>> the best time i had was shopping with my kids. togetherness and fun of all of that. >> it's great. >> that does it for us. thank you for watching. shepard smith reporting starts right now. >> i am harris faulkner in for shepard smith. at 3:00 p.m. eastern, ups, the company's motto is, what can brown do for you? well, you could deliver the christmas presents on time. disappointment and anger as thousands of gifts are late. ups and fedex promising they will be delivered today or tomorrow. ups says they brought to extra workers to south out the delayed packagings. both companies blame bad weather and overleadded systems. >> many of you are still waiting to get a package, and you're talking about it on social media. according to the "associated

press," customers reported delays in alabama, california, ohio, and virginia. amazon.com, which saw a huge increase in online ordererring, which inquired shipping, is responding by offering shipping refunds and giving customers a credit toward purchases in the future. ups has apologized but a spokesperson for fedex says, quote, we experienced no major service disruptions in this week before christmas. she did acknowledge there were isolated incidents. the fox business network's adam shapiro is live in the news room. a lot of angst and anger on twitter. >> i've got the latest from ups. they're the worldest largest package delivererrer or shipper, and a lot of people waiting for their packages. here's what ups said in the last hour and a half. all ups personnel are out making pickups and deliveries. ups did have some packages

delayed before christmas, and nearly all of them will be delivered today. we apologize for those customers whose packages were delayed. now, as you pointed out, ups is not actually said how many packages might be delayed, what the actual number is, but we can give you some numbers that led up to christmas eve and the day before christmas. ups was in its peak week. 132 million packages in that seven-day period before christmas, on december 23rd, they were anticipating almost eight million packages at their global air hub, worldport in kentucky. we were there as they were talking about all of this last week. it looks like they got more than the eight million packages anticipated. at amazon.com the put out the statement you said. they said -- they're pointing a finger at ups as well as fedex -- they said, quote, we processed and tendered customer offices to delivery

carriers on time for holiday delivery. so, you've got ups, amazon.com saying, we're sorry, but as of right now, people waiting for -- >> you know what stinks about the whole thing? a lot of places you would go online to buy stuff offered you free shipping. is this a case you get what you pay for? >> very well may be, but keep in mine that as people have shifted to eretailers -- with amazon prime it's not free shipping. you pay but it's an annual fee. when you are going to the internet, it has to be shipped, and the volume of shipping has increased. ups and fedex both said they saw dramatic increases before this meltdown in their shipping orders. >> i am sensing a whole new marketing plan by the big box scores who saw a huge cut taken out of their pay by the online ordering. huge signs saying, we won't lose it.

if you come and get it. >> a marketing ploy. >> thank you very much. an american being held captive says he feels totally abandoned and forgotten. it's been more than two years since al qaeda kidnapped him in pakistan. and in a newly released video he is calling on president obama to negotiate for his release. the man's name is warren weinstein. here's a still image from the video which someone sent to reporters weapon don't know whether his can'tors scripted his statements. a state department official says u.s. officials are trying to make sure it's real. he is 72 years old now in this new video he says he is no in good health. he was grabbed from his home in pakistan in august of 2011. he had been working for an american company that advises pakistani businesses and

government operations. ed henry is live from washington. what else does winestein. >> he feels abandoned, we don't know whether that was scripted by al qaeda, whether that's really how he feels. but specifically says he wants to see his family, but al qaeda will only allow that if in fact al qaeda detainees are allowed to visit their families, if they're al qaeda detainees or gitmo or elsewhere, they want the u.s. to allow those detainees to see their families as well. that's clearly not going to happen. you mentioned the state department trying to authenticate this video. the fbi is doing that as well, and the fbi told us, quote, we remain concerned for the safety and well-being of mr. winestein and remain in contact with warren wynn stein's family while we tone to monitor the situation. mr. winestein added he wants president obama, secretary of

state john kerry, other top officials, to negotiate with al qaeda here, but it's clear the u.s. government has said again and again, it will not engage in such negotiations. >> obviously there would never be a good time for this to happen, but this is timing that calls into question now, because it comes as president obama is weighing some other big decisions about our involvement in conflicts around the world. >> you're right, and al qaeda obviously wants to make a statement with the video. they want to try to make the u.s. look weak. they also are maybe taking advantage of the situation where, as you note, we're coming to the end of the year, folks have been focused on domestic affairs but it's a reminder there are all kinds of national security crises around the world. president obama is dealing with, and in fact "60 minutes" did a profile of susan rice, the national security advicer in the white house, impressed on her the fact when you look across the middle east and around the world, u.s. is perceived as weak, and crises like syria

where we're unable to affect an outcome. she pushed back. take a listen. >> we are very actively engaged in trying to broker a resolution of the israeli-palestinian conflict. in syria, chemical weapons are leaving the country. for the first time. the situation in the middle east is complicated, but to paint this with a broadbrush and say it's a disaster is missing a lot of important data points. >> a reminder as well, we're going to see the president's "state of the union" address january 28th, on dome a -- domestic affairs and health care. >> let's get more on this now. michael kay is a former advisor for the uk ministry for defense. thank you for coming in. you worked in british special forces and call this in your line of work a proof of life video. there is any good news to take from this? >> if we start off with the

positive, we already know that while the u.s. intelligence sources will be authenticating the video, this is the first proof of life we have received since september 12 in begin to the israelis. he was cap oured august 11th. this is good news for his friends and family who are hoping he is still alive. there are downsides and they're to twofold. the conditions through mr. winestein's release has been mandated through al qaeda. the first one is the release of the egyptian that was charged and convicted in the u.s. of the world trade center bombings in 1993. the first one is for the release-oil and the second is cessation of air strikes in iraq, afghanistan, and pakistan, both of which are highly unlikely. >> it's very complicated. you got to take a look at the whole geopolitical picture when you deal with a situation like this. but this is this is an americann

harm's way. what is our relationship with pakistan right now in terms of the u.s. getting his freedom? >> i think that's the nub of the question. that's a great question. i think what has hindered or will hinder the problem is the osama bin laden capture. he was obviously found in pages and there -- in pakistan, and there are a lot of questions resonating from the u.s. forces and the administration how osama bin laden could have lived there for so long. so what is the support network that allowed him to do that? there are questions about the pakistan services and the u.s. cia equivalent and the pakistan military as to what involvement they have had. they're not a trusted source anymore. so the options for a rescue attempt, if you like, on mr. winestein are limited. in order circumstances you go to the host nation, the intelligence authorities, the military, police force,

corroborate sourceses which might allow lead to mr. winestein. everything has to come from within u.s. intelligence sources so the chances are slim. >> there some things you say he can do to make his situation better. quickly, what are they? >> almost kind of a reverse stockholm syndrome where the captor actually senses some sort of loyalty and develops a relationship with the people that have him. i he can develop a relationship -- he has been in captivity for over two years now and is potentially stale live. if he can keep developing this relationship it's harder for al qaeda to take the life of something they feel something for. >> even professionals -- professional killers like that. >> i've spoken to potential martyrs and they're something there it's counterintuitive but if you can develop that

relationship, that's one of his best chances of keeping alive until the u.s. authoritiesen conjure up a rescue attempt and develop the intelligence situation which might lead to his release. >> colonel michael kaye in the british special forces. a pleasure. >> merry christmas. >> the man accused of walking into lax airport and shooting and killing a tsa screener and hurting three other people has now pleaded not guilty. he was due in court an hour ago, and that happened. paul ciancia faces charges including first degree murder. investigators say he carried a bag with a handwritten note, threatening to instill fear in the traitorous mind of the as as. trial is set for february. >> how too you give up on your child? how do you know whether it's time to let go? a family in northern california is wrestling with those questions right now as doctors declared their little girl brain dead following complications from a routine surgical

procedure. and we're expecting a decision from the family as early as today. stay close.

>> a 13-year-old girl's family is now deciding whether to appeal a judge's ruling to take the child if a life support. jahi mcmath went to the hospital for a routine tonsillectomy but the started hemorrhaging and her heart

stopped. a series of doctor says she is brain dead but her uncle says her family still has hope. >> it's heartbreaking but we still have a few days left for a miracle. >> a few days, because of the judge is giving the family until 5:00 p.m. on monday to appeal his decision, this is happening. yesterday the child's family set up a christmas tree in her hotel room, with presents for jahi and her -- her hospital room -- for jahi and heresy binges. will, how is the family holding up today?

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more than 100,000 homes and businesses have been without lights or heat for days now in the northeast. and now a new round of snow is lashing the region. it all started with that deadly ice storm which was actually last weekend. a lot of families in maine and michigan spent christmas in the dark. crews have been working to restore electricity but some of the outages could stretch into this weekend. forecasters predict parts of maine could get up to seven inches of fresh powder today. representatives for utilities

companies say they're worried the extra weight on the tree branches and power lines will complicate their efforts. a massive pileup today shut up to part of the pennsylvania turnpike. that's an hour northwest of philadelphia. authorities say at least 20 vehicles were involved, and several people were hurt. laura ingall is in our new york city news room. this ice storm has also killed people. >> it has. 27 people have lost their lives as a result of this wicked weather. most tying from carbon monoxide poisoning while using generators or barbecues to create heat. 17 deaths in the u.s. and ten in canada, along with many other injuries. people without power have been spending their down time filling up gas cans for generators which prompted officials to be aware of potentially deadly fumes and hire hazard -- fire hazards, police in michigan say a 7 7

3-year-old woman ran a stoplight that was out of service, and snow is falling in places still struggling to get back online. some parts of maine have been without electricity since sunday. they're expecting three to seven inches of snow today alone. and h. >> we want people to snap safely but it's ureport. >> some utility companies are saying they could be waiting even longer to seive the lights go on. the bad news is, instead of tomorrow or this weekend, some restoration times have been extended into next week due to extensive system damage crews are finding in the field. down trees and snapped limbs are the biggest problems and with more more snow falling it's worse. >> you have a short in a house, you have to go from plug to plug to plug, but out here they have

thousands of more plugs. >> a lot of plugs. another important safety note, asking customers to not attempt to remove trees from downed lines saying there's no way to know if a line is energized and it's never safe to touch a downed power line or tree in contact with one. >> you can understand why people with time it's not just living without lights-it's the cold. thank you very much. >> some confusing deadlines are still ahead for the healthcare law/obamacare. we'll tell you what you need to do to get covered; the freeway rescue caught on camera. ♪

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[ male announcer ] everyone deserves the gift of all day pain relief. this season, discover aleve. all day pain relief with just two pills. a fox report now. more of today's headlines from fox news deck. the u.s. has sent dozens of missiles and drones to help iraq

in its fight against al qaeda. the missiles arrived last week and more are on the way. the state department has not confirmed this but this comes after a recent spike in violence. >> the number of americans filing for unemployment benefits fell by 42,000 last week, the largest drop in more than a year. but economists point out the numbers are generally spiking one way or the other around the holidays. >> a pair of newborn african penguins making their debut. mom gave berth a month ago. these little ones are on display to the public in pittsburgh, p.a. we're back after this.

if technical difficulties kept you from signing up for insurance under the affordable care act ahead of the deadline,

don't worry. you might still be able to get coverage starting january 1st. officials say those people who ran into trouble online can file appeals. visitors to healthcare.gov will notice this message urging them to contact the marketplace call center. officials say if you simply miss the deadline you can still sign up but have to wait another month for your coverage kick in. this comes after the administration moved the deadline twice after the rollout in october, and on top of that, several state exchanges reported similar trouble, including delays and outages for their web sites. we're live in honolulu. doug? >> reporter: don't let the beauty you see behind me of hawai'i fool you. this is state is a storm of troubles when it comes to the state exchange, and hawai'i is not unique. airline an -- carol andrews, the director of the hawai'i health

connector stepped down. some say she was forced to step down, after the failed launch of the web site here. hawai'i health connector received $200 million in federal funding to set up the exchange. the web site cost $53 million, and the contractor? you guessed it. cgi, the same contractor that set up the federal exchange. the contract was awarded even after the state senate president warned people not to use cgi because they set up the state's tax web site and blew that as well and costed the taxpayers $50 million. >> more than a month after the rollout, only 256 people have signed up on the exchanges. oregon is pretty much similar story. oregon was tabbed as a leader by the obama administration. ed received more federal grant money than any other state except for new york and california. late this month, started getting robocalls. listen to the robocalls. >> if you have not heard from us

by december 23rd it is unlikely you can have timely press for january 1stle coverage. >> harold received one of those robocalls and thought he was all covered starting january 1st. listen to what he sass to say about that. >> the governor should have been apprised of the situation. if he wasn't apprised of the situation, then shame on his aides. and if he was, then shame on him for not listening to his aides. >> since the october 1st october 1st rollout in oregon, the web site has never worked. instead people are forced to sign up -- fill out 19 pages of forms and there's been lots of problem with the forms. >> i understand in some very blue states, there are some kind of intraparty shots being tan at the rollout, i'm thinking specific live of maryland where

there's a split among the democrats and an election coming up. >> that's right. maryland one of the bluest of blue states and the state attorney general fired a big shot across the buoy of one of his opponents and called the state's rollout akin to a skit on "saturday night live." the lieutenant governor is the guy who heads up the state panel on the state change rollout. so, a lot of really bad blood there. none of this is good news for the democratic governor in the state of maryland, martin o'malley, a presumed presidential candidate in 2016. >> thank you very much. signing up is just the beginning. as with any insurance that you buy, people who have enrolled under obamacare now must pay the first month's premium to lock in their coverage. earlier the health insurers announced people they would geoff people until

january 10th but the deadlines are different depending on where you live. the states in green, have set datelines for other dates, not january 10th. in idaho and washington, dc, all depends on the health care provider, so there really will be multiple deadlines. jonathan easily,y start write for the hill. this is a mess. you need coverage on january 1st, you want to know when to pay and the rules keep changing. >> you're right. earlier this year, the obama administration worked with insurers to push the deadline back from january 1st to january 10th. but like you're saying right now, there's 14 states running their own exchanges. if you live in california or rhode island, your premium payment is due on the 6th or 7th. so before this federal exchange deadline and there's other states where you can actually submit a premium payment up until the 15th. so there's a lot of confusion surrounding the deadlines. >> you know the hard thing, too, this was supposed to make

people's lives easier, better, cheaper, and it's anything but that if you have to file an appeal. if you miss the tedline to sign up, you have to appeal. pretty soon you'll need an attorney to navigate this. the bottom line, what are states doing with all these federal changes? can't they just all get on the same page? >> no. it's really more complicated than that. sometimes states finding they can't comply because of the requirements that insurers need in their states. other times they're finding it's not in the best interests of their citizen to comply with these federal mandates. so obviously a lot of confusion, and the obama administration has been under pressure to make sure that anyone who believes they purchased insurance is covered by january 1st. so, this isn't going to help. then just one in a string of changes they made. you were talking about them finessing the deadlines for enrollment, from december 23rd , then the 24th

, and now these special enrollment periods for those who think they i have applied but didn't make it through the full healthcare.gov process. so, it's kind of a lot of confusion all around. >> i have been reading today -- and this really was eye-popping. in colorado, connecticut, and certain areas, you have moving deadlines and also have a situation where people didn't even know that the federal government was making some changes that would affect them because they're using their state-run sites until they saw it on television and heard it from reporters. >> that's right. there's even been some confusion among reporters. with the way the administration rolled out these latest deadlines, i think the "washington post" actually broke the story that the administration made changes to healthcare.gov over the weekend that would extend the deadline from the 23rd to the 24th. when if you were at health care dolph dolph on the 24th, a message appeared that we'll work with you if you can't get through the process through

january 1st. so it's not just catching consumers by surprise. at it catching a lot of reporters by surprise and that's going to add to the confusion over the deadline. >> jonathan, does it seem to you from your reporting we're inching our way forward to change with obamacare from the white house and this administration? >> you know, that's hard to say. it's such a politically explosive issue right now. we have heard whispers for a while about potential he delaying the individual mandate. there's been some other changes for those who have lost their healthcare plans. they can now purchase these cheaper plans they otherwise would not have qualified for. so i think they're kind of weighing their options to see what changes they can make that won't adversely affect democrats in 2014, and then those changes that maybe they'd like to make but can't because it's too politically explosive. we'll get the solid enrollment

numbers in january after people have paid their premiums. so we'll see how far the administration will go. >> quickly. i'm still reading about cancellation notices. i thought those would to stop with the delays. what your thoughts and what you're fining out about that? >> it's still a little bit murky. the administration has kind of gone out of their way to help these people who lost their plans. it's been a real black eye for the obama administration. over his promise, if you like your plan, you can keep it. i think we're going to continue to hear stories like this, and then it's going to be on top of other stories about people who think they signed up and then found out january 1st they didn't have coverage. the administration is going out of their way to accommodate these people, but i think some of these stories are still going to be coming out in the new year. >> i wonder if the question is, if you hate your plan, do you have to keep it? happy holidays to you. >> thank you. >> dozens of people are trapped

on board a ship off the coast of antiarctic. pitches -- wind chills before zero. the rescue efforts at the bottom of the world.

a rescue mission is underway to reach dozens of passengers who are stranded aboard a boat off the coast of antarctica. the russian boat left new zealand on a month-long scientific expedition. australian officials say 74 people are on it. yesterday the crew sent out a distress signal after getting stuck in the ice 100 miles east of the french base. no word of anybody hurt in this, but the weather can be brutal. jonathan hunt has more now live in the newsroom. how dangerous for the people who are stuck? >> the weather can be brutal is putting it mildly. it's not the fact they're in any immediate danger. they do just have enough food

and other supplies on board, but it certainly is not a comfortable position they're in look at this. that is the sound of 50 miles-per-hour gusts. that video was shot by professor chris turney, one of the lead scientist onboard the ship. he also braved the elements and turn the camera on himself for a moment to explain their predicament. watch. >> a blizzard at the moment with a low pressure system. we have wind speeds on average of 50-kilometers an hour. the vessel has not moved for the last two days and we're surrounded by sea ice. >> frankly, harris, people like professor turney seem to actually be quite enjoying it. they say while they're stuck there they're just carrying out more scientific research. it's all good in his mind.

>> i was reading it's their summer. gees. doesn't look like summer. what happens now? >> the ship right now cannot move forwards or backwards. it does have a reinforced hull but it's not strong enough to break the sheet ice that has enclosed around it right now. so they're waiting for three icebreaking ships that are on route, a chinese, french, and an australian ship. it is currently just about 10:00 a.m. where the vessel is stuck, and sometime within the next 12 hours one of those icebreakers should reach them and get them on their way safely. it could be worse. they could all be on a carnival cruise. >> back to the picture. you say their attitude is great about doing scientific research.

>> nobody is worried about anything. >> until the run out of food. >> always penguins. >> stop that. thank you. a community in georgia came together to create a special white christmas for one little boy who is fighting cancer. here's the store from fox 5 in atlanta. >> it wasn't what dylan was expecting. >> what i was expecting was like new tires for the go-kart. then i got this. it's awesome. >> this is a white christmas. snow in the front yard for dylan, his brothers and sisters to play in dylan taking advantage of a new sled he also got under the tree. it all started when dylan was taking his picture with santa and asked if he had a cue for cancer. >> my other wish was to be free of cancer. i have leukemia. >> a somewhat perplexed santa asked, what else do you want? dylan responded, a white

christmas. the photographer overheard the conversation. heard dad died from leukemia, and she and the police officers partnered and rented a snow-making machine and bought 4,000 pounds of ice and spent christmas eve, christmas morning, cover the frontyard of dylan's house with snow. >> we were able to get together and get the money we needed to make this happen. it's not exactly how we planned but came out pretty good. >> the white stuff, a big bright spot in his recovery. >> he has had several hardships he has had to overcome, so to get to do these little things right here, it's monumental for us. >> the volunteers apparently made a lot of noise crushing up the ice and turning it into snow on the lawn, but dylan said he is a heavy sleeper, never heard

it. stop the surgery. ahead, why one very common medical procedure may be unnecessary. we'll ask a doctor what the deal is with this. ick with innovation. stick with power. stick with technology. get the new flexcare platinum from philips sonicare and save now. philips sonicare.

this is breaking news just coming on to the fox news deck. president obama has just signed a key defense bill into law. it provides more than a half trillion dollars for pentagon operations and also provides cash to help destroy syria's chemical weapons and prevents military commanders from overturning verdicts in sexual assault cases. this is coming into the newsroom. amateur video showing a bomb squad officer helping rescue man

from a fiery car crash on christmas day. this is on 405 freeway outside you can see the officer and two witnesses pulling the driver from burning car. look at this. the los angeles police department reports that i've was off-duty and just so happened to be driving by, a bomb squad truck they could flag down. police say he cut the driver's seatbelt to free him. the man was unconscious but otherwise not badly hurt. the bomb squad officer suffered first and second degree burns but is going to be okay. a new study is suggesting one of the most common knee procedures may not be necessary. researches in finland studied two groups of patients, one group had surgery to help relieve pain in the cartilage that cushions the knee. the other patients only thought they had the procedure. after a year researchers say there was no real difference, and that the ones in the fake

group didn't feel any more pain. we have an attending physician. you and i talked briefly in the commercial break. this is problematic for those doctors who have been doing the surgeries. >> and also problematic for patients having potentially unnecessary surgery, and this is the new england journal of medicine, a study over a five-year period. they looked at 14 6 patients, 70 patients in each group, and these patients ha degenerative problem, 104,000 surgeries each year. >> what would be the alternative if you're not going under the knife to get this done or if it's not a knife, digital procedure or a laser procedure? what are the alternatives?

>> the first and most important thing to remember is certain patients will benefit from the operation. it's all about selecting the right patients. many patients will do extremely well with physical therapy and these injuries for many patients can heal on their own this. study looked at outcomes over a five-month period, spend they looked at the sham operations, at 12 months there was no difference. so many patients would be fine with physical therapy. >> outside of the cost, which you just talked about how much money the procedure can put in the doctor's pocket, what about for the patient? are they suffering getting this done? is there any long-haul rehab they go through that they can skip? >> i think there's a couple of issues here. patient selection is important. this study looked at the degenerative changes. some people have traumatic injury to the cartilage, have an injury skiing you might benefit from this procedure. also if you arthretic, anyway

that do as well and get second opinion. if something is telling you, you need the operation, see an expert. get a second opinion and ask, die need this? >> you said something that was key there. sounds like if you have a trauma or an injury, you might be a good candidate for the surgery. if it's wear and tear, like what we all have every a lifetime, you're thinking rehab. if your doctor says you need surgery, you trust your doctor. >> that's right, and this is a financially incentive procedure, so get a second position and take your mri films with you. you don't want to have unnecessary scans. >> i think you're going to get some tweets and e-mails from doctors. >> thank you very much. 700,000 people in america get the surgery. moyer ahead. stay with us.

on this day in 1941 winston churchill became the first british prime minister to address congress himself visit came less than three weeks after the u.s. entered world war ii, right after christmas, and with a lot of lawmakers out out of tn officials moved the speech to the senate chamber to avoid having empty seats. churchill warned the axis powers would stop at nothing and that with the right strategy, the allies could beat the lights out of the nazis. when he finished, the chamber erupted in thunderous applause. churchill held up two fingers to signal v for victory and that victory would come. the prime minister first rallied the yanks 72 years ago today. >> let's put up the big board right now. the dow, if it closes at this, -- we'll know in a few --

will hit a record for the 50th 50th time this year. we're watching it all. that's it. see you back here tomorrow. for now, "your world." >> they pointed and clicked but these guys failed to deliver so now some online shoppers are ticked. >> four hours on the phone with them yesterday trying to get it. we came up on saturday. i've been calling them since wednesday last week. >> i demanded they take it off the truck and pick up my baby's six and, how do you tell a sick-year-old she is not getting her christmas present. >> retailers scrambling to make good. this is "your world." amazon, wal-mart, kohls, all promising to deliver gifts before christmas, but some of those packages never made it under the tree on time, and today there are lots of