>> we're not going to see you before christmas. brian will be here next week. everybody, thank you very much!! merry christmas! ♪ ♪ bill: nice sound. good friday. fox news alert. obamacare surprise. saw this one coming. the administration announcing an 11th hour rule that could affect the health care and bottom line for millions of americans. hold on to your hat. we've got more. good morning, everybody, welcome to "america's newsroom." i'm bill hemmer. martha: it's a friday. good morning, bill hemmer. i'm martha maccallum. are you keeping track here. the latest change was announced last night, four days before the enrollment deadline. the administration will give hardship exemptions for people that lost health insurance for people booted off it because it was not good enough. remember the five million

people. some would fall under this measure. if you found it too expensive. they will get a bear bones thing or something just catastrophic insurance or basically no insurance at all. bill: to follow, to be honest with you. that puts insurance companies and in a real bind. here to explain the politics of it, chief political correspondent, "washington examiner" byron york. bring this thing down three things that could happen now. >> three big problems. in you don't have to have a lot of insurance, people won't buy it that means a lot less money going to the insurance companies especially for young, healthy premiums. second, obama care guaranties a insurance companies a great deal of money. they will not be taking it in. so the taxpayer will be bailing out the insurance companies. number three, you doesn't have to have a lot of insurance so a

lot of people won't buy it, but they can not be refused insurance until they get sick. a lot of people wait, i get sick, i buy insurance. that destroys the product of insurance product, period. bill: you're a businessman. how do you plan a business when the rules are changing every week? >> you can't. you can not change, you can not plan for the future if you don't know what the rules will be in the future. and as you said, bill, the rules are changing all the time. bill: they're changing for insurance companies. they're changing for small business folks too. what do they do now? >> a lot of these five million people who had their plans canceled a lot of them run small businesses. this does apply to small business owners. i don't know what they're going to do. they have to basically look to the future and try to figure out what's in their best interests. right now it is chaos. bill: listen, you argued for a month this is a rolling financial collapse of a law. >> yes. bill: do you still think that? >> yes. in fact this makes it worse. the economics of obamacare won't

work. this rule change even makes it worse than that. it is imploding from the inside. it is a rolling financial collapse. bill: if that's the case then, if we're to believe that in 2014, what then happens? >> i think there will be a political response because a lot of people will be hurt by this. they will be paying more. the taxpayer will be paying more. there has to be a political response to what's happening next year. bill: see you at 9:20. merry christmas to you, stuart, you and your family. >> thank you. bill: because humbug. martha: the white house 11th hour policy shift getting mixed reaction. democrats think it's a common sense backup in a very difficult situation. republicans cast it as another bandaid stuck on to an unworkable law. this as the president gets ready to leave for his, i don't know, 14, 16, 17 day trip to hawaii. chief political correspondent at the "washington examiner" and fox news contributor byron york

joins me now. politically what does this do for the president, byron? >> this is a really, really big thing. this is basically cutting a hole in the individual mandate which is required to make obamacare work. you remember the president back in the summer, unilaterally extended the employer mandate. republicans said, gee, why don't you do it for the individual mandate too. they said, absolutely not. obama care requires the individual mandate but it is also the most unpopular part of obamacare. if you look at a recent new york types poll, 68% of the people said they disapprove of the individual mandate. when they just asked people who are uninsured, the ones who would benefit most, 77% said they didn't like the individual mandate. this is extremely unpopular and this is the administration's reaction to that. martha: but i mean it's a smaller sliver. it is not across the board relief from this individual mandate and the thing that really strikes me is, you know,

back when republicans were day saying delay the whole program for a year as part of budget shutdown discussion that went all over the place, no way we couldn't do that the administration said because it would leave people vulnerable. a lot of people have lousy plans not good enough for them. now they're saying the lousy plan was not good enough for you is now good enough for you? >> a lot of people are hurt. what terrifies supporters of obamacare. that this is the first exception to be made. that there will be future exceptions. what everybody needs to know this action was fueled in part by fears of democratic defections. this happened after six democratic senators, warner, kaine, landrieu, shaheen, hide camp wrote a letter to kathleen sebelius said they have been hearing complaints from many of their constituents unhappy about having their policies canceled. they wanted some relief. we know that republicans are united, unanimous against

obamacare. the administration needs democratic unity behind it on this when you have six senators, democrats complaining about this, they had to try to make them happy. martha: politically though, byron, i wonder does this make more sense? in other words, is this going to get those six senators over the hump with their constituents? is that going to be enough, or, the other option of the administration saying you know what? we're having a lot of problems, there's a lot of workout issues with all of this. let's take a year and allow everybody to, you know, stay on their plan androle over the course of that year? would that be more politically favorable especially in these tough, these tough states? >> you know i think they're just trying to get through today. martha: seems that way. >> there's a hugely improve visional quality to all of this. the president and democrats put their feet in cement during the government shutdown fight, no changes to obamacare, no delays, no nothing. now they're doing this piecemeal to try to get through the next

day and you're right, this is causing enormous chaos. and we should also remember, the immediate reaction of the insurance that this would cause huge instability and could cause real problems. you heard stuart explaining problems with prices and economic effects of this. this could be a big, big problem. but so far the white house is not been able to pull back and say, you know, there are some problems here. maybe we need to actually delay that because it would appear they were giving in to republicans. >> we know valerie jarrett said we'll find this out. and it is finding and grinding and grinding. >> it is. martha: when people start actually going to the doctor this month and we'll be seeing day after day of this entire process and how ugly it could potentially get. byron, thank you very much. always good to see you. have a good holiday. >> you too. bill: a new document shows the website still has serious security vulnerabilities. there have been considered two high findings of risk, that is the moats serious level of

concern in the past, testing over the past few weeks. also we now know back in september the person who oversees the obamacare website, recommended no launch on the 1st of october due to, you guessed it, security issues. martha: all right, we're just getting word harry reid has been hospitalized. we're working on the details of this and we're going to get you more information as we get it but harry reid, the senate majority leader is said to be feeling better after being hospitalized earlier today. they have conducted tests apparently. they said everything is normal. the doctors asked he remain in the hospital for observation. he will not be working today. that is the latest news that we've got on the condition of the senate majority leader a few days before christmas. bill: stay on top of that. meantime a brand new report now shedding new light on the culture inside the secret service in the wake of last year's bombshell prostitution scandal. our senior white house foreign

affairs correspondent wendell goler on the north lawn there. wendell, what did this report reveal? >> reporter: well, bill, a source says the inspector general's report reviewed five years of internal investigations and interviewed hundreds of secret service personnel. found no evidence of widespread misconduct, no evidence of an environment that should foster security concerns. of course the investigation as you say followed the incident a couple of days before the president's visit to colombia last year in which a number of secret service agents and military personnel were accused of soliciting prostitutes after one woman caused an uproar when an agent apparently refused to pay. six agents resigned or retired. four had their security clearances revoked after that incident. the report cites more than 800 cases of misconduct over the past nine years. a couple hundred of those resulted in agency suspending security clearance and 10% involved sexual misconduct the

report said could become a security concern. bill? bill: what happens now? what sort of reaction from congress on this one? >> reporter: we're getting skeptical reaction from congress in fact. maine republican senator susan collins who co-chaired a investigation into the secret service after the cartegna, said the majority of the services 7,000 employees are hard-working and dedicated but she said quote, this report does confirm there is a certain subculture in the secret service that engages in risky behavior and could put national security and the mission of the secret service at risk. bear in mind the acting inspector general who oversaw this investigation, charles edwards, was just transferred to another job in recent days after being accused of softening reports to keep from embarrassing the obama administration. edwards has denied the charges but there were a number of whistle-blowers in his office around wisconsin republican senator ron johnson says some information in the cartegna investigation was left out of the final inspector general's report. bill?

bill: wendell, thanks. there is a lot in that. wendell goler from the north lawn there. 10 minutes past the hour now. coming up on 11 now. martha: ask here is a question this morning. has the president lost clout from among members of his own party. some democrats want new sanctions on iran and the president is not too happy about that. bill: this came tumbling down in a historic theater. hundreds scrambling to safety. dozens injured. what we now know today about how this happened. martha: the firestorm over duck "duck dynasty." why the future of the hit tv show may now be in doubt. sarah palin among others raising a question of fair play when it comes to viewpoints not approved by some in the mainstream media. >> so many american families have spilled blood and treasure to guaranty phil robertson and everybody else's right to voice their personal opinions and once that freedom is lost, sean, everything is lost in our country.

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>> will be enacted. if it were enacted the president would veto it. the fact of the matter is this is not a debate being for or against sanctions. there is no president in the history of this conflict with iran who has been more aggressive in pursuing and enacting and building international consensus around sanctions than barack obama. bill: a bill backed by more than a dozen democratic senators in the midst of all these nuclear talks. that is what the president did not want and sign mr. obama could be losing clout with his. steven, thank you for your time. let me get to this veto threat in a moment. why are these senators doing what they're doing, despite the

pleas not to? >> well i think they took the administration's logic at face value. the administration made very, very clear they believed tough sanctions were absolutely vital bringing iran to the negotiating table to get this joint action plan in place, this temporary agreement. so logic simply follows if the threat of sanctions was critical getting a partial deal the threat of them being reimposed could only be conducive to reach a final agreement. bill: would you expect congress to buck the trend of the white house and if so is this the president's most high-profile veto in five years? >> it would be very high-profile. i think at love time between now and january the congress will go out of session. they will not take this bill up for a vote until january, if they take it up at all. at that time the majority leader will have a significant say whether it comes to a vote. personally i see this as having strong grassroots support and a lot of members are hearing from their constituencies, they don't

believe faith and diplomacy alone will address this issue. while they might support a diplomatic solutions a threat of sanctions imposed part of the mix. bill: apologize for interruption. you will see a poll from the american people as well. here is ed henry about the politics of this, listen closely. >> what does he it say that the president with his own party that they are defying him? >> i think there is overwhelming support in the country and in congress for a diplomatic solution to 24 conflict. bill: it carney right or henry right with the question? >> carney is -- henry is right with the question. a lot of these members despite the loyalty to the president and party seen this movie before. negotiations with iran and negotiations with north korea which give pause. more the iranians focus backing out of the threat of reimposition of sanctions more suggests maybe they're looking at a real possibility they won't implement the plan. bill: look at our fox news polling. these numbers are overwhelming.

when we asked whether or not the president is tough enough on iran, 68% say no. i mean, 5% say too tough. i don't know who they are. can the u.s. trust what iran says about a nuclear weapon? 84% say no. i mean that reflects why members of congress are doing what they're doing, does it not? >> absolutely right. and, you know, it is not based on just aspiration or ideas, there is real experience people have had watching the way the nation of iran has based, a nation willing to send thousands of fighters to syria in that civil war. a nation that is a state sponsor of terrorism a nation that has concealed its nuclear weapons programs in the past. only natural that people wouldn't trust. they would want to have actual verification and tough measures in place to insure enactment if an agreement is actually reached. bill: we have given a lot of coverage to obamacare for the last month and for good reason and that will be a big issue in january. how big of an issue is this for the white house in the new year?

>> i think it is probably their most important national security issue for 2014. arguably one of the most important national security issues in the globe at the moment. the direction iran is going. the balance of the middle east. the idea being able to walk back nuclear programs very, very critical under the current era. bill: stephen yates, thank you for your time. out of idaho falls, idaho, today. enjoy your family out there. that thank you, sir. >> thank you, bill. bill: 19 past. >> the "duck dynasty" family is reacting to the a&e decision to put their patriarch on hiatus after comments in gc magazine. what they say after support for phil robertson continuings to grow. >> everybody has a right to their opinion, especially a religious opinion.

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bill: all right, 22 past the hour now. developing in "america's newsroom", crews in utah working to get the lights back on after a blizzard knocking out power to thousands. many schools canceling classes. a pileup involving two tractor-trailers and three cars shutting down the eastbound lanes on the pennsylvania turnpike. no word of any injuries. officials urging drivers to seek an alternate route. two police officers in tampa being held as heroes today after pulling a pilot out of a burning plane. that pilot alive listed in stable condition. well-done. martha: another big steer today again as reaction pours after an a&e suspends "duck dynasty" patriarch phil robertson for the comments he made in "gq" magazine about homosexuality. his family responded and a wide range of public figures. william la jeunesse from l.a.

bureau about this. what are robertson and his supporters saying about all this now? >> reporter: supporters, this is reality and not a script a&e is writing ending. recall on wednesday the network said phil robertson was an indefinite suspension and gay rights demand ad apology. that looks increasingly unlikely and it appears the channel's decision may backfire. here's why. 110,000 people sign ad petition to reinstate him and demanding a apology from the network. secondly, sponsors of the show are sticking by the family and thirdly, the biggest blow maybe coming from the robert sons itself. they issued a statement last night saying, quote, we are disappointed that phil has been placed on hiatus for expressing his faith which is his constitutionally protected right. we have had a successful working relationship with a&e, but, as a family we can not imagine the show going forward without our patriarch at the helm.

>> a&e has chosen to marginalize and, try to stifle the freedom of someone who is filled with faith in the gospel, that being phil from duke dynasty, and americans, we're smart enough to understand what is going on here. we're also smart enough to understand that we do not have to promote and give business to a network like that. >> you have to question a&e, if they didn't want the robertson family to talk about who they are, what they believe and why they believe it, then they really didn't want reality tv. >> reporter: "duck dynasty" is a cash cow and if the family stands together or wants to leave for another network, a and e may be looking for a way out of the mess, martha. the two sides are in talks. martha: a tangled web that has been woven with all of this. what are the robertsons critics saying at this point, william? >> reporter: faith-based or not, they believe phil's comments

were hurtful, crude and unnecessary. that people who express what they consider hate speech, do not belong on television. this is not uncommon. gay activists have been very successful at convincing critics would say bullying networks to pull talent that expressed antigay sentiments. in the "gq" interview, robertson calls homosexual i at this a sin. reichens it to beastiality and adultery and prostitution. gay activists find that offensive. >> if you want to stand with phil robertson, the bottom line, you're not standing with freedom of speech. you're standing with antigay comments. you're allowed to do that but you have to acknowledge these are hurtful comments, very dangerous to comments, young people particularly, not just gay young people and straight allies even people like myself. >> reporter: now the new season beginses in january. phil will appear in the first few episodes that have already been shot. he is on suspension. technically, you know they could probably work something out so

his appearance on the show is unadulterated and continues on. we'll have to see. back to you. martha: the whole thing raises a lot of very interesting questions. we may be seeing this conversation evolving in a big way over the course of these days. william, thank you very much. so we asked you at home, what do you think? do you think that he should have been suspended? his family says that his comments were, quote, courses, but they stand bit larger picture of his beliefs in the reasoning for why he said them. send us a tweet, @marthamaccallum mack @billhemmer. we'll put some of your thoughts on the screen. it brings up a larger issue. what did a&e think they were getting when they hired this family, christian family, gun-carrying family, strong beliefs? this is their reality. that is who they are. that is what reality tv is supposed to be about, like it or

leave it. bill: unbelievable reaction to this. it keeps rolling in one after the other. fire away when we're on the air today. meantime house lawmakers they want new hear, concerning nsa testimony by the director of national intelligence, james clapper. one lawmaker calls clapper more drills than ed snowden? martha: big dial. a night on the town takes a terrifying turn when a packed theater comes crashing down. >> it was one of those surreal moments. you're there and it happens you think it is part of the show and people start clamoring over you and everyone is looking for the nearest exit. t still not gettin? try dulcolax laxative tablets. dulcolax is comfort-coated for gentle, over-night relief. dulcolax. predictable over-night relief you can count on.

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ask your doctor about non-insulin victoza®. it's covered by most health plans. bill: a balcony collapsing inside of a famous london theater. dozens were injured as a result. chunks of debris falling on the audience t could have been a lot worse we're told had the actors not seen it coming. greg palkot on the story live in london. what happenedder here, greg? >> reporter: amazing story, bill. investigators are picking through the rubble. imagine you're sitting watching a play and ceiling falls from above you? that is what happened to 800 theatergoers at a venue in london. it happened at the 112-year-old apollo theater in london's west end, their equivalent of broadway. an hour into the play a 30-foot section of ornate plaster ceiling with heavy cross beams fell down into the packed

orchestra section of the theater. latest word we're just getting from london metropolitan police, up to 90 people were hurt and we're hearing seven of them seriously. at first folks thought it was part of the play. then they realized they were in the middle after serious real-life drama. here is what some of them had to say. >> massive section of it came down and theater filled with dust straight away. >> all of a sudden a coat of dust came on us. >> reporter: emergency crews got there very fast, bill. that was a good thing. they sorted out the chaos, brought some ever injured in fact on buses to area hospitals. no one remarkably was killed. bill: what caused this, greg? >> reporter: well that is the question now. they didn't don't know. they are investigating. it was an old theater as we mentioned but these places are checking pretty regularly. this one passed the latest inspection. and while as we all know there's a lot of rain in london, i can tell you being out in it last night, it came down last night. heavy rain, hail, wind, thunder,

lightning. all just before the collapse. there is even report of a lightning strike in the theater and water leaking down inside the theater before the accident. local government agencies will release some kind of a report next couple hours. there will be a longer investigation. the theater owners in london are also looking seriously at their own safety and security measures. 32,000 theater-goers take to these venues every night. it is big business here and obviously the folks here, everybody here does not want a repeat performance of what happened last night, bill. bill: i bet. greg palkot on that story out of london today. greg, thank you. martha: so if you've been watching this morning you know the white house announced yet another so-called fix in the obamacare rollout debacle we've witnessed since october. nearly six million people have had their insurance policies canceled. they got the badler in the mail and now they're trying to figure out what to do. so now the obama administration

is offering thousands of them a catastrophic coverage plan to get them over the bridge of having no coverage. so joined by mary catherine ham, editor-at-large for hotair.com and a fox news contributor, and marianne marsh, a former advisor to john kerry. welcome, ladies, good to have you both here. >> thank you. >> good morning. >> when we look at this big obama care picture. we're toward the end of the year now manned it has been in play for several months, i want to ask you who today who is the big inner and big loser is so far in the health care discussion? mary catherine, let me start with you. >> well i think there are two losers. the one the american people who many of them lost coverage they did like. if next year the employer mandate goes into effect it is supposed toed after it was delayed may lose employer based coverage. that is very, very scary for people. the other one is the most recent change, where the president another day decides which part of the law he would like to enforce and which part he won't.

i think insurers are looking at this, how are we going to stay in business? because you will end up with a risk pool very bad for them. people now will not be forced to buy the product. this is the first crack in the individual mandate and you got to believe there are more coming. martha: i would imagine that they're going to say, hey, remember when you promised if this got too onerous for us you would bail us out? that is where we're headed. >> that is it another loss for the american people. martha: that is good point. mary ann, what about you, winners and losers in the health care story? >> winners will get health calf coverage they haven't been able to get or afford or denied repeatedly. that is big win for a lot of people across this country, health care. loser is cgi, who probably built the world's worst website ever for aca. to add insult to injury did the same thing in massachusetts where we had the equivalent of aca for eight years. a website works perfectly well. 99% of the state signed up cgi

tried to accommodate it for aca and messed that up. martha: years from now, mary ann, nobody will remember the name cgi. >> nobody will hire them. martha: people who in washington put this into law the first place. >> fact that the website was such a big problem in the beginning we wouldn't have the political firestorm we're having frankly. martha: go ahead. >> the website failure speaks to a government failure. i think that is something the american people are picking up on. one. winners out of this, frankly is the philosophy that has skepticism of giant government plans. if you look at latest "gallup poll", the highest number ever think that big government is the biggest threat to the country over big business or big labor. 2%. when you get into those type of numbers -- 72%, that is dangerous for big governors liberals that have big government plans that don't turn out so well. martha: that point fascinates me. mary ann, there is another fox

poll, 71% of the fox poll respondents think government is broken, 71%. there is always people screaming and yelling government is broken but 71% of the american public seems to feel the same? >> look, it is not surprising. look what is going on in congress. look what is going on in washington. this has been hardly a perfect rollout. but i'm sitting in massachusetts we're in year eight of romneycare and it works. so whether you do big things, they are hard. if you're going to be daunted by a broken website and a few bumps along the way you're not up to doing anything you shouldn't run government in any form, that is republicans. for republicans who say put this off for a year, that would be fine if they really wanted to fix it but they want to kill it. that is the problem. i understand if you're incumbent of any party, especially republicans you have a tough, tough election cycle in front much you. very tough. martha: in earlies of it the big picture, mary catherine, you say skeptics of big government may be ones who are winners right now. who is the big overall loser for the year? >> well i think, obama kiar

itself is the loser and to mary anne's point, the people who have lost coverage, don't feel like they are bumps or glitches. this is a very serious problem for them and they're scared about what is going to happen to their families. when the part of the exemption today, this is a hardship exemption for people who lost their insurance. the hardship, if you read between the lines is obamacare. that's a bad message for the white house to be sending but it is coming from them. this is real thing. martha: mary ann, you went more specific in terms of people with your winner and loser in the big political picture. who do you think those are for the year? >> i love politics obviously, so i think the big winner this year is elizabeth warren who ran and promised to fight for middle class, working class, working poor and folks want to do that again and done it going after folks too big to fail, that got us into the session. my loser is marco rubio, who went from the leading republican candidate for president, giving,

delivering the state of the union response to barack obama a year ago, and after a series of unbelievable stumbles, went to the sidelines and is now teetering on the edge of irrelevance in just one year. a pretty mighty fall for impressive political figure one year ago. martha: people seem to teeter in and out of relevance very quickly in critical life. we'll see if he teeters back in the coming year. ladies, thank you so much. merry christmas to both of you. always great to see you both. bill: from the maries. martha: mary and mary catherine. bill: did james clapper lie to congress about nsa spying and should america's intelligence czar now be prosecuteed? the growing calls to do just that. >> that is really heating up. plus, calls for all explorers. a volcano creating a island right before our very eyes. a lot of places were formed this way. now we're getting a look. bill: cool stuff. ♪

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and other fees and expenses may still apply, we stand by our word. martha: florida congressman trey raid dill, completing a stint in rehab after completing said all his problems stem from alcohol and he is eager to get back to work. >> it never interfered with my congressional obligation. this is personal issue on personal time. issues in this country remain the same. martha: police allegedly found out about all of this after a dealer got caught up in a sting operation. >> does the nsa collect any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of americans? >> no, sir. >> it does not? >> not wittingly.

there are cases where they could inadvertently perhaps collect but not wittingly. bill: that answer from intelligence chief james clapper earlier this year turned out not to be true. seven house republicans calling for the justice department to open a criminal investigation into whether or not clapper lied before congress and senator rand paul, an outspoken critic of nsa snooping not only wants clapper to go but his lying has done more damage to the intelligence capability of the u.s. to anything edward snowden did. wow. kt mcfarland, fox news security analyst, served as second deputy secretary defense in the reagan administration. want to start with the lady. kt, good morning. why are they pushing for this and will they get what they want? >> i don't think the administration appoint a special prosecutor.

ultimately the congress should do this. i come to this reluctantly. i was in the white house during watergate and and urge iran-contra. i don't think it's a good thing when government investigates itself. on the other hand, clapper was caught in a ball faced lie. it falls into a pattern. it is if you like your health care you can keep it. oh, the irs investigating conservative groups? that was just a few rogue agents. benghazi, youtube video, that was resulted with a spontaneous demonstration. there's a lie after lie after lie, and i think for the credibility of the federal government it is important to get to the bottom of this. bill: rand paul was making similar points last night on fox too. tom, what is the danger if this is not addressed? >> well the danger is tremendous, bill and it's twofold. one, it is a very serious thing to lie to congress, to lie under oath.

whether or not you're under oath or not, a lie to congress is, is an offense that can be prosecuted, historically has been prosecuted and the justice department under holder has not been shy at all in prosecuting or using the perjury and obstruction statutes to leverage pleas in criminal cases and to go after individuals who tell, who fail to tell the truth and in proceedings when they're obligated 20 do so. secondly the issue here, the issue here of the erosion of our privacy of ever-intrusive government manipulating technology is at such a tippingpoint there is legitimate question as to whether we control the technology or the technology controls us is of such salient importance right now, for this to be ignored is an injustice in and of itself. bill: kt, apparently he had advance warning of the question, when he was asked at the hearing and could have declined to answer the question.

often times they say i will brief you on that. you know, in private. he chose not to. >> yeah. let me tell you what it's like on the inside when these congressional hearings happen. the congressman or senators will send in advance likely questions that are going to be asked. so the staff for the high government official will get together and they will put together a briefing book. these are likely questions. these are the possible answers. then they have a prep session, called a murder board, where the staff will pepper the high official with questions to see what his answers would be. so he is prepared. and if there is anything even slightly controversial, like, are you collecting data on hundreds of millions of americans, that high government official probably goes to the white house and says this, is how i want to handle it, what do you guys think? so the thought that clapper was taken by surprise, that it was a gotcha moment, no, he knew what he was going to be asked. he had the options like you said of saying look, that is classified. a let's talk about that in closed session. he had the opportunity after the

fact what i meant to say was, he did none of those things. he lied, he lied under oath and they would have gotten away with it if it hadn't been for snowden's revelation. bill: what the house members argue, there has to be a follow-up on this. you can't just allow it to go by the side. tom, final answer, same question i asked kt. holder by the way is expected to respond by the 10th of january. will they get what they want? >> they will not get what they want because it is absolutely inconceivable that holder would be calling the ball here. the decision whether to go forward on this would come from the white house. obama telegraphed already that is not growing to happen. i want to touch on one thing quickly, bill that kt brought up the idea he knew this question was coming. of course he knew this question was coming, if there is any doubt, roll the tape of answering the question and look at his body language. this guy had more tells than a bad vegas poker player. rubbing his for ahead, looking down to the left. someone in that position look that uncomfortable.

bill: you wonder why he didn't buy more time and we'll take it up in private. tom kenniff, kt happy christmas, happy holidays. you bet. thanks, guys. martha: well he certainly has gotten a lot of people talking. pajama boy. there he is. you feel like you know him now, right? but health care conversation that is he is inspiring, the kind that the administration was hoping for? bill: looking great in the oncesy, right? martha: really cutes. bill: robots competing for a whole lot of money for a chance to do things what we humans do. martha: what will they do with the money if they get it? bill: megamillions, perhaps. ♪ [ grunts softly ]

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♪ bill: that's perfect. ♪ it burns, burns, the ring of fire, the ring of fire ♪ bill: let the song play out, don't you think? you want beachfront property? a volcano 600 miles from tokyo creating a new island. 314-acres of prime real estate. shows it look like it is here to stay. the japanese government says if it holds up they will be happy to have more territory. martha: if it holds up? that is promisings. a little warm there right now. another step toward the new world. robot creators competing for a $2 million prize from the defense department seeing how well the robots can complete tasks like opening doors.

to deploy robots in disaster zones where conditions are threatening to humans. these things are really cool. phil keating joins us live from the competition at the homestead speedway in miami. phil, what does the future look like, buddy? report i feel like i'm looking hopefully the future looks like friendly cp 30 from star worse than robots from terminator films. this one of the robots. 171700 from around the world this is a one you're looking at made which western slope colorado guys. this robot is a quadroped. he has four legs and his name is buddy. coming up at top of the hour he will have to go over the sinned every blocks, a built of an obstacle course. each of the robots must accomplish eight tasks. they include things like climbing a ladder, lifting wood, walking through debris. at least two robot has two arms, two legs and hands that grip.

the idea in the future to help humans and even rescue humans. >> if all goes according to plan and if some of those robots really perform as well as darpa wants them to, we're close to very soon having robots capable of going into disaster situations and replacing human beings and taking them out of harm's way. >> reporter: we are at the homestead raceway just south of miami where the nascar drivers typically hit speeds of 200 miles per hour. so it's a big venue, a big event. certainly makes all the robottists feel like rock stars. the robots at this stage they're not going as fast as nascar cars. they're more like one-year-old kids. they're expecting a lot of stumbles. things move slowly. each competition has 30 minutes for each task to accomplish but very exciting and a lot of promise. martha. martha: cool stuff. the future looks like a "terminator" movie, turns out or maybe "iron man" or one of those. good robots or bad robots. bill: keating is a robot.

martha: is he really? wind him up? bill: the white house is doing major damage control. latest controversy on the obamacare fix. what the latest change, it's a doozy, what it means to you. plastic waste to cover mt. rainier out of landfills each year? by using one less trash bag each month, we can. and glad forceflex bags stretch until they're full.* so you can take them out less often.

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martha: fox news alert, senate majority leaderrer harry reid is said to be now feeling better after being hospitalized this morning. the nevada senator went to the hospital this morning, he wasn't feeling well, so he checked in. staff members say everything in terms of the tests are coming up normal, but the senate leader will not be working today, he'll be resting. he suffered a minor stroke back in august, but we do not know if the hospital visit today is connected to that at all. we're going to keep you posted, and we wish him well. meanwhile, the white house announcing yet another bomb with shell obamacare change just days before the enrollment deadline. welcome to a brand new hour of "america's newsroom" and yet another day of changes,

everybody, i'm martha maccallum. bill: i'm bill hemmer, good morning at home. americans who have their policies canceled and have failed to buy new coverage can buy bare bones catastrophic coverage. ed henry on the north lawn with an update on this. how's the administration playing this which is yet another change before the new year? >> reporter: very problematic for the administration because they've been making the case the reason you need an individual mandate is because you can't have these bare bones plans. you've got to have these wonderful plans that have a lot of different things, maternity coverage even if you don't need it, you've got to have these high minimum standards to improve of health care in this country, but they're running up against this january 1st deadline for people to start insurance, not just people who didn't have insurance before, but the millions of people who had plans and were knocked off. and so how they're trying to

bill: what have you heard from the white house? >> reporter: you've got this gdp number out the morning suggesting economic growth was much better in the third quarter than a lot of people thought here at the end of the year, and then, you know, on the negative side, of course, talking about health care, talking about iran sanctions yesterday, you've got all these democrats, 13 of them in the senate defying him on that iran sanctions bill, there's a whole series of issues, the nsa surveillance program which the president's own review panel assayed needs dramatic change. he's on defense on a whole manner of issues. obviously, they want to pivot to the economy where it's sort of turning around for them, but it's been a brutal 2013. he wants to clear the decks ahead of his state of the union in january to reset things.

bill: and also with your change in health insurance, i mean, the insurance companies are going nuts right now, it is not easy. ed, see you at 2:00 today. martha has more now. martha: chris stirewalt, fox news digital politics editor and host of "power play" on foxnews.com live, good morning to you. >> good morning. martha: no doubt the questions today will revolve around health care and also probably ed snowden and nsa issue as well. let's start with health care. what would you want to ask today with regard to that? >> well, you know, the way the president deals with these press conferences, and this is all president but this one particularly, by managing the questioner, you manage the question. so he'll go to ap, and can he'll do whatever. i don't think ed henry -- maybe we'll be proven wrong -- i don't think ed henry is going to get certainly an early question, and the obvious early question to the president is this: at what

point do you concede that you have so poorly executed a law that was controversial to begin with, at what point do you make a broader concession and say as the overwhelming majority of americans and the majority of democrats all agree that a delay is what is needed? this is chaotic, and you cannot proceed this way. at what point do you bow to reality and the will of the public and delay this law? martha: yeah. i mean, i would expect -- and we certainly hope that ed henry would get one of those early questions and a question, indeed -- but i would expect any reporter in the room is going to have to ask that question, chris. would you consider, prime mr. president, delaying for a year and that rings in everyone's years what the gop desperately wanted during the shutdown debate. and that's a real tough sort of concession to give into, i would imagine. >> well, it is, and the other thing is the pandemonium that

has followed the regulatory rewrites and technical failures of this administration as they have tried -- basically, now they're at the point facing what is an increasingly likely loss of the united states in the midterm elections -- the united states senate in the midterm elections. apparently, they just can't say no to anything. when somebody says, you know what we ought to do? we ought to waive the individual mandate for these people but not those people and not that guy, and did you sign up on the web site, and are you here, and small business is trying to plan, insurers trying to put this stuff together, you can feel the rivets popping off this thing. martha: and you can feel people when they actually approach the process of getting coverage for something are going to be in a minor panic as they head up to the counter to say here's my card, do you think it's going to work? and that's going to set people on a very unnerved beginning of the new year. i do want to get your thoughts on this nsa issue because i

think it's going to be a story we're going to be talking about quite as we get into january, because the president once dismissed snowden as some crazy kid who had gotten his hands on information he shouldn't have. now it's turning into you've got this judge's decision saying, no, this program is, in fact, unconstitutional in terms, you know, by his opinion. and you've got a huge review the president's bringing to hawaii to read on the beach. where's this going? [laughter] >> well -- martha: you don't think he's going to read it on the beach? 300 pages of a reform bill. >> here's the problem when you lose the trust and confidence of the electorate, and can this is true for this president, it's true for any politician, once people do not believe you and you have used up your mulligans -- and this president has now used up his mulligans on this and other issues, but particularly on his promise that he made knowing that it was not so -- that if you like it, when your credibility's gone, whatever fix you propose people

aren't going to believe it's really a fix. martha: we'll see. lots of mulligans. chris, thank you. [laughter] have a great christmas. >> you too. martha: thank you so much. visit chris' politics page and sign up for the political news newsletter, foxnews.com/fox news first.is i now apologizing, hackers stole the data of some 40 million customers, that breach affecting target shoppers who used debit or credit cards during the busy holiday season, probably the busiest shopping day of the year. garrett tenny is on this story for us. the situation keeps going on here and in some cases from are bad to worse. what is happening today, garrett? >> reporter: well, bill, target set up a hotline for any customers to call if they believed their information had been stolen. no surprise, with 40 million customers affected that that hotline has been so flooded with calls that target hasn't been able to keep up.

customers have been complaining of waiting on the phone for as many as two hours before having their calls dropped. on the store's facebook page, one writes are you kidding me, after 48 minutes on hold suddenly a busy signal, and my call was dropped. are you kidding? this is completely unacceptable. customers also complaining that they have gotten errors when they try to access the web page that target has been directing them to as well. for their or part target says they are working hard to resolve these issues be by trying to increase their system's capacity. bill? bill: is target saying anything about how this happened? it's still a major question now. >> reporter: that's really the huge question that we're all waiting to hear back on. target has identified and resolved the issue that allowed the security breach to occur, but they're not elaborating exactly how that happened. we know the secret service along with other law enforcement agencies and a third party forensics firm are also

investigating just to try and find out who is responsible for this as well. now, that doesn't do a whole lot for many of the affected customers, though, who say they have already had their accounts compromised. on the company's facebook page again, kelly says: well, that explains the e-mail about $900 being spent on my card in russia. target was myrrh go-to store on a weekly basis. that's pretty ridiculous, and now i don't want to even go there again. when we spoke to the secret service, they stress this is very much an ongoing investigation. bill? bill: thanks, garrett out of chicago. thank you. ♪ ♪ martha: all right. a story that's got everybody talking today, the family of duck dynasty's patriarch saying they can't imagine the show going on without him at the helm. the robertsons do not believe phil should have been suspended indefinitely for, quote, education prosecutioning -- expressing his faith with gq

magazine. send us your tweets, let us know what you think about the firing or suspension of phil, and let us know, @martha maccallum, @bill hemmer. bill: one of the most talked about stories in america. martha: it is. bill: on every web site. martha: it's fascinating that a reality show could provoke this discussion, but underlying are some serious issues, and we're going to talk about it. bill: a record number of [ male announcer ] this is george.

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bill: six people now facing charges ia forgery scheme that allowed two convicted killers to walk free from a jail in florida. joseph jenkins and charles walker used phony documents earlier in the year. they were later recaptured, but four other inmates and two former inmates are charged with helping arrange the fake release papers. ♪ ♪ martha: something else everyone's talking about today, these obamacare ads like our good friend over here, pajama boy, are they actually hurting or helping these efforts to the try to sell the law to millennials? one editorial saying, quote, when it comes to marketing obamacare, all means are good means, so say progressive activists and democratic

strategists pushing back as somewhere between slightly awkward and totally tone deaf. rich lowry's editor of "the national review," and a fox news contributor, and he joins me now. i guess that falls under the any publicity is good publicity so to speak. >> i guess so. e suppose it's possible that they created this image to create something that could be mocked and, therefore, would get a lot of attention, but it just seems to he there's enough ridicule around the law already, and no one's going to look at pajama boy and say, oh, i've really got to find out more about obamacare. i don't have much of a fashion sense as my wife reminds me -- but i do know grown men should not wear -- [laughter] martha: i said to rich yesterday there were so many quotes i really liked, but pajama boy is about as threatening as michael cera, and it went on to say he's

probably ringing the bell jar and looking forward to a hearty christmas meal. i think you got this guy all figured out. [laughter] i think you've got him nailed. why, you know, the underlying issue is something you get to in your piece later, which is that it's hard to not see him as sort of an overall poster boy for what perhaps is a vision for america? >> yeah. he reminded me a little bit of julia, the cartoon character they created during the campaign, and it followed her life in every juncture of her life. there wasn't any community, there wasn't any family, there was government there to help her. and neither julia or our friend pajama boy here are really images of self-reliant, responsible adulthood which is one of the reasons that they would be dependent on government. martha: i mean, it is ab issue, i think -- an issue, i think, in this country, this feeling that, no, i better be covered until i'm 26 by my participants because what else am i going to do?

the self-reliant issue is a tough one. >> i think that's important symbolically. when you're 26 years old, you are an adult, and the idea that you still have to be on your parents' health insurance, i think, is kind of crazy. some seem might look at a jam ma boy and say let's get him on obamacare right away, a lot of them would look at them like chris christie did, get out of your pajamas, go do something, make manager of your life. martha: i want to take a look at this, michelle obama's also getting involved in this push to get people to talk about this issue at home over the christmas table or sitting around in your house or having your hot chocolate in your onesie or whatever the heck you're doing, and this was her working on getting people excited. >> we we urge everyone out there who has a story to share it, um, and we urge people to reach out. and if they signed up their child, then sign up their friends, you know?

if you've got grandkids, make it a christmas treat around the table, the talk about a little -- to talk about a little health care. martha: she seemed really enthusiastic about that. >> yeah. and who considers it a christmas treat to talk about health care. they have a problem with this law because of the problems with the web site, but fundamentally it's not an image problem, it's a substance problem. especially with the young people they're trying to reach, with pajama boy here. because it's not a good deal for them. you're asking them to pay more for a product to help other people, and that's just not something most people are rationally going to do. maybe pa pajama boy's going to o it, but he's not representative. martha: it goes to the issue of the fix that came in last night which is allowing people to keep these plans that they were told were subpar and simply weren't good enough for you and you weren't smart enough to know it, now those catastrophic plans seem like a better idea than they did at one point. >> yeah. well, every week there's some

change in the law. and can you gotta wonder eventually are the insurers are going to quit on this thing, which is the key thing. and they're out very harshly criticizing this latest change because they want the individual mandate to coerce people onto these exchanges, and then the insurance companies can vacuum up the subsidies and make lots of money. at least that's the theory. but if people aren't signing up on tear own and not being forced to sign up, then the whole thing may not work. martha: and you wonder how they feel about, you know, the bailout that they were supposed to get as part of this deal and whether they think even that is a good business model at this point. >> at least they have pajama boy. if nothing else. martha: a little hot chocolate and a little christmas treat when you are home for the holidays. bill: somebody said he looks like el on a shelf. [laughter] martha: yeah, they're a little bit grown up. bill: merry christmas, rich. saying good-bye to gitmo? are many of the terror suspects

soon headed elsewhere? martha: and brand new reaction from the family of duck dynasty star phil robertson after a&e suspended him for anti-gay remarks, and now the network is coming under fire. >> a friend of mine who happens to be gay, she mailed me for the hypocrisy here for the things they air on their program that she finds be offensive, yet a&e doesn't fire a star or somebody involved in their programming based on what they've said. but they would when it comes to phil on duck dynasty. ♪

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martha: well, two children this colorado have been hospitalized after they took the family suv on a joyride and then crashed it. the boy is just 10 years old, and his sister, 8.

the family was stunned. >> scared and started in a high speed pursuit. it was just a huge shock to us, because he's never done this before. martha: you nebraska know with kids, right? both children suffered head injuries, but they're expected to fully recover and be out of the hospital in time for christmas and hopefully never do that again. bad idea, kids. ♪ ♪ bill: half of the terror suspects at gitmo may soon be with heading home. elizabeth prans running this down life in our d.c. bureau in washington. elizabeth, when did this change happen? >> reporter: good morning. well, just last night lawmakers in the senate passed a bipartisan defense bill which lifts restrictions on the transfer of detainees, the limits have been in place since 2010. at the moment there are 158 at the facility, up to half have been cleared for transfer to their home countries. the language in the bill would speed up the review process for

setting up safeguards when they return home to deter terrorist activities. defense secretary chuck hagel says this legislation offers officials more flexibility. >> we would anticipate to continue this effort of transferring these detainees, and i think we're making good progress toward that. that objective. >> reporter: the deal lifts previous restrictions on transferring detainees to countries that are declared state respond sponsors of terrorism as long as the administration determines it is this the national security interests of the u.s. six have been transferred out this month, two just yesterday. bill: not without debate, elizabeth. any chance a detainee comes to u.s. soil? >> reporter: absolutely not. the senate version did include a piece which lifts restriction on the transfer of detainees to u.s. soil for trial, but that didn't make it into the final version of the bill. while this does show the government is a step closer to

closing can tan mow -- gone tan mow, it doesn't mean it's going to happen anytime soon, but the president remains committed to closing the detention center. bill: elizabeth elizabeth prann live there in washington. martha: the president will, indeed, hold a news conference as was expected later today, the white house has also announced another change to the obamacare rollout. what will the president say about his debacle when he talks today at 2:00? will: also, nasa has a problem. a big problem. there will be at least four space walks scheduled for saturday. how in the world do you get ready for that? we'll talk to an astronaut who knows firsthand because he has been there. ♪ ♪ so you're telling me your mom has a mom cave?

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>> fukushimas news alert. you heard it 24 minutes ago. three and a half hours from now the president will hold a year-end newscast. how will he address the latest changes in obamacare? we have a democratic strategist here and another member on the

panel. first, on obamacare, this is a significant late-hour change yet again, it follows a series of changes week after week. the defense is what now? >> obamacare is a piece of legislation that is going to change, adapt and meet the needs of the america people. the cost curve is being bent. more people are being covered. people are getting coverage that couldn't before. preventive care is going up. we are in a better shape than before. is the law perfect? absolutely not. but is it a major step in the right direction and doo i hope t the republicans will work with the democrats. >> there are millions who might

defend that. >> i think he is going to say it is broken law and at least we are trying to make it better and that is the best they can do. they are trying to turn a bad situation and bad law into a workable system. you are finding with this make it up as you go that insurance companies are getting frustrated because they have to plan long-term. and with these changes in the law, the insurance industry is going to have a difficult time trying to implement these things and consumers will be hurt as well. >> we will soon see. i don't mean to interrupt you, but we will see how mad the insurance companies and small businesses and perhaps the individuals as well. what best describe your feelings

on how government is working was our fox poll and 71% say the government is broken. >> i don't think any surprise to that. we have the health care website and the shutdown disaster. if we can build upon the bi-partisan budget deal and work to bring the sides together which is going to take lifting from the administration and boehner to put together a solution to the debt ceiling crisis that happens by late february and use that to spring board and topple immigration reform -- >> listen, unless you get obamacare worked out, nothing happens. >> i don't think that is true at all. we cannot hold the government hostage. >> 65% of people under the age

of 25 believe the government is broken. >> what this recent situation with obamacare and the last three months have done is taken a generation of americans who up until this point didn't have a vision of what big government or government dysfunction looks like and gave them a concrete picture of what that looks like. when republicans rail against the problems of big government and the reasons why big government is bad there is now this example that exists that makes the republicans seem like they are not making it up and just the boy who called wolf. >> it has been a black eye. quickly in 30 seconds. last poll here. bill clinton and george bush compared to obama. >> obama is at 46%. there is no question history is

kind to president. second terms are not kind. bill clinton is ahead at 70% because he took a pragmatic approach and i hope obama takes a page out of his book. >> time heals all wounds so the further you get from the tough second term of the president the more and more he doesn't seem like a bad guy. >> like a fine bottle of wine. the commerce department released new numbers and they were significant, folks. we wanted to get thoughts because the economy is growing at 4.1% and that is the fastest pace we have seen since 2011 and the administration is feeling good this morning about it. it was expected to stay at 3.6%.

no matter what is going on with the economy, we have seen sluggish rates of growth, but this is a good number. >> we have not seen a number over 4 in two years. this was a great number on the surface. they are starting to peek their head. it is good thing to see the gross domestic product number move at that pace. for the year we maybe looking at 1.7. >> 79% still thing we are in a recession so i am wondering where the growth is coming from. >> consumer spending significantly jumped. it is about 2% and people are spending more out there and that is what we needed. when you pick that apart with a

sushi knife you see the money went to gas and health care. but when you look at coach they are having great sales on their ba bags, sony's play station, and x-boxes. >> are we going to find out rising health care cost is moving the number? >> no, you would see people saying we must put money in where there is going to be a change. but look for trends not just one number. >> the president is going to be happy to report this. >> s&p is growing as well. >> support growing for duck dynasty after their star was

suspended for the anti-gay comments. >> i think there is an on-going assault for these speaking up for religious beliefs and those from the left that don't agree with anything not on their side. >> what the family is saying about all of that today. >> and this cancer patient earned a special award for touching the lives of everyone around him. >> she touched the students and said if a little kid can do it, week do it, too.

>> new reaction from the family of the duck dynasty employee after he was suspended. the robertson's report was phil would never encourage hate and

he have been disappointed he has been placed on hiatus. louisiana is where the show is film and the robertson business is located. the state governor says the suspension is a violation of free speech. >> they say they are for tolerance and diversity unless you disagree with them. what they could have said is you don't have to agree with phil, flip the channel and don't watch it. >> joined by leslie marshal and a conservative writer. good to have you here.

the governor is saying let the free market work. you don't have to watch the show. it is reality television show where people are supposed to be real and express their opinion whatever it is. >> as papa knows because he is a multi-milli multi-million dollar man and has a masters degree he knows this is a business. and adv vvertising is a busines and you have ratings as well. this guy hasn't been fired. i want to see consistency. we are hearing when we had things with alecbaldwin and martin bashir, i think we need to be consistent. the first amendment is clear, but a and e is a business and

they are within their right. >> i understand what you are putting out there, but when you are talking about martin bashir and someone host ing a news program, their responsibility to be appropriate is different than a reality television show. everybody loved the fact these folks were real, authentic and christian and carrying guns. the whole picture fit perfectly until he made the remark that even family members say it is course. >> the station knew what they were getting. you can go online and see phil saying the same things and even in a bolder way. the reason they had him on television is because he is a call it like he sees it.

so why the expectation they would hire him for that and be any different. he is a christian. i don't agree with what he said but i will defend his right to stay it. i think it is strange they would hire him knowing what he represented and the kind of guy he was and then have a problem with that identity because of the backlash in the community that means you didn't do your research or you are a bunch of cower cower cowered. >> do you think he had the right to say it? what action do you think should have been taken? >> he has the right to say it. as far as being real, a few

years ago they looked like the poster club for rich luck club. they are good business people. and kudos for doing so. if you look and i am not a huge fan of the program, i get why people are. at the beginning the religious rhetoric wasn't there. and maybe he needs more consistency because there is a statement called judge not be judge less. and he is entitled to his opinion and the station is entitled to suspend him. >> i feel like this would have been a great way to open up the discussion. he seems to me, and i don't know him personally, but he seems to be real and this is what he stands for. a and e had the right to say we want wahim to represent us.

>> they may back up and move and go somewhere else. i am sure other networks would be happy to have them. who cares if i don't agree with them. the point is they are who they are and they were great television and that is what they are there. >> there is no shortage of courseness in the reality television world. we have learned that all over the place. thank you for both of you. great to see you. >> we started the programming wondering what do you think about phil robertson's decision? >> these are the responses: >> keep sending the tweets. we are getting lots of them on the topic.

okay. happening now rolls your way in 11 minutes. j jenna lee is standing by in her christmas red. >> i am trying to get into the season. as we are awaiting the end of the year news conference, new talk on obamacare and what it means for us. new poll numbers from fox. consumers take aim at target, a real car made of half a million lego parts that drives and is laughter really the best medicine? >> i would say yes. merry christmas. is that it? thought he heard a chuckle from jenna lee. >> i am sure she is wishing you a merry christmas. >> she is back!

>> three dangerous space walks will take place and how do you get read for this one? we will talk to a man who has done it several times.

>> all right. nasa has a problem and three space walks will take place to fix a coolant pump. and one man who has done four of these is with us.

you have done four to the hubble tell scope? >> that is correct. >> what is it like? >> the it an amazing experience. you never forget these days. each one of these is going to be impactf impactfull. >> but dangerous? >> absolutely. and they are going out to fix something that needs to be replaced. you would rather not have to do this, but now you have to go out, you make the best of it. it is a great experience. >> how long did yours last? >> mine were long. two of mine were eight hours and another over seven. >> what do you do for eight hours? how do you get food? >> you want to eat well in the

morning. get the nutrition in the morning. once you're in the space suit you are going a long time without eating. we have drinking water. we have a 32 ounce drink bag you can drink. but no food. >> you mention dangerous. and there is drama in this. this didn't seem to have a sense of urgency and now there is. >> they are creative people and they looked at hooking at a different valve to control the cooling pump and that didn't work. software fixes to control the pump and valve they were having

trouble with inside the pump. the resort was the replace the whole union -- unit -- >> they will be using snorkels as well after this last incident. >> good guy and good friend. that was a scary situation. luckily there was a navy seals guy out there. they have replaced a pump fan ass assembly that created this problem. the suit is good. they have a breathing tube and an absorbptio plan.

>> what is the president going to say about obamacare now? we will be right back.

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she has to balance. that's the benef of responsibility. apply online or visit a bank of america near you. bill: new year's eve we start at 9:00. it is like a telethon now. martha: it will be so great. i will be watching. i will make a brief appearance. merry christmas to you, buddy. to you and your family as well. "happening now" starts right now. bye, everybody. >> right now, today's top headlines and brand new stories that you will see here first. jenna: we're waiting for the final news conference of 2013 for president obama following an 11th hour change to his signature health care law. who it affects and what it can mean for the health care law as a whole. a duck dynasty star under fire for his comments. target waiting days before going public about a