you for watching. hope to see you right here next week. a fox weather alert now. folks in the northeast are getting yet another winter wallop as a fast-moving major winter storm is threatening to dump a foot or more of snow this weekend in some areas. welcome to america news headquarters everyone. glad you're with us. i'm gregg jarrett. >> i'm arthel neville. snowy new york city. the national weather service predicting anywhere between 6 to 14 inches of snow in new england, forcing airlines to cancel almost 1,000 flights. that is indeed a nightmare. the storm system exiting missouri, leaving a slick mess on the roads. now the northeast here is in the

cross hairs. let's go to chief meteorologist in the fox extreme weather center. so what's coming down? >> it's kind of two stories with this storm. the first one was a storm across parts of the plains. some heavy snow falling, parts of indiana and ohio. the roads very dangerous across that area, some 7 to 9 inches in a few spots. we'll see this storm move off shore and become a bit of a coastal storm eventually. i'll show you that in a second. here's the latest satellite imagery. it's very heavy rain down to the south. a little bit of severe weather possible today across parts of florida. be alert. potentially a tornado, strong winds. snow about to end here in chicago. still snowing across northern indiana and ohio. now we're going to start to see the second part of this event take form. we already have seen pretty decent snow across parts of pennsylvania and new york. a coastal storm will develop here over the next couple of hours. then we start to see a much stronger storm. take a look at how this plays out over the next few hours.

heavy snow continues to fall in pennsylvania and upstate new york. go to 9:00 tonight and you start to see warmer air with this coastal storm. where i think we'll see a transition from snow to rain in new york city, that means a snowy sea will likely start to melt a little bit and exterior section, maybe a little ice storm. so northwest new jersey, hudson river valley. boston, temps today only in the teen, we'll see a big warm-up there, and we'll see that transition into rain eventually. interior section, it's all snow. that's why the biggest snowfall totals we see are going to be across intersections. in some spots, we'll definitely see over a foot of snow. that's great news really for these big ski resorts we have over much of new england. they definitely need the snow. coastal areas just kind of a slushy mess by the time we're done with this. tomorrow, temps above freeze. that's good news. starts to help things melt. if there's any good news, it's this is happening on the weekend. hopefully a lot of people can stay inside. >> some people wanted to go out

shopping. >> that's a problem. >> if i were to drive tomorrow from manhattan to hudson, is it a good day to do it? >> i think you'll be fine. there's going to be some rain move in that will melt a lot of the snow and the warmer temperatures certainly will help that as well. >> rick, thank you very much. >> you bet. >> i'm glad i bought my wife a new shovel for her birthday. >> you're so kind, mr. jarrett, so kind. let's take a look at cleveland. we have live pictures there. it's like you can't even see yourself -- see five inches in front of you there. this is from our affiliate wjw. they're getting clobbered there with the snow. folks in cleveland, they're used to it. traffic still moving. i'm sure carefully on some level. so far, it hasn't crippled things completely, huh. >> police in colorado are searching for answers today, following yesterday's school shooting in a denver suburb.

veg investigators say an 18-year-old classmate suddenly opened fire, critically injuring a 15-year-old girl before turning the gun on himself. live from our los angeles bureau with more. what's the latest? >> authorities have identified the alleged gunman. they say he was 18-year-old carol pierson. they say what happened is pierson walked into arapahoe high school yesterday with a shotgun. from all account, was apparently targeting a specific teacher. a librarian who was also a speech and debate coach. apparently pierson was on the speech and debate team. apparently the targeted teacher found out that pierson was inside the school and left immediately. then at some point a 15-year-old girl came in pierson's path. authorities say they was shot and is currently in critical condition. of course, when the shots rang out, they sent the more than 2,000 students in this school into hiding. authorities say at some point pierson turned the gun on himself, taking his own life. now, last night, authorities searched pierson's home in

centennial, colorado, of course, looking for the motive here. students say pierson was smart, nice and a gifted debater and, gregg, they say they're shocked this shooting happened. >> how quickly were authorities able to respond, will? >> from all accounts, they responded very quickly. and did just about everything they can. they were meticulous that even when pierson was found to have shot himself, that they were meticulous to search every student to make sure there weren't any other shootings. unfortunate unfortunately, this is just an area that knows shootings too well. this shooting yesterday happened eight miles from columbine high school, 15 miles from aurora, and one arapahoe high school parent says mass shooting are simply always on parent's minds. >> it just feels so close all the time. and then when i drove up to the school and it was surrounded by ambulances and fire trucks and police officers and parents were

running towards the school, you just think to yourself, is this really happening? is this really happening? how can this be happening? >> that parent says her two children actually texted her immediately when the shots rang out. they said there was a shooting and they said they were okay. she said she was thankful both have their cell phones with them when the shootings started. >> thank you very much. >> you bet. >> fox news confirming an american citizen who vanished nearly seven years ago in iran was indeed working for the cia. robert levenson was collecting intelligence for the agency at the time of his disappearance. the white house so far denies all of this. elizabeth prann has more now from washington. >> the white house responding to the news emerging about the former fbi agent robert levenson with much of what we heard in the past. levenson they say was not a u.s. government employee at the time, nor do they have any indication of where his whereabouts are

now. press secretary jay carney had this to say. >> i'm not going to fact check every allegation made in the story you referenced, a story we believe was highly irresponsible to public in which we strongly urged the outlet not to publish, out of concerns for mr mr. levenson's safety. >> after the associated press released its report that the missing former agent was working on an unapproved cia mission in iran, fox news confirmed several analysts have been involved in an off the books collection program in the past. in some cases, the operative didn't know they were gathering information for the cia. levenson could have been part of a program for that nature. the last time we've seen him was this proof of life photo in 2011. the levenson family who has received more than $2 million to prevent a lawsuit have responded in part by saying it is time for the u.s. government to step up and take care of one of its own. after nearly seven years, our family sh not be struggling to get through each day without

this wonderful caring man that we love so much. the unapproved program run by a group of cia analysts later resulted in at least eight people being fired or reprimanded. ars arthel, back to you. inspired by osama bin lad be, brand-new details of an american citizen who wanted to drive a car packed with explosives straight into a busy u.s. airport. americans in need of health insurance will be dealing with delays in obama care. the troubles will just keep coming. we'll tell you about the latest problems as the white house continues to defend the president's statement that if you like your plan, you'll be able to keep it. as millions of americans receive cancellation notices. >> i think that the statement about keeping your plan was one that is applicable to the vast majority of americans in the health insurance market.

some headlines we're watching now. a small plane making an emergency landing near las vegas. police say the plane lost power and clipped a fence before it belly landed. two people on board suffering only minor injuries. a 58-year-old man arrested yesterday. he is accused of plotting to detonate a car bomb at an airport in kansas. police say terry lowen tried to get on to the tarmac at the regional airport with a vehicle packed with explosives. secretary of state john kerry visiting vietnam for talks on a wide-ranging trade agreement. the u.s. is negotiating transpacific partnership with ten asian countries. there seems to be no end in

sight for the problems plaguing the troubled rollout of obama care. this notwithstanding the administration's numerous attempts to make technical fixes. the errors and costs to consumers keep adding up to. but listen to health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius still defending the president's infamous promise. >> i think that the statement about keeping your plan was one that is applicable to the vast majority of americans in the health insurance market, what we know is that we also designed the implementation of the aff d affordable care act to make sure that plans that were in place in march of 2010, that kept the same benefits in place, didn't shift cost to consumers.

>> she seemed to struggle with that. what impact will all of this have on the 2014 midterm elections? let's bring in our political panel. tony saic, president of talk radio news services. and tina jackson, fox radio host. both fox news contributors. 5.9 million individual plans have been canceled because obama care made them illegal, but the average people on those plans is about three. so what you're really doing, if you do the math, is you're talking about 18 million who have lost their coverage and the cbo now estimates that some 20 million employer plans are going to be terminated. again, you've got to do multiples on that. is kathleen sebelius in denial or just unaware? >> well, you know, i think it's a well-intentioned plan but clearly there's some problems. it is so complicated, too complicated to do what it

intends to do and too complexion to be administered efficiently. i hope what we will do is step back and look at what we're doing here. because, greg, in 1966, when we started medicare, we registered 20 million people on index cards. clearly this can be done. i think they can come together and do something. this was done before. >> might have saved some taxpayer money if they used index cards, that's for sure. tony, the canceled policies should come as no surprise to president obama. back in 2010, obama officials predicted in the federal register that 93 million americans would have their plans canceled. here's their breakdown. again, this is the administration. they projected that 66% of small employer plans would be terminated. 45% of large employer plans terminated. tony, is it any wonder that

they've awarded the president lie of the year? >> yeah, the biggest one, politi-fact, an objective place that analyzes promise, and whether or not they're true. this is clearly a lie. it's by design. the idea of obama care is to disrupt the individual private insurance health market. so that's what you're going to get. people who can't get their plans as a result of the thousands of pages in the federal register of obama care stress fa i kas, stress specifications and regulations, and that's why you're seeing a large defection of democrats defending obama care, distancing themselves from obama care. pryor in arkansas, running against obama care. they all voted for it. they all knew what was in the plan when they voted for it on straight party lines. now that the politics of this is reversing so much against them, they have no choice but to obviously create some distance. >> many more democratic senators

are up for re-election than republicans. the gop needs to win six to take over the senate. >> that's right. >> how would you assess it? it is not looking good right now for democrats, is it? >> are you speaking to me, greg? >> yes. >> what's even worse, what is bothering me, is what it looks like for the people. far too many americans are still uninsured. i think this plan -- we have a grand opportunity to bring everybody in. i say this as someone who had weight loss surgery nine years ago. i had pre-existing conditions, asthmatic, on and on. if we still had health insurance as it had been, i would not have had my surgery, i would have died. so we need reform. but i think we need a bipartisan approach to this problem. >> yeah, well, i got to tell you -- >> -- the public good -- >> the cbo, you just said the idea is to bring everybody in. the cbo, the nonpartisan cbo,

says after ten years, you're still going to have 31 million americans uninsured. >> because our approach is wrong. >> that's probably one of the important points. the whole idea of obama care is this universal coverage notion. which i grant is a very good and noble goal but it doesn't accomplish it. the problem with obama care as it is today, which is why you're seeing the democrats who are running away from it doing so, so aggressively, it's beginning to hurt more people than it's actually helping. when you have people who can't access the website. can get their kids on their plan, that's one -- >> i want to get one last question into you -- >> that's why i supported medicare -- >> until january when people start going to their hospital or doctor, pharmacy and so forth. here's how "the wall street journal" described it. the result could be bureaucratic chaos. as doctors and patients storm insu insurers phone banks and federal officials work to clean up the inaccuracies. the head of aetna said this. the big moment of truth is 12:00 a.m. january 1 when a mother is

standing at a pharmacy with a baby in her arms, trying to get a prescription filled. i mean, this could really be a disaster january 1. >> greg, i'm on prescriptions for the rest of my life because of health issues i continue to have, that i will continue to have, in order to save my life. i'm hoping we will have a moratorium so people who have their plans can keep on going, and i hope we can move towards medicare for all. in 1966, almost 50 years ago, you mean to tell me we're going to register 20 million people on index cards and we can't do anything now? >> america doesn't want single payer. that's why you have to make false promises -- >> -- never presented with the option -- >> i'm afraid i'm out of time. the producer's giving me a hard wrap here. >> merry christmas and god bless. preparation, under way in south africa for nelson mandela's state funeral. a live report from johannesburg

is coming up.

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a rare and historic moment in austin, texas, as two oldest known world war ii veterans both 107 years old meet for the first time. richard overton served in the army, elmer hill was in the navy, being introduced to each other yesterday, and both men grateful for that opportunity. >> something i never done in my life. i never seen nobody else do it. >> it's nothing i can explain. i'm glad to be here but i wasn't expecting to create this kind of an activity. >> overton just met president obama. now hill will be meeting the president on monday. congratulations.

nelson mandela's body arriving at an airport near his hometown today. the anti-apartheid leader died on december 5th. his funeral is set. greg palkot streaming live in johannesburg with the latest. greg? >> reporter: hey, arthel, nelson mandela coming home for the last day, considered to be the father of modern-day south africa, flown to the rural eastern part of the country. that's where nelson mandela was born, where he will be buried on sunday. a bit of a new flak todck today. a friend was not invited to the funeral and he won't be attending. he has had differences with the

ruling party here in the past. mandela's remains were transported from the airport via hearse in a military procession from an airport to the region of the burial sight. that's mandela's ancestral village of qunu. locals line the route. they were hoping to get a glimpse of the casket. they were a little bit upset because the security concern made the procession move a little bit faster than had been anticipated. the funeral tomorrow will be attended by somebody like 4,500 guests and dignitaries around the world. you mentioned a few, arthel. there are even reports that oprah will be there. the village of qunu is very basic, and we will be watching mandela's closer ethnic groupings' traditions used and implemented in this funeral. a lot of tradition, a lot of history there. and it won't be over on sunday. on monday in south africa's

capital of pretoria where we saw all that great emotion wednesday, thursday, friday while the public viewed the body, there will be the unveiling just in the middle of the government buildings there of a statue to nelson mandela. a lot of love to go around here in this country, arthel. a lot of emotion being shown. back to you. >> indeed, greg palkot, thanking so much for that report. the shocking new reports suggesting it's nothing more than a speed butch for the nsa. details ahead. plus, we're keeping an eye on the skies as winter weather is moving into the northeast.

hello, everyone. i'm arthel neville. so glad you could join us. >> i'm gregg jarrett. more snow for millions of americans as powerful storms slam parts of the midwest through the northeast for a second day in a row. we'll have a live look at the forecast. >> how all that snow could impact holiday shoppers as it comes on one of the last shopping weekends before christmas. >> coming up, the growing outrage of the so-called affluenza defense after a

16-year-old accused of killing four people while driving drunk is let off on probation. but first we're learning more details about the nsa's secret cell phone tracking program. according to internal documents, the agency is able to get around widely used cell phone encryption technology, allowing them to decode billions of calls and texts. we bring in molly henneberg. >> i've got it. this is provided by leaker edward snowden. according to the "washington post" the nsa is able to crack the encryption used by the majority of cell phone users in the world and can listen to phone calls and read text messages. that encryption was developed in the 1980s and is meant to protect phones that use 2g technology.

3g and 4g have better protection. they can eavesdrop on people overseas. the agency told the post, quote, throughout history, nations have used encryption to protect their secrets, and today terrorists, cyber criminals, human traffickers, and others also use technology to activities. the intelligence community tries to counter that in order to understand the intent of foreign adversaries and prevent them from bringing harm to americans and allies. but the concern now is that other foreign intelligence agencies may also have the same acts and do the same things to americans' phones that the nsa may be doing to phones overseas. this all comes as president obama and his team review a report submitted yesterday by presidential task force looking at the nsa's activities in the wake of the snowden leaks. president obama has said, he'll be, quote, proposing some self-restraint on the nsa.

>> the president, as you know, believes that what has happened this year has made it clear that we need to review our activities with a basic principle in mind, that we should be doing everything that we should and must be doing to ensure our safety within the law, but not doing things simply because we can do them because we have the assets and resources that allow us to do them. >> the obama administration says that review should be wrapped up in january and then the president will comment on it. arthel? >> molly henneberg. thanks a lot, molly. well, a powerful snowstorm is pounding the northeast right now. the snow coming down pretty hard right here in new york city. nearly a thousand flights have been canceled so far. folks across new england could see 6 to 12 inches of snow.

chief meteorologist rick reichmuth. hi, rick. >> that's not the case in parts of illinois, indiana, causing some big problems. temperature weiss take look at this. you see where the cold air is. buffalo, 15, new york at 25, boston at 19. you see the temperatures and think we're going to look at all snow. you're going to see a coastal storm develop and that's going to bring much warmer air in, at least to the northeast. you'll see rain come in and keep snowfall totals down, at least along the coast. most of illinois, you're done. northern indiana, michigan, and parts of ohio. but we're going to see a secondary storm, a coastal storm off the delmarva peninsula over the next couple of hours and that's what will bring more energy and moisture in across

the northeast eventually. this is the radar. new york city, long island, that mixing where we have rain and snow, the temperature difference, and you'll notice we'll cross over to rain overnight in new york city. and boston, you're at 19 degrees right now, and you're thinking all snow. enough warm weather is going to come in to keep your snow levels down. interior sections, we're talking more snow all the time and significant snowfall totals. this is one of the forecast model projections here. boston, 7.8 inches total. new york, 3.2. altoo altoo altoona, 9.1. add a little bit of elevation, gregg, into the mountains and we'll see it getting up over a foot in some cases and that's good for the ski areas and good news for your the big cities that we're not getting as much of the snow there. that will keep your monday morning commute certainly a lot better and by tomorrow we'll see things calming down quite a bit.

>> 3 inches, not too bad for new york city. rick reichmuth, thanks very much. >> you bet. okay. we'll get to some politics now. a new salvo between john boehner and conservative groups, the tea party patriots sending a fund-raising e-mail to supporters saying, quote, ruling class politicians like john boehner trumpet conservative principles when it's convenient, but when you look at their policies, they're nothing but a bunch of tax-and-spend liberals. just last night after boehner's smug rant does nothing to reform entitlements and fully funds obamacare. speaking of that, quote, smug and pretentious rant, here's boehner in his own words. >> i came here. that's exactly what the bill does. why conservatives would chblt

vote for this or criticize the bill is beyond any recognition i could come up with. there just comes to a point when some people step over the line. you know, when you criticize something and you have no idea what you're criticizing, it undermines your credibility. >> john for national review magazine joining us now. john, if you would allow me to bundle a few questions off the bat, here they are. you know, at this point, what is the tea party's motive and is the tea party losing credibility as stated by speaker boehner, and what are the valid poichbts in their position? >> well, first of all the tea party is not a party. it's millions of americans who are concerned about the seize of government. there are groups in washington that say they speak for the tea party and they're upset with john boehner and partly for good reason. i mean this is a bill that -- a law that punts everything down the road, it doesn't address the real debt and deficit problems.

it's basically meaningless in terms of a long-term solution. having said that, what do you do when the democrats control the senate and have the white house and the veto pen? there's not much you can do unless you want to surrender enormous amounts of new tax revenue in the form of higher taxes to the government because that's the only compromise the democrats would conceivably accept. so both sides are right. is it a bad deal as it relates to principles, yes. is it about the only deal when it comes to reality. the answer is also yes. >> is it possible that the large group of americans who make up the tea party that perhaps they see speaker boehner and congressman ryan as being strategic, let's say, because regardless of which faction is opposite, if the party of whole is seen as the party of know they'll alienate and perhaps regain control of the senate and ultimately the white house. >> well, the frustration, of course, is that among

republicans that the media portrays them as the party of no. you could just as easily portray the democrats as the party of no. no to any reform of obama caring no to any reductions in federal spending no matter how small. so it really is in the eye of the beholder. i think the republicans' strategy is this. obamacare is falling apart. it's increasingly unpopular. it was already unpopular. don't get in the way of that. don't give the media and the other side the chance to play distraction, to focus on another government shutdown. remember, if we hadn't had a government shutdown in october, obama's problems would sh dominated the news rather than the shutdown and the democrats might be even in more trouble on on obamacare. >> okay. i hear you points but i'm sure people are glad there wasn't another government shutdown. >> you're right. i'm not in fash of it either.

>> is there any way they'll move toward the ideas that are extreme and move to the more conservative gop base? >> i don't see any reason from the tea party's point do that. look. they're not a party, they're not on the ballot. they're an outside pressure group who say millions of americans say -- >> let me interrupt. you're saying they're not on the party or the ballot but they're having an impact here. >> no. polls show clearly people draw distinction between a candidate who's running for office. >> so you're telling me, john, that they're not involved in this shutdown that happened in d.c. a few weeks ago? >> sure. but ultimately it's the republicans who ended the shutdown and the tea party is not on the ballot. it doesn't mean they're not linked but in the minds of the voters, they're not voting.

the tea party is not on the ballot. they don't automatically think the republican -- >> john, you have folks in congress who are influenced by the tea party. >> yes. and they're in a completely safe district, so it doesn't matter. i'm talking about the districts where there's a possibility there could be a defeat. as you know, arthel, there are for few of those districts left in our country. >> john fund, i have to leave it there. thank you very much for your time this snoochb thank you. it's been three years since border patrol agent brewer terry was killed. the family is still looking for justice. the fast and fur yaus program has still left hundreds of guns missing and terry's killer is on the loose. >> three years have gone by and we still wonder why. >> reporter: from death in the desert to content hearings on capitol hill, three years after border agent brian terry died, the family still has questions.

>> we know who an atf and u.s. attorney's office were found negligent in putting this operation into place that resulted in the death of brian terry, but we still don't know why. >> reporter: terry's murder prompted atf agent john dodson to blow the whistle on a government-approved operation that allowed thousands of guns into mexico that killed thousands of victims. congress also still wants answers. >> we don't know why we were lied to by the department of justice and why for ten months they continued to push a false story about not letting guns walk. >> reporter: attorney general eric holder was held in contempt and the house sued to obtain what it believes are incriminating documents that show who knew what about the operation. >> i'm particularly disappointed with this president because president obama himself asserted a privilege not to allow

documents that show false statements and documents to be appealed. >> reporter: no one was ever fired or lost their pension, though an agent did lose his life. >> we'll go to bed with another prayer that no other american law enforcement officer will lose his life like brian did because of the guns of operation fast and furious. >> william la jeunesse reporting from los angeles. william, thank you. who is to say that the man who plotted a bombing at the airport is really a nice guy, more than that. plus this guy has more than the heisman trophy to worry about. >> everything is not just about football. sometimes it's about rape and not football and it just so

happens the rape suspect is a football player. sometimes that's what you have, and think that's what we have here.

first lady lighting candles in memory of the shooting massacre at sandy hook elementary in

newtown, connecticut, one year ago today and then pausing for a moment of silence. the president also devoting his weekly address to that tragedy. >> as parents, as americans, the news filled us with grief. newtown is a town like so many of our hometowns. the victims were educators and kids that could have been any of our own, and our hearts were broken for the families that lost a piece of their heart. for the communities, changed forever. for the survivors, so young whose innocence was torn away far too soon. >> bells tolled 26 times in newtown to honor the victims. 20 first graders and six adults who were killed one year ago today. the son of an aviation technician accused of trying to blow up the main wichita, kansas, airport, describing his

dad as, quote, a really laid back and nice guy. the stunned 24-year-old speaking out after his father's arrest. federal prosecutors say 58-year-old terry loewen is accused of trying to detonate a bomb, a car bomb, at wichita's mid continent regional airport in a plot aimed at supporting al qaeda. his ex-wife sarah says she can't believe it either. >> he was -- back in the day when i had contact with him, he was a loving father. what happened, i don't -- i don't -- i don't know. i can't honestly say anything. it just -- >> well, he's now in custody and he's been charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and supporting terrorism. as the obama administration continues to fall short of their

health care goals, we're left wondering where the roles and responsibilities of the insurance companies lie. our chief national correspondent jim angle has the details from washington. >> reporter: the administration has finally conceded it has little chance of signing up the millions left without insurance before the december 23rd deadline and is now imploring insurance companies to help them extend the deadline. >> all the new announcements from the obama administration about the january 1 enrollments just indicate that they know this is out of control now. >> we have seen this movie before. there's been nothing about the affordable care act in the last three years that didn't involve delays, changing rules midstream. yesterday was more of the same. >> reporter: for one thing the administration is requiring insurance companies to take payments through december 31st for policies taking effect the next day on january 1st. though determining who actually signed up is still hard to verify.

the administration also wants them to offer retree active coverage for people who sign up after january 1st as long as they pay a premium sometime in january, presumably as late as the end of the month. >> you can't tell they paid their premium, but you're to assume they paid the premium january 1, take care of them, and hope the payment shows up. >> reporter: and they strongly encourage to letter this use their own doctors as well as cover prescriptions previously under the plan. >> which is ironic because weren't we all told that the plans in the exchange were better, that the plan that were canceled were substandard? >> reporter: it is also, quote, ensured insurers to allow people who pay part but not all of their premium to have their coverage start on time. >> what are they trying to accomplish here? if people can't afford to pay their insurance on january 10th, how can they afford to pay it on january 20th? >> reporter: and for several

millions w whose policies were canceled trying to replace it by january 1st, there will be an unprecedented scramble. >> is there any surprise there's going to be a customer service meltdown when they don't have the customer service part, the back end of this healthcare.gov even constructed yet? >> reporter: more deadlines ignored and pure chaos in the insurance market but for the administration, chaos is better than the hue mail milliyags of millions going without insurance and blaming the president for it. in washington, jim angle, fox news. and fox news is taking an in-depth look at all the problems plaguing the obama administration in our latest edition of fox news reporting: behind the obama breakdown. here's a sneak peek. >> reporter: this is more than a pregame tailgate bash. it sounds a lot like a call to civil disobedience. though 29-year-old evan feinberg would deny that.

>> reporter: you've been traveling the country essentially telling young people to ignore the law. >> no, not at all. >> reporter: come on, evan. we have cameras following you around telling young people to opt out. >> no doubt young people are opting out because that's the best possible decision of their health care. >> you can watch the entire broadcast, "fox news reporting: behind the obama break down" hosted by bret baier at 5:00 p.m. eastern as well as tomorrow night at 9:00 p.m. a teenager of a very wealthy family gets off with a slap of the wrist after killing four people and seriously injuring 2 others in a drunk driving crash. many are wondering whether this case sets dangerous precedent. it is a critical week for retailers as another storm is pounding just before christmas and another storm is heading our

way. its impact is up north.

and now back to the massive storm dumping heavy snow in the northeast and the midwest. concerns are rising for retailers as shoppers weather the storm, trying to check items off their holiday shopping lists with less than two weeks until christmas. bryan llenas is live in new york city. bryan? >> reporter: hi, gregg. that's where i am.

millions of americans from new york all the way to cleveland, ohio, you're looking at live shots. in sclecleveland, ohio, they're dealing with the snow also. that spells worries for retailers. they say, you know what? this is already the shortest holiday shopping season since 2002 and now two of the four weekends shoppers had to shop were ruined by bad weather. according to the national retail federation 19% of all store sales come out this holiday season and now 15% fewer shoppers are expected this weekend as well as past -- last weekend because of the bad weather. that amounts to about $1.5 billion in lawsuits. now, the national retail federation still expects this year's holiday season to bring in more than $602 billion, 4% more than last year. but it's still too early to tell what kind of effect this storm is going to have for the bottom line. what they're saying is they need

shoppers to go inside their retail stores because shoppers, quite frankly, spend more when they're inside stores as opposed to going online. 80% to 90% of store sales come out from stores still, despite the ever growing popularity of shopping online. again, experts do expect people not to just -- to continue to shop online, but, again, they really want them in those brick and mortar stores. for consumers, this is actually also good news. experts tell us that, well, since there's only going to be one good weekend left hopefully with good weather, one last weekday, they expect stores to bring out more promotions and sales in an effort to lure shoppers back into stores in a last-ditch effort to try to make up the last two weekends which have been hit with bad weather. here in new york city, it may not be that bad of a deal. they have lots of tourists enjoying it and lots of public transportation, but around other places it's an issue.

macy's shoppers say holiday shopping has to be done and they're bracing the storm. >> don't be worried. if i can drive, you can too. >> it's up to the bus driver. i paid him. >> it's great shopping in the snow, right, buddy? >> right. >> reporter: now, according to the national retail federation, about 50% of the americans have done half of their shopping, but another 32 million americans haven't even started yet. so just stay warm and be safe over the next week as you try to get your last-minute holiday shopping done. gregg? >> bryan llenas, out in the cold. >> i mean you pay the bus driver to get you there, he's going get you there. all right, we're going do a little more on holiday shopping season and how winter storms are impacting retail sales in the nation's economy and what it brings for you the consumer. bringing you mickey car guile. he's a manager of investment

management. good to see you. >> thank you. good to be here. >> national retail federation reporting november sales of 3.9% compares to last year. i don't know. is this a good stein for the economyover all? >> i think it is. any time you're a retailer and you have merchandise on your shelf, you're going to be worried about what can go wrong. we do have winter every year. we do have a shorter season, but think the end number will come up very much like the november number. that's always been a very good predictor. >> that's good because bryan llenas reported as well, 32 million haven't even started their shopping yet. wow, i can't imagine the malls next week. in the meantime census reports say sales report the most robust year over, again -- year over year. again, this is seen in big ticket items like electronics and appliance stores. so what stores and chains are we talking about that will benefit

in terms of electronics and appliances? >> the ones that benefit are the ones offering the appliances and electronics and also furniture and home furnishings are doing well. the ones getting hurt are the ones selling apparel and the big box stores like walmart and target. remember, we've had a very bad economy for the last five years. a lot of people were shopping in big box stores. i think they have hard comparisons this year. i think if they come out with flat year, they'll do very well. they've been heavy in promotions. if you're selling your merchandise at 30% off, that means you have to sell a third more merchandise this year just to match last year's numbers. >> so then you're cutting into your profit maer gin there. >> yeah. and all of these reports about are top line, not bottom line. we'll very to see once we get the earnings rorpts for the current quarter how it affects the stocks. >> all right. 32 million people left to go.

they may go to target. they may go to walmart. we'll see. in the meantime if people are looking for deeper discount, even deeper discounts, what should we look for? >> it looks like these apparel stores are going to have to continue to promote their items. they started the season at 30% off. they'll probably go down to 50% off to clear their merchandise so they can get ready for the spring season. so they have to get that merchandise off their shelf. it will be good for consumers. you know, consumers feel pretty good right now. we feel better about our jobs. our equity prices are going up. and for those who have stock market investments like your 401(k), you're at all time record highs. you're start feel better. that's why you're seeing money flow toward the bigger items and way from the smaller items. >> okay. you mentioned the stores like the target and walmart and some of the apparel stores are going have to mark their products down even more, but don't they have a built-in markup that's quite sizeable to begin with so when

they're getting to these deeper discounts, they're not going into the red to try to get through the holiday season, per se. >> they get you in the store with the markdowns and then you'll buy something else that may be at a better markup for them. these things happen. also, there's going to be a big benefit this year for the online stores, the stores like amazon. they're showing double digit growth again this year over last year, and especially if the storms settle in and keep the shoppers out of the beg box stores, you know, they're going go online and buy products there. >> are you going into the stores, mickey, yourself, to get some shopping done? >> you know, i am. i've done a lot of my shopping. but i also want to, you know, let your viewers know if you have an opportunity to shop with your local merchant, please do so. that's something that really builds our economy and it has a much stronger impact than if you buy something a the big mom and

pop stores. >> i know in dallas you have nice ones. lived in dallas before. like that city. mickey cargile, thank you so much. >> thank you. >> what about you? have you shopped? >> i've done almost everything. i have one more person to shop for. >> me, thank you. >> oh, of course. it's unquestionably you. >> americans, they're getting fed up. how the recent nuclear agreement with iran and other administration policies have some saying we could be seei in the beginning of the end of america's dominance on the world's stage. and case closed, why investigators say they will not reopen a rape case against florida state quarterback jameis winston. so is college sports getting in the way of justice? well, our legal panel will debate it. >> after looking at all this, it may be the politics of football. somebody asked me earlier about football. i don't know so much the politics of law as it is the

politics of football as regards tallahassee p.d. i don't know. that's what it looks like to me.

. it is a case drawing outrage across the country. a 16-year-old texas boy sentenced to just ten years' probation in a deadly drunk driving case. lawyers for ethan couch argued that the teen could not be held

responsible for his actions because he suffers from so-called affluenza, a disorder they claim means that he's too wealthy to realize that his actions have consequences. one child psychologist we spoke to says that's nonsense. >> this is the least amount of research i've ever done for a segment. you know why? because it's not a real thing. it's made up. i couldn't go anywhere to look for theory, statistics, data. it's some explanation made up for the entitled, the rich, and it's bogus and sends absolutely the wrong message to both parents and kids. >> mercedes joins us. the headline is teen defense affluenza is a lot of baloney. >> first of all, was the judge

drunk when he -- >> she. >> -- she instituted the judgment? where is he going to go? go to rehab for a few months and learn how to do a little pap papier-mache while he's there? it's completely outrageous. >> two other people were maimed as well. one's paralyzed for life. getting rich out of jail free card, right? >> the punishment doesn't fit the crime. but let's look at it. we're in juvenile court set up for rehabilitation, not incarcerati incarceration. he's 16 years old. there was an african-american, 14 years old, same judge saw the case, sentenced to life for a fife. why? no institution would accept this african-american. so this judge seems -- my point is the judge seems to be very much into rehabilitation and not

incarceration. >> but, you know, it seems like it never works the opposite way. judges don't cut poor people a break because of their property. >> i can't even believe there is a psychologist that came forward. that's what he did. a psychologist came forward and said he was too rich to know right from wrong. are you kidding? there are affluent people who say, are you kidding me? we teach our children right from wrong. this is going to be their absolute defense? it's outrageous and crazy. >> to rich's point, though, liz ryan argues that young people need to be treated differently because they're more receptive to rehabilitation. let me quote her. we'll put it up on the screen. they make mistakes, they're prone to impulsive behavior, and at the same time, they're capable of change. i'm just not sure, richard, that that case is made on behalf of poor people or minorities of no wealthy means. >> look.

there's always a stigma with that. lady justice who has a byfold on is peeking out of her byfold when it comes to wealth and race. that's always the stigma and certainly it has credence at times. but this is an interesting case. i do not think this will be the last time we hear about the wealth defense. if you look at malcolm gladwell's book on david and goliath. he talks about diminishing returns where if you're too poor it's hard to raise kids and if you're too rich, it's hard to raise kids also because there are too many resources. >> here's an update. the attorney general's office is looking into the ethan couch case. so it is altogether possible that he could be prosecuted in a different way by a different court. we'll wait and see. i want to move on to another case now of an alleged injustice. earlier this month prosecutors announced they would not press any charges against florida state quarterback jameis winston. he was accused in a high-profile

rape case and now the accuser's attorney is crying foul. >> it appears to me to be a come -- a complete failure of an investigation of a rape case. do i believe that that complete failure of an investigation of a rape case was related to the fact that this gentleman was on the football team. i do. >> yeah. he's also, you know, going to win the heisman trophy tonight very likely. i wonder, mercedes, if that lawyer has a point. police took almost a year to complete their investigation. they didn't even notify the state's attorney for almost 11 months. this thing kind of smells like limb burger cheese. >> i don't agree, though, gregg. i'm talking about the prosecutor's office. they interviewed witnesses, looked at records, medical records, they interviewed the

accuser. now, so much of this is based on credibili credibility. they also interviewed individuals who were allegedly there when this sexual encounter took place between winston and the victim. this is a credibility issue. to them they didn't have enough evidence to prosecute him. >> what bothers me a little bit is william megs is the prosecuting attorney. he hold as big news conference to announce there are no charges. at times he's laughing, joking about sensitive details of the case. e's yukking it up and it' inappropriate, isn't it? >> it's still a serious case. whether there's enough evidence or not, it's stela serious case. it's the right thing to do when you don't have the evidence to

move forward. >> the governor is the onliperson in florida who can change this has said, nope, we're finished with the investigation, case over. so mercedes colvin and richard st. paul. thank you so much. an op-ed tossing criticism at the white house as america's allies question america's influence following the nuclear deal with iran. so is the u.s. losing its status as the top world power? we'll speak with our foreign policy expert when we come back.

the obama administration dealing with foreign policy issues. issues on many fronts, a few of them being the controversial nuclear deal with iran, the continued violence in syria and big tensions with china over the new air defense zone over the disputed islands in the south sea, the south china sea, excuse me. some are now wondering if the u.s. is as strong as it once was on the world stage. a big concern for our traditional allies, and op-ed in the "washington post" comparing the president to a former soviet leader saying, quote, he is an american version of the mycale

gorbachev. the former state department senior adviser and author, christian joins us now. christian, hello to you, first of all. what is your take on the general frustration that u.s. allies have with the white house, then weigh in if you will on some of the specific concerns. >> good to see you. it looks like we've reached a turning point. there have been things in the past that have caused allies around the globe to worry about the u.s. when this administration came into office, it essentially betrayed poland and the czech republic. it made russia very mad. we canceled the program, so those allies got the down side of russia's ire and didn't get

the upside of missile defense and the greater cooperation with the u.s. you have the pivot to asia, which the administration announce ed to great fanfare. there's been no plus up of forces that is real. this administration can't even bring itself to call china an adversary or to say we would like to contain china's ambition. now the big deal is with deal with iran over its in you clear program. none of our allies think that's a good move. they think we're giving too much, getting too little. this is very unique. it's unified former enemies in the middle east. saudi arabia, the gulf states, and israel, all on the same side that are concerned that basically they're going to have to go it alone for the next three years. >> so, christian, if the sands of global power are slipping through america's fingers, who stands in the best position to collect it? you mentioned russia. is it russia, china, iran? >> i think the two big threats right now are iran and china.

of course, we also have to worry about islamists who are doing pretty well in places like libya -- well, really, everywhere. the problem with china, and the new air defense identification zone that they've declared, this is only the latest steps in provocations. they're really pushing the peripheries, and not getting a lot of pushback. they asked the u.s. commander, or top admiral in the pacific, what's the biggest threat in your region. he didn't say china, he didn't say north korea, he said climate change. >> what should it be in that case, christian? >> i think we should make the pivot real. first of all, it's a bit misleading to make the pivot to asia centered just around the military. our relationships in asia are much more commercial. make the military change real. we don't need troops, frankly, in europe anymore.

let europeans defend europe, and we need to shift to the pacific where we have the nation state threat from china, and start pushing back on china's claims. don't accept the language that there's only one china, or if you look at the language that they used with taiwan, it's really quite threatening. we need to be much clearer that china is a serious threat and we need to stop facilitating their military encroachments. we can get more bang for our buck in the military. we need to reform procurement, stop spending $13 billion on aircraft carriers and get a lot smarter. >> there are many complexities to this, but we are out of time so i do have to leave it there. i appreciate your analysis. christian whitton there in los angeles. thank you. >> thank you. i mentioned earlier, it's a good thing i got my wife a new

snow shovel for her birthday. little do they know it's me. keep at it. no slackers. >> wow. >> thanks.

welcome to a healthy you. i'm carol alt. male pattern baldness, every guy dreads it. by about able 35, 40% of men will experience it. by the time they hit 60, two-thirds will have it. can it be prevented, or even reversed? today we'll give you all the info you need. plus, we've got tips on how to look your best this holiday season from one of the country's top organic kos me tigss. but first, whenever possible, i like to bring you encouraging stories of tri usm over disease. mostly, i like to present stories of ordinary people. just like you and