brian, you surprised me. you say that this case should not even be prosecuted. why? >> absolutely. listen. this is one of those classic textbook cases where you frankly have a lack of evidence. the only two people that know what happened that day on that cliff is the defendant and the deceased. and there's no one to rebutt it and all the other supposed evidence they have in this case is meaningful. the one thing the prosecution can say is that why didn't she call for help when he fell off that cliff? why did she wait? why did she lie about it? sometimes people do it because they're guilty and they killed someone and they need to cover up but the other reason is because they're freaking out and they're finding themselves in circumstances that look like they're guilty even though it was an accident. and when someone can't be helped

because they fell 200 feet to their death, some people make the wrong decisions but it doesn't mean they're guilty. jenna: what about that? she told law enforcement two stories. there's one story where she said she turned and walked away and got angry and pushed this guy from behind and pushed him off the cliff. there's the other story that he grabbed her and in her effort to get him off, he fell off the cliff. she's the only one there. what do you do as a prosecutor? >> i think this is a very strong case for the prosecution. she kept changing her story from saying she didn't know where he was or whether he was alive or not to saying that they got into a fight and she accidentally pushed him. according to law enforcement, in anger she pushed him off the cliff when he was not a threat at that moment. when you're judging the credibility of any defendant or witness, you have to look at how they behave after the incident. once he's pushed. she goes to coverup mode. she doesn't try to get help as

any of us would if we had seen our spouse fall over a cliff. jenna: is she guilty of murder, premeditated murder? >> first degree murder count says premeditation, preplanned. she's also facing second degree murder that's intentional murder and what she does after is very consistent with an intentional murder because she's covering it up. she's texting a friend saying he's alive and doing other things telling law enforcement she doesn't know where he is. jenna: how do you think it is to have her brother crying on the stand saying my sister is a liar? >> listen. i think honestly, a go ahead trial lawyer will show this is the epitome of the prosecution's weakness. they got to turn to her 16-year-old brother who really doesn't know much about anything because of his age and immaturity to and build their case for them. the fact she told multiple stories doesn't make this a murder. it makes her someone who covered something up and the question is what. jenna: great to have you today.

thank you. >> thank you. jon: danica patrick hitting all the right notes, cohosting the fourth annual american country awards. boy, she surprised the audience. that's coming up.

jon: from the racetrack to the red carpet, nascar super star danica patrick showed a broad range of talents. cohosting the fourth annual american country awards with trace atkins, laura is here now with more on that. >> what a lot of fun this was. if you saw it, you know what i'm talking about. cannotry music and nascar fans have a lot to cheer about last night as the two worlds merged in a slashy, sassy show at the american country wards show in las vegas. nascar favorite danica patrick

was cohost of the event along with trace atkins. now, during the show, atkins jokingly asked patrick why she was qualified to host a country music award show. she said because she's in a miranda lambert movie video, of course. she was driving in the music video, by the way. while nascar fans are used to seeing the well known driver look like this, last night they were treated to her looking like this. a vegas show girl dressed head to toe in typical vegas show girl gear, feathers, sparkles and little else. dancing in step with real vegas show girls on stage. danica patrick fans have seen her in high heels before. this outfit was clearly a lot of fun to strut her stuff in. she even made a joke about viewers possibly seeing too much. >> that was fun. i always wanted to do that. and the good thing about me is there's no chance of a wardrobe

malfunction. not much to malfunction. i hope that little bit didn't fall flat. >> and the audience ate it up along with the other bits played out by patrick and atkins. patrick wore cowboy boots and a hat and he was in a nascar outfit. luke bryant was artist of the year. blake shelt on had four awards, including album of the year for "based on a true story" and taylor swift with "darling." there's your wrappup of what happened in country music last night. jon: it's nice she can have a little fun. poke a little fun at herself. good for her. >> she loved it and she did well. all the fans loved it. jenna: says the man not wearing a show girl outfit. it is nice, though. she did a great job.

come on, jon. >> you know, trace atkins at one point in the show wore the show girl outfit as a gag. jenna: equal opportunity. thank you very much. we'll be right back with more "happening now."

jon: big developments and breaking news this hour. jenna: health and human services secretary, kathleen sebelius, on the hot seat today. house committee looking at the security issues surrounding the obamacare exchange website and questions about the secretary's call for an independent investigation into the botched rollout. we'll go to that story straight ahead. also a another hearing set to get underway on the scoop of the n.s.a. spying program amid new calls for intelligence director james clapper to be prosecuted for lying to congress about the program. and ukraine police ending a massive crackdown on protestors after they were unable to disperse thousands and thousands of people. it's a story of europe versus russia and it is certainly a lot

at stake for the united states as well. why the outcome is so important to us. it's all "happening now." fox news alert. kathleen sebelius on the hot seat after obamacare disappointing numbers who come in and lawmakers who were told everything was on track for months can't seem to hide their new hour of "happening now." jon: 365,000, that's about how many americans have enrolled in insurance plans under obamacare. that number far short of the administration's target of seven million enrollees and in what may have been more damage control, just hours before testifying, secretary sebelius is demanding an investigation into the contractors behind that troubled website. and creating a new position of chief risk officer to oversee future obamacare programs. the call for a probe two months after the failed launch is doing

little to please skeptical lawmakers like michigan republican fred upton. >> so you announce the i.g. investigation yesterday. do you wish you had started that maybe this summer, asking some tough questions in terms of where things were knowing what you knew back then? >> i didn't have cause to ask the i.g. to be involved last summer, no, sir. jon: mike emmanuel is live from the hill. two months after the launch has sebelius expressed any regret? >> secretary seb eat -- sebelius talked about how her team has been working around the clock and she noted after several hundred upgrades and hardware fixes, it is vastly improved. then there was this exchange. >> knowing what you know today, you would have started the launch october 1? >> i would have probably done a lower launch, maybe with fewer

people and done some additional beta testing which is part of what has happened, frankly, in the early months of the launch to identify what problems we had. >> 365,000 enrolled figure has also taken some heat from republicans who note that vast majority of those people have not paid anything and they note the private sector, when you buy something, you have to put your money down. jon: and what about the price tag for the website? >> that's also gotten a good amount of attention as well. a lot of critics noted that the private sector could have done a better website for a whole lot cheaper. here are some of the dollar figures. >> we would like to know how much you have obligated since october 1 for the cleanup of this exchange, how much money do you anticipate obligating through march of 2014? >> we have obligated $677 million for the total i.t. costs. and have outlaid $319 million of

that $677 million. some of that includes work in the month of october. we'll give you regular updates as we have newly audited numbers. >> there have been some sparks flying between republicans and democrats, not entirely surprising when you consider the political environment here on capitol hill. jon: and we are going to be getting into that in just a bit. mike emmanuel, thank you. jenna: right now three major national polls show the toll that the botched obamacare rollout is taking on the president and democrats. a poll finding president obama's job approval rating is at 38%. disapproval is up to 57%. and nbc news "wall street journal" poll finding 43% of mesh voters approved while 57% disapprove. a poll finding approval at 42% while 58% disapprove of the job

the president is doing. our chief white house correspondent ed henry is live at the white house taking a look at the numbers. any reaction of the white house about any poll numbers? i think we lost ed unless he's just playing hide and seek. hopefully we'll get him back in a moment. we saw the screen go dark. one of the things that's going to be taking a look at is whether or not these numbers are really affecting any decision making going forward. and also importantly, as we head to the end of the year here, we have some big midterm elections in 2014. certainly the president doesn't have to run another election campaign but democrats do. and how the public feels about the president can potentially influence the way that the public feels about other democrats. so when we get ed back and working, we'll go back to him. until that time, i think you have more on these poll numbers. jon: let's break down some of these poll numbers and bring in juan williams, a fox news

political analyst along with charlie who is a columnist for the washington times. i want to start with a quote from one of the pollsters who put this thing together. tim says a rousing chorus of ba humbug for obama as americans have little to say about the president and the numbers would seem to bear that out. jenna had the numbers a little bit before. the approve, disapproval number, 38% in the poll approve of the job president obama is doing p. 57% disapproval. when you look at the republican numbers, 6% approval, not surprising. 76% among democrats, not surprising. look at the independent numbers there. 30% of independents approval. 62% disapprove of the job the president is doing. and we all know elections are

won and lost among the independents, right? >> no question about it. ba humbug is right. you know, right now the average is about 41. the poll at 38 is the lowest right now. that's the bottom end of the scale. rasmussen is at the top end was 47%. what you see overall is a message by americans who have been bombarded about negative news about the rollout of obamacare are pointing the finger at president obama directly, holding him responsible even if no one else has been fired for the problems with the rollout and saying that given that this is his major legislative accomplishment, who can believe that it has been so badly handled in terms of being introduced to the american people? jon: the rollout of obamacare seems to be having an effect on the perception of the president overall. when asked whether you think president obama is honest and trustworthy, 44% say yes.

52% say no. is that because of the if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor? >> i think it has a lot to do with that but it also has to do with the general environment and the general sort of take on obamacare. the numbers we're looking at right now, president obama is literally the exact inverse of about where he was when he was at his most popular as president and he has enjoyed some very, you know, popular numbers. you know, historically thinking. i think what jenna put her finger on, the most important key here is that president obama doesn't face another election. as bad as numbers are, as embarrassing as the numbers are, as difficult as the numbers make it for him to carry out any other agenda items that he wants to, the problem is that the democrats in congress, they do face re-election. they're walking the plank for

his disasterous obamacare and the disasterous rollout so i think that what we're going to see the next eight or 12 months is a real turning among democrats in congress on obama and a real renaissance to go along with him on anything. jon: after the government shutdown, republicans not particularly popular among the voters and they're still not when -- you know, when congress's approval ratings are measured and yet, when asked if the election were held today, would you want to see republicans or democrats win control of the senate and the house, two separate polls and the numbers are the same. voters say 47% in this poll say give the senate to the g.o.p. and the same for the house. 47% say give the house to the g.o.p. that has got to be a real

millstone for democratic candidates as we go forward. >> but i mean, you've got to remember a month ago, the numbers were more than flipped. they were more extreme in terms of favoring democrats. that was after the federal government shutdown which got blamed on the republicans. what i would say is look. charlie pointed out we're at 12 months away from the next election. there's a long ways to go. and i think the die nynamics ar going to shift. we don't know how it plays out in terms of six months from now as we watch the insurance companies set their rates. how about obamacare be viewed then? we don't know. what we do know is the last few months, he's been getting hammered and held responsible for that fiasco. what's really key, when you look at voter preference and this comes to what you were talking about, independents in terms of republicans and democrats and right now the political favors are running among independents are running to republicans. jon: interesting as we say goodbye, 41% of the people say

the top priority from the president, from the congress ought to be the economy. 14% say health care. it's an issue dragging him down and people don't seem to care all that much about the overall issue. thank you both. jenna: another big story today, fox news alert, we're waiting a hearing on capitol hill where three of the most powerful people in our intelligence community will be testifying on the n.s.a. spying scandal. as there are new calls for the nation's intelligence chief, james clapper, who you're seeing at an earlier hearing, some are calling for him to be prosecuted over allegations that he lied to congress. here is more on this part of the story. >> thank you, jenna. we're expecting a vigorous defense of the n.s.a. programs before the senate committees with the director of the n.s.a. testifying along with top lawyers for the intelligence community, including the office of the director of national

intelligence as to the intelligence chief as well as james cole of the justice department. n.s.a. director has consistently taken the position that these programs are saving lives. >> recent years, these programs, together with other intelligence, have protected the u.s. and our allies from terrorist threats across the globe to include helping prevent the terrorists, potential terrorist events over 50 times since 9/11. >> with every new leak like today, the n.s.a. is using electronic signature embedded in your computer to track traffic worldwide. these are undercutting the initial public statements of alexander and the director of national intelligence james clapper that the n.s.a. programs are not being used to routinely gather data on american citizens. and the architect of the patriot act that lays the groundwork for post 9/11 intelligence gathering says the current programs are grossly inefficient and also

unconstitutional. >> very big haystack and very small needle inside of it that hasn't been effective and i think it's in violation of the law. listenment we have to balance out security with respect to civil rights and our constitution which has made america different. >> critics side the brothers accused of the boston marathon bombings. seems to be the poster children, if you will, for the kind of targeting the n.s.a. should be capable of but as you recall, the n.s.a. program did not flag them in time. jenna: thank you. >> you're welcome. jon: post traumatic stress disorder, a debilitating and harrowing problem for some of our troops on the battlefield and back home. now a possible vaccine that could prevent ptsd before it can

start? a live report on that possibility. plus alarming new poll indicating how tough it will be to get americans to sign up for obamacare. this as the secretary pushes for it.

jon: this could be huge. the possibility of a breakthrough in treating post traumatic stress disorder before it strikes. medical researchers at m.i.t. saying they've come across a possible vaccine that could protect our troops. molly is live from boston with more on this promising discovery. >> exactly. this is something that could help thousands of american soldiers returning from very dangerous deployment. m.i.t. say they could have possibly found a vaccine that could help with post traumatic stress disorder. it's a little known hormone. assistant professor of neuro

science with the institute for brain research says it's tied to stress. researchers found rats given the hormone were more susceptible to fear but blocking it made it less. >> if you knew somebody was going to be potentially exposed to a trauma, that putting them on a drug that could block the hormone may lower things like ptsd or depression. >> they're not trying to generate people or animals that are fearless or get rid of someone's traumatic memories. they're simply working to prevent the memories from leading to ptsd. m.i m.i.t. researchers are working in collaboration with massachusetts general hospital. >> we work with veterans returning from the gulf war, primarily iraq and afghanistan, and the possibility of getting a

soldier who is vulnerable or not vulnerable. that's one of the things we're going to look at, to give them a vaccine and have them go off and possibly prevent the formation of ptsd which is really one of the big issues we're struggling with, with the returning veterans. >> this could create a pretentative strategy to stop ptsd from forming is a big leap forward. they believe it may also be able to help people that have surprisingly or unexpectedly suffered a traumatic event wpenf people this development could possibly help. jon: that is exciting news. molly in boston. thank you. jenna: memorial for nelson mandela was planned to everyone could investigate. a new investigation into whether the signer for the deaf was speaking it. a committee votes to spend the president's pick for deputy hhs

secretary for a full senate vote. the candidate is currently under investigation for allegations he misused his position. new rules forced through the senate by democrats could help him easily get approved despite the controversy. more on that story coming up.

jenna: south african officials are launching an investigation after it was revealed the sign language interpreter at the memorial for nelson mandela may have been a fake. patti ann browne is live with more on this. >> that's right. top world dignitaries spoke at the memorial for nelson mandela, including president obama and on stage with them was a young man in a suit moving his hands around, presumes to be an interpreter for the deaf. but the deaf federation of south africa says he was a fake.

this group and many others say his hand gestures made no sense and he was basically making up signs that were nothing more than jibberish and now south african officials claim they have no idea who this man was. so how did he get on stage? he was wearing an official security pass and the same man appeared alongside south african president at a meeting last year of the ruling african national congress. the mandela service was not organized by their party and questions should be addressed to the government. presidential minister said his government is looking into this matter. this as deaf viewers around the world expressed outrage. jenna: interesting. it's one thing to have a fake interpreter. it's another thing that you point out, it's a massive security issue if he's not who he says he was or didn't have the right credentls or anything else. >> right. seems like there are more questions than answers at this point. somebody obviously knew who he was and gave him a security pass. jenna: very interesting. thank you. jon: strange story.

a senate committee just voting to send the controversial presidential nominee to the full senate for a vote. he's currently you should investigation for allegedly misusing his position as head of the immigrations and customs enforcement agency but new extended rules from the democratic majority could ensure he's confirmed as the new deputy health and human services secretary. >> hi, jon. washington times gained access to internal emails that showed harry reid put tremendous political pressure on career d.h.s. officials to overturn rejected visa applications for foreign investors in a politically connected las vegas casino. career d.h.s. officials, including the administration's pick to become the number two man at d.h.s. ultimately granted the visas despite suspicious financial activity by the foreign applicants.

one said this is going to be a major headache for us because senator reid's office, staff, is pushing hard and i just had a long shouting match on the phone. the times story comes as the senate homeland security committee voted within the hour to send his nomination to the full senate for a confirmation. that under the strenuous objection among republicans who point out he's under investigation by the d.h.s. office of inspector general. there's no nominee that's ever been forward while under investigation. disrespect they discovered the opposite. committees had established and followed the precedent that would lead us to postpone consideration of any nominee under investigation. >> committee chairman said that he's pushing the nomination forward because whistle blowers within the department of homeland security have only spoken to republican staff. >> this committee's majority staff is being denied at least

until today, the opportunity to actually speak with these people. i am deeply disappointed that dr. cobern has taken the time to hear about these complaints but continues to refuse to meet and allow him to respond to any charges being made against him. >> it's no wonder that whistle blowers do not want to talk to him or his staff because their allegations have been dismissed. >> a spokesman for harry reid said this morning that the majority leader, quote, has supported and will support the s.o.s. las vegas casino in any way he can. jon: interesting. thanks, doug. jenna: new information about obamacare today and enrollment. what a new poll find what americans would rather do than sign up for obama karen. there are concerns there will not be enough doctors to treat everyone. yesterday we talked to a doctor who says there will be no doctor

shortages. today a doctor with a very different point of view. that's next.

jon: right now a reminder of the tough task administration might have in getting folks to sign up for obamacare. a new poll saying about four in 10 americans would rather pay the fine instead of buying health insurance. elizabeth mcdonald with the fox

business network is >> they say they're going to pay

the mandate tax instead of buying insurance overall. so the fallout here j is that the mandate tax could go up. jon: $95 fine doesn't sound like much but it could be bigger than that depending on your income. fox business network, thanks. >> good to be with you. jenna: millions of americans are expected to sign up for insurance under the new law a coring to the administration. that's raising some questions about whether there's going to be enough doctors to treat them all. yesterday on "happening now" we spoke to a doctor who is an internist and fellow at the american enterprise institute, a frequent critic of obamacare. he says doctor shortages should not be a concern. >> i think just assuming because we have 30 million more people who are uninsured, they weren't getting care before and now they're getting care that that's going to create a shortage, that's going to be a naive assumption. they were getting care before. a lot of them will continue to

get treatment that way. jenna: our next guest says a doctor shortage is something to be worried about. he's a physician and chief public policy officer for the association of american medical colleges. it's nice to have you on the program. >> my pleasure. thanks. jenna: so your organization's data is frequently quoted in the argument that there's going to be a doctor shortage and you point out, your organization, that concerns about this predate, the new health care law, what is the effect of obamacare on the potential doctor shortage? >> well, i think you have to remember that the physician shortage is really being driven by the aging of the population. that's what they're at the core reason for this. the number of people turning 65 every day is about 10,000 over the next 20 years. and so we've known that's going to drive the shortage for quite some time. if you think about what the a.c.a. does, it put some people into the insurance pool seeking out regular care a few years

before that. so it will slightly accelerate that shortage but most of this is drif n by the aging of the population. jenna: so is obamacare even a factor? when you look at the folks being put into the category that you're mentioning, the older aging population, is it dramatically increasing the thought that there's going to be a doctor shortage, or is it insignificant? >> i wouldn't say it's insignificant but what it does, again, is the a.c.a. will accelerate that shortage and probably make it about 20% or so worse in the near term. if you look 15 years out, those shortages are still going to be as bad with or without the a.c.a. once people age and go on to medicare and we're looking at a shortage about 130,000 physicians by 2025. jenna: so what experience will that produce for a consumer that's -- of a certain age, you know, in retirement age or just in general? would that affect younger people as well?

>> absolutely. i think shortages are going to affect people already hit by problems with access to care, whether they're in rural, underserved areas or in certain inner city settings, i think it will get worse for those people first. then it will affect people like you, me, my mom and the rest of our families not just in getting access to seeing a primary care physician but when we try to get referred for, say, a knee replacement or hip replacement or cardiac problem with diabetes, having real challenges in getting timely access to specialist physicians as well. jenna: one of the arguments made in an editorial recently saying a doctor shortage isn't anything to worry about. they said that technology is improving and that's going to make medicine way more efficient than it is now. they also pointed out that folks are not going to go to the doctors quite as much because different health care professionals like nurse practitioners can help hook up the slack. do you see that happening?

>> i think there's great merit in arguing that there needs to be multiple approaches to solving a physician shortage. what doctors have pointed out are only two out of the three necessary approaches. if we're going to deal with that severe shortage of physicians, we need to do all these thing. it's not an either/or approach. we need to train more physicians a year and also figure out how to make better use of not just p.a.'s and nurse practitioners but also pharmacists, social workers and the rest of the health care team. having to provide care as a team efficiently and use technology. it needs to be all three of these things. jenna: let me ask you something that's not as easy to quantify. it's more of a feeling. since you've done work in the medical profession, i'm curious about this. what is your sense of how the cu would like to refer to it, what is your sense of its effect on inspiring young people to go into the medical profession,

whether it's nurse practitioner, a doctor, what do you think is the impact? >> well, it's hard to say with the long term effect will be on people's interests to go into health care but what we've seen in our own medical schools is we've had record numbers of applications. and our medical schools, because of the physician shortage, have gotten to record capacity. the challenge now is we may not have enough residency training programs, graduate training that all physicians need in their various specialties to practice independently to accommodate all the u.s. graduates and i think that's where folks may get discouraged. jenna: is that because simply these hospitals cannot accept more residents or why is there not a place for these medical graduates to go? >> so the challenge, the real problem that's driven the shortage of physicians has been since the balance budget act of 1997, congress limited medicare's approach of sharing

the cost of hospitals. while we've been able to expand a little bit, right now we are at financial constraint capacity, not from a technical standpoint. we have plenty of patients and plenty of great attending physicians to train the next generation of doctors. but it's financially costly proposition to train all the time physicians. jenna: interesting and congressmen are taking a look at a lot of the costs benefit analysis for some of these other funding programs as welling. it's gret -- great to have you on the problem. jon: you probably know there's a prohibition on beards in the military. jenna knows that as a wife of a naval academy graduate. if you're the top military officer, sometimes there's an exception. take a look at this. we have a picture of general martin dempsey appearing on stage with willie robertson of

duck dynasty. he's entertaining troops in kandahar. guess what they sang? jenna: what? jon: a very hairy christmas. chairman of the joint chiefs of staff with willie robertson. you can turn on the lights at home or close the door with a press of a button even if you're thousands of miles away. more on today's high tech homes and a live demonstration coming up. and who is it? time may go "time" magazine's p year just revealed.

jenna: happening now, "time" magazine naming pope francis as

person of the year. the new leader of the catholic church changed the perception of the church in an extraordinary way in a short time. he was selected in march as the first south american pope. vatican calling the choice a positive recognition of spiritual values in the international media. jon: amazing strides in technology help us in all kinds of ways. now not only can tech help us from the comfort of our homes, but it can help us with the comfort of our homes. >> you know, the agency that has a house here in beverly hills, $36 million it's listed for. obviously the jetson home of the future can be controlled with everything from the iphone i put down or in this case, an ipad that comes out of the wall. you slide it right open and it pops up what you need to do here. in this case, we want to control it and open up the curtains. head over to the shade. while this costs a lot of money to do, and the house is $36

million, it doesn't mean it has to be that much anymore. we went to a house in park city, utah, much more affordable home. they've auto mated everything. you can open the door if someone comes to visit, turn the tv on and off if you want to at this home. it's done by a number of different places. cable companies are doing it, phone companies as well. even your local lowe's sells these types of services and when you talk to companies, they tell you it's great for the consumer and for the companies. >> one of the great things our solution offers is a whole degree of personalization. what we're able to do is really make the home interact the way the consumer wants it to interact. >> you get a text message alert on your email, you know, or your smart phone or whatever so that you know when the door opens, a picture is taken and you can actually go see that your two kids have come home. >> a two bedroom, one bath house

can do that now for $50 a month or so but in a big time home like this, you can control your wine cellar if you're in france and i could hit all on, turn the lights on. all controlled from your ipad. to give you an idea how big this business is, it's grown 15% a year and next year they expect it to be $18 billion in home automation so the jetsons' home, now if you're at a home like this in beverly hills or one like yours in new york which is in the $8 million, $9 million? jon: can you at least rent that for a little while? >> you know what? we've rented it for this morning. we can't sit on anything. we're afraid to touch anything here. jon: $36 million. >> it's cool. jon: it looks like fun. thank you. jenna: 6-year-old boy labelled a sex offender by school officials all because he kissed a classmate on the hand and the

cheek. there's the little boy right there with his puppy. many people are speaking out about this punishment. and thousands of anti-government protestors in the ukraine forcing back police in a standoff. what it could mean for the country's ties with russia and the response from the united states.

jenna: big story we've been watching, anti-government protestors in the ukraine victorious after pushing back riot police overnight. tens of thousands gathering in the nation's capital there in independence square protesting their president's decision to reject a trade deal with the european union. his decision was to reject it and move closer to russia. riot police descending on the plaza around 1:00 in the morning taking down barriers and tents,

clashing with protestors and demonstrators depending on how you see them. police eventually backed off. opposition leader still calling for their key demands. >> pressuring in order to release those who are imprisoned and to prosecute those who are guilty and -- [inaudible] but what the president has made, he made any kind of negotiations nearly impossible. jenna: secretary of state warning the ukraine's president over the police action. >> i made it absolutely clear to him that what happened last night, what has been happening in security terms here is absolutely inpermissible in a democratic state. jenna: joining me is a fox news security analyst and former assistant secretary of defense

in the reagan administration. this story has been percolating since late november but has gained speed with all the demonstrators tearing down the statue in the square there. what is really happening in the ukraine? >> okay. it's complicated but it's simple. and it's all about the economy. ukraine is sort of caught between russia on the one side and the european union on the other. when the soviet union collapsed in the 1990's, ukraine had a choice. what they want to do is affiliate economically with the european union, with the europeans. they look at the polls, the czech republic and they say times were better there. on the other hand, the russians want to bring them into the russian net. they want to reestablish the old soviet empire. so the tool in all of this is gas. natural gas. the russians supply almost all the natural gas for ukraine. if the russians turn it off, ukrainians are shivering and in the dark all winter. russians have done it before. they can do it again. jenna: was it that threat or the

concern about that that ukraine's president made this decision or was there something else going on in his own political career? >> that's the right question to ask. ukrainian -- the leader of the ukraine has been trying to play both sides. i met with the senior russian government official yesterday and he said, well, ukrainians came to us and they negotiated a deal. cheap oil prices, they were going to join the russian trade union group along with kazakhstan. we gave them cheap prices and now they reneged. they want to take the cheap prices and cast their lot with the europeans. jenna: maybe they're talking out of both sides of their mouth. >> definitely. jenna: speaking of cold, it's lower than 30 degrees out there. they've been there for days and one of the things they're chanting is let us go to school in europe. a lot of young people want to go to school and learn and become more affiliated with the european side. what is the opportunity for us? what is best for you ins this

situation? >> you always want to think what's best to your own country. they think they're going to have a better lot if they cast with europe. they want to go to european universities, get jobs, travel throughout europe and that's where they want to go. what's best for us? we look at vladmir putin and say this guy is flexing his muscles. he's in the middle east, trying to move into syria. he's trying to make good relations with the egyptians. they're trying to reclaim the old soviet empire. i think we stand up to them but we have to with money. jenna: let me ask you both. they have edward snowden now on his soil and also interesting story about russian state media. there's not a lot of media in russia but vladmir putin came in and is replacing it with sounds like a propaganda machine. >> absolutely. jenna: so you say we have to confront him but what do we do in this situation? >> privately and publicly. vladmir putin has a big ego,

somebody who sees himself as having revitalized the fallen soviet empire. i think he's the new peter the great. however, their achilles' heel is their economy. when i did speak yesterday with a senior russian official. i said, look. you had a good run for 15 years because of oil and gas prices but that's about to change. united states energy is coming online. he said, you know, in some ways that high energy prices, oil and natural gas, has prevented us and given us an excuse to be lazy and we have not developed our economy. so i think there's open for a deal. poor ukraine is caught in the middle. on the other hand, they've been playing both sides trying to get the best deal for themselves. jenna: great analysis for us today. more coming up here on "happening now."

♪ i really can't stay.

♪ baby it is cold outside. ♪ i have got to go away. yes, it is cold outside of the new york studiose looking down sixth avenue toward material park and you know, gena, santa doesn't do malls only before christmas. he does aquariums. he swam with the sharks and stingrays and he does it twois a day and will continue to do so until christmas. that is adopted. well, we have news on little jack hoffman that made the touchdown run in nebraska's spring game. he is nominated as sports illustrated sportsman of the year. they can pick and choose. and one writer nominated jack

and also nominated peyton and my money is on jack. >> even though i am a peyton fan. >> keep us updated. america's nows headquarters starts right now. my money on camerota. >> thank you. >> back in the hot society she goes. kathleen sebelius offers a progress report on obama care. i am bill hemmer. >> and i am allyson camerota. enrollment numbers are in. one- third of the amount of enrollees expected by now. >> knowing what you know today you would have started it on october 1st? >> i would have done a slower launch with fewer people and done additional beta testing. >> who is going to guarantee that the doctor sos that patient on